Hi everyone Thought I'd tuck this in at the end of a thread as I just need to vent. I'm trying to figure out why my kind, funny and supportive spouse who appreciates everything I do becomes insufferable when it comes to DIY projects. Here was our exchange when I showed him the bathroom. Me: So what do you think? DH: (Examines surfaces carefully). Did you sand the walls before painting them? Me: Of course do you like the color? DH: Mmmm. How will you attach the wainscoting to the walls? (Weve had this conversation 3 times by phone) Me: Adhesive on the walls then nails. Dont you think the cabinet turned out nicely? (Ive sanded and repainted a hideous brown wall cabinet white and added handles). DH : You might have trouble with these walls. Me: (Sigh) I know. I took the toilet out all by myself. DH: Will you get everything done before Mum arrives? Me. Im trying. DH. What will you do with the electrical outlet? What about the wire from the old light fixture? Arent you going to fill the holes from the old towel rail? Me: (Walking away) I just wanted to know if you liked it so far, especially the floor. DH: Of course I do. I just have questions. Me: Id be feeling better if youd said something like "Wow it looks great in here, youve been working really hard, what a transformation." DH: Youre over reacting, its much better than before. But are you sure you know how to grout? Perhaps he should get a job at Home Depot. Mary

First my heartfelt thanks to Anita for her warm and caring comment. It meant the world to me. Much I don't remember back then, and either I or the paper got the detail wrong about the bed/machine. Bernadine had a younger sister, I remember, thought her name was Brenda, didn't sound right, maybe it was Glenda. I have thought over the years what a terrible ordeal it would have been for the family, the caring, the moving to CA and the constant sorrow and stress. I know what it is to lose a child, lost my son in December 2012 under vastly different circumstances, and I will never get over it. It was fourth grade, the fall of 1950. The family moved to Davenport from Buffalo or Linwood, and Bernadine may have started a little late that year. February 1951 was still fourth grade, and I don't think Bernadine returned to school after that Valentine's Day I mentioned in one of my posts. Then was the unsuccessful surgery in Iowa City. Bernadine would have been in a coma for at least six years before she died. There are probably still some here who remember her. It is painful to think that so much has been learned and new diagnostic methods that she could be saved were it to happen now as they are able to save to many heart patients. It was a blessing for Anita to be born the year after her death, and she was no doubt much welcomed and loved, but no child can ever replace another. So thank you again Anita for responding to my old post. And hope I didn't say anything wrong or offensive. About the roses. I had my own website and had an html page full of my "finds" where I found most of them, and how they looked after I got them rooted. The best I can do is post them to my flickr photo stream. Some you can kind of figure out but most will be a jumble. See if this link works to my flickr account. There should be 29 or so rose photos. I tried some months back to upload a couple photos to houzz and failed. I used to be able to do it with ease but not since they changed the format of the site. https://www.flickr.com/photos/44652973@N04/

I drove down to the Farm Center today to buy this rose, but they had already closed (darned Daylight Savings time messes with my sense of time). Anyway, I got out and looked through all the roses. They got more in stock. There are three Night Owls left. And then I spotted another rose two pallets over. WOw! It was the most beautiful red I had ever seen! The rose is a large shrub rose called "Hot Cocoa". Oh boy! I am going back tomorrow. If the roses aren't too much, I hope to get two of them and one of the purple Night Owl. If they are too much, I will have to decide. Can a person be FICKLE with a rose??? :) ~Annie

Animals can be so strange....you may put all your time and effort into building just the right box, selecting a 'perfect' site, and then....nothing. Or the opposite may happen, and it will seem as if they were sitting around WAITING for you to get their new home up and going for them. I think it's different for everybody, but you will have to be PATIENT. Years ago we got a booklet from the DNR that had blueprints and general info for houses that were specific for each species. We looked it over and chose to make wood duck boxes, thinking they would have a place to nest by our pond. What we learned, in fact, was that many species simply don't care if a box is not "designed" for them...if they can get their bodies through the hole, there's nobody already at home (depending on the animal this may not matter either) and the place seems safe enough, it's a done deal. Not only will screech owls use a duck box as a day haven, they will indeed nest and rear young in them. There is a slough I frequent that has three duck boxes on it, and during one spring I discovered one particular box was home to a nest of screechies. I think the slough was dry that year, but usually this box is surrounded by about 2 1/2 feet of water...a rough first flight for any chick. I can't recall how many chicks were in that nest...I will have to try to dig out the animal album and find the photos. But they will use a duck box. When we first hung out duck boxes here at our place, I was getting frustrated waiting. It was something like three years before we finally found a nest, and then all three boxes had action!! It's worth the wait, so hang in there. But I'm still waiting for bats to use their house....I don't think they need any extra places with all the shagbark hickories. But the winner in my Crazy Nester category goes to the bluebirds at my dad's place. For the past three years, there has been a pair of bluebirds nesting in his martin house. Not a thing to be seen of any martins, but these blues are shoulder to shoulder with house sparrows and to this day I don't yet understand how they are pulling this off.