@NiallC. Hi. That looks like something I have in Massachusetts. I wish I could help but will be curious to see what it is. I've been reading about the horrible wildfires. I know some sections of Oregon are affected. I hope you and your loved ones are safe!

@Stephie,I can't believe I missed you last night. I'm usually not around that late, but had promised myself I'd post that message to you before bed. Then my buddy @J.Musser was kind enough to pop in and say hi, which was cool cuz we used to chat a lot, but have been busy, so it was fun to say hi. For some reason, chat doesn't always work on my iPad. The cursor's all over the place and I don't even know what/where I'm typing.

@Sue I'm doing OK, thanks. We had a lot of smoke last weekend, but it has blown away now with a change in the wind direction. Could be an awful lot worse

Glad to hear it-the pictures look terrifying. Plus it's so sad to see so much life, including trees, plants, wildlife, being burned and displaced like the humans!

@Stephie If you ever want to try to make a date to hang out here, let's do it. I literally closed my computer in annoyance last night as you were coming in, but didn't know it til this morning. D, short for Dennis (awesome hubby) works 4pm-1:30 am my time Monday through Thursday, and 10am-3pm on Friday. I'm in and out of SE while he's home, but don't chat much unless he's busy, since that's our time together. Once he's gone, I'm on the network a lot.

I haven't been chatting much, though, which I miss! I just put notifications on my computer, which should help. They don't have sound, though, so I have to pay closer attention. Anyway, do you have a best chatting time? Either way, I'll be watching out for you and hope we bump into each other! :))

@J.Musser Thanks, but only if you're in the mood. Maybe you could read what @Stormy wrote too & see if you agree. I owe her a note, she obviously took time & gave me free advice!. She, and you, will probably cringe when I tell you that we don't fertilize because a jungle grows under our bushes, so there's no room! I have some pix I was going to show her, and will post them at some point! I really want healthy soil, and want to do the right thing, but I love my jungle!

I just put through my first "should have been a comment" in the vtc queue. I'm not positive it was the right choice-maybe it was just naa or something. Anyway it seems kind of weird to tell a person with 1 rep they should have written a comment, and will be free to do so 50 rep from now :)

@Sue hard to make me cringe

when my own yard looks this bad

hehe

Yah but your yard probably looks bad cuz you're busy with other yards!

@Sue yes

and when I do have time I have other priorities

but such is life

And I'll bet your yard doesn't look bad anyway.

and it's fun

@Sue bet again

xD

What's fun? Your other priorities, your yard, or life? All of the above?

@Sue life!

Life is fun.

@J.Musser I fully agree!

+1

Ha! I was looking at old questions the other day & there were sooo many +1 comments!

I almost have Electorate!

@Sue If that's all they say, flag 'em

I went through and flagged most of those than didn't contain other useful info

that's part of how I got Marshal badge

@J.Musser I figured it was you! There aren't a ton of bad comments.

I got Electorate at Meta, which is kind of weird, and I thought I had enough to get it here, but my question/answer ratio must be off.

@Sue that's a great badge

congrats

I wish more people would try for it

@J.Musser Thanks! I wish more people would too! It's a big part of the whole SE thing, plus it's fun to give and get rep!!

@Sue #truth

The phone's ringing! It's my honey calling from work to say good night! He's a sweetie pie!

@Sue aww

@J.Musser Yup, I'm undeserving, but God gave me a great one!

@Sue You made the right call on that one.

Ah, too late.

@NiallC. Thanks for letting me know. I was on the phone getting some sad news from my hubby about a friend who died-not a close friend but tragic circumstance, so I didn't pop back. For some reason I thought the comment everywhere threshold was lower. 50 rep doesn't come that easily. I see why it's better to teach a person how to turn a comment into an answer, but it's not possible every time, especially on some sites. Thanks for pointing out Monica's meta question. :))

@J.Musser You too! I used to try to track you down in the junk drawer but no human being has been there for weeks! I assume you'll be back there when tree-care season slows down.......