I'll have to check I out, gaz! The other day I was trying to post my observations of the parents bringing their babies to the feeders. I watched Papa Downy bring his baby and feed it as it sat in the privet bush. The baby kept trying to land on the suet basket but never made it. Papa fed him then suddenly flew off leaving baby to screech. Baby finally flew after him. All the birds have given me a great deal of pleasure this week.

Hi Laura, Is this book by any chance the one authored by Peter Wohlleben "The hidden life of trees"? (also a great reading). They are everywhere ! (46.8093° N, 25.8143° E) Michael

Yes normally we would do the hour drive to the closest B&N big town and do some Christmas shopping but just weren't up for it this year. But want to support brick and mortar bookstores so shopped the same store online. Really trying to avoid Amazon . . . I did the "make your own comic" book last year, my grands love activity books but that's what hubs got them. As for kid's books, I bought my 10 yr. old female gd this book: "Vampire Island" by Adele Griffin. It is apparently part of a series. We'll see if she likes it. I got her a repro necklace which was apparently featured in "The Vampire Dairies" (I was just looking for a cool locket necklace). So that got me thinking along the vampire lines as gd likes goth a bit, just like her mom. But I didn't want to rush a ten year old into the "boyfriend girlfriend" vampire genre, she's only in 5th grade, so I picked "Vampire Island" because it is about a whole family of vampires. No reviews yet as to whether she is going to like it. One of the books that didn't come that hubs got for her is "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill, which is a Newbery Award winner. That sounds great too. For 8 yr. old female gd I got the dvd of Disney's "Thomasina the Cat" which was a favorite of mine at her age. I got the dvd quite a while ago, as the idea came to me early on in the Christmas shopping season. I kind of regret that I didn't get her the book, because it is just about at her reading level, she's advanced, and it got stellar reviews, all his books really. The author is Paul Gallico, and the original source book is "Thomasina the Cat Who Thought She Was a God." He also wrote several other children's books such as "The Snow Goose" which I remember also liking as a kid, a little older. I think I may get same gd some of his other works later . . .

There are various sources out there. I don't find them to be too technical but then my experience is different from yours. You might want to check them at a library or similar before purchasing. Should all be available through Amazon. Ken Druse - Making More Plants Henry Kock - Growing Trees From Seed Michael Dirr - Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation