Anyone else here old enough to remember this Bill Cosby routine? God: NOAH. Noah: (looks up) Is someone calling me? (shrugs and goes back to his work) God: NOAH!! Noah: Who is that? God: It's the Lord, Noah. Noah: ...right. Where are ya? What do ya want? I've been good. God: I want you to build an ark. Noah: ...right. What's an ark? God: Get some wood and build it 300 cubits by 80 cubits by 40 cubits. Noah: ...right. What's a cubit? (Sorry fatbaldguy, I couldn't resist.) :) All the best, -Patrick

I think there is an invisible line just north of me that seperates those who have hummers in the winter vs those in the summer. Tom, who lives in Clermont and I have been having this discussion for a couple of years. He has them when I don't except for migration times such as the fall. My first ones showed up in late Aug. and I have had them steadily ever since. Only 1 or 2 at a time and they usually stayed a couple weeks then moved on. Right now I have 1 or 2 male Rubys - one which has been here for at least a week, then the Rufous showed up yesterday as the cold weather came in. Rufous are not as common in this area as Rubys. I had an immature female last year that stayed from that very cold spell we had in Jan till early April. I also had one that may have been a Black Chinned. Also had a couple Rubys that hung around daily. Others here in south lakeland have also had hummers recently - one guy had 7 a couple weeks ago. You can hang feeders at any height - I have 2 that are hanging close together from my pergola, one that is on the window here by my computer and then 2 more on the other side of my house where I can watch them from my breakfast area. They like to have trees to roost in and they also eat insects, plus nectar from flowers if there are any. I have lots of butterfly plants that they like - saw one going to the Cape Honeysuckle today and to the Red Pentas. Also have Red Shrimp plant and firebush but may not have much left after this cold spell. If you put out feeders, do not use the commerical nectar stuff. Make your own with a ratio of 4 parts water to 1 part sugar. I heat 4 cups water in the microwave for 5 minutes, add the sugar and stir, cool in fridge then put in feeders. You don't have to fill them all the way up if you only have a few birds. Change when water becomes cloudy and clean feeders with water and vinegar if needed. Do not use bleach. Our birds here can become territorial - a male might like to claim a feeder for himself and chase away other males. Rufous also tend to be aggressive and chase others away. That is why I like having a feeder for each bird. When they are relying on feeders, you can watch them visit about every 15 minutes so once you find one in your yard, you will spend hours glued to the windows watching. Its habit forming!

Wildebeests and various types of antelopes too. It's been an extremely varied bunch this morning! Does anyone know of a really good site with photographs of African animals to help ID those that I don't recognize? The different antelope/deer type animals are some I particularly have trouble with.

Joann, yes I did. I've made pies for years, just haven't made my own crust for a long time. It just never tasted the way I wanted, and was a hassle to make. The crust just kind of slid down the sides of the pie plate. I will try using a plate with more sloping sides instead of the one I used last time that had straiter sides. I may even get out the food processor and make a different recipe. Mom's never did that, but when I make her recipe it just doesn't tastet the same. LOL I guess my hands don't taste like hers did! My DH always says that when I make his mom's recipes and they don't taste the same it's because I didn't use my hands when I mixed it! Patti, I think it's because there was so much butter and lard in the recipe. ( I used lard because I had it for another recipe!) The chocolate pie is just chocolate pudding in the baked crust with Dream Whip made with a small teaspoon of cocoa powder and a T. of sugar added to the instructions on the box for the topping. But it is good!