Cara Cee

We have an English antique nursing chair that was originally upholstered with excelsior and felt. Someone before us stuffed a bunch of synthetic fiber to augment the excelsior that had broken down. We didn't know this until the kittens we rescued pulled the cover off the bottom and proceeded to tear out the white fluff,

Trying to find an upholsterer who will remove the seat fabric replace the natural padding (I would provide materials, including the excelsior), retie the springs and replace the material is impossible. The upholsters here want to use synthetic foam and who knows what other crappy materials. I'm fed up with unskilled hacks!

Ellen Lewis wrote:Also, it doesn't seem to show real yams (dioscoria), but labels sweet potatoes (ipomoea, such as the purple one) as yams.
Does anyone know where I can get arracacha seeds?

It distinctly labels sweet potatoes, noting they are "often inaccurately called a yam." The purple yam, the white yam and the yam are all Dioscoreas. You can tell by the leaves.

I too, was shocked to see Four o'Clocks on here. They grow exceedingly well here and I've often lamented that the large roots are toxic.

I would be concerned that the toxic and non-toxic varieties might cross– the others cross-breed freely, so I guess you might have to exterminate all the ornamental ones which would be difficult, considering how they reseed.

We have grid-tied solar and were making extra for which the utility pays a pittance. The credit was paid in the beginning of the year when it's cool here and we'd have preferred to keep it for the summer months but were unable to do that
It was better for us to use all the power, so we had an electrician connect some of the appliances in the house next door directly and now we use it all.

Where we are there are only a few kids that come around, even though it's a regular neighborhood with houses close together. Everyone seems to do "Trunk or Treat" which seems sad, to me. Just driving somewhere, parking, and getting candy sounds boring. We just give out candy, but not in wrappers–individual pieces. The razor blade fear is based on a hoax, I've heard.

Mark Brunnr wrote:I  add that 2% spandex to the fabric so they maintain a proper pocket shape for more than 15 minutes like current cargo pants fail to do. .

Interesting, because I won't buy clothes that aren't 100% natural fiber – mostly because of microplastics, but also because I find they get stretched out and stay that way, even when washed!

Nancy Reading wrote:I wish I had more sawdust/wood shavings! Another thing I do with mine is put a little in the bottom of my compost caddys. Like Sarah Joubert's loo it soaks up some liquid, but also makes it super easy to empty when the bin fills up.

When I needed shavings, I contacted the local wood-turning club and they hooked me up with someone nearby. I got bags and bags for years, but then he closed his shop.  There's a carpentry shop/lumber store nearby that sometimes fills their dumpster with shavings and we now scoop those out into bins to bring home. We use it in the humanure system (just a bowl in the toilet that we keep shavings in, covering until full and them putting in the compost pile).

We also use StallMaster pellets as litter for our cats (they do not like shavings and they are messy, as mentioned above) and it breaks down into sawdust that we scatter around. I'm glad to read about adding coffee grounds, because we get grounds from our local Salvation Army shelter in exchange for produce the organization we volunteer with cannot use.

Very cool.
I'd have just worn the kimono as it was. I wouldn't have had the heart to undo it.
I had a fancy party and an artist turned up wearing a beautiful kimono. She looked great and no one else had anything to compare.

Most people don't bother to respond o invitations in a timely manner, or bail at the last minute. They don't bother to thank you after your entertaining them.

I find peppermint oil deters them beautifully. I just wipe it across their paths and, if I can locate it, at their exit/entrance. I've not found the diatomaceous earth effective, unfortunately.