Popmom, if you type in "Symptoms of pancreatitis in dogs" then do an image search, you'll find two common diagrams of dogs either with a hunched back or in a "praying" position, rear in the air, but chest on the floor, as though stretching out the belly. Here's some wording to go with what you'll see. (Several sites have this exact wording.) "What are the clinical signs of pancreatitis? The most common clinical signs include nausea, vomiting, fever, lethargy, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and decreased appetite. During an attack, dogs may take a 'praying position', with their rear end up in the air and their front legs and head lowered onto the floor." Until your dog sees the vet, don't feed anything, just small amounts of water. As I've remembered more: once the labs come back, if it is pancreatitis, your vet may give antibiotics, anti-nausea meds, and/or pain meds. A dog with severe pancreatitis may be given IV fluids to keep hydration up while receiving nothing by mouth. We've had two dogs with chronic pancreatitis. With careful diet, the dog can lead a great life.

The stretching and nausea are classic pancreatitis symptoms. If I remember correctly, our vet had to do labs to positively confirm what was suspected.

I don't think I'd want to trust my kid to people who are not trustworthy. If something entirely accidental happened to your kid and they were hurt, could you ever stop questioning your judgement? I'm not sure I could. It would be a no for me. I think this would also warrant an explanation to your daughter: "I'm so very sorry, but sometimes adults can no longer be friends because they disagree on what is right and what is wrong. We will be working hard to find new friends for daddy and me and for you." If she asks what was right and wrong, the issue does not matter; your family's stand to treat people well is the only thing that matters.

I have almost no experience with good wool or other animal fiber socks, maybe something like alpaca. I'd like to get cute, soft, warm natural fiber Christmas season socks for all of us. That doesn't mean we have to have a Christmas design, but something warm, soft/cozy, and durable out of a natural fiber is what I'm looking for. We don't have enough winter in my area to justify anything other than decent cotton blend trouser socks for everyday wear. If you don't mind, could you tell me what you like in cold winter areas, and why you like them? Thanks in advance!

We have the watering thing nailed with drip line, and with about 60% shade cover, they survived the summer (5 weeks of 105 - 110) but although they bloomed profusely, they didn't set fall fruit until nights were cool (in the 60s) again. In prior years, I've grown in self-watering tubs--from a bottom reservoir-- and I think the soil stayed cooler; as soon as fall shoulder season began, I had production, even without shade cover. This year, in beds with thick mulch, I didn't get production until 8 weeks into fall. Sigh...it's always something.

My young adult daughter loves Mauve brand earrings. They are good quality, and there are some darling tiny ones that might appeal to a 14yo. (This would really depend on your dd's personality. If she loses things and/or her style is more eclectic, she might not prefer something as classic.)

I love this idea, just for the adventure...the memories made! (It would still be cheaper to buy a toaster oven, and more practical to plan a cookie baking day with a friend.)

OK, so clearly I'm hijacking this thread since Faith-manor asked for southern hemi boardies, but in spite of about 6 hours of 27 degrees (F) last week, my fall tomatoes seem to finally be ripening in zone 8a. I thought they were goners! Hooray!

Just sayin': it's no fun that we can't like your posts. Apparently snails are the same the world over, and I'm happy your pom is loving its life. My lime tree sends it a warm hello. 🙂

I'll third (?) the wonders of Denby. We had a boatload of Noritake stonewear for 20 years and had gotten down to just a few pieces left, and I replaced with Denby because I won't eat off dishes made in China, which rules out 85% of the available dishes. Ebay has all kinds of Denby for sale, and you can get it quite reasonably, especially if it's discontinued. We have one plate with a chip, but I think it came with the chip. I don't mind buying used dishes off Ebay; I give them a 3 day soak in germicide and call it good, but if that's not in your comfort zone, don't mind me. Ironically, after we got ours, I found brown two-tone Denby dishes (cream and chocolate colored) for my son's apartment while he was in college. They were at goodwill, and were terribly grungy, probably from an estate. I don't think the people knew what they were! It took a bit of Dawn and Bon Ami, and they were ready to be loved again. Ds later told me his apartment mates had dropped a plate or bowl a couple of times, but nothing had ever broken. 😄 I will say, the one thing we don't like about Denby is that the bowls and mugs can get too hot to the touch in the microwave. But I don't mind, because I know I'm not eating off something that will leach heavy metals into my food.

How wonderful! Congrats to all.

At one point, one of my kids said I garden "with extreme prejudice"...especially toward the birds that take one peck out of each green tomato. 😞 I can't end the birds, of course, but if I spy a grasshopper...it's had a nice life. (We have large grasshoppers that love green beans, but I love them more.) And yes, I now have a lovely birdbath and feeder. Both are away from my garden.

Glad they survived the "adventure".

This is wonderful news! I'm so happy for you, especially that your heart is at rest given all the change. God is good!

I think she must be my neighbor! (Not really, but jeeze. I know enough about my neighbor's kids' business that I won't ever, ever tell her any of ours!)

I'm going to chime in on the opposite end of this idea, but with all respect for SKL's opinion. Maybe it's just my extended family (on both sides) but we've had multiple experiences with borrowed items going awry, and not necessarily things that belonged to us, but similar stories we've heard over the years. Since this is something that clearly meant a lot to nephew -- he's keeping it for sentimental reasons even though he doesn't play it -- I don't think I'd request he loan it to ds. You never know how it could go south, if not by direct action by the young adult, perhaps by something accidental. I just wouldn't.

I'm so sorry; it's been rough for many of us, but a few boardies have had really awful times. I hope next year is better in so many ways!

No problem; I just missed it last year. Maybe Chris did, too, but who knows? I was thinking more like MW "Word of the Day".

So this thread isn't what I thought it would be about, and it seems like @TravelingChris and I are on the same page...perhaps thinking of words that we learned or gained new meaning for us, rather than our aspirational word or phrase for the upcoming year. I doubt Chris would be looking for ways to apply the concept of fungibility in 2024. 😄

Courtesy of Drew, the younger brother of Jess from the Roots & Refuge You Tube channel, discussing her plating up a "breakfast bowl" of all farm-grown food: sweet potatoes, apples, bacon, onions and rosemary, topped with a fried egg and hollandaise: Drew: do you have any chrome dishes? Jess: 🤷‍♀️What?!? Drew: There's no plate like chrome for the holidays. Jess: 🤦‍♀️ /dies laughing/

I'm not saying you should buy it for him, but I do think that giving him $100 bucks (the differential between what you had already bought for him and the top of your budget) is reasonable. That money should start off his Guitar Fund. He can add to it himself, or you all can add to it for the next couple of occasions. I would encourage him to spend some time looking at what he wants and then make a considered choice. My then notoriously fad-of-the-moment-minded 10 year old wanted to learn to play guitar. I would have gone out and bought him the $69 cheap guitar at Walmart to see if the fad hung around, and then upgraded if he persisted in learning. Dh took him to the guitar convention, took him to several guitar stores, and to Guitar Center several times, and then finally sent me with ds to a small independently owned music store, and ds picked a guitar that he and dh had looked at when they went to the guitar convention. It was the personal touch of musicians who really loved the instrument, the quiet of the store, and the one-on-one time of the older salesman who taught ds the differences in the sound produced by each instrument that won the day and helped ds pick a guitar that he liked for the purpose he wanted. I know, absolutely, that that journey caused ds to treasure his choice and stoked the little fire in him for learning to play, and persisting in spite of sore fingers, in spite of having to overcome his own indolence and learn to practice. Dh's approach was absolutely the right one. If we had gone with my approach, it would have been over in a week, and an opportunity would have been lost. (I learned something from it, too. 🙂 )

OK, all you turkey people: my family really doesn't care for turkey because the turkey breast is generally quite dry; gravy is mandatory to make it palatable. One year we bought a turkey from a local place that is known for their deep fried cajun turkey, and it was marginally better. With that as context, do you think spatchcocking --which seems to be all the rage -- does much for improving the overall juiceness of the turkey, perhap due to less time roasting required? We didn't find that roasting only a bone-in turkey breast--which would be about the same as spatchcocking -- did much for improving the meat being so lean/dry. Thoughts on this? I'm willing to give it a go if you found something that really works! Thanks in advance!

Reporting back about that standing rib roast. I looked at the bones, and sure enough, the anatomy is a deceiver: the 2 ribs had been cut right where each has a second bone attached, so I counted 4 bones and oven seared for twice as long as it should have! That said, the leftover meat, bones and gravy made a fabulous veggie-beef soup, probably the best I've ever made, so I'm not complaining. I have about three meals of that in my freezer now, so it's all good. 😉 On this long weekend of plenty of energy to experiment, I also made a "keto" cinnamon bun recipe for a family member with a recipe they found on the internet. I've been reluctant to make the recipe, because I just wasn't convinced. Sure enough, I finally made it, and, just like I thought, it was absurdly similar to cinnamon spiral keto cookies -- nothing like rolls -- because anything made with almond "flour" is going to have that grainy texture. The rolls were also absolutely nothing like the photo on the webpage; I swear they made a batch of flour rolls and took a picture, then put the bogus photo with the "keto" recipe. That's two hours I'll never get back!

My brother-in-law, who is a great cook swears by the sear first and then sit, method. The problem was entirely my fault: I literally counted the round spots of marrow and bone at the end of the roast and timed accordingly, 15 x 4. The problem is that I didn't know the anatomy of that cut, that the rib bones, for lack of a more accurate term, branch into two parts or attach to a second part, so I should have high heat seared for 30 minutes, not an hour. If I'd have had the right kind of thermometer, we'd have adjusted our cook time, but with the sear first method, you must not open the oven door. I may try the sear last method next time, because I like the idea of dry brining the night before. (But I needed the correct thermometer for that.) Thanks for letting me know reverse searing works!

I hear ya! I have another big cooking event next weekend, and I'm thinking about how to simplify.