Well, I have been distancing myself from snort. I found out another good reason to distance myself and NOT let it in the house! EVER AGAIN. While it is pretty good about not pottying in here and pretty well manered. It usually just jumps up onto my bed and curls up with me and goes to sleep. But a few days ago when I first started distancing myself from it It was freaking out at my back door ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT!!!! It wanted to come in. I never should have showed it it could come in!!!! Well, it took 2 days, but it finally stopped fussing and is happy outside where it belongs. Stays outside with the dog who still mothers it. They curl up in the dog house together. Dog stays outside too. DAmn thing pee's on my carpet every time I let her in! As for the cows. I don't know how I would do there.They are much more gentle and affectionet when hand raised than pigs. I don't know if I could do it. And I do LOVE steak! Hell, I tried raising a chicken once. I ended up selling it to a lady that only kept them for breeding and never butchered. I fell in love with a CHICKEN!!! Yep, rode around on my shoulder everywhere and followed me everywhere. It's hopless. My husband wants to raise chickens, pigs and cows when he retires. But I just don't knnow how I'm going to do it. He wants ME to be the one feeding them. Great.

The yellow streak makes me want to note that it's possible there might be a fungal infection involved that is affecting particular roots, the crown, or both. To me, a yellow streak makes be want to look to a systemic condition as the cause. IOW root or crown rot that is first manifest in areas of leaves most vulnerable to the infection as it follows the plants vasculature upward. It may well be a residual problem from before the soil change, it's really hard to tell without a hands-on look. It sounds like you understand the importance of a well-aerated soil that drains well and the avoiding of over-watering. Unless the material is important enough to you that you'd want to treat with a systemic fungicide, your best course is to make sure you're offering cultural conditions as favorable as possible. We touched on the soil - bright light is important - and I prefer something with more N than a balanced fertilizer, if balanced means a 1:1:1 ratio, like 20-20-20, 14-14-14 ...., but that's not as critical as light and the soil:watering aspect of care. You've inspected carefully for insect predation? Al

Sandy, Hope all goes well with your mother and and that your daughter has an easy flight. Trying times, but it will be nice for all of you to be together to be each others support to get through them. drzoidberg, No idea of what Live Monarch sells for sleeves, but it sounds like they must be really small. I made my own sleeves. The size picked for each situation should be big and roomy enough to enclose several branches with enough plant to see the larva all the way to pupation. Doesn't mean you have to leave them in the sleeve to pupate, just that it gives them enough plant "choices" to feed on until they get there if needed. IE, when I went out to service the sleeves in nature I let the remaining plant enclosed in the sleeve be my guide. If not enough I usually redid the sleeves to enclose new branches and simply moved the larva to the new location. That said it sounds like you will have to move the late instar cats to larger quarters to pupate. Either a bigger sleeve, to some kind of emergence cage or just unsleeve them and let them find pupation sites on their own. The sleeve itself acts like a sun shade up to a point. Works much the same as the spines on cactus for example. Even so I always tried to place my sleeves so a portion of them was in direct sunlight and a portion in shade or filtered light. Gave the cats a choice and they could freely move to what they wanted. If not possible because of where your plants grow, simply mist the sleeve at least a couple of times a day. That has the same effect as a swamp cooler to cool the cats off.

I've just been reading a book written by a doctor who is investigating the reality of people who experience "visits" by loved ones who have died. In my opinion, they are very real. After all, electricity dissapates but does not disappear, and after all, isn't our consciousness electro-chemical in nature? Why is it so hard to imagine that our loved ones are on a plane where what they have is the electrical energy, and thus, use it to communicate with us. How many people have reported having lights or electrical appliances go on or off, and the distinct feeling the loved one is at the core of the activity? Is this so far out in left field that we can't accept it? I do. There is also research into the area of the brain we don't use very much of. It has been suggested that this is the area that is used by people who can detect auras. Auras have been documented by electro-mechanical devices, and photographed using a form of x-ray. We do emit a magnetic field around out entire bodies, is it the "spirit" part of us, and this is what remains after our bodies die? Think about it. My mom and dad came to me in a dream together, 2 weeks after my mom's death, very real, almost "tangible" dream. But the message I received from this dream was that they were together, and happy. I drew a great deal of comfort from this. If it was their "spirit" letting me know they were happy, together again, then all I can say is, "Thank God"