I 100% agree with you, and it too reminds me of this Russian method which I have actually hears 2 state troopers here opine that they wish they could do that.

I was 21 and Mark was 24. We paid $20,000, tiny little fixer upper. We sold it two years later, and got a nicer home which we paid $56,000 for. It needed cosmetic work, but no substantial work. Loved that house nice long kitchen with lots of beautiful cherry cupboards and tons of countertop. Breakfast nook at the end of the kitchen. Huge screened in porch. Large living room with a fireplace that doubled as my music studio. And unfinished basement which we finished out that also had a fireplace. 3 small but very pracrice bedrooms, one bath though. We converted a space in the basement to a half bath just off the laundry area so we could just bead into that plumbing. Big yard, mature trees, on a cul de sac in a quiet neighborhood. We loved that house, and Dd was born during that time. We would have stayed forever IF his employment situation had not changed. He wad not laid off or fired, but the company downsized IT, and it left him with massive responsibility, unpaid egregious over time, and the the threat of no pay raises in the future. So he found a job across country, we sold (it went very quickly), rented a Budget truck, and moved. Sniff sniff....I loved that house!

That sounds rather unsettling. I hate the bad beasts when they come around the yard. Ugh!

Just checking in. I have been very busy, but I am exercising consistently 5 days a week. 30 minutes of cardio on the exercise bike set at medium grade difficulty, and 20 minutes of stretching and working with hand weights. I am doing my REI kayak conditioning exercises again. As usual, no weight loss. I am done worrying about that. If I ever dropped a pant size, I would fall over stunned! The goal now is just to try to increase strength, work that heart, and gain more flexibility. I need to work on sleep habits. I just am not resting well, waking up several times a night, and melatonin is not making a dent in the problem. In order to not get bored, I cue up a t.v. show to watch while riding the bike.

I do think the check in check out times are an issue especially for tent campers who have a lot of set up and tear down. It really eats into the time available to enjoy nature. But I don't see that changing because campgrounds would need a lot more staff in order to clean up between campers and make sure everything is in order. Michigan state parks are a 3 pm check in and a 1 pm check out. Many rangers want check out rolled back to 11 am, at the latest noon because they are struggling to be able to get ready for the next wave of check ins during the busiest part of the season. As is, if it takes 2 hours for set up (some folks do take a LOT of stuff camping, and unpacking the family vehicle is a lot like watching a car birth a department store), then it is supper time before you are ready to enjoy the day, and if you stay only one night, 10:30-11 am tearing down. If they roll that time back, campers who only stay one night are literally only having an evening to enjoy the park. My suggestion is always to stay a minimum of 3 nights so there is plenty of hiking and exploring time, and it is worth all the set up and tear down. If one is in need of a single night while traveling, take along a portable composting toilet, and disperse camp for free in National Forests and Grasslands, set up the bare minimum, do the hiking you want, and leave at your leisure since there are no check in and check out times, just clean up/pack in and pack it back out. It should be noted that if you disperse camp, there are some serious rules. You have to usr non toxic, biodegradable soaps such as Dr. Bronner's Castile soaps and shampoos, 7th generation, or super old time, baking soda. No use of mother nature as your potty within 200 ft of a water source. Make sure you bury it well. No campfires unless a ring is provided, and only park your vehicle on the specific maintained flat spot provided. Do not drive onto native grasses or further into the forest.

But it goes by variety. You are growing varieties who do not need a lot of chill hours which is why it works. Every hybrid has a threshold that has to be reached in order to have decent yield. You just happen to have low threshold trees which is good since you don't get much cold. Very likely you have what I call "mother nature's originals". Those original kinds of species adapt to changing conditions so much better than the hybrids. I have varieties that were specifically created for desirable criteria, but at the cost of also requiring very specific growing conditions which up until the past few years was almost assured every season. Now we are in a real pickle. It is a battle to get a honeycrisp hybrid specifically created for zones 3-5 to produce in any condition warmer than that. My zone was 4b when these trees were planted. It is 6a now. So I need to figure out what mother nature invented apple tree produces small, very crisp, both tart and sweet at the same time, apples. I might be able to grow Braeburns. Their sweet spot for production is zones 5-7 though they will produce small crops above and below that region. I need big crops. At this point, I have four adult kids and six honorary kids and three grandsons who would like, if I can manage it, a LOT of apples. Dd is zone 8 now, and really can't grow very well in the clay soil on the mountain in Alabama. Nasty soil. The others all live in apartments, and pay about $1 each per decent apple in their cities, and when I say decent, I mean heavily pesticide sprayed not always ripe apples of not particularly tasty varieties. I don't know anything though about Braeburns other than their taste and texture is similar to a honeycrisp. They might be a hybrid cultivar that is too picky to be practical as well.

I am so sorry. This is sooooooo sucky! Your ex seems incapable of adhering to even a simple boundary, and his sister and the priest are complicit. Sticking kids in the middle is unforgivable of them. I hope you do seek out a new religious community, and if anyone asks who your spouse is or where, just say that this is privileged information on a need to know basis and they do jot need to know. The nosy nellies may not like it, but they will learn to live with it. Many many virtual hugs from me to you and your children.

It is disgusting. We would love to sail and kayak on the Tennessee River going south of Huntsville, but are very concerned about coming into contact with the PFAS. When we bought the house, there were no warnings because the water supply came out of Arab, AL which had, at that time, been unaffected. Apparently it had now made it to Arab through seepage into Guntersville, Lake. If Alabama doesn't get off its A$$ and do something to force 3M to do more than the paltry $7 million to the water department in Decatur for PFA removal (an amount spread over 20 years so essentially WORTHLESS), they are going to have a health apocalypse. What was the state thinking when it settled for so little money for clean up? 😠

There are many varieties of northern fruits that are dependent on a chemical process triggered by experiencing so many hours of dormancy without frigid temps but also without warming and bring them out of dormancy. That temperature window is 33°-45°. They must receive a certain amount of hours after their leaves fall in autumn and they start dormancy and before they come out of dormancy in the spring in order to trigger the chemical reaction that allows them to set fruit. These varieties evolved over time for the specific climate conditions of the Great Lakes Region which is a fair bit different from the Plains States and other Midwestern ecosystems. So when these varieties do not receive this conditioning, they either do not set fruit or only fruit a little and the quality of what they do set is poor. This happened in 2002 and many cherry trees only produced 10 or so cherries per tree. It happened again in 2012, and was a total loss that year for any varieties that needed more than 1000 chill hours. Chill hours are counted 1:1 for every hour in dormancy in this temperature range, and then 1/2 hr is deducted from the total for every hour above 60°, and a less substantial amount for being above 45 but not as high as 60. During my childhood, Michigan experienced an average of 1400 chill hours every year. Even in the early 1990's, it was not on everyone's radar that this was going to change drastically in our lifetimes. I was not a gardening, farming enthusiast in the early 2000's, even during the teen years (this is a recent thing for me) so I wasn't following what was happening. Had I been following it, I might have chosen a different set of apple trees to plant, and a different variety of blueberries. That said, the climate change issues are for this particular year, exacerbated by El Nino which is just making things even more wonky.

Wow! Much green eyed jealousy from me!!! We have also figured out that the reason we are struggling with the young fruit trees and raspberry canes at the Alabama house is city water. No well on the mountain. So when there is a dry snap, they have been getting too much chlorinated water. Ugh. Mark is building a rain catchment system for the roof that will give DD 40 gallons of stored water. This is going to be vital because a recent water alert went out that the city water has tested off the charts high for benzene and a bunch of other crap...probably from the 3M plant in Decatur! 😠 No one is supposed to drink the water anymore. I don't see that changing anytime soon. We installed a 6 stage reverse osmosis filter for the house so Dd and family can actually safely drink water from the kitchen spigot. But, it can't filter enough to also water 9 fruit trees, and 4 raspberry canes plus 1 raised bed of salad greens. Aphids are a pain in the patoot. I don't know what do do about them other than a local gardener told me to always have marigolds planted in every bed around my vegetable plants. Apparently they give off and odor or substance that aphids do not like. I have no idea if this is true or not. But I love marigolds, the orange and burgundy ones especially, so I plant them in all my beds and keep them around the potted veggies. So far it has been okay. However, it could also be sheer, dumb luck! I think I attribute a lot of my success to DL. 😀

I suppose it depends on the campground. At Huron-Manistee National Forest you can reserve online or just drop money in the box when you arrive and pick a campsite. The volunteer camp hosts check the box everyday and then drive around in a golf cart kindly reminding folks of check out time. It is pretty laid back. They probably do have a park ranger they could call if they really needed to evict someone, but in my experience the people who are willing to camp without amenities are the ones who tend to be fairly conscientious and respectful.

Update on Michigan chill hours: we have managed to make it to 350ish hours. We need 850 before our apple trees come out of dormancy, and 1000 for the blueberry bushes. We have the potential of adding 87-96 hours this week due to a warm up which will put day time, and even some overnight temps, above freezing. This is not great. February usually stays cold enough all the time to not accumulate chill hours. March will probably accumulate quite a few, but 500-650 hours in a single month? It is hard to imagine that, and all of it prior to the trees/bushes coming out of dormancy. If weather predictions are for temps in the 45-50 range or 7.2-10C, any days in March, Mark and I have decided to run a sprinkler on the two trees, as well we as the blueberry bushes. Our well water is cold enough to keep the tree chilled, dropping the internal temp of the branches by 5 degrees. Thank goodness for a deep well. But if they do not have the chill hours by March 29 when we leave for a wedding out of state, it is going to be a very tricky thing since we will not be back until April 10. Of course a late freeze after budding - the thing that got our honey crisp tree last year - is also a potential issue. So we have decided we will leave the sprinkler hooked up, and pay a neighbor to watch the temperature predictions, and turn it on if the trees or bushes bud while we are gone since the running water will prevent frost developing on the buds. I am now researching what fruit trees would be best to plant in the future. I think that Climate Change issues are increasing faster than the State of Michigan thought they would, and we are well behind in planting more temperate fruiting varieties. Apart from watching this unfold, I have been using graph paper can and colored in pencils to tweak my garden plan. What are you up to? Are our southern hemisphere hive bees harvesting yummy things to eat?

That is your son. Characterizing am entire generation by what one relative did isn't exactly accurate. We have data that shows the real picture. The real picture is not pretty for young people.

Scream away. This kind of stuff can make a person crazy.

That is so much fun! Love it when they started teetering around on those little legs.

I am ashamed to say that I do not know what a "scape" is, and suspect it does not mean that the garlic is on the run after a bank heist. 😜

This. I would like to point out that global warming/climate change has been settled science for decades. The same people viciously tearing into the younger generations are the ones that KNEW what was going to happen and actively advocated against change so they could maintain an economic engine that benefited them. As far as I am concerned, they deserve whatever fun and relaxation they can find because the damn world is burning through no fault of their own, but they will pay the ultimate consequences for their elders' follies. Who are the irresponsible, narcissitic punks in this scenario? Clue: It isn't your kids or your grandkids.

We have the wood boiler going with a frolicking fire so we have decided that for dinner, Mark is going to make buffalo chicken. We have these evil rack thingies we can use inside the boiler to make fast grilled items. He set aside a couple of prices of apple wood for the occasion. If we have to face 50 mph wind and 8" of snow plus a 1/4" ice on the roads, then we are going to eat fun!! I have blue cheese dressing and celery sticks, and I am going to make chocolate chip scones before any chance of power outage occurs. He has homemade ice cream setting up in the freezer. Bring it on! 😂

The concept of cutting back is not an option. Already people are rationing healthcare, kids with life threatening allergies without epi pens because they are so unaffordable, the state of Michigan has the highest car insurance rates in the nation by a WIDE margin and drivers are mandated to carry insurance, people are literally duct taping their cars together, and the $680 one bedroom apartment is a roach infested, drafty, freezing cold, tenement style slum lord crap heap. These same folks are already eating ramen noodles, and they are NOT making bad decisions. This is devolving into The Hunger Games for District 13 and the odds are not in their favor! The hate on young people gets old. I have not yet even met a twenty something who was being irresponsible with their money. They are working their a$$es off, being taken advantage of by employers, being fleeced by the insurance and housing industry, and then told by their better off elders that they are morons for not being able to do better despite Panem screwing them over and over and over. It should also be noted that many GenZ not only believe, and not incorrectly, that home ownership is out of reach, but that they will never be able to retire no matter how old or infirm. They aren't wrong. All of their social security contributions are going to go to their parents and grandparents, and since congress has kicked that can down the road for 50 years, it isn't going to be fixed. So a lot of them are prioritizing travel now, experiences now, because they will never have a time of not working like a dog before they drop dead. At some point, life should at least be worth living. According to Justice Gap.isc.gov, (I cannot get my kindle to copy and paste the link), 15% live in poverty, 1 in 5 children. The income level required to constitute low income would be mean homelessness in my county. By every metric, the middle class has been shrinking steadily for the last 50 years. Gen Z is well aware of their predicament so their decision making is going to look very different, with good reason, than that of the Boomers and Xers who talk about them negatively all the time. Maybe they do indulge now and again. Why not? They can't get ahead, their future is very bleak by every measure, the planet is being wrecked. They may as well have a little fun now because hell is their future. Deprivation now will not translate to comfort later. I am going to call a spade a spade here. It is immoral, literally disgusting that Boomers and Gen X talk like this about Millennial and GenZ. 7.5% of their gross income is stolen from them to support the generations that malign them constantly. Literally, two generations are committing mass theft from, and then calling them character deficient. The current talk is to make THEM work to 70, many calls for this, even 72. Meanwhile the thieves get to retire at 65 even 62. Look in the mirror before you call out the younger generations.

It is in a cozy, east window, in a generous size planter with a drainage hole, and a grow light pointed at it. That grow light is the thing making it successful. Michigan is currently experiencing daylight hours without light! 😭 Mark follows me around checking water levels which is probably why it is thriving! He is better with plants than I am. I also religiously pinch off blossoms. I am good about that. If it is allowed even a hint of bolting, it is done as a houseplant. Just done. I harvested leaves regularly last year all winter long which might also encourage growth, however, I don't know enough about it to claim that this definitely helps. Mostly it is probably a miracle! 😆

Oh, also none of the local apartments come with a washer and dryer, many of them not even having hook ups. The laundromat (of which there are only two for the entire county) is $6.50 to wash and dry a single load.

I did some checking on the cost of living locally. I took the median average on several items: rent for one bedroom apartment, car insurance for full coverage but not optimal coverage, cell phone plan that works in this county (very few options, not much competition), internet (a requirement of nearly all employers now because they post so much online), non-smart, base model phone (built into the monthly cell phone plan payment schedule), health insurance for one person, electric and assuming the apartment is heated with electric (houses here are heated on propane because we do not have natural gas, so $350-700 a month depending on size of place and quality of insulation and windows, efficiency of furnace), and came up with $2400 a month. Average medical insurance premium was $497 per person. Not included in that $2400 was food, clothing, car maintenance, fuel (we have no public transportation here), personal care items, etc. The average deductible was $5000 but with many plans sitting at $10,000 for one person. (My brother's company policy is $10,000 per person, $15,000 per family, and $20,000 out of pocket before it kicks in 100% and then only if every single provider is in-network so don't even thing of having a medical emergency outside the network.) $55,000 a year is $3600 roughly in take home pay. One would not be able to eat and still maintain a car, meet the medical deductible, and buy fuel for that car for the work commute. A lot of people in my county go without health care even if they have medical insurance. They simply don't have the cash. My husband's last annual physical in which the nurse practitioner was in the room less than five minutes was billed out at $350 for the office call, and routine bloodwork was $593 at the in network lab. The insurance covered not one cent of that. Now add for young folks $30,000 in federal student loans which is less than half the actual cost to attend most public universities here for four years, and that is another $319 a month payment. Setting aside money for the deductible and out of pocket non covered expenses, that is another $1000, annual average cost of routine maintenance $123 a month, and upwards of $500 a month for fuel since jobs that pay $55,000 in this county are few and far between making commute normal, and $100,000 is literally doctors and dentists only, this means that one cannot eat on $55,000 IF they also pay the average in medical costs. And on a rough estimate take home of $6100 on $100,000 salary, $5300 or so in expenses leaving $800 leftover for food and maybe making a 401K contribution. Note the lack of car payment. The median salary in my county is less than $55,000 a year. Dh works remote for his IT company which is why we can live here and take care of our mothers whose retirement funds would not allow them to live closer to the city. He is in the top 1% of earners for our county. We are very comfortable for sure, and know how lucky we are! Most folks in the area belong to dual income households and still rationing healthcare down to a game of russian roulette with their well being, duct taping their cars together. Average salary is $43,000 ish. A single person on $43,000 has to have two roommates, and eat ramen noodles while praying to never have any kind of medical emergency. It has been noted by police and EMS that often the young folks refuse medical evaluation after car accidents because they are terrified of a huge medical bill they cannot pay. But hey, ya...let's have MORE capitalism where robber barons get even richer while the masses suffer, and definitely more healthcare dictated by a for-profit insurance industry! (Dripping with sarcasm, I hope you caught that!) Read up on the Guilded Age. Vanderbilts, Astors, Livingstons, Roosevelts, Van Dusens, Van Burens, Stuyvesants, Rockefellers... We are having our second Guilded Age now, just different names. Musk, Bezos, Waltons, Koch, Mars, Hearst, Duncan...There is enough "stuff", enough technology and glitter to make it look more palatable than the last one, and yet, in terms of wages vs. robber baron income, about the same. Exhibit A: railroad workers for a start.

We are expecting 8 inches of snow (20 cm), and my primary gardening activity at the moment is perusing my gardening books. I am about to start a basil plant indoors. I made pasta sauce the other day, and realized I only have about 3 more batches worth of basil leaves left, and no basil house plant. Time to grow one. I have a plant light on a shelf here in my east window which is much needed as Michigan has not actually experienced this fleeting phenomenon called "blue skies" in so long, we have forgotten what that looks like.

Wiser words have never been written ! 😁

I usually make 3 or 4 soups/stews in advance and then if we lose power, we warm them in our camp stove. I also make breakfast burritos and cinnamon rolls. We like to have cinnamon rolls or something similar when the first big winter storm of the season hits. For my breakfast burritos, I brown cubed potatoes, diced red pepper, and onion in a skillet, then add some shredded spinach, stir till it wilts nicely, and then add the eggs, scramble it all of up (we also like garlic and red pepper flake in ours), warm the tortillas, fill, roll, and bag up for the freezer.