Oh Man, too sad... What a luck, that a few has been successfully propagated! Sometimes it is that close to save a rare finding... Just as my yellow- white variegated Norway Spruce... First found in 2010 as a over 120 yrs old forestry plant at an old iron mine, and no opportunity to graft, so i tried the found twigs as cuttings- no success. Moved 2011 to the place where i found the motherplant, no fallen twigs that winter. Then in 2012 a new try and two out of three graftings proceed. In 2013 some cat or marten stumbled trough my bed of propagatings- one of the two broken of... Again no fitting twigs fallen of the tree in winter 2013/14, and then, in the late fall of 2014, they cut the whole part of forest down, including the variegated motherplant. Rescue grafts in october doesn't succeed either... So this very single little grafting from a second class side twig (the, on an old tree, weeping ones) is the only chance of this mega- rare mutation. 120 Years of existence, and less than four tiny years decides it all... Just as in your 'Elko Run', whose motherplant surely was 40- 60 Years in age either, wasn't it? I hope Edwin's specimen thrived and you can get one back some day :)! Regards, Andreas

Good morning, Just wanted to stop by and update you all on the latest calamity.... Early yesterday a.m. DH & I were cleaning one of our birdies houses when I had this little suspicion of something being not quite right. I ended up calling my doctor and was told to head to the hospital. DH was already freaking out at this point and I was doing my best to keep him calm (shouldn't it be the other way around??). I was admitted to Labor & Delivery around 9:30am and got all hooked up to the monitors. My doctor was in shortly thereafter and did an exam. By about 10:30 I got the news that I was having contractions....very regular ones at that. The good news was that I wasn't dilated at all. But I was starting to thin out. They hooked me up to the IV and said they were going to keep an eye on things. Some of the contractions were pretty strong and at one point only 3 mins. apart! I was given an injection of Terbutaline along with 20mg. of Procardia. At first it seemed to be slowing things down a bit, but the contractions started intensifying again. I received another bag of IV fluid and 10 more mg. of Procardia. It was looking like I was going to have to stay the night. A few hours later my doc decided that the meds. had helped slow them down enough to allow me to go home for the night. I am due back at the office first thing this morning to see if there has been any change in my cervix. Please keep your fingers crossed that it is still closed!! I'm on Procardia every 4 hours, including at nighttime. I also got the wonderful news that I will be spending the duration of my pregnancy on bedrest. That's a tough one to swallow, but I will follow doctor's orders. DH is going to have to take over around the house. I am allowed to move from bed to chair to bathroom and back to bed again. That's about it. At least I will still be able to work at my desk a bit. Doc said no babysitting, so i'm pretty sad about that. My neice is just so precious and I hate not being able to take care of her. It's really tough because everyone works and my poor Sis Jenna is going to have to scramble to work something out by Wednesday. I'm also sad that I won't get to see a whole lot of the action over at the new house for a while. But, the baby is the most important thing right now and that is what i'm focused on. Baby Talon is doing wonderfully and was just perfect yesterday. His hearbeat and movements were monitored all day and he got an A+. : ) That made me feel much better. So anyhoo, i'll try my best to keep you updated on what's going on. Today is 32 weeks and we really need the baby to stay in there a while longer. Shirley, I LOVE that bunnies & chicks pic and really wish I could join in the Easter swap. It looks like i'll have to sit out of the swaps until probably June or so. : ( Jo, i'm so glad you are back. Take it easy and don't work too hard outside. Take lots of breaks....just sit & enjoy. Marea, still waiting for ya'! Hope you are happy in the new house. Melissa, Spring Fever has got a hold of me too. It's going to be hard to sit & watch the weeds grow for the next couple months. Annie, I did a double take when I saw the pic of your book. I have the same one! My Mom got it for me for Christmas and it's really a beautiful book and just wonderful to show off your pressed blooms. So sweet of you to give it away. I need to catch up a bit more, but I have to get ready to go. Sure hope this appointment goes well. Hugs to all, ~Dawn (mamabirrd)

Hi TDLs - The sad news of Carmen's death hurt so. She was hoping to beat the cancer and was to young to leave this beautiful world. We're pottering along. Things take me a long time with my left hand now in a splint. It's still about as limited as it was in the cast. Today and yesterday we set out Dianthus at the top of our rocky bank with a thirsty maple at the top. Not many flowers prosper there, but we've finally found a short list that do. We have these daylilies in bloom: Strange Eyes Happy Returns Black Eyed Stella Courtly Love Forsyth Lemon Drop Navy Blues Bertie Ferris Small Gesture Breakfast at Tiffany's Olive Bailey Langdon Mimosa Umbrella Barbie Doll Shelby Charmer Sanford House Raindrop Sure is pretty for a new garden! Talon is getting big fast! Maybe you do have a linebacker there, Dawn! He is such a handsome baby. You three make the cutest family! I'll try to post more later. Hugs all around Barb

Lakeaffect, thank you for the link. My son is coming home for spring break tomorrow, and his university hasn't given any indication that classes will not resume after the break. Its web site has information and updates on the coronavirus, and indicates it's working with the city's health department to monitor outbreaks, which so far, have not reached the city. I'm an adjunct at a community college in a major metropolitan area that has seen a few cases. My college has not mentioned anything. Nothing. I just did a search at its web site, my inbox... nada. Our spring break is in a few weeks, so perhaps our officials are working on a plan. I'm surprised by the lack of information because they're usually excellent facilitators of information to our community.