Apropos of Nothing v.8

Summer, bless you for helping that sweet kitty out. :)

Pix, I hope I stole the right tree today- it was the only one I saw sitting by a barbecue, so I made off with it. Thank you for tree-sitting!

Linda, thank you for the tree! I've wanted one of these since I was a kid. :) Now I just have to find the perfect spot to put it in the ground. :)

Just a thought on the college kids / FAFSA -- Both my boys eventaully graduated, although both took the "slow road" for different reasons. One huge advantage to that is after age 24 (I think), the dang gov't quits looking at the parents' income as a pocket to dig into and student loans/aid is then based on the child's personal resources. One graduated at 29 (poli sci) and the other at 27 (landscape arch). Are they now all grown up? Nah...

"So here's a question. Why don't more of us get tapeworms, since they're transmitted by fleas, rather than direct contact?"

Central Oregon=NO FLEAS....but I have no idea how I managed all those years in San Diego=flea capital.

Ginger

I LOVE MY NEW FISH TANK!

(Just making a statement apropo of nothing.... )

I love my new fish tank too..


Charlotte

Ginger - I guess the chances of us ingesting them are slimmer than I would have imagined. I do remember a book of facts my nephew had when he was little that said that the average adult human ingests 8 lbs of dirt a year. That has always seemed like a big number.

But you bring up another crazy question - no fleas in Central Oregon? Is that because it's desert?

I love fish tanks (and I'm sure my kitties would), but I have so much trouble keeping them clean . . .

I love the castle in the fish tank.

NO fleas.....It's because it gets too cold. We are at 3500 ft. so plenty of snow.

The castle was a deal because we bought so much stuff (Not the tank..we got that on craigslist) he gave is 50% off on the castle which made it affordable! The Beta and the red tail shark think it's awesome.

Now the tank has a black back and it looks cool.

Ginger

I brushed twigs & even an ant off that kitty but was very surprised to find no fleas.

I get a flea off one of MY cats occasionally, however. We must have brought them from Illinois? (Where it is VERY cold but we still had them around.) The vet said there is no heartworm here, but I can't remember why. (Mosquitos?) She didn't like all the Katrina animals being shipped hither & yon because they could introduce them.

It's weird what isn't here east of the Coast range -- mosquitos, squirrels, poison ivy. Perhaps fleas? That would be a blessing.

Also, relatively few birds compared with the Kankakee River area, where we had everything from orioles to foot-tall woodpeckers to swans to osprey to pelicans & eagles.

Heartworm is very uncommon in OR and WA, but does occur - and I've heard it's for the same reason. I don't give a preventitive, but I know it's just a matter of time. The mosquitos would carry it, and Heaven knows we have enough of them, we just haven't had a big enough population of infected animals to get it started.

We didn't have tick-borne diseases to worry about for the longest time, but that's a thing of the past.

And now leptospirosis is affecting dogs, particularly on Vashon Island - they think it may have something to do with the Sea Lion population (at least that's what my vet said).

Good news about the fleas. That's unusual, though they pretty much die back here in the winter and then come out en force in the spring. And, of course, they like some animals much more than others.

I've heard that beneficial nematodes can be effective in controlling fleas in lawns-does anyone have any experience with that?

I give my dog the Comfortis-one-pill-a month med for fleas and it works great. The cats get Program and they have never had fleas. My vet does give a preventive for heart worm. First you spend years worrying about what your kids will get and then you worry about the animals!

I have heard great things about Comfortis . . . I use Frontline because the deer out here have ticks and my vet recommends it. You can only see it on the skin for an hour or so and then it disappears completely.

I'm with Jnette - eating stuff that grew in rotting raccoons or any other animal is not my cup of tea.

OK, if I had access to cow meat I'd drag it into my compost pile.

I certainly wouldn't EAT cow meat. Would you? Turns my stomach to even think of it.

A lot of people do it every day, though, basically letting that cow meat rot in their gut. I truly am puzzled as to why it is more revolting to first let that cow meat decompose before getting your food from it.

Barf.

I do eat beef. It takes longer for your body to digest beef or other meats than to digest vegetables, but it does not rot in your body. That's an urban myth.

OK, it's cooking, dissolving, whatever.

It just makes no rational sense to me that you put it in your mouth but can't imagine it in your soil.

And I'd say it is being digested in the compost pile too. Semantics.

Okay, as a person recovering from a virus, this is grossing me out the door!

bonehead, it's 25 years, but at least there is a limit. Some kids can't get any aid at all because they are under that age limit and their parents won't help them out. Ah well, that's another discussion. Sounds like your two are off to a nice start. I don't think there is any magic to graduating from college at an early age.

We used to keep a lot of fish, especially before we had children. The key to keeping clean tanks is keeping big tanks and having good filtration. Same with ponds. Bigger ponds and bigger/more filtration = easier pond upkeep and cleaner water.

Ha ha .... I made Willow say, "Barf."

Against my better judgment, I ordered some Hellebores and Lilies from the Hellebore coop. The shipping is a flat $5.00 per order, direct from the vendor. SO, if any of you local peeps want to add to my order, you will have a good price and no shipping. Let me know ASAP.
Hellebore "Sunshine selection" 2.50 each
I have to look up the prices for these:
Hellbore feotidus
Lillium Superbum
Arisaema Triphyllium
Arisaema Dracontium

Is this Barry Glick's stuff?

Pix, I would love to hear the NPR thing on those premium access healthcare practices. I am torn about it, but have decided that it's not for me. I sure wish you were feeling better - you've been sick way too long. Sending good thoughts.......

My hellebores are blooming! Things are sprouting up all over, but today was rainy and chilly and it was below freezing last night and will be again tonight. At least there will be fresh snow for the Olympics.

Yes, it is Barry's. Have you bought from him?

I have to leave in about 5 min to go to my sleep study. I am not looking forward to going.
My portion of the bill is $425.00 for the night. Geez, for that much money, I expect a kiss and chocolates on my pillow.

Ack! He chased me, NAKED, around a hot tub once (I had on a sensible swimsuit), which I found to be presumptuous.

Then, when I ordered several hundred hellebores, he made me put $600 or $800 in cash in a cardboard jewelry box & mail it certified.

Too weird even for MOI!

!!! Do you have pictures?

I did bring home a darling kitty from that trip, Su-Manchu, that I found at the bed & breakfast, which doubled as an animal shelter.

Su moved out eventually, though, and went one block over.

Lynn - good luck at the study. I hope you're able to sleep. Most of the time (even without estrogen) I can get to sleep anywhere if I'm warm enough and it's quiet enough.

I have two brothers who did it and both have worn cpap machines since. But they are finally getting good sleep. And the cpap machines are getting smaller and quieter all the time . . .

I just got a new one today and it is tiny and has its own battery so when I am trapped in an igloo I can still sleep. I love my Cpap! I have slept for the first time in my life the day after I got it. I never had dreams and now I do. I love it. Though I missed out on some good ones during adolescence. Oh well. LOL

Now we know where Sofer's been ...

Is this a sickness? I roasted 60 cloves of garlic tonight in olive oil, salt & pepper. They were intended for soup. I absentmindedly ate them all, like potato chips. That was about 5 heads of garlicin 30 minutes.

Yesterday, I sucked down 3 cups of hummus with a head of raw garlic in it. I believe in listening to your body. Why is mine growling like this?

I'm getting acupunctured on Friday. Wasn't going to do it but Jack sent a rather large check instead of a box of candy for Valentine's Day. (He said he used to just walk into a jewelry store & drop a couple grand on the previous redhead & therefore he couldn't quite get his head around a romantic tig welder for me, so crass cash it is.)

Can we please start a little bit of cheerleading here to assure me that, not only will I survive, it will be OK & perhaps even helpful?

Good luck with your sleep study Lynn. It will be worth it if you get appropriate treatment and are able to really get quality sleep to feel well rested during the day.

Pixy, I hope you are restored to good health soon. When your breathing is compromised in any way, being sick acquires a whole new level of anxiety.

Summer, the roasted garlic sounds divine. I have a goodly share of garlic in the past, both raw and cooked, but I don't think I have ever eaten that much in one sitting! I don't see why it would be bad for you though, unless it doesn't agree with your digestive system for some reason. If you are feeling fine, it must be alright.

Summerkid, you were wearing a presumptuous swimsuit? I am having trouble with the visuals....Maybe you made willow say 'barf' but you made me throw up a little. The cat, however, sounds divine. Don't you know that eating that much garlic makes it seep out your pores? Once, when we had been married only a small while, my husband read that eating garlic was good for you. So he ate several cloves. Enough said. Key word: once.

What is a 'romantic tig welder'? Summerkid, have you been at the cooking wine?

I am listening to owls. I love them. They must be trying to nest near the house. Time to keep kitty inside. Still, I love the owls.

Thank you all for the well wishes. Yes, breathing is crucial. I pray my yoga class is not cancelled tomorrow. I was so looking forward to it last week, then it was cancelled. The Universe intervenes in strange and mysterious ways.
I, too, have found a new acupuncturist. I have tried to make an appointment, but apparently they are not open on Wednesdays, splitting their time between Seattle and here. I will call tomorrow. I am ready for a new acupuncturist from Thailand, who knows acupuncture because it is in his soul. I cannot wait. The acupuncturist will help me breathe.

Portland, you might be able to find the interview on the NPR website, although I do not know the date. It was from this year, though, so it's not too old. Yes, I have been sick for far too long. Not good. Not good at all.

Pix, no matter the swimsuit I was wearing, he was being presumptuous.

The cat was a doll, that's for sure ... she could appear like in 3rd-story windows, like a vampire bat. Su-Manchu deserves her own story, though, somewhere else.

So I'm seeping garlic -- no doubt a quick dip in the river will cure that ... it's running quite high right now.

Just to be sure--I was barfing at the composting conversation, not the swimsuit.

If you are smashing walls down, please send pictures and tell why.

Well, yesterday, I just yanked down all the curtains in the living room in a fit of pique & desperation. This is what the living room looked like before I moved in.

And I finally lost patience with those red pointy curtains.

wow, those are very pointy.

Yeah, I think the way Deborah had the house decorated was really lovely & very cohesive. Unfortunately, just a bit too Old World for my tastes. The kitchen has cobalt tile for a counter & backsplash -- it is open to the library, which was forest green, and to the living room with its redness. But I threw off the balance of primaries by immediately painting the library a sage color, and my 3 couches are all beige Pottery Barn suede numbers, very slouchy.

I have a bolt of striped shantung in silvery blue & celadon colors that will go up in the living room but am stymied a bit by the windows -- the pointy part of the red curtains his the fact that the windows are just normal size, so now the living room just looks like a trailer house. I can hang the curtains at the same height, but without a valance, will it look odd? Anyone have any ideas or dealt with this before?

Here's a pic -- OK, I obviously didn't bother to clean up after tearing everything down, and I cannot explain why there is a bag of briquets on the sofa (I don't barbecue.).

Oh, and ha ha -- "Where's Waldo?!"