Today, I got the girl's name and found out where she lives from my neighbor with the grandson who I let come over. She said the girl is pretty wild, and not a good influence on her grandson. She once tried to get him to do tricks on his bicycle in the street. He is supposed to stay away from her. (She's older, anyway.) My neighbor said I shouldn't go to her house to get on better terms with her, as she will do what she wants anyway, and may interpret it that I am letting her come over after all. She said to wait until I see her near here again. Speaking of knowing what cats eat. I found out that her grandson had put another cat in with the tomato hornworm, and it ate part of the hornworm! Do any of you know if cats will eat each other? I was wondering if it was one of my Swallowtail cats that he put in with his. I guess he cried and cried, and his day said they'd let it go, and maybe it would grow new parts. Mary, part of me can't see how people would have the nerve to pick your roses, but another part thinks many people are clods when it comes to the appreciation of gardening and respect for others' property, and is not surprised. I'll look up the urica. :o) Living on a corner exposes you to the public. I hope they never put sidewalks in our yard! My in-laws had a fence they had to move because it was in the easement. Our back yard fence is in the easement, though, I think. I just know our shed goes out to it, and we can't build a new one because structures have to line up with the houses on either side of the lot. If our house burns down, I don't think we'll be allowed to rebuild. I do hope I see the girl soon, as I do agree I should explain why I was so upset. I think what irks me the most, is that by her telling the friend she hoped I wasn't outside, that meant she was knowingly, deliberately doing something she knew I didn't want her to do. Thanks for all the feedback, Sue

I grow early girls every year. They're supposed to come before the Better Boys (or Big boys) but I only seem to get them about a week or two before the fatties can be picked. I like the early girls because of the size, they are easy to cut into wedges and are the perfect size for salads. I have had tremendous success with them. So far I have never had any tomato diseases or pests except the green horned worms that showed up last year. I disposed of them immediately and was able to save all 8 tomato plants from destruction. Of course I buy the plants direct from the shop. I have never tried seeds but as I get further into my hobby, I know trying seeds is only a year or two away, considering how many people are so successful with them here on GW. Last year I was counting the days until I could make my first gaspacho (cold tomato soup) and was collecting the toms everyday. I didnt quite have enough to load into the puree machine. Low and behold I found out that my neighbor was helping himself to my toms and that really got me mad cuz I had to wait longer for my first substantial harvest for the gaspacho. Grrr. This year I told him to stay out of my garden because it is my personal space & "my toms are not public property."

Thank you for the kind words ROB33, but I guess our views on this are just different. To me health and wellness (mentally and physically) are the responsibly of the parent and are of equal importance to all other parental care. You can set them up for a lifetime with good eating habits and exercise. It’s really not all that difficult. If you do not have the money for a trainer simply have small areas set up in a basement or extra bedroom or whatever and carefully choose age appropriate exercise cd’s. All you need is a matt and hand weights (weights after a certain age). If it is a young pre-teen they seem to enjoy martial arts type cardio workouts. Keep a variety as what one likes the other may not. My kids are adults now but you know what? They still use workout cd’s, one has added a gym to his room for cross train and the other alternates home workout cd’s with periodic health club visits. And, I never told them they were fat and ugly to get them to use the cd’s either. I simply told them I was ordering some workouts and asked if there was any type of workout they might be interested in. Then, I also did the workouts to set an example. Edited to add… I had times frames I gave the kids for my workouts so there were no run-ins on the space. I did not set their workout times. I gave them time to play around a bit with sampling different workouts. After a time I just came out and asked what their favorite was. After being told I sought out other similar type cd’s so they wouldn’t get bored…and, I was encouraging but not pushy. This post was edited by jterrilynn on Wed, Aug 13, 14 at 10:28

I wouldn't say anything to the children either. They are young and at this point in a harmless situation. However, I just want to add what I have realized myself in the last couple of years. Kids are having sex when they are very young!!! I am only 24, I graduated from high school 6 years ago, and now I TEACH high school/junior high and this is my 2nd year. I have 7th graders in class who have had sex (they are 12/13 at this age). They don't say it out loud, but some have confided in me or other teachers. When I was pregnant (just had baby in Nov) I had TWO girls ask me how to know if you are pregnant, because they thought they were. I just can't believe this. I have talked to other teachers here with much more experience and they say that MANY of the kids in the last several years are becoming sexually active much younger. Ocassionally we will find notes that they have written to their friends that they may drop on the floor and let me tell you...these kids know so much more about sex than even 6 years ago when I was in high school. Back then the "normal" age was about 16-18 when some people started having sex. Not 12/13. However, there were and still are those people who value the experience and save it for marriage, but that seems to be less and less common. This is somewhat off the original post, but I just thought I would share what my STUDENTS have taught ME! :) Aspen