Thanks everyone, it was quite a treat, and they DO bark, if you've ever heard it you'll never forget that sound.... Do they ever get into any of your plantings? They used to nest under my deck when I had the lattice surrounding the deck, but I took it off because I got tired of them dragging fish up under the deck and stinking things up :-) :-( He's too cute to kill but he certainly raises my blood pressure from time to time. Not sure what political party he comes from but he sure likes to take what others have worked for and enjoy for himself. No comment, NOT going to give away my political affiliation on a garden forum ;-) Weird day, a first for me here in the burbs, never had this happen that I'm aware of during the day. I thought he/she climbed up on the morning glories to get some fresh water out of the bird bath but instead he/she was eating the morning glories. Tom

Some dreams seem so real, they leave a person shaken. Sometimes I can trace the dreams I have on something I saw on TV. Over the weekend I watched the movie Independence Day, where this huge space ship hovers over a city. Then last evening I watched the Bachelor. So last night, in my dream I was in some kind of house waiting for A bachelor, who had chosen me, to arrive, meanwhile, I was looking out the window at this huge spaceship hovering over head. I was so disappointed when the bachelor showed up and he was John Denver. I never did like him as a singer or actor. Guess I don't know what happened to the hovering Aliens. LOL Dottie

Everything looks okay outside, at least as far as I can see. Nice and sunny, although they're calling for more severe storms later today. As for my hair, the guy who gave me the good cut over the winter was apparently unable to pull it off two times in succession. I even brought a picture of myself, taken hours after he cut it the first time, to refresh his memory (thanks to Maire_Cate's suggestion). But instead of cutting silently, as he had before, he snipped away while having a conversation with another client about hair dryers. The result was crooked, too long on the bottom, and way too short on top. IâÂÂve been growing it out ever since. So yesterday I made an appointment somewhere else for a haircut. I brought the same picture, along with one I printed from the salon's own website, showing a hairstyle long on top, with long bangs, sides and back tapered. The stylist, whom IâÂÂd never seen before, had the worst hair ever--over-permed and stringy--but I know thatâÂÂs not always an indication of skill. I gave her the pictures, and worked âÂÂlong bangsâ and âÂÂlong on topâ into my instructions several times. It seemed like she was taking too much off the top, but it was hard to be sure. Then when she cut my bangs, I said, âÂÂStop! TheyâÂÂll be too short.â She fluffed them a bit and said, âÂÂTheyâÂÂre not too short.â I said, âÂÂTheyâÂÂre WAY too short.â She said defensively, âÂÂIâÂÂm telling you, maâÂÂam, I didnâÂÂt take much off.â I said, âÂÂAnd IâÂÂm telling you I saw you do it. I would never wear my bangs this short.â She stopped cutting, and acted annoyed. I didn't tip her--and I explained to the woman at the desk why I wasn't tipping. When she saw the pictures and the bangs I ended up with, she said they'd be happy to texturize them at no charge "in a few weeks, when they grow in." And then when I got home I realized that "long on top" was similarly ignored. Ugh. I'm back to mumbling my mantra: "It'll grow.......it'll grow." Maire, I thought you said Although I sure wouldn't mind sitting around the pool in my swimsuit while I had 6 young men clambering around the roof. LOL My eye feels about the same, but I was awakened at 9:00 this morning by a call from a woman in the eye surgeon's office. She said the doctor said my symptoms were "common," and he didn't need to see me until my appointment on Wednesday. I take this as good news, at least for now.

WHile they may be crazy if it is strep it should be treated I work with tow people who have children who have ended up with some major illness do to untreated strep one is now an insulin dependent diabetic and the other has a child that went into complete kidney failure that required dialysis and a transplant That on top of my child who very likely had an undiagnosed strep infect and also suffered kidney damage