Dacaf coffee? Really, Josh? ;-) I don't know... I guess I just always go for the gusto, or something... I couldn't drink decaf coffee, drink a light beer, eat an item because it was low fat, or smoke a light cigarette! If I'm going to go, I'm going to go all out!! :-) I want to really taste my food and/or beverage... and not necessarily consume it just because it's better for me! And before you say anything... ya, I know... smoking isn't good for me, either! It's the last bad habit I have, and I don't do it THAT much! I'm working on it... ;-) Chicken wings are for people who really like to work at eating... they must be, because I can't for the life of me think why else anyone would want to eat the one part of a chicken that hardly contains any meat! I like skin on, bone in chicken drumsticks and thighs, and I like them either marinated and grilled, or breaded and fried, or baked as a whole bird surrounded with vegetables! Seafood and fish are awesome... as long as they're fully cooked! I can't abide the thought that parasite eggs might lie dormant within the flesh... but that's where they might be. Fish and pigs are notorious for carrying parasites. I'd go for the cooked Japanese fish and seafood, but not the raw. Dealing with dogs so much has made me very aware of parasites. I once wrote an article for a breed specific magazine on parasites... the research I did was very eye-opening. And, yes... there are some kinds of worms that humans can get, only one of which is the tapeworm. Fish also contains a little more than trace amounts of mercury and other chemicals, thanks to industrial dumping. It seems to accumulate more in the belly fat of large fish, so be sure to trim all that off when preparing it. In other news... we got some crazy weather last night! We got hit with an ice storm, sort of. It rained or snowed a couple of inches of tiny balls of ice. It was like walking on sand. It was the strangest weather I think I've ever seen! The roads are sheets of ice with a covering of ice balls! It's very slick out there... anyone traveling in it should be very careful! Charades sounds like fun, Al! I haven't played cards or any games in a long time... not since the kids were younger. We're kind of isolated down here... all of our friends live up north. And you guys are scattered all over the country! Funny thing, though... last night, we were talking about a bulb type I want to get, and Old Guy says, "you should get a bunch and send some to your friends... they're always sending you stuff", and I said, "I should... I've got really generous friends, don't I?" And he said, "yes, they certainly are good friends!" So, there you have it... I, too, wish we all lived closer to each other. Can you imagine the fun we'd have together?! Can you imagine all we'd learn together, and what we could accomplish?!! :-) And speaking of bulbs and sending things, I will have care packages for some of you when the weather breaks. Anyway... not much on the agenda today... except hauling more water and chipping ice out of water buckets and horse troughs and poultry pans! I wish the ducks didn't have to bathe so often in winter, but it's what keeps their feathers in good condition, I think. They're incredibly messy! If I can't locate the Day Glo mantis pictures, Mike, I'll be sure to take a new batch next autumn. I noticed several new areas of the gardens that contain egg cases, so we should have quite a nice population this year! Well... it's about that time again... time to make the donuts. Chores call. Happy Continual Birthday, Josh... and a great day to everyone! :-)

Mike, Unfortunately I have to start over with my ice cream banana because i left it out in the cold. I'm currently moving and might try with a metal halide indoors. While we're on the subject of tropicals though I have a miracle fruit (Synsepalum dulcificum) in Al's 5-1-1 by a window with a cfl which is currently flushing yet again. It initally dropped all its leaves back in march but its come all the way back. Hopefully I'll get some fruit from it soon. I also have a second one of these trees- I put it in the 5-1-1 but with Sphagnum instead of peat. It dropped all its leaves and has done nothing at all for the past 3 months. The moss is very slow to dry but I hear these love water so I don't know whats wrong with this one. Maybe it needs humidity indoors to get it kick started. If anyone would know, i'd love to hear. I'm anxious to try growing some citrus this summer. -Greg

Josh---thanks so much for thinking of me-----DH and I are both having some health problems ( comes with age)---LOL---My computer time has been limited----Paula did notify about this post-----Hi Kate and Pam Hope to be visiting more often Florence

Soil-less is hydroponics. Organics is a scam. Chemical fert is salts. Organics need to be broken down to the same salts that chemical fertilizer is made of before plants will absorb them. i have no problem with organics but it's not better than chemicals. Urine is organic feces is organic dead rotting animals is organic household ammonia is organic anything grown with artificial light, even just sprouted seeds, is not organic. Organic trees can be non organic trees fed organics only for a year. So something like grapefruit that takes 15 months to grow can start growing on chemicals, switched over, and be sold as organic.