Just finished reading this. Any of you living near wet or flooded areas who normally have springtime gnats or buffalo flies should read this. OP lost 39 of 62 birds in 24 hrs. No warning. Swarms of gnats can kill quickly and there are more than normal this year from all the rain. They can kill other animals too.
Got the names wrong... called Buffalo gnats or black flies. Very happy we don't have those here, at least not in large numbers. I was bit once by a small black flat fly. Took a chunk out of my shin! That was in Yosemite and I've seen them here once or twice, but not in a long time. Maybe the drought killed them off. Hope they don't come back.
well hi and bye Twist. LOL
Tomatoes start off here for $2. a lb and come from Ky. and I forget then when ours are ripe and flowing over they go down to a dollar a lb. thats when we founder on them . LOL Cant wait for some good ones. Kys are good too. Right now they are selling cantaloupe from Santa Rosa Ca.
That cantaloupe we got from your Amish friend was the biggest and bestest one I ever had!

They don't grow well here... not hot enough, cools off too much at night. That's why the grapes do so well. Whoever told you Santa Rosa, CA was fibbing a bit. Maybe Santa Rosa Mexico? Or some other town in southern CA. The only cantaloupes I've seen for sale here are from south America. Not in season yet in the US. Cherries and peaches are... yum yum!
Watched the Lego "Brickumentary" with #1 tonight. Very interesting stuff and brought back a ton of memories from the Lego years in our house. One of the more interesting parts was about a dr using Lego therapy with autistic kids. For the sake of Lego, 3 kids would actually work together in a group to build a kit. They took turns being the builder, engineer, and the part supplier. They talked and were social with each other and the dr did a study that showed the kids who did the Lego therapy advanced farther and faster than other kids using traditional therapies. LEGO RULES!!!
If you ever get the chance to see it, the full title is Beyond the Brick: A LEGO Brickumentary.
Was Robert ever into Legos? Most of the people they featured in the show were probably on the spectrum. They have formed entire groups and communities around Lego. LEGOCOM is in Seattle every year. Maybe #1 and I will have to take a look some year. We did go to Legoland a few times when he was little. It was just about his speed. Disneyland was out of the question. County fair a few times, but he would spend most of the day playing in the giant sandbox. No rides!!