What is this world coming to?

This morning I was making an omelet and went out onto my back patio to gather some of the many grape tomatoes growing on the vine hanging from my patio roof. The plants are/or were, full of delicious sweet tomatoes. I reached up while watching the birdsa nearby and NOTHING< I looked quickly at the spot where they hung and NOTHING< plants and planters GONE! Sometime in the night either a large bird, (OH yeah!) or some thief made away with my tomatoes, but my GOd why take the hanging planters too? I think it had to be someone in the park because we have security gates and getting in after dark isn't easy.
I looked but there was no telltale trail of tomatoes or leaves, just nothing. Now I have to buy tomatoes again...I am so mad!!!

I bet you are anxious to find out... and just hate that you'll have to buy tomatoes. I went to the grocery day before yesterday and 2 small onions costs .75, a bag of 5 apples $4.94, a small bag of maple nut goodies $1.45, milk $3.12, 1/2 dozen small eggs $.98... and bread $2.30... I hadn't been for over a week and came home depressed!

I could send some over Chatty.I wish.

I just hope whoever stole them enjoys them, the hanging buses were just full of tiny sweet tomatoes. Dam that makes me mad. I love the taste of my own garden veges.

That is horrible and makes me angry for you. That will also come back to them, whoever it was. Oh gosh...how awful Chatty. That means that someone was watching the place and knew when they could take it. I would alert all the neighbors, too. Who knows what will come up missing next?

It's a wonder the dogs didn't bark. I know a small box of cherry tomatoes HERE is 4.00. Ridiculous! And I quit buying bacon. Holy pig! I would start making my own bread but all of the ingredients cost just as much as buying loafs, nowadays. And milking cows ain't on my list of "20 Things to do before I die." Ew..ick...yuck. I cooked chicken the other day (see blog) and had to wear gloves. Icky...icky...yucky...

So what are we all going to do? Eat cardboard? Maybe we need to just eat oatmeal three times a day and give the POWERS THAT BE time to reassess the cost of it all.

No wait, that won't work. That would just throw the farmers into bankruptcy.

Ahhhhh....how the heck did I get on this rant? Somebody stop me.

Chatty, next time you plant tomatoes, hang a flashing neon sign over them:

I don't water my tomatoes, I spit on them.

Lol, Ed!
I'm so sorry Chatty, that you have had this happen to you.
I think I know a bit of how you feel.
I live in a little community too and you get this feeling of belonging and safety that can be lost when you get hurt like this.
I live in a gated community and at one time we had a car theft ring being run from INSIDE the community! We all were worried our car would be next and it did not stop until the police did a stake out all night.
So now you have to wonder what else is not safe outside your home, right?
Do you feel safe there, Chatty?
I know you are wise, do you have any idea who would have done such a thing?
There are plenty of plants outside our townhouses here and if it were on of mine, I'd be on high alert, and hurt.
Are you okay?
Dancer

Is that Edelweiss? Welcome back dear friend. I've missed you terribly!

Chats, there's nothing worse than feeling like you've been violated. YOu may want to drive the neighborhood and look for them. It must be soemone local within your community. Don't you think?

A couple weeks ago, I went out in the morning to find a part of my garden all tossled up. Nothing serious, but I didn't like the fact that someone was messing with it. STEP AWAY from our gardens!

chatty, will this keep you from planting again next year?

Nope Dotsie, but wherever I am I will have my patio enclosed so the hanging garden plants are secdure and left alone. I am surprised too that the dogs didn't bark because they hear everything and are yappy little ladies.

Dancer I always felt safe before because nothing ever happened in here but lately things have gone missing all through the park. I asked one of the guys at the SPCA to allow me to take home one of the guard dogs, and then I plan to sit in a centrally located spot where I can see the streets and if I see anyone there that doesn't look like they belong, messing with anything, I will let the dog go...SURPRISE ROBBER!!! Yes, thats your thieving a// in his big sharp teeth...

chatty, that's pretty crappy. I put huge cacti around the back doors and sliding windows, and then don't light that area at night. I figure anyone who tries to break in is in for a big surprise. It's too bad we even have to think like that.

Cacti is used as a deterrent in Arizona as well.
Chatty, I love the dog idea. I still hate the idea of you being "violated," as Dotsie put it, but it seems you can take care of yourself!
Go Chatty!
Dancer

I like EW idea. Or, your special fertilizer comes from the pets. What's up with blueberries? Can't make a blueberry-lemon loaf these days without making a hefty withdrawal from the bank.

Chats...put out a new plant/container...full of tomatoes---with ExLax all over them, or some other powerful ah...well, you know.

We had teenagers who visted on Youth Club night from a nearby town. They would strut into the small village drinking from cans..toss them into the garedens.Going home they would lift planters and move them one house up(remember its an old village and spread out) Then one night the smashed the pots.In my case dark blue pottery with greenery.My wall planter had taken me all year to cultivate.It was in my greenhouse until spring.One week later just wasted by these lads who stormed through.
Cars had mirrors broken and Friday nights were troublesome.The only thing that happened was they grew up...left college and went elsewhere.They wanted to visit the club but had no respect for the dwellings.
I know it bothered me...I wanted to follow them...and try to reason with them.Did not do this due to family being worried.
S Chatty..I fully understand your concerns.
Moutain ash

along with EW's and JJ's idea, comes the thought of rubber snakes, sirens, motion detectors with flashing lights, fake tomatoes hanging on the vines....
I don't advocate thievery, but I hope some logical and acceptable explanation comes out of this.

Stealing someone's food is low down dirty. I hope you catch them soon, Chatty.

Food prices are out of control here, too. I downgraded from whole wheat bread to synthetic whole wheat bread and stopped buying pickles to put on the sandwiches I take to work every day. I buy less tomatoes, too. This is starting to hurt.

Well our stake out proved to be a waste of time but we had fun sitting in the van with the dog and eating junk and laughing.

BUT, low and behold, this afternoon two rather scrawny lads about 14 or so knocked on my door saying that they are the grsandsons of the neighbor that lives behind my house and their grandparents told them to come over and fess up, or else!!! These two kids were staying at their grsandparents for the weekend and noticed alol my beautiful tomatoes and decided to go into business. They sneaked into the yard and cut down the planters and nhid them in the bushes. When grandma and grandpa left to go play Bingo trhe nboys recovered the plants, pulled off the tomatoes and rode their bikes to a corner a few blocks away and sold tomatoes for a dollar a baggy full. BUT someone saw them and told the grandparents. When put to the third degree the truth came out.

They are suppose to spend the entire weekend cleaning my yard etc. whatever I want them to do. They will be washing and polishing my car I can promise them that. Plus they had to give me the money they had left, $17.00...

So goes the mystery of the missing tomatoe plants.

You have to hand it to them... pretty bright, ingenious little thieves kids... too bad you don't have 10 lbs of tomatoes to make them eat in one sitting!

Good grief! Glad you enjoyed the stake-out! Reminds me of Stephanie Plum novels . . . make sure those boys don't miss a spot, and even if they don't, make em do it again!

Well, justice will be served! Glad that's over And maybe if you work them hard enough, they'll think twice before doing that again.

What about the container?

Make them volunteer at the animal shelter...

They containers were smashed and trashed I guess. No salvage there. I will buy new ones for next year and am enclosing the patio as well. The plants won't get as much sunshine but hopefully it will be enough. The grandparents offered to compensate me further but thats not necessary and not their problem. The containers don't cost much to begin with. I'm glad it wasn't some more dangerous person sneaking around. Tomorrow those brats will be spending the day here and do I have work for them to do? Oh yes I do!!! Once they are worn out and to pooped to pop, I am going to tell them to go home, shower, dress nice and be back in one hour. I plan to take them to dinner and have a nice heart to heart with them about the virtues of honesty and good citizenship. Hopefully their payback and chores, and then my forgiving them will suffice...

Only YOU would think to take their punishment and turn the entire situation around to have something good come from it all. Chatty, you are such a wise woman.

Thanks JJ and I am a woman with a spotless and shiny car too.

After the boys slaved for about four hours, I sent them home to clean up. I took them to an IHop for an early dinner and we chatted for about two hours, and they ate revenously.

They were amazingly easy to talk to and seemed interested in what I had to say to them. I bet they apoloogized a dozen times and promised to do whatever they could to be helpful to Seniors from now on, like their own grandparents. They said they never realized the hardship their actions could cause someone else. I said, what if I was old and poor and my tomatoes were my only real healthy food, and someone came along anf stole them from me?I thought the one boy was going to cry.

When we got home they stopped in to write down my email address so they can speak to me when they have a problem or just to say hello. I gave them my phone nunmber too. All in all I may have lost some tomatoes and elevated my blood pressure a few points but I may have helped put two rather wild yet intelligent young men on the right path again.

It worked out well for ewveryone. Their grandmother called me later in the day saying ow greteful she and her mister were that I am the kind of woman I am. She said the kids were buzzing about our conversation and that they were going to try to find jobs back home to try to help "old people." Oh well, when you're 13 & 14 I would be an old people, LOL!!!!

I changed the title, so that someone can find your story later chatty.

Great how you handled the boys.. glad they learned something well.

What a wonderful story Chat. You are truly a kind heart:) I bet that they will remember you for the rest of their lives.

Chatty, great outcome! These boys will never ever forget you.

Hopefully they'll remember the consequences of their actions and maybe me as well, time will tell. I sure do miss my fresh tomatoes with my morning omelette. Bought some but they aren't as fresh or tasty, blah!!!

Chatty, very sweet of you to turn the whole situation around. Take a spin in that shiny car of yours!

Chatty everything happens for a reason. You may never know the impact you had on those boys, but your day with them is now a part of their life history and yours.I am sure they will tell this story more than once in their lifetime and will surely reflect on it when they have children of their own. They didn't know they picked the right person to steal from at the time.

There was once a lady named Chatty.
She loved to cook and bake like batty.
But even more,
Than going to a bio store,
She loved her tomatoes on her patty. ( um…patio?)

One night along came two gents.
They climbed over Chatty’s fence.
They saw those red beauties,
Said “let’s make a lot of looties,” ( money?)
And off they went on their tipsy tooties.

Well detective Chatty found out who did it.
Scolded the boys till they began to fidget.
Her car they soap sopped
Chatty brought them to IHop
And showed them that Boomers are sweet; not bitch’et.

Chatty, good job, and very kewl. I hope you turned them around, I really do!
Good for you!
Dancer

Thanks ladies for your concern. Edelweiss, well all I can say is, wow!!!

Chatty

What an amazing way to make lemonade from lemons! I know that it was a whole lot of no fun to have your tomatoes stolen and to deal with the aftermath of feeling violated. AND I'm sooooooooo impressed with the gift you gave these young men. It is an helluva way to turn this into a life lesson that, I have no doubt, will be a gift for these guys for life.

I think it is awesome that their grandparents took a stand for them, for honesty, and for you.

Wow, all I can say is WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! You rock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chatty, this is such a wonderful story. While I'm sorry you lost the tomatoes that you pain-stakingly nursed into fruition, I'm awed by your gracious handling of the situation. Your treatment of those boys will have a life-long impact on them, rippling well into their own children's lives.

And Edelweiss, all I can do is echo Chatty's "WOW", your poem is delightful.

This is so cool!! Too often, people react out of anger rather than kindness and empathy. Chatty, you are the poster gal for kindness and empathy.

I bet many nof you would have done the same thing I did. It is the way I try to live by example. Sometimes it works, sometimes not! Oh and keyhole that had better be one BIIIIIIG! Poster for me to fit upon it.

I'm not sure if I'd have done what you did Chatty...I probably would have gone as far as you had with being nice and dealing with the grandparents and having them do some work for me. But to take them to dinner was in my eyes above the call of duty! I just don't think I would have thought to do that, to make a friend or an ally out of someone who clearly (although not really maliciously) did something wrong. I wouldn't say the kids were malicious, they were just being kids and letting their creativity/impulsivity get the best of them LOL. In my eyes, it takes a special person to think of doing that, to go above and beyond what was done to rectify the situation and to actually mentor those young kids.

How 'bout a billboard?

Aha, a billboard!!! I think even my ample tushy might fit on a billboard...LOL

I got a pone call today from the mpother of the boys who stole my ntomatoe plants etc. She said that there was a saack on my front porch, that she had knocked earlier but got no answer, so left the sack against the door. Upon investigation I found about four dozen sweet grape tomatoes. How very kind of them.... Also she said next planting season she and her family wanted to buy me hanging planters and plants to start the growing season. We spoke awhile, she too was shocked at the way her boys were treated after doing such a shamless thing. The mom seemed really nice and sad her sons hadn't stopped telling the story of the 'nice tomatoe lady,' and how scared they were I would have them arrested.

I told her I was at the SPCA shelter picking up two pups that were found in a big cardboard box in the basement of an abandoned house. They were half dead from dehydration and starvation. They had been bathed and put non IV for several days until a foster home could be found for them. They appear to be part pit and part sometrhing fuzzy, really cute and so small. Anyway she talked a few more minutes and asked if they could make a donation to the shelter? I said, of course, that would be appreciated. She and her husband are making a $300.00 donation...The shelter will be thrilled, I know I am.

GOD works his wonders in mystyerious ways...

LOL...I thought you were referring to your big personality!!! No insult was intended.

Sounds like you were the conduit for some tremendous positive thinking! That SHOULD be billboard material. What goes around, comes around in my thinking.

No insult taken, believe me...I guess my perwonality is about as large as my tush, yep, it is, I just looked!!!

chatty, great work dear friend. Now if only everyone thougth the way you do, what a wonderful world it would be.

It reminds me a bit of my elderly neighbor. A young fella from the neighborhood treid breaking in to her home one night and the police caught him. When it went to trial, the young boy could have been put behind bars, but somehow, (and I don't know how this palyed out) my neighbor who had been violated siad she would rather see him get help for his drinking and druging problem. And he did. The boy's parents were so grateful that she was able to soften her heart and see what was in their son's best interest.

Sometimes young teens just need adults to love them.

Our neighborhood seems quite safe, but because of my background (living in very rough neighborhoods,) I'm always thinking some seasonal ornament will get taken, so I decorate outdoors sparingly at holiday time.

It amazes me that in my area, individual people actually pay professional decorators to do their outdoor fall and Christmas decorations. Isn't that something!

Today's prayer: God bless all those who do not take what does not belong to them!