Five (5) warblers on the rose arch today! Flying back and forth and taking turns on the suet. They seem to be used to me now and don't panic if I don't move too fast. This one landed on the wisteria pseudo-standard which is near the arch, and stared in at me. You looking at me?!?! sooey: I'll probably be shunned by the Birdfeeder Corp, but I rarely clean the tube feeder. When I first started using it, I'd top off the tube when the level of seed got below the top portals. But when I did this for a while, I noticed that the bottom layer of seed was getting nasty looking and moldy, particularly if it had rained recently. Naturally, I'd then take it apart and clean it thoroughly. After a while though, I started completely emptying out the tube feeder on the ground when it begins to get a bit low and I make sure the bottom floor of the tube is free of debris. Then I add brand new seed, filling up the tube feeder. This way the bottom layer of seed in the feeder is always fresh. This works very well since I spread seed on the ground anyway and it gets eaten up fast. I've never seen any evidence of disease in the birds, so I'm not worried at this time. I do clean the tube feeder when it begins to look like it needs it. Claire

Pant Rant Part Two: Ok, so yesterday I wear my NEW, snazzy, bought at Macy's "Charter Club" black jeans. They have some spandex in them and look pretty good--I got some compliments on how "stylish" I looked, (which I'm sure for some of my friends and colleagues was a shocker). BUTT, the first thing I notice is the waist dips down in the back. Just low enough for someone to catch a glimpse of the tops of my underwear, or, as one of my colleagues said when I mentioned my annoyance in the faculty lounge, "That's to display your tattoo." Ya know I would like to regulate for myself who gets to see my underwear, and if I'm going to show someone my underwear they at least have to buy me dinner first! Then, all throughout the day when I washed my hands I was noticing how dirty the rinse water looked. "Boy my office must be might dusty" I thought. Well, this morning when I'm taking a shower I notice that my thighs are also kinda grey looking. Seems my 36 dollar pants musta had their dye spray painted on or some such thing, because it is rubbing off on everything. Even today when I spilled some water on my pants and went to dry it off with a paper towel, it turned grey. And I haven't even washed them yet! Who knows how they will turn out in the wash. If they fade out I am taking them back! G-d knows what substance they used to dye them with back in China too!! I can't win for loosing.

Fabulous texashottie....love those binoculars. Not great pictures, but take a peak at my "Out-Of-Africa" bathroom. Those binoculars would look great in there. I do have one of those hats lost in my garage which needs to be there too. Here are some close-ups of the Blowgun hanging in my Master Bath. It is authentic and is from Borneo or PNG islands area. You can see the small carving on the dart storage pouch. Made from bamboo, boar hair, twine. About 4 1/2 ft. long. Darts are 7 inches long. Bought it form one of my Tiki friends. Here is a link that might be useful: Vamp's Out-Of-Africa Bathroom

One thing that makes me shake my head is when people mistakenly believe the title "meterorologist" is a highly-skilled and highly-educated position. Nope, not so. Because stations want to flaunt the "m" term, weather wannabes often just get their degree from the mail-order outfits. Hardly anything impressive. Someone who knows weather doesn't need a fancy title. And yes, there's one in this market who has been pregnant for about the last 5 years. Drop the frog and back into maternity clothes. Local TV news used to be some big bucks for broadcasters but since the internet, satellite and cable channels blew up, local news has taken the nosedive. There's very few who truly get big contracts compared to years ago. And the staffing is cut to the bone in most places too. The top stations around here used to staff 12-15 true meteorologists (not just someone with what's known in the business as a "MS Degree".) Today those stations staff about 4 weather folk with varying credentials. I remember when stations were crying to get a weather person who could talk so they could throw them on the air. Now, if you land a job you're well-advised to keep it. There's not 20 stations vying for your "talents". Same thing with news and sports, all have been cut dramatically since local news ad revenues nosedived they simply can't afford to employ more. Time was many stations would have their own expensive radar units and deride the National Weather Service's units. Now, you don't see them very often. You'd see remote trucks all over, now it's at best a handful of "photojournalists" at best. And with the decline of news, more and more stations have been bought up by the networks so the days of independent reporting are pretty much gone.