We download into quicken and verify there. We've caught fraudulent charges several times, so we verify.

Yep, we paid the price you'd pay for a chuck roast, so I didn't think it could hurt to try. I'm normally a decent cook, but this was definitely experimental. 😄 A probe thermometer with an outside-the-oven control box is now on my Christmas list. (I have meat thermometers, but never needed one that couldn't be read by opening the oven door.)

I'll start. 🙂 Standing rib roast -- first time I've cooked one. Way overcooked. I think I counted the bones incorrectly to time the high heat sear; I'll have to go dissect the leftovers to see why I counted four bone ends, not two. No matter, it was still tasty, just not fork-tender. The gravy was phenomenal; so I'll make good soup with the left-overs. Our grocery store was selling inexpensive beef, not choice or prime, so it was a good practice run. (This was a last minute decision, as none of us felt like having our usual.) The rest of the meal, including scalloped potatoes with cream, dijon, and swiss, turned out well.

I think that's the magic of the pumpkins, they really jumpstarted the microbial life. The one thing I wish we didn't have was all the pumpkin seed husks. They all germinated and I turned the little seedlings back under to decompose, but the seed husks are tough little buggers, and small enough that the screening didn't strain them out. Oh, well.

Thankful for a healthy baby granddaughter in spite of her arriving early (in June), so she's now 4 months gestational age and doing well. Thankful for faith and the miracle that preceded it. Deeply, insanely thankful for the beauty of our world, and the precious people in it. Thankful I have heat. LOL!

Oh. gosh. Can it be cut off, saved, and then you demand a re-do fro the dentist? I had a hair on my tongue, compost on my hands, and I couldn't remove it. I was honestly afraid I'd choke on it before I could get to it! (Or that's what it felt like!) You poor thing. I'm so sorry. I would not be living with that a moment longer.

I went and looked at the first home dh and I bought, and the neighborhood has continued to go downhill. The house was on a beautiful lake, and our relative owned the house next door. We sold and moved to dh's family's area, and about a decade ago, the relative aged out of the home, so we helped them sell it. At the time, we considered keeping the home in the family as a rental, but several homes at the end of the street were being used as work crew housing, so we sold. In the last decade, our house and the relative's house have both been turned into laborer housing, and this in spite of them being beautiful lakefront yards. The front yards have been stripped bare and are worn down to dirt or gravel. Our house has a couple of interior photos, and it's been converted to a 6 or 7 BR, 1500 s.f. house. What a shame.

We don't know, from context, whether that's the given name or the nickname of the woman; it could also be a nickname she earned, for whatever reason, in the context that this guy knows her.

To answer your first question, it's not exactly the same as dairy, but we love flax milk. We used almond and soy when I had kids with dairy sensitivities, but now that it's a thing, I buy flax milk for my own use. I don't like the more syrupy milk substitutes, that have a more gooey mouth-feel and pour like a watered-down syrup. Flax seems to hit all the right buttons.

Boy, I'd love to get some! I should look to see if I can find a local source.

That looks cool, but I have a hand injury that won't allow it. For most people, that would definitely be a nifty tool! (Ironically, the motion of a pitchfork doesn't bother the injury.)

Sorry about your neighbor!

Yep, I just watched his 21 Day Compost video. I know he's making turbo compost intentionally, but that particular method is a bit much for me since I 1) work full time, and 2) don't have the upper body strength of a guy. I'm interested in watching his other videos for a method that falls within my capabilities. 🙂 Thanks for the recommendation!

In my area, this is the perfect time to hit the ground running with a new compost pile. The grass is still growing decently, leaves are falling (I'm actually about half-way through leave drop), I have all the greens that I'm pulling out of the fall garden, and there are pumpkins to be had if I'm careful to glean them from people's seasonal displays. Starbucks always has coffee grounds, and I will add kitchen waste all through the winter. Honestly, though, I think it's the pumpkins that provide the magic! Fungi and bacteria love the natural sugars in chopped pumpkins -- it's like Halloween for them! I emptied out and screened the compost from last year, made primarily of oak leaves, grass, coffee grounds, eggshells, and pumpkin, plus a year's worth of kitchen scraps and every kind of rind and veggie waste I could add from our grocery purchases, trying to add bio-diversity (for what it's worth.) The pile was absolutely laden with earthworms; amazing stuff! What do you do for your compost? I'd love to hear all the tips and tricks, as this was my first go at it! ETA: I started with a roatating barrel-style bin, but that was fiddly with all the leaves we get, so I had dh build me a proper cube-style bin. I don't really enjoy forking it over, but I'm learning to enjoy that work even though I'm not young and abounding in excess energy. (Mostly I'm thankful to be able-bodied enough to do such things!)

@mom31257 Here's the one our family has used for years as this was a favorite of my MIL: 2 cups pureed cooked carrots (takes about 1 1/2 pounds of raw carrots) 2 tsp lemon juice 2 Tbsp minced onion 1/2 cup softened butter 1/4 cup sugar 1 Tbsp flour 1 cup milk 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp cinnamon 3 eggs There are no instructions on the recipe other than the shorthand: "Beat all ingreds in a 2 qt. casserole." and "45 - 1hr at 350". It's been about 5 years since I've made it, so I have a vague memory of "beating it" 😉 in the food processor. Looking at the ingredients now, I might add the carrots last so i didn't turn them into carrot soup with the processing blade. I'm sure the casserole dish was buttered, too. (But you might look up other souffle recipes to double check that.)

Another vote for better sleep when not co-sleeping, paired with intentionality at making space(s) in our daily lives for snuggling.

I'm with the others on making a plan to change the furniture, over time, to suit the space better. (I've had to fight a couch that was wrong for the space; I should have made the change much sooner.) If you think it would improve anything, perhaps hubby could frame in the half-walls, or perhaps re-position the doorway into the kitchen and dining areas? It doesn't look like you can frame in the window with symmetrical built-ins, due to the left side of a symmetrical unit blocking the door, even if you wanted to move the TV. If the TV has to stay where it is, is it possible to get a better hanging unit that is flush to the wall or that is adjustable to it's flush until someone is watching it? I like the idea of a divider to your right when coming in the front door. That could wrap around (same materials, same style) into a bench seat under the window. Or have a bench seat, plus two comfy stuffed chairs paired in front of the window, so it formed a three-sided conversation unit. Good luck! (Your house is a bit like my parents cottage style home with 1400sf. Built in 1965, their layout was a marvel! I've thought about replicating it for our age-in-place needs.)

Could you sketch the perimeter of the room, adding any doorways and other fixed items that need to be taken into account, traffic patterns, etc.? It feels like your large space needs to be broken up into functional areas, but without seeing what is on the wall opposite the window, it makes it difficult to help. Sometimes, it's much better to make a plan "for now" and then a longer term plan that involves knocking out and re-installing walls in a space that works better for the family, *if* this is your home and you can do that. For me, that TV hanging off the wall like that would be a short term plan, one I'd not want to live with longer term. But I do understand guys and their desire to watch TV from a certain angle, sprawled on the couch. (I really do think most guys are wired differently than most women on this issue.)

KH, I'm glad to hear he is doing so well! I like the trend!

I wouldn't say anything to auntie other than one of Tiberia's phrases above, whatever seems most fitting in the moment. But boy howdy, I'd have a pre-holiday phone call with sister and let her know her comments are unacceptable. Busymama7 and I were typing at the same time, and her approach -- making sure there is something special for everyone -- is what has worked for us.

Popmom, I "watch" (listen, really, while working around the house) and there are numerous videos on YT about overwintering pepper plants. The general recommendation is to repot, cut back to about one third or one half the size, strip the leaves, place in a cool and dark place, and keep the soil from drying out during the winter. Then bring it out to sun and warmth several weeks prior to hardening off and then after hardening off for 10 days - 2 weeks, plant it outdoors. Before our next freeze, I'll dig mine out of the garden, put them in a 6inch pot, strip them down, and then put them into dormancy (cool/dark).

Eh. Our local plant guru (the one with radio shows and books) is very skeptical of the changes to the zoning map, and I don't remember the reasons why, but they were well-thought out. He is thoughtful, very much an environmentalist, well plugged-in with the science/ag crowd in our state A&M establishment, so he's not an anti-evidence or a denialist person at all. I think we have to watch our own micro-climate carefully, keep our own records, and adjust accordingly. I'm clearly still an A although the map would have me believe we've change to a B. (ETA: I'm watching carefully to see if this winter we act more like a zone lower than normal due to a harsher winter. I've planted accordingly, and so far, my cilantro says I'm right! 🙂 )

The Ellie Midi but hemmed at a tailor, so it's the most flattering length for you. Even for plus-sized ladies, a dress with some shape looks so much better on a womanly figure, and wrap dresses, especially, seem to look quite stunning on a lady with ample curves. (You can do a google image search to see what I mean.) If you don't like the v-neck, there are many ways to layer or accessorize the dress so it's perfection, and that will help with the 100 Day challenge.

Could you sign up as a place for people to park their RV or van overnight? The more services you can add, the more you can charge (by a bit): parking, +electric, + water, + hook into sewage, + internet, and so on. Do it through a service like Outdoorsy, something so you can screen your guests.

If you qualify for an HSA, you can also max out your allowable contributions tax-free, and once you're 65, you can withdraw money for any reason, not just for medical expenses. If you use it for medical expenses, at any age, it will be tax free. If you use it for non-medical *after* 65, it will be taxable just like a 401K or 503b, but no penalty. You don't have to take minimum withdrawals from it at a certain age, like you do from your 401K. (It can be saved for long-term care needs.) Consult a professional or read the IRS materials, don't take my word for it. 🙂