It's a Girl! Look at our new baby giraffe born at the zoo on Wednesday! Dang! How're going to explain that one to your husband? What should I do about this? Ew! Ack! Eye bleach! Put that away! Homemade Yogurt People - a little help please Ohhh, lookit! Aren't they adorable? Not much backbone, those yogurt people, but they sure get on well with the Granola Types. How do you like your chocolate chips cookies? Intravenously, please. Who gives non-candy treats to trick-or-treaters? The Tin Man. He has no heart. Aspirin? Bourbon. Favorite meals to feed a crowd Gosh, you know, I just saw a great recipe the other day. You take 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread. Said it feeds 5,000. :D

I have never played it, to be honest. I just have an overactive imagination. Or, maybe, I'm not who I say I am.

:biggrinjester:

http://www.gri.msstate.edu/ipams/Species.php?SName=&CName=Thorny+olive

You've all missed the point entirely. Tap is trying to tell us that he is, in reality, a Mafia Don who posts from prison. His children are numerous, sired in the good years, before that punk D.A. started snooping around. Since boyhood, he has an inexplicable urge to become pregnant, which has resulted in a nervous tic. Thus, the screen name. His connections on the outside enable him to moonlight as an Usborne sales rep. Not quite as lucrative as the drug trade, it still feeds his desire for power. He Skypes his underlings from the penitentiary library. Once in awhile, he posts as Susan Wise Bauer just to pretend he's famous.

...I've had reasonable success storing potatoes and apples in winter, so I thought I'd answer. I think this method probably depends a lot on where you live. For years, I purchased a 50 lb. bag of yukon gold potatoes at the end of our farmers' market season (Oct 31). By storing them in a large plastic cooler in our outdoor (unheated) shed, I've been able to keep us in potatoes until around March the following spring. Apples didn't hold as well. If you drop below freezing and stay there for months, you may have to also surround your cooler with bales of hay for added protection. I do go through the contents periodically to make sure nothing is rotting. You don't have to use a perfect cooler -- one with a broken lid or cracked interior that someone else is discarding will be just fine. The insulating properties of the cooler act as a mini-root cellar and keep the potatoes from freezing. I do find that there is condensation in the cooler which is, actually a good thing. Other vegetables that would benefit from this cool/moist storage would be most root crops (carrots, beets, turnips) as well as cabbage. The ideal situation is to create a space that is as close to freezing as you can get without actually freezing (35°-45°). I've also heard that these crops will do well in a cold space between layers of sawdust, which is another way to approach the cooler concept unless you feel like sinking a metal trash pail into the earth. Be aware that potatoes stored this way tend to sweeten as the cold weather causes their starch to convert to sugar. Helps if you let them warm up before you use them. Some vegetables prefer cool, dry spaces: onions, garlic, winter squash. Temps for these are best kept around 55° and not as humid. A basement or closet works well for this. Air circulation is key for these, so the fishnet stocking (wolf whistle! :lol:) is perfect, as is the metal rack idea.

Ayup. Support group. Full of amazing minds and caring hearts. Hugs, Lizzie!

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When our cats (now 3 y/os) were spayed, the vet gave us some pain killers to administer our discretion. Like you, she also advised that the kittens remain less active. Aside from the fact that, in kittens, I found this advice to be *very difficult* to put into practice, I wondered about the pain meds. I understand that no one wants their pet to suffer needlessly, but wouldn't a "natural" amount of pain also help inhibit the bounding around typical of a healthy young animal? We opted to not give the meds, because to me, it seemed counterproductive to the idea of keeping the critters calm. What do you think? (P.S. Heather, I really don't sit around being sarcastic all the time. Honest. :D)

What's so grand about the Grand Canyon? The GRAND part, silly. ;) The kids and I went to the Grand Canyon with my mother about six years ago as part of a trip that included other points of interest in Arizona (Phoenix, Tucson, Sedona). The canyon was, truly, spectacular, despite the fact that the day we were there was mostly cloudy. We went in November, to the South Rim. Unforgettable! One photo attached. Pictures with a cheap point and shoot don't come close to capturing the grandeur of the place.

I have no problem with phones. The phone (cell and land) is there for my convenience. When I don't want to talk, I don't answer. (Shhh!...I've even been known to sit and listen to an incoming call from my own mother simply because I didn't feel like talking at that particular time. One of the reasons I like my old fashioned answering machine (no caller ID here). In contrast, my mother will answer her land line while talking to me on her cell phone. Drives me batty!!)

I typed out a long reply, so long that my computer logged me out of here, and when I went to post it, I lost it. Now I feel like swearing in public!!! :glare: I'll try again. ------- I agree with you in principle. On the surface it does appear that society is crumbling because of selfish behaviors. Sometimes, it is individuals who act badly, but often, it is an entity: a corporation, a mob, a leader. Yet, in nearly every case, I could probably find a way to justify the behavior from either side. I could wag my finger at the introvert for being reclusive and unwilling to adapt. Or, I could wag my finger at the extrovert for being intrusive and unwilling to step back. I might criticize the American corporation for taking so much of its manufacturing business overseas, where labor is cheap and human rights less of an issue. Or I might criticize the consumer for buying the $2.99 flip-flops, driving the corporations to produce them in the first place. I'm actually not convinced that our behaviors, societally, have changed all that much. Rather I think what has changed is the sheer volume of people on the planet, such that the opportunities for our opinions to collide have become expansive. Internet. Roadways. Shopping malls. Junk mail. Subways. Telephones. Health clubs. Political rallies. Slums. There are so many of us humans and so many ways for us to interact and clash. Sadly, I don't think there are caves enough for the multitudes who would be better off going to live there. Yes, sometimes it is discouraging to consider what life may be like for my children or their children. Will the baby girl whose mother was scorned for breastfeeding her in public grow up to be egocentric and brash because her mother taught her to hold firm to her beliefs? Will the baby boy whose mother was offended by a public display of breast grow up to be intolerant and brutish because his mother told him to stand up for his rights? Who is to say where one person's rights stop and another's begin? Don't get me wrong. I realize you're discussing more of a general sense that we're all going to h*ll in a hand basket because we've lost sight of what it means to be nice. At times, our futures do appear bleak. But, other times, to me, they appear hopeful, or at least not depressing. The other day I took my two daughters to the mall. I hate the mall. It's just not my scene. But, I put on my poker face, and went in with a smile. Wouldn't you know, I ended up having to deal with a store representative who was so rude that I nearly asked him who'd peed in his cornflakes. I didn't. I held my tongue. That same day, another representative from a different store made a point of taking my arm as I was leaving, drawing me back for just a moment to laugh with me and the girls, guess their ages, tell me what a great mother I was, and send me on my way. Driving home, a stranger ahead of me at the toll booth paid my fare for me. Maybe chivalry isn't dead. Maybe it's just stuck in traffic. :D

I'm here only sporadically these days, Liz, though every now and again I'll chime in on something. Now that the kids are in public school, I find my attentions are drawn elsewhere (which is probably to the benefit of this board :001_rolleyes:), but generally, all is well in Doranville. Hope the same is true for you!

Ha! I was going with "Implant," so I guess newbie and I share a similar pod. (BTW, I noticed that post was on the Accelerated Board which would explain why *I* never saw it.) See, lionfam', for me it's better if I don't know the content. Because, every post is important to someone. While I know the risk exists regardless, I hope no one ever thinks I'm making fun of the content. By the way, you've got some good ones here yourself! :tongue_smilie:

Would y'all stop with the "that's your thing" bit!? The baton is there for the taking. And, I'm pretty sure there's chutzpah in a pile there alongside. ;) Good you "see" you (all).

Seconding Bill Bryson. My daughter (15) just read A Walk in the Woods as a summer reading requirement and enjoyed it very much.

The "bloom" is the natural protective coating (invisible) on the outside of all eggs, put there by mother nature as a way of protecting the unborn chick from harmful bacteria. Likewise, it keeps some bacteria from entering the egg once it makes its way into the world and into human hands. Washing the egg removes this coating, but in the grand scheme of things, you are better off to wash off any clinging dirt or fecal matter than to not wash the egg to preserve the bloom. Best scenario: keep nesting boxes as clean as possible and collect eggs once a day, in late morning, to prevent the eggs from becoming soiled in the first place. Some people advocate gently scrubbing/wiping away any cling-on muck with a soft dry cloth and/or soft scrubbie as opposed to washing. I always preferred washing in warm (some recommendations suggest 20 degrees warmer than the egg) water those eggs which needed it and leaving clean eggs alone. Hope that helps.

...if you haven't already considered this (unlikely given that you are a veteran parent and homeschooler), you could take on a big puzzle, play games of charades, paint shells, bundle up and make sand castles, and cook up some seafood chowder to help pass the time while you're there. Hope you all have fun!

OK, folks, I've been cogitating on this for a few days and have decided to let 'er rip. For those who don't know me -- or, I suppose, even those who do -- please be aware that nothing here is meant to offend. My brain is quirky. Thus, I often find myself thinking up smart-donkey replies to posts, before I open them and read the poster's full intention. So, here are a few examples. Think of this as a spin-off to the Thread Game post, and blame a few people there (who apparently share my wacko sense of humor) for egging me on. :D --------------------------- I admit it...I am a CONTROL FREAK I know you are but what am I? December as a name Beats the heck out of Calendar Lawn and Garden questions Hold please while I page that department We're in Myrtle Beach and it's chilly. Any ideas of what to do? Ummm. Sweatshirt? Where did you find your best friend? Sigh. Drinking from the toilet again. Yours? Where can I find Japanese canned coffee? Oh, oh! I know this one! In Japan?! Is anyone else here anti-social?? Ack! Hiss! What are YOU doing here!? Get off my post! How to recycle/re-use rags I'm sorry. Isn't that redundant? Can I freeze fried eggs? Sure you can! Then you can put them right there next to the frozen road kill. What times during the day... Really, sweet, whenever we can. While the coffee brews, for instance. Though often the kids are right there in the kitchen, and the living room floor is such a high traffic area. The bathroom is more private, but the stall shower can be slippery. We try to be creative, you know?

Ahem, and a few adults. :D Love RSC!!

:blush: (shucks)

Mine were rather different and erupted from my rather wicked sarcastic side. Instead of funny juxtapositions, I'd find myself thinking up tongue-in-cheek reactions to certain posts before I ever opened the thread to find out what the poster was really asking. Interestingly, just yesterday, I was very tempted to show up with another round of said sarcasms. I talked myself out of posting, fearing that people wouldn't understand my nature and that the post would be taken the wrong way. :001_huh:

I don't use as much as I save, so I have somewhat of a backlog of jars in my fridge. But, like others, I save it and use it for cooking certain foods. Squash and onions are especially good cooked in bacon grease. Recently, I cooked bacon in the morning and, later in the day, used the same [ahem..still "dirty"] skillet in which to cook rice for the evening meal. The results were delicious for an idea basically born out of laziness. ;) I'll occasionally toss some in a crock-pot full of dried beans, in lieu of more bacon or ham, to flavor the beans as they cook. It's perfect for seasoning cast iron before cooking corn bread. Fried eggs are divine cooked in bacon grease. I remember that my mother used to store hers in the cupboard, in an old Yuban coffee can which had been covered in green Contact Paper. :lol:

I now have to call us "former" homeschoolers. Ours went to public school in '08 and returned this year as well. One is in 10th, the other in 7th. Though the oldest had attended public school for first grade, the youngest had only been homeschooled. Like you, I agonized over the decision and felt like a failure to my kids and, somehow, even to fellow homeschoolers. But, I have come to terms with those feelings and no longer beat myself up so badly. I still have regrets about the quality of their educations now (the school is not especially impressive, but not awful), and I worry about what they may be missing by spending so many hours a day in school. Then again, I used to worry about the quality of their educations when they were home (was I ever doing enough?), and about what they might be missing by spending so many hours a day at home. :lol: So far, school has been a mostly positive experience for our girls. The oldest is a natural student and learns easily. For a 15 year old, she has a solid self image and seems to truly enjoy both the social and academic aspects of being in school. I have seen no frightening changes to her behavior or personality since the transition a year ago. The youngest, otoh, is not a natural student (at least, not in the way that schools expect) which makes learning more difficult for her, although she did manage to get straight As on her last report card. Personality-wise, I could see her being persuaded to walk down a wayward path or several by the time she's in high school, so I'm still holding my breath a little over her. Middle school is brutal, in many ways, especially when it comes to maintaining one's self esteem and integrity, so I'm especially sensitive to that issue for our youngest. If the situation devolves, we will definitely consider bringing her home again, at least until she's past the middle school years. But, for now, public school is working well for all of us. Oh, and one more bit of info to share: I was, at first, inclined to try to afterschool, but I let go of that desire. A day of school and homework was quite enough for us. :glare: