Hi Harry! I wish that you live closer, I would invite you for lunch today.:) This is the first time that I am growing the Okinawa sweet potato, I really have a small garden so I planted them around the blackberries and sugarcane. I kept cutting the vines so they wouldn't run over other places. You can keep the vines as small as the bush ones cutting them. Next warm season I am going to plant them in the raised beds. I will double the amount, let's say if I am growing 6 slips of the bush porto rico, I will grow 12 of the Okinawa. The color keeps a deep purple even after cooking, I suppose after some curing they will taste better. They are excellent now! You must be busy shelling all those BJBB,lol. I am very busy too making papaya chips in the dehydrator, they taste good with salt like french fries but better for you... Thank you Wildatheart - You should try to do a lot of gardening now since you like the cold, me on the other hand likes the heat, after living in Arizona for 10 years I put gloves for anything. This morning when I went to walk my dog on the trail, I was thinking that is time to take out the leather gloves to walk and I had scarf too.lol. Silvia

Yeah Angie it really depends on the aggressiveness of the birds. Last year the blues and TRES would fight here and there. The blues would land on the TRES's box and they would come after them but the blues refused to budge. Even after multiple dives the blues just wouldn't budge! They used it as a perch mainly. But when the swallows landed on the blues box....look out! I recall the Male and Female each pinning the swallows to the ground a time or two. The male would frequently chaise them if they got anywhere close. This year they perch on each other's boxes but usually split up when together. If the swarm of the swallows comes in the blues leave. But the swallow pair next to the blues perches on their box and if they see another swallow land on the blues box they chaise them down and flutter. Same with the blues! Another Male bluebird (His call sounded like a fledgling from last year, maybe it is? Can anyone answer this) showed up today and the primary male chaised the other male high in the sky and ran it off. These two species are so alike aren't they?! But why is there a swarm of swallows at my boxes and only 3 bluebirds? They face the exact same problems but yet the poor bluebirds are always out-numbered! Mr. Blue was perching on, entering, and singing on the box. He'd then perch nearby and when the female landed on the box he was wing waving like crazy! But she landed on the front and landed on the top frequently. I hope they start building soon! Just not laying! Worried about cooler temps. 47 tomorrow and then 50's and 60's the rest of the week.

Hi, My box challenge is going on but mainly today I am shoveling our long drive. It's about 4-5" but so light'n'fluffy I want to see how far I can go with a standard plastic shovel. Nothing more so I don't over exert myself. We have a scoop shovel and snowblower but it's sooooooo sunny, glistening snow and just drop dead Mother Nature gorgeous. Later I'm planning on doing another box and finishing my laundry. If this much gets done today I will be one really happy bunny - oh and a nice smelly soak in the tub with all my smelly girly stuff!

Busy, but not hard work. My nephew is bringing my Mom part way to meet us for early easter lunch tomorrow. I have Easter baskets for them, will try to make it fun for her. Restaurant. He can't bring her Sunday (he's working) and my brother and his wife are out of town. We're making the 6-hr round trip in two weeks, hotel reservation, are hosting her 90th birthday party at her retirement center for her then so decided to keep it a little light this weekend. And there is mothers day two weeks after her birthday ;0) I have three Costco half hams in my refrigerator just purchased, and instead we're having oysters on Easter. A friend was coming from the peninsula this afternoon and picked up Hama Hama yearlings for me, always so good. It's forecast to be a nice day, maybe I can get some outside work done Easter afternoon. Our Spring has been so wet, I'm behind.... Idstarr, congratulations on the blood count!