We live in a rural area with a lot of woodlands, so it's their favorite habitat. There is a lot of food they like nearby, but they tend to move around and browse, so you can't really do much to keep them away unless you build a fence. Because of how our property is laid out, a fence isn't really feasible or affordable for us... so I spray the plants they like in the summer, and put netting over them in the winter, and I accept that I'll get some browsing damage. Seeing the fawns is very nice, though. This morning I saw it with its momma, racing around the field with its new legs. Extremely cute. The harmony of deer in nature has already been disrupted by the fact that we've killed off all their natural predators. So now they are over-populated and are destroying a lot of plant life, hardwood saplings, habitat for other animals, etc. IMHO the best thing to do now is to hunt them humanely and eat them, the way the wolves would do if there were still wolves here.

Wow Glynis, you really are walking a tightrope. Above all, you need to protect your safety. Any actions you take should be made anonymously. But, in my opinion, you should take action. I don't know if you do this already, but when I went on my crusade to oust Pig People, I kept a journel of every incident. Led Zeppelin tribute concert, 2:00 a.m. Mon. Crack deal in street, 8:00 p.m. Sat Escaped inmate pees in front yard 11:00 a.m. Sun. I logged in every time I contacted the police, the landlord, code enforcement, and HUD. I groused to anyone who would listen. In the process, I found out there were many agencies and programs that were available to help me. I was even encouraged to contact the FBI and ATF if I had strong reason to believe there was serious drug activity. In your case, with this deranged 15 year old, I would think a percautionary ringy-dingy to the FBI wouldn't be such a bad idea. I really hesitate advising you to meddle so deaply into this family's affairs, but something has to give. You shouldn't have to live like this. There was one program offered by the city called Street Beat. It was great while it lasted. Basically, it involved an officer coming to a neighborhood meeting and explaining ways you could help them help you. The officers then spent several hours each week walking the neighborhood, talking with folks. It was very effective and reduced loitering and graffiti. Alas, the city had to scrap the program this year due to budget cuts. But do pay a visit to city hall and the police to find out what all of your options are. What you said about your neighborhood being awsome but it was street by street really struck a chord. Ours is exactly the same way. Beautiful old homes and wonderful streets, pockmarked with bits of nasty. The city has made great steps and I have high hopes. Unfortunely, this sub-prime mortgage mess is going to make our efforts more difficult for a while. Two homes on this block have foreclosed. Two rentals sit empty. The market adjustment has stripped nearly all of our equity away. All we can do is sit tight and wait for the rebound. And stay vigilant towards those who would Pig against us. Be strong but be very, very careful GGG. Yours in solidarity, Steven

Helen I think you're right about my mystery flowers being Spring Beauty. Thank you! If I planted that, I've forgotten. I planted Jane five years ago and I'd guess that it's 6 to 8 feet tall now and still not blooming heavy enough to call it showy. It gets some competition from a Tulip tree so it might be doing better by now if it was planted in a better spot. I'm ashamed - I finally broke down and bought the Canon that has a 50x zoom lol. I got a good deal on it. Best Buy matches some dot com prices now. Amazon is one and they had the lowest price so I showed them that price at the register at Best Buy and they matched it. I also had reward zone bucks to take off of the price plus another 20 for applying for a BB charge card back before Christmas so it got the price down to 340. That's more than I intended to spend but I still had some Santa cash and I "needed" a good camera. : ) It seems to be working great for macro or zooming either one, but if the camera is zoomed all the way out, it's difficult to keep the subject centered. If you move the camera even a little, you've lost sight of it. I haven't messed around with macro much yet but this one is of buds on my Mohawk viburnum and the lens was very close. I need to try it out on some bugs or butterflies.

Pam, thanks for noticing the decor. I love finding things to use in the garden. Molly, I wish I could just dig a hole and plant stuff, but rock or caliche is encounted just a few inches down. When I had just a few plants Bob would dig holes with a pick ax and crow bar, but when it got to be so many I resorted to using pots, most of them plastic or something similar. For the roses several very large holes are drilled in the bottom so the roots can go out into what soil there is. The pots keep the growing medium moist and hold the nutrients and they seem to do pretty good planted this way. The blue pots that the La Marnes are planted in are ceramic so just have a small hole, but so far they are doing okay. Carrie, sitting a spell is my favorite thing to do early mornings and the rare cool evenings. If you lived nearby you could join me :-) Jim, Central Texas Gardner shoots in the fall. They say the Texas sun is too harsh to film in the summer time. It's just as well as the tropicals will be at their best then. By the way, I'm no longer watching their programs. It would just make me nervous ... LOL! I'm going to pretend it is a garden visit like I'd have from any of you and try to forget it's being filmed. Anyway, the actual garden visit they show on the program is only eight or ten minutes long so it's not that big a deal.