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kappydell

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  1. Hi ladies from Chainsaw Mart & Crooked Kappy! We have been working along, in between pop-up (surprise!) rainstorms, doctors appointments, vet visits, and the like, to get our garden going, WE HAVE BABY DUCKS! 5 of them. Just because they are so dadgum adorable. Our friend from Germany is already looking forward to duck eggs... We have been delivering chicken eggs to the food pantry for the last month now...10 to 12 dozen at a crack. 'You'd have thought we brought them gold. They save them for families with children which suits us fine. We are starting to discuss getting more chickens so we can increase our deliveries. Our tax preparer says we can deduct fair market value for the eggs plus our delivery mileage, so I am keeping careful notes. Delivered kale to my doctor too. We moved out the winter kale to prepare garden beds. I'm dehydrating oodles of it too. The healthy foods are getting expensive faster than the junk food! Canned up 2 canner loads of chicken in broth for chicken sandwiches. Mary loves them. We had put quite a dent in our supply so I had to do more, I suggested we try canning up meatballs in tomato juice, so I will be doing a taste-test load this week. If they are tasty (I see no reason they wont be, though I have not done them in years) I will do a couple dozen jars for our emergency pantry as well. The who knows...sloppy Joe fillng? Spaghetti sauce? Beanie Weenies? Hmmmm.... I don't know if I mentioned it before but with our tax return, we got another small freezer. With prices going crazy we are trying to plan ahead. I am no longer going to PT. We are saving those allowed hours for the nest round of surgeries...to fix my hand so I can use it again. Scheduled for X-rays on my shoulder, and hand, so the docs can put their heads together to figure out the cause fo0r loss of function. Is it in the neck? My old shoulder separation? Car[pal tunnel phase two? Arthritis? I just hope it is fixable. Working one- handed is so frustrating! And there is so much I just cant do at all anymore. I'm still trying to adjust to the changes. We are getting ready for Easter. We have a very busy week in the choir. Thurs will be 2 hours of singing in English, Latin and Greek. Friday will be long, too, then Saturday night when we do all the adult baptisms, blessing of sacred candles & holy Water...and that gets long too. Easter winds it up. Its no wonder choir members do not volunteer very often.. its a fair amount of work. (I love it though.) Mary & I were just talking today about how we didnt mind turning 40, 50, 60...but 70 is kind of daunting. We cant say we are middle aged anymore. Like I said...daunting. Maybe its time to get cracking on our bucket lists, LOL. Or maybe just go fishing.
  2. Hello ladies! Thinking about everyone today - glad I stopped in. Chainsaw Mary (aka Chicken Whisperer) sez hello. Had a bad spell for a while, what with all my surgeries in quick succession I got pretty run-down. I finally went to my doc, feeling overwhelmed. Told her enough is enough; time for me to start fighting to get my life back. Doc said OK, and pulled all the stops. Seems to be working; I had not felt like myself for months, now my sense of humor and optimism has returned. Losing weight, going to physical therapy and occupational therapy and getting more things done around the place. Even one-handed! Ive figured out work arounds for tasks and need to call Mary for help only occasionally. Mary has had her arthriris in hips get pretty bad. All the goofy weather does not help. Her docs did a scan and found "spots" in her lung. Could be scar from covid, could be damage from bronchitis. emphysema, or undiagnosed pneumonia. Her docs do not think it is cancer, want more tests. We shall see what happens. But she needs help occasionally when her knees and/or hips refuse to work. God is merciful....we have ailments that complement each other, so together we make one "whole" person! Our chickens are producing more than average...8 to 12 eggs a day! We currently have 13 1/2 dozen in the fridge so I contacted church to see if they knew anyone who would like free eggs. We give them away but are still over run so I hope they can help. We do not want to sell them. Strangers could see what we have and decide to come back later to get "their share" of our stuff. Some of our neighbors have moral lapses that way, so we do not want to tempt them more than their ability to resist. Our old pastor knew several families who were glad to get extra produce, and that he donated game to (he loved hunting). When we ordered our chickens he asked what we would do with all the eggs...we said we planned on giving them away. He said he'd help us with surpluses. BUT we have a new pastor now, so I went thru the office. Our vining zucchini was a HUGE success. It climbed all over the green house then escaped thru the garden into the roadside ditch. Those zucchini were 3 feet long!! We will plant them again, we had takers for our surplus squash. I dehydrated some, too, cutting it in lasagna noodle size strips as I read that it makes an excellent noodle replacement. It sounded fascinating, and seeing as how I had plenty to experiment with I dried some to try it in the future. So tonight for my birthday I'll take a moonlght stroll in my birthday suit to see the chickens. (Mary says not to scare them too bad, yuk-yuk) We started doing it our 60th birthdays, just for giggles, instead of a polar plunge. Nobody can see (we make sure) and we joke that it shakes the wrinkles out of our birthday suits to keep us young-looking.
  3. Good evening ladies! A pleasant Sunday here tho a little cold for those not raised in colder climes. Went to church then made brunch while Mary tended the critters. The hens must be liking the cooler weather as egg laying is back up to speed. Our girls still like to sit on Marys lap every day and "talk" to her. Then the goats need loving and treats, of course. After breakfast we worked on Christmas light set up. Mary loves the solar lights she found so they will go up this year. Maybe that will help the electric bill spike we get in December. Before bed I sliced up some of the huge vining zucchinis piled in a box in the kitchen. No seeds, easy to peel and the slices are a nice 2 inch round size, perfect for layered casseroles. Blanch 4 minutes then dehydrated at 125 degrees (the "usual" veggie temp of 135 darkens them). I sliced some into 1/2 inch slabs the size of zucchini noodles. I found an interesting recipe to use them as lasagna noodle substitutes. Sounds nice for when I'm eating lower carb and craving pasta. I certainly have plenty to work with, those vines are still putting out lots of huge squash. Mary only likes them in zucchini bread so the rounds can be rehydrated and blender-chopped as needed. I sure aint letting them go to waste with uncertainties nowdays. This weeks projects are to finish the squash and make a fall/winter compost heap. I finally decided where it will go. And I need to order the stuff to waterglass eggs....it only works with fresh laid ones, unwashed, and when the big flock starts laying, we will have those in spades. I plan to be ready in advance in case of egg shortages again. We eat 3 apiece just for brunch, altho we can cut back some if they get expensive, they are one of our major protein sources, and the one we can most readily produce at home. No such thing as too many!
  4. Hello ladies! Been catching up on things (where DOES the time go??) Not too happy to read about everyone's medical & contractor & life issues, BUT glad to see that I am not the only one living an "interesting" life. I like boring better it gives me time to do things other than "rasslin' alligators" as we call it. (From a description I heard as a child about how "when you are up to your ass in alligators its easy to forget that your original mission was to drain the swamp!") Our garden is somewhat cleaned up and fall veggies are in. Catfish are biting again, they like the cooler weather. I clean them & freeze until I have enough to can. It does taste like tuna, so why not save a few sheckels. The chickens are doing well. Our three legged baby is living in the Banty-chicken Palace; the full size birds kept picking on her. She is bigger than the banties so they leave her alone. She is a peaceable bird so its all good. The bigger birds are maturing. The roosters are chasing the hens around and fighting over ownership of the hens, Those 7 chicks we got at Tractor Supply for $1 each turned out to be ALL males. (They dont sell sexed birds.) Mary says "no butchering the chickens!!" even the males. So we will try moving the Banty females in with the full size females, and putting the bachelors together. Will they fight? Cant say, But they are running the ladies ragged. Can't have that. The pit bulls came back again, but before the animal control people came over with traps, another caller got video of them attacking her dog in its own fenced yard. They were able to find the owners and issued a BIG fat ticket. He has to go to court. So glad we didnt have to shoot the dogs. I hate shooting varmints, even the coons & possums. But I do what needs doing to protect my animals. The good thing is that when animal control was out they were introduced to the goats and said our having them as pets was no problem. Lil' Luigi charmed them all again. He's our cutest ambassador. We have 2 more mixed breed pups, both from same mother but clearly "sisters from different misters" as one is a black lab & dachshund mix and the other a golden lab-springer spaniel mix. Momma musta partied hard. After a couple got her from the Humane Society she blessed them with EIGHT puppies. We took two for free. Going to see docs this month to find out if I can get help with my left hand. Eyes are apparently OK. Still doing drops but vision is not bad except under low light. My 2nd back surgery is done and PT is sloooow. I still can't use left hand for much (no grip or finger function) but its slowing improving, I still cant stand straight. Been told I probably never will. Grrr. But the bad hand & shoulder are the real nuisance. Everything takes MICH longer to do. I can't play any of my musical instruments any more. Not a one. That hurts. I contacted some lawyers about the back. I've been told yes, I have a malpractice case (X rays clearly show broken rods after 1st surgery that nobody told me about - for years - while I kept getting PT & pain pills) BUT in this state you have to prove you are worse off than you otherwise would be and they say it is hard to prove at my age (expletives deleted) so the lawyers seem to be leery of taking the case, and keep referring me to other lawyers. Guess I will have to keep looking...there must be+ a hungry lawyer somewhere.
  5. We are still dealing with high (over 100 degree) weather. Heat index hit over 110 yesterday. Whew. We have noticed the craziness increasing as the length of time in the high heat continues. Our latest apocalypse alerts involved our chickens. A couple days back a couple of pit bulls came into the yard and tried to get into the chicken pens. We are SOOOOO GLAD we put in the extra effort to reinforce the chicken wire sides with 6 foot tall welded-wire cattle fencing! Those pitties were leaping into the fence tryng to get in to the chickens which were cowering in the far corner. They took off when we shouted at them, but came back again 5 min later. We think they thought we were gone but we were between the chicken quarters checking the fence integrity and taking photos. We grabbed up a stick (Mary) and cane (me) and drove them off again. As we got the chickens calmed down so they were relaxing and acting normal again, we could hear someone shouting for the dogs. They did not return so we assume their owner caught them and secured them. Even the goats were terrified, so we had to calm the and reassure them as well. Two days later we saw one of the local animal control teams at the grocery store deli/restaurant, eating lunch. Mary asked them what to do if the dogs came back to menace our critters again and the response was unanimous....shoot them. Later that evening, THREE pit bulls showed up again. This time we called 911, then grabbed our sticks and chased them off...again. we are loathe to shoot someone's pets, plus there are houses nearby raising the risk of ricochets and missed shots harming someone but we did take our firearms in case they attacked us and twe had no choice. Fortunately they left. Animal control and a deputy came. We showed them the fence and doggy footprints, including nail marks where they had dug in for better traction. The deputy was relieved he did not have to shoot them as he was also concerned about the neighbors' proximity. The deputy was impressed with our "hardened" chicken quarters and said it had saved them because pit bulls can easily destroy chicken wire. The animal control officer was charmed by the chickens when Mary went inside and showed how they would run over to sit on her lap (and shoulders, and head!). She liked the goats too, asking to pet them. She got to give them treats too and said that was the first time she had seen such friendly little guys. She said on other calls the goats either had horns, were ornery, or needed milking, so playing with them instead was a treat. Both the deputy and the animal control officer and deputy knew whose pit bulls they were from our descriptions, so they issued them warnings to control their animals. Apocolypse averted due to good prep planning! Good sales on meat this payday. We bought extra chicken to can as I cut into our supply heating it upp for dinners WhEn it was too hot to cook.
  6. Yes Miki, my climbing zucchini is the trombocino. No borers! I definitely will plant again. Now have a 3 footer I am taking to Home Depot to sow an employee in the garden area who said he wanted to see one, I had been asking him about trombocino, describing it as a trellised squash. He had never heard of it so he will be shocked by it I suspect. Petunia (the two headed chicken) is still thriving. When head #2 started cheeping it was a shock! I guess it is alive after all, so we will not go to vet and attempt amputation as their organs are probably intertwined. Petunia does not seem to mind so we leave it at that. (Im surprised at how many people are grossed out by her. Im glad we rescued Petunia.)
  7. I cooked up one of the climbing squash today, It was 2 feet long, about 2 inches in diameter and made around 2 1/2 cups once sliced. No seeds - which was a surprise.I liked it much better than the bush type. The flavor was milder, the skin was more tender, and it soaked up my seasonings nicely (chicken bouillon powder, onion powder, paprika, and a pinch of sugar. I steamed it in the frypan with around a teaspoon of oil in the water so after the water evaporated it wouldn't stick. Mary did not want to try it, her loss...it was delicious. We had oven fried chicken & mac salad with apple crisp for dessert. No more visits from Mr. Intense. Cool. Went to physical and occupational therapy; other than that just sat around. It rained on & off.
  8. whew. We now have yet another chicken, a wyandotte that nobody wanted because she has 3 legs, according to what the clerk told us at Tractor Supply. They gave it to us, OK, no biggie, Im not perfect and my critters do not have to be either, as long as they are not in pain. Today I looked closer, and we have a two HEADED chicken (!) Now that is certainly different. Not much to 2nd head as it is not living. It seems to be no trouble to Petunia except it makes her a little klutzy. We also have 2 pups for free, 8 wks old. Part of a surprise litter from a supposedly "fixed" female a neighbor got from the humane society. The two littermates are certainly not twins...different daddies I presume - one looks like a golden retriever beagle mix, the other looks like a black lab-corgie mix. We call them our "sisters from different misters" They are fun to watch, full of energy. I got a nerve test done on my non working left hand. I have a pinched nerve in my neck. Waiting to see whats next. I had an encounter last night with a very irate man who was quite nasty and demanded I stop breeding cats because they were in his yard and he is allergic to cats. I calmly explained they are outdoor cats - I do not "breed" them - but they are yard cats I feed, let shelter in my shed in foul weather, and get to vet if they get hurt. But I dont breed them (they do that on their own) nor will they stay in one yard. Oh my, he got angrier and angrier...the more I tried to talk calmly the angrier her got. He said he had just buried two...None missing showing up for dinner here, so I asked what they looked like as there are other cats around, too. He got angrier, insisting they were all mine. I then offered to bury any that got killed in the future as he said he was allergic to cats. He did not like that offer, either. Then he said I wasn't taking care of them, and obviously did not care (because I was calm I guess); that the was going to start shooting them (illegal); and he was going to harass me constantly until I stopped breeding cats. Oh yes, he also accused me of faking being disabled (I guess he was trying to get a rise out of me, as he was so irate that he was screaming by this time). I offered to show him my surgical scars but he didnt respond to that either. I did keep my distance though as I was concerned he might shove me down in his anger and re break my spinal repairs. He finally stomped to his car and drove off. He said he lived at a certain address but he doesnt. (We've met who lives there) I notified the sheriffs dept in case he returns to have another go-round or harms any of our animals. The deputy was pretty concerned and said if he returned he would arrest him. Oh my. (I remember mentally ticking off all the laws he broke during his rant that I would have arrested him for...disturbing the peace, terroristic threats, harassing a disabled person and so on.) I doubt he will return, but one never knows. I'm glad Mary was not here, I'm not sure she would have held herself in check when the threats started. I wonder what planet he dropped in from?
  9. Momo do you have a freezer? You can freeze tomatoes whole, skins and all for cooking, When ready to use run hot tap water over the frozen maters and skins will rub off. Just chuck them in the pot you're cooking them in to thaw and cook. (Saves having to mess with boiling water in triple digit heat to peel them.) Lately all my physical challenges have been highly frustrating, Then you get a "good" day and all looks better again. Today was a good one, I shot that dang possum that has been fighting my cats for their food, Satisfying revenge for their injuries and one favorite killed. Buzzards gotta eat too. Payday actually fell on a good sale day at one grocery I shop at...Coffee 30% off our brand; lovely chuck roasts half off...for $4.95 a pound I bought 2 canner loads worth. Will go back for more. With the triple digit weather, opening a quart of meat, thickening the broth, and serving on instant mashed potatoes or nuked baking ones only heats up the kitchen minimally, for about 20 min. CM loves my canned meats especially the chicken in a thick gravy on hamburger buns...so we are stocking up on roasts to renew our canned beef supply and maybe add some extra. Roasts dont sell as well in hot weather so they mark them down here (Our gain!!!) Our hen flock loves their new digs and when Mary feeds them she goes in and sits in the coop a few minutes so they can sit on her lap for petting.. Handling them from babyhood has made them very friendly. She gives out treats.... I feed & water the banties and gather their eggs. They are quite docile but not lap sitters like the others. The pre-pullets are exploring the nest boxes, too. The bathtub group were sold straight run and methinks we have 4 males, 4 females. Mary wants to house all the males in one coop, all the females separately. She says if I butcher them she wont eat them....too bad; those barred rocks dress out around 4 - 6 lbs according to my books. Meat on the hoof, so to speak. Good for canning. The garden took a hit from bugs. With all the rain, daily almost, dusting them with Sevin did not work as usual. Some survived though. We were able to get more starts from our nursery so will replant. I can hardly wait for fall and a freeze to kill off the insects. Meanwhile we keep thing going. PT is a royal pain, and gives me sore muscles a plenty. I finally got an appointment for tests for my wonky left hand. I sure hope its fix-able! Things are looking up!
  10. years ago i read a book called "city dog" that told how the author, a dog trainer, taught a dog to work as a non biting (less liability) protection dog for a shop owner. Standard obedience training plus he was taught t stay in his "place" under the counter at the shop. What impressed me tho was how he taught the pup to go berserk (snapping and barking and acting threatening) on a signal from the shop owner. While training he would play tug of war with the pup, encouraging lots of growling and such; then graduated to shaking a clean mop at him to try to grab and tug. Then he started adding the "beserker signal" - - - he would clear his throat when the dog was shown the mop and reacted with lots of noise. Praise and goodies for a good show. Eventually the mop was discontinued leaving the throat clearing as the signal for bark like a maniac. The dog loved it as a cool "trick" and the shop owner incorporated his trick into her play time with him. She did not want a biter for liability issues just a threatening reaction. it was interesting to see how this was taught.
  11. hello ladies. Loong time no see. I have been reading to try to catch up. So much missed... I got my back fixed....new longer and heavier rods next to old broken ones, Doc could not get out all the broken bits of screw, but I can stand up straighter now. Of course new issues have surfaced,,,,left hand is pretty useless now, only the pinky and ring finger work. While I wait for an opening in the specialists office for tests I am doing occupational therapy for the hand (cant hurt) and physical therapy for the back. Starting to pick up again on household operations but Im slow...one handedness requires ingenuity, LOL The day I had surgery the 15 chickens we ordered showed up at the post office. Fortunately only one died. Since my name was on the order the postal people did not want to release them to Mary though we are at the same address for pity's sake. It took 24 hrs to get them sprung. Now they are almost ready to move into their bigger digs and we think our new flock is pretty - we have buff colored, cinnamon colored and speckled white on black ones. Aaaaaaaand, naturally when the chicken lady at tractor supply offered us 75% OFF on month old chicks she had to move out to make room for new ones,,,,,,,we took 8 more. (Neither one of us could resist the bargain.) So now marys bathtub is in use as a brooder, too as I already have 14 in mine, 6 weeks old and itching to get out! (good thing we have a separate walk in shower, LOL. Its too hot to not have one. Tomorrow we install nest boxes and feeding/watering stations and bury the anti-dig predator fencing. All will be ready next week. The garden is going crazy - weeds too - but we are loving the cucumbers, tomatoes and green peppers as are the folks we share with. Both mary && I love those tomatoes every night summer dinners. Mmmmmmmmmm
  12. Today Mary and I went to see the neurologist who did my spinal fusion. He confirmed that both my spine rods were broken, down in the hip area, and the screws were also broken. He showed us on Xrays and on a CT scan film. He said it was possible the rods broke during my hip surgery but said vibration was a major cause. Correction will mean more surgery, but I am OK with that, as he can also fix the shoulder and upper back pains due to bone spurs just above the existing rods pressing into my spine. Mary and I suspect the breaks were due to the hip surgery, as that is where both rods are broken, beside the hip. Now I will see if a lawyer is warranted.
  13. TY Ambergris...I had never heard of it I think I wil put some of it in too...esp as it is native to the area, and freeloaders will not recognize it as useful and ingestible. Those are very important in my edible landscaping plans. Dont wanna grow something and have it stolen. Much better if it is a secret food. THANK YOU.
  14. I dont know if this was coveree anywhere before,, but did you know that you can grow your own tea as a caffeine source if coffee gets scarce? I don't know about anyone ese, but I have tried to quit drinking coffee, but the withdrawal headaches were brutal. And now that coffee is on the good list for its antioxicants, as is tea, I again feel free to indulge. I only do a cup or two a day, so even my doc is OK with it. BUT....what happens if coffee becomes so expensive you cant afford it? Or the import supply chain fails? I like an ace in the hole, like any good prepper. And it is to grow my OWN tea. If you look, you will see that the latin name for the tea we drink is camilla sinensis. Green Tea Common Names: green tea Latin Names: Camellia sinensis Well that is a camillia plant, a relative to the decorative ones that people grow. The tea plant is not as decorative, its flowers are simpler, and only come in white, and occasionally pink, so it is not as easy to find at the nurseries, because it is not "decorative". BUT those leaves are the ones that green and black tea are both made of, and contain that medicinal caffeine and anti oxidants. Green tea is simply picked and dried. (That is why it is still green...duh...) and black tea is fermented, then dried. There are many ways to do it and each gives a variation in flavor. A tea blender is a specialist, like a vintner, and to do it can take years. But the University of Hawaii extension service had a manual online telling how to do it, for those brave souls who like to experiment. Me, I personally plan to start with green tea, its easier. You can order tea tree plants online....even Burpees sells them. Some sites have various strains available, from all around the world. But I am planting a tea bush among my more flamboyant camellias, as a source of green tea, just in case. The prepper in me appreciates its dual usefulness as well as its "guerilla effect" in that not too many thieving types would consider stealing camillia leaves, not knowing their utility. Surprise! Even Walmart has them online! GROWING CAMELLIA SINENSIS Camellia sinensis can be grown in most moderate zones in the United States. Zones 7, 8 & 9 provide the most suitable outdoor climates althought it can be grown in greenhouses and/or protected areas in colder climate zones or used in containers where you could protect it from severe freezes. Camellia sinensis will perform well in areas in bright light or full sun with balanced nutrients and plenty of water. Species Name: Camellia sinensis (Large Leaf - White Flowering cultivars) Growth Habit: Upright, bushy growth Bloom Time: Fall Maintainable Height: 3-4’ or larger Soil Conditions: Moist, well drained acid soil Light Conditions: Full sun to part shade Uses: Containers, landscape & garden plants, screens, hedges, foundation plants Although there are many varieties of Camellia sinensis, the large leaf tea is the most common. Most of these plants will produce white flowers, although some have been known to have pink tones to full pink flowers. In the fall of each year, the tea plant is covered with small blossoms and later the next spring and summer, you probably will see small seed pods on your tea plants. Sinensis is an excellent seed-setter. These seeds can be harvested, planted and new seedlings will soon sprout up. Each of these seeds will produce plants that are genetically different from the parent, and will most likely resemble the parent, but this is not true in all cases. Tea can be made from the leaves of Camellia sinensis.
  15. I dont know if this was coveree anywhere before,, but did you know that you can grow your own tea as a caffeine source if coffee gets scarce? I don't know about anyone ese, but I have tried to quit drinking coffee, but the withdrawal headaches were brutal. And now that coffee is on the good list for its antioxicants, as is tea, I again feel free to indulge. I only do a cup or two a day, so even my doc is OK with it. BUT....what happens if coffee becomes so expensive you cant afford it? Or the import supply chain fails? I like an ace in the hole, like any good prepper. And it is to grow my OWN tea. If you look, you will see that the latin name for the tea we drink is camilla sinensis. Green Tea Common Names: green tea Latin Names: Camellia sinensis Well that is a camillia plant, a relative to the decorative ones that people grow. The tea plant is not as decorative, its flowers are simpler, and only come in white, and occasionally pink, so it is not as easy to find at the nurseries, because it is not "decorative". BUT those leaves are the ones that green and black tea are both made of, and contain that medicinal caffeine and anti oxidants. Green tea is simply picked and dried. (That is why it is still green...duh...) and black tea is fermented, then dried. There are many ways to do it and each gives a variation in flavor. A tea blender is a specialist, like a vintner, and to do it can take years. But the University of Hawaii extension service had a manual online telling how to do it, for those brave souls who like to experiment. Me, I personally plan to start with green tea, its easier. You can order tea tree plants online....even Burpees sells them. Some sites have various strains available, from all around the world. But I am planting a tea bush among my more flamboyant camellias, as a source of green tea, just in case. The prepper in me appreciates its dual usefulness as well as its "guerilla effect" in that not too many thieving types would consider stealing camillia leaves, not knowing their utility. Surprise! Even Walmart has them online! GROWING CAMELLIA SINENSIS Camellia sinensis can be grown in most moderate zones in the United States. Zones 7, 8 & 9 provide the most suitable outdoor climates althought it can be grown in greenhouses and/or protected areas in colder climate zones or used in containers where you could protect it from severe freezes. Camellia sinensis will perform well in areas in bright light or full sun with balanced nutrients and plenty of water. Species Name: Camellia sinensis (Large Leaf - White Flowering cultivars) Growth Habit: Upright, bushy growth Bloom Time: Fall Maintainable Height: 3-4’ or larger Soil Conditions: Moist, well drained acid soil Light Conditions: Full sun to part shade Uses: Containers, landscape & garden plants, screens, hedges, foundation plants Although there are many varieties of Camellia sinensis, the large leaf tea is the most common. Most of these plants will produce white flowers, although some have been known to have pink tones to full pink flowers. In the fall of each year, the tea plant is covered with small blossoms and later the next spring and summer, you probably will see small seed pods on your tea plants. Sinensis is an excellent seed-setter. These seeds can be harvested, planted and new seedlings will soon sprout up. Each of these seeds will produce plants that are genetically different from the parent, and will most likely resemble the parent, but this is not true in all cases. Tea can be made from the leaves of Camellia sinensis.
  16. Chainsaw Mary and I just had to laugh with amazement..... Today while cooking breakfast I got a call from the Augusta Docs office. They wanted to know how come missed my post surgical appointment after my surgery. I held it together to politely tell her, "oh you mean the last surgery on the 10th?" (the laser surgery), "I mean your last surgery" she said. ""You mean the laser surgery on the 10th?" (I heard papers being shuffled around)... then "Yes" "Oh I didn't have it". "You mean you did not have surgery on the 10th?" She says. "No, I could not get there. I could not find a driver to come pick me up at 4 AM to get me there" "Oh, I had no idea you lived so far away" (We had told everyone, several times that it was a 2 1/2 hr drive one way) "Do you want to reschedule?" she asks. "No, thank you" I replied. "OK..... thank you" and she hangs up. This told me a couple of things.... 1- The doc did not do the surgery and the doctor was not there to supervise it, as I suspected. 2- Nobody cared enough about patient welfare to follow up when I did not show up. 3- They did want that $250 office visit fee for follow up. I called my insurance company and told them that if they got a bill for surgery on the 10th or post operative care afterward from Augusta, DO NOT PAY IT.... because I wasn't there. Some things are so crazy, you just gotta laugh. Man, that place is messed up. Boy do I feel sorry for patients who have no place else to go.
  17. Whooeee. Trip to eye doc was very fruitful. He was surprised that the other doc had been so quick on the draw to go to laser surgery. He took eye pressure...down 10 points in the eye that was to get operated on. He also told us the pressure bounces up and down for a while as the eye adjusts to the new structure in it. He was not worried a bit, in fact said it was a GOOD thing we did not do the laser surgery as it is not warranted at this time. He renewed my eye meds and we will go back to see him in 3 weeks. (I kinda thought maybe that other guy was a little too eager to cut....) He sais if it is necessary he can refer me to an experienced doc in doing laser surgery and it can be done in Athens, a mere 1 hour away. So it all worked out ok.
  18. Ordered a new live trap from amazon. A big Havahart for large raccoons, foxes, etc. Last night our raccoon came up on the front porch to eat cat food. He skedaddled when we came our with guns, but still.....our 'regular' large trap door no longer locks shut due to having a huge possum pushing on it that we trapped from under a neighbors porch. The bigger one will be more awkward to handle but should stand up to our large raccoon, possum and hopefully the armadillo. I checked my trapping books, and supposedly dilloes like mealy worms. Got those. Racoons hit well for us on wet cat food. Possums will eat sweet apples or carrots. So I am eager to catch these pests and take them far, far, FAR away.
  19. I fired my eye doc on Monday. I went to his office on Thursday, saw his "assistant" While I was waiting to be seen a couple of med students wandered in, and decided to check my eye pressures. They did not wait for the numbing drops to take effect, so I felt those needle like things they put in your eyes to check pressure. I said "OUCH! I can feel that, you need to wait for the drops to take effect!" The response was and another poke, Naturally I flinched. Poke - flinch - poke - flinch,,,,finally they quit. Another med student wandered in, same thing. Poke, flinch....etc. I was getting ready to bite someone. So they switched to the machine to look inside the eye that was operated on (24 hours earlier) Student #1 would not share, said student #2 had to look alongside him. Then he said he could not see anything because my eyelid was drooping and in the way. #2 stuck her thumb in my eye and yanked it up. I yelped again, and yelled at her, saying "hey, the doc told me NEVER to do that to fresh stitches!!" "Sorry" she says, AND DOES IT AGAIN. Then the assistant shows up and the students leave. The assistant had to call the doc who was at the airport, going to a conference. My eye pressures were both more than double what they were supposed to be. So he said stay on the meds, and we will schedule laser surgery on Tuesday. We repeated (again) that we had a 2 1/2 hour drive to get to the surgical center and could not do an early AM surgery. Well, when I was called for surgery, they said I had to be there at 0645!! I told them no, I could not get a driver to come with me at 4AM and drive all that way. I was told "you are the second on the schedule, and we have to send the machine back to the hosital afterward right away so that is the only time we have". I told them I cant do that time. The sceduler said she would see if she could get a later time, but when she called back, I was told 0645 or nothing. I told her nope. That was just the last straw. I have an appointment with a doc only 1 hour away, a much better rating and rep, next week. I betcha I wont get use as a training dummy, either. I am soooo bruised from the rough treatment. Glad to be away from Augusta University medical dept. I realize they have to learn,but they need to be SUPERVISED at least,
  20. My pets are of the opinion that if I go into the kitchen they MUST follow just in case I drop something, LOL. I save all bones for bone broth in the crockpot. then I cook rice in it. When we have canned veggies I save the liquid too..;.it either goes in the gravy or in the stockpot. Leftovers go into my morning eggy fried rice. I cant see wasting stuff either. I just researched ways to use the stalks of kale and collards in recipes. Pickled looks tasty. All I aim to throw out is packaging, not anything orgnanic. What the pets dont want the poultry and goats relish, They pay e back with manure. If I get inundated I need 2 compost heaps, one for poultry droppings (hot) and another for goat berries (not hot). Heck, maybe I can sell compost to the neighbors who are starting to copy us and make gardens.
  21. My pets are of the opinion that if I go into the kitchen they MUST follow just in case I drop something, LOL. I save all bones for bone broth in the crockpot. then I cook rice in it. When we have canned veggies I save the liquid too..;.it either goes in the gravy or in the stockpot. Leftovers go into my morning eggy fried rice. I cant see wasting stuff either. I just researched ways to use the stalks of kale and collards in recipes. Pickled looks tasty. All I aim to throw out is packaging, not anything orgnanic. If I get inundatI need 2 kinds, one for poultry droppings (hot) and another for goat berries (not hot). Heck, maybe I can sell compost to the neighbors who are starting to copy us and make gardens.
  22. OMG, Jeepers. How well I know that feeling. As in "NOW what?" "Why does everything have to be such a production? Care to join me in a song? Sung to the tune of "some day I'm going to murder the bugler" if you remember that old ww2 song... "Why does everything have to be such a production? A C@ckS&&king MothrF%^$$cking production? Its never anything simple (NO!) Its never anything small (NOPE!) The sky is always falling down, or else its nothing at all! Why does everything have to be such a production? I really, truly, am dying just to know. Why am I the lucky one, Who always gets to have the fun Of having this wierd cr@p dropped on me all the time?_" I've sung that ditty many times over the years...my husband darn near died laughing the first time he overheard me singing it under my breath. Specially the cussing part, LOL. Lordy I miss that man. You have my sympathies, Jeepers. And I thought I was floundering with this eye surgery thing. BTY the first surgery failed. Next week we move on to laser surgery. Oh boy, more 250 mile round trips back and forth several times a week. Man, I am going to have SUCH a tax deduction for medical mileage. Also in 2 weeks I go see the back doc (a mere 50 miles away) to see what the plan is for my back. Sheesh. Things sure get hectic. Poor Mary is beside herself. If we are able to get a settlement on the back I will have to get her something extra nice as a thank you. The garden is popping. We have delivered romaine lettuce one week, fresh kale the next, and bantam eggs weekly to our happy recipients. Cucumbers are showing every sign of taking over the greenhouse again, which means we will have grocery sacks full. Me, I just like having fresh veggies daily. Collards are coming along nicely. Onions (the regular kind) and garic are growing nicely, and the topset onions/walking onions are getting very big indeed. Only things that did not do well were the green bunching onions and the peas. We may have been too late getting them in though, here they go in around Jan, and we put them in in late March. We know for sure it is spring because we have baby kitties. They are such cute little things. There is only one I am worried about, it is solid black and some of our neighbors are superstitious, so we will have to bring it inside for October. Cute thing though. We dubbed him "little bear" Euphrasyne, that metal office cabinet will make a nice faraday cage. Just put stuff inside in cardboard boxes (to insulate them from metal on metal contact) and ut them on shelves inside. Shut the door. Presto! Might make a handy place to store electronics just in case things get "hot" in this country. Jest sayin'. Easy precautions.
  23. Like heavy cleaning gloves? hazmat (LOL) gloves? I have to get me a pair of those. Oh yes, I forgot the prunella vulgaris or "heal all" patch near the apple trees. Pretty little thing, too. I tried potting some up but it did not like being moved, so it just roams free now.
  24. One of the ways I am spending my "spare" time is by researching the weeds in my "meadow" lawn and their medicinal or food uses. I knew them all in Wisconsin but they are all different here in the southland. I have finally found info on the majority of the unknown (to me) weeds and their uses....goose grass or cleavers, wild geranium, lyreleaf sage, orange trumpet vine...all have medicinal uses, so I will have to save a wild area so they can live there just in case. Even blue-eyed grass has uses. Not to mention the patches of plantain and the blackberry bushes so prolific in my yard. So I am beginning to figure out the local survival plants - for each one I find a wild patch of I need not plant seeds to cover those particular medicinals. I'm very pleased to find so many useful wild medicinals in my yard! I have planted a few herbs, sage, oregano, thyme an mint and I have an ongoing perennial lemon balm plant. I guess I am going to have to order my tea tree however, as none of the local plant sources will order one for me, in fact they dont even know what I am talking about. (Hmmmf. Some "experts" they are....) I guess nobody learns the latin names for cultivars any more. We weeded the strawberries and onions and garlic yesterday. All are looking good except the bunching onion seeds did not come up. Oh well, I have lots of walking onions, around 50 regular onion sets and 50 garlic plants coming up nicely. Strawberries are looking great, blooming away, and the apple trees are getting nice and big. I am impatiently waiting for them to start bearing, but they take years to do so, so all I can do is wait until they decide they are ready. Blueberries are getting bigger, too, and starting to bear some fruits. But the wild blakberries are still the most prolific...and thorny.... Its a good thing the leaves and roots are medicinal, it kind of makes keeping those thorny things a little more worthwhile. I think I'll do tinctures this year, they last longer, and are a good way to preserve their medicinal value.
  25. Well! We are still here, wierd weather and all. Tornadoes missed us, one hit a nearby town. A :'little' one, mostly trees & signs down. So grateful, it hit the less affluent end of town, and for someone living on the edge of financial disaster, the last thing they need is a roof torn off! But God was good and answered my request for protection for our little homestead. We were battened down for wind, so had little damage. Lots of rain tho. Garden is doing well - I have romaine lettuce to pick and eat and give away. We have been sharing eggs with church choir members for a while now, as the hens are kicking out bout 1 1/2 dozen a week. Everyone raves about how much better the fresh eggs are than the store eggs...I cant imagine how long those store eggs have been stored before they get to the store. Our goats are all outside, well mostly. The littlest one still gets pushed away at feeding time and insists on coming inside to sleep in his dog crate with us, after he sits on my lap. He is so cute...he follows Mary everywhere, just like the nursery rhyme, Im glad we busted our butts to get the garden planted, because now the docs are most of my social life. My eye surgery went well in the first eye, except for the aggravation of getting up at 3AM to drive 2 1/2 (we sped) hours to Augusta because the surgical scheduler insisted on making my surgery arrival time 5:00 AM. My doc was not amused when I told him I had to dig up someone to drive me in at 4 AM. i talked to the scheduling folks and asked for an 11AM or later time for surgery for the other eye. We shall see what they do. Meanwhile, after all the complaining I did about my back not being right since the last hip replacement, and all the painful PT, and all the assurances that everything was just fine....my neuro doc ordered a special spine x-ray and found the rods in by back are cracked, and the screws are coming loose. Part of me things "see, I TOLD yu something was wrong" and the other part says "how the heck do you crack a titanium rod?!?" I do more CTs tomorrow so they can think up a treatment plan. I suspect that new technique of putting the new hip in from the side cracked the rods, as you have to pound in part of the prosthesis to seat it properly and it was right after the surgery that I found I could no longer stand up straight and everything started getting worse and worse. Considering legal action. That back surgery was painful and long, recovery also, and now it appears it was undone and I might have to do it all over again. UGH. Meanwhile, we keep on taking care of our garden and critters.
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