It's almost perfect, but I think the dining table could use a tiny flower arrangement otherwise I wouldn't change a thing!! It looks so homey & ready to move in! Good luck on your showing! I would put orange/yellow & tad of blue for centerpiece-don't know if top of chapstick container would work or not, i'm thinking the fabric type flowers they use on wedding cake tops etc. Have fun at showing!1 Jan

I doubt that you adding the nesting material would chase them away. Do you know for a fact that the Blues you saw were the same pair that laid the eggs? Could have been a different pair house hunting and they would not want a box with eggs in it already. Something may have happened to the original female that laid the eggs or they could have been laid by a female that had something get into her nestbox during egg laying and she used yours to egg dump. You will never know for sure but Blues are very tolerant of our monitoring and fixing things. My female was injured this year right after her first nesting fledged. She went on to build a very crude second nest and laid four eggs. Once they hatched I realized I couldn't do any checks for blowflies since the nest was so thin so I did a nestchange and discovered the babies were on the bottom of the box. Well they got a nice cushy nest for the rest of their nestling period. Good luck next year!! Donna

Thanks for all your hard work Karen! Can't wait to read it in its entirety. Jodi-

No-one noticed the look that passed between Jeeves and Bunter as they hurried to collect the few remaining guests and herd them to the elegant drawing room. Cece was growing impatient. She had an important meeting to attend and wasnÂt used to being kept waiting. She fixed a cigarette into an ivory holder, lit it and tapped her blood-red finger nails on the ten foot square partners desk left to her by her immensely wealthy third husband. "Why this delay?" she demanded of Chris. My goodness to think they had been roomies in their sophomore year at Vassar. Chris was from one of the oldest Baltimore families, the InthevalleyÂs went right back to pre-electricity days. She was a person worth cultivating. Chris eyed her friend speculatively from behind half-closed eyes and coughed loudly. "Ring for the maid to open a window, Cece. The smoke is bad for my health and the smell in here is getting worse." An ancient shapeless maid creaked into the room, holding a duster and a blood-soaked copy of a little regarded Booker prize winner ÂThe Siege of Krishnapur. The wealthy American matrons eyed her with distaste. Since the US had annexed the Commonwealth and the United Kingdom had become the fifty-something state the standard of hired help had gone right down the pan. "Vee. How many times must I tell you not to drip blood on my Maplewood floors?" Cece didnÂt know why she continued to employ these old-world wet-backs. They showed her scant deference, and couldnÂt make an Old Fashioned or a Whiskey Sour to save their lives. She has won Jeeves in a poker game, he had refused to work without Bunter from whom he seemed inseparable and Vee had arrived as a Special from Wal-Mart. But as Chris had pointed out she did have a cute British accent when answering the phone. "When you have opened the windows, Vee, make sure you have ironed the creases out of my white gloves. I have a meeting of the Junior League in an hour." She turned to Chris. "I plan on ousting Mrs Van Staedhowser III as chairperson of the fundraising committee." "Yeah" thought Chris. "And be voted Phenomenal Woman of the Year. Should be easy with all the money from those three so soon lost husbands." Vee watched as the two old buddies made their way towards the now-full drawing room and ignoring the instructions from her employer headed back to the mudroom where three policemen from Scotland Yard (now a branch of the FBI) where throwing themselves against the door. The smell was getting stronger . . .