Sheri, Something tells me it is going to be a bad grasshopper year, at least for those of us in rural to semi-rural areas. Maybe it is because I started seeing full-sized grasshoppers back in January or February (way too early!). I apply Nolo Bait by putting on a pair of latex medical-type gloves and scattering it by hand on the plants inside the veggie garden. When I have to put it in the pasture, which I haven't had to do in several years, I mow the pasture first (not required, but I think it makes it easier for the hoppers to find the Nolo Bait) and then also scatter it by hand. I don't strive for perfectly even coverage in the pasture, because as mobile as grasshoppers are, I feel like they will find it. I met some people west of Fort Worth once who lived in Parker County who told me they have so many hoppers in their pastures that they buy the Nolo Bait in 50-lb. bags (imagine the expense!) and I wonder how they spread it--surely not by hand? If your pasture area is large, and you don't want to go to the expense of trying to cover all the pastures, just spread the Nolo in a band 10 to 20' all along your fence lines. I always have tons more hoppers out in the fields, and the guineas take care of them. So far, the guineas have never let me down. One guinea can eat 2 lbs. of grasshoppers a day, so even a small flock of guineas can make quite a dent in the grasshopper population. My guineas eat all morning until they are either tired or full, then lay down in the shade of the big pecan tree in the front yard and "rest" until early evening. At about 5 p.m., they get their second wind and go through the whole yard and pasture area a second time, eating their "dinner". In a really, really bad year, though, as the grasshoppers migrate from farm to farm and field to field, even the guineas can't really keep up. In years like that, I use a lot of jars of molasses water near my plantings (as traps) and I use a chemical bait called EcoBran in my pastures. I've linked the bait below. You know I don't like to use chemicals, but sometimes you have to, and EcoBran is designed to be less toxic to wild critters OTHER THAN hoppers. Nolo Bait is GREAT in general, but it works best on grasshoppers in the smallest instars (when the hoppers are roughly 1/4" to 1/2" or maybe 3/4" long). For the bigger hoppers that migrate in from elsewhere full-grown, some DO die from ingesting Nolo Bait either directly or by cannabilizing hoppers who died after eating Nolo. Others don't, though, hence the need for a chemical bait. In our worst grasshopper year since we moved here, the hoppers were chewing on our fiberglass window screens, cotton throw rugs on the porch, lawn furniture cushions, tree bark.....etc. They even ate the peaches on the trees, leaving only the pits hanging there. If we ever have that kind of year again (and this year might be it, you never know), I will spray my veggies with kaolin clay (sold as surround). It makes the garden and your plants look dusty and dirty, but it works. On the linked page, the Ecobran link is at the bottom of the grasshoppper page. I hate grasshoppers! Dawn

God grief..this is taxing my 64 Yr old brain! LOL! Teen years: Babysitting short order cook in mom's restaurant waitress Library volunteer Hospital volunteer In my 20's & 30's Sarah Coventry Consultant/home parties International Decor Consultant/home parties Raising 3 kids under 8 yrs old & 2 teen stepsons Cook at area eateries Nightclub, hotel owner/cook Restaurant owner/cook Bridal consultant, hostess, cake decorater Event planner 40's & 50's Food & Beverage Mgr at Mimslyn Inn, Luray,VA Office work, menu planning, hostess @ Victorian hotel in PA Part time corsage & boutineer maker @ florist shop (prom times) News Director & Airstaff at radio station Outsidec Biz sales @ radio station Ad sales in 4 neighboring towns for newspaper Front office receptionist, ad design & pasteup for 2 publications @ newspaper company Caregiver for a blind amputee ex hubby of 13 yrs Supervisor for RCN Telecom 60 yrs to now Software sales Hostess, dining & lounge mgr @ beach restaurant event planner, cook at social club WHEW! No wonder I'm tired & on social security!!

I think a good addition to this discussion is how my parents got married. It was August 3,1935. The impact of the Depression was still felt and so couples delayed getting married for financial reasons. My parents' crowd of friends included 4 unmarried couples and one married couple. They were all in their 30s and even early 40s. My mother was a preacher's daughter, but her father could not perform the ceremony in those days as my father was (Chicago Irish)Catholic. So everyone wanted to elope. They put together a caravan and traipsed all over central Illinois that day to each other's weddings. Dad had a friend who was a priest in Toluca, Illinois, so that was where they were married. Then they all went off for their honeymoons.

well, after a few wks of nothingness (other than runs to the vet and going broke!) the guys came out and filled in the trenches, took away a lot of the trash from it all and showed me which switches to turn on to put the juice to the lights and sockets. I need to buy a bunch of bulbs tomorrow - some are burned out and some are missing. And I can vacuum over there now and suck up a bunch of that dirt! I was tired yesterday but I did go to Lowe's and brought home a few sheet vinyl samples to try out (along with the one I had). and I bought 2 lever handles for the 2 rooms with deadbolts on them. I spent over an hour there looking at stuff - flooring, knobs, cab handles, doors, bathroom cabs and lighting. I think I'll have to get larger light fixtures for the outside doors. those small ones are just toooo small - unless someone knows a nifty way to change out the bulbs. I can't deal with the kind of globes you have to unscrew and rescrew back in. I also don't anticipate the thrill of squeezing my chubby fingers into the tiny opening they usually give to access the bulb on others. Didn't see any lights that I liked for the DR area or bathrooms. I might 'see' differently next time there when I'm not so tired. I should look at lights FIRST on the next trip there. certainly didn't see any cab handles I liked. they did have some unfinished bathroom cabs that were only 30" high (if my eye sight is correct). nothing special, just plain 'ol wood - oak. had some side sections with drawers - to purchase separately. just in case I don't find any at the restore or CL. I didn't like any of their indoor/outdoor carpet on the rolls in back. they did have a few precut rolls (most 5x7, a few were bigger) that looked good for about 26.00 - 45.00 $'s. that's an option in the coming weeks... I picked up 2 area rugs at the new 'used' store in our town last week. both 5 x 7. one solid color and one print with color of the solid color rug in it. might work in the back rooms or together in the DR/LR. Time will tell. I did see a sliding door I liked. It was 3,000.00. So much for what I like! ha! I'm sure dbf has a much cheaper 'model' around somewhere anyway. and free to me is the 'cheap' I like! Not much will get done monday or tuesday (doc appt for me and I have to do another glucose curve on boy Tuesday) but maybe on Wednesday I can make more progress over there. I tried to post this yesterday but every time I scrolled down to about the halfway mark the screen would disappear and it would say 'loading' again! I couldn't even scroll down more than that to read a post.