My efforts have been noticed by the neighbors. I just started working on the front garden at our rental a year ago, and have had some people stop me on the street and ask if I am the one planting flowers at our place. It's nice. I tell them it is a work in progress, but getting there. Basically, anything is better than what they had to look at in the past! Today I had a funny occurrence. My across the street neighbor is redoing the grass in the front yard. Reseeding and repositioning pavers. I went to say Hi in my work clothes, including jeans that did some serious duty last season and this one, including digging two to three ft. deep trenches to remove big rocks and cement, moving small trees, and various other ridiculous tasks that resulted in giant holes in both knees. And, they are filthy beyond reason. They might as well be shorts on the front side! I knew they were past the point of being trash, but had not gotten any new ones. The upstairs neighbor commented the other day that she liked them, they were air conditioned! LOL! Anyhow, as the across the street neighbor and I talked, she said "My mom lost a bunch of weight and I've got some jeans my mom gave me that none of us can wear, you think you can use them?" I just laughed and said, "Is this a comment on the state of my work jeans?!?" She was like "No, no, but none of us fit into them and if you can use them, great!!" I suppose not only the garden is getting noticed. So arae my tattered work clothes! Sad thing is, ALL my work jeans look the same, so I am sure I always look like I never change my clothes! Pft! I love gardening neighbors!! The jeans fit, by the way. Just tried them on. I'm sure they will be knee-less in no time, though!

Yes, they are small and brown. I even found one as it emerged from the ground near some shrubs. I heard this whirring noise (of the wings), and looked down and there it was climbing up a blade of grass. They are very small, which is why I often confuse them with bumbles. You usually find them around the edges of the leaves, where they blend in quite well. I, too, find them most often in the fall. Sometimes the fall crop will eclose then, but more often they will overwinter as pupae. S.B. - I think the sphinx are every bit as fascinating as the silks. But I would love to eventually get some silks, too. If you really want to see some good sphinx, get a Virginia Creeper. This plant is so versatile as a host for many of them. Also, check your elms for the Elm Sphinx, and your pecans and walnuts for the Walnut Sphinx. I also grow the red pentas for the Tersa Sphinx. These are fun as well. Nessus are a bit more complicated as they rest in the top of the vines during the day and come down to feed on the lower leaves (on the ground) at night. I just happened to find the cats very early one morning before they had climbed back up during the day. They are green at first, and in the last instar they start to turn pink and then a gorgeous mottled brown. Larvae: Adult: Susan

Janie..I just called my son in PA who has done auto painting & detail for 18 yrs now. Left a message to call me with advise for you. IF the garage that's going to be fixing your panel are also the ones (I'm assuming they are) who'll be repainting it? Call and ask them for application advise-and if you give them the make & model & original color of the car? They can look it up & can make up the exact color, and give you a tiny jar of it to use. My son gave me some for my 2000 Sebring when someone 'dinged' me in a few spots. If he should call me back-I'll post to you.

Better than what happened to me. I was walking across the parking lot toward my car when I saw a lady in her huge SUV parked next to my, walking around her vehicle to look at mine. She was pulling into the spot next to me and nailed my bumper, rear panel, passenger door and front door as she was pulling in. Fortunately I was right there so she couldn't deny or get away. She tried saying the damage to her front bumper was from when she hit some garbage cans and I informed her that her silver paint was all over the side of my car. (What I couldn't understand is how she hit my car and proceeded to park anyway. I mean wouldn't you normally stop at the sound of the first crunch rather than keep going?? I mean she scraped the whole side of my car!) Then she confessed that she'd also not pulled her vehicle in the garage far enough and closed the garage door down on her car. She complained that the vehicle was just too big for her and she couldn't judge how big it was. I agreed she'd be better off with a smaller one. I finally got my car back. So fortunate to have a terrific body shop and they negotiated with the insurance co. so they paid in full. My car looks better than new now, they did such a great job! But I did have to live without it for 10 days. I guess the moral of the story is, if you get a new vehicle, presume it's larger than you think so you don't hit things.