Before.

It was a long weekend…literally and figuratively. Friday I found out my car was in need of a lot…and I do mean a lot… of work if it was going to pass an emissions test next month. Rather than shelling out tons of money on my rickety old Hyundai (which still would have had finicky windows, a broken hatchback, and a defunct CD player) I went new car shopping. Long story short, I bought a certified used Subaru. Then I laid awake for most of the night thinking about taking on car payments I had not been prepared for. Ugh!

But was that the end of the bad news? Of course not. (See the devastation after the jump.)

After.

I pulled into my driveway (in my brand new ride) after visiting and car shopping with my family all weekend only to find the tops of my tomato plants chewed off. I’ve been in my new place for almost two months, and thought I had escaped the terror of rogue woodland creatures but apparently not. At my old place it was the squirrels that were constantly digging in my window boxes, but I assume a deer is behind this destruction. Frankly, it’s devastating.

As you may know, I have spent countless hours getting my garden ready this spring. I barely visit the produce aisle all summer thanks to my green thumb. I haven’t had to buy lettuce in months. But I’ve been fearing for my vegetables’ safety since I first put them in the ground — especially the stuff out back near the woods. Ironically, though, the corn growing just feet from the forest’s edge is fine, while the potted tomatoes sitting in my driveway are being nibbled by marauding wildlife.

I’m not quite ready to sit in  the driveway with any firearms just yet (I’m still hoping the culprit was just passing through) but if I lose any more of my crops to the hoofed critters I may have to find some crazy herbal deer repellent! So far I like the idea of hanging bars of soap from the trees — just because it would make me look completely insane and keep solicitors from my doorstep.