I, too, have some guinea eggs incubating. I hoping to increase my flock size from 4 to about 20. My 4 are very friendly. I hope adding more will not screw things up. Guineas are much better than my silly chickens. They don't scratch up plants. They do love the bugs though. I don't suppose they know the difference between good bugs and bad bugs though. The chickens just make a mess of the flower beds. To make it worse, something got all my hens so all I have left is three roosters too old for stew.

Fondest greetings dear Kathy! I'm humbly grateful for your kind words & compliments. Bless your heart! If you ever need a prayer partner or another kindred spirit to talk with, feel free to email me anytime. Always happy to make a new friend & fellowship :-). How are you feeling since last? I've been encouraged by what you & gardenofeden said concerning our trials & our Lord's faithfulness throughout. Believe me, I can wholeheartedly sympathize with such. If it's one thing I've learned, it's that He ALWAYS provides, in His timing & His way. I know what it's like to be laid up longer than one would like/expect & at the same time still having tons of things that need to get done. God's had to literally knock me to my knees on a few occasions because I was knocking myself out, & not in a good way (if that makes any sense). Congrats on your veggie garden going strong! Have you had any harvest yet? I got a few cukes, peppers, & tomatoes. I've had my heart set on some zucchini parm but don't know if I'm going to get any yield yet. Got flowers but no fruit yet. Been keeping a watchful eye for vine borers & so far so good. There's a nice fat eggplant hanging out but it needs to get bigger before I can pick it. Just hope the raccoons, possum, or squirrels don't get to it before I do! Can't wait to see pictures of your angel's when they bloom! That's awesome that they grew so vigorously after being cuttings from last year. I'm definitely going to put mine in the ground next yr. The pot I put mine in has become WAY too heavy now for me to move so I've been wheeling it onto my patio on a hand cart whenever nasty weather's expected. I would love to give you a peruvian daffodil but so far I've only got the one plant this yr. I know it should multiply next yr so come then I should have a plant to share :-). Will def keep you posted. In the meantime if I come across some bulbs I'll pick them up for you. We usually get them at Costco. Everything we've ever bought from there has bloomed better than the stuff from our high end nurseries. I honestly have no idea why the toads disappeared from my area. Sad though. I can remember catching a whole horse trough full of them, some of them were as big as my hand. My sister & I tried to keep them as pets but Dad told us they'd be happier being free so we'd always let them loose in the garden. Never had a pest problem back then. Now that my area has changed & the neighbors have become pesticide happy, I guess the toads either died or moved on to safer pastures. My yard is the only one that's organic. I only use something harsh as a VERY last resort (& even then I get the heebie jeebies about it). I keep my yard neat & clean but also as natural & woodland-like as possible, so it was a real treat seeing that little toad. Your mockingbirds sound like a fun pair! Mine just had 2 chicks. We raised our male ("Baby") after he was almost hit by a landscaping truck. I had to run out to scoop him up out of the street. Ever since then, he always comes back every yr with his mate "Pretty Girl" for peanut butter. They both come when called & even bring their chicks around as if they're showing them off to us. Speaking of which, how's that little sparrow doing? Have her chicks hatched? That is very sad about her mate! Thank God your sons are o.k. after those nasty storms! My friend's son & family had no power for over a wk in W.VA. I heard there's still folks w/o power. Thank you kindly for your advice Re:my brug! Truly appreciate it! I do have those white cabbage moths flying around. I'm going to take your advice & get some of that BT as a safe guard. Saw a brand called Safer caterpillar killer w/BT in it - would that be o.k.? Thank you also for the info about the homemade pest remedy too! Exactly how much ammonia should I use? It's in the 80's today on L.I. w/high humidity. My brug is hanging out in its spot & 3 of its buds are starting to unfurl. A garden spider has taken up residence amongst its branches & I couldn't be happier since its presence has been keeping away (for now) whatever was eating my brug's leaves. Have a happy day my friend! God bless & keep you (((hugs)))

Yes, I also need to know where in Cuba you are going? We were in the Veradero area 2 winters ago. Veradero has a public park that you can stroll through that has labels next to the trees and shrubs and perennials. There is only one public park there and so everyone will know where it is. Depending on where you will be staying...I know that the resort we stayed at...it was beautifully landscaped and I just walked around with a camera, paper and pen and asked the gardeners I met on my stroll the names of the trees and shrubs that I saw. (Then I came home and double checked in the internet and corrected the information...for names and their spelling etc.) As far as we could see the normal person does not make enough money to do any landscaping in their yards and I did not see any nurseries or bedding plant places for anyone to buy plants at. Has anyone else seen any in their travels to Cuba?

Cembra is hot! Parviflora and Koraiensis as well as Cembra are top notch in my opinion as far as 5-needled Pines go. Koraiensis is definitely the overlooked of the three and as Chub said to me a few years back, '(Koraiensis) should be planted more often (especially in the midwest) as it's not prone to any insect or disease.' Cembra is noted for a "twist" in it's needles as is Koraienis too, I believe. All three are great IMO. Funny you ask too because Chub said to me last week when I brought him over a graft of P.cembra 'Silver Sheen' - "I never met a CEMBRA I didn't like!" ...And he meant it. Chub also has a seed-grown P.koraiensis that's a good 30 feet that is just gorgeous. He named it after his late wife. I'll get a photo for you guys. Dax