Ok, whatever. I'm still waiting for somebody to stop by my house with a pair of snips, lol. I'd pretty much let anybody go to town on anything large enough to block the path. Here are some things that need thinning: Lonicera sempervires 'Sulphurea' Jasminum multiflora Thunbergias alata and grandiflora Trachelospermum jasminoides 'Yellow Star' and 'Variegata' T. asiaticum and T.a. 'Variegata' Passiflora caerulea, incarnata and 'Lavender Lady' Bignoia capreolata 'Miss Jeckyll'(maybe a mislabeled 'Mosaic', though) Salvia uliginosa Malvaviscus arboreus Hibiscus syriacus, pink Odontonema strictum Piper auritum Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Capatiola', 'Cooperii', 'Red Hot', and some unnamed, colors and white. Hibiscus acetocella Meyer's Lemon Buddleja alternifolia Ruellia brittonia, pink and blue. You can pull as many of these out as you can carry. Crocosmia crocomifolia, ditto. Brugmansia suavolens, bring the BIG loppers, lol. Quisqualis indica................. Oh, yeah. A friend had me cut back her massive plumerias yesterday and gave me most of the cuttings. I've been handing them out like candy. Really, come get 'em, lol.... I made some offers for postage. One person sent their's, no word from one, one didn't understand how to use PayPal. Sigh. I guess I'll have two boxes of cuttings to stick unless I just toss them.

Thanks Sylvia and Sally, This is a large organization that I know does do a lot of good. Apparently, they do more in the area they accustomed to working in. I can understand if they don't have members in our area and the volunteers are reluctant (or whiney) about the drive. We won't be requesting a refund or publicizing this because we don't want to harm the good they are doing elsewhere. The lady (Judy, a volunteer from the organization) who came when we rounded up the kittens a month or so ago came today and picked up Cookies. He will be tested for leukemia and feline aids then vaccinated and, a little later, neutered. During this time he will be living with a foster mom. Then he will go with the rest of the kittens to a PetSmart in Richardson. Adopters must agree that the cats will be indoor cats and that if for some reason, at any time things are not working out, the cat must be returned to the organization and not just given away or "thrown" out. I understand that the adoption fee at PS is around 125.00. Hopefully if someone is going to pay that much for a cat, they will give it a wonderful home (considering the number of free kitten ads they could have chosen from). I told myself I wouldn't do it, but I cried. Just couldn't help it and can't help it now. Barb, Candy and I discussed this morning with Judy the possibilities of us doing it all on our own. She volunteered her help and traps and we will be contacting the organization to get their approval which we will need in order to work with the local veterinarian (free spaying and neutering) and our local PetSmart who won't accept animals from individuals. Anyhow, thanks all for your advice and help. I know Cookies will be fine and find a great home, but I need a tissue right now. Take care, Kristi

PART I "I said, you are about to hurt yourself silly. And don't forget your necklace on the way out." I turned around, startled "Huh?... What??" I sorta said out loud to the chilly, golden light of the early Spring morning. I wasn't aware that a tree could sigh and speak in the same moment of time, but I experienced it in this way. "You're sweet, but go home to your kid and make yourself a nice cuppa joe, cuz It's not gonna happen". Just then, the 20 year old, 7 foot tall , Contorted Filbert Tree did it's best Guido - "ForGEHT about it". As my thoughts scrambled to present a solution, it became clearer to me while I dug a radial trench around the drip line . The careful work of my shovel was revealing a 2" thick root system, and I thought, the answer to today's transplant/relocation endeavor might be; "Damn. You're right. I know your probably right. I need to take a break and think about this. I'll be back in an hour. Don't go anywhere..." "If you say so..." "But believe you me, when I tell you, I'm not going anywhere today." Three yellow finches flitted as they merged within the inner canopy of this otherworldly specimen, this magnificent Hazelnut, who's future was on the chopping block of it's existence. The new home owner's botanical sentiments being, "Curly whatever's just not our thing, ya know? " No. I didn't "know". "We want it gone because we are going to put in a fabulous stone stairway from our front door to the sidewalk, and that helps keep the carpets cleaner." I literally bit my tongue and flinched from the pain. I needed a quick mantra before my tongue recovered enough for ego to make a bigger mess than this pile of dirt I'd been digging up. "Focus on the tree, the tree is your focus. Focus on the tree, the tree is your focus." How do you make it your goal to stay in the good graces of someone you don't agree with or hold respect for? By remembering they are you. If I pick this battle, I am jousting with an aspect of myself, albeit one I may have grown away from. Somewhere in my shadow is the quality of preferring nice carpets over sacred old growth trees. Not today. Invoke love, not ego's spite - thoughts of being better for experiencing reverence for this living symbol of life's bridge between worlds. I did some affirmative nodding while projecting a thoughtful countenance and said, "Yes, yes. Let me see what I can do - the root ball is getting a good soak, so I'll be back in a bit with some help". I left with my necklace still dangling on one of the tree's lower limbs. Earlier that morning, when I first arrived, I offered my respects and sought the tree's permission for the task at hand, offering a bit of brown bread and ale, and hung my stone on it's branch as a calling card. Now, I kinda felt silly for the whole thing, because I could have just asked. Who knew? Wood could talk. PART II When I returned to the site, it was not with help and it was not with cakes and ale and a reverent attitude. I plopped down under the branches atop a large, well established ground root, which had surfaced itself long ago into just the right shape to keep my backside from slipping off down the slight decline of the current landscape. A landscape scheduled, soon, for sheer destruction. A little flock of purple Crocus shuddered together in unison, causing a usually cheerful patch of Forget Me Nots to worry that their namesake would be for naught. "Pull up a chair. Talk to me". Why did I get the feeling I was the one being comforted? I was curious about the calm demeanor emanating from this non-human entity in the face of it's hingey future. I thought about this Filbert Tree being felled for selfish, cosmetic purposes. "..but, you're so beautiful... you're - so beautiful", was all the internal language I could come up with. Could I really get teary over this? "Hey, I brought espresso, biscotti, pears, and a cheese c.., canna, cannelloni." I said, in a morning-breakfast-picnic-voice. "Would you care for any?" In the original draft of this writing, the spell checker went off on me as I typed this last line, listing the goodies. So did the tree, right then. "Holly Saint Julian, no, It's, ... CAHN-uh-LOWWW-nee. Bees-CAA-tee." "What do you know of St. Julian?" I asked, between cookie bites. And without saying so, I understood the tree to take it's coffee with 4 packs of sugar, and that the Finch Clan would have a bit of the ricotta filling from my pastry-pronunciation-disaster. "She was a dancer." Right, no. I was expecting anything but that misinformed answer. But, to remain respectful, here...I responded in the least patronizing tone possible, "Okay, - really? She danced?" "Yup. That is just exactly what I originally meant to say. She- was- a -dancer. And, she IS the patron Saint of all things Hazel." Okay. I thought, now I'm talking to a Catholic tree. Maybe the original owners of the property were Italian Roman Catholics, which could then do my needy, pitiful, Gemini mind a favor, and throw me a bone. That info could wrap me up one clean, tidy, logical explanation of this Goodfella sounding Filbert with it's East Coast pizza-pie accent. So I asked. " I was wondering about the other family, if they....." "Nope. Not even close. And no cigars from Cuba, either. Atheists. They was both of them math teachers, no time for the Who-What-When-Wheres & Whys of 'Thee Uni-verse'." Awesome. At this point, I just wanted to munch on my pear for a minute, and process my head. I flashed to the other night, in my son's room, helping him with his homework. "Mom, do you hear that?" "Hear What?" I said. "That really fast piano music, like a chase scene in a cartoon?" He explained. "You don't hear it?" He was asking, worriedly. I said, "Well....not right this minute, but if you give me a chance I might hear it..." His eyes started to water up as he asked, "Mom, am I crazy for hearing music by myself?" I said, "Not even a little. I think you are ready for piano lessons, that's all." I promised him, "Hey, everyone in the world hears someone saying their name just before they doze off. Just ask around. Its very, very, common." I thought, now would not be the time to share with him about these tree talks. Later, for that. So, I took another bite of pear. "Yup. A- tee-yests." ...cont'd (c) E. Wyndrose

I have seen tabs with precalculated tips -- usually at least 15-18%, 20% and 25%. I find it crazy that people can't figure tips -- even with a calculator on their phone. I learned something I'd never heard before -- in addition to tip-out or tip share where a percentage of the tab goes to the kitchen staff, expo/bus staff, the bar and even the host or hostess, the credit card service charge comes out of the tip paid to servers where my son works. When a table of 6 or 8 get separate checks, they get hit with 6 or 8 transactions fees. A 20% tip may or may not reach 15% to your server. I don't agree with that practice, but can't change it. Does the kitchen get charged for the food and the utilities? Sheesh.