When we first moved here, I wanted to "save" every bird and critter that needed help, and quickly learned no one else around here was as worried about the wild things as I was. Our first year, a big owl crashed THROUGH the fiberglass skylite panel on the roof of the chicken coop. He cut his head and hurt a wing. I called all over southern Oklahoma and no one (least of all the local Fish and Wildlife people) were interested in helping that owl. I was crushed. Finally, we moved him to an adjacent small guinea coop/pen and put the guineas in with the chickens. We left the door open, and he finally flew away on his own after several days. I refused to catch mice for him, so he had to live on canned cat food for those few days. I guess if you live in an area where wildlife is very abundant, people don't get as excited about one injured bird. If blue jays are engangered, you can't tell it here! We probably are overpopulated with birds, though, because we put out food for them and have a constant water source. I HAVE noticed that there are more birds than usual hanging out around the garden and eating bugs in the garden. Birds are a terrific method of pest control, so I encourage them in every way possible. We ALWAYS have a pair of owls who stay together all the time and hunt together. One is a really big barn owl, and we call him Hooty. The other is a little screech owl, obviously named Screechy. You never see one without the other, which is fascinating. They've been here as long as we have. I don't know if the current Hooty and Screechy pair are the actual same Hooty and Screechy pair that we first saw in 1999. I think it is an odd pairing. I feel sorry for them....the crows harass them relentlessly and try to run them off. Our owls are mostly out at night, but every now and then I see them out late in the morning. For all the birds we have coming to the feeders, predator birds do not come into the yard much. Maybe the cats and dogs help keep them away? Oh, and the Purple Martins also like to chase off other birds attempting to "hunt" in their territory too. Dawn

Lynn, A flashback to the 1960s can be funny, can't it! I remember my dad had a can of DDT in the garage during that time frame. It was one of those pesticide cans that looked like a large tuna can with a long pipe-like portion that had a pump-sprayer type handle. You held it with one hand, pumped and sprayed with the other hand...and the stuff that came out of it smelled horrid. I do remember the can had a little skull and crossbones on it, which terrified us kids. We were sure we would die if we inhaled it. Laura, Well I certainly would use OFF religiously if I were allergic to mosquitoes like you. That's just an awful allergy to have. One of our sons' childhood friends reacts to fire ant bites that way and his reaction sounds similar to the way mosquito bites affect you. With him, there is so much swelling tht it looks like someone injected large red or purple grapes right beneath his skin. Although I obviously prefer organic remedies to chemical ones, I always have a can of OFF here (and sometimes two)and I will use it if I feel like I need to. Like George, I tend to spray it on my clothing and my shoes. When I mow tall grass in the pastures, I always spray my clothing and shoes with OFF because if I didn't, I'd come inside covered in ticks and chiggers. Mosquitoes don't seem to be bothering me much this year, but chiggers are everywhere and they seem to especially "like" me although they don't necessarily bother anyone else in our family. Sometimes when you're being bothered by pests, it is a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils. If I lived in an area where West Nile virus was a major issue, I'd probably spray my clothing with OFF every day that I worked outside. I was not saying people shouldn't use Thermacell or OFF or anything else....just that it is a good idea to research any product before buying it so you have a balanced view of potential risks. George, I remember those little mosquito coils. When we went camping in the 1970s, we used them. I don't remember that they were especially effective, but I was a mosquito-magnet type of kid and I don't think anything kept them off of me in those days. Dawn

Rosewitch, England was definitely one of my favorite places I have ever visited. My folks took me there when I was 14, and I remember bits and pieces the Crown jewels, walking amongst the Stonehenge stones (roped off now, vandalism), Stratford upon Avon. Time for me to take my own 14YO. Im trying to think how I can get over there for a whole summer, LOL. Dlynn, I could have worked so much more. I didnt really look at night time stuff and there was loads to do. Greece: cant help you, but shoot Yasou a line, she went a few years ago. LOL Annie! Teresa, well go together. I wanted to explore more cooking and food shops/stores but didnt get to. Terri, here is more a link to Pictures of England, a website pointed out to me by Denise. I started it on Bourton on the Water, where we stayed for a few days. Thanks Sharon, I was actually thinking how can I even come close to posting her quality of travel guides, I dont do the pictures she does LOL. We might have sat at the same table in the Cheshire Cheeses dining room! Sawdust still there, but we didnt make it to the cellar. I missed a lot of the British Museum. It has changed.check out the new atrium. I couldnt keep up with DH and DS16. Afternoons, when I planned museums, I crashed. Next time! Pam, lots of people did more than we did per day! Theater every night, more attractions, I cant imagine. Gina heh heh yeah I need another vacation like a hole in my head. Speaking of whichDH has another week off in August. Nooooooooo! Kathleen, DH says he took an average of 200 pictures a day. Yup. Me, I just buy the post cards or Google the images, same thing (DARFC from the photo bugs here) Cathy, thanks for giving me the War and Peace moniker heh heh. Next time I go with CF friends! LindaC, I know. Im still exhausted. Speaking of the V&A, did you know there was a Dale Chihuly chandelier in the entrance room?

"Rear Window", "To Catch a Thief" and "North by Northwest". And I second the nomination of 'swoon worthy' for Cary Grant. Not only was he one of the most handsome men on the face of the earth, but he had great comedic timing, as well. Remebber "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House", "Bringing Up Baby" and "Arsenic and Old Lace"? And it's known that he was as kind as he was handsoms. What a combination! "No money, no material reward is comparable to the praise, the shouts of well done and accompanying pat on the back of one's fellowman. Applause and laughter in the theater have a similar effect; and sometimes, today, I stand with Russell Downing, the manager of the finest, largest cinema in the world, the Radio City Music Hall in New York, in a quiet darkened corner, and listen to that huge audience roaring with laughter at something I've done, the tilt of my head or a facial reaction, and joy seems to burst within me." -- Cary Grant 1963