As soon as this last guy pupates, I'll be able to remove the whole plant carefully and disinfect the cage. My son already brought me another cat last night. He was so proud of himself, coming up w/ his milkweed leaves with the itty bitty cat on it. I wasn't planning on collecting anymore till after the cage was cleaned, but couldnt resist my proud 4yr old son. We put the lil guy in a different container. So my fallen 2 have black death? I read about that virus, but the page I read didn't mention the J formation difference. I was looking into it because of the other 2 that were vomiting, I wonder if they had it too, just affected them differently. They were dark towards the end, but not black like the pics I saw. Weird, must be in the yard. Only 2(the 2 that fell) of the 4 where kept together.` Thanks for all your knowledge guys!

Linnea, you could do the tray, but if you're unsure on eyes on your divisions, I'm swearing by the baggie thing. Tubers I was ready to give up on for good have sprouted in their little plastic greenhouses. I find I prefer good potting soil in the bags as opposed to one with lots of peat- soil stays damper longer. I am also finding that I have to add moisture every couple days because those babies are cooking in south windows and the soil dries out quickly. Just try a couple for a little dahlia experiment. Hands down, it's the best dahlia thing I've learned in recent memory. If your husband wants neat, you could neatly line a boot box or shoe box (or ten) with baggies in a bright window. Heat from a refrigerator would likely help. I like to give them light though too. Nothing like sunshine.... which is outside now and therefore I return to digging.

Oh yes, Ellen, I meant to write you back... we laughed about your email. Her, uh, "problem" is fine. She's very famous for that problem. I can't tell you how many people send me clippings or ask about it. Right now she's enjoying the ones that say her real age is 47.... 13 years younger than reality.

I didn't get in the sewing room until Sunday - too much to do on Saturday after a week of business travel. But I made up for lost time by playing with fabric almost all day long on Sunday. The first thing I did Sunday morning was sew the hanging rod on my Christmas wallhanging. Then realized I sewed it on the bottom edge instead of the top!!!!! Arrrrrgggghhhhh! So the second thing I did was rip it off and the third thing was to re-sew it on the top edge. Then I was getting ready to work on the final part of Odessa's RR border, when I got a call from DH Jim who is visiting his father in N'Dakota. Turns out Dad will likely be in a nursing home, recovering from back sugery, for at least another month. Then he may have to spend some time in Assisted Living to finish up his recovery. Jim asked me to make his Dad a twin bed size quilt because everything else he has is queen size. Well, that's an awesome project and one I am proud and eager to do! So the fourth thing I did on Sunday was to pull out all my brown and beige fabrics and put together a topper of the right size. It's simple blocks and went together quickly. I had it finished by 11pm. Tonight I'll stop on the way home and pick up a thin batting and get started on the quilting. I should have it all finished and ready to overnight to him by Thursday if I'm diligent. So I had a busy Sunday and loved every minute of it! Kate