Hi George - Many thanks for the tips on H+H (lacecap)+A combo. The more I look at the photos you have posted I'm getting tempted to completely eliminate mowing grass in the entire lower tier of the backyard and compose it with just pebble or flagstone walks. I can start with the shaded back half (2-3 hrs of early AM sun & perhaps 45min-1hr of setting sun) the home of most of my 4-5 varieties of Hostas - 3 layers under the corner Crab apple tree (turns beautifully red with fruits for the birds in Winter). The rest of that border measures 32ft Lx7ft (dpth) also houses 3 layers of hostas and groundcovered by White Nancy, Shell Pink & Arch Angel Lamium. I've already sank in Alice at the end where my sunny butterfly border starts, I may want to keep the taller Hostas that are now just shooting up with their buds (have lovely jasminey scent in Aug - DK name) ... the lower growing (F wms. , Francee, & snow white?) are just done. 'will perhaps dig up a few to make room for H and would like one more Querci there too. Well I'll have time to plan this Winter ... so glad to have found this place last year - so grateful for all the help, advice and inspiration I have received, truly!!!!!!! BTW how far from the trunk of the tree are you able to safely put your lacecaps,- considering the frequent watering they require (re: above pics) - also how do you keep slugs away (I have to use 'Sluggo') some years ago I was told to serve them a can of beer daily in a bowl ... all got are the drunken bunnies that could not run fast enough for some preditors to get them - obviously, no more Heineken served in the Hosta plantation!!!!

Hmmmm, I didn't think at this time of year, that bucks would be running together. I thought they only did that way b4 and way after the mating season. Right? I hunt from the ground, and don't think I could stand 5 hours on a stand. I do have a bucket though, that is left there year round. I went out again for the last 1 1/2 hours of the eve. Discovered b4 I left that a shell had not ejected when I emptied it last, and it was lodged in the underneath part where you load them. I quick trip across the road and the neighbor had me good to go. I saw one doe. It came out of the woods and was heading cautiously across the field. Some vines were blocking my view, and after going so far, she turned and went back where she came from. Maybe tomorrow AM I will face the cold and go again, otherwise it will have to wait until Friday...sigh.

I can't seem to get Clare's photo up, but we live in similar terrain, maybe 20-25 miles apart, so I definitely can visualize the scenario. When my cats Bonnie and Clyde (siblings) were younger (they're 7 now), they would hunt anything that moved, including numerous shrew moles (tiny black moles, about the size of a mouse). They soon learned that the shrew moles weren't as tasty as birds or squirrels (sorry, city dwellers, just the facts re: rural pets), so we'd see/clean up/bury the uneaten remains. But we also had another visitor, a true mole, which DH and I never saw, just their subsurface tunnels (thanks goodness, no gophers, so much more destructive to landscaping.) Anyway, the dynamic duo's prior training meant that the mole only resided a few weeks in our yard, never to be seen again. I don't know if they drove away or killed that mole, but it's gone, at least until spring. The cats are getting lazier now, so coming upon a recently deceased critter is much less frequent, although Clyde did decimate a Varied Thrush (closely related to Robin) last week. BTW: Because they are indoor/outdoor cats, we accept that they are candidates for the food chain -- we do what we can (getting them inside from dusk til daylight), fencing our huge yard against predetors, etc. But we do have coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions, owls, and raccoons in the broad vicinity, so we accept that nature may turn the tables. However, I think there is balance in the quality of life that B & C are experiencing as both indoor lap warmers and outdoor mousers/critter-management agents. BTW: I asked a neighbor if he minded B & C hanging out under his house so frequently, and he said H_ll, no! They haven't had any rodents since they've been a frequent visitors (frequent mousers?). So, B & C are in some ways providing a much needed public service.

Shee, I have found that my kids really like the music and movement with mobiles. We've had the same Tiny Love mobile for the last 10 years, and all 5 kids have loved it! In fact, when I want to put the baby down upstairs, that is one of the only times I use the crib. The mobile keeps 'em happy for a little bit! However, it looks like they no longer make the one we got in 2002 and the new version is not as nice, so maybe there is something better. I am not sure why so many of them do NOT have high contrast (ours does). Weird. My friend gave us a mobile for the car seat (Take-Along by Tiny Love). Not something I would have bought, but my 10 week old is entranced by it. If she is fussy when I get her in the seat, the music and movement makes her stop! I was amazed watching her today, with her watching the mobile. This may be something you put on your registry if you are doing that. Not a need, but it's nice. Here is a link that might be useful: Mobile