What a hoot! The Songbird people could be great for all I know, and I've no problem with people crowing about a wonderful product they've bought. But be honest about it, and don't try to take me for a fool. That's not a lot to ask, is it? A minor amount of internet sleuthing took me from Songbird Gardens to Fiddle Creek Farms, also sellers of bird-related stuff and worm stuff, and also in Missouri. Naturally, I had to check out the testimonials, and look what I found. Sound familiar? "Received my Worm Factory Composter about 2 months or so ago and have tripled my production of Euro Nightcrawlers while making lots of rish compost for my flower garden. This is a wonderful product and I would recommend it to anyone. My husband does quite a bit of fishing and has an unlimited supply of bait worms. Because of this he saves money on fishing bait!" - Sheri G., Hawyard, WI Oh Reba, that wasn't very nice of you, now was it.... And how interesting that Lori G, in her testimonial on the Songbird site, is also from Wisconsin. Well. That was fun. Now I'm going outside to continue working on some of my lasagna beds. I've had cardboard laid down for a few weeks now, and I've got to start piling stuff on top, before it gets too unpleasantly cold to work outside. I took a peek under the cardboard yesterday. Can you believe it? I had, yes, sit down for this one, folks, I had WORMS there! Lots of worms! They came all by their lonesome, and I didn't pay a penny for a single one of them. Who'd a thunk it?

You are possibly looking for one or both of these small trees. Tart but if you add enough sugar the pies are outstanding. If you want seed I could gather some for you next summer, or cuttings. Big Dummy ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Prunus virginiana Choke Cherry is a shrub or small tree that reaches heights of up to 25 feet. It is often crooked and irregularly shaped. The flowers, which appear in spring are found in long clusters. The fruit can be anywhere from red to almost black in color and hang in clusters. Choke Cherry is very shade intolerant and usually one of the first to colonize disturbed sites. It prefers moist soils and is an edge plant, often found at field edges, along roads and fences. Wildlife uses: Choke cherry is a very valuable food source for many animals. Deer, elk and other big game animals browse on the leaves and twigs. Bears love the berries as do grouse, quail, and many other species of birds. Small groups of Choke Cherry provide excellent thermal cover for large and small animals as well as nesting and hiding cover for birds. Reclamation uses: Choke cherry is very hardy and can be very useful in erosion control in open areas. Small thickets of Choke Cherry along small streams makes ideal habitat for numerous species of animals and birds, and helps stabilize the bank. The shade also helps cool the water and provides resting areas of many animals looking to escape the heat. Backyard uses: The Choke Cherry is a very hardy plant that can be grown in your yard. The long clusters of blossoms in the spring can be beautiful. The berries, although too bitter for eating, make excellent jellies and syrups. Birds will be attracted to the berries as they ripen, creating an excellent natural habitat in your yard. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Prunus pensylvanica Pin cherry (Prunus pensylvanica) is a small common tree inhabiting a great variety of lands in the northern part of the United States and Canada. It is sometimes called fire cherry for its value as a reforesting agent after forest fires. It forms pure stands that provide shade for seedlings of slower growing species, then dies off, making way for the new trees. Another common name, bird cherry, reflects the prevalent use of the fruit by birds as food. It is also called northern pin cherry, wild red cherry, and pigeon cherry. The soft porous wood is of little commercial value. Native Range Pin cherry grows from Newfoundland and Labrador west to southern Mackenzie District and British Columbia in Canada. Scattered stands are found south in the Rocky Mountains to Montana and Colorado; southeastward from the Black Hills of South Dakota to Iowa, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, northeast to New England. In the Southeast its range follows the Appalachian Mountains south to northern Georgia and eastern Tennessee. Pin cherry flowers from late March to early July. Flower buds are formed in August or September of the preceding year. In Warren County, PA, flowers appear from May 1 to May 15. The perfect flowers are white and 12 to 16 min broad with long pedicels; they are borne in corymbs or umbels and expand with the leaves. The globose fruits ripen from July to September, depending on locality. They are light red, 5 to 7 min in diameter, and have thin, acid flesh and subglobose stones 4 to 5 mm long. Fruiting occurs as early as age 2 in natural stands in Pennsylvania.

...and don't forget the Belgian Waffes! :) Thanks for sharing with us. You made me think of the American humourous author David Sedaris - he's currently living in France and is/was taking French lessons with a group of Int'l students and he writes about cultural issues that have come up in class. While he's been in France: He learned that in the Netherlands children open their presents on Dec 5, in celebration of St Nicholas Day. Saint Nicholas is painfully thin and dresses somewhat like the pope, and the outfit was a carryover from his former career, when he served as bishop of Turkey. St Nicholas doesn't live at the North Pole - but in Spain! In the Dutch version he arrives in a boat, transfers to a white horse and he has six to eight black helpers. David could never pin down the exact count. It was always six to eight! In the early days if a child was naughty, Saint Nicholas and the helpers would beat him with a small branch and kick him, and if was really bad....he would be kidnapped and taken back to Spain. I thought just being on a naughty or nice list was bad enough. LOL Now Saint Nicholas just pretends to kick you!... Progess! Oh how dull is our American version after reading that - has all the makings of a Tim Burton movie. His French teacher couldn't believe when he said in US the Easter rabbit/bunny comes w/a basket and chocolates. A rabbit? In France the chocolate in brought in on a big bell that flies in from Rome. A bell? Ahh - the American big, while I was browsing some French and Danish blogs I noticed how "restrained" the Christmas decorating was to ours, I'll be thinking of that when I'm taking mine down, packing up and hauling it all to the attic over many hours...sometimes less is more, well easier anyway. Jim

Thank you for this..I too am saving it. One year, things got so out of hand with me. I wanted everything just so, and did too much. I made everyone miserable, including myself. I felt awful afterwards. I actually wrote a New Year's Resolution, on a piece of paper, for the following Christmas... I primised to Take Everything In Stride..do Only what was FUN for All, and NOT to put Anxiety on Myself or Others..and Most Important..To Remember The True Meaning Of Christmas'. I packed this resolution away with my Christmas Decorations as a Reminder, for the next year. When I unpacked it...I read it out loud to my family..and they were Relieved I promised to follow it. I did half of what I usually did, had more time to do (fun things) and felt what I didn't do was not important anyway. I think it was the first relaxed Christmas I had ever!! Now, have I continued to keep that promise?? hmmm .. well, not always!! lol jane