Hi June and All, It sounds like I wish our sideyard was, with a pond and all, but we have these big pine trees that just wouldn't work out with a pond. I had to take apart the wall I built up around where we feed the birds, because they needed the weirdly shaped bricks to fix the house, afterall, so it was kinda out of sorts when John and Joyce were here. I just put it back as good as I could before they came, but it isn't the way I want it to be. That will be my next project, once this weather breaks a little. WOW!!!! Four bird baths!!! That must be neat to watch. We use to have two, but the same thing happens with them, the pine needles just get in there, and mess them up right away. We DO need more birdbaths, because when the Mourning Doves, and the White Pigeon come take a bath, boy does that water get dirty almost immediately. When we had our Butterfly Tree, there was this tiny thing that came to the flowers. So that is what it was, a Sphynx Moth! I'll have to look it up to see if that is what we had back then. I miss our Butterfly Tree, and am getting one from a neighbor, as soon as the season is over. She ordered some through one of the magazines, and they were to be all different colors. Turns out they were just two different colors, and she has an extra she doesn't know what she wants to do with, so she said I could have it. I've decided to keep our Lilac bush where it is. It will be well established once we get the HUGE pine tree cut down some year. We know it has to come down one of these days, but we are hesitant in cutting it down, because so many of our neighbors got rid of trees, and the birds went crazy for a while, poor things. I love the sound of your pond, June!!! One question, who is Jenny? :o) Lynn PS They have the snowguards up, and I believe they have the slate fixed on the top roof. Don't know if they fixed the gutter up there, or if they are waiting to do that. They didn't need a lift to get up there, either. They just climbed up the backhalf of the house, and over the top they went. Wouldn't have been me on that steeply pitched slate roof. June wrote: Now, it's time for me to chime about the animals in our backyard. We have many varieties of flowers planted in our gardens. We have been cutting many bouquets of gladiolus in the past few weeks. Our 5 butterfly bushes as well as other flowers have been attracting loads and loads of butterflies. Goldfinches are always busy at our sunflowers, eating the seeds. We've seen a sphynx moth (looks like a tiny hummingbird). Sitting by our pond, watching goldfish and Koi, we often see beautiful dragon flies. We are often amused at our frogs who sit out on rocks and seem to talk back to us. Four bird baths and numerous feeders attract different kinds of birds. We've been enjoying Jenny singing to us much of the summer. Waiting for the temperature to drop a little to go out to enjoy our back yard again.