I've been running a thread on the Building a Home forum that substantially repeats this thread and refers to our FAQ. The issue of private versus public albums on Photobucket came up (I thought the whole album had to be public to allow you to link to it without a password). aa62579 says that you can link to a specific photo in a private album and that link will be visible. You just can't link to the whole private album and see it without a password. I've never used Photobucket so I'm asking the question of those of you who are familiar with sites such as Photobucket, Picasa, PictureTrail, etc.. Is this a general characteristic of all web-hosting sites? I'd like to add this information to the FAQ. Thanks, Claire

Well why didn't you say there was a party going on here?? LOL Seriously, I can't believe how long I have been MIA. I am okay just busy. I had a wonderful camping trip; in fact, it was enchanting. The field was covered with second cut red clover and the Monarch and some other small yellow butterfly were just everywhere in the field. It was truly beautiful to watch them dance in the sun. The moon was full and rose in a big orange ball each evening and then gave way to soft light through the light. The kind of light I could look out of my trailer and see the girls sleeping in the grass...........wonderful. The true topper this year was the performance of bluebirds who visited our camp in masses of 12-20 at a time. No kidding, I have never seen anything like it. They would come and sit on the horse fencing and sing and flirt. It was truly amazing........if only I could have gotten a photograph. They must be gathering for migration as the butterflies are. The horses were energetic as it was cool and we had some wonderful miles long cantors and trots! It was so nice and I had so much fun. The weekend almost ended in disaster as we were walking the horses down to the sandy brook for a cooling off Sweet Pea fell down and landed on her side. She was really struggling and I did not know what had happened or how to help her. Suddenly, she laid still and righted herself and got herself up. When she was safe investigated and she had fallen into a bottomless hole which was no doubt a woodchuck's hole. These are the holes that snap horses legs in two. I was almost nauseaous when I looked down into that hole. She had some swelling her fetlock but she was fine the next day. I shudder to think of what had happened if I had been riding her when that happened. Ugh, perish the thought! Anyway, she was fine and the weekend was wonderful. You all are right, it's very quiet here!! SO, where is everyone???? Not much else new here - just work, work, work. DeeMarie, I am SO DISAPPOINTED that you don't have a photo of you on or at least NEAR a horse. You didn't even touch one????? Glad you had fun.

You did a great job polly929. It's funny how kids of different personalities/ages take in and process information. My own DD was starting middle school that year, and the school was opening later in the month due to renovation construction on our middle school building. I was at work that day, so DD was with my MIL and my nephew at SIL's house. After seeing just the first few minutes of network coverage (we had all conference room tvs on in the office), the first thing I did was call my MIL to ask her not to tune in at all. I didn't want my DD watching wall to wall coverage. Just didn't think it was a good thing. It was hard enough as an adult to watch. Long story short, I guess curiousity got the best of MIL, and she turned and kept the television tuned in... The issue for me with DD watching was more of the fact that there wasn't any filter. Coverage that day contained none of the warnings when that coverage is now replayed. No warnings that material may not be suitable for children, or is of a sensitive nature for some. We watched real time coverage of some horrible things. People who chose to jump from windows of the buildings rather than face burning to death. These people knew they were going to die, but thought jumping was a better way to go. Those images are forever burned in my memory. A beautiful fall day, I can even remember which suit I was wearing, every single detail of that day is still with me. By the time I could get to SIL's to pick up my DD, which wasn't all that long after my call. Our local office closed around 11 a.m., and by 1 p.m. I was answering DD's questions. Never in my wildest dreams would have imagined those questions that I would have to answer. Sure, DD was going to be a 6th grader, but it was too much to watch. DD's good friend lost her father that day, a Cantor Fitzgerald employee. We talked alot about that in particular. Why? was the biggest question from my DD. It is hard to explain "why?" to a child. The oddest thing of all IMHO, is that our school district did NOTHING, no moment of silence, no acknowledgment at all on the 9/11 anniversaries, despite the fact we had kids in attendance throughout the district lost loved ones. Go figure? I once asked DD's middle school history teacher, who happened to also be her guidance counselor, why this was. He explained that the district felt it was up to the parents to handle telling their own children about the event. Apparently, they didn't want to say anything about the event, for fear of a backlash from parents who totally shield their children. I don't agree that we shouldn't tell our kids when bad things happen. I think we should share an age appropriate amount of information, welcome all questions, and deal with those questions on an ad hoc basis. Polly, I will be thinking of you and your friend & her family on Sunday. It is comforting to have your closest friends to lean on, especially on a day that marks...

Nice to see some interest in olive trees. I originated in the Mediterranean basin *Sicily) and olive trees were everywhere there as well. I have a few olive trees planted around my house and can offer some suggestions. They need full sun or as much as you can provide, they do not want any other plant close by them, they need space. Mature olive olive trees can be very drought resistant, this does not mean you can neglect them,,, especially if it is a small tree. They should also be protected (while small) from frosts by whatever means you have available. Well drained is a big plus and regular feeding is also important to push new growth. see pictures of one of my 15 trees around the house with a close up of the buds exploding all around the tree, both pictures are of same tree. This is an arbequina, but I also grow the other varieties available locally Koroneiki and arbosana and have many other varieties from california (Italian and french) in 3 gallon pots staging for future planting. All my trees are for table olive use,,, for now.