Johnra, sounds similar to here, sounds like you have a type of squash vine borer on the zukes, can be killed with insecticide dust or spray like Sevin or injected BT. Or you can squash the eggs and slit the stem, kill the grub and bury the stem. Worms are probably caterpillars and grubs laid by moths and beetles, which fly, so they may be able to get into your raised beds too. If you don't want to use insecticide, sometimes row covers are used. This can backfire when bugs are trapped underneath the row covers. Tomato blight is caused by bacteria in soil, does not usually hurt the plant too much. Best to mulch the base so that soil is not splashed up onto the leaves, or you can cut off the lower leaves when they turn brown if you like. Always burn the vegetable matter, do not compost tomato or squash material, only mulch with other plant material like hay or straw, this is to minimize buildup of virus or bacteria which are specific to tomato and squash plants. Blossom end rot or BER is said to be caused by inadequate watering not transporting calcium to the tissues, but if you get it during the rainy season, that puts a wrench in that theory. It's caused by lack of calcium and usually only affects the first fruits. You can pick and discard the first fruits, or let them grow and cut the spot out, the rest of the fruit is usually good. You can also try putting crushed eggshells, TUMS, vitamin pills, etc. into the hole at planting or use limestone in the soil, usually limestone is cheaper, someone will tell you to get a soil test first, can you get a soil test in Thailand? Where in Thailand are you located, where are you from originally? I wish I could get fresh durian. I buy it at the nearest Asian grocery, over 100 miles away. I can only get Monthong, as it's all they import. Can you get the other varieties, the red and white fleshed ones, and the really strong smelling ones?

God bless the innocence of children. Thanks for posting. Dottie

The A beka curriculum has been around as the site said since 1974. I taught the A beka cirriculum in 3 yr. old Preschool(they call it 3 year old Kindergarten or at least they use to) and also help teach it in 5 yr. old Kindergarten. I tught some 3 and 4 yr. old and didn't quite use the curriculum altogether. The cirriculum , from my stand point has always been big on moral and Chrsitian teaching along with a large emphasis on teaching young children phonics and reading skill along with number recognition and how to add and subtract and also skills. I am also somewhat familiar with the first grade cirriculum and even the third grade cirriculum as I had a child in the first grade cirriculum and my sister-in-law taught one year the third grade cirriculum. I find it a plus especially for grammar school age children. ~Lynn~

:-) I would not have driven that far normally except that I really have been wanting a vintage desk for my DD's room and the neighborhood was in a nice area near the city that I am somewhat familiar with, so I felt comfortable making the drive. The seller not ponying up extra pictures should have been a tip, yes. But I felt rushed because she was moving out and it was a now or never kind of thing. Usually in those circumstances I go "safe" and just let the item go but in this case I went for it. I must say that I'm a little taken aback by the notion (I'm not saying they were directed toward me) that seemingly "well-off" people shouldn't use craigslist or the thrift store. I could probably come across as being at least a little well-off. I drive a new SUV (only the second new vehicle in my life) and carry an expensive handbag. I like to wear nice clothes. But my SUV is very "basic" inside, not many extras. I have only one handbag to my name, I take care of it, and it is several years old. At home we manually chop firewood and heat our house with an outdoor wood furnace. I wash out my plastic ziploc bags and reuse them rather than grab a new one, I brown-bag every single day, and so on. I do like to be frugal in some ways  not buying new furniture is one of those ways. I don't have the money to buy all the new furniture pieces I want for the house, so used is my option. I certainly don't "over-haggle" and most craigslist prices I've seen I thought were fair and paid them without question. I would not falsely denigrate an item if I really thought it was great. I agree that would be annoying. If I want to barter down, I would say  I really like this, but I am only willing to pay X for it  if you still have it and want sell it later for that price, feel free to re-contact me. I have to agree that it is not so much the price that the original seller paid, but rather the fact of what the buyers are willing to pay that drives things. If anyone is still reading, all my dealings with craigslist thus far have been very good  I make sure I have email and phone communications with the seller ahead of time, and they must come across as very "normal". And the neighborhood has to be safe / low-crime or I wouldn't go. I always let my DH know exactly where I am going, and take someone with me. The items I've sold, I've always met the buyer in a busy shopping center parking lot.