madamspinner McCoy

To FRED and OFF THE GRID;  Keep  knitting !!    Don't give it up; and seriously think of teaching others.....  It's a dying art; and in the future, it may be a serious form of bartered goods ! 

I'm a female and I knit, crochet, quilt & spin my own wool. 

There are many charities that take knitted goods of all forms for the soldiers, the Indian Reservations, preemie babies, school kids, etc.  I knit for them all; since most of my family has shown no respect for "all things knitted " ...      So I knit for those who really appreciate it.  ( And family doesn't get gifts anymore...) 

If either of you need addresses for a charity; please email me... 

And KEEP KNITTING !!!  YAY !! 

If it had been me in your place ( and I know I'm not) I would have said something along the lines of:
"There will be NO processed crap foods brought onto this homestead. Period.  If you don't like what is on my table; you need to go stay IN TOWN, and PAY FOR A HOTEL ROOM while you're here.  "

Your relatives were so VERY RUDE to do what they did.  I mean, how hard would it have been for only 5 da*n days to eat "real" ?

And as for feeding your own kids GOOD food... like it's been said....they'll eat when they get hungry....and they will eat the food YOU provide.  Kids can't eat crap if the parents don't/won't get it for them.  Stick to your guns ! 

washing soda is sodium carbonate.  I order mine off of Ebay, rather then buy it by the small box...which no one seems to carry in my area.   

I have been using this for almost 14 yrs.  The soap will also cut the  burnt food and other crud in your pot & pans, too ! Just add a half cup to the pot , fill with hot  water & soak overnight.

Oh boy !-- that sounds like the right one !    I wasn't even thinking of the cold temps of sending cuttings when I posted today....urghhhh !  Dummy me !  I'm 40 miles east of KC, Missouri. 

If you don't mind.... the next time you prune your plant..( in the Spring , in your area ??) I'd sure reimburse you for whatever it takes to send some cuttings by Priority Mail ! 

It'd be easy to send them ( after it warms up some of course. )  Just wrap the cut ends in soppy wet paper towels; then zip the cuttings into a zip-loc bag up to their bottom leaves.  Then maybe cushion them in a priority box with styrofoam peanuts or popped corn to save most of the leaves ...   

If that sounds like something you'd want to mess with later; please keep in touch !   
Connie Smith  madamspinner4@yahoo.com
I'll email you my snail mail addy ....

I have been hunting another of these OLD varities for many years without any luck.    My senior yr of high school, my favorite English teacher gave me one of the many plants in her classroom.  I had it for over 20 years until a move across country took its' toll..and it finally died.

The Angel Wing I am hunting is NOT the small leafed ones you see in hanging baskets.  This one is a Cane-Type, canes can grow up to finger-size in diameter; a large, mature plant will have  wing shaped leaves up to a foot long and about 6 to 8 inches wide , dark green with silver spots.  If you're lucky; a strong, healthy plant in a 14" pot could grow up to 4 feet tall with hanging bloom clusters a foot long ! 

If someone has any extra established plants;  I'm looking for 1 or several !!! 
Connie near KC, MO
madamspinner4@yahoo.com

paul wheaton wrote:
I'm sorry I missed this until now. 

Can you give us any clues about the cooking surface?  Maybe pics?

PAUL, The cooking surface is smooth, and not at all discolored.  I don't think it has been used at all; until I bought it.  It's just not one of the newer "non-stick" coated ones.  ;-(  It makes wonderful fried chicken, tho; and the gravy along with it always has the "crusty bits" that makes the gravy soooo good....but if you choose NOT to make gravy after frying chicken; I have to "cook" soapy water in it to get the crusty bits to let go !  I haven't taken an old fashioned metal chore girl to it really hard, because I didn't want to put any deep scratches in the surface.  I have cleaned it so far with a good green nylon scrubbie after "cooking" the soapy water in it.  Then a very light coating of oil with a paper towel before I put it away.  I've been using it once a week for chicken...and it's still sticking bad.        I'm about ready to give up on it and go back to my CI pan for chicken on Sunday. 

I have no problems with my "passed down" CI; my problem is with a newly aquired "old" presto electric skillet....it is NOT one of the non-stick coated ones....it's older then that....  andddddd, everything so far; sticks !  Do the old type of skillets need to be seasoned like CI ?  My grandmother had one of these and I watched over many a pan of Sunday chicken...and I don't remember it sticking this bad. 

I have no problems with my "passed down" CI; my problem is with a newly aquired "old" presto electric skillet....it is NOT one of the non-stick coated ones....it's older then that....  andddddd, everything so far; sticks !  Do the old type of skillets need to be seasoned like CI ?  My grandmother had one of these and I watched over many a pan of Sunday chicken...and I don't remember it sticking this bad. 

I had a friend that had the same problem; but with rainbow trout.  He smoked them; then canned them in 1/2 pint jars.  I don't know why you couldn't do the same with the crab ; smoke them pick the meat out and then can it.

  With cold weather coming on soon; I thought I'd bump this up to the top....and see if anyone is interested in knitting things to keep us WARM this winter !??!

I crochet, knit, and spin my own wool.  I have tons of patterns; so if I can help anybody, give a holler.  I'm a night-owl most of the time. 

Right now I am knitting hats, scarves and mittens for the Elders on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.  If anyone wants to knit mittens ( 2 needle or 4 double points ) ??  and gets stuck...

I'll try to help.  If you need a pattern...just holler !  I also have tons of baby patterns for newborns and preemies. 
Connie