themartianchick

The romaine lettuce has grown about an inch since I placed it in the window. Not enough for a sandwich and only the center portion is growing. I will try to remember to post a photo.

What a nice story! I'll bet that a experience like that will resonate with a lot of the children that got to pet the lamb.

I stuck the bottom bit of some romaine lettuce in a dish of water to see if it would continue to grow... We shall see, as it's only been three days.

Praying for a speedy recovery, Sue...And seconding that your hubby will need to actively advocate for you with the medical personnel. (That means to lie back and allow him to take care of you!)

I don't have a clue. I was going to say that it looked like a two man saw lying on top of an early roto-tiller!

It is so hard to let go of the ones that we love. I'm so sorry for your loss. Our family still has not replaced the dogs that we lost years ago...Maybe this year we will do that.

Very interesting! I make ginger beer and I have recipes for a few other sodas like rootbeer, but the recipes call for yeast to produce the bubbles in the soda. I've never seen it done this way. My recipe requires less babysitting ad I can bottle it in wine bottles with screw caps. The one time that I tried to bottle it in a wine bottle with a wire cage, it somehow blew the wire cage off and the cork shot up to the ceiling. I wasn't home when it happened but the rest of the family said that it sounded like a gunshot!

I have trouble finding good wooden ones. I buy plastic ones that are pretty strong from Dollar Tree. I looked on their website, but I don't see ones like mine anymore. Mine are very big and they have a very strong spring. I'm so glad that you found us here!

Thank you all... Last night, I also realized something else. I must have had Bob on my mind last week because I dreamed about his house last week. I can't remember which day it was because my husband was at home for the week with his neck issue (so each day felt like a weekend). Hubby and I always talk about odd dreams, especially if they contain a deceased loved one or are particularly odd. I had a weird dream where my children were small and we were at my parents' house. We went for a walk across a field and suddenly, one of my kids needed to use the bathroom. I told her to knock on Bob's door and ask if she could use theirs. I've never been in this house before, but someone opened the door and let her in. Her sister and I followed and had a nice conversation with some of my childhood friends that don't live in that house. Someone took the time to read the kids an entertaining story. Bob wasn't there, but when I asked about him, I was told that he was in school in Pennsylvania. In the course of our conversation yesterday, he mentioned that he had gone to college in Pennsylvania. It took until last night for me to put two and two together. If it hadn't been for the fact that my hubby and I were laughing about my strange dream, I would have thought that I made it up. We both thought it was hilarious that I would tell a 3 year old to walk over to a home and knock on the door and ask to use the facilities! Many years ago, I found myself unemployed due to being downsized from a wonderful company. They had a generous severance package and for the first time in my life... I had time to figure out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life without much regard for money. I guess that the job had made me really sleep deprived, but I didn't know it. It was summertime and I was able to really relax. I started having really odd, vivid dreams. I was convinced that the dreams meant something and I would lay in bed in the morning to try to figure it all out. The dream about Bob's house had the same vivid feel to it. In light of what I now know about his life, I am starting to feel that maybe there is some message in it for him. As I mentioned, my children were small in the dream and someone read them a story. I'm now wondering if Bob has ever considered writing a children's book.I recall that he also had some artistic ability and was always getting caught drawing things on the back of his homework papers. I may just call him and ask if he would be interested. His stories kept me entertained. If he's never considered it, then maybe he will. His health problems prevent him from working and he seems to need something to do. I don't know if I'll share the contents of my dream with him yet...That might be too weird...but maybe it wouldn't!

I suppose that I could have posted this in the Streams of the Desert section, but it isn't specific to being a believer. There was an old friend that I'd been looking for from elementary school. Actually, there are a few that seem to have dropped off the planet, after high school graduation. Bob was special to me. He was the kind of kid that the public schools would probably recommend for Ritalin therapy. He was hyper, fun and smart as a whip! I always measured my stories against the ones that he wrote in elementary school. He showed a rare talent for writing and had one of the most creative minds that I have ever known. When the teacher would ask him to read his stories to the rest of the class, we would be practically rolling on the floor because they were always hilarious. Bob always included his classmates in each story and made sure not to make us into laughingstocks. Instead, he would be the butt of the jokes in his tales. I always wondered where he had landed in life. I half-expected that he'd landed in Hollywood as a scriptwriter for a sitcom or something. Since "Bob" (not his real name) had a very common first and last name, He was impossible to track on Facebook and none of our other friends from high school seemed to know anything about him. I saw his name on my LinkedIn page today as someone that I might know. I immediately sent a request. It turns out that he is still in the area and he asked me to call. We spoke for over an hour. We talked about old times and about the things we'd been involved in for the past 20+ years. It was absolutely wonderful! One thing that has stayed with me in the past couple of hours since that conversation was a sense of gratitude. Bob and I are the same age and yet my life has been a piece of cake compared to his. There have been a lot of health setbacks and a rocky marriage in his life. He lost his dad a few years back and his mom has been struggling emotionally since then. His health is still not good and every day is a difficult. During our conversation, he kept talking about how grateful he was to still be here on earth and that God must have a reason for allowing him to be here. I kept thinking about the everyday happenings that I moan and groan about and how minor they really are in the grand scheme of things. Bob struggles every day and doesn't really know if he'll be here to finish raising his child and I whine when my husband tracks mud on the floor. I really have nothing to complain about and I've decided to stop fussing about the little things. It's funny, but the moment that I made that decision...I instantly felt that it was the right one. I've said more than a few prayers for Bob since I got off the phone, but I have no doubt that he probably said a few for me! He's just that kind of guy...

That's what I was thinking, Jeepers. There ae lots of things that I'd love to be able to can, but I know that I can't. There is a lot more diversity in the American diet and a lot of ethnic cuisine is now mainstream. Is there any money in running a canning test kitchen?

It is so nice to have you here!

A question for Violet - Is the issue the acidity? I am posting a recipe for sofrito below that I found online. I've never used it, but it seems like it is so similar to most spaghetti sauce recipes. Is there a way to get a recipe tested for canning? I know that when I can, I tend to add extra lemon juice or citric acid to make sure that the acidity won't cause a problem. I can be a lazy homesteader, so I tend to freeze or dehydrate things far more often than I actually can. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sofrito/

It does sound like sofrito. I make pico de gallo and I can't imagine ever trying to can it. It is good because it s made with fresh ingredients and served fresh. Pico is the only way that I eat raw tomatoes. I started making it because my Cuban neighbor brought me some tomatoes from his garden years ago and I wanted to be able to say that I'd actually eaten them. I had eaten pico in a restaurant before and found a recipe for it online. The basic ingredients are finely diced tomatoes, lime juice, onions & cilantro.

Thanks, Becca Anne!

Welcome Back! It sounds as though you did all of the things that we advocate here when money is tight. I'm so glad that things are looking up for you! Pull up a chair and stay awhile!

Thanks for the birthday and anniversary wishes! We had a wonderful time... Hubby's sister threw a party for both events and most of the family was in attendance. That is no small feat since hubby has a very large family. We laughed and danced and did karaoke. We even threatened to post the videos on Youtube of Facebook. This evening, we may go out for dinner or we'll decide to wait a couple of days and go on one of his days off due to the injury. He isn't being cooperative about his injury and just finished shoveling the end of the driveway where the snowplow plugged us in. I've got the duct tape out, just in case...

Thank you all for the well-wishes! One of my favorite sayings is, "Silence is golden...Duct tape is silver!" I have been threatening to do the frying pan thing to him since he came home with the cervical collar on. He just won't stay down. Since it is muscle damage, he just needs to heal a bit. The doctors aren't worried about the bone spurs since they are in a non-threatening area. They aren't actually causing him any discomfort. One week at home with TheMartianMan...(sigh) Today is hubby's 55th birthday and he's probably only missed 2 or three days of work in 20 years with this company. It is also our wedding anniversary! Maybe I'll wait til tommorrow to break out the duct tape.

The sci-fi fanatic in me is envisioning the rise of the ZOMBIE WEEDS!!!

On Tuesday, hubby went off to work. After parking the car, he crossed the parking lot and slipped and fell on icy pavement. He sent me a text message about it and I sent one back telling him to make sure to report it. He felt that it was unnecessary, but did as I asked. He was achy from the fall but didn't think much of it. His neck was bothering him a bit, but he wasn't too concerned. Wednesday night he got dizzy before going to bed. I told him to tell his boss that he needed to go to the doctor. Yesterday at 11:30 am, I got a text message from him saying that he had a broken neck. They sent him home in a cervical collar and made an appointment with a specialist for today. Although we know that it can happen, it just seemed so odd that he could have a broken neck and NOT know it! We made sure that our ducks were in a row and double-checked the disability insurance policy, etc... Everything was in good shape. If this had to happen, then this was the right time for us to be able to cope. Soo...I went with him to his appointment with the orthopedist. It turns out that he's torn some muscles in his neck and shoulder, but his neck isn't broken. Instead, there are a couple of fragments that are likely excess calcium/bone deposits that are no longer attached to his C-4 and C-5. They are at the front of the spine and not at the back where all of the "important" stuff that is necessary to walking and movement is located. Bottom Line? We are so fortunate that he was not badly injured and that his neck is NOT broken as he'd been told. I have no idea as to how long it would have taken to recover from that type of injury... I'm just thankful that we dodged the bullet on this one! God is good and hubby is back to plucking my last doggone nerve because he won't sit down and rest. He's out of work for a week, but the doctor may let him return early. Martianmen are not known for being good patients!

I'd love to see a photo of a Percheron. They are my favorites! Before the kids were in college (which is code for when we actually had money for vacations) we used to travel to Florida a lot. We always loved visiting Busch Gardens to see the Budweiser Clydesdale barn. We've spent hours there over the years!

You can send a Kindle book to someone else for a loan of a couple of weeks. 1- Log in to your Amazon account 2- Return to the Amazon.com page for the book. 3- At the top of the page there is a slim yellow banner that has the date that yohu purchased the item and that you can loan it to someone else. 4- Click the link that says Loan this Book. It takes you to a form that allows you to send it to someone else via email. They will receive information explaining how to download it.

You could just add the powdered milk when you make it. It would just be one small step. I wouldn't use the coffee-mate type creamer, though. It's non-dairy, but what the heck izzit made from?

Your husband has the ability to change, but he needs to have the WILL to do so. People that were raised on very little money are usually either very frugal or they can spend foolishly. The experience of poverty can produce two very different lifestyles. Since our hubby doesn't want any outside help from seminars or therapists, you might have to deliver a message that he will listen to. Try telling him that there is no money for the extravagances and show it to him on paper. Explain that there isn't enough money to keep the power on, buy groceries, get the car note paid, the mortgage paid, etc... Let him know that if you don't make changes now, then the family will end up on the street. It sounds harsh, but it is the truth. Your family is getting closer and closer to poverty and living on the street in $400 increments each month... and this is after a 10% paycut. As for a separate bank account... Every woman should have one. Not because of bad husbands, but because anything can happen that can cause you to lose access to your funds. This is prudent emergency preparedness.