pink_warm_mama_1, over 30 or so years of bird feeding in 3 different states, we have endured plenty of Starlings. This year is the first year that I can say that they haven't worn our patience thin. Don't know what has made the difference, but since their usual spring return to this area in March this year, their appearance at the feeders has been just a few at a time and they are quickly gone for weeks at a time. Usually if we put suet out they seem to come out of the woodwork, but that hasn't even drawn them in this summer. party_music50, that is perfection, and there ain't nothin' wrong with the other works of Mom Nature's art today. Ain't Mom Nature good at what she does!

Pretty eggs, but they make me a bit sad. Our bluebirds did not show up for the first time in about 5-6 years. We don't have the ideal habitat, but some years they would even raise a second brood. I miss them.

To correlate with Jemdandy's thread on the Declaration of Independence and freedom, on our trip to Washington DH and I made a point of visiting the Lincoln Memorial. Along with all the other historical details, I was interested to read on Wikipedia that a "popular legend is that Lincoln is shown using sign language to represent his initials, with his left hand shaped to form an "A" and his right hand to form an "L", the president's initials." This is plausible since the sculptor may have wished to pay tribute to "Lincoln for having signed the federal legislation giving Gallaudet University, a university for the deaf, the authority to grant college degrees."

Moni if you go to the fair grounds they have several huge flower bed areas filled with Miss Oklahoma pink cannas. Pick up the spent seeds in the bed and let them dry. Plant them next year and you will have some really beautiful cannas. My friend and I did that one year. We were at the fair sitting next to the cannas and decided to try it out. It was very successful. They are such a pretty color.