Thanks, Lucy, yes i do have alot to be happy for. :) Theresa and Karyn, the 3rd pic is a rose. i dont know what type. all i know is it has been around a very very long time. My grandmother grew it and now i do as well. It has bunches of small double pink flowers and the plant has a very rambling vine like habbit. The leaves are very small as well. its like a climbing minature rose or something!!! Hummingbirds visit my clerodendrum everyday... i never get them in pic because the are so fast!!!

THANKS, all....I love sharing my pics with you & consider you all my newest best friends! I love how everyone on this forum is so nice and enthusiastic about each other's pictures. I have to tell you that the chipmunks around here are plentiful and aren't afraid of me in the least. They will pop up out of their holes and sit there staring at me while I garden. They have tunnels in my rock walls and gardens everywhere. Oh my gosh, Linda! Fat Cat and Little Boy were separated at birth...LOL. They look like brothers. That is hysterical, especially since they're both enormous...haha. Kay...I could go on and on about my ZEUS. That cat is not a cat, he is a BABY. I have loved many, many pets in my years but have never been loved the way I have from Zeus. Not only is he the smartest cat...(er, baby)...but he is the most loving and devoted. The thing is, I don't know his pedigree. Many, many people have told me he is a Russian Blue and I have googled it and it does seem to fit. But then you mentioned Korat and I just googled that, and that seems possible too. Whatever he is (and I doubt he is purebred) he is priceless. He came to me by way of my oldest daughter who had gotten him as a 3-week old kitten when she lived in Florida. The people were irresponsible and had litters of kittens everywhere and took them away from their mamas too soon. She had to feed him with an eyedropper he was so tiny. She never saw the mother (or father). My daughter couldn't keep him where she's living so she gave him to me to 'babysit'. Three years later and even though she's my child, she knows I will fight her to the death if she tries to take him...LOL. What I do know is that Zeus is special. He loves to play and never tires of that. He can jump up higher than I could ever see a cat jump. He is double-pawed (7 toes) and can catch a moth by jumping into the air and clapping his big paws shut. He sleeps curled up around my head every night. I have fibromyalgia and don't sleep well....so when I awake and get up to stretch, then lay back down I hold Zeus's paw...and when I wake up in the morning we are often still holding hands! I can tell you that he has the softest fur imaginable and it doesn't shed. He also is constantly grooming himself and is immaculate. His fur actually glistens like diamonds in the sun. He is such a clean freak that he cleans the other cats! Also, he is very quiet and very serene. He has to be with me every minute of the day and I just love that. Can you tell I love him? Once my husband and I went away for a one-night romantic rendevous and you know what? I couldn't sleep! Because Zeus wasn't there curled up around my head on my pillow! Now DH jokes that I should have taken Zeus on the trip and left him at home! It is a family joke that if the house caught fire, they all better fend for themselves 'cuz I'll be saving Zeus first! He is with me every minute of the day, so I can't imagine my life without him. He loves it when I take his beautiful face in my hands and stroke his face...he gazes into my eyes. He is such a joy in my life! I wanted to share these pictures of him with you.... Here he is sitting at my computer while I upload daylily pics! Like I said, he always has to be near me.... Here is he is, being held like a baby...look at those paws! Thanks for letting me ramble on about my baby! Celeste

Ken - LOL - it looks like you're the one who has the urgent need to know what it is :-) I have just e-mailed the lady who gave us the tour and asked if she could tell me the botanical name of that tree.... I'm sure she's left for the day by now so I doubt I'll hear from her until next week sometime - if she replies at all! If I get an answer, I'll post it here. I didn't look very closely at the tree and my point-and-shoot picture is not very good. DH took some pictures I think and I'll see if any of them would provide the detail you are looking for - he has a wicked lens on the camera (he's a 'birder' and gets incredible detail and resolution that allows for VERY close zooming/cropping of pictures....) From my somewhat vague recollection of the tree, I agree that your pictures look very much like it. I'm afraid I'm not a big fan of conifers so didn't look very close, other than to say 'pretty blue; neat cones, and 'I'd bet Ken would like this one!' I grew up on the east coast of Canada on an old farm carved out of a spruce and fir forest. I had my fill of spruce and fir then and have no desire to add and to the garden here, however pretty some of the unusual ones look - on someone else's property! Where I grew up (50 years ago this view would have had 3 houses, the fields around the yellow pin, some fields on the north side of the lake, and all the rest dense spruce and fir forest, with a few burned out areas! The interesting vegetation - to me - was the stuff that was NOT spruce or fir.) :

Halcyon bloomed today!! I know it's not a Hosta, but sharing my favorite hanging basket Petunias... Starry Night Petunias named after my favorite painting!