Um, do your squirrels normally eat wildflowers? The only issue I've ever had was them hopping off the birdfeeder onto a hosta and breaking it. They don't eat my plants, though, decorative, herb or vegetable.

Heehee. Did you also have an art teacher who was reportedly a former Playboy bunny?

Nope. W-2 has not been sent yet. Everything else - bank, school - has been, though.

A stone is 14 lbs. So... 252 lbs. 114.5 kilos Nah. The last time I was pregnant (with twins) it got to the place where we had a great time seeing just how much I could possibly weigh. (I was on bed rest, didn't get out much.) I think I ended up weighing in the... 18 stone range. :D

Oh no! No, no! Don't mix the muffin batter in a mixer! Somewhere, I think a whole herd of Home Ec teachers just started having chest pain. For muffins, you just want the dry stuff to be barely mixed in. Really, if there are some little crumbs of dry stuff still in there, it's fine. Otherwise, they get tough and there's tunneling and... :ack2: You don't want to develop the gluten, like in a cake or yeast dough. (And can we all pause to laugh at the fact that there are two pages on sinking blueberries? We are obviously an overly analytical lot.)

We use ours for veggies, though mostly for veggies we buy extra of during the local growing season, so we can have them stored away for winter. There isn't any reason you can't, say, parcel out veggies in meal-sized portions, then seal them up. Or, seal up everything, cut just below the seal to take what you want out, reseal, etc. We buy just about everything in bulk, so I put flour, dried fruit, rice, and other pantry good up in the amounts that fit in their respective containers (quart mason jars, mostly) and store them on a higher shelf, or in the cupboards in our laundry room. In fact, I have 25 lbs of coffee to put up right now... interestingly, the coffee will give off gases and expand the bag. (to a point. it doesn't explode or anything, just isn't a rock after a couple of days) For more delicate things, I have found that sucking out the air until just before the goods start to crush, then hitting the manual seal button only lets a tiny bit of air back in, but keeps the pasta or whatever from being damaged. I also reuse the bags so the bigger one that I used for flour will be used for something in a slightly smaller quantity next time, and so forth.

I am so sorry for your family's loss. My mother and aunt - and then I, later on - also had the honor of caring for my grandmother in her last days in the summer. I hope your grandmother's passing was as peaceful and beautiful as hers. She, of course, will live on in all of you.

YAY!!! She's gorgeous and you sound like you had a great delivery. Woohoo!

Uuummmm... for anyone but me, I'd say "when the goopy green stuff starts appearing". :D I'm comfortable with treating stuff on my own, though. If it makes you feel better, after parenting for 20 years and 4 children, I have yet to remember napkins or a change of clothes.

You can toss them with flour, but my suspicion is that it has more to do with the poofing of the thin-ish batter when you apply heat than actual sinking. (Having very scientifically studied muffins for years.)

:D

Yes. I am completely blocking this concept, lest my fragile brain just fall right out of my head in complete despair.

Channeling my inner "Ainsley Hayes" (the Republican lawyer from the West Wing - the "anti-me"), I have to say that we already have a perfectly good word, "woman", that differentiates me from my male counterparts, and I see no reason to add another in order to also phonetically underscore the point. (Plus, I do not believe one achieves equality by counter-subjugating one's "oppressor".)

I am so sorry. I can't imagine the stress of waiting, then breaking the whole thing up into two pieces. :grouphug:

The popular toys at our old host church (for our homeschool co-op) were the dress-up box, the little slide and blocks. The Little People came out occasionally, but usually by the older kids, and they didn't really have enough time to get into that level of creative play. Wedgits also seem to attract a wide age range; the kids can play with them on a number of different levels. Also helpful was having a cd player in the nursery, so we could play movement games.

Yeah, it's sort of difficult to point to an overtly Christian, but considered, work as something pagans would "loathe". In my experience, most would get something out of it, even without embracing the theology. It's part of that whole "spiritual journey" thing, pursuing challenges. (also, most of us probably own a bible, though it's not handy or a daily reference :D) If you are looking for something to make your head actually spin around, I would point you to the Pearls. Lots of fun, they are.

Sure! You probably hit the right combination - if you'd been heavy on the castor oil, your skin would have felt tight after it dried, and you probably would have felt oily this morning. If you find you need to exfoliate, a little fine salt mixed with the oil works very nicely.

I think it's probably not uncommon to react to petrochemical residues when you don't normally use those products, much in the way the scent of standard, heavily perfumed, cleaners and personal care products becomes overwhelming when you're used to using natural products. I have used Bi-o-kleen powder and found it fine. My personal preference is liquid laundry products because I don't like having to take the little liquid cup out of the dispenser drawer in my washer. We use Seventh Generation Blue Eucalyptus - Lavender and have no issues with the quality of cleaning or chemical reactions.

It's just a flesh wound. 'Splain it to me, Lucy Not that there's anything wrong with that. Know what I mean, Vern?

HAHAHAHAHA! I love weight calculators. I'm 5' even, medium build. It said my "happy" weight is 120 lbs. Although that's closer to reasonable than the weight charts I've seen (95-105), I have to say that I haven't been 120 lbs since early high school. I must be dense or something. I remember having a fired dept physical and the doctor coming in and saying, with great surprise, "oh! You're not obese..." I weighed all of 130 lbs and was a size 4. At 150, I'm a size 8. At 120, I'd be skeletal.

I have. I originally switched over to use it as my daily cleansing regimen. For me, it took too long to do every day, so I just use the oil occasionally. As far as tips go... You need to figure out which oil or combination works best for your skin type. Castor oil can be very drying; it's usually mixed with olive or almond oil, if used at all. Don't skimp on the massaging - it's what works the stuff out of the pores. Using the hottest water you can helps dissolve and rinse everything away, as does scrubbing with the cloth. There should be no oily feeling when you're finished. I would not recommend doing this in the shower* because it's really difficult to get all the oil and gunk off, which will lead to breakouts. You will want to pay attention to the hair line, too, since that can be overlooked and end up with breakouts, too. I rarely needed moisturizer. A dab of olive or almond oil can be useful, though, if you find you do. *I did find that using oil cleansing, either in the manner of face cleansing or using oil/salt scrub, for my body was very beneficial for getting rid of the rough, dry skin areas on the back of my arms and legs. I did this in the show with no untoward effects.

Yeah, I know Byrd is 91... Kennedy with the brain tumor. Frankly, without either of those things working against me, I probably would have passed out a little by the luncheon today. I honestly don't know how these guys do it. (Since I'm having a "low literacy" day - in which I've been double-taking all over the place and should probably not infer anything on my own - why did you double take?)

Darn spry 92 year old, that one. She cracks me up. And Joe looks so much like her, it's a little eerie sometimes. I'm glad nothing happened and she was able to be there. Much shorter trip than the DNC, that's for sure. It just occurred to me that I hadn't seen her. I also didn't see Barbara Bush, or anything of Laura except the side of her head.... you'd think I was multitasking or something.

yes... Was Joe Biden's mother there? I didn't see her.

Oh, good. I'm glad they're both ok. I hadn't seen any updates.