bluemongoose
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Posts posted by bluemongoose
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Yes. I grind all my flour and make my bread fresh. I started out making my own bread due to food allergies. Then the pandemic hit and flour was impossible to buy, but I could easily buy whole wheat berries. My DH bought me a mill and I haven't looked back. My whole family loves the flavor of fresh flour whole grain bread. None of them want to go back to store bought flour or breads. It is a sweeter flavor than store bought bread/flour.
My DH and I also grew up on white bread. We don't really like it anymore. It tastes bland now.
I'm not going to lie, this makes more work for me. I make all the bread items, tortillas, bagels, pasta etc. The only thing I do not make is pasta shapes...those I buy whole grain. The only flour I buy is cake flour for birthday cakes.
Whole grain is healthier, and we love the taste, but we also understand it is not everyone's cup of tea. And the job of making all bread items is not doable or desired by a lot of people. You have to do what works for you. But yes, whole grain is healthier.
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I did this in 8th grade for my DD. She didn't have the maturity or executive function skills to keep her schoolwork caught up and turned in. She was also behind socially and it was a problem in group classes. I suspect (though we have not sought testing) that she might have high functioning ASD. She is extremely intelligent and is college bound. Since high school grades count for getting into college, I felt it would be doing her a disservice to allow her to move on to high school when she clearly wasn't ready and let it hurt her GPA and later her college choices. I do not regret this decision. She matured so much that second 8th grade year and the 9th grade year following. She has maintained straight A's since she started high school. Now this second 8th grade year didn't mean I held her back as far as the academics went. She still continued onto the next math book, the next science book etc. It was more about not counting the grades toward her high school GPA and not saying she was a high school student. It was simply about giving her more time to figure out how to get work done on time and completing a whole book in a year. Giving her that time to learn to make a plan for the day and be successful. She needed that year to mature and make this happen. It also benefited her socially. She still doesn't "fit in" very well, but she is much more mature than before. I do not regret it for a second!
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We also have a sleep number. Best mattress we have ever owned! Highly recommend it! I agree with not scrimping on the padding. It has been helpful for my husbands back. We tried foam and spring mattresses before, firm and plush...they didn't help. This was the first bed that worked. You can get them so they are adjustable too. We don't have that, but they are available.
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I know the site is back up, but I didn't feel comfortable after I read that they aren't answering emails. I decided to email them myself, and I thought maybe I should post about it.
First I emailed during the time the site was down. They never replied. Then I sent a second email on Tuesday. They haven't replied to this email either. This is making me feel less secure. My homeschool relies heavily on the schedules and lesson plans I have put a lot of time and effort into making on HST.
Here is the email I sent...
I have been using your service for (10?) years, back before HST online even existed. I know things are crazy with COVID, but I feel the need to check up and make sure that HST online is still going to be a tried and trusty service for my family.The reasons I am questioning this...1. The unexplained long outage last week.2. My email wasn't answered other than the automated "we will get back to you" message. Also, finding others claiming online that their emails aren't being answered either.3. Your website's home page is broken.4. I don't see recent activity on your social media accounts.5. Bugs at random times that I haven't experienced before. Examples: random freezing, 2+ min load times occasionally, and drag and drop on the calendar mode stops working randomly.I have a lot of lesson plan data and other data invested in HST. I do not want to leave your service, but I also do not want to be left in a lurch in the middle of the semester.Any info would be appreciated, -
My dyslexic kids often find listening to an audiobook while following along with the print version helpful. I know you could do that with SOTW. I cannot think of another history curriculum that has both audio and print like that. Another option would be to try and find living books that come in both print and audiobooks.
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If you decide on a KA, I have a suggestion before you choose which model. If you at all interested in using attachments (pasta maker, flour grinder, food processor) watch YouTube videos of people using the attachments and pay attention to the model of KitchenAid they have. The little ones with the heads that tilt up are almost always bogging down with the use of attachments in videos. I think KitchenAid should be more honest about the attachment use on their smaller motor machines. They really don't handle most of the attachments well.
I have had the 5qt professional, which died after 15 years of very hard use. It would struggle on a batch of 2 loaf bread dough and a double batch of cookies (larger family). I considered the Bosch when my KA died....but I already had attachments for the KA and didn't want to start over again. I ended up getting the KA commercial. That thing doesn't struggle. It was a good buy for a larger family.
I am not saying you need the commercial, especially if you have a smaller family, but do consider what you think you might use it for and get the right motor strength for that job.
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I have a stainless steel one and also use the salt packets in it. I don't like the feel of the spraying into my sinuses that the squeeze bottle does. With a pot, you are pouring it in one nostril and letting it out the other, over a sink. You don't want to use tap water...use bottled water and warm it to body temp. It is much more comfortable if it is not cold.
I have found if I am very plugged up, it sometimes takes two pots to get the job done. And also, taking a hot shower after using it helps all the loosened up stuff to really work it's way out more. And make sure you are hydrated as that helps too.
I have only experience good effects from mine...even if sometimes the process of using it was uncomfortable at times. I am prone to sinus infections, and the frequency of them has greatly reduced since starting to use a netipot. I found the most challenging aspect was getting used to it at first. It felt like I was trying to drown myself.
After using the pot, you should clean it. With the stainless steel one, this is pretty easy to do.
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Extra chicken feed, an oximeter, extra meds, and a grain mill and wheat berries. We cannot get flour here anymore or bread. I already had 30 lbs of flour, but it is nearly gone now. The kids are going through growth spurts and eating a lot of sandwiches. I am going through a loaf a day pretty much.
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13 minutes ago, Acadie said:
We saw in China, and more importantly with those repatriated from cruise ships, that people can test negative multiple times before testing positive.
And given how hard it is to get tested in most parts of the US, I'm guessing most who test negative here are not getting retested multiple times unless they need hospitalization. So when areas with community spread in the US report a relatively low percentage of positive cases out of the pool they've tested, I'm not reassured.
We don't know where any given region is on the curve, if we're not doing enough testing. Taking one negative test result at face value doesn't make sense given how many false negatives (or early negatives) have been documented all over the world.
Adding this to the long list of problems with testing in the US.
Add to that...the people getting off cruise ships in US are not required to test. They are then released after 14 days after being quarantined together.
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1 hour ago, TCB said:
Bluemongoose so sorry to hear about your family members who are sick!
Thank you TCB.
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I have kept up with this thread since it first started in Jan. I've lurked the whole stinking time. Love this thread! Please let's not get it shut down!
I know I don't post a ton, I'm a pretty private person and like my anonymity. So I don't say what state I'm in or things that might flag me to a person that wants to identify me.
All that to say, I finally feel compelled to say something.
I have about a dozen family members in a Gov mandated quarantine for this. Some have been tested and have tested positive. Some have refused the test (even though they were caring for the ones who did test positive) and are counting down the days to be released. Some of these have symptoms and are hiding them from the health checks simply because their symptoms do not include fever. Yup. They hate the living quarters so much they are willing to get released and spread it than stay and get tested! So frustrating. Not proud of my family members that are doing this.
I have about another dozen family and friends that have self quarantined because they have all the symptoms, live or have traveled in an area that has a high community spread, and cannot get tested though they have tried. At least one is living with a medically fragile person, who has become not sick yet, and is super concerned as they are the caretaker for the fragile person.
I have had a friend of family die of this.
I am holed up at home, trying to do my part, and keep us well if we can. People in my immediate family have asthma. I am worried. I live in an area that is under tested but with likely high community spread. Nurses and Drs are asking for us to make masks in my area. They are pretty much out of them. I am getting started on this effort now, even while knowing that these masks don't help as much as the good masks do. That the virus can still get in. But these nurses and Drs are happy to have anything as they are being told to buy bandanas since there aren't masks.
And then I read in various places, here and elsewhere, that people are thinking this is hype. People acting like other people are disposable so they can go have fun or at least not be inconvenienced. Not all the people dying are weak or old with previous conditions. Some drs see dying they are surprised by. Some of these people could be leaving behind kids. Some of these people may be your family, your drs, your friends. So far I have been lucky. Though so many of my extended family members and friends are ill and fighting this virus, I have not lost someone close to me...YET... but I'd be pretty naive to believe that I am not going to lose anyone.
I don't know...I am tired and probably a little rambley....but lets think of others. That's all. And do what you can to stay safe and even help if that is doable for your situation.
If anyone else has any other community efforts that we can do while staying home that help, please post them! Maybe if people felt they could have a purpose while being stuck at home, they would feel better.
And thanks again to all the people who have been posting all the facts on this thread. I am grateful for them!
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I wouldn't say they are any more noisy than the next machine. Sewing machines aren't super quiet in general. I know some computerized machines may be a little quieter. The strong and tough us quieter than a surger...does that help?🤷
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It depends one what exactly you want. If you want to see thick items...I have the strong and tough machine. It is great! I can sew multiple layers of denim without any issue. It has manual dials...no computer.
I've also had their $200ish computer quilting machines. My daughter uses one of these. They have fancier stitches and also the speed control. She has had hers for about 8 years. She is an occasional user. I use mine nearly every day...so I tend to wear them out (thick layers) every 5-8 years. I wore out the Viking in about the same amount of time. This is why I stick to brothers now. They don't break the bank, and they work just as well as my Viking did. Honestly, the strong and tough machine is working better than the Viking did.
I don't have a specific model to recommend because they change models all the time. The ones I've owned are no longer sold, except probably the strong and tough one since I bought it more recently.
*Typing on phone ...sorry for any errors.
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I think you have two semi conflicting criteria...old machines usually don't have speed control. New machines generally don't have metal parts.
Going old, if you can find them, will get you a heavy duty machine that will last forever.
Going new, you have to be more choosy about brands, but they have lots of bells and whistles. I've personally had the best luck with brothers and I know janomi are also good machines. I would not waste any money on new singers or white machines. Vikings are ok...but honestly you can get just as good of a machine with a brother for way less money. Brothers are easy to find, you don't have to go to a dealer. They have them at Costco, Amazon, Walmart....
I had a Viking emerald. It lasted about only a year longer than my brother. The brother was a quarter of the price.
Hope that helps!
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I feel ya! Only I want a bird not a cat.
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Addi turbo circular hands down.
If it have a very slippery small yarn I grab some bamboo ones if needed. But they are nothing like addi turbo.-
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Did you read the directions before asking me how to do this?
I didn't ask if you wanted to do it; I said it needs doing.
Look it up.
Food. (This is my response to "what's for dinner". If I told them what we were having, at least one kid would then whine about it...so I just say food)
That is none of your business.
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I get uncontrollably shaky and have stomach pain with anxiety/panic attacks... Just another thought.
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Mine grew sideways under the gum, never actually erupted. I didn't have the money to get them out until I was married at 25 and under DH insurance. Unfortunately, all those years of orthodontia was semi messed up. All my bottom teeth are overlapped in the front and very tight for flossing. Do get them out early! The surgery wasn't bad at all. I don't remember anything. My only negative part of it was the painkiller made me feel ill afterword.
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I did have abdominal migraines as a teen when I first started my period. It lasted for about 3 years and then just lessened to normal cramp levels. I would be completely fine and then my period would start. I would go very pale, be in intense pain, fetal position, throwing up, the runs, and feel basically like I was dying. I didn't know at the time it was called abdominal migraines, and my mother convinced the Dr I was being dramatic...so they didn't realise how bad it was. They did offer me the pill because I was irregular, but my mother didn't allow it, so I cannot say if that would have helped or not. I know Tylenol didn't touch it. That was what we had in the house for me to take.
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Well....to start, hot showers aren't the best for eczema, so there is that. If you, like me, love a hot hot shower, you probably need to cool it down.
As for soaps and shampoos... A big one for us is sodium laurel sulphates. It is in so many soaps, shampoos, toothpaste etc etc. And finding sls free often is more expensive. Trader Joe's toothpaste is also free. Jason brand makes SLS free shampoos, soaps, deodorant, and toothpaste. They are definitely more expensive.
As for food aggravators, diary is highest on the list for common causes. If it isn't that, then hopefully you find what it is. In my case, it is mostly stress induced or dry air or grass allergy. It isn't food induced.
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Hamburger helper, canned veggies, Lima beans, shake and bake, rice a Roni, tuna casserole, cabbage salad, Velveeta cheese, and empty the fridge goulashes...ie take every leftover from the fridge and put them into a lot together...warm and serve.
My mother was a good cook, but she worked and so we often had fast meals.
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After feeding my brain ...it didn't make sense 😁
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9 hours ago, Pen said:
I think Oregon is generosity good example of a state with broad philosophical exemptions to vaccination opt out available that nonetheless has a high overall rate of vaccination—allowing both people to have a high vaccination rate and not to have forcible or coercive vaccination at same time. And if Multnomah actually has high vaccination rates after all, so much the better for that as an example.
And yet, there is a bill in Oregon that has already passed the first step, to take away those exemptions based on these very few cases of measles. I'm not seeing a ton of press on it either....which makes it feel a little sneaky. Also, people don't take into account in discussing the philosophical exemptions Vs medical exemptions, that some people are forced to use the philosophical exemption for a very valid medical reason simply because the their medical issue doesn't line up with the CDC medical exemption listed. I know a family that nearly lost a child (documented) from a reaction to vaccination and if this law passes, they have had to use the philosophical exemption to not vaccinate their younger child due to their medical history. I do believe that it should be parents choice. I also agree that if you have a big outbreak, like in NY, then quarantine makes sense for safety. I don't agree with laws that force. And yes, we vaccinate.
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Fourth grade planning 2021-2022
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
Math: CLE finish 3 and start 4 and Singapore Word Problems book
Science: The Good and The Beautiful
Writing: IEW Myths, Fables, and Fairy Tales
Spelling: AAS 4
Grammar: Easy Grammar finish 3 and start 4. Fix it 1
Handwriting: HWOT
Lit/History/Geography/Art History/Bible: TOG year 4
Spanish/Latin: SS 2
Variety of Logic books
Art: MTM and Mark Missed drawing books
Poetry: we are trying out the IEW poetry memorization program.
Music: violin and piano lessons. Theory time. Hopefully we can continue with Orchestra, but we may take a year off to wait for vaccines.