JourneyNorth is a web-site funded by the Annenberg Foundation, devoted to teaching children about North American wildlife. There are observation categories, such as "first adult monarch sighted" or "ice out" on a nearby lake. As a participant, you enter the observation in the database, and then you can look at a map of North America, to see the observations made by other people. I think that most of the actual observations are made by adults, and that they have other activities for children, to keep them interested. I'm not exactly clear on how schoolteachers use the site. You can visit the site by searching under JourneyNorth.org

Thanks, Bernergrrl! It was so bittersweet releasing them especially my little miss "bad boy". I got to provide the instructional link for "downed chrysalis" you gave me to another forum poster who had a BST whose girdle broke and was hanging by his little tush attachment. "Pay It Forward" is a nice way to go through life. I've still got the last chrysalis (brown) hanging in enclosure and I sure hope he doesn't go into diapause and overwinter. I'll be worried all winter about him out in the garage but I read it's better not to bring them in the house because higher temps could lead them to eclose when you've got nowhere to release them since it's winter in the NE! You've been a doll just like your little one and I thank you. Mechelle, it seems like the gulf coast and CA have bumper crops of butterflies of so many varieties. My father keeps telling me the same thing MCronin reminded us of this week...we think there are less butterflies at this time because we forget most activity in some parts of US takes place toward Fall. I hope so because I haven't seen a single Monarch yet this year. For me, except for one male Eastern Swallowtail, the BSTs are the only ones I've seen so far this year not counting the dozens of Cabbage Whites nectaring like there's no tomorrow. Once I spot a butterfly I follow him/her around the yard just to watch. Love it. I used to travel to Texas a few times a year for business when I worked for a company that supplied industrial heat exchangers...don't ask...LOL. Annually attended Petro-Chem and Oil shows at AstroDome as booth vendor...what a pain. It was the 70s and a female in that world wasn't exactly run of the mill except standing on a rotating stage showing off some huge piece of equipment...and I don't have the "equipment" to stand on a rotating stage...LOL. I'll never forget my first time coming out the door of the plane onto the tarmac at the Houston airport and immediately being drenched in perspiration from the heat and humidity. Then you go inside an over airconditioned building and get chills. Once spent a "charming" day climbing all around machinery and hoses at bleach factory along ship channel. Not thinking before I went out there with sales rep I didn't wear (or have with me) older shoes so my heels were ruined by bleach leaking all over the place...LOL. It was a rough and tumble business back them but I learned a lot about those industries and there's not much I'm not curious about and happy to learn more. Is it warm enough in your part of Texas for butterflies to eclose most/all year round? If not will your new BSTs go into diapause like they do up here in NE? I learned about 15 years ago from a person raised in Amarillo that it gets very cold and snows up in that part of the state. Well, you'll be a busy mama for a while with all those little ones. Think I'll go check the parsley again...ya never know...LOL. Thanks for your kind comments. This is a warm forum and it's so nice to find a place in this world where people are welcoming, encouraging, supportive and have sense of wonder & lots of humor. Guess if you care about these little guys who turn into beautiful creatures of nature and take the trouble to raise them then that caring carries over into other parts of life for many people. Makes me glad and appreciative. Butterflies take the naturally occurring "gloomy" out of a lot of pockets of people's lives. Trust me...if I find anymore cats there'll be more long missives of my experiences. I just got to find me at least ONE Monarch egg or cat! I already have all the rearing supplies and plenty of Milkweed. :)

I don't ever remember my mother making bread....but my father did. Not often and when he did it was with much flourishing and lots of praise from all present. My paternal grandmother baked bread fairly often in my mempry...and her mother in law ( my grandfather's mother) baked bread almost daily I recall. She ran a boarding house, so likely my recollection is accurate. My father taught me the basic kneading motion...once you learn, you never forget. I made bread often when I was pregnant for the first child. In those days you had to quit work at 3 months. amd we only had one car and my husband needed that, and it was winter....so I baked. I only had 2 cookbooks, so I pretty well baked my way thought Fanny Farmer. I remember going down to the shore when my daughter was 18 months, and I had to stay home while she napped and everyone else went to the beach, so I made bread... I had found some yeast in the cupboard and I had flour salt and milk....and no cook book....so I winged it....and it was wonderful! I had no bread pan, not even a cookie sheet, so I baked the bread on an upside down 9 by 12 cake pan! That made me realize that in home made bread, perfection is nothing when compared with the smell of bread fresh from the oven. I have made under baked bread, over baked bread, forgotten the salt ( just add extra butter when youe at it!) and forgotten to add the yeast until I realized that it didn't rise.....so I mixed the dry yeast into the dough, added a little more water to make it easy to knead and a bit more flour....so it wouldn't be sticky....and you would never know. It's really really hard to ruin bread. I repeat, just do it....you might waste $10 worth of ingredients and 4 or 5 hours of your time if you have about 4 to 6 failures in a row....but if you had gone to some cooking class, you would have spent more $$ and spent more time and learned 1/2 as much. Just do it! Linda C

Hi all. We met with our house designer today. The goods and the bads. Bonus - he was able to give me another foot on the fridge wall (yay) so that helps with the blind corner (I want to close it off to preserve drawers) and the pantry was also enlarged which will allow for my small chest freezer. The overall kitchen dimension is 9' x 15'. The 'it will have to do': pantry is still around the corner. I think it will be okay. It will keep my peeps out of the sink/stove area. They will access pantry for cereal and snacks and the fridge is right there out of my work zone. I could get creative and have the kitchen side cabs open to the pantry and put the cereal and most used items there - how fun would that be? Because that wall backs to pantry I can also recess the cabs and fridge if I need them deeper as well. The MW has to go on that wall...and they are deeper than 12". I am feeling much relieved as this last draft that he did for us (he already sent it because our changes were few and to other parts of the house) is 99% on. We are still studying it though. :) I will post this latest draft with a few questions and see what you all think. There are 2 main things I am contemplating. One is the cupboard pantry reach through (I think dh would think that is CRAZY) but I think it may be a perfect compromise. Would that be something that is super expensive to do? The other is still trying to fit in this sort of thing. It is Michelle16's and she has a fridge and pantry flanking whereas I'd have just the fridge to the right and a corner would be on the left. I have 4' to play with there from fridge to where corner would start. I will try to post the new layout tonight but it may not be until tomorrow! Thanks. Lisa