Ellen, I am designing my own feeders and have never seen anyone do anything like them. From an artistic standpoint, I started off pretty primitive. Once I saw that it was technically possible, I began to explore the potential for artistry and hyper realism by copying flowers from my garden. I've done Blue Lobelias, Cardinal flowers, Dianthus chinensis, Four O'Clocks, Cardinal Climbers, Cypress vines, Salvia coccinea, and Fuchsia "Billy Green." I'm in process with Impatiens capensis (man that's a complicated one!), and also snitched a Salvia "Black and Blue" from a public garden and am working on it. I'm still working on my technique, in the hopes that each new flower feeder that I make will be more lovely and realistic than the last. While it's impossible to truly duplicate the delicacy of a real flower, some of mine are similar enough to the real thing that from a few feet away, people who've seen them will say, tentatively, "Is that, um, a real flower?" That makes me feel good, but no one would confuse them with the real thing if they examined them closely. Also, although I try to make them very realistic looking, I do take liberties with the size if I feel it's necessary. My Salvia coccinea, for example, is probably 3x natural size. Salvia coccinea is just too small a flower to easily duplicate at life size. Also, it just looks better when it is bigger. Sometimes I chuckle to myself and wonder if the hummingbirds' eyes go wide with wonder when they see such oversized versions of familiar flowers! On the other hand, on a more humble note, I'll bet their powers of sight are so much more sophisticated than ours that my flowers look like pitiful fakes to them! Ellen, I'm hesitant to describe my exact process, because I don't want others marketing them and making a bundle from my idea. I've just been making them for myself, but if anyone's going to make money from them, it should be me. I wouldn't mind explaining it to you, but I don't want to broadcast it over the internet to millions of people. You don't need any amazing artistic skill to make a simple one, although it helps to be fairly good with your hands. The difficulty comes if you want to make them into objects of beauty. That is definitely a challenge. From a hummingbird's perspective, I don't think they care if they're ugly, lumpy, misshapen, or poorly done, just so long as they're brightly colored and function properly as a sugar water dispenser. Your friends and neighbors may laugh at you, but the hummingbirds won't care. If you want to ask me for more details, email me at kristinbirds@yahoo.com. By the way, I was charmed by your warm response! I just sat at the computer and giggled quietly to myself until my eyes welled up. How nice that there are other people out there that care so much about these tiny creatures, and provide support for them in their journeys.

Just take them to the charity shop. Assign your own value to them for your tax return. That's what we do. For some reason, my whole family thinks I am the "keeper of all things" and they keep passing down collections, furniture and other things I do not want. They go straight to the local charity shop or Habitat. If there's something I truly love or it has a high monetary value I keep or sell.

Georgysmom, I would just love to see your calendar!! I say we should enjoy every minute we can while we're able. Shirley, you are so right. Company is much more important--especially if it's someone you like a lot. Your dinner sounds really yummy and worth waiting for. Jean, nothing like a really fresh sub on really fresh bread. That sounds so good--even if I did just finish eating. Mary, glad you're able to work. Just about everybody likes hot dogs and baked beans. Good old American food. We are leaving for Indiana on July 2 and leaving Indiana for Florida on July 6th. It will take us 3 days each way because Harry has to get out of the car and walk a little every once in a while to keep his blood from clotting. So we should be home on July 9. Gazania, whew--glad to hear at least two other people are obsessive/compulsive. :-) You're worse than I am, though. I'm so short I never think of the top of the frig! LOL!!

When you let people intimidate you into doing things that are wrong or not doing things that you believe are right is a crime in itself and only encourages more. Ironic how some will talk about bullies and we have to "do something" about bullies, yet when the bully comes outside of the schoolyard, the bully rules. It shouldn't be tolerated on the school property or off the school property and yes it probably take some effort to do something and it definitely takes some courage. I don't know if many people can feel good about themselves when they let others push them around. I differ from a lot of people here because I strongly believe you need to stand up for what you believe is right, even if it is occasionally to your detriment. I firmly believe that when people witness crime but refuse to get involved, they're nothing less than an accessory to the crime and many times worse than the perp. How many times have you had or known people who had car damage from careless people but witnesses are so chicken-schick they won't get involved. This belief that everyone carries a gun or a knife and are out to get you personally turns my stomach. It's a copout IMO and nothing more. An excuse for laziness often. And often these are the people who cry the loudest when they're the victim of something. You need to decide what *your* morals, ethics and beliefs suggest you do. To do nothing condones and contributes to the actions. As a business owner I was still very involved in opposing things or supporting things when I felt they were *right*. Did it cost me some business? Yes. But then again, it also gained me a lot of respect with the people whose respect meant something to me and also actually gained me some business too. When a politician was giving gift contracts to relatives I stood up at a televised council meeting and called for the Mayor's resignation. I've never regretted it nor any other activities in crime prevention. Yes it cost me time, and cost me money since I contributed heavily to crime prevention, but I believe it's right. It's probably a little late now to go to the police, but you could talk to them. Depends on how ethical the local law folk are. They might not do anything official but planting a bug in their ear might be of some use. Contacting a superintendent is of little value. Remember, the superintendent works *for* the school board! Do you think a sup is going to challenge his/her boss on something like this? If they had ethics they would, but I don't believe they will. I know a lot of school district employees, and let's leave it at that! I think notifying the vehicle owner is a proper thing to do. I also would probably either write the offenders or more likely talk to them personally and suggest they resign to gauge their reaction before going to a school board meeting and bring it up there. Possibly invite some local media to attend that meeting too. I might not immediately identify the people at the meeting, depending on the situation but I'd outline the situation factually, state that I don't believe this is proper conduct for school board officials and ask the perpetrators to voluntarily resign. I also like Marry's suggestion of asking for an explanation. Perhaps do that before requesting the resignation (and skip talking to them personally). There's no way I could ignore this. It's wrong in too many ways and the ramifications of intimidation are too serious. Crime swells when people refuse to get involved. This is more than having long grass because the mower won't start. This is more than a speeding ticket by a public official.