:) Thanks, everyone! Funny you should ask about the winds and rain. Interestingly, my area hasn't been seeing much of the rain although we have had intermittent gusts of wind that have blown things over (we're used to those big gusts, though). I just came inside the house after having been out with Chelsea, collecting some Milkweed for the Monarch larvae I still have. I also decided that, with the rains and all, to 'rescue' any little babies I find. As many of you know, I don't often bring in Monarch larvae from outside to rear anymore BUT decided, hey, those poor dears...it is a bit cold and wet and...even I wouldn't want to be outside!! I found 14 cats just now. I can't believe it! They range from 2nd instar to 4th (I left four others outside as they were later 4th and 5th instars). When I came in, I found I had a Monarch BUTTERFLY on my head. ;P I guess he (yes, it was a boy) had had enough of the cold and wanted to be indoors with the little babies. DH laughed when he saw the butterfly on my head ("Another hitchiker?"). I put the butterfly into a pop-up... Ahhh...butterfly foster motherhood.

Or maybe the cats are just chasing the chickens and it really was a coyote that got the one. If the cats had killed the hen, there would have been spare parts left that they didn't eat. There weren't any. Only two small piles of feathers. Which takes me back to the probability of it being a coyote or the neighbors dog who has a history of doing this. At any rate, The Girls have to stay in the pen now. :( And Binx is back to chasing Leopard frogs and butterflies. So far no gifts of snakes and field rats like previously loving cats have brought in the house to me. Miss Pink was my Lioness. From the time she was just 8 weeks old, she began hunting. She dragged in rats and snakes bigger than her, her prey between her front legs as she dragged them along. She struggled but never gave up getting them up and through the kitty window and into the house, to my horror. She brought in voles and kangaroo rats. She brought in a tree snakes (Green snakes) and all manner of non-poisonous snakes...and kits (baby rabbits) - all alive. I was the one who had to capture her caches and release them outside somewhere. Imagine watching TV when all of a sudden a Shrew or a Mole is dropped at your feet. One time she brought me something so large she liked tonot got it into the house. When she came to me with it, I could see it was large but could not tell what the heck it was. Upon closer inspection, I discovered it was a large snake coiled up into quite literally a ball! When I stretched it out it measured 3 feet. It was gently released over the fence in the front yard. The vole was never caught but I finally got rid of it using moth balls. She left on her own accord. I do miss my sweet Pinkums. Life on the Funny Farm! You never know what the cat(s) will drag in next! ~Annie

Thank you, everyone, for your feedback! My goal was to create a warm, inviting space with neutral walls and floor and lots of color in the accent furnishings. So I agree, akrogirl, that the silver sage curtains seem to be reading too cool for the space. Funny - the very first things I bought for the room were the colorful pillows. Then the sofa and light green chair in front of the window, then the lamp and the red end table. Once I saw them all together, I despaired that they didn't really go, that the room was turning into a hodge-podge. Then I bought the pictures, and like magic, the pictures seemed to tie it all together... (to me, anyway). From the brighter spring green of the arm chair to the cool blue-greens of the lamp and knick knacks (with enough red to tie in the end table and the pillows). So while I agree with wendyb and busybee3 that the silver sage curtains go better in the room, maybe I need to pull in more of the brighter green to keep it from going too blue, too cool? To tie in the green arm chair and the (very warm) picture over the sofa? (Not to mention htnspz's comment about there being enough brown in the room - which is actually part of the reason I decided on a glass top dining table instead a wood top table, though I guess seeing brown chairs through the glass would kind of defeat the purpose!) Actually, htnspz - you mention that I should consider a warmer color for the drapes... not a green? Is there another color you think would work?? So no one has a problem with the wood legs on the green chairs being quite a bit darker than the table? Or with the bright green chairs competing with the red end table (visible on the last two pictures)? Thanks!!!

We flew to Texas to visit my in laws and thought we'd take our cat. The vet gave us tranquilizers to use to make it less stressful for the cat. We flew TWA and they gave us a cardboard cat carrier to use and we sat by the bulkhead for the extra legroom. About 2/3 of the way through the trip the tranquilizer wore off and we started to hear hissing sounds from the box and then that awful cry a cat makes when it's mad. The box had the TWA letters cut out of the sides and before long we noticed the cat was gnawing through the letters. Then he stood up and arched his back and broke the cardboard binding strips on the top. We spent the last 30 minutes of the flight holding the top of the box shut and hoping the cat wouldn't gnaw an escape hole on the side. I don't know if all cats do this when they're scared but our cat seemed to lose hair - so we sat there and watched as his hair seemed to float around the cabin. My DH was positive someone with an allergy to cats would break out in hives. We didn't dare open the box to give him another pill - you know how difficult it is to do it under normal circumstances. So for the trip home we bought a real carrier - at least we knew he wouldn't escape. Never again. Maire