There was a GIANT praying mantis on my window the other day. Nearly as long as my forearm. Marvelous creatures!

[link] Loki was asleep on the scratcher, tilting it. He's even more passed out now, and it is higher.

We would have stinkbug swarms on a stone wall lining our driveway when I was a kids, but we lived in the woods, and they didn't come in the house, or jump or fly at you, or sting. Just...try not to squish 'em.

All the talk about yard work, and doing some stuff in ours today...it's WAY in the future, since our backyard is truly a mess, and needs a ton of serious work, but I would love a fountain of some type in our yard.

I see so many really pretty water feature in magazines and books, and I love running water.

Running water is so calming to me. If I had been able to stay at my home, that's the next thing I would have added to the garden.

The one thing I'm really not happy about with my house is that most of the yard slopes, too much to really do anything with.

Our back yard is pretty flat, but I would definitely want the feature to recycle, and to not leave much standing water, to attract skeeters.

Even something as simple as this would make me happy: [link]

Although something like this would not suck: [link]

That's scary, megan.

I know, War and Peace is really long.

Hee. I loved War and Peace, but I read a good portion of it under drugs as I was getting my wisdom teeth out, so there's a significant bit that I read that does not actually appear to be in the text.

I have loved having a yard, too. The bulbs were really beautiful this year, and we've had lots of successful garden crops, even with our benign neglect style of gardening.

We are slowly working on the tumbleweeds, which will continue until we're able to have a fence, because they, um, tumble.

Our little puddle of a garden pond has been so much fun. It's amazing it's such a successful little ecosystem. Metamorphosis is so awesome.

Having a good mini vacation for our anniversary. Saw our buddies play twice and I think we'll stick around tomorrow to have lunch with them. Went to the aquarium and botanical garden. Slept and watched football and ate. I think we may do Petroglyph in the morning. Which I have seen, once upon a time with certain Buffistas, but the SO has not.

Yay for a good anniversary vacation!

This looks fun, Erin. I might even try that, and I am no gardener.

See, I love beautiful, serene backyard pondlets with plant life, but our backyard is mosquitoville ANYWAY, so I would not want to provide them with a big ol' maternity ward.

Also like this [link]

And my dream is to have a hot tub. HOT TUB. I would cry tears of delight and joy to have a hot tub. But right now, I would break down if I had a tub I could take a relaxing bath in again. OH APARTMENT TUB. I MISS YOU.

I tell Dan all the time I must really love him, to have given up my tub. He thinks it's charming. I am deadly serious. I haven't had a bath in a YEAR. (I do NOT count the thing I tried to have in that shallow THING in the bathroom. Ptiu!)

Amy, that is pretty, and would look nice kind snuggled a bit into my front garden (which is crazy scraggly plant-things, with a few chewed lookin' flowers right now. But I have plans for spring, oh yes!