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Halftime Hope

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Posts posted by Halftime Hope

    Americraft cookware

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    12 hours ago, Elizabeth86 said:

    My mother in law gave me this today https://www.ebay.com/itm/285791094691?chn=ps&mkevt=1&mkcid=28&srsltid=AfmBOorK5wqgvt_dd1a91YbRABh_ksN6bYu_IBbkVLT0LFCwBXLTldyZ9gM&com_cvv=d30042528f072ba8a22b19c81250437cd47a2f30330f0ed03551c4efdaf3409e I’m not sure if it’s something I would use. If you are familiar with this cookware tell why I should or should not give it shot. I mostly just use iron skillets.

    That's a really nice large sized skillet, and the oil-filled core should do two things really well: it distributes heat nicely, so nothing cooked in it will be subject to hot or cool spots, and it should do really well at keeping food warm.  If you have the room, I'd hang onto it.  (As you get older, having lighter weight cookware is also helpful on hands and wrists that aren't as strong.)

     

     

    Eclipse Travel

    in The Chat Board

    Posted · Edited by Halftime Hope

    24 minutes ago, bolt. said:

    If this is really on your agenda, you should consider cruises. Many more eclipses cover the sea than the land, and there's no rush/crowd for accommodations nearby. There's also a greater chance of good weather, since a ship can 'chase' an opening in any cloud cover (to some extent). There may even be eclipses that don't get onto lists (because they don't pass over any land) that might be very personal experiences for people onboard a ship.

    @bolt. Thanks! That's a good idea, too. That idea might lengthen our window of possible events, if one of us is no longer in good enough health to go globetrotting.

    Eclipse Travel

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    After seeing a total eclipse, I might have to travel to see one again. My dingdongs at home had to be convinced that they really, really should watch it, but I forgot to verbalize that it was fine to take off glasses during totality, so they missed that.

    All that said, I'm really, seriously thinking about planning international travel for at least dh and I to go see another one before we're too old for international travel.

    I thought you might enjoy this website I found, that pinpoints when, where, how long for totality, and spots in each country that should be a great starting place:

    https://time.com/4897581/total-solar-eclipse-years-next/

     

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    April showers bring May flowers. The monthly gardening thread.

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    1 minute ago, Faith-manor said:

    TSC people!!! I have a tip.

    I just looked online and the panels were also 28.99 at two locations in the city, but not out here in our 3 rural locations within a 25 mile drive. It seems to be location dependent. Maybe you could do a search on their website for each TSC within a range you are willing to drive to see if they have them at the lower price.

    Meanwhile, Mark is eyeing me with deep suspicion. I think he believes I am pricing out supplies for either a bunny run (I have been missing having a lap bunny recently) or a chicken coop. 😂😂😂😂😂😂 Is it wrong to manipulate your better half by saying something like, "I won't get a bunny if I can have that $100 mosaic planter at the nursery?" That's just the art of negotiation, right? 😁

    Hehe! I've been mentioning bunnies a lot recently. Can't have chickens in our suburb.

    BTW, my guys drove our tiny pickup to TSC, and they cut up the panels with bolt-cutters in the parking lot. Apparently people do it. all. the. time.  I'm five years into these pieces, and they are indestructible. The cut ends have been overwintered in dirt, and they haven't rusted, even where they were cut.

    April showers bring May flowers. The monthly gardening thread.

    in The Chat Board

    Posted · Edited by Halftime Hope

    2 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

    You talked me into it. Our local Family Farm and Home store has the16ft panels for $28 right now. This is about the same cost as the $50 in wood and $15 in rope for the do it your self big project I was going to try.

    Thanks for the tip!

    Mark is afraid to take me with him to go get them because I want to go into the store to look around, and I was already at TSC today and bought two more blueberry bushes when I was just supposed to be going in for raids seeds. 😂😂😂😂😂 Poor man. Oh well. He has model trains. I have gardening.

    @Faith-manor I missed all the fun and was also going to recommend cattlepanels. I have the equivalent of three panels, all cut into 5 foot pieces (four per 20 foot panel) that I use for either tent style (2 pieces) or vertical (1 piece) in the center of the bed. Our cattle panels have slightly smaller openings along one edge and openings for the majority of the panel, and since it's harder to reach through the smaller rectangles, I place those facing the end of the bed, so I'm reaching into the tent from the end rather than through the smaller rectangles further down the bed. I use the sticking-out-wires (cut halfway into an opening) intentionally to press into the soil, and I have yet to have one blow away, in spite of notorious spring storms in my area.

    I've trellised everything from peas and cucumbers to pole beans and sugar baby watermelons, on them. I have two that are permanently framed with cedar on the ends of two beds close to the house for trellising morning glories. That's my concession to folks who aren't wild about looking at a messy garden. I have cedar verticals and cross bars over the beds, periodically, that allow me to suspend shadecloth over the beds. A week ago when we were expecting 2 inch hail, I laid the trellis panels over the top of all the vertical pieces, then put 4 layers of frost cloth over the trellises and clamped it all down, so that if we did get hail, all my plant that are blooming would be shredded. We didn't get hail, but I think it really would have protected the majority of the garden.

    I haven't tried tunnels yet; when we get somewhere permanent, I probably

    One final pro-tip: use an angle grinder and take off the sharp edges before you use them. It'll be the best 10 minutes of prevention you'll ever invest.

     

     

    H5N1 news

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    7 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

    When our family all had the swine flu (minus the youngest, born over a year later,) we really didn’t know it was a big deal. I was drowning in momming and not the news. It was awful, but we were treated and fine.

    How were you treated, @Carrie12345? (Just a curiosity question.)

    OH, BABY! Essentials for gift

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    For the OP, I adored baby-wearing and and wore out the first ring sling, and sent my second one to a relative when they asked for it. (I also had an Ergo baby carrier, a front pack, that my firstborn loathed, but subsequent children and I were off to the races with slings.)

    That said, I don't think baby carriers are a great idea for gifts because they are so very personal.

    My first adult-offspring-to-have-a-child only wanted to use a soft baby wrap. (I swear it took her 3 minutes to wrap and tie the thing on and just as much time to take it off, but she wanted her own way of raising baby.) The next offspring to have a baby is open to the sling, understands the ease of it, and asked me to show them how to adjust it, and his wife was very open to trying, but the baby has an unusual way of carrying herself that makes slings harder. She will definitely have to be coaxed into fitting into a sling, and I don't know if her mom and dad will want to work at it that hard. (It's a physical thing.)  I made it clear why I liked it and showed them how, but I also verbalized that I wanted them to do what worked for them; they should not feel any pressure from me.

    • Like 1

    OH, BABY! Essentials for gift

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    My adult kids have absolutely loved their (second hand) Peanut baby changer, because it is soft, warm, and absolutely impermeable. (Wipe and go; no need for fabric changing pads that have to be washed.)

    They also like the Bumbo baby floor seat. https://www.amazon.com/stores/Bumbo/page/D7EA5422-775B-4875-9960-D305F21FFD74?ref_=ast_bln (This is all the Bumbo products.) My youngest is in a 2-br apt, and they don't have a dining table. Baby is under a year, so they keep the Bumbo on their kitchen island and feed her in it there. The adults eat meals on the couch and, in a few months, when Baby is eating "meals" with them, they'll move her Bumbo to the small coffee table next to the couch.

    Either of these items could be sent to your family via Amazon, and you could mail a nice card separately.

    • Like 1

    Anyone Traveling for the Eclipse?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    Yesterday, as I was running errands in my area, which will be in totality, there were Department of Transportation signs out: "Eclipse: Arrive Early, Stay Put, Leave Late."

    I was also taking calls on Friday at work, asking if our privately owned parking lots were open for people to come view on site, and if there were events for the public. (No to both.)

    Our student life staff have done a bang-up job planning fun, and all classes from 12-3PM have been asked to provide asynchronous learning, so students can participate. 

    I have seen that some municipalities have viewing events planned, similar to festivals. I'm glad that's the case. 🙂

     

    • Like 6

    Have you ever been around a person who complains this much about being old ? JAWM vent.

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    It dawned on me at one point, that the specific whinge du jour really isn't about that topic, it's about the loss our elders are feeling.

    They may or may not be amenable to being gently steered to things for which they can choose gratitude, but if someone is feeling grief, discontent, etc., they would like you to either JAWthem or to murmur empathy, and occasionally, they might be persuaded to see things through gratitude...but we're not naturally wired to choose gratitude first. Trying to apply logic doesn't help.

    I do JAWyou that it is very taxing and corrosive. Sigh.

     

    • Like 6

    March Mayhem, the gardening and green thumb version. Come inside fellow plant people.

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    6 hours ago, Melissa in Australia said:

    I have to protect all my gardens from kangaroos, wallabies and deer.  Fences everywhere. The vegetable garden has a fence over the top to protected it from bower birds and the orchard is fully fenced  over or we would never get any fruit because of parrots

    How tall is the fencing over the orchard, @Melissa in Australia? That must be an impressive sight!

    • Like 1

    March Mayhem, the gardening and green thumb version. Come inside fellow plant people.

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    Learning curve: did you know that raccoons pick a spot and establish a "racoon latrine".  It's a very good, non-optional use for N95s when one is picking up what they leave behind. I also dug out the old bottle of predator urine in my shed, and put that to good use, and no more deposits overnight. I'll switch to peppermint oil when that arrives, and hope breaking them of the habit goes fairly quickly.

    I'm finishing planting out my overgrown seedlings, and then I'll need to replenish and start sunflower seedlings indoors. (Roly-polies are a menace.)

    I've emptied a compost bin, and feel like a rich woman. I'm making homemade Mel's mix (shredded coco coir, compost, and vermiculite) for all the pots and raised beds, and it's the most lovely thing.

     

     

     

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