Coffee and...part 13 :-D

Hi and WELCOME (and/or Welcome BACK!)

Here's my usual message...
"Our door is *always* open to anyone who cares to drop in and sit a spell, If you have any special goodies to share, just put 'em on the counter with the rest of our absolutely, positively, NO-cal supply! We'd Love to taste them! :-)"

Here's the link to our last session:
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/498760/

It's busy, busy, busy time for all of us. We'll understand if you don't show up regularly. Sure hope you understand when I can't. :-D

~julie~

Good Morning!!! Made it thru my first night teenage sitting!! Both girls were well behaved other than the 15 yr old- she called and asked to have a friend over (an absolsute NO NO) I told her I couldn't stop her, but I would be telling her mom. She was quiet for some time, then said "I guess that means no". There's absolutely NO junk food in the house. How can you have teenagers and not have junk!! I told them I would stop at the store and bring a boat load for us to pig down on (do I hear stomach problems coming??) LOL Their folks are having fun, they deserve some too!

I woke up with the most stinkin headache. I've had them daily for the past two weeks. I can't decide if it is my allergies kicking up or something else. I've given up the mega bottles of diet coke, just to see if that is the cause. Just downed two extra strength excedrin.

DH and son are driving 6 hrs to look at a boat (and there are winter storm watches out...) DS is borrowing the $$ from us to get one. He really shouldn't be borrowing $$, but he is such a good kid....calls us all the time, has us over, goes on vacations with us etc - how can ya say no??? We are making him pay us some interest tho.

Well, gotta go read the paper, then do some housework. My sister is coming up tonight and then the party begins!! Take care everyone!! Oh, by the way, if anyone cares, it's freezing here!!!! Winds out of the north and snow coming (no wonder I have a headache!!)

Holy Smokes GOBs, it took me two cups of coffee to catch up on all the posts!! I've been on a road trip since last Sunday....!! My DD was taking her lovely golden retriever out to Cape Cod for breeding (yeah, she's nuts) and called me to ask if I wanted to ride along. When she had told me earlier in the week that she was going, I offered to give her the phone number of a dear friend of mine who lives near Boston. She then asked if I wanted to go along, and I said I didn't think so. I had a luncheon for my golf league that I planned Friday,and had to be there to pay the bill, and then Sat. we had another obligation. She wasn't sure of her departure date because she was waiting for a progesterone (sp.?) test to see if the time was "right". Then, when I called her Sunday morning, she repeated the invitation...so I threw everything I needed (well, almost...lol) in a bag, she picked me up an hour later, and we hit the road about noon. By midnight we hit New York State, (she drives like her mother too) and found a motel. On the road again Monday a.m., and got to Massachusetts by early afternoon. She dropped me off and headed for the Cape.

My friend in MA has been out there for a while, we met in the early seventies, and still keep in close touch. She's been here a couple of times, and we've visited there once before. We had an absolutely wonderful visit. Talked ourselves hoarse, ate in and out, went to a movie, hugged, explored her gardens, and I got acquainted with her gorgeous greyhound (adopted from a track) and her two charming kitties.
Breeding went well, we're sure Frankie will produce at least a half dozen beautiful little goldens. Got back on the road Thursday and made it to Farmington IL by evening. All went well until the next day....................we hit Chicago during rush hour. Rush hour? More like rush HOURS! Two and a half hours from the outskirts, to catch the Xway to Milwaukee. No way to avoid it. Good thing we went light on the coffee and soda, or we would have been in seriously soggy trouble. Rotten weather for the last 500 miles, too, drenching rain and high winds.

I came home with a dozen pots of plants, and cuttings as my chum is a dirty girl too, but it's so dang cold, they are going to have to sit inside the garage for a while before I can get them in the ground! My DH missed me so much, he filled the Jacuzzi for me, and lit candles in the bathroom, and gave me a super back rub. Nice to be appreciated! Missed you all a lot, and told my friend about Dave's garden so maybe she'll be joining us!

Cataract surgery is absolutely wonderful. I wore glasses from the age of five, and never got a good correction. In my fifties, I couldn't get glasses that would help. Went to an opthalmologist, instead of an optician, and he couldn't figure it out, so he sent me to the Eye Clinic at Froedert, our local teaching hospital that has world class education and equipment. They discovered I had a rare form of cataract, called refractory cataracts. They don't cloud your lens like a "normal" cataract, it's more like the crazing on a china plate, and very hard to diagnose. They aren't age related, and no way to determine how long I'd had them. I had the surgery, and I never in my life had seen things so clearly!! (I had to clean my whole house!!! LOL ) The recovery was swift, I was back to work in two days each time....I can read without my glasses and don't even need them for driving. although I do need them for very small type, like phone books and newspaper ads. Julie, it will make you very very happy!!

Oh Darius, I feel for you. After all the work you did on that house to get it in shape for the sale. I can't believe your sister let $5000 just slip right out of her fingers! But then again, I can't believe she let her kid have a cell phone and run up that enormous bill either. Maybe this is a fair warning of how a business relationship would work...so if you go ahead with it, make sure all your agreements are in writing, so that you can protect yourself. Even with family, when things go sour, it can get nasty. I love my sister with all my heart but if I tried to live with her, I'd probably have to kill her after a couple of weeks. She has no work experience except for a short stint as an office manager, no financial expertise, and no education beyond secretarial school (which she now refers to as "college") but doesn't hesitate to tell me how I should do things. Older sister syndrome??

I don't think anyone here minds our venting ...it's good to be able to dump it all out and take a good look at it. I suspect it even provides a little perspective once we put it in writing, because sometimes we are too close to the problem emotionally until we see it in black and white. That's what friends are for. Support and comfort, and maybe even a little advice once in a while. I used to be pretty good at keeping my own counsel, especially during my very long and miserable first marriage, my close friends knew my ex was a dyed in the wool jerk, but even they didn't know how bad it was. I've changed my attitude towards sharing problems, and now I just b**** and moan along with everyone else!! And feel better for it!!

I'll share a pic of my new best friend with you, isn't he just too sweet for words? BTW, all five of the cats piled into bed with me last night, couldn't hardly roll over for the crowding and noisy purring! DH said they all kept sitting and staring at him all week, wondering maybe what he had done with me!!

I better see what I can scare up for breakfast, the cupboard is as bare as Mother Hubbard's! Catch up again later! Brrrrrrrrr.....all the warm weather had skedaddled and it looks like winter's back. Ugh!!

Julie88, so glad things are going right for the cataract surgery. My mother had Glaucoma for 23 years and finally lost the sight of one eye. At the age of 84 she had a cataract removed from her "good" eye. It was a wonderful success!!!! It opened the world back up for her.

Sarv48, I have those headaches when we have a storm front approach us. I think it has something to do with the drop in pressure because they go away as soon as the front passes. It seems to effect my sinuses, so I usually take Advil Cold and Sinus along with two aspirin. SNOW?!!! Oh no, it's almost May!
Pati

Two cups of coffee to catch up? Well...it serves you right, M5. LOL You shouldn't have left without taking some of us with you! :-D

Sarv, Pati is right about those weather changes. They do a real number on me with my arthritis *and* my angina. When I first had my stents implanted I had a hard time just dealing with the change of altitude going up and down *hills* when riding in a car.

Thanks Pati and M5 for your comments on the cataract surgery. I'm getting more comfortable with idea...but I'll be a *lot* more comfortable when I find out when I can get it done and how long it's going to take before I can get down on my knees in the garden afterward. LOL

I just back from a 'Perennial Sale' at the Catholic church here in town. I was asked by a friend to go early to see if they had any "Corkscrew Willow". I found some...I think. LOL (Lord only knows what I've done!) I don't know anything about the plants...but it seems to me that my friend thought they were Harry Lauder's 'Walking Stick'. Weeeellllll...they had something that was all contorted and squiggly. Pretty good sized, too. About 3-4 ft tall...and the price was good ($5.00 per plant). So Eric thought if the Doc's wife wanted them, they must be good. (Not sure about the reasoning there) So I bought 4 of them. Now I only wish they'd been LABELED!
:-D

After looking through the PlantFiles here on DG...there's a BIG difference between the two plants. hehehe Right now, I'm leaning toward a strong probability that they're Corkscrew Willows. And I'm not really all that sure I need them. Oh well, Doc has a BIG farm so he'll have plenty of room for these puppies, no matter *what* they are. ~sly grin~

I picked up a few other plants, too. Some Lamb's Ear, a couple of tall sedum (not labeled so I have no idea which variety) and a couple of solid green hostas. I just love it when people have a plant sale and *I* don't know what I'm buying. hehehe

It's WAY too cold outside for me to do much in the garden. Temps right now are barely above freezing...and since I sat down here, the water in my bird bath went from having a little floating ice on it to being completely covered with ice. Brrrrr! (So *this* is *spring* ???)

I suppose today is a good time to get some transplanting (better said potting *up*) of some of my seedlings on the light stand. Better get on that before they take over the entire basement. :-D


Almost forgot! Nice new friend you have there M5. Looks very comfortable!

Later!
~julie~

Ahhh, M5, I get it (sister stuff)~!! Right now I'm thinking if I can find a couple of old friends who believe in my continuing abilities (and with just a tiny tad of $$ to invest with me) I can start out with a web-based business. Sister can fumble her own way, although I'm still keeping the door open, sorta, for a while.

The Georgia Round-UP was wonderful, but in reality I think the casual get-togethers Friday night before and Saturday night after gave a few of us more time to really talk and get to know each other better.

I came home with about 10 plants which I swore I was NOT going to do... but what do you do when someone gives you an orchid IN BLOOM??? (Or, some tomato plants when I never got around to starting my seeds?) LOL.

I slept too little, didn't eat enough, drank too much, it was too cold (we did have a heater I brought for the cabin though), MUCH too windy today... and I wouldn't have traded it for anything!

Hugs, Everyone!

Hi everyone. I brought some kind of a ring shaped cake with raspberry sauce in the middle and a drizzle of frosting on the top. It's a storebought thing but I needed something quickly for a potluck and then they hardly touched it. You've all been very busy and like somebody said when you miss a few days it does take some time to catch up. Keeping who did/said what is another thing entirely......... Somebody had a nice trip, somebody else is housesitting with teenagers (oh you brave sould, but you seem to have the situation in hand), and this I do remember, Julie can get cateract surgery! From what I hear it is one of the easiest and most successful types of eye surgery. Darius is staying put for now and I don't blame her a bit. Meezer, the new dog looks like she owns the place already. What to the cats think? An uneasy alliance or outright war?

My endurance ride turned into an adventure. My horse spooked at something in the trail (meaning she put on the brakes and changed directions in the blink of an eye) when I was going along at a fast trot and I hit the ground and she went running over a big hill and disappeared. I spent the next 3 hours or so looking for her and found her unharmed. All I got out of it was a sprained thumb on one hand, sprained finger on the other (equal opportunity aches), some sore muscles and hurt pride. Apparently my bones are in good shape. Oh, and I got plenty of exercise, enough for a couple of weeks! By the time I found the horse there wasn't enough time to ride 40+ more miles, so I called it a day and took her back to camp, then spent the rest of the day helping run the ride. It takes a small army of volunteers to put on one of these things, so everybody's help is welcomed. Another rider who has parted company with his horse both of the past 2 years on this ride officially passed the torch to me. I hope to pass it to somebody else next year. I should go to some trophy outfit and have one made up and be ready. It would add a little fun to the ceremony, even if the torch was cardboard covered with shiny paper.

This afternoon the ewes and lambs were moved out of our pasture to a fresh one down the road about a mile. I always enjoy being able to see them out my windows, so the pasture is going to look very empty. But in a few weeks the grass will regrow and we will either have the sheep back in it or the cows. I think the first calves are due about June 1 and I get to watch for new calves or problems. Usually everything goes ok, but now and then there is a problem like a calf in the wrong position or something requiring some human intervention.

I think a bit of venting here is ok, we all need somebody to talk to, and often the available warm bodies are the wrong ones to talk to because they are involved, or just don't want to get involved. We are sympathetic and neutral, and I think the mood is generally light enough here to be able to handle it.

Gotta get some sleep soon. See ya.

Gosh, Mary... THREE hours on foot chasing a horse? No wonder you ducked out... although I'm sure they appreciated your help for "the ride" organization committee!

But like you, I cannot always keep up with what everyone is doing... and we're just a small handful of folks! Must be CRS. LOL.

Darius, it sounds like the RU was a great success...and it *really* sounds like you enjoyed yourself. (You can send a couple of those tomato plants up to me... :-( It got a little colder in my GH's than expected and I lost almost all of my little beauties, along with my Ageratum and Gomphrena. ~sigh~)

Mary, I'm glad you can still have a sense of humor after horse hunting for three hours. I think I might have sat down and cried. (No...I *know* I would have. LOL) I'm just really glad that you weren't hurt during the sudden dismount.

It was a miserable day here today...but not nearly as bad as what I saw the MI people had to deal with. *18* inches of SNOW!!!? Sarv, are you out there? Or are you one of the people who lost their power? (Hope you're just being quiet today and that you're not cold!)

Mary...I'll be calling for an appointment with the opthamologist (sp?) tomorrow. I'm hoping that I don't have to wait too long or I'll end up in that twilight zone between insurance coverage. I'm still pretty concerned about finding a reliable (and *responsible*) babysitter for Angel. And if the weather keeps acting like January instead of late April...I won't have to worry about having anything left much less getting it in the ground on time. LOL

Y'all have a good night...

~julie~

Wow, off for a few days and every one is busier than ever-
Mary-Ouch--hope those fingers heal
Sarv-and Pati -headaches for me-means sinus rinse, accupressure points (easy) and I don't use anything with Nutrasweet for years-headaches under control with occassional help from chiropractors.
Julie-good luck with the eye surgery. The weather here-ahhhhhhhhh!! One day summer, next day freeze warnings (took out 3/4 of trillium blooms-Drat)
M5-sit down and relax- sounds like a wonderful visit
Darius-wishing you the best and just shaking my head-after all your work!
Me-upstairs-cold down here, but paws are better tonight so could post. Daylily seeds keep sprouting!!!!:)

Mornin' Sunshines! Pass me a hunk of that raspberry store bought stuff...I'm not fussy, just glad to be home. Cupboard is still bare, except I made bread in my bargain bread machine yesterday for the first time, turned out pretty darn good. Looks odd though, being kind of square-ish. Help yourselves if you like garlic herb bread for breakfast!!

Julie, why are you the one looking for a reliable babysitter??? (Yeah, I know ..... I just had to say it) And you lost so many plants to the cold, how sad. I didn't even put my pots outside, they are still sitting in the garage, because it's so cold. It's supposed to warm up this week....I hope I hope I hope. The sun is bright already this morning, and I've got a week's worth of errands and shopping to catch up on, and a lunch with some old friends, and maybe tidy up the joint a bit.. or not. The nice thing about dust is that it will always wait for you. In my case, it waits a long time.

Oh, Mary, I wish that WAS my dog, it's the one my friend adopted from a race track, and I got to smooch him and get acquainted while I was visiting her. He is just a wonderful dog, not shy or unsocialized like some track dogs. The fact that he took to me right away has nothing to do with my opinion.....LOL. The cats would absolutely declare outright war if I brought a dog home. I'm not willing to fire the first shot! Too bad your endurance ride turned out to be an endurance hunt....but you were a champ to help out, I think your torch idea is a hoot, maybe incorporate a burned out bulb and some gold foil....for the next "lucky winner".

Hope Sarv isn't snowed in...what a terrible storm. We were hoping it wouldn't show up early and go south for our drive home, it was bad enough with the high winds and rain.

OK, I'm off to the shower, talk to you later.

I"M HERE!!!!!! This teenage sitting is wild!! Glad I am not a parent anymore!! Oldest kid (19) called me at 1:30am to tell me that she was staying with her boyfriend (33 yr old) My brother told me not to worry about her - so I just rolled over and went back to sleep. Sometime in the night she cruised in (I thought I was a light sleeper!), so at least I know she is alive.

I took all kinds of junk food out to them (none in the house....) and they put a pretty big dent in it already. T hey live in this mansion on a golf course, and it is just fun to wander around and see how the other half lives. There is not a single live plant in the house, but tons of huge fake arrangements. Outside is professional landscaped with many flowering items= really attractive, but I gotta tell ya, coming home to my dirty,plant infested house was like returning to a little bit of heaven..

On Sun my sister and two DIL's drove 7 hrs (3.5 there and 3.5 back) for a shopping trip at IKEA - man, was that place awesome. However driving thru Chicago gave me several new gray hairs!! Glad the trip is over even tho we had a grand time. I have a list of things I want to do before I croak - so I can check that one off!!

Man, three hours looking for a horse!! Phew - don't they come back home when they get tired??

I need to take everything from inside the house back out to the greenhouse. It was absolutely miserable here, but I didn't lose a thing. A lot of work, but worth it to lug it inside.

Had 6 miniature peanut butter cups for breakfast - what a way to start the day!! Take care everyone - we're off to a greenhouse!!

Sarv, I think the horse was making a big circle to get back on the trail to camp (horse trailer, ie home) but she didn't get that far. I climbed up the big hill she ran up (puff,puff, puff) and looked out over the grassy hills and brushy canyons and couldn't see her. It is steep country so a person can't see everything. One year somebody hired a plane to locate their lost horse out there. Other riders who came down the trail later hadn't seen her. I walked a 2 mile short cut to camp thinking she might have gotten back there, nope.

The ride manager needed to go out and remark some trail (cows eat the ribbons!) and so I hopped in her old 4wd mountain goat of a pickup and we went to do that and check a closed gate we throught she might have run back to. From the ridgetops we had good views down some of the canyons. No horse. We went back to camp thinking she might have been caught and somebody might have brought her in but no. We went back out to check another section, drove as far as we could up some canyons, hiked the rest of the way, back to the truck, more driving, more hiking.

Finally we saw a person who had seen her way up on a hilltop. We drove some more, and finally spotted her, circled around through another canyon and drove up another hill to get closer and then hiked the rest of the way. I think she must have stopped to eat some grass and catch her breath, then stepped through the loop of the reins which were still over her neck, and caught herself. She does not fight something around her leg so she just stood there with one leg out in front of her and her head down, probably for most of 3 hours. A stationary horse is sometimes easier to find than one that is still moving. In this case when somebody had spotted her, said she had her foot through the reins and we knew she wasn't going to move again. We covered way more ground using the truck than I could possibly have covered on foot but it was still quite a hike. Having another person looking around and knowing how all the jeep roads connect to each other was a huge help. I was thankful we were in an area where there are few trees. It doesn't rain enough there to support trees so they only grow in around springs and streams in the canyons.

Gosh, what a nerve-tingling experience Mary! I've never had a large animal that could possibly travel far get away, but it must have been harrowing.

I was panic-striken when my cat disappeared once for 3 days... trapped in a neighbor's garage as it turns out.

I'm really sick again... I think I have another lung infection and all the pollen isn't helping. Staying inside as much as I can (56¼ outside so no open windows), no plans to unpack the truck for days, LOL. (I did bring in the plants from the GARU yesterday.) May have to check into the ER later. I just wish this darned elephant wouldn't take up residence on my chest quite so often.

Hang in there Darius and keep us posted on what's going on. You've been really busy with the RU and all, sometimes getting overtired can let our defenses down.
(((hugs)))
Pati

Darius, I wouldn't recommend sitting around and waiting to see if it gets worse before you seek out medical attention, better to nip it in the bud before it sets up permanent residence. We need to see you here in good health.

We've got cold weather and pollen at the same time, fooey! Sneeze and freeze. It warmed up nicely today but it's really windy. Ran errands and had a big lunch with enough doggie bagged stuff for dinner.

Sarv, you'd never catch me behind the wheel in Chicago....what a circus! Glad my DD is a good driver, so I could just hang out the window and have conversations with other drivers inching along! Spotted a kid from Kentucky, so I hollered at him "Aren't you glad you don't live here" which cracked him up!

Gonna go bake something with my two lonely eggs....maybe a coffee cake with those strawberries I stewed up before I left for the open road, check the counter tomorrow morning...I'll be stuck home waiting for the cable tech to set up our home network. Finally.

Darius...how did I know this was about to happen to you? Probably because when things are going good for me, I find myself at the bottom of the heap...especially when I get a bit *too* 'gung ho' and do way too much. I've been worried about you since your trip to help your sister. ALL that work! Well, little lady...I hope you *will* check in at the ER *before* you aren't able to. And Yes, please keep us informed.

SARV!!! Yippeeee! You're SAFE! Sounds like you had a super weekend. I'm so glad you didn't lose any of your plants. I knew better than to leave my most 'treasured' babies outside...but I didn't have the energy to argue with my DH about them needing *more* protection. Oh well. (And ain't it *always* good to get back home? :-))

Mary...I still would have sat down and cried. LOL Even with riding in a pickup. Any of that raspberry yummy left? I'll have a little piece now...I'm starved after being outside in the wind for most of the day.

Well, I called the eye doctor's office and asked them to make me an appointment with the surgeon. I also asked about the 'recovery period' afterward. WOW! Was I surprised! I was told that there are *no* restrictions on the bending and lifting like years ago. Now, they just take out the old lens and put in a new one!? And the next day I have my patch removed and I'm "ready to go"! Jeeeeeez! How things change in 50 years! LOL (I had no idea that they were going to remove the lens...I thought they just removed the cataract tissue) They also told me that aren't even any sutures anymore. Like I said...a lot of progress had been made.

~julie~

Woohoo!!! And even better, they usually put in a corrective lens when they take out your "used" one so if you are wearing glasses, you'll need to get different ones. Even the cheapos at Walgreens, or Kmart are sometimes enough. Go JULIE!!!!

Yea, Julie!!

(And yes, I probably will go to the ER later. I just hate to be a complainer.)

Darius my friend,complain till the cows come home providing you get your #$%*#? to the ER NOW!. Some things don't get better with age, like pneumonia,lung infections,leprosy,beri-beri, hangnails and corns.Even if they tell you it's nothing to worry about the trip was worth it. Pretty please?

UNCLE!

I'm going soon... much as I HATE doing it!

Glad to hear that Darius. Hope they can help with that 'elephant'! See ya soon! ((( ~ hugs ~ )))

M5! Corrective lens that *isn't* in a pair of GLASSES??!! Wow! Now *that's* COOL! ~ BIG GRIN!~

~julie~

I tried calling darius about 9 pm and emailed her - no response, so I hope that means that she went to the ER and they kept her there. Also started a prayer thread for her. If she doesn't like that, she can swat me - if she can reach! :) Must admit I am worried... :(

Kooger...thanks for the info. (I'm worried, too)
~julie~

Thanks Kooger.... Sometimes it's harder for people who are so independent to "give in" and do the right thing. I think we all know that Darius is not a "give in" type of gal! *smile*
Pati

Mornin' all! Just a quick drive thru to say hi and hope everyone's doing well on this wonderful day! Actually it's raining here, but rain makes the flowers grow - so who's complaining!

Anyone heard anymore about Darius? I guess one or more of us might ought to get the number to the hospital she goes to when we can.....I'm not sure how to even research it....

Did any of you hear about that lady in CA that called 911 because Burger King wouldn't make her cheeseburger right? Sad, but true. The 911 operator handled it really well - have to give those people credit cause they deal with a lot of stupids!

Well - everyone have a blessed day! Have to get to work now......yuck, phooey!

M.

No answer at darius' ... trying to decide if that's good or bad .... good that she may be getting treatment in the hosp. ... bad that it was serious enough to be hospitalized .... or maybe she just went on a 'walkabout' and isn't home ... one can only hope. I'm heading out to take MIL to dr, then dentist, then me to hairdresser, then DGD to dr so I doubt I'll even be stepping foot in the house till 6 pm. If anyone sees her post or talks to her, pls let the coffee group know!

Anyone heard from Darius?? No news is usually good news, but in this case= I still worry about her..

Well, catastrophe finally befell the teensitting. Youngest came to me early in the AM and told me she missed the school bus (meaning = will you take me to school - said I would) Then she came in the bedroom in a panic and said she 'on accident', dropped big glass of cranberry juice on the white carpeting (not supposed to be eating on the carpeting) She used all the spot remover and then grabbed the dish soap and drenched several big spots with that - needless to say there was suds practically up to the ceiling. I used a carpet cleaner machine that I found, but even using that the stain is in there and it still has a ton of soap in the carpeting. Anyone have any hints as to what I could do??? I feel sorry for her (she will really get it), but I am also feeling guilty that I didn't get up and monitor her (but yee gads - she is 15!!)

I did email her folks - figuring a little while for them to cool down might be good.

Well sis and I have been shopping for wedding wear- this mother of the bride/groom stuff is expensive!! I tried on a zillion dresses - found one that looks presentable, but it is black (is that a no no??) The bridesmaids are all wearing black. Plus it was on sale.... we got to laughing so hard, that I ended up wetting my britches and we had to come home and swab the deck and change duds. I will be properly equipped so that if it happens again we won't have another problem (if ya know what I mean!!) LOL

Gotta go out to the greenhouse and water things, then we are hitting the stores again!! Sure miss not being home so I can use the computer whenever!!

A quick visit, here. Hoping to hear from Darius and that she is okay.

Julie, I would have sat down and bawled, too, if Mother Nature had messed with my seedlings like that. So glad to hear about the latest advances with cataract remedies and that you are going to do it.

Mary, what an adventure! I know a little about taking a fall from the few times I commuted to work with a bicycle when I was young and flew over the handle bars at a certain spot at the bottom of a hill which coincided with a cross road and red light. Basically, all that was and is usually necessary to fall over are my own feet. grrrrrr. Are your hands improving all right?

Sarv, the wedding is shaping up, more and more, to look like it's going to be very original and fun. I think it's the sames things like obstacles to something that ultimately make whatever the something is into something wonderful and extremely memorable.

Meezers, some friends who live across our accessway at the foot of our hill, once had a pooch, Mogley, that they said they saved from a soup pot during a tour of duty in Taiwan. About 10 years later after moving in here, they adopted a stray white, 6-toed cat who produced a litter of the tiniest kittens. So, one day when I came over, what should be the first thing I would see through the screen door, but Mogley guarding the box of little ones with his head completely buried in that box and delicately managing who would sit where or lick whom, etc. Mogley used to get up to the top of one of our grassy slopes - on his back - and wiggle all the way down, paws up in the air. He was a very good friend of ours.

Sunday we climbed above an old, abandoned quarry, from which we could look down on the trees just beginning to leaf out and the river and an old stone bridge trestle (There's a very gently ascending, smoothly surfaced old dirt road going up - no ropes and pinons for us). Very changeable weather that day - smoky black towering clouds alternating with strange glowing yellow light that really set off the fresh, new chartreus-ey leaves. Rue anemones blooming and yellow fumitory - "iron-clad" dainties.

Well, it's a golden spring day out there, and some of my muscle spasms have simmered down enough to go back out.

Again, I know that as soon as any of us hear anything from Darius, we'll let the GOB's know.

This message was edited Apr 26, 2005 3:37 PM

Hi all. back from walk about to discover I've missed loads as usual.
Poor Darius, first the sister thing and now this. Can't help feeling their is a connection, stress does awful things to us. I do hope she is OK.
Sarv48, have you tried salt on that cranberry stain - its pretty good on red wine. Also Oxyclean is marvellous. DH had the bottom drop out of a wine carrier with 6 litre bottles in it - all red. They all broke and the carpet was brand new 0 we had been in the house a week!! I mopped up the surplus, threw a ton of salt on it and dashed to the store for Oxy. Came back and vacuumed out the salt which had got a lot of it, then followed the instructions on the Oxy pack. Stain all came out and there was no return or residual smell.
M5 glad your going to do the eye thing- its a worry till its over but think of being able to see properly again. It'll take years off you!
Sorry that endurance ride came to grief Mary, but glad you got the horse before she hurt herself.
MyBig Bend trip was great - I took 200 photos! When I get them sorted I'll post one or two, but here is a road runner to keep the memory alive. Some people puzzle me, why drive all that way, its 100 miles from the back of nowhere to get there, then zoom round at 60 mph across dirt roads, scaring off the wild life and throwing up a cloud of dust so you can't see anything anyway? People!!
Carol

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/503460/

Prayer thread - info on Darius.

Judy

I've been watching every reply that comes up on this thread...I kept hoping that we would hear something from Darius. I'm figuring that if Kooger tried phone and email and had no response, Darius is probably resting in the hospital. I'm really hoping that she didn't get some kind of infection on top of her chronic problem. I had the name of the hospital she would go into the last time she had an episode...but I threw it away when everything went well. (Dang! I knew I should have kept it!)

Let's all just send some really positive 'vibes' in her direction, my thoughts and prayers are already there as I'm sure all of your's are, too.

Carol...good to see you back in our kitchen. BTW...that's a super shot of that road runner. Be sure to let us know when you upload more.

Sarv...I cringed when I read about the cranberry juice on the white carpet. (Oh...if it was my carpet, I'd be totally 'steamed'. I was thinking one of those two part carpet cleaners...I can't remember the name of the one I've seen on T.V. but it's an oxy something or other and they are cleaning red wine from a white carpet. It just might work. (Whoever said 'salt'...thanks for THAT little tip. I'll have to try to remember it when I need it.)

Hi Karen! Isn't that great news about the corrected lens? I was thrilled to find out about that. (Hey...I got some really nice hosta coming up in my shade garden. So far I don't have any slugs (hehehehe)...you didn't send them to me, did you?)

Babysitting today. I got a package from Nature Hills Nursery and opened it up in front of Angel. She was coloring in her grandpa's chair...but when she saw the "baby flowers" she had to *hold* them. "Preddy Fowers! Preddy!" And "See more?" LOL I tell ya, she going to be a landscape professional...it's in her bones!

:-D

I'll be keeping an eye out in here...Kooger, if you have any news, please let us know.

~julie~

Kooger, Did you try Darius on her cell phone?

Molly

Okus, Julie is doing the eye thing, mine was two decades ago. Still wearing the same "correction" glasses for reading fine print. I'm sure she will be delighted with the outcome.
'
No new from Darius. I think she overdid it with the remodeling, sister problem, and the RU, which surely didn't help her condition.

Sarv, I'd vote for the Oxyclean, but first I'd try to get as much of the soap out of the carpet as I could. No, wait. Set that teen behind the carpet cleaner and have her do it. Then have her use the Oxyclean in a solution of very hot water and keep sucking it up until it's all out. Geeeeez KIDS!!
If they don't do the clean up they won't remember to be careful the next time.

Mogley sounds like a treat for a neighbor. Our old Beagle would always kittysit when the momcat went out for a walk. Kittens would try to nurse, and she would let them. Kitty took her turn when the beagle had pups....what a sight! Pups were smart enough not to try to get lunch.

Ooops dinner's burning..........LOL!!!

Well, darius is in the hospital. you all know she carries oxygen because of episodes of COPD, don't you?
She will probably be out in a day or two. Man, she had fun at the GA RU, though.
sarv, there is a lot of negative talk about aspartame a/k/a Equal or nutrisweet. The FDA had turned them down for years until the right political situation allowed them to finally get it passed. I have a friend at work who had a stroke caused by that stuff. She was only 36. Also, I just read an article that aspartame may cause some cases of Multiple Sclerosis. There are documented cases of folks quitting their diet drinks and the MS symptoms went away. So I stay strictly away from it now.
The only diet drink that I know of NOT using aspartame is Diet Rite. They use a combo of saccharin and Splenda.

The book, "In the Name of Science" by Dr. Garth Nicolson has a section that goes into more detail on how Aspartame affects living organisms, who manufactured it and how the FDA passed on it. Our library had this book, maybe yours does, too.

There is so much that I am aware of that I do not actually do that is healthy, so I can't preach (Although, this is a topic about which I'd love to hear everyone's insights - Won't we all remain part 16 years old no matter how many birthdays we celebrate?). But it might be useful on this thread to pool ideas for alternatives to diet sodas and other not-very-healthy things.

There's a tea we enjoy in our house in summer: Boil enough water in which to steep 4 basic Lipton bags, 2 fancy herbal tea bags like raspberry or peach, and a handful or 2 of mint (or steep instead of boil in the sun for a few hours). Dilute with water to make a gallon, refrigerate, and serve over ice with lime. For me, the lime is what makes sweetening unnecessary. Of course, the kinds of tea or mint or herbs you use can be endlessly varied, and I would love to hear about other variations. I wonder how lemon grass, lemon zinger tea and lemon would do?

I think I heard about combining club soda and cranberry juice, but don't know whether or not that involves artificial sweetener (how can we trust any of them?). Any ideas on how to jazz up fruit juices? with herb tea? which ones?

Beautiful shot of the roadrunner, Okus. Have never seen one outside of cartoons over 50 years ago. Usually, we get to see newly hatched goslings along our rivers here, but haven't made it to those places yet this season.

Julie, if any slugs got past being pressure-blasted with the hose when I washed the dirt off the roots, they'd have to be part barnacle. I wonder if barnacles taste as good with garlic-lemon sauce as slugs? heehee

I'm relieved to hear Darius got over to the emergency room and is being looked after over there. Won't it be wonderful when she comes back and saves us all from my culinary fantasies?

edited spelling of Dr. Garth Nicolson's name

This message was edited Apr 26, 2005 11:19 PM

There's a big lawsuit now between the sugar industry and the makers of Splenda, sugar industry says that Splenda is advertising falsely as it is not sugar, but a broken down component, and it contains chlorine. You can do a search on Google and get the details. Maybe we should all switch to water? I buy bottled water just because if I have it at hand, I actually drink it, otherwise I grab soda or coffee. I don't much like artificial sweeteners. None of them taste right.

Aside from that, most hairdressers know that if you add Sweet'nLow to the hair coloring products, it prevents scalp irritation. I don't quite know what to make of that!!!

Molly - no didn't try darius' cell phone - only found the house nu here. Maybe I lost it, dunno. Glad to hear someone did talk to her (see prayer thread) and she's being treated. I agree, this stress with her sister and niece is not a good thing with her COPD.

MIL was crabby and grumpy - makes for long dr office visits... grrr!.... She didn't like the chilly weather and the wind, didn't like that dentist, didn't like that I didn't stay with her at the dr (just had some liquid nitrogen put on a spot on her forehead, 3rd and last treatment), her forehead stung, didn't like the dentist appt at 11:30 - dinner time at the apts. .... I was batting zero this morning, very frustrating when you're trying to help. Oh well, guess I'll be old and crotchety too some day!!

DGD saw the Ear/Nose/Throat guy and if her tonsils don't settle down over the summer, they will be coming out this fall. Too many fevers, infections and antibiotics already. I was glad to hear that - poor girl is sick so often! Next fever she gets, he wants her to see her right away to see what they are doing when she's sick.

So, back to work tomorrow, it'll feel like a day off after all this running around today. :)

I just read about Splenda being linked to something but now I forget what. I'll have to see if I can find the article. I think the plain old sugar is the healthier of any of the subs, unless you're diabetic, of course. :)

Betty...Thanks for the news on Darius. If you hear how she's doing, let us know, ok?

Talk to you all tomorrow...
~julie~

I like to drink a mix of cranberry juice/Concord grape juice for the health benefits of both. Oftentimes the cranberry with the CONCORD grape is unavailable. I found that the health food stores have pure cranberry (very strong, bitter and astringent) juice that you can buy and add to real Concord grape juice and it makes exactly what I want.
One health/dieting trick I intend to use is drinking or eating something healthful 1/2 hour before supper. Then I don't want much food. I'm gonna try it.