kathleen, yep--primarily birds... all species except eagles & vultures, though one can't help but learn a few things about other wildlife along the way when in the rehab field as deeply and as insanely as I was. I think that I shall have to write something of my former life in "My Page" because people are probably sick of me repeating myself... I know *I* am...lol I began caring for wild birds in 1983, established a non-profit org. in 1989, the org. folded in 2002 when I couldn't keep up with it all as my health continued to decline. I am--for most practical purposes--retired but still have an aviary with [mostly] wild birds (and state & federal permits). On a very good day, I may take in a bird needing rehab if the situation is such that the bird won't need intensive care--or at least not for more than a few hours--or, of course, if it is a *corvid* (crow, magpie, jay, raven)! Oh those wimpy exclusively raptor people have it easy as the young only need fed 3-5 times daily compared to the majority of birds brought in for rehab that never shut their mouths and must be fed every 15 to 60 minutes... depending on condition, age & species of the baby. I can say this because "Sam" & Bob of Wild At Heart are friends. Actually, I first met Sam when she was at a training class for songbirds that I and another rehabilitator were teaching on behalf of Liberty Wildlife in 1987; I've known Jeani since she began as well. Btw, Wild At Heart *is* the best place in the Phx metropolitan area for hawks & owls to receive good care... and I'm not just saying that because I personally like 'em ( :> Ya' know, there are a lot of things that we've fed birds that you don't even want to know about --not to mention what's in our freezers... LOL (Well, my freezer collection ain't what it used to be!) *Thanks* for your --->kind

Where did Eric go? A few more pictures, all taken today. The first one is actually a plant from Eric and Crystal--the first bloom on a Cuphea cyanea that they gave me cuttings of: I really like this plant, so when I saw a bigger one for sale at Flora Grubb in SF (for $6, I think), I had to get it. It is also doing well (except for the part I stepped on): The Fuchsia boliviana Alba I showed in bud earlier has started blooming: (to get an idea of the size of these guys, an individual flower starting at the top of the tiny fruit down to the bottom is about 3.5 inches long). These are just young buds of Aristolochia trilobata (also called A. macroura). The tails get a foot long. I've heard some varieties have tails up to 3 feet long (and I love to get one of those). Sometimes I like the small, simple ones. This is Physalis peruviana, a plant not grown for its flowers, but its fruit. It is also known as Cape Gooseberry and is closely related to the Tomatillo. From the Andes, but I don't remember exactly where.

What a GREAT idea for a thread! Currently the only two non-av plants that are blooming is a moth orchid that has been blooming solid for about 10 months, and an unidentified episcia. :) No pics of them, but I totally get what you said at the very beginning where people say "Oh yea, that's nice." I have two large windows full of plants, and people walk in and go "Oh you have a green thumb!" And then change the subject - and I'm like, "OK, never mind I won't tell you about them! They are all different and amazing and have a story, but that's ok. Let's talk about the hardwood." LOL. So nice to have a group of people who appreciate the diversity and amazing therapeutic qualities of houseplants.

Nancy, I am already beat! Another roughly day and a half of all this activity and I might be dead, but we are having fun. It is good training for the upcoming planting season. Kim, I hope the meeting with the landlady isn't about her having different plans for your house. Enjoy your time with the little man. Jennifer, His name is Frankie and we've been trying for about three years to tame his feral side well enough that we can pick him up, touch him, pet him or exert any sort of control over him. Some feral cats never can acclimate to more domestic behavior, but we are winning him over with canned food. He still looks pretty wild and is incredibly lean and muscular as are many feral to semi-feral cats, but we were able to get him into a crate and take him to be neutered (and to get his shots). He was mad at us yesterday but also at the same time relieved to be back here and no longer at the vet's office, but not so mad he wouldn't let us feed him and pet him. A lot of people say feral cats cannot be tamed, but they can. Sometimes it takes a few years to do it though, and often it is a very slow process where you're forever taking one step forward and two steps back. He and Lucky seem to know each other from their feral journeys. Lucky is fully domesticated now, and I think there is hope for Frankie to someday be as calm and gentle as she is now. Kim, I'm sorry you're ill and hope you recover quickly. Your seeds and planner are a sign, I think, that you'll be gardening somewhere. Bon, The good thing about the cold weather here is that it usually passes through fairly quickly, as least compared to many other states. I hope y'all are toasty warm again soon....without the need for the wood-burning stove to provide that warmth. I think it stays cold here for two more days and the warming trend starts around Monday. If that has changed, I don't want to know it because I'm just hanging on and waiting for the warm weather to come back. Jennifer, Great job, Finbar! He's doing his job as far as he is concerned, and I think dbarron's ID as a shrew is the right one. You have something I've never seen here. I'm not saying we might not have shrews around, just that of all the god-forsaken-wild-things that ours cats and dogs have killed and brought home, there's never been a shrew among them. Nancy, This does feel like a more normal winter although we still haven't been nearly as consistently cold as we were our first few years here. Everything seemed to change around 2005 and since then winters just have gotten warmer and warmer, except for 2010-2011 which was the last really persistently cold winter that I can remember. Rebecca, They really expected more snow and ice flurries in north and central Texas than they received in general, but it isn't because the clouds weren't trying. A lot of snow and ice were falling from the upper levels of the atmosphere but in the very low dewpoints closer to the surface level, the precipitation was evaporating before it could reach the ground. Our dewpoint here was only 12 so I'm not surprised that adjacent areas of north Texas were the same. It was odd to see the Winter Weather Advisory covering the area south of the D-FW metroplex yesterday, but I bet everyone in the DFW area is glad the precip missed them. Nancy, I doubt DFW gets much warmer than we will today, but I think they usually warm up a day earlier than us, so if we are expecting the warmup on Monday, they may get it beginning Sunday. So much flu is running rampant down there now that we are carefully avoiding going south this weekend. Of course, flu is running rampant to our immediate north, so we aren't going far from home at all since Love County seems to have, so far, avoided the widespread flu and strep that now have closed down 8 school districts in the Texoma region. I cannot believe how cold it has been the last couple of days. We are up to 38 degrees and it isn't even noon yet, but I don't think we're expected to get much warmer than what we are right now. The 4 year old is lobbying to go to the playground in Gainesville, but I think it is still too cold for that. Maybe tomorrow will be a touch warmer. Or maybe the sun will come out. Dawn