Thanks Susie :D This cheers me up,too! Hey Kirk, that's what the tree looked like when I was growing up. We planted hundreds and hundreds with our mother it seemed like,even staying out in the woods til well past dark with all sorts of wild animals jumping around at us out there,(back then it was moonshiners you ran into on your property, now it's meth labs) and it was scary when you're only about 6 or 7 years old! I never inherited my mother's ability or want, to wander alone in the woods til wee hours of the morning. After I was married and lived here, we still cut down our own trees, until trespassers stole all of them(to sell, I guess)one year. Some grew back up from the trunks, but we didn't feel like fooling with them any more after that. The smell is great, there's no comparison to a live tree, but we broke down and got an ARTIFICIAL pre-lit one :D lol Too many allergies, they dried out quickly,too. Boy could I tell you some FUNNNNY stories us and the kids endured with live trees ( one year involving a crazy Himalayan cat we had :D ) I can't wait til next Christmas!oh and I see Carol's tree skirt! It's just perfect. Cherry/Kudzu

Moccasinlanding, I grow my OM in full sun. I have been thinking of starting to move OM and American Prayers to more afternoon shade. I do not grow in the ground here as there is too much root competition from trees so I am able to move my plants freely. I love to add other plants with the hosta. Coleus has been an inexpensive choice and you and I can keep them around in the south for many years. Begonias, heuchera and I am still waiting on some good impatients, also are out there. Great companion plants which have the same growing conditions. Your gardens have been coming together nicely. Watching yours grow too has been fun. I too use the Walmart pot. I stay away from clay as they dry out too fast. Have a great growing day, Paula

here is a blog with great ideas April 10, 2009 Ten Fantastic Fillers for Apothecary Jars I really love apothecary jars. There is something so innocent - so refreshing - about an empty vessel just begging for a beautiful display. When I find apothecary jars at thrift stores for $3 or $4 each, I snap them up like crazy. You've probably seen me grab one in Goodwill and give a Tiger Woods fist pump because I'm so excited with my new score. Because I know you love them as much as I do, I want to give you a little encouragement and a little push towards filling them with unique displays. People, it's time to start thinking beyond pasta and pears, cotton balls and cotton swabs when it comes to filling your apothecary jars. Using your jars to showcase unique finds will give your vignettes much more personality than filling them with the lemons you bought for 5/$1 at the grocery store. I've put together a list of 10 fantastic apothecary jar fillers that will hopefully guide you in the right direction to update those displays. 1. Vintage Spectacles - Just imagine the scenes that have been viewed through these lenses. Antique glasses are available at thrift stores, antique malls, estate sales, and even yard sales. Add two or three pairs to a simple jar, and you'll have a display that everyone will want to "see." Country Living 2. Soap - For an apothecary display in a bathroom, nothing beats a collection of beautiful soaps. Choose natural-colored soaps in the same hue, instead of in a color that matches your room. Find wonderful guest soaps at discount home stores, or use drugstore bargains, such as Aveeno or Ivory. Better yet, purchase monogrammed soaps to add a personal element to the display. Pottery Barn 3. Vintage Photos - One of my favorite apothecary jar fillers is vintage photos. I have always loved the boxes of photographs I see in antique stores, and I decided that I wanted to replicate those displays myself. For my jar, pictured below, I found a selection of vintage photos online, printed them on cardstock paper, cut them out, and then tore the edges and creased the image until it looked appropriately worn. Don't you think they actually look like real photos? Because I knew that you'd love this idea, too, I assembled the photos into a .pdf file for you to use in your own displays. Find that document HERE. Am I the nicest person ever or what? 4. Vintage Hairbrushes and Combs - Along the same lines as the antique photographs, I would love a display featuring vintage hairbrushes and combs. You can find some really beautiful dressing sets in antique stores or online. Keep in mind that a child's size set would probably fit into your jar easier than an adult's size (unless you had a very tall jar). 5. Sea Shells and Starfish - A universal favorite apothecary jar filler is sea shells and starfish. Keep your shells in the same color scheme and only fill the jar halfway so that you don't end up with too much of a good thing. Break the mindset that shells and starfish only belong in the bathroom. What's with that anyway? Do we think shells can only be displayed where there's water? Does the ocean remind us of the toilet? Weird, huh? House Beautiful 6. Knobs - Some of the most interesting (and cheap!) items to add to an apothecary jar are vintage knobs and drawer pulls. Find them for $0.25 a piece at places like the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store or yard sales. Your collection will be eclectic but will have a fantastic quality because the pieces are all variations of the same theme. 7. Rocks - Using natural elements in the home is very important, and nothing could be more natural than my son's rock collection. Adding his treasures to an apothecary jar meant that I had a natural (and FREE) filler, and it is extra special to him because he got to use them to "decorate with Mama." 8. Silver Cups - A few sterling silver baby cups displayed in a large apothecary jar would make such a sweet display. Stack them randomly on top of each other to create a tower. I've seen several of these little cups at Goodwill lately, so start hitting your thrift store in search for a few. They don't even need to be in great shape - the more dings and scratches, the more personality they have. 9. Blown Eggs and Found Nests - What's not to love about real birds' eggs and nests displayed in a beautiful apothecary jar? In one of my jars, I used Spanish Moss in the bottom as a "nest" and then added 5 or 6 blown quail eggs on the top. Check out these gorgeous egg displays - quail eggs on reindeer moss and Robin's eggs on a found nest. I love them! Romantic Home 10. Indoor plants- Apothecary jars take on a whole new life when used as terrariums for indoor plants. Add plants purchased at home improvement stores or a local nursery. Dallas Morning News You could even grow your own grass. Did you see Kimba's wonderful wheat grass project? A Soft Place to Land Are you ready to find something unique and interesting to put in your apothecary jars? Little makes a jar more interesting than filling it with something completely unexpected. Tell me what you are going to add to yours! Enjoy your beautiful life! Head over to The Inspired Room to see how others are making their lives beautiful, one simple way at a time. Here is a link that might be useful: scroll down to april 10th

Just a note...the Nkorho Pan has been out of commission for several days and though it is finally back on, it's still not up to par. While it was down, I started spending more time at the Africam Tembe location. I've seen, in just the last few days: lions, a leopard, rhino, elephants, hyena, civit, a zillion different antelope species, wildebeest, lots of storks and ibis (and other birds), zebra, and a very special visit by three very rare African spotted wilddogs. It's nearly 10:00 a.m. where I am, and it is still daylight. Giraffes are browsing in the trees. Two are 'necking'...which can be an aggressive act. The Africams utilize infrared cameras so that we can watch the night-time activities around these water holes. That's when the predators come out. http://www.africam.com/wildlife/tembe_webcam