...er...Morty, please remind me to decline the next offer of double shots of both Jameson's and Famous Grouse on top of the ale. I haven't been quite right ever since. (Not that I was ever quite right before...)

Thanks for the thread, Kelly and thanks to all who sent bithday wishes. This was certainly one of the best ever.

Morticia gave me the book of British Flora partly because everywhere we've traveled I have been asking her, "What's that growing over there - the one with the orange berries?" To which she almost invariably answers, "Shrub." unless it is short. Then the response is, "Plant." Well, you get the picture.

The book mentioned was a gift from PoD. It is a collection of impressions of an American in England. I'm sure I'll enjoy it. Perhaps it will help to accelerate the learning curve, the centrifugal force of which, so far, has kept me just a bit off balance. However, I find that I am now able to count out pocket change when time is not of the essence; I can usually remember to look for a trolly at the market, rather than a shopping cart; and generally can wander about the neighborhood without people pointing and whispering (anymore). So I must be making some progress.