Thekla McDaniels

Anthony, here’s how I do it, if the photo is on my phone or computer:

Look just above the submit button, on my phone it has some attachment places.

I select choose file, a menu opens
Photo library, take photo, something else I never do…
You select one and do what it says

See if these are instructions that work for you

One thing about grocery store potatoes as seed stock, they may be carrying viruses which then inoculate your soil …

The other nightshades  may or may not be  susceptible to those viruses, but future potatoes will be.

But the lettuce and greens and alliums all look like a lot of fun.

I have had Icelandic and Finn.  I haven’t noticed the fleece on my Finns being as markedly “double”.  Finns wool is not as finely crimped like Merino, it’s more “wavy”, not as tight a curl,  but it’s not itchy, it’s soft and lusterous.

To me, the discussion of medical benefits is germane…. if you are washing your rice to rid it of “contaminants” that also have medical applications, to me it speaks to the idea that tiny amounts are negligible, sometimes beneficial.  Wash if you prefer, but for those who stress over such things… it says “don’t worry” there’s probably no harm in it.

Before modern antibiotics, arsenic was used to treat syphillis.  Mercury too.

Are alpaca good dairy animals?

I wonder what other substances might be in organic agricultural products.

I guess when I find myself more interested in contaminants that naturally occur in varying concentrations depending on their place of origin, I will search that out.

Some things I am already aware of, like mercury in apex predator fish… but I bet there are a multitude of food contaminants from the natural world that I am blissfully unaware of.  Emphasis on the bliss!

I can be quite an extremist or fanatic about purity and exactness and precision.  If I take an interest, I can take that interest “farther than most”.  This has probably been a good thing most of my life.  Good for me, goood for my children, good for people I have encountered through the years, patients, friends and even strangers have also benefited from my thoroughness …

But now this extremely analytical and observant brain that gives great attention to detail is relaxing some.

People say “choose what hill you want to die on”. People engaged in conscious parenting say “choose your battles”.  My mentor Jim Faye said if you get in a control battle with your child, you MUST win, therefore choose wisely, don’t engage if you can’t win.  And NEVER fight with smooth muscle. 🤣 (eg, going to sleep, eating repugnant foods, etc)

I am old enough now, and healthy enough, that were I to start smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day, I would not have TIME to die of lung cancer.

Sooo I am as “careful” as I can be about food, contaminants, pharmaceuticals, supplements etc.  I try to keep 90% of my diet organic local foods that I cooked from scratch, try to avoid heavily contaminated foods, and weigh the comparative dangers of the contaminants.  Mostly I rely on decisions I made long ago.  Just my opinion that mercury is likely more harmful than trace amounts of arsenic….

If the rice from Pakistan doesn’t taste good, probably a good idea not to eat it.  If you believe it has a high heavy metal burden, probably don’t feed it to the chickens either.  But I don’t have the mental real estate to research and assemble a map of prevalence of contaminants by geographic region.

If someone else did, though, I would likely welcome the resource.

All this from the simple question do I wash my rice!  Sorry if I have gone off topic.  

How to do this is a real puzzle. I have various downfield comforters bought from thrift shops, with universal problems of shifting feathers, and cold areas at the seams.

I think the perfect comforter for my needs would be two layers of down pockets. To visualize this I would say imagine 18 inch square pockets filled with down and joined together. On the second layer, the center of the pockets would be over the seams.

I have been thinking about this for years and have not yet tried it.  Nice to see that others are considering the same thing.

I love the whole idea of this!  Especially the idea of geographic specialization.  

And probably when there’s a big enough database, people will notice similarities between their locale and distant ones.

Thank you for sharing this.  

Theres a company called Dharma Trading company.  It is located in San Rafael CA, but they mostly sell and ship.  They have a website.

They have all cotton, all silk, hemp and they do sell rayon, but you don’t have to buy it….

They sell yardage and all white dyeable clothing.  They also sell yardage.

Because most of their trade is to people who dye the fabric and clothing, they are scrupulous about fiber content.  If a garment was sewed with polyester thread they tell you!  Because the synthetic won’t take the dye…. dyers want to know!

Bandanas, dresses, pants, Tshirts, baby clothes etc.

they have been in business at least since ~1970.  A fun website!  They have tutorials about dying methods and sell a lot of dyes ( but the dyes are mostly chemical dyes).

I have been buying from them since the 80’s.  I have been to their store.  I recommend every thing about them!