Ordinarily I’d say take a bellydance class, but I had a particularly brutal rehearsal tonight, everything hurts, and I feel old. Being a geriatric dancer means the pain is in a different place than where it would be if you did nothing.

I have sheets without holes that are 15 years old! In your position, I’d make something to protect the foot area of the sheet. Something like that little sleeve they put on coffee, but for your mattress instead of your cup. I’d probably make it out of the damaged sheets with a stretch fabric for the part that goes under the mattress, then slip it on when I change sheets. I don’t think any brand is going to stand up to the friction you’re describing. You’ll just wear through more expensive sheets.

Is he drinking enough water to support whatever medicated soaps/applications he’s trying? Water won’t cure troublesome acne, but hydrating those cells can only help his quest.

Are you talking about the Academic Support Team, like math and reading specialists? My local elementary has ten for about 400 students. This doesn’t include student services, esol, or spec Ed.

Fairfax probably has their own fireworks. I’d just find a place to watch those. That will feel insanely crowded to you. I don’t even get on the metro for DC fireworks and I’m local. It’s just too much. My daughter has metroed in and enjoyed it, but it’s just not my idea of a good time anymore. I think I’m old and cranky, but it’s hot and a gajillion people get smelly by nightfall. 😂

I'm growing strawberries, blueberries, gooseberries, raspberries, currants, a fig, and a quince. I don't have enough sun for most fruit trees. I'm seriously considering taking a chance on a sour cherry. I'm greedy though and would like to train a small orchard of trees to be about 5 feet tall. I just don't have full sun anywhere in my garden. I think a community plot (5 minutes away) could round it all out for me.

Oh no. I MUST learn the hard way.

The thing is, my entire troupe is in a sewing panic right now because of costume deadlines. When my friend was judging my machine-care skills, EVERYBODY else owned up to never oiling their machines and many of us have the original (unopened) tube that came with the machine. Now it seems there will be a machine maintenance class and we've all been ordered to attend. I'm the troupe director and I've lost control of the ship. The actual seamstress in the group is having none of our nonsense.

It never occurred to me that I could grow either of those in Maryland. I wonder if people bring them indoors in the winter. My problem is that I want one of everything. After this thread started, I 'may' have impulsively put my name on the waiting list for a community plot. Those are in full sun and I'm dreaming of a tiny orchard 😁 It's @Pen's fault for starting the conversation. Just today I've determined that my life will be incomplete without some wild ginger and a spicebush.

My machine just went all weirdly haunted. First it was a bit skippy, then I got loopy bottom threads sporadically, then the needle wouldn't disengage when I wound the bobbin, and finally the big knob at the end just came off and won't screw back in. A friend implied that this is a consequence of me not oiling it in 15 years, but I think she's just being negative. I think I paid less than $150 or it 15 years ago. I think it's worth fixing.

Some people use paper towels for EVERYTHING. I use a combination of white washcloths, dish cloths, dish towels, cloth napkins, and paper napkins, and a sponge (that I dump boiling water on then run in the dishwasher most nights). I can see why people would streamline with the towels, but I just can't. I roll of paper towels lasts me for a couple months. I usually just use them for draining fried foods and for guests.

Plants. My answer is always plants 🙂

I wish I had enough sun for fruit trees. I read a book called "Grow a Little Fruit Tree" and I've been obsessed ever since. In my imaginary orchard my trees are trained small enough to care for them without a ladder. Unless the big tree in the front goes, I just don't have the sun for even a tiny orchard. I have to be happy with fruits that don't mind a bit of shade.

Do you start your own slips? What time of year do you start this? I'm in zone 7a and it's been a really mild winter. I kind of love it, but I have flowers coming up and I'm afraid we'll get a late snow. I have green onions in my garden right now. I have my seeds that need cold stratification outside in milk jugs now. I just experimented with astilbes last year, so I'm planting a lot more this year. They seem to like my shady lot. My cheap-and-easy trellis is a cattle panel, t-posts, and cable ties. You're spending about $20 for a 4X8 trellis, but it's super sturdy and goes up in about 5 minutes. Inside I grow philadendrons, snake plants, and draceanas. They don't seem to mind my dark, cool house. I also have an ornamental pepper that looked great most of the winter and I brought my begonia starts, jasmine and fig inside this year. Had I known it would be so mild . . . I planted alpine strawberries from seed last year and they looked nice and healthy, but no fruit yet. Fingers crossed for this year and I'm starting more plants because I'm greedy with the wild strawberries. The year I didn't plant butternut squash was my best year growing it. It volunteered all over the place! I'm in love with the winter sowing. Last year I lost my mind and went a bit overboard. This year I'm 'only' starting about 60 things in jugs. The only thing I'll bother to start inside is peppers (because they needed more time), and a couple tomatoes and flowers just to see if i can get them a little sooner.

I've started about 30 kinds of seed "outside" and I'm halfway finished. I discovered winter sowing last year and it was a game changer for me. It worked so much better than I expected and I had to scramble to build more garden beds in the spring. This year I'm branching into doing more flowers. I'm in zone 7a, so my goal is to get all of my seeds going before mid March. Winter Sowing is my new favorite thing. It REALLY helps with SAD to garden in January and February. I like that I don't have to set up grow lights in the house OR go through the hardening off process. You basically turn a milk jug into a green house and every milk jug gets a different type of seed. Here's a tutorial if you're more visual. You poke drainage holes in a milk jug, add organic potting mix, water well, plant your seeds, seal with duct tape, label the jug, and set it outside. You've thrown away the lid, so the seeds get rain and snow through the top of the jug. I probably started 90+ jugs last year and only a handful failed. I started as more of a vegetable gardener, but I'm branching into the pretty plants. Since seeds are so much cheaper than bedding plants, I'm trying a lot more of those. Here are my gardens: Veggies - I have about 12 kinds started and more to go. I only get about 5 hours of sun, but I have found tomatoes that work for me and can grow a lot. I grew scarlet runners for the first time last year. I never got around to tasting even one bean, but it flowered twice and the hummingbirds loved it. Shade Fruits - I have a side garden that's shade fruits/ornamentals. Last year was the first year with it, so I should get actual fruit this year. It has a quince, two kinds of raspberry, two kinds of currants, a gooseberry and a Lenten rose. It also has the following plants that I grew from seed: alpine strawberries, foxgloves and anise hyssop. It has space for lettuces in the plan that I'll add in the spring. I have blueberries on the sunnier side of my yard and need to add another bush or two once I figure out what goes with the two I have. Bird, Bee, Butterfly garden - mostly echinacea, coreopsis, and Joe pye weed. I plan to expand it this year by dividing the established plants. I also put zinnias here or whatever flower seeds I'm experimenting with that year. Herb Garden - This is my favorite. I use this every day. I used parsley from my garden all winter. I plan to build an herb extension to a new bed just off the patio and relocate the shade loving herbs there to free up some space in the sunnier herb garden. Last year I grew borage for the first time and the pollinators LOVE it. That's a keeper. Wildflower garden - I have a small 5 x 10 space where I want to establish a wildflower garden. It would be kind of like a tiny meadow, but it's mostly shady so I want to establish some shade-loving wildflowers in this spot. It only gets a few hours of morning sun. Front Garden - Here's where I fail. I've been playing around in the back yard for years and from the front you can't even tell a gardener lives here. I'll focus on improving it this year. It has to be a woodland garden because its mostly shady except near sunset. I plan to experiment with hakone grass this year. I also want to do a sunset color scheme since I'm really drawn to the peach/salmon/apricot colored flowers. I'm starting more different kinds of impatien seeds since they grow well there and were easy to start via winter sowing. Now I'm obsessed with getting kinds I can't get at a box store. I'd like to establish a small seating area out here and I've decided I need an oak leaf hydrangea. NEED. Rockery/Stumpery/Woodland garden- the trouble is I watched The Great British Garden Revival last year and had to have one of everything. (This is also why I feel I need a water feature AND a topiary.) Right by the house I started a small bed that has some stumps and rocks planted with ferns, astilbes, and bleeding hearts. It's my only real effort out front and you can't really see it unless you've walked up the driveway and are almost to the door. Even Weirder - I want to grow a poisonous plant. I'm going to experiment with castor bean as an annual screening plant this year. I have no pets or small children so now is my chance. I'd like an annual screen from one neighbor. I enjoy chatting with her occasionally, but as summer goes on and we're practically living out there I want a little privacy for the season. She rarely uses her deck, but maybe she would use it more if that privacy were there. You should get a medal if you read the whole thing!