Susie - There's a European country (Danish?) that sells mattresses for like $50,000 - 100% hand crafted & the fill is horse hair. Supposed to be the most wonderful mattress in the world. I found this company, dunno if it's the same one, but this one is based in NYC.
http://www.chbeckley.com/prod_...
There's no prices on them, so you can be assured that it's not for poor people like me.
Charleen - You know, I was wondering why on earth I've seen hair in the plaster when I was helping remodel my father's house in NNY! Huh.. would never have thought to use hair in the mix, but I know how strong my hair is and it *is* a lot safer than like asbestos or lead!
Lin - I keep a minimum of 3 feeders filled with thistle (nyjer) seed so I have tons of goldfinches & house finches. I don't care much for sparrows (they're not native to the US) or starlings (not native either), the doves keep the area under the feeders clean, and I have tons & tons of robins looking for bugs/worms all over my mulched yard. And I just love it when I go into the back yard 'cuz I'm watering and seeing over a dozen robins playing in the sprinkler!! I have blue jays as well.. noisy buggers. But what awes me the most is the neighbor house has 3 huge cottonwoods in it, and in one of them there's a pair of kites nesting (3 years in a row!). It's amazing to walk outside & see a kite sitting on the fenceline less than 10 feet from you!!
