mine to those to post very little and have no hearts. Gots to spread the love

We put our houseplants on the deck in the spring/summer/fall. Late July, went outside to water and there was a birds nest in the plant! It is a 10 y/o Monstera Plant, so the branches are really thick and strong. What's different this year is that my sister gave us a column type bird feeder. We used to have a lot of birds in our backyard but the last year or two, not so many. West Nile has run rampant in our area and it has been so sad to not see the birds any longer. We have some back with the feeder but nothing like there used to be.

Is it normal for birds to lay eggs so late in the year? I believe (!) it is a song sparrow or white tip sparrow (it has a small white crest).
The female laid 4 eggs - 1 blue-ish speckled and 3 brown/gray/black speckled.

All four hatched but only two fledged but we did not see any bodies of the nestlings. What happens to the bodies? Do the moms take the bodies away or move them after hatching or something?

My husband took the nest out and he was totally impressed with the nest engineering. The bird built the nest along the curve of the pot and wove it in with the monstera plant lower branches. It took awhile to remove it. He was sad to have to take it out but didn't want to bring the plant in for the winter with a nest in it.

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I did not know that male cardinals were such bullies. We have a weathervane in a big pot on the deck also and only the smallest of birds can use it to perch. Two fledgings were using it to sing their hearts out. It was like when a puppy finds its voice. I was really enjoying watching and listening to them - they were so little bitty. Here comes the male cardinal (there is a m/f pair that live full time in the backyard) who hovers in front of them and uses his wings to chase them off. Of course, they appeared scared and never saw them again. The cardinals have also chased off the goldfinches.

Thank you!

Little Rock groupie 'Sweet Sweet Connie' of Grand Funk fame dies at 66
Legacy lives on in band's tune
by Bill Bowden | Today at 7:30 a.m.
https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/aug/23/little-rock-groupie-sweet-sweet-connie-of-grand/

Arkansas' most famous rock 'n' roll groupie has died.

By all accounts, Connie Hamzy died Saturday at the age of 66. The funeral home didn't want to be quoted.

They said get details from the family. But Hamzy's parents preceded her in death, and she was an only child.

More distant relatives said they heard it through social media.

"Connie was a character," said Rita Ann Lawrence of Heber Springs, Hamzy's cousin. "She was very colorful. She was always in the news."

Hamzy had Grand Funk Railroad to thank for her fame.

She's mentioned in the first verse of their defining anthem "We're an American Band":

Out on the road for forty days
Last night in Little Rock put me in a haze
Sweet, sweet Connie, doin' her act
She had the whole show and that's a natural fact

Released in 1973, the song "We're an American Band" rose to No. 1 and remained on the Billboard chart for 17 weeks.

In her later years, Hamzy could be seen around Little Rock wearing a T-shirt that read "Grand Funk'd."

more at link
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I talked to her several times and she actually was a pretty cool person. My sister had classes with her at UALR and my sister really liked her too. I'd describe her personality as Earthy.

while PBJ & VPKH speaks? * started that the day he was inaugurated as an excuse as to why he could not hear questions from press.

along with * and family. Just stop. Y'all are on the wrong board and I can't believe y'all been getting away with these posts for so long.

Enough Madness!

in the country and are the coordinators for Meals on Wheels, getting Elders to their medical appointments and document Elder Abuse. They are highly trusted by Elders in rural areas and are a known entity and, more importantly, trusted. RN's and LPN's work at the offices, along with Ombudsman's.

Why is everyone trying to reinvent the wheel when the tools are already laid out.

ballot? We'd really be biting our nails to the quick...

We proved ourselves correct - more ballots are counted on our side if we do use paper. We answered our own questions about the process.

Just need to get all states on same page and we could do this every election, e.g., all states have the same mail-in ballot period; all states can start opening and scanning on first day of early voting; all states have the same end date help military votes be counted; ALL votes are counted. It would be an easy breezy Voting Rights Act.

I woke up this a.m. thinking about our horrible mail in ballots and came up with an idea that would help with mail in ballots across the country.

There is a tool called a Bone Folder [link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_folder|] that has been around since at least the Middle Ages. It helps to give a sharp crease in paper, card stock, heavyweight paper and smooths out creases.

It would save wear and tear on muscles/shoulders of the poll workers having to smooth out the ballots. Here, each and every envelope is opened up and smoothed out by the poll workers.

I had looked online at Joann's and Michael's and told her that Joann's is having a sale on them right now and Michael's has coupons for their items.

It would make the process so much easier because ballots are apt to be kicked out due to the crease. Someone (!) in their infinite wisdom put Joe & Kamala's "bubble" right on the crease of our mail-in ballots. We are the largest and bluest county in our state and I want to make sure there are no SNAFU's over some "design flaw." - and.Every.Vote.Counts.

I could tell from talking to her that she was not feigning interest, that she said she was taking the suggestion to her boss and it looked like she may just be going shopping either today or tomorrow.

It is an inexpensive tool - $4-$6 for the cheaper ones, can go up to $24 (!) (thanks * tariffs) for a good one.

Might want to pass the info to someone working in the ballot rooms - just helping out the shoulders of those would be magnificent.

I woke up this am thinking about the mail-in ballots (as we are all want to do) and realized 1) who's the asshole who designed the MIHOP mail-in ballots and 2) possible/probable tabulation problems.

I don't know how the ballots look in the rest of the state, because, instead of Joe & Kamala being at the top of the ballot behind *, they are listed right in the middle of the fold (behind Kanye even), where our PUCO Clerk says ballots generally have scanner problems - reading the ballots or being kicked out due to the fold.

Yeah, MIHOP problems. I feel sorry for the poll workers, having to flatten out those votes without a bone folder in sight.

To Add: If you know of any poll workers working Tuesday, have them call their Scrapbooking friends and ask them if they can borrow any and all bone folders. They are tailor made for creases. I have several I can lend.

Co-worker of DH was hit by buck out of nowhere last night, driving on a two-lane highway on the outskirts of small town. Came charging out of a cemetery, co-worker never saw him just "plow!" Co-worker is okay but extremely shaken up.

Newbies to the country life, every fall, October to November, Bucks awash of in hormones (think musth in elephants) and want to screw every female and fight every male, which includes vehicles. It seems the bigger the vehicle, the more likely bucks will want to ram it.

Be especially careful at dawn and twilight but after dark, really, anytime. People die somewhere during this time being rammed by bucks.

PSA Over