How funny! Great pictures... Gretchen reminds me of one of my hens, who also LOOKS very much like Gretchen...her name is 'Houdini' because the first three days we had her she spent in jumping from one neighbors' yard to another...up onto their roofs...up on our grape arbor, etc. She was the very devil to catch again and earned her name vigorously! *L* Be warned, that scratch barrel will become Gretchen's nesting spot of choice now! :) One of mine once fell in love with a wheelbarrow full of gravel...weirdo. Chicken are nuts. :) Velvet ~:>

Polly, enjoyed your story about your adorable 7 year old. That will be a memory you can cherish forever! I must admit I too thought the "she" who went to the show was your daughter, but it didn't diminish my enjoyment of your story. And when posters questioned the lack of a permission slip to go on a trip, I didn't pay too much attention. But then...OMG, the attacks. Totally out of line. Asking for clarification is okay, attacking the OP is not. I will admit I'm more of a general idea person, and as someone pointed out, decorators are more detail oriented. I got the general idea: this was a cherished moment with your daughter and you were amazed at her intellect, which you should be. (BTW, I think you have a creative, high level thinker on your hands, so make sure you are stashing the cash for her college education!) I just don't get the need to attack you because of the way you constructed the sentence containing the pronoun "she". Yes, detailed oriented folks find that irritating, but I just wish posters would have responded in the spirit in which the thread was begun. When you wrote it, you knew what you meant, and were not spending hours editing it for perfection. Most of us would have written it the same way you did. Polly, give your daughter a hug for me, and tell her that someone out there in cyberworld thinks she is a great kid now and has a fantastic future ahead of her. You must be so proud of her!

What a great story! Thanks for sharing. I have one too about my youngest cat and my toy poodle. When I first brought my toy home he was only 2lbs. He couldn't figure out how to go up and down stairs. My youngest cat took it upon herself to teach him. It was tooo funny! She would race up and down the stairs when he was stuck. He figured out how to come down first, but couldn't climb up. She continued to race up and down until he learned. He finally figured it out after watching her and now he doesn't walk down he runs, too. Who says cats don't like dogs!

Now that's cute. Thanks for sharing. Shirley