Thank you all. I'm a pretty lucky ducky too! What would I do without them? I watch them for a good share of the day. They fascinate me so much that I can't help myself. :-) Hey sumac, I don't mind the extra work at all. I live for it. It's what pulls me out of bed in the morning, just knowing that they're all out there. The chickens are lap chickens. They all heal my soul daily. (Really :-) ) I grew up with birds which was my mothers side business. (She also did bird rehab) She was a nurse but she bred and sold cage birds too. She kept journals about them all. They're full of dates and numbered nest boxes and the colors of the parents, colors of babies, who she mated them with... There must have been hundreds and hundreds of birds, maybe more, that she raised over the years. She bred for color and disposition. I have always LOVED birds. But my mother never had DUCKS!! What was wrong with her??? LOL I have no cage birds, but I have had chickens most of my adult years (I'm 51). Getting a spring duck baby last year was literally accidental. My son found a very smashed mother duck on/near the road. He saw this movement as he drove past and he stopped. His wife opened the car door and there was this little tiny thing...a baby Mallard. He was doing all the usual hysterical things that ducks do when they're scared. She scooped him up and they went looking for more babies, but didn't find any more. Of course they brought it to ME. I turned to butter. I was besotted. Hopelessly lost and in love with the little guy. He was Mr. Flippers. Then I found this site! I found out that he needed a friend, so I very quickly went to the hatchery and all they had left were the more heavy bodied babies. It worked out great. Then Mr. Flippers flew with the wild ducks, just like I knew he would. Uh-oh. I'm telling another story. I have to stop doing that. Anyway, here I am with three and I'm still in the same emotional state as I was in the beginning... In LUV with 'em. Things already have become more intense, so I'm watching them very, very carefully. I've taken Mrs. Pippit away from Mr. Flappers twice because he held her under the water for so long trying to mate with her, so I am planning to seperate them for at least part of the time. I'll only allow them together when I'm with them. I've placed their pools and food on the far side of my patio and can watch them most of the day that way. But you are right. They will need to be separated. I have spent about four hours a day with them during the warm months. Since the cold weather I probably still watch them that long, but it's from the inside looking out more often than not. Thank you for you advice. I love to hear what other people are doing with their ducks and chickens and I'll take all the advice I can get! :-)

Great story...interesting, as well...makes perfect sense! I worry about that fern:(....I hope the recipient can do it justice. My grandmother had a 'Boston Fern' growing in her 'sitting room' years back. The fern came from her mother when my grandparents were married....that was 1925. When Grandma had a stroke that necessitated her move to a nursing home in the early eighties, the fern (and the fabulous 'fern stand' where it perched) came to my Mom/Dad's home. My mom simply didn't have the right conditions (nor that famous 'green thumb' (lol!) to maintain/grow that fern...it died within a year. I was just a teenager, and though I owned a few plants at the time, I didn't have the knowledge or the interest to do anything about it...but I think of that fern cascading over that fern stand often and think of what a shame it's loss was!

aamir - This is such a beautiful perfectly shaped flower of Mr. Lincoln! What an astonishing rose! I feel it embodies everything, what you are hoping for in a red rose. I got a small band of Mr. Lincoln myself this year and can just hope that it will bloom for me in the future like yours does! Thanks for posting the pictures!

Maple man, helpmefind.com has photos of all three of the purple polyanthas I mentioned - Baby Faurax, Heinrich Karsch, and Raymond Privat. If you click on the link I posted above, it will take you to the Heinrich Karsch page of Helpmefind.com If you're referring to Heritage Rosarium, they're only open by appointment, but from what I understand, Nick Weber, the owner, is accomodating and very nice. Here's a link to their website, which has a phone number and email addy if you want to contact Mr. Weber about your rose. I didn't see any of the three polyanthas I named on his list, though. Did you read the article about Heritage Rosarium in the Washington Post the other day? Here is a link that might be useful: Heritage Rosarium