Lol..Good one Al! Sounds like you have a batty of a problem...lol You could always move your plants aside and make room.ha I'm praying for an end to this miserable cold weather..How did the birds fare this year for you? Did they come back? I did mention something about your frogs, but now I forget.. I hope all is well and that the real frogs will be able to sing again soon..This winter is just killing me..I think I know what it's like to live in a cave now...I'm as white as a ghost. Hello Laura and Josh and every one else..Good to see you all surviving...I have not seen this cold for years...I am grateful my fish loaded pond did not freeze up..It almost did since I accidently shut the power off to the pond pump..It only too two days for the whole top to freeze over but luckily I noticed it and broke the top open so the fish could breath. I also notice that my ground in the garden must be frozen at least more than 6 inches deep! I hope my bulb and perrenials make it through this. Let's see, what else? I left all my potted plants in a dark area of my garden and they have been buried with snow since December..I hope they make it too by the time the thaw comes..Keeping my fingers crossed. What else? Since I have been couped up inside, I have painted ever single room in my home and added a three seasons porch..That explians my absence besides sickness.. The only saving grace this winter was my greehoused plants, especially my orchids and two bull frogs inside! I actually downloaded brid chirping and sounds along with relaxing sounds and play that with my eyes closes in the nice very humid warm greenhouse on sunny days in this weather..Sure takes the edge off! All the orchids have come to bloom and many others.. Laura..What a beautiful picture of that frog!!!!!!! It's so postcard looking. I love it and you know how I feel about frogs! Thanks for that. Good to see there is still a REAL need for you while you are home, right?lol I remember was he was just born and when you visited me...Seems like yesterday. Either that frog is so content, or just trying to stay warm. Josh, Let it rain and rain, right? You could use all the rain you can get.Horay for the peppers buddy! P.s..I talked to Jodik and she is ok..I am trying to get her back here...She's a gem and missed here. So's Jojo..She is ok too..Says hello. Hoping you all well and wamrth. MIke

And so, Sandi, like SJN said, the scarab beetles went running up your legs and you went screaming, "Take me to Jerusalem!" Fortunately for you, the beetles were flying beetles, and they en masse lifted you off the groundtoward Jerusalem. Alas, however, they were still only on your legs and you were flying upside down. Equally unfortunate, they had not flown with a person before and panicked, all running together for comfort, but the gathering was in your crotch, and you also panicked, in addition to a very uncomfy upside-down flight to Jerusalem. But fortunately as both you and the beetles were screaming, they had the good judgement to settle you and themselves down right next to the wailing wall in Jerusalem, and your collective cries fit in well at the wailing wall. Unfortunately, you did not have a prayer to stick in a crack in the wailing wall, and a group of people gathered around you as you and the beetles became the center of attention, embarrassing both you and them. But fortunately one of the men huddled around you said something in Hebrew, distracting you and the beetles under your pants. Both you and the beetles said, "Huh?" at the same time, and the beetles all ran out your pants legs and hopped up on your knees to look at the young man who was speaking to you. Unfortunately, the young man young man had a beetle phobia and typically handled his anxiety by sucking his left thumb and picking his nose with his right index finger, and he fell on his back with a panic attack as people pointed at him. Fortunately a very handsome young man looked at you and realized that you are drop dead gorgeous and leaned over and lifted you and the beetles and kissed you passionately as the people and the beetles cheered. Your fear of the beetles left you, as you became grateful to them for bringing you here,and you introduced them to the very handsome young man, who was actually a prince. Unfortunately the beetles were hungry from the flight and equally unfortunately whispered in your left ear that they were dung beetles and could they please have lunch. You were so grateful to them that you and the prince,who didn't have any hangups about that sort of thing, took them to lunch at a pile near the roadside. But fortunately you and the prince had a wild torrid love affair and after a week you revealed to him that you always wanted to go to Hawaii. The prince jumped with joy into the air and told you that going to Hawaii had always been his secret dream, but that he had always wanted it to be with a group, and now he had a group with you and the beetles. Unfortunately, as all of you are flying to Oahu there must be food for all to eat on the long trip. Felling kindly toward the beetles, you have carried a sack of sh** for them, which you have suspended from your belt and placed them in it. But fortunately, the prince is not like many men, who would leave you holding the bag, as it were. And beside, he is grateful to the beetles as well, and he lifts the bag from your belt and places it gently and with respect on a pillow across the aisle. You are very grateful that this lovely person respects your sack of sh** that you have been carrying from your past, as he knows that we all have a sack of sh** from our pasts. And the prince loves you just like you are, and you lean back in your comfortable leather seat and looking out at the clouds, with a profound sense of comfort in knowing that you do not need to be any better than you are for the prince to love you and knowing that you will learn to love his sack too, even as the Father of the universe loves us and the sack of sh** we all carry from our past. Merry Christmas and Hanukuh to all. You have brought joy and love to my life. Jim And now I wish that all of the daffodil bulbs that I have been frantically planting do indeed bloom and are gorgeous this spring.

Had never heard of the websites, thanks for that. Love seeing the pics. Had a Maltese as the kids were growing up but he passed away after 17 years!!! Loved him. Now I have become a 'cat lady'. Have always rescued cats, taking them to the shelter to have them fixed and placed for adoption. I also fostered a couple of kitties this past winter. I have of course Bowie who is very affectionate, his mother was dropped off here with five babies. All were taken care of and two adopted out. Kept Bowie, but no one wanted his mother, she is very shy, I suspect she was treated badly. I also have the sister Chloe, who is also shy, but a sweet cat. Here is a pic of the three together. Bowie, Mommie Kittie, and Chloe. They are a very closeknit family!! Bowie follows me everywhere when I am outside, which is of course all day long !! They stay outside and I have a shelter for them when the weather is cold. Then I have Sweetums, who is my spoiled inside baby, never was going to have an 'inside' cat, my daughter found her abandoned at a park several years ago when she ( my daughter) was taking pictures, just before winter, she was starving, and we couldn't leave her. There were two kittens, and my daughter's boyfriend's mother took the other one. So Sweetums stayed in the house to recover from the surgery (spaying) and then I didn't know how the others would react to her and she is long haired. So needless to say she stayed in and I love having her in the house. She is very quiet and very well behaved. She has bonded completely to only me, hides when anyone comes over. This is her living the good life. Then lastly and once again never thought I would have a cat inside. This is scaggs. I named him scraggly, cause he was such a mess and no one knew what his name had been. Very sad story, his owner who had been evicted from his home, just left his cat outside on the porch of the house, after he had been an inside cat for almost two years. There were a couple of businesses in the neighborhood and they would feed him, but not every day. I knew about it and couldn't stand it, so I took him to the vet, he had already been neutered. Other than being hungry, he was in good health. But he was a big mess. He had been living under a dumpster for awhile, (after crying on that porch for weeks,) and with his long fur, it was a disaster, so I took him to the groomers to have him cleaned up. He stayed in my garage then for a few weeks, while I tried to find a home for him, He is very loving, and seemed thrilled to be in a garage. I slowly introduced him to sweetums, and it worked out, so in he came and now i have the both of them inside and they get along great. He is the 'company' cat, cause he likes people, in spite of what he went through. Boy that was long, sorry. Aren't you glad you started this!!! Cindy

They are 30'ish. If you haven't thought of it yet, you might consider heirlooms, or family hand me downs. I had a friend who at 50 had to drastically downsize and I helped her organize and sort though her enormous household of accumulated belongings. She wanted to toss or donate a whole ceder chest full of linens and a cigar box that had her grandfathers single edge shaver a pocket knife along with some other low priced mantiques that had been handed down and held onto. I told her no no no -don't toss, give them to the kids. She had a son and daughter in their mid twenties, and even though they were both renters, I suggested she offered them to her kids first. She didn't think they would want them, but I convinced her to at least ask them before chucking the lot. For the son, the simple gift felt like a coming of age moment, and the prefect time in his life to connect to his ancestors. The mantiques were small enough he could set them on his dresser, or tuck them in a drawer. I told her that every girl would like at least one nice table cloth and napkins, even if they're only used for a single Valentines day in her lifetime. She had a brunch and invited her daughter and her daughter's friends, where they sipped champagne and pawed through the doilies and table cloths and all the girls went home with something special, while the woman had a chance to tell the stories connected to the pieces. As far as a beginner household, a large matching set of tupperware replaces all those sour cream containers you can never find a lid to fit tightly on. A ladle, for some reason is the type of thing folks buy last like wise a whip. But a really good, heavy vegetable cutting knife always seems like an extravagance once you start shopping for them, so it's another purchase often put-off indefinitely (look for 3 rivet handle). And as simple as it seems, several matching dishtowels (4-6) washcloths (4-6) with matching pot holders make a kitchen look special, even if you are buying them at the dollar store. This post was edited by Lilylore on Sat, Oct 25, 14 at 13:25