Boy do we need this sign where I live. A family from Rochester Hills bought property here across from a beef ranch/farm, and then petitioned the township to run him out of business because smells and "doesn't look pretty". Well duh! Yes. He was laughed right out of the township meeting.

It is really disturbing the pervasive idea that humans should own one another.

Mark likes Candy Cane Lane tea which is a seasonal only tra that is hard for us to find. He orders a case and then uses every tea bag three times in one night. That last cup had to be steeped a long time, and is a little bit weak but he is determined to get every last drop out of those tea bags 😂 All other flavors of tea he uses twice. I am trying to get him onto a tea ball and bulk leaves because he drinks a ton of tea, so it is an epic amount of tea bags going in the garbage.

You are so right. It should also be noted that while Americans tend to think of slavery as a fairly exclusive practice perpetrated against the peoples of West Africa, the colonies also heavily enslaved captured Native Americans as well as the peoples of Haiti and other Caribbean islands. It appears that in New England by the mid-1700's, up to a third of the population of Native Americans were slaves or "servants" sentenced to very long periods of servitude to white families. So probably an awful lot of ancestors of "not the south" may have owned slaves.

Though some ancestors lived at various times in southern states or areas under the Missouri Compromise, they were primarily yanks. We have them traced back on both sides into the 1600's, and have found no trace of slave holdings and even some abolitionist activism. Those that fought in the Civil War, all but one, fought for the Union. The one who fought for the Confederacy had married a somewhat upper "middle class" girl, and they were gifted (puke) a slave at their wedding. He promptly freed his wife's maid, and then paid her a wage to stay with them. My guess is he fought for the confederacy (they lived in Missouri) out of loyalty to her family from Alabama. He was one of 11 kids, and his father and siblings were so ashamed of him, that he was cut out of the family for forever. He survived the war, and when his father died, there was a long letter attached to the will about how evil, unchristian, un-american, well just "un everything" he thought his son was. That particular great grandpa had some serious money to leave among his kids too, so it probably smarted old Calvin to be not only cut off from his mother and siblings, but also the inheritance. Interestingly, we only knew about him from our eldest son's research. He was still alive at the time my great grandfather was a child, and from what we can gather, he knew of his uncle and his own father was so ashamed of his that he forbade any mention of him. As a child, I attended many family reunions with my grandparents where everyone was talking about family history and genealogy, and this guy never came up. Apparently the fury of patriarch Thaddeus extended well beyond the grave. Everyone else, both sides, were English, Scotch, and French Canadian all having moved to Ontario, New York, and Vermont without any record of slave holding. Many were Quakers and Anglicans so there may, by that time, have been religious beliefs against slavery. Only one line got here before the 1830's-1840's. That line arrived in the late 1600's. Most of these ancestors moved around a lot and through slave holding areas as they decided where to ultimately settle and farm, Virginia coming up a lot in the genealogy. But we have many records, letters, even some journals plus newspaper articles, and in none of them was slave holding mentioned. Pretty much all of them ended up going back to Michigan, Ontario, and northeastern NY to settle down permanently. My guess is they hated humidity. Like me! 😂 I am shirt-tail related to Ethan Allen (very, very distant) and he had black servants though their standing legally was unclear. His daughter was a slave owner which makes me think Ethan probably was too. He is not close to my direct lineage.

My mother in law has to be driven to the doctor since she cannot drive anymore, but usually will not allow me to do more than wait in the car because she doesn't want me to ask questions or know her business. I have to honor that even though I am gobsmacked at the things she doesn't ask or know about her conditions. Mark's brother, whom she listens to more than us, tried to get her to change that policy and let me at least go in and listen. She adamantly refused. It is maddening. However, legally and morally, you just have to honor the patient's wishes. If they didn't bring you along to ask, then you have to bite your tongue or not go in with them to their appointments.

I bought a big bag on Amazon of ground. I keep it in a quarter Mason and with a cap on top, and a silica packet inside on the back shelf of cupboard in the hopes of it remaining fresh for a while.

It really is horrible! I can hardly people anymore, as Mark would say. Just an hour or two out in society at the farm store, the grocery store, the hardware, and I am just done. Aggressive driving, aggressive speech, aggressice gestures, aggression e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e. So then I am exhausted from people. Truly, I think we can't make schools better. Even IF we managed to convince the power mongers to radically change stupid policies, and overhaul funding, and all the things that would make things better for teachers and students, at the end of the day, we are still dealing with an egregiously selfish, scarily aggressive society where really, we now have more people acting like that than less. I don't see how we can move forward until the rampant self absorption lessens considerably. Our Dd just dealt with an entire set of totally OVER THE TOP parents at a homeschool co-op who bring kids who aren't in the class she teaches but expect her to babysit those kids AND teach simultaneously so they can "have a break", and then when the teens got in trouble outdoors while she was teaching a 7-10 year old science lab indoors, they went F bomb crazy on her and the director. Not 1 person, not 2 persons, 9 women frothing at the mouth because they had to give up their "personal time" to go deal with teens. Dd isn't even paid. Just volunteering. She told the director she quit, gathered her children, her things, and left. She then had to block emails and facebook because these same women sent personal communications calling her effing unreliable and "woe as me, now I have to find somewhere else for my kids to go so I can have downtime" emails and posts. Sickening. She is done peopling now. She invited 2 nice women and their children to her house every other week for a science lab, and an art project, then play time. I think that is better. Form a small pod of decent humans who seem to be few and far between a lot of the time.

I have only ever bought Ceylon already powdered. Interesting!

Right. Totally on point. Kbutton,again, what was on paper was mostly to control the flaky people who want to sign their kids up for lessons, but will cancel whenever the notion takes them or bring sick kids. As I said in my post, when communicating privately with parents, I was kind, and when I had the time to be generous with make up lessons, I did that. The issue is if the official policy is not very explicit and a bit rigid, the subset of parents that will use and abuse the teacher is NOT small. Part and parcel of that is that music is not celebrated and prioritized or seen as worthy compared to sports or just about anything else. I know school sport coaches who are a FAR more rigid than I ever was and punished kids all the time, very harshly, for flakiness on the parent or student's part. I live in a sports culture that has no problem punishing kids for not showing up to practice with a temperature and puking on a 100 degree day. I know a lot of parents who subjected their kids to all kinds of insanity for sports or for social events, but wouldn't have had an ounce of respect for me and my studio schedule unless I forced it. To be honest, the single policy that did the most to control the issues was pre-paying a month or a semester at a time. If they pay for it, then they are more likely to be committed, and to communicate if a child has been sick or there is a family emergency or conflict with medical care or car that wouldn't start or whatever. And everyone was credited if school was canceled due to nasty winter roads. But knowing that they were paying to keep their time slot, made them more likely to show up and also carve out time for their child to practice. Learning to play and instrument or develop vocal skills require regular practice outside the lesson. Yet parents will often not consider this and their scheduling unless there is a financial penalty for failure to implement practice opportunities. Such is the way of this culture. My sister assures me this is not w concern in France where students and parents consider it a privilege to take private lessons, and music teachers are greatly respected. I think that to paint those of us who spent hours and hours of time sitting around waiting for people to show up who don't, and think they shouldn't have to pay for our time as being nasty people who don't care for low income families is really unfair. My income was used to support our family, same as any other job. Why should I be treated that way? Who is entitled to treat someone else with so little respect? I had many not remotely well off families who took lessons from me, and took advantage of the multi-student discount. I had families who applied for and received the scholarship which was FREE instruction. Just because someone is low income doesn't also mean they get to disregard someone else or take a slot from another deserving student because they are not committed to the very thing they said they would commit to do. On top of which, private music instructors make less per hour than just about anyone else with a bachelor's degree. Sorry for expecting that my family should have some benefit for the hours I spent teaching instead of being with them. This is no different than private school tuition. You still pay even if your kid misses school. No one can budget for a music studio if they can't count on the income, just like a school can't operate if it can't count on the budgeted income and the students by in large, being there to be taught. The attitude of parents that music teachers should have low expectations, low pay, maximum flexibility, and no respect is why many of us retired. Personally, what I would really love is for communities to sponsor music instruction as much as they sponsor sports, and for schools to hire instrument specialists as part of their band and voice programs so that we didn't have to worry about contracting privately and all students have access. Since that is never going to happen, then this is what is left. And again, what was on paper was to discourage parents who would sign up on a whim, and then treat me like either a babysitting service (had dads who would try to sneakily drop off their other kids and not just their student so they could run off for forty five minutes by themselves) or never show, never call, or bring a feverish kid to my house. It is bad enough when a child does not know they are sick and pukes all over the piano. It is quite another when the parent picks them up from school, knows they are sick, and drops them and leaves. I shouldn't have had to even spell out a policy about not dropping and running, but such is life with so many selfish parents in the community. I made it know that they could call and talk if they ran into issues. More times than not, we worked it out. I honestly think the tough policy made parents call who would have otherwise just flaked.

When I had an active music studio, my policy was that lessons were paid for a month at a time, and then unless it was an emergency, no notice flake outs did not get a make up lesson, and if a child came to me with symptoms of being sick, the parent would have to take them home, no make up. I did not allow drop and run. Parents had to stay in the waiting room or in their cars. If they did not observe the policy, there was a three strikes and out penalty that kicked in. Flaky parents could petition to restart lessons but only if they were willing to pay tuition a semester at a time after that. I was VERY kind to people who had emergencies, disabled children - one of my students had a sibling with cancer so I always refunded money when medical appointments made it impossible to make lessons that week because I knew who important it was for the student to continue with lessons if possible just for a sense of normalcy. I also had a policy that if parents talked about their financial arrangements with me, there would be some reckoning. I always offered 3 scholarships per semester, and it wasn't anyone else's business who got them. It was all spelled out in a business contract that outlined parent responsibilities, instructor responsibilities, and student responsibility. This was signed before they could take the first lesson. I had a waiting list of 30 students hoping to get a spot at one point, so it was common knowledge that if the parent was flaky, they might end up out of the studio because there were plenty of kids waiting in the wings. I didn't like being hard nosed. But what so found out was that if I wasn't, I would just be taken advantage of all the time by a certain subset of parents, and their children wouldn't make progress because the role model of lack of priority of lessons over just another anything else. "Susie got invited to a play date so we forgot." Nope. Bye bye.

This is just adorable! You are so talented. I love the fabric!

I would be a big fan of a work table with a miniature rocket build in process. 😁

Ugh. I hate that stuff! Several people around here have huge "F@ck B____" banners hanging on their porches. So gross. We live in a very selfish society where many people do not consider anyone.

I am still finishing the hand stitching on the Halloween quilt. It has been very time intensive. As soon as that is done, hopefully Thursday or Friday, I am making a blitz of simple baby quilts 30"x36" (76 cm x 91 cm) for the NICU. They have asked for 100% cotton quilts with low loft batting and no flannel. Apparently anything fluffy/fuzzy is easy for babies to catch their stitches on. They also asked for pastels/low stimulus colors and patterns. A bunch of quilt stores have a contest going to see how many they can collect. So I am in the contest for the store I frequent the most. I have a layer cake in tiny, pastel florals that I think I can get 3, maybe 4 quilts out of since I have pastel solids to put with it for washing and boarders. I have a set of fat quarters with farm animals all in very pale blue, cream, peach, yellow, and pale pale green. I can get two quilts out of that if I supplement with solids. Then I am going to go through my stash and see if I have some woodland animals in mostly neutral and pastel colors that I can use. I have a massive piece of quilt backing that is just tone on tone cream, and I will use that for backs for all of them. My hope is to make 8 quilts. I figure between that and all the gardening, I am going to be very busy. The parents really appreciate special things for their little ones when they can't come home for a long time. Our grandson had some very cute things given to him when he was in the NICU for a month, so I want to give back and make sure the nurses have a nice stash. The goal between the quilt stores is to donate 500 quilts.

Me too. It seems to never end. I don't know why extremists even want to live like this.

I am reading the Mychorizal Planet and The Holistic Orchard. I don't know how far I will get this month. I have a lot to do to be ready for transplants and seeds in the raised beds, apple tree that need some baying, and some beautiful spring weather that beckons me away from curling up on the couch and reading.

Yes, this can all be very regional. Unfortunately, my area does not really give much of a leg up in this regard at all. Costs are high. Licensing exams and annual fees are very high. DTE does do tuition free electrical journeyman program, and their journeymen make a lot of money. But, what kids don't understand is that the competition is insanely fierce, and most of the recent high school graduates that apply for the program fail the entrance exam. They also fail to understand that DTE does not need to hire a 1000 a year either. They don't seem to understand that not applying oneself in school will come back to haunt them if they want a job besides part time fast food or gas station attendant. My area is so anti-education, for the most part, that the parents spend a lot more time telling their kid to be belligerent and not do homework, not do the projects, not earn the all while maligning the teachers, that it isn't making the job of repairing a broken education system any easier. And many of them do not understand how easy it is to be badly hurt on the job in some trades, and how little SS disability pays nor that apart from a few corporate trades jobs that everyone is vying for, they will need to purchase their own medical insurance. I just wish there was a way to get the messaging out there. We need trades, and in some areas, very very badly. But we need universal healthcare and better safety net too so that it is a fair risk for students to take. Currently our biggest glut is cosmetology. There just aren't very many jobs in it, and by the time rent and supplies are paid, the net is low. I think there was a pretty big shift in my state, and many customers did not come back after the shut down lifted either because they got used to doing their own or adopted a simpler look, or the economics took over, and they could no longer afford it. Probably a combo of factors.

My condolences to our Aussie friends. It is so hard to comprehend all the violence in our world. Hugs

Oh boy! He just never learns. Yikes.

Gonna guess this is your brother, and boy, he just really needs to get off the internet.

I think this is the heart of the issue. High school is failing proposition these day, and it comes on the heels of an elementary education that is an utter failure in imparting a firm foundation to students so they can handle higher expectations which is followed by a spin-the-wheels middle school. Only about 20% of our local high school students are realistically college material in terms of truly being capable of doing the work that should be considered college level, but 50-60% or more apply to and attend college because there is so little work available without a degree. A job that comes with actual health insurance and some sort of account for saving retirement is not taking high school diploma kids. Almost no employers within the trades offers benefits. Everyone in the trades here are 1099 contractors who have to figure it out themselves and operation costs are very high. Everyone says "look at what the trades bill for their work, go into the trades" and then encounter several things: 1. Trades are nearly always, apart from say house painting, landscaping, that type of thing, related to public safety. So there are strict rules, difficult programs to complete. To wink at kids who are struggling academically and tell them that they can go into trades is just such a lie. The 2 year program for automotive requires algebra, mechanical engineering topics, high reading comprehension skills (ever read an actual automotive mechanic manual? Uhm....very tehcnical). The electrical journeyman program requires solid algebra 1 and 2, basic geometry, physics and some chemistry, VERY high reading comprehension skills, etc. Only 12 people out of every 200 who begin the program in my state actually pass the licensing exam. The year our daughter entered EMT training, of the 37 people in the room who took the entrance exam and had to write the two required essays, only 3 were admitted to the program. Med math and the demonstrated communications skills to fill out medical field reports were sorely lacking. The contractor's exam is NOT for the feint of heart and those who struggle to test well. Solar technician, same thing. Dental hygienist has a high failure rate. Same for many other programs like lab tech, paramedic school, radiologist assistant. So it is a total lie and disservice to kids to say, "If you struggle in academics, the trades are for you." 2. Nearly all the start up costs of being involved in the trades are on the student to come up with. The required tools for entrance to the CC/tech school for the diesel mechanic program is $3500 not paid for by any financial aid or scholarship. This is not the only program with high costs of attendance. While some states do offer financial.aid for paramedic school, ours does not, and the current cost of the program is $8000 plus uniforms, not eligible for the student loan program. 3. Most trades programs are over hyped, over admitted so they tend to flood areas with a whole bunch of mechanics, a whole bunch of mechatronics techs, a whole bunch of cosmetologists, a whole bunch of vet techs, a ton of dental hygienists, a bunch of plumbers, and there is no work for them, no employers to hire them. The cost of operating a business of this nature is so high, employers run on skeleton crews because it is more profitable even if the wait times are a huge frustration to customers. Commercial construction companies pay a lot better and come with benefits. But, where climates/weather do not allow for working on structures like roofs, painting and exterior finish work, paving and sealing driveways, etc. 12 months per year, these jobs come with a lay off every Nov. - March, and so the worker has to budget for being on unemployment 4 months every year. This is RARELY disclosed to students at the beginning of the program. And every one of these programs require reading comprehension at a college level, memorization skills, board exams, significant numeracy skills. The answer to our broke education system and high number of kids for whom a four year degree is not a good fit or unattainable is not "trades". The answer is to fix the dang education system so that students have the choice of a plethora of programs to choose from for an employment future with high success rates, and universal healthcare to take that expense off of employers while legislating some other changes that are pro-small business, and not pro-wealth hoarding corporations. The large percentage of our local students who do not apply to and attend college but also flunk out of trades and professional licensing programs are pretty much doomed to being the low paid, low appreciated, no benefits workers that corporate overlords like Walmart, McDonalds, and others, especially retail, just love. Under-pay because " reasons", perpetually part-time so no health insurance and no retirement plans, and all that goes with it. Yes, the local Taco Bell advertises every day that they have openings, tuition reimbursement, health insurance for full time workers, etc. But that is just false advertising like all the others. They claim to the government that they can't find full time workers and this generation will not commit so they are not deserving anyway. The reality is their workers beg to be put on full time so they can get the benefits. The only full time workers the regional managers are willing to approve, the franchise owners are willing to actually pay, are the manager on each shift. Even the assistant managers are part time. Sam's Club only gives full time hours for 3 months prior to Christmas, and then cuts everyone but management back to 30 or less per week so that no worker ever gets past their 90 day probationary period as a full time worker to become eligible for those benefits. It is a racket, and corporate America is very invested in having a broken educational system as an excuse to treat workers this way, and we need to ask ourselves if we should be a nation so invested in the worship of capitalism and the promotion of wealth hoarding that this is the economic engine we prefer for our children, grand children, and great grand children. Part and parcel of what is happening, what colleges and CC's, and tech schools. and professional licensing programs are seeing is the political influence of corporate America on the education system of the country. I can't say more about that due to board rules, but as always in the USA, follow the money trail to find out WHO is making the asshat decisions that continues to make K-12 education ever more broken and why they are doing it. Of course, as usual, I am preaching to the choir because this is the choir that chose to remove their children from the broken system to homeschool or took upon themselves after schooling or private schooling in order to give their children a leg up, a better foundation, a path with many, many options. You get it. But we represent just a small number of parents capable of and willing to buck the system. I don't have a clue anymore how to create meaningful change on behalf of the rest of America's kids. I am even less clueless of what would need to be done for our hivers in other nations who face similar issues. As always, some of this is very state and region oriented. There are always places doing better, and ones even worse. So that is a big part of the equation in a nation with 50 states and a bunch of territories where when something is done well, it isn't capable of spreading that success though seems quite good at spreading chaos and brokenness.

Yikes! That does not bode well. She does home births with a "midwife", but I don't know if the midwife is an actual trained one. Michigan requires a master's in nursing to be a CNM plus a minimum number of years experience as an obstetrics/LDRP nurse. So I don't know if this gal is getting good information. Sadly though, we do not have the kind of relationship in which I can bring it up in any kind of gentle, in passing way. Sigh.

I have have never heard of it. I do have spinach seeds which I have yet to try. No idea what species they are. I am just Wild Wild Westing my way to gardening at this point! Calamity Jane really.

He is trying. Today he made a cheesecake (one of my favorite things" with a gluten free oreo crust, and that may have greased the skids a little because if he makes puppy dog eyes to go with tomorrow's slice, I might look at some 1 year old asparagus crowns at the nursery. 😇