Connie Zoeller

I've been using this Pink Stuff now for several months and it has totally replaced the magic eraser for me (which I find highly toxic). Other than dye and fragrance it's fairly benign in terms of toxic stuff but it seems to work really well and even safe to use on pots and pans. I find it does a great job on my glass cooktop which is slightly textured. I've also used it on walls, floors, stainless steel and just about anywhere I have something that just won't come off well with baking soda and/or vinegar. It really cuts through the grease as well as after a frying session on stove the top comes sparkling.

Great idea!

When I had chickens we had built a coop out of pallets. To make it easier to clean we lined the walls with washable wallboard and I put cheap Dollar Store peel and stick vinyl tile on the floor. Then I made a perch out of 2x4's in a configuration with two perching rails. I made the height the minimum for perching so there was less incidence of bumble foot from jumping down from great heights and the small Bantams could hop up easily.  I put the perches flat so that there was a wide space for them to really cover their feet well in the winter to avoid frostbitten toes. It was built like a stand, so it was very easy at cleaning time to just pull it out, rake out the wood shavings, wash down the walls and floors, put it back in, fresh shavings and DONE. Got it down to being able to clean the coop in less than an hour. And the chickens were very happy with it!

As someone has already posted, Wild Cherry Bark. You can buy Cherry Bark tea. Brew a very strong concoction, double the tea material, steep for a few hours. Strain and put in the fridge. Drink a shot of that every 3 or 4 hours. Helped my husband when he had a cough he couldn't get rid of. The tea stopped his cough for a few hours till the next dose. It took a few days before it stayed gone.

I have an Instant Pot and I absolutely love it!! It's one of the mainstays in my kitchen for sure along with my Kaloric Air Fryer. When we were renovating our kitchen (which took a couple of months) I had to turn my dining room into a makeshift kitchen. With Air Fryer, Instant Pot, hot plate and toaster we never even missed the stove!  I inherited a pressure canner but have yet to try that out as I'm new to canning and have been getting comfortable with water bath first. Sometime this winter I'm going to give the pressure canning a try. Some of the things I love about my Instant Pot:
1. Meals in a hurry without having to stand at the stove. Great on busy days as I can toss things in, close it up, set the program and walk away to do other things.
2. Beans are great and not gas making even when I don't soak them first. I think what causes gas is the lectins which are effectively destroyed with the pressure.
3. Bone broth so easy to do because again, throw it in, turn it on, walk away and since I don't have to simmer it nearly as long as on stove top it's done quicker and without filling the kitchen with a lot of steam.
4. Great for the days when it's 'oops, forgot to take something out of the freezer to thaw' because I can put frozen chicken breasts in, cook them a tad longer and still doesn't take a really long time.
5. Perfect rice every time. I always had trouble getting rice right, sometimes was good and sometimes mush but in the instant pot it's perfect every time.
6. Less pots to clean because I can brown meat on the saute setting right in the pot, then add the liquid and pressure cook. Only one pot to clean and it's dishwasher friendly!
7. Perfect for the men in the house because I can put stuff in the pot liner and stash in the fridge with instructions to drop it in the instant pot, seal and tell them what setting to use. So even when I'm not home the fellas have a nice hot meal without a lot of fuss required on their part :) A win-win there!

r ranson wrote:I've just discovered something that I didn't know existed but always wanted: the house dress!  

I recently discovered house dresses. Last summer with the heat I found some long jersey dresses with short sleeve, flattering rusching on the top and empire waist with flowing skirt. They were light and comfortable for the hot summer and so much cooler! So I returned and bought 3 more in different colours. Everyone complimented me on how nice I looked in them. They flatteringly covered my top half, while being flowy and hiding my chubbiness on the bottom half so I felt a little better about my body image. They were cool in the summer heat, cooler than my usual attire of yoga pants/top. We recently started to get a little cooler fall weather here and I wanted something with long sleeves. Got another dress which has longer sleeves, a v-neck, and POCKETS. It's super stretchy  so it's comfortable no matter what I'm doing, reaching/bending etc. and again, I get compliments on how nice I looked. There is elastic ruffle at the wrist so when I shove the sleeves up to wash dishes, they STAY. These dresses wash and dry easily with no fuss. So I'm sold on the house dress idea (even though I didn't actually think of them in the term house dress until now). Aprons are great for keeping them a little cleaner when baking/cooking. And yes, when someone comes unexpectedly I'm not apologizing for how I'm dressed! The pockets are super handy and I do feel much better about myself in them. But the added benefit I haven't seen mentioned is that I do think it's better for the lady parts, if you know what I mean. Instead of the heat build up that you get in yoga pants, things get a little more air flow 'down there' and I think it makes for healthier environment.  I got this one on amazon and yes, it's a bit long but I have since hemmed it to a more practical length. Outside I still wear rugged denim if I'm doing really heavy or dirty work. But for the days I'm all day in the kitchen or doing other inside chores, the house dress is it!

I have for many years had a sensitivity to the sun. As much as I like it, I burn VERY quickly and easily. So I'm conscientious about what times of the day I go out, avoiding the midday when the sun is strongest. However, having said that, I have noticed this year that I'm even more sensitive than usual and I think it could be solar flares. A few years ago I was out with family and it was an overcast day, we walked from car down the street to some shops so we weren't actually out that long. Later that night my face blistered up horrible like I'd been in the sun for hours. It was my husband that saw in the news that that morning there were solar flares around the time we were out and that many people suffered sunburns.  

If you dig into Google and Youtube on solar flare activity this year and some of the coinciding atmospheric things we are currently experiencing you'll see some interesting stuff about more of the sun's rays getting through the stratosphere. I could be wrong but I'm leaning towards this being the reason I'm even more sensitive this year than in past years.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2022/08/02/the-sun-is-now-more-active-than-nasa-predicted-it-could-be-in-its-strongest-cycle-since-records-began/?sh=1bb5e712cd59
We are in the middle of a magnetic pole shift and as the shift progresses the magnetic field that protects us becomes weaker. Add solar flares into the mix and I think this could be the reason for being more sun sensitive. But I'm not a scientist so maybe I'm all wrong. I just know what I have experienced myself and since my diet hasn't changed, and I'm not taking any medications that can cause photosensitivity I'm inclined to go with this theory.

My husband was diagnosed years ago with sleep apnea. He's not terribly overweight has maybe a bit of a belly, doesn't drink any alcohol, takes magnesium every night, takes ashwagandha, but so far the CPAP machine is the only thing that works for him. Years ago we even got mad device which cost a lot of money and all he got out of that after using it for a few years is that now he has terrible TMJ on top of everything else. When he was tested it was determined it had nothing to do with tongue position but more he just stopped breathing. So he finally got used to using the CPAP which took a while. But we worry about the fact that this is a device that needs electricity and if the shit ever hits the fan what are we going to do to keep him sleeping. There's always that difficulty because this is not something that you can make a manual device for. So we have long been looking for solutions that could replace the CPAP but so far everything that we have tried including different pillows different mattresses, nothing has worked except the CPAP.

I've never had lambs and have no experience with them but your most recent post made me think of arthritis (which I have myself). If the weather is damp and cool it gets worse. I'm very stiff when I wake up but after a 1/2 hr of moving around I'm much better although from time to time a particular joint may still give me grief through the day. So googling whether lambs can get arthritis I came across this https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/111167/bacterial-arthritis-in-lambs.pdf Could this be what's going on?

Someone else suggested arnica rubbed into the joint which would help if this is the case. Also you might try some herbal remedies for combating inflammation like Boswellia. Or even a comfrey poultice on the joint for a day or two.

I have successfully treated a number of ailments in cats, cockatiel and chickens with appropriate herbs. If the joint is causing her pain when flat on her feet, it stands to reason she might want to tiptoe to take some of the strain off the painful joint.  And pain can definitely cause a reduction in appetite and some lethargy.

Just my 2 cents :)

I have a young rhododendron that I put in this summer. I was told it needs to be protected over winter for the first couple of years. I know that this usually involves burlap because it breathes. I don't have any on hand but I do have a number of those woven plastic feedbags. Wondering if I can substitute them for the burlap? Being woven I would think they would breathe somewhat?  Or maybe I just have to go out and buy burlap?