Oh goodness! Thanks for the well wishes from everyone! There's no break, the doctor only calls it "hip displacement", he said he would call if he found anything in the x-rays(health care in Mississippi) In the meantime, I'm to take it easy, and try to lay flat. He gave me 5 pills to take(wow, 5 WHOLE pills...all for ME!) non-narcotic pills at that,not pain relievers, but some sort of muscle relaxer. They didn't do a darn thing for me,either. I see another doctor on March 3 (health care in Mississippi). And I hate for ya'll to think I'm a real klutz( I AM,sorta) LOL...but my front porch only has 2 steps off of it, and I do have a rail and hand rails,lol! It has a lot to do with all the anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications I take all day long and the fact that my mind forgets I'm not a teen-aged gymnast or cheerleader anymore *blush* Oh and we shouldn't have tried to make the molded concrete walk starting right under the steps...too uneven! I've crafted a few things I'll post about later. Here's the front porch...she looks innocent,doesn't she?

According to the people at Clemson University the best means of control of the Kudzu Bug is to vacuum them up. These wee pests from Asia that feed on the Kudzu, and Wisteria, plants are relatives of stink bugs and if crushed, or killed with an insecticde, will produce a foul odor and if mashed will stain what ever they have been mashed on. Here is a link that might be useful: About Kudzu Bugs

cowboywaltz, I will sheepishly admit to being a fellow closet kudzu fan. Before everyone jumps all over me, let me acknowledge that, yes, kudzu is definitely an invasive, noxious weed, and a big problem in a lot of areas. But it is also a plant that has some functional, economic, and aesthetic value, and I don't think it's fair to altogether discard those "pros" just because of its considerable "cons." For one thing, the degree of kudzu's invasiveness varies considerably across the South depending on local climate and conditions, ranging from being horribly out-of-control in some places to being merely a rambunctious nuisance in others. And also, very importantly, it doesn't spread by seed very readily in most places, so its potential for popping up far away from a single parent plant is generally pretty low. That means that IF someone plants it in one place, and is very consistent and conscientious about managing it to control its spread, it can be responsibly grown for its virtuous attributes, without worrying too much about it threatening local ecosystems. The biggest problems with kudzu in the South have come from its use for bank cover and erosion control in big, open areas like highway embankments. In those places, it was impossible or impractical to manage it closely enough to prevent it from escaping vegetatively, and so its phenomenal growth rate allowed it to spread far and wide, and become a major environmental problem. But if you're careful, I'm sure you can continue to grow it in your yard without hurting anyone else (although I'm not exactly clear on why you'd want to, when there are so many other outstanding vines for quick summer cover on a trellis). Personally, I wouldn't consider growing even a small amount of kudzu anywhere in the foothills or low-elevation mountainous areas of the Southern Appalachians, since it's such a problem in those places. Elsewhere maybe, although on principle it still might be better not to. Kudzu doesn't produce a lot of viable seeds, and the sale and transport of them may be technically illegal in a lot of places anyway, so getting your hands on them may be hard. I'm sure you can cajole someone somewhere into selling or swapping you pieces of dormant kudzu crowns, although it would seem a whole lot simpler to just dig a few up from the side of the road somewhere. If you'd like an "official" source for it, one place is Plant Delights, which is now offering a variegated kudzu cultivar through mail order. I've seen their original plant there, and it's fairly attractive, but I wouldn't call it beautiful. But it might be worth considering. I hope (or at least, I suppose I hope) this helps! Here is a link that might be useful: 'Sherman's Revenge' variegated kudzu from Plant Delights

The only reason I am posting (re-opening this thread) is that charfair beat me to it. Kudzu is a VERY USEFUL plant - it is edible for both animals and humans, it is a nitrogen fixer, and it would be an AWESOME feedstock for cellulosic ethanol. The problem is that the AG industry is against it, therefore the proper harvesting equipment has not been invested in. Just like electric cars - the auto industry killed them. Personally, in the North, if I was to raise sheep or goats I would plant it as a cheap fodder source. HOWEVER, I must agree with the INVASIVE argument in this sense: White Mulberry trees are EXTREMELY INVASIVE here - you CANNOT KILL THEM!!! They take over everything!!! We had one that was planted by a bird. I left it there for years, but it never bore fruit. Then, when digging up a girdled Littleleaf Linden, I noticed all these vigorous orange roots in the planting hole - they were from the White Mulberry tree about 20 feet away. So, I cut down the mulberry - it came back as a giant super-fast growing shrub! Then I did research and was warned that you cannot kill them - the roots will not die; cut branches will sprout. Yeah, right, I thought. Well, I cut down the shrubby trunks, drilled holes into them and poured in poison and then topped it off with tar. The mulberry died - or so I thought! Now I have GAZILLIONS of baby mulberry trees growing throughout my entire yard. They grow from the teeniest, tiniest piece of root. I had a bag of leaves that I was saving for leaf mould, and when I opened it in the spring it was FULL of fresh, thriving, orange mulberry roots! I had to throw it out. The ONLY way to kill it is to burn it. The White Mulberry is an invasive species from Asia (also called "Russian Mulberry"); it has almost wiped out our native Red Mulberry trees. I bought a native Red Mulberry seedling and a European Black Mulberry (not invasive) to counteract this "Devil Tree." Finally this year I gave in to the realization that the only way to deal with the White Mulnerry is to control it by going around and pulling up the tiny babies as they first get leaves in the spring - BEFORE they are hidden under all the flowers, because they grow super-fast and then the roots get left in the ground and then they come back even stronger. So, there are legitimate arguments on both sides of the Kudzu issue - it is a very useful plant, but it must be properly maintained and controlled, not simply maligned because the interests of Big AG have prevented it's commercial use.