I have to leave for a meeting in a few minutes...but wanted to post a short reply. I tell my kids that there are three ways to read books: read the words, read the pictures, or do some combo of both! As we grow up, we hopefully gain the ability to read all three ways and decide which is best for any given situation. (Even I might "read" a Nat. Geo. article by reading the pictures if I only have a couple minutes.)

I am so sorry. We learned last week that my dad's pancreatic cancer is back and spreading. Cancer sucks. My prayers are with you and your family as you travel this awful road.

It's in the FREEZER. And you're still going to cook it. No risk whatsoever to eat it. A little freezer burn isn't going to be noticeable on corned beef.

If you/someone in your family is diabetic, do you have a good diabetic cookbook recommendation for someone just venturing into this world? Backstory: My dad has been battling pancreatic cancer for just over a year. This week has given us three big health issues for him: the cancer is spreading, he is now anemic, and he is diabetic. This is understandably overwhelming for my mom. The nutritionist gave her a bunch of recipes/cookbooks, but I thought I'd see if the Hive had any suggestions. My dad is definitely a meat and potatoes kind of guy. Or he was until he started chemo. Now the only constants have been yogurt and ice cream. High calorie foods are good. A not-so-stiff wind could carry my dad away these days. I'd love to peruse a cookbook that has recipes that are actually good so I can be more helpful to my mom when we visit. Also, if you are the praying type, prayers are appreciated. My mom is also dealing with her dad who is in declining health (no surprise as he's in his late 90s).

Well, every source I've it heard from it was clearly Yanny...until I listened to the original. Now it's clearly Laurel no matter which source I listen too. Maybe my ears are broken.

Ha. I will admit to buying leery when DH originally suggested chickens. However, I've come around and mostly like them. It helps he does most of the work. And that free range chicken eggs really are superior. But I'll pass on dealing with predators and any chicken feet I find in my freezer. (I know, I know they make great broth..yada yada yada. But, chicken feet are nasty, gross, ugly things, and I don't want to think about eating them/anything made from them.)

We have chickens. DH does 99.99999% of the work of taking care of them. He is working tonight, so he asked me to lock the coop tonight as he has seen possum tracks recently.Tthe kids and I were out this evening. When we got back, it wasn't quite dark, so not all the chickens were in the coop. In the middle of bedtime storytime, it was dark enough to go lock the coop and I thought about it. However, it was later than our kiddos usually go to bed, so I decided to wait as 2 of the 4 were already semi-melting down. Once everyone was tucked in, I headed out to the coop. And it's just my luck that the possum was in there. He (or she) was happily chowing down on the chicken feed. So far he/she did not appear interested in the chickens themselves. Which is good, because there is now way I was dealing with the possum. I waited a few minutes to see if he/she would leave. Nope. So I whacked on the side of the coop with a pitchfork to scare him/her. I'll go back out in a few minutes to see if the possum is gone and I can lock the coop. Lesson learned: Always lock the coop as early as possible, even if it means a melting down kid or two. What have you learned recently?

Is there a drain in the floor at all. If so, I'd rinse with tons of water. That is, I'd bring in a hose and go to town. DH will know the answer to the whether the enzyme stuff is fine. I'll try and remember to ask him later.

Would you lose some science? Probably, yes. But, you'd gain other things (as you already know). So...whether that's good or bad will depend on your family. I can say that I've been toying with doing something similar, though I've been thinking of it as notebooks of joy. So I'm casting my vote for "a lovely variation."

If you head to Madison, check out Olbrich Gardens. If you drive from Madison to Milwaukee (or vice versa), you may want to stop somewhere in the marsh. I don't think those were mentioned by pp. I'll try and add more Madison recs later.

My suggestions will depend on how long you have. Can you give us an idea of how much time you'd want to spend here?

Huh. I've never put that much thought into RA. I mean, I choose books. Then when I want to RA I head to our shelves and choose one. Or I ask the kids to. Ones I really want them to hear get added to our morning time box. That's where most of the things you are asking about fall for us, although DD is pretty likely to swipe them and read them elsewhere. That seems like a long way of saying that I agree with PP. Just pick one up and start reading. Stop when you/they want. Rinse and repeat.

Cancer sucks. (My dad is currently battling pancreatic cancer. I hope, hope, hope that another sister of yours is not walking this same road.) I am so sorry.

This thread has made me realize that I more or less automatically give a short tour to anyone new to our house. But, we live in a barn that DH has converted to a house. And the entryway always makes people gasp (due to the amazing circular staircase), so then I usually feel like I need to give a quick tour at some point. FWIW, I show the kitchen (right off the entryway) and then point out there is a bathroom down the hall. Then I take them upstairs to the main living room. I say that there's another small living room, 2 bedrooms, and a bathroom down that way and our bedroom and another bathroom off the other end of the living room. I can't remember the last time someone new to our house hasn't gone to peek at it all after that. Maybe I need to stop doing this...

Zero most nights, but that's because DH works 12 hour night shifts. On one of his off nights each week, I leave after dinner to go anywhere but here. So it's zero that night too. Which only leaves a couple other nights. IOW, we are in a season of life where we don't really see each other. I hate it. It's...definitely affecting us, but I don't see a way around it.

Can I pass this quote on to someone I know who is struggling right now?

No, it's Lent and we generally give up desserts for Lent (minus the family birthdays that fall during it. We did eat canned sliced pineapple as it's circular.

Haha, you need a locking thermostat cover. Or a second hidden thermostat in series set to your maximum desired temp, like 76 so they can turn one up to 350 and it will never go over the second one at 76. Some people don't realize that turning the thermostat up DOESN'T make the furnace heat faster (usually)

Home construction now is much better than it was before the 70's. I wouldn't have any problem with any modern house wall having a piano against it. The problem is the extremes of temp and humidity. If the piano is relatively tight to the wall, and a drafty poorly insulated wall, then the piano is functioning as part of the walls insulation, the back will see extreme cold and dry conditions one hour, followed by relatively warmer temps and possible condensation the next hour depending on the wind etc. It's the same for extreme cold climates, or hot humid climates, and most places in between. A grand piano is different because the sound board is horizontal so it won't seal against the wall like an upright. If a piano is even an inch from a modern wall, then there will be no significant temperature difference between the wall behind the piano and the wall four feet away from the piano. Same with a heat duct, a modern tight house with a good duct system won't hurt a piano right over a duct, at least not as much as an undersized duct system with an old furnace that blasts heat. This being said by someone who does NOT value pianos for more than furniture.

I am so sorry for your loss.

I have an almost 8 yo, 6 yo, and almost 5 yo, with a 1 yo who just tries to derail any plans I have. I require no school work until they turn 6. Then they must do phonics/reading, writing, and math every day. Currently, the almost 8 yo is working through OPGTR. When he finishes, he will continue to read aloud to me every day. He will also start a spelling program (undecided at this point) and maybe the Wise Owl Polysyllables book/ The 6 yo has taken off in reading, so she just reads something aloud to me every day. The almost 8 yo is using ELTL level A. The 6 yo has decided she wants to learn cursive so she spends 5ish minutes everyday on it. We use Miquon for math. I can't imagine combining any of the above, as the skill levels are just different. Letting them tag along and hear the others lessons is a different story of course. Everything else is combined at this point.

Uf da. I'll try to ask DH to give his opinion later, too, but here's mine. We have various apple trees (and a pear tree). We don't spray at all. For us, avoiding pesticides is one of the reasons we like having our own trees. So they are basically no work in the spring/summer. I have no idea if DH ever prunes any. He does graft and plant more from time to time. As for picking, how much work it is depends on what you will be doing with them. If you are pressing them for cider, you don't have to be as careful. If you want to eat them/preserve them, it is more work. We generally go out every day/every other day at that point and pick what we can reach and the ones from the ground. Then DH shakes the tree and we pick up anything that falls. We have one bucket for keepers and one for gross ones (which we give to our chickens and goats). From my POV, it's only work for a few short days in the fall. Not bad at all. DH's opinion is probably different!

Yes, in commercial orchards they spray to kill any vegetation, but mulch would work if the mulch doesn't make other problems (rodents). Mulch isn't practical for me long term, nor is spraying.

My biggest regrets in gardening are dwarf apple trees, and trendy apple varieties (university of MN new releases). If you look at commercial dwarf apple production, the ground is bare way past the dripline, don't plant dwarf trees unless you want to maintain them on bare ground. Check out St Lawrence Nursery for real world fruit tree advice for northern gardens at least. The new trendy apple varieties may be fine commercially, but they're full of bugs and rot if you don't spray every week, get an older variety that's tarter and thicker skinned if you don't like rotten apples and don't have time to spray every week. I do have one dwarf apple that is great, Liberty on Bud9, all the rest never thrived or produced anything of value. And one UM variety that I like, Goldrush, a late ripening, long storing, very intense golden delicious type, except it's on a smaller semi dwarf and isn't vigorous enough. The larger semi dwarfs have done fine, if I had just got the right varieties. If you want fruit the second year, plant strawberries. 3-5 years plant raspberries. 5 years and more for semi dwarf or standard apples. The extra year or two waiting is long forgotten ten years after the dwarf trees have died without producing anything edible. The other thing I'd do different is not bother with the tough stuff. Carrots and onions because they grow so slow and are hard to weed. Blueberries because they're so picky about soil, acidity and water (and maybe vole damage to roots?). The mature blueberries are great, but not worth the effort in the end. Also, one bush or tree of a bird favorite will be stripped before you get anything, blueberries, cherries especially, probably others. Raspberries are SO easy, unless you have the fruit flies in your area, but they have been much less of a problem here after a couple of gross raspberry years.

Use something like this https://www.amazon.com/OOK-Hillman-535606-Professional-Picture/dp/B000CSN35E/ref=sr_1_9?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1519853875&sr=1-9&keywords=picture+hanging+hook The nails are thinner and made out of stronger steel, the bushing on the hook holds the nail at the angle so it doesn't pull on the paper of the drywall. One drywall paper tear is harder to hide than dozens of nail holes that haven't pulled on the paper. Use a lightweight spackling with a finger and once dry wipe with a damp sponge. If you have access to the touchup paint, even better.