Thanks everyone, We've wanted him to lose weight, and so I'm sure his losing weight is just because we've cut back on all the food he used to get. He has no other signs of any problems. In fact, since he's lost a little weight, he's a tad bit more active. When he needed that enema awhile back, the doc said he was borderline diabetic. Well, I really believed it was the stress from the trip to the doc's. He gets absolutely hysterical......which is why I've really not wanted to take him back. I believe a couple of you told me to ask the doc if he could have a sedative before going in for a visit, but the office said "no". They said his blood sugar could have been elevated because of his condition (obstructed) the last time, and they would rather take a blood sugar under normal conditions. Well.....the stress of taking him to the vet, even under "normal" conditions, I really feel would raise his blood sugar. Does a cat with a thyroid problem seem normal except for crying for food?? The reason I have never gotten his teeth cleaned is that for a long time, I perceived that when we gave him his flea and tick medicine, he would have a very strong reaction to it......spending days being obtunded. I just have a fear of the anesthesia necessary to clean his teeth. He's an indoor cat, so we don't give him the flea and tick med anymore. I just think he's neurotic and so I'm going to give him a little bit of my zoloft. JUST KIDDING!! He does seem to like the Iams soft food the best. Is that a reputable brand? I have the feeling, though, that I'll constantly have to switch around to keep him interested. Gosh......you'd think a cat would get tired of crying so much. Oh....and when we don't feed him when he starts crying (even though he just ate), and he starts eating the dog's hard food! Do they have Weight Watcher's for cats?? (or cat psychologists??) :)

willard, you've posted that list before, but I guess I've never given it serious thought until now (well, now I have that problem). I see a few items on the list that may apply. -now that there's very little rain I've been having to water it with city water, which has a very high calcium content, among other things. -I haven't seen as many bees around as I used to see, but I don't imagine that's the issue when pods aren't even opening. - I've seriously cut back on the nitrogen I give it because I have heard before that it has a negative effect on pod development. -size of pot, yeah, they're 3-4ft tall in 5 gallon buckets, 2 per bucket. that's probably an issue. -too much grower attention, guilty as charged. -there's plenty of light to be had, and air circulation is never an issue. -too low humidity is never an issue here in FL, but what about too high humidity? I'd imagine that could make the pollen clump together and not do its job. am I off base on that one? so it looks like 5 out of 11 on that list may/do apply to me. I guess I'm screwed. there's nothing I can do about the water, short of having to filter it, I guess I can put them in the ground like I did with my brain strain (which currently has 10 pods growing, one of which is mostly ripe), and I don't suppose I could bribe the bees to come back, could I? Josh, I've never fully understood what I was supposed to do when they tell you the strength to mix the fert. is the intention that you mix one tbsp per gal (or whatever it says) and water the plants fully with that? what I usually do is mix slightly below recommended strength, and only give each plant a little bit of the fert-water mix (I mix up a 2 gal watering can, and divide it roughly evenly among my 10 pots), then come back and finish watering with normal water, that way I don't over fertilize. am I doing it wrong? I've never seen any leaf burn. but yes, the leaves that fall off are usually still quite green, but not really all that healthy looking.

Well to be more specific, I was trying to get my granddaughter to go to sleep, so we took a drive just north of where I live which is Princeton. I turned down county road 470 in Altoga and found this little country road with trees growing overhead,leaves covering the road. It was pretty. Not a long drive but just relaxing. And yes, she did wind up going to sleep.

And as it turns out, the grand daughter of the couple who own this house, lived with me for a few weeks over 25 years ago. The lady's daughter is married into my brother in laws family. It's a small world. Ice chunk falls through a house It was determined that the chunk of ice fell off a West Jet airliner. I'm glad nobody was hurt. West Jet said they are going to pay for all the repairs to the home. This house is literally less than a five minute drive from my house. I'm in the next neighbourhood!