I have a Limelight® hydrangea, that has finally grown up.  It's about 6' tall and 5' wide, gets about an hour of early morning sun, and is COVERED with blooms.  It's magnificent 
Carol
WV

OK - since we are stumbling down Memory Lane... who remembers "Zoo Parade" and Marlin

I loved Zoo Parade.  Some years later, one of the funniest things I've ever seen on TV happened when Jim whatever, the other guy on Zoo Parade, was a guest on the Tonight Show.  He had a magnificent Bengal Tiger on with him.  When Johnny announced a commercial break, the cameras panned to the tiger.  As a Cat Person, I immediately recognized "the look", and sat open mouthed as that tiger sniffed the curtain, turned around, and did the whole spray ritual, tail quivering, lifting one rear paw and then the other, all of it, as he soaked the curtain.  Johnny's face was priceless!
Carol
WV

"But..."? At which point, I turn off, as I know what's coming is going to break my heart... and there is so little I can do!

There is one thing each of us can do...  That is to fight against the animal rights wackoes' efforts to abolish captive breeding programs.  There are animals whose only populations today are in private breeding programs.  The animal rights people's idea is that the animals are better off dead than in captivity.  I'm sure most of us don't agree.  Your mission...
Thanks!
Carol
WV

... and I always hold out the hope that reintroduction to the wild might be possible... some day... somewhere. Who can say? I sure can't...

Many species, whose numbers in the wild have been decimated by various factors, are being kept from extinction by captive breeding programs.  Even Peregrine Falcons...
Carol
WV

I've never heard of many of these shows and didn't watch Dark Shadows but I loved the Howdy Doody Show!    Loved Buffalo Bob!  Whoops-I think that was in the 50's!
http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=howdydoodys

I used to pointedly leave the room when Howdy Doody came on, and my sisters glued themselved to the TV. 
Carol
WV

Never having been a big TV watcher, I can add that Dark Shadows was one of the many I didn't ever watch.  BUT...  I DID buy the 45 rpm single of the lovely "Quentin's Theme", from the show, and in fact still have it 
Carol
WV

I thought this was seen only in birds, but it seems others get it too...

What’s The Deal With Bumblefoot? Raise a Paw

Posted: 29 Jul 2010 06:00 AM PDT

Confession: I used to have a rabbit’s foot key chain. It never occurred to me at age six that the foot had to be chopped off an actual rabbit or that bunnies don’t have electric blue feet. I had it because I love bunnies.

My Papa raised two giant, floppy eared hares named Salt and Pepper. (Which is, I’m certain, where Salt N’ Pepa got their name from. Papa is still waiting on that residual check, ahem).  I would spend my days on his farm feeding them lettuce and carrots and talking to them about how much I loved their soft fur. Then one day Pepper started hobbling around and was acting like he was totally bummed out. He couldn’t exactly hop and I was devastated. I thought for certain that it meant it was time for my Papa to make a key chain out of him.

It turns out he just had a nasty case of Bumblefoot, or ulcerative pododermatitis. Pepper had contracted a very painful, but fairly common infection in his foot pad. Bumblefoot results from inflammation that creates red lumps and bumps on the bottom of the feet. They appear to be callouses but can eventually become quite large and may bleed on and off and scab over. In really severe cases the pet will be reluctant to move, depressed and anorectic. If left untreated, pododermatitis can result in osteomyelitis (infection of the bone) and death.

Bumblefoot typically starts as a wound which becomes infected, usually by staphylococcus aureus, a common environmental bacterium. Abrasions on the feet can often be attributed to wire floors or shelving, or rough bedding, however, poor sanitation, wet bedding, lack of activity, obesity and poor circulation are also factors; genetic predisposition may be a factor with some pets. In Pepper’s case, I’m pretty sure that all of my lettuce and carrots caused him to be, shall we say, a tad overweight.  Pepper was a chub. With a bum thumper. I’m so ashamed.

To prevent Bumblefoot, examine your pet regularly to catch problems early. At the first sign of a problem, see your veterinarian. Bumblefoot can be quite difficult to cure; prevention is best. Minimize risk factors by providing very soft, non-abrasive bedding and remove soiled bedding as soon as possible. Change bedding regularly in order to keep it clean and dry; standing on pooled urine on solid floors can contribute to the development of pododermatitis.

Remember, while it’s a hoot to say, Bumblefoot is a bummer for bunnies to have, so make sure yours is well taken care of.

Image: captainsubtle and porsupa

A Cat friend in California has made several of these: http://www.kittykouch.com/articles/catenclosure.html
Now several others are using them as well
Carol
WV

Anne, your note to Mary couldn't have been addressed to a more deserving person.  And YOU are SO fortunate to be able to express so beautifully what the rest of us can only feel.  No one is more deserving of this than my old Friend Mary.
Thank You!
Carol
WV

Looks like grasshoppers to me.

To me as well.
I was afraid you were going to post a picture of one of the creepiest creatures *I've* ever seen, a Camel Cricket.  Eeew!

Carol
WV

Happy birthday, bonne fête Shaky. Same day of my friend Denise. She is 65. And you ? ? ? ?

I'd bet money that Shaky is forever twenty-one 
Carol
WV

I am enjoying the weekend with all of you vicariously, through the great reports
Keep 'em coming, and have a great weekend!
Carol
WV

I could tell you a story about the completely naked guy we picked up on I-490 while driving back to the base from Strong Hospital a couple of years ago, but it'd be a violation of federal law .  He was crazy enough to jump out of a moving ambulance too...

And I could tell you about the nearly naked old fellow who showed up at Home Depot the other day...
(wearing questionable skivvies and a dressing gown)
And went shopping using the electric scooter provided.  One of our "Expediters" helped him to the exit and into his car. It's anybody's guess where he turned up next...
Carol
WV

This is the topic I've been waiting for...
I was suddenly awake and heard what sounded like a distant explosion or sonic boom.  However, distant explosions and sonic booms don't move my bed, or cause stuff to audibly shift.  "Hmmm", I thought, looking at the clock, "0505, earthquake", and went back to sleep.  I feel so vindicated 
Carol
about 50 miles Northwest of DC, in Jefferson County, WV

What NOT to do happened in Oregon in 1970...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_whale

Carol
WV