What a busy place here this morning. Very enjoyable reading. This Idyll thread sometimes feels as though I am reading about ten books at once a little bit at a time. [g] Didn't want Jerri to feel lonely either..[g]. Woody...thanks for posting those pics of Misty and Copper. Misty is so cute! She reminds me of a dog in the movies, but I can't think of it's name. You know the first photo you showed of Copper, with nothing else in the photo, he didn't look that large. Next to the love seat and Misty...he looks huge! lol I always loved to see dogs play together. Especially a small dog with a larger dog. It is amazing that the large dog knows to be gentle most of the time and that the small dog is usually not too frightened. So when you say you foster, you have more than one dog in the house at one time. See when I heard of fostering, I thought you would take one dog at a time until they found a home and then another. It sounds like there are more dogs than foster homes and that they keep you busy! That is nice that you and Marie are near each other, but I can see it would take a special effort to get together. So GLAD you are feeling better! :-) Jerri...... flooring that is pet friendly...well...if accidents are expected, I am not really sure which is the best solution. Our last dog had epilepsy the last three years of his life and that caused a lot of accidents. I never had a lingering odor from dog accidents. I would get to them right away with lots of paper towels, blot as much as possible, then scrub with a mix of water, dish soap, and white vinegar, then rinse and then blot. Always took care of it. We have hardwood floors with area rugs here. The Living Room has a small 6x9 rug, even the kitchen is hardwood. I have been considering redoing the upstairs floors and if I had to choose, I was thinking of bamboo, just for it's environmental factors, and I really like the look of it too. I just bought a bamboo cutting board and I love it! It is so hard and smooth and pretty. denise...what a great shot of the bee swam. As a kid,I was not really afraid of bees, but not totally comfortable around them either. I have only been stung once or twice and no big deal. It has been over 30 years since I was stung and I am pretty comfortable around bees, although wasps still give me a little hesitation. A swarm or a hive, I would not be comfortable enough for though. Cute conversation with your DH about the cats. I could just picture it. I really got a kick out of him pointing at the cats that would all have their own shed. lol 'Returnable dogs'...I have to agree with Woody. Ideally, you hope that people think long and hard before taking home a pet, and knowing what lengths shelters go to, to assure a dog goes to a good home, I can't help but think that dogs that are returned are a minor occurence, would that be right? If a family can actually have a pet in their home for more than two weeks and not bond with it enough to want to keep it, then the dog is probably better off making the change. After a year? That seems like it must be really unusual and maybe something significant changed for that family? Hopefully he will be luckier the second time around. Cindy, why are you thinking of having more than one pair of muck shoes? Mary...so sorry you didn't finish the peeps dioramas in time. [g] Maybe next year?! I would suggest saving it for next year, but with ketchup? guess not..lol. Martie, sounds like you will also have a lot to move this year, but you already have help lined up?! How lucky are you! So, I keep reading little bits referring to a previous move. Someday when you have time, you could tell me the story of how long have you lived where you are, what were your gardens like in your last house and the story of the move..etc. :-) One of my computer order boxes came today. Just a few cables and one piece of software. The machine won't ship until Monday. Definitely will let you know how it goes Chelone...sounds like you are ready for a new one, if your memory is that low! Loved that garden you all are looking at in the old Idyll reunion pics! Ok...time to go...enjoy the rest of the weekend.. :-) pm2

The mulch is very thin, not even completely covering the soil. Whose to say mine won't eventually bite the dust. It can still happen and I kind of expect it. I feel like I am on borrowed time. Remember, the first pic is damage from two falls ago as it looks now. There was splitting, peeling and lifting completely around the trunk and as you can see and pretty far into it - notice the gray wood. It continues today all the way up into the branching now. I don't think you have more damage but there are a few differences between our trees. One obvious difference is our zones. Another big difference is the maturity. I bought mine in the late nineties as a small whip meant for mail order. It has been in place since then so the roots are more established. However, yours has more mature bark than mine. Mine just only lost the red color at the stem about the same time as the damage was noticed. I don't have plates and furrows yet. As far as substitutions, I am not a JM expert but there is certainly no lack of them. There are so many beautiful trees. The only reason I grow this variety is because of the winter presence which is strong. The stems are redder than my dogwoods. It isn't my favorite leaf or shape tree if I had to run it against other maples during the other seasons. OK, I know I have a pic somewhere of a more mature tree at the NYBG during winter - it is stunning. It will take a little time, I know I keep promising these pics but I will try to find it before the weekend is over. They are on another computer. BTW, I am not trying to talk you into keeping the tree if you want another one. I can't blame you. I would probably want to move it too even though at this point it would make things worse. I am only comparing our plants. Even though mine didn't die, doesn't mean yours won't. Just offering a possibility that it might not. I wonder what your warrenty was on this plant? I know most places are one year but once in a while, the more expensive nurseris offer more time.

Kind of funny story - a couple of years ago the guy across the street trotted over to show me this mysterious worm he found on his tomato plant. He wondered if it was something very rare because he had never even heard of a worm with horns and perhaps UCONN might be interested in having this specimen and maybe, just maybe, he had discovered something that could be beneficial to some plants here in tobacco valley and he could breed them and make money! He said there were many of them on his three patio tomato plants. "Whatta ya think, Jane? Should I put it in a jar?" I asked to see it in my gloved hand and as this guy was envisioning $50 bills, the silly worm reared it's head with horns and mouth seeking something to bite. I dropped it on the driveway and with a flash of my right foot, the mysterious money-making dream shrank into a bite-less green blob as my neighbor went into one of the most shocked and crestfallen expressions I'd seen in a while. I told him he had lost the horn worm lottery and to go home and squish all the others. I have a feeling that my reputation as a nice neighbor lady turned into tough old broad that day in the driveway. Squish 'em, Pixie, Squish 'em - unless you're going into the horn worm raising business. Jane (aka Hard Hearted Hannah)

Igloochic, I don't in fact work for an induction distributor. I was deliberately non provocative in my post because I know, if I do not understand why, that many people are sensitive to the subject. I DID try to go out of my way to point out that my opinion is not shared by everyone and to include links to sources, such as the EPA that are generally considered credible. I find it dismaying that my remarks were were linked to a "terrible issue" and that I am accused of shilling for some corporation. Rocks and gas HAVE been killing us for years. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the US per the National Cancer Institute. It is associated with "15,000 - 22,000 lung cancer deaths each year". Please see the link to the National Cancer Institute for more information. http://www.cancer.gov/cancerTopics/factsheet/Risk/radon One of the reasons that indoor gas appliance use is now affecting asthmatics and allergy sufferers in a way that is showing increasing attention over the years is because houses are now being built to be more energy efficient. In other words, are newly "air tight" homes don't have the air exchange the older homes did so air quality issues in the home are much more prevelant. Please see this link by the United States Enviromental Protection Agency. It will provide several links to other articles by the same governmental agency explaining that the process of "weather" proofing your home can decrease interior air quality as well and additional mechanical means of bringing in the new air to flush the old affected air should be instally. http://www.epa.gov/iaq/ia-intro.html It's possible that you can match my links to the Eviromental Protection Agency with some more "silly links" that say induction use will give you cancer. I was never making a statement about induction. I was only speaking about statements our own goverment is making about gas appliances in the home. As for having sex on the countertops I doubt that would be an issue. But if you were having a good time on the countertop for about a few hours a day (the average time spent standing at that same countertop for prep/cooking/clean up for several meals) then I might be worried. I am NOT telling you not to buy gas. Nor am I telling you to buy induction. What I am saying is that the phrase "I have asthma and I live in a house with gas so it must be fine" in nonsensical. If you are perfectly well and live in a superinsulated house with gas appliances that would mean something.