Ooh, Baker Creek! Dh and I visited their "Pioneer Village" and met Jere and his girls! We ate in their restaurant while his family was eating lunch there. It was a fun place to visit, and close to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum + 2 of her houses. The Dad's Sunset Tomatoes from Baker Creek are our very favorite. Their taste is incredible. Have fun with your seeds!

Batavian (summer crisp, French crisp) is the BEST! I love growing and eating it. You are very fortunate to have it available from a local source year round!

I'll ask Reg. Thanks for the reminder, RA! The short version is that everything turned out well, and all three will be going to UAH next fall. Sorry for the hijack! I just wanted folks to know that sometimes lips get chapped from allergies. Dd has some wierd ones. She's also alergic to cobalt and some other things.

Oh, and she's also allergic to coconut oil, just in case that helps someone.

Just a fyi that products containing beeswax often contain propolis, a contaminant made by bees that is an allergan. Dd had a terrible problem with her lips until she found out she was allergic to propolis. She use Burt's Bees chapstick; now she uses petroleum jelly.

Happy birthday, Emily!!! It's hard to believe these boards have been around for nearly twenty years. And, yes, I remember your posts about your labor for Emily!

What a great update! Thanks for adding comments with each item, and for letting us know what worked and what didn't.

Praying hard for you and your family. ((((Kelly))))

This thread inspired me to buy another pair of Ecco boots. $57 on ebay, shipped! They were a store display; I guess that's a plus for having small feet. You might have good luck on ebay because your feet are on the other side of the curve. Happy birthday to me! I hope this pair is as comfy as the others!

I've had PF and work in a bcasual dress code place, so I'm always looking for comfortable, nice-looking shoes. Brands I recommend considering are Clarks, Born, Ecco, Olukai, Naot, Merrell, Mephisto, Vionic, and Studio C. I have Ecco Abelone booties and Adel tall boots, and they are very comfortable. Ecco has a nice wide toe box, so your orthotics should work with them. The Abelone has a removable insert with an arch support, but interestingly I find the Adel a bit more comfortable with its flat footbed. I can wear those Adel tall boots all day long, and my feet feel great. I love the leather and soles in my Olukai Kiele loafers. The leather is very soft, and it has never rubbed the backs of my ankles. They come with removable arch support orthotics, but the orthotics make my feet feel sweaty and weird if I'm not wearing thin socks. I've worn Clarks, Born, and Naot clogs for years. Clarks' quality and fit can be all over the place, though, and they seem to have gotten less comfortable over the years (maybe it's me...). My Naot clogs purchased 12 years ago have nice thick hardwearing leather, an arch support, and are cut very wide, so I only wear them in winter with thick socks. My Born clogs are the least comfortable of the three, but they have other styles like Mary Janes that my dd found to be really nice. I don't have shoes from the other brands. I noted them because they were in a Comfort One shoe store I visited. Hope you find something that works!

This thread is so timely because Dh and I ran into the mom of one of dh's friends from childhood. This guy has always been an intelligent and nice person, but his life has been a bit of a train wreck and definitely not what we'd like to emulate. His mom gushed that he had changed for the better and is now a Life Coach. Riiight...

I am so, so sorry, Quill. I pray you kick its butt. You did a great job paying attention and getting in there for your mammo! May you have the wisdom and fortitude you need for the weeks ahead.

Sorry about your sleep troubles! One of our dc tried melatonin to help him sleep. It didn't help him stay asleep, and it gave him weird dreams, so he stopped taking it. I am interested in learning more about lower doses because I often wake up between 1-3 AM and have trouble getting back to sleep.

Praying for you!

Praying!

Some peppers that look like this are sweet. Our favorite pepper, Carmen, from Johnny's Seeds, is really sweet. Maybe it's that type?

I'm so sorry, and I hope your ds does not have a concussion! We have three fainters in our family. Two have fainted after pre-college shots, among other times. Apparently the meningitis shot (the regular one; I don't know about the new one) causes fainting in a fairly large percentage of teens and young adults. Dd fainted at the dr checkout desk after her shots when she was 17. I caught her, and four nurses, one for each limb, carried her to a back room where it took over half an hour for her to recover enough to walk to the car with assistance. Ds fainted at 18 in the waiting room after his shots. Dh was in the exam room with his brother, who was fine with his shots. Ds18 really scared a little boy in the waiting room! I wish they would ask about fainting before giving shots.

I worked in a factory making tear gas grenades one summer in college, and also a couple of jobs doing electronics assembly. I agree with those who say that your type of work environment makes a big difference, especially the people. I recommend trying your best to be positive and to get along with everyone, and to avoid gossip and to let petty things go. In all the factory jobs I worked there was quite a lot of that sort of thing.

We've been very happy with the oak table and chairs we purchased from Value City furniture about 15 years ago. The table seats 10, and we bought 10 chairs. We keep the table covered with clear plastic we bought at a fabric store.

I like linen and thin cotton drawstring waist capris and pure cotton t-shirts for our mid-Atlantic heat and humidity. I also like knee-length cotton skirts and linen shirts. Chambray is comfortable, too. Some types of linen wrinkle less than others. I look for washable linen shirts of the better brands in thrift stores.

I would say yes and no. It depend on a lot of things, many of which are not under our control. We've learned that we have the best chance if we diversify because it's a given that some things are going to have a bad year. One year we had a tractor loader bucketful of butternut squash, the next year we got five. Lettuce is usually so easy, but we now have a voracious groundhog that visits daily and eats it all. ? I am a big fan of seeking out free or cheap resources for soil improvement. They can make or break you cost-wise. We have access to an incredible number of free carbon and fertility sources: coffee grounds from a local shop, horse manure from the farm across the road, wood chips from the tree trimmers hired by the power company, hay bales made by a local farmer, chicken manure and bedding (but, ha ha; our chickens are not cheap!), leaves and grass clippings from our neighbors, newspaper & cardboard, and our own compost. And urine, too, if you really want to get nitty gritty: dilute it 20:1 per Barbara Pleasant. We live near a farm store that sells bulk vegetable seeds by weight for 40 cents an ounce and that also sells soil amendments and cover crop seeds. Also, I agree that concentrating on things that are expensive to buy is a good strategy. Herbs, peppers, and small fruits (ok, peppers ARE fruits), plus cutting flowers if you use them often, are good choices. Rhubarb is good, too, if you don't live where it gets too hot, and it is a decent looking perennial that can work in flowerbeds.

That's awful! It's incredibly sad that it happened again so soon. I am so sorry for your and everone else's loss. I visited EC with my grandparents after Agnes. They wanted their grandchildren to understand how flooding affects people. That trip had a big impact on me as a child, and I still remember it vividly.

Praying for mamma and baby. I hope they figure out what's wrong quickly.

We are happy with our Aldi 5 quart cast iron Duch oven. Its lid knob is oven safe, which is what we wanted as well. They usually have them in the fall for the holidays, so look for them then. My sil has used her 5 qt. Le Cruset DO, which she purchaed in France, for almost 30 years and is very happy with it. The Aldi one seems very similar to it, so similar that I wouldn't spend the extra money for the LC brand.

I absolutely love Crocs Cleo sandals for my summer Mom uniform. I have several pairs of the original Cleo. It is currently only available in three colors. I hope they're not phasing it out, because it's been a super popular style for Crocs. https://www.crocs.com/p/crocs-cleo/10043.html?cgid=women-footwear-sandals&cid=060#&origin=category&srule=CatPosition-SearchPlacement-Revenue7day%2FSKUCoverage&start=41&sz=78&prefn1=variationSize&prefv1=&prefn2=refinementColor&prefv2=&prefn3=fitGuideFit&prefv3=&prefn4=lifestyle&prefv4= There is also a Cleo V, but the reviews for it are not as good: https://www.crocs.com/p/womens-cleo-v-sandals/204268.html?cgid=women-footwear-sandals&cid=6NP#start=23 A pair of Cleos and a couple of sundresses or capris and ts are all you need for summer.