Carla Burke

Oh, yeh - sleeping with a suckling baby is WAY easier on the mom's mind & body, than having to get up in the middle of the night, to go to another room. When Keeli weaned, is was mostly her idea - or so she thought, lol. The other trick (after slowly eliminating one session at a time) is getting them to enjoy trying new foods. The more solids they discover they like, the less room in their tummies for milk. Another thing that *can* help, is to start eating stronger flavors, yourself. It often changes the flavor of your milk, and that really does dampen their enthusiasm. Even if they enjoy the same food, they may not like it in their milk. ;)

Anne Miller wrote:My favorite tree is the Mimosa,  Albizia julibrissin.

It is a beautiful tree and they are attractive to bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.

Being in the  Fabaceae family, they are excellent nitrogen fixers.



Source

The mimosa is my favorite, too (the runners-up list is vast, lol). The mimosa is also a beautiful, sweet-scented shade tree, has edible leaves & flowers(which are all stamen, no petals); the bark is a valuable herbal remedy source (https://www.onegreenplanet.org/lifestyle/mimosa-tree-home-grown-food-forest/), is a quickly renewed source for firewood; and both livestock and wildlife have been known to forage it. Unfortunately, it can (unless managed) become invasive, rather easily.

**Edited because I'm pretty sure no self respecting mimosa would allow any of our current statesmen to occupy it's lovely branches!!

Mike Jay wrote:Hi Anne, I've tried it with the strap forward and then it just slides forward off my foot as I walk.  So it needs more of a heel/back than it comes with but the strap pivots up on me a bit too well.  It does a great job of keeping the sandals on, I just don't want it to do such a good job when it's time to kick them off and put on outdoor shoes.

So, maybe permanently stretching & affixing the bottom of the strap to the top of the back of the heel, to form something of a low back?

We are at the new place, in MO, today, so - none!
Friday we're going back to IL, and I happen to know there are 4, there.  All different, because which I choose depends on what I've a taste for. Propriety, be damned, lol.

r ranson wrote:
A. What do you want in a wall calendar?
B. What do you hate in a wall calendar?
C. What about the picture page?  Love it?  Hate it?
     C.i. if you hate it, what would you rather have?
    C.ii. If you love it, what is your favourite kind of picture?
D.  Would you buy something like this?

A. Functionality; my favorite calender (about 16x20, opened) was actually an 18month one, with large, lined squares, sturdy yet easy to write-on paper, national holidays plus Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Mothers & Fathers days - all in smaller print, at the bottom of the squares, and room on the Pictures side for monthly to-do lists & birthdays. It also had color coded lines on each day, for color coding family schedules, or using to color code between work, school, social, or other events for each day.

B. Slick paper,  small squares, too much miscellaneous info, or holes in the middle of the days (the 1st Wednesday of the month often has a hole in it, in cheap calenders!)

C - Pictures are fine - I like beautiful scenery, critters, flowers, and homesteading related stuff, cartoons, uplifting or funny messages &/or quotes are good.

D - yup!

I'm so sorry for the loss of your first, and will keep you and your little family in my prayers - including the hope that dad will come to his senses. You've some great advice, here, and I have little to add, except that of my 6 pregnancies, only 2 were almost identical, both ending only a day after I discovered they were coming. They were #4 & #6, and while I was saddened, I hadn't had time to get attached, so I didn't really grieve. #5 was also lost, but I'd had plenty of time to get attached, pick out names, and share the news with the world. I grieved deeply and painfully for my little Emily Rose, and 20years later, still get very sad,  when I think of her.

#1 (13hrs) was born in the hospital, in the old fashioned labor, delivery, and recovery rooms, with me forced flat on my back, only allowed to roll to my side long enough to puke - Not AT ALL what I wanted,  or necessary. 34 yrs later, I'm still resentful - when I allow myself to indulge. But, the pushy people in my life at the time, (including my then mil, who was an ob nurse, in the local baby factory) meant well. No pain relief for my excruciating back labor and the doctor was, if you'll excuse my language, a dick. Suckling only lasted 2wks, due to a rare health issue inherited from his dad. Hospitals 'birthing plan', that didn't help, at all, lol.

#2 (14hrs) started off well, home birth planned, support system for that still non-existent, and in the end, the insurance company got their way - hospital, again, but this time, it was in the new, fancy, somewhat homier, 'LDR' room. Minimal drugs, all worn off, just prior to the delivery of the placenta. Could have been FAR worse! ~le sigh~ Still not even close to how I wanted to do it, but my new doctor had lost her own twins, in both our third trimesters, and she was deeply in the throes of her own grief, so I can understand her incredible callousness, her sadistic manual perusal of my uterus, immediately postpartum still causes my innards to seize up, thinking about it, 31yrs later, lol. Suckled only 3weeks, due to my own health. Bradley method - meh.

#3 actually went pretty close to plan! Born at home - CHECK! No drugs - CHECK! No invasive interference to mother & baby bonding - CHECK! This birth was my easiest, fastest (2.5hrs, from water to suckling!), and only one I'd be good with repeating. Suckling lasted 28months! I was also 32, rid of 1st in-laws and refused to be cowed by anyone. La Leche League, with plenty of other moms, who were similarly minded, as a great support group, no birthing coaching, just a video for her dad, because it was his first. That took a lot of pressure off, for me, because it meant no need to go 'pretend', every week, lying on a hard floor, when it was the most difficult time to get down to and up from the hard floor I didn't want to be on, anyway!

All that to say, A - plan all you want - it can at the very least, help set guidelines, with those helping you, so they won't be at a total loss as to your wishes. B - don't expect any of it to actually happen the way you plan it. C - follow your instincts. D - get used to the advice coming, and just roll with it, letting it go in one ear, filtering out what works for you, & out the other ear. E - take anyone's help offered, but only with housekeeping, shopping, etc. Your energies, as much as possible, should be baby and mom focused, while you figure out what actually works best, for the two you.

Good luck - and please, keep us posted?

Edited to add: #1 - 2wks early, 7lbs8oz: #2 - 4wks late, 7lbs6oz: #3 - On due date (only 5% occurrence!), 8lbs8oz

I'll happily do intermittent fasting. I could even see me fasting 1 day a week. But, not more than that, for me. It rarely ends well, for me, when I attempt more than that.

Hm. I can't speak to fermented eel, but I like eel sashimi, & tempura - and pickled herring, soooo... Maybe? I'd try it - so (for me) the question would be whether I'm willing to go to that expense and trouble just on the chance I might like it. The answer then, (for me), is oh, HELL no, lol. BUT, I'd be more than willing to try it, and reserve the right to go with it, pending taste bud approval (mine AND hubs')

Ugh - didn't realize there were several of these posts, and I'm in the wrong one, and with a useless post. Sorry.

Julia Winter wrote:Anybody out there who has gone longer than a day?

I'm continuing with my current pattern, which isn't a true fast since I have at least 8oz of whole milk in my morning latte.  I put my latte' off until 9:30am this morning so I know I went over 12 hours, but I still had one.

I made a beef stew - it is hard to cook without tasting!!  I kept it to a minimum, just to taste for seasoning.

I'm curious about a longer fast, but I think it would be disruptive for my family to miss multiple meals with them.  I'm not losing much weight, but I'm doing a fair amount of exercise and I *think* my waist may be smaller (pants are looser).  I should have measured my waist....  Anyway, I'm definitely not wasting away.

I once went 17days. It was not pleasant. I was not pleasant. It was not helpful to my weightloss, even in the first few days, beyond day 1. The only weight I lost was water, in the beginning, then some muscle. I was tired, grumpy, stinky, and looked and felt sickly. As soon as I quit, I regained it all - and then some. I can't recommend it.