Thanks everybody :-) Yes Brenda your right that purple flower is Canterbury bells campanula medium i beleive. Sara im so glad you liked it. I have wanted some for years and every time i buy them they die! Sooo i decided i would try to grow them from seed and it took a couple of years but i was so proud when they bloomed this year :-) They will probably die now! Hope not but i expect it. They seem really fragile. Thank you Jean! I just loved watching it zoom around and don't have a clue what it was eating but i hope it was mosquitoes :-) Do they eat mosquitoes? I was so worried for her because she was hanging out on the deck under the gutters that the blue jays love to dig around in and i was worried they would spot her and have a nice juicy bug dinner. She sure looked fat to me. Maybe full of eggs? She seemed to be guarding the birdbath fountain. I just havent ever seen one that big before. Usually they are skinny with lots of wings zooming by but she kept hanging around and i was so excited to see her little plump self. I beleive dragonflies are carnivorous aren't they? My son was so excited too. I love nature. I will definitely keep my eyes out for the lovely jewelwings Jean. Thank you :-) Brenda so glad you liked Herman! He/she has me trained. After breakfast or dinner i always carry the scrapes out with some bread and dog food to feed what ever comes by for a visit. Hermon is always sitting in the tree waiting and will "CAW" for me to hurry up. LOL...I hurry up too :-) The Bluejays have fits when Hermon is around but i love him/her anyway even if she eats the other birds babies its only to feed his own. Herman keeps ALL hawks and owls in their place too. I have seen him chase and attack a redtail hawk before. DO NOT mess with Herman! LOL...I feel really touched that he has made a connection with me and the food too. Hermon just had some babies come by for a visit but they wouldn't come down to eat. They just tried to hang on to the branches they were on and flopped and squawked a lot :-) Some didnt hang on to good and fell off so it was kinda funny to watch. Hope they come back for some more nibbles soon. They are always welcome. I will know they are here when the little Bluejay alarms go off. Life is good :-) Bonnie

Ahh yes, the math skills are really horrible (I don't know if this is just an epidemic in WV or if the whole US is calculator spoiled). I'll never forget one time I was at McDonald's and my total came to something like $4.96 and I gave her a $5...she messed up the register and was completely lost as to how much to give me back. I said "it's just 4 cents, don't worry about it"...but she said "well, then my register will be off"...so I waited for her to go get her supervisor who proceeded to use a calculator to figure up my change. I was completely dumbfounded. I'm not sure those were the exact amounts..but it was very simple math...so sad. The bad thing is I've seen several examples similar to this. For a short while while I was in college, I worked at Shoney's. I ended up quitting after about a month or so because the supervisor kept forcing me to work over when I had exams yo study for and things I really needed to get home to...but when I went in to quit, the manager came into the office and tried to talk me out of it because they had been having trouble finding people who can count back change! Amazing to me.

I am amazed at the friends I have here. I want to state that first and foremost. I am also in tears at the thoughtfulness, friendship and caring that has been shown to me. Dan, you are a wonderful friend for having thought of such a wonderful surprise and "cheer me up"! I have gotten a package from Dan, Linda and one today from Vic. You guys have no idea just how much it has touched not only me, but Cliff and the kids as well. From Dan I received: Shasta Daisy Musky Purple Columbine Mixed Datura Millet Grass- is this the tall one? Dianthus White Turtlehead- which has been on my wants list for some time and will be going in near my Snapdragons! and a wonderful note to cheer me up with smiley faces all over it :) From Linda I received: Seed envelopes Purple/white datura New England Aster Larkspur- unknown color Yellow Bells Trumpet Bush Chinese Lanterns Mammoth Sunflower Snapdragons- Tall Deluxe Mix Zinnia- Lilliput- something I've been thinking about adding for a bit! :) Flower stickers! Bookmark with the sun and moon!How well my friends know me! For those that don't know, I am Wiccan and my guiding symbol is the Moon. and another wonderful cheer up note! From Vicky: Charleston Gray Watermelon Jaradale Pumpkin- which I will have to look up, never heard of it Cilantro Pumpkin- Jack O' Lantern California Blackeyed pea Fennel Snapdragons- tall mixed Helianthus Microcephalus Hosta- Drk Green large leaved Black eyed Susan Queen Anne's Lace Dusty Miller- the boys will take this one from me, they ADORE Dusty Millers! Broom Corn- will be great for fall decorations next year! Cosmos- Single Sensation Mix Lufa gourd- I need more of these than the two I have now! Cleome Wild Sunflowers that grow all over where Vic lives :) Kale- Dwarf Blue Curled Spinich- Giant Noble Basil- Purple African Iris fan- no ID, unknown color Daylily fan- no ID unknown color- I enjoy surprises and can't wait to see what colors these are! A copper colored bird shaped decorative hanger with jacket hooks :) and another wonderful note reminding me of the wonderful things in my life to hold to when the world seems to be going nuts. You guys are the most wonderful friends I could imagine! The generosity of this brings tears to my eyes :) Thank you so very much!! HUGS, Kathy

well, the horns were definitely more like the head of the lark, but you are right I would have noticed the specific markings of a mature male. Horned larks are not really in our area except rarely in the winter. Streaked larks are around but I have never seen one. Probably more likely would be juvenile house finch since I have oodles of finches. thanks