Hiya Lovely. Our dearest Bub did NOT die. She is still very much alive and Grackle-ish! :-) We have had other Grackle youngsters die soon after arrival but Bub is going strong since her arrival in 2006. :-) Riboflavin .... I do not know of any *real* dose for the ~curled toe paralysis~ but usually one can get or order the 100 mg. tablets. Generally I mix in 1/8 of a 100 mg. tablet with the baby cereal I feed and use that with each feeding. What they do not need gets pooped out. ( Actually peed out but no matter....) Depending on how severe the problem is ... the paralysis or weakness will reverse within a few days to a week. How much of a baby is your crow? Depending on the age they need to be fed between every 15 minutes to every hour from about 5:00 AM to about 10:00 PM. I use Nutri-Start baby bird cereal mixed 50 /50 with a jarred baby food like Gerber's strained beef or strained turkey. Cut the riboflavin tablet into 1/4s then 1/2 those pieces again. Place the 1/8 piece in a piece of folded wax paper and crush it by rolling a can of dog food or other canned product over it. Mix this powder in with your baby cereal mixture. It will become a bright yellow. Please be warned that the baby's poop will become bright yellow too and it DOES STAIN anything it comes in contact with. Have you ever fed a baby bird? That is to say place food in the crop? If not it may be best to contact an avian veterinarian to get some advice on how to do this or get in touch with a rehabber to take over. Crows are a native species and for the long term one should not keep them without a federal permit. They may become imprinted on you and never be able to be released. Having said that ... How very kind of you to care enough to try to save the little crow! :-) If you are unable to contact an outside source of help ... I can talk you through how to tube feed a baby bird if you do not know how to do this. I'll check in at about 7:00PM EST. OK? Thanks for taking the time to care! C3D

This is my FAVORITE vine! I have three of them! I bought two at Lowes and one at a garden shop. I have mine along my fence plus added lattice to the fence. They grow and grow and grow. Righ now, one is climbing to the top of my grapefruit tree and another up my elm (which I am okay with). My vines are in more of a shadier area and I had tons of blooms for an entire year. Then, the blooms have stopped. No blooms now for a few months. Anyone have any idea as to why and how I can get it blooming again? I threw bloom buster on it and it didn't do a thing. It had seemed to me that they didn't prefer baking in the sun. But, perhaps I am wrong? I have it mmixed in with a deep purple and white morning glory. Quite stunning when they are both blooming. One negative, do be careful where you put this vine. It does attract those biting, wood ants. Hummers seem to like the flowers as well.

Day 3 of my Captivity. I had some difficulties last night. I had a bit of a cough and felt cold. This morning the human that captured me did not look happy to see me. Again my throat was swabbed and cleaned with the clear liquid. I was fed the warm cereal as well. The tube passed with ease down into my crop. As I was being fed, the smaller human had water coming from the eyes. Now I understand. Of course their ground cover would be parched with such an inefficient irrigation system! No amount of water from the eyes would be enough to sustain the expanse of growth they attempt within the dwelling. I am taken into a smaller holding cell with clear solid walls. A tube attached to a canister is attached. Some sort of heat source is placed beneath this holding cell. I am surprised. Soon I am able to breathe well enough through my nose I no longer need to gasp and I feel warm again. I feel these human captors are concerned about me until I hear them say: Hope Who makes it. I see. Their concern is for my ability to work. They will transfer me to some sort of sweat shop and put me into forced labor. I will have to make "it." I do not know what this "it" is. I have gathered more information on these humans. The large one on supports is the mate of the smaller human. Laugh if you will but I still believe he is housebroken. The other inmates have given me information. Name: Oooooooo Mmmmmmiiiiiiikeeeeee Rank: unknown at this time Cereal: Apple Jacks The information on the sprinkler human is yet undetermined. I was given something called scone today. I ignored it when it was given to me. Must not look to anxious about the rations. When I was not being monitored I tried this scone food. Very sweet. Very soft. Very good. I finished it quickly. These are humans. They will not remember they have given me scone. Again this Ooooooo Mmmmmmiiiiiikeeeee gives rations and cookies to the prison population. I am fed on a regular basis with the warm cereal. This afternoon the larger human took me from the small cell and held me for an extended time following a feeding. How does he know how to manipulate the new feathers on my head to reduce the itchiness? Comrades, I would be lying if I said this was an unpleasant experience. I fell asleep shortly after this treatment was begun. No. I must resist! This is part of the brain washing. I am pleased that my messages are able to get out. Contact Central Command and the Ministry of Misinformation and Maple Syrup Production. They know the coordinates near this institution. I have learned it is Camp Nappy #13. I spoke briefly to a Canadian Goosi that was part of the mission that bombarded the human dwelling near by. A nice chap, from Labrador I believe. Our conversation was short as he was on a mission. I am now glad I may have made a contact prior to my capture. There may be too much collateral damage if bombings begin. I must establish communications with the other prisoners and warn them of the escape plan. I am warm and was given my last feeding for the night. Oh. More seeds. They are much easier to swallow now. Breathing is better too. I have paced and paced for a long time this evening. I wanted more cookies food. Mmmmmm. Scone! Must not let the captors know I like this food. Must resist the brain washing. Thank you all for your concern and ideas. Very good. I will be sure to save this diary. Following my escape I will one day read my adventures to my great grand egg. I will write again when I can. Who _________________

Thanks, Cyn. I'll try that. I have a couple days left on my trial. Re Google Sketchup: I've just begun using it. There are some appliances and such like available. You can also pull them out of other kitchens people have uploaded. Not 100% conventient but not dire either. Also, it's really easy to make something that's pretty much box shaped. Here's a picture of my first model, of the 30" Sharp Microwave Drawer. First I saved the image from the web and cropped it to just the drawer using PaintShopPro (any image software will work). Then I drew a box the right size in sketchup, using lines and the Entity Info tool to get the size right. I'm still learning and I accidentally cut the back open, but that doesn't really matter. Last step, import the picture as a texture and fit it to the face of the box. It doesn't have the slight protrusion of the handle, but then even though I'm doing this to scale, it's not plan perfect, so it doesn't matter. The strengths of this program, once one really absorbs how to make boxes, make up for it. [IMG]http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l134/rummylands/30inchSharpMicroDrawerMODEL.jpg[/IMG] Does anyone know if you can make operable hinges? :D