Suebot - don't think i'm going to tell you anything that somebody else hasn't said, but since i've had too much experience with deer & rabbits, i figured i'd concur with the remedies that worked for me. i used to live/learned to garden on nantucket and martha's vineyard, where the deer are at least as unreasonably tame and probably more abundant than they are in ct. i've heard stories of people standing 10 ft away from them yelling at them while they chomp on their hydrangea flower buds. one woman i was talking to claimed she saw the deer attacking her dalmation!! anyway, my first thought about your original message was are you sure all damage is due to deer and not rabbits? - when they stand on their hind legs, they can eat quite high - on a couple of my client's properties on the islands, i had more problems with bunnies than deer, especially with my daylilies & echinacea. so, i also found success with the deer away spray products; i can't remember which one i used, but i believe it had garlic & mint in it and i actually liked the way it smelled. the directions said to spray every couple of weeks (??), but i found that i had to spray every couple of days or so & definitely after a rain. it was pretty time consuming. unfortunately, my other success was fencing in the gardens. i just tried to be decorative about it - i used nice cedar posts with caps, bird netting @ 4' high (you can't really see it, so the garden still looks nice), i hung rope along the top of the netting (for a nautical look...). I did throw netting on top of the gardens in the spring until things grew too tall, but i have to admit, the deer hopped in a couple of times (- that would've been a mess i kind of would have liked to see). i now live in maine and have a large cutting garden in my back yard, a good distance from my house and i use the bird netting as the fencing (simply because it was the only fencing i could find that would be high enough in one piece) and it works (doesn't handle snow load, though). i see deer in the back and they walk right around the garden. chipmunks are now my problem. unfortunately, my true feeling is that if the deer want to get to something, they will. sorry to be so lengthy, good luck. just out of curiosity, do you have phlox and is it being eaten - that always gets destroyed the worst for me. -mara

PLEASE INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING LINE IN ANY RESPONSE: GardenWeb mail response mc075040312917ec rosa Barb, Let's give it a couple days. Take care, Spike, Webmaster >To: editor@gardenweb.com >Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 19:50:39 >From: gaughan185@adelphia.net (Barb_from_PA) >Subject: COMMENT: Beada needs help - renewal >[This message originated at GardenWeb] > >Posted by Beada (My Page) on Sat, Jan 29, 05 at 13:21 > >Hi! Anyone know how to get in touch with Spike? I mailed my check waaay back in December but it is still saying that the renewal date for my contributing membership is Jan. 1, 2005 which is obviously past! >Thanks!

Just checked in (don't spend much time even on conversations lately).... glad to hear that it's what they thought and not the other. re: caffeine... reducing your caffeine intake really helps! And helps the stress management too. Take it from an ex-caffeine junkie. At my worst, 2 cups of coffee and 6-10 diet cokes a day!! (I LOVE diet coke in a can!) I've been caffeine free for 3.5 years now! Well, mostly caffeine-free, it's hard to avoid it completely... I was never a chocoholic (I didn't even like chocolate until my mid-thirties!) so I don't eat much of it... but I haven't given it up. I also drink decaf coffee... which does have small amounts of caffeine. I may have a caffeinated root beer by mistake once in a while (some, like barq's, has caffeine, some, like A&W, doesn't). I don't drink real coffee. In fact in the past 3.5 years the only real coffee I had was that first summer while touring in Scotland and it became more of a problem to get decaf than just drink the stuff... and I wasn't fully weaned. now, I'd just skip it! I cut back in a couple of steps... went from 8-10 diet cokes a day to 2, keeping my cups of coffee at 1-2, or drinking decaf if it was just as available. I was very proud of myself. I remember the conversation with my doctor, though, when telling him I had "cut back" from nearly a case of diet coke a day. "That's really good!" he said. "Now Quit." I have noticed the differences of being caffeine free. The withdrawal week was tough, but not as tough as I expected. Now, I am less cystic (my are mostly POS-polycystic ovarian syndrome), have less headaches, and show better stress management. Not too long ago I was out to dinner. When dessert was served I dug in, took one bite, and could "feel" the espresso hit my blood stream. And it wasn't pleasant. I was eating Tiramisu, made the "right" way! I don't eat tiramisu anymore, either!! Good Luck!

Howdy Do Ms Calamity! I;m Susan Jean/susiesunshine Remember: Seeeeeeept 26th 18 years!!! (: : ) WELL GIRl...... THAT'S A WHOLE LOT OF S T U F F !!!! TO HANDLE !!!!! I I feeeeeeeeeel your pain!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! I read your post from back a ways/... I read your post today... and listen if A N Y O N E can do this Y O U * * ** can... together with your friends!!! and with GOD and with the Program !!! remember... H A L T...... STOP>........ Halt ... don't get to Hungry, Angry, Lonley, or Tired !!!!. I toooooo am a friend of Bill Wilson's... and I tooooo have to take it ONE DAY AT A TIME>>> and Nobody said.. it was going to be easy.. I read the post... It was just like you were reading my mail... it happened to me several time.... my hubby is a truck driver. (35 years .. we lived on 120 acres... we have had to move several times... Then his job ended after being there 17 YEARS... and at 51 had to start over...and Move again and I have had to leave my treasures.. and I mean I AM A JUNKIE but by that I mean I do curbside shopping and I remake = remodel - re-purpose everything !!!! It truly hurts.... H U R T S ... deep to leave your home and your personal treasures... BUT YOUR GREATEST TREASURE IS * * Y O U *** and being clean !!! and I know.... God will give you the Grace to get thru this !!! again and probably even another time.... tooo!! (sorry I said that!)eek!!! Keep your chin up.... Halt !!!!! Take it one day at a time!!! Talk to Friends.... and Remember.... this is a Journey!!! YOU CAN DO IT !!!! Thanks for sharing Ms Calamity ! You have helped me on my journey.... I am now stuck in drug city... crime city.... on a little city lot... away from the country and my friends and family.... But I've been getting new stuff.. and getting New Friends.... and GOD never left me... and Now I have this Garden Web and now I just got a new Grand baby !!! GEEEE WHIZZZZ I am from Texas and I am stuck in the frozen cold, icy tundra .. Illinois helppppppppp !!! but I am just stubborn enough and determined enough to say.. I AM GOING TO SCREAM>>> YELL >>>> KICK MY FEET AND C R Y !!! But ....... I AM GOING TO DO IT !!!!! I AM GOING TO MAKE IT !!!! Take care, God Bless You and Your Family Your new Friend.. I'm sure... susiesunshine