In the past 4 years, I've tried a lot of different ideas. Trapping works best, by far. And I don't drive 20 miles to let the squirrels off. I drop them off about 5 miles away on my way into town, so it only adds 5 minutes (or less) to my drive. Putting aviary wire cages over/around my plants has been the only other thing that works. I'm growing many vegetables in 5 gallon containers, and I make a 3ft high cylinder around the container, out of the aviary wire (which is 1/2" chicken wire...squirrels can reach through regular 1" chicken wire) and crimp it at the top. It works really well, but can be a pain to reach inside...especially when you have bugs you want to inspect or pick off. You can spray Safer's soap and rubbing alcohol through the mesh, but if you want to do a thorough job of spraying you need to remove the cylinder. I've tried plastic chicken wire, and plastic hardware cloth(less expensive), but the squirrels can chew right through the plastic if they really want what's inside. For plants in the ground, I've build 36"x36" wood base frames (using 1x1 wood) and made chicken wire domes over them, 2-3ft high at the center. I've also made hardware cloth frames for young seedlings (usually about 12-16" high and 8" wide and as long as I need). For both the domes and the hardware cloth frames, you need to attach end pieces to close them off. With hardware cloth expect to bleed a lot, the wire points are always knicking you in the arm. I'm just now setting up a 4x8' garden box to plant some corn and I'm going to make a chicken wire cage around it with a chicken wire top that I can open up when needed. This is the best solution, something large enough where you can get inside and move around with ease. Fancy cages that look good are expensive to make (hardware cloth is especially costly), but I'm using 1/2" emt metal tubes/pipes (from Home Depot) for posts, and chicken wire for the top and sides. Not pretty, but effective. Everything else I tried was a waste of time. It's not fun to see your tomatoes inside a wire cylinder, but at least they are "my" tomatoes and I'm the one who gets to eat them. On top of all this, I have to deal with gophers (chicken wire floors under the dirt), and the occasional deer. Plus rabbits and a mysterious animal (flying rabbit?) that somehow get's over a 5 foot high deer fence and eats all the young branches from citrus trees without leaving any leftover scraps on the ground. Hope this helps your situation a bit. John

haaahaha...i now don't feel so bad knowing that a family of squirrels has taken up residence in my garage. good thing my garage is not attached to the house. but they have torn a huge hole in the back of my garage, and it seems that they are not even scared of me anymore. when i go in the garage, the mother squirrel does not even move from her spot up in the rafters. i swear today that one of them was waiting for me on my back porch....wtf?? thankfully my husband has just bought a giant assault rifle type pellet gun and is excited to use it. the squirrels have done so much damage to our garage, i almost feel like we might as well tear it down and build a new one. they have ripped down ALL the insulation, and the holes are ridiculous. so...good luck to all you squirrel hunters out there...and just remember...they might be cute..BUT THEY ARE STILL RATS!!!!

An update for those who offered help: I sent DS the Mozart info and started looking myself. We've found some possibilities there and plan to talk to them about timing. We also found out that there are a very limited number of on campus apartments for graduate students. Most grads live off campus, but for the practice and rehearsal schedules he is used to, my son may actually prefer to be on campus rather than being a mile or more away. For the first year anyway. He is going to check into that as an option also but they apparently don't assign those spots until summer. Nothing decided, but seeing some options and thinking about how to furnish if we need to (have a desk, table, sofa and small dining table but will need chairs and a bed -- bed being the main thing). Feeling better for the moment -- but getting challenged on other fronts now. Always something, right? Thanks for the help.

Larri, I LOVE the bright colors -- especially the blue and the dragonflies. I find that bright colors and contemporary designs are a big part of what have interested me in trying quilting. I found one classic diamonds pattern I liked and showed it to my husband in two colorways -- he didn't like either, so I might be getting more support for the colorful quilts from an aging "hippie" too. LOL . I was surprised to see Bargello as a thing in quilt designs. My mom did Bargello needlepoint and I always found the patterns and color flows fascinating. The bright colors of the Eric Carle designs were certainly part or the reason we enjoyed his books and I am now looking forward to making some quilts. I need to stop talking and get to where I can start stitching! Littlehelen -- I love your hearts too! The softer colors are so appropriate there -- and the pieced fabric hearts are fun. I have so much to learn and play with.