Ambergris

I can testify about two of those, but you're making the midwest sound an awful lot like the south.

I've had two beagles and couldn't live with either one of them. You deserve a new couch, you know. Since it wasn't there for the inlaws, you probably don't need it instantly, so why not cancel the rental and sit back to watch for something special to come your way? Like a nice daybed that you could fit buckets or totes under? Or the build-it plans for a storage couch?

You said "preparing for whatever comes" and sometimes what comes is a teenager.

Michael, have you tried zucchini lasagne? Slice the big ones thin and use the slices for the noodles.

SK, make a little tea like you would mint tea, about ten leaves per cup steeped for about 15 minutes, and drink a cupful one day. The next day, unless you had problems, drink a cupful morning and evening. If you think you might want to drink this year round, go out before the fruit ripen and pick all the clean, brighter-colored leaves you can conveniently collect. Dry them gently and store in a cool place. If I were you, I'd be careful of taking this with a soy-heavy diet. Soy is a potent phytoestrogen, and can really mess up your hormone balances.

My exFiL has spent much of the past two years working on housing, medical care, and especially jobs for vets. It's a challenge in this economy. Welcome back!

http://www.amazon.com/Brown-Bread-Raisins-16-Ounce-Cans/dp/B001EO5Y8E My husband loves this stuff. I used to have twenty cans of it set back. Some things are worth leaving to the professional kitchens.

I had most cooperation out of my boys when we used the Spectrum math workbooks. http://www.amazon.com/Math-Grade-Spectrum-Thomas-Richards/dp/0769636934 The least useful math was in the Core Curriculum books.

I remember when my grandfather finally understood that his beloved and much younger second wife was "just like a little bitty girl again" and that she would never get better. It was like he aged twenty years all at once, and they weren't good years. Maybe you should sit down, perhaps with a professional, and quarter a large sheet of paper. In one quarter, write details of the situation as it would be if you handed over guardianship now. In another quarter, list details of what would happen if you handed over guardianship in six months (roughly--meaning four to eight months). The third quarter is for handing it over in one year (12-15 months). The fourth quarter is for handing it over in two years (24-30 months). There's no sense going beyond then because over time the variables will add up to a bigger pile than the constants. In each case, would the extra you-time applied over those additional months make their situation substantially better? If so, list exactly what concrete ways. I like to make lists and charts. They help me put facts together in coherent patterns.

Update?

Make some fresh lemonade or limeade with honey to sweeten and a pinch of ginger. Have them sip it hot, like Russian Tea. This will reduce gagging a lot, and will cut the buildup of gunk on the back of the throat. Salt water gargles are good. Boric acid wash is good for the eyes. Grasp the lashes gently and lift the lid away from the eyeball, and drop a little of the wash into the pocket so formed. This will keep the lid from squee-geeing the stuff off the ball before it has a chance to work. Sponging them down with room-temperature water will cool them without driving the heat inward. If they have gunk building up in the throat, you should consider holding off on any chocolate or milk until it's gone. As far as I've seen, milk makes the spit thicker.

Another visit to the marriage counselor. DH and I do not perceive or remember things the same way at all. He also says I have a "thermonuclear temper," and that he cannot keep an orderly house with a "pathological hoarder" like me. This is going to be a long summer.

Welcome home!

Nido is great!

I've eaten it a couple of years old. If the bugs aren't in it, it's fine.

I gave my dogs the anti-candida pill the doctor gave me. Didn't do a thing for him. We had a guy tell us to get our dogs off Beneful to clear their skin. We did. The chronic ear crud hasn't shown up since (but it's only been a couple of months). The "heat rashes" are still there, but shrinking instead of growing. Usually at the beginning of summer, they're growing. He's on a mix of cheap meats (turkey necks, etc.), sweet potatoes, potatoes, and leftovers. We tried the bagged grainfree diet, but it costs as much as cooking for him and we don't know (as in really know) what's in it.

You start off with what I'd call an excellent list, except that I can't get tarragon to grow for me. Lemon balm. Good tea for ladycramps, feeling generally bleah, mild general anxiety, light to moderate fever, and cold sores. Great to lure bees. Grows low (shin-high) and tidy, good for the front row. Perennial. Cayenne for all kinds of problems. A cayenne pepper in a pot can be lifted every fall and kept alive indoors. Plant it up front, because it is much more refined-looking than most herbs and because you want to pick it over every day in the late summer. Pennyroyal, unless you grow it in hanging baskets like I do. It creeps, and it really does help with the fleas. It also makes a good headache tea. In quantity, it can cause miscarriage. My other ideas all would require rather more room than you have: Turmeric, to fight infections, gingivitis, etc. (If you have real winters, you'd have to lift it every fall.) Valerian for the back edge of the plot. Beware--it stinks and draws both cats and snails. It also grows as tall as me, although not as wide. Dig the roots in the fall, chop roughly, and run them through the dehydrator. Use the runners for your new plants. Ginger, another tender root, for stomach troubles and coughs. It looks a little like bamboo without stalks. Mine doesn't flower. Milk thistle, for the liver and gall bladder. It's slow to germinate, and prefers dappled shade in Florida. The seeds are the safest part to eat, and since I have bad luck with milky-sapped plants, the seeds are the only part I'll deal with. A good plant will about three dozen flowers will yield a handful of seed. Not for nursing mothers or lactating animals. It's a thistle, all stickery, so you'd plant it in the back, next to the valerian.

This takes a while to load but has lots of info: http://www.crimson-sage.com/medicinal-plants-catalog-2012.pdf You referred to weeds. Have you identified each of these weeds to make sure you're not trying to crowd out something you might actually want? Consider purslane, which has an unusual nutrient pattern. Consider a redbud, if you have the right climate. The shade it casts is lacy enough to not crowd out or shade out the other plants. Milk thistle and motherwort might work there. Pennyroyal...but don't feed it to your pregnant rabbits or goat etc. Lemonbalm. I love lemonbalm. Horehound. Mullein. Valerian. Oh, the Russian oregano that you get in cheap seed packets isn't much good for spaghetti sauce, but is good medicinally. I used to use eardrops with it.

Remember that Yukon Gold only makes one layer of potatoes, no matter how you try to hill them gradually.

How do you make red-bud syrup? Do you use it for coughs?

I left work early to pick up my car from the shop. It wasn't there. The shop owner hadn't seen it. My ex was able to find the name of the tow truck driver who took the car yesterday, and talk to him. He took it to the wrong shop. The right shop has taken custody and will be looking at it tomorrow. We finally have an answer for the series of illnesses and stroke-symptoms my kitten has been suffering. It's called FIP. The kitten might last months, or might die tomorrow. At least he's not contagious. Right now I'm watching the tomcat groom him. The kitten is desperately in need of grooming but not desperately grateful for it. Avengers is worth seeing on the big screen, especially if one's son is paying, but I was really glad I wore ballistic earplugs. I haven't been able to get rid of my headache since yesterday. Or maybe the day before. It's not awful. It's just there. I'm not sure whether I mentioned it here, but the boy who used to live with us was gutshot a few weeks ago. He still has one slug lodged in his spine. He is not yet coming to terms with the fact that his life has to become something very different. His frustration is so painful to see. But it could be worse. I really, really want a little bit of vanilla ice cream. DH fixed the air conditioner. Again.

You will have babies! Damp (not wet) soil. They root/re-root with amazing ease.