I have learned that trying to shame someone as a means to getting them to reconsider their actions doesn't work. So,..instead I thought I'd ask some good questions: 1) If a neighbor had a dog you didn't like, would throwing the dog in your swimming pool be a reasonable solution? 2) How about someone's cat? 3) Why is it perfectly fine, to drown Chipmunks or any animal? 4) Would you be completely "comfortable", watching a Chipmunk drown? Watching it fight for its life, in total panic, total terror, steadily tiring,...but still trying,...and finally exhausted,...breathes water in,....and finally succumbs. Is that something that causes no anxiety at all? 5) Would you let your 6 year old child watch the Chipmunk drown? 6) Its illegal to drown any animal in many states; there must be a reason,....right? One person in 100 in this country are a Psychopath. I don't think everyone at this site is a Psychopath, but some how, you guys think drowning animals is acceptable. I can't even get my head around drowning animals,..just because its "efficient". Atomic bombs are efficient too, we don't use them for obvious reasons. Well,...now my personal story with Chipmunks. I had one that got injured by a a neighbors cat. So,...I brought him inside, and nursed him back to health. What I would ask everyone to consider,...is that (like people),...an animal you don't know,...is seen in a different light, when you have the chance to "meet them",..and get to know them. As I cared for this Chipmunk,...I made a number of amazing observations. One,...they dream. I watched him make a nest,...and curl up on his side,..and go to sleep. Then I saw,....his muzzle twitching,...his little hands and feet moving....just like a dog. They aren't just "rats with a bushy tail". When he was healthy, I released him in a nice wooded area. And ever since,...my wife and I feed the Chipmunks on our deck,....and its loads of fun, watching them stuff their pouches,...some of them come over to the picture window and stand on their hind feet,..and look inside our house to see if anyone is home. We have had no problems with them,...no garden problems,...no "wires",...no wood problems. Maaaaaybe,...its cuz we offer them something. I've heard campers hang smelly food items a mile away from their camp site so the bears have something to go after. Guys,....why not work WITH NATURE,..instead of against it. Trapping and releasing Squirrels and Chipmunks works,....feeding them has worked for us,...and we've enjoyed watching them. I was even patient enough to sit still on the deck,...with sun flower seed in my hand,...and had a few come eat out of my hand. So,...I wish at least some of you,...would reconsider killing them. There are other ways of dealing with them in most cases. They have a pretty hard life as it is,...snakes,...raptors, Owls, and worst of all cats. If even one person "rethought" the whole thing,...writing this would feel worth it.

She is always busy.. I chat with her most every day. She is having tons of fun with her grandaughter, Alyssa..

Susan, I'm so sorry you lost your two big guys. In the last few years, we've lost 4 old dogs, and a couple of old cats. The loss of beloved pets sure does leave a hole in your heart. Because we live in the country, though, and horrible people drive out and dump pets "in the country" all the time, as if the poor things can take care of themselves, we always have abandoned animals showing up needing a home, so we never run out of cats or dogs. Still, just because a couple of little dogs showed up needing a home and needing to be loved and we took them in....that doesn't make me miss our dearly departed old dogs any less, and it is the same with cats. Our oldest cats that we have now are around 15-16 years old and I know they won't be with us all that much longer, but we have had a few cats live to be 18-20. It sounds like you've been busy planting. My snap peas stalled for a long time during that time frame when the weather was too hot, windy and dry and everyone was having wildfires. It was not pea-friendly weather, but they are doing great now even though the plants still are shorter than they'd be in a year without such a prolonged warm, windy spell too early in the season. Maybe the recent rain and cool weather will make your peas step up their growth and produce a harvest for you. I love the toad story. Do you have any cats or dogs that could have carried it inside? We had a cat who used to bring in bunnies, birds and voles (sometimes dead ones, but mostly live ones) through the dog door, which is the reason we got rid of the dog door. I like for the wildlife to be outside, not inside. The frogs have been croaking like mad the last few days. With all of last year's and this year's moisture, we have the most frogs this year that we've ever had. They are just everywhere. Stockergal, What fun it is to have a little helper, even if he is eating you out of house and home! I did plant tomato and pepper plants yesterday in a raised bed and the soil was still very wet, but not so wet that I couldn't transplant plants into it. All that is left now is to fill in a couple of places in the cucumber bed, which also is a raised bed, and then to deal with the grade-level soil at the low end of the garden. I hope to do that today, but much will depend on how wet the soil is at the low end of the garden. Because of all that rain, it wouldn't surprise me if the soil at that low end is still unworkable. If that's the case, I'll move to the back garden, which has had big puddles standing in it. I know the back garden is going to be a mud pit, but I'd like to get a lot done before next week's rainfall. I noticed yesterday that the back garden's puddles are gone. Luckily, most of it is sandy-silty soil and it dries quickly, so either today or tomorrow the part of the back garden that has been rototilled ought to be plantable. I am hoping that the part that isn't rototilled yet can be rototilled on Saturday late in the day after it has hopefully dried up enough, or maybe early Sunday. With rain in the forecast for Sunday, it seems like I'll be weeding and mulching on much of Saturday while Tim is mowing and bringing me grass clippings. We mowed several acres last weekend, but you cannot tell it now by looking at them or at the yard. Everything has grown so much, it is like we never mowed. I am looking at a few bare spots in the perennial beds and trying to decide what to put in as replacement plants. We now do know, apparently, which plants can survive 78" of rainfall in one year in amended clay, as well as which ones cannot. Dawn

I thought, too, she must be really busy. I don't think she's been to tea for a month. On another note; when are people going to clean out their old stuff and replace it with their new Christmas stuff? I've been watching craigslist and there's nothing.