Mother

My vitamin D levels have been low for years and nothing I do or take brings it up.  I’ve done prescription 50,000 IU weekly, 7000 a day, liquid sublingual, and sunshine. It has never been above 21 and has been as low as 9.  Several years ago my doctor ordered genetic testing and we found I have two defective VDR genes.  Vitamin D Receptor genes.  My body doesn’t process it well.  Currently I take 9000 IU of a liquid sublingual D3 daily as the RX makes me sick and last test was the highest one of 21.   I have to carefully regulate my calcium and vitamin K2.  Hard to balance the K because of warfarin.  Sometimes life gets complicated. 

 ->. Euphrasyne, 

5 hours ago, Jeepers said:

 

I don't plan on hanging around my coffin for very long. I have things I want to do. A wandering spirit. 

Oh my dear Jeepers.  God does work through others in ways we rarely see.   I think of heaven with joy but along with it has gone the awareness of how much I will miss my family here.  I have never once thought of heaven in that tangible way and now I can’t stop thinking about it in those very pleasant terms.  I do have thoughts of the meetings I’d have with God and with my family and friends but never with the details you present.  Just the thought of actually having tea with my Mom, as we used to in life, has put a big smile in my heart.  I, too, have an unfulfilled wandering spirit and my expectation of heaven has just risen higher than ever!  Thank you for sharing those thoughts with us.  Humerus as those thoughts might be, they have lifted my dreams for life into a new level!  Thank you!   I needed those words.

 I have ancestors in Scotland and Ireland and always wanted to go.  I’ll meet you there!  

8 hours ago, Mt_Rider said:

I'm going to have to carry a barf bag and ginger ale/ginger cookies on the flights to Maui. 

Try crystallized ginger also.  The bit of sugar long with the stronger real ginger helps with nausea and gives a small boost to the blood sugar levels. 

I have been periodically following the Amos Miller fiasco for a while now.  I have been waiting for the PTB to go after our Amish butter makers.  They sell at the farmers market in Iowa though and that state has some recent better laws regarding raw milk and products.  We order it and pick it up there just to be more legal. 
 

A bit of lesson on goat’s milk taste…….  Goat’s milk is only as good as the goat and the milker.  Not all goat’s give sweet milk but generally speaking to get sweet tasting milk any milk goat needs to be healthy and free from parasites.  The feed they consume needs to be watched as some plants and feed will give the milk an off flavor.  Similarly fresh spring grass will make cows milk as well as goat’s milk have a ‘grassy’ taste.  And with goat’s, the milking needs to be seriously extra sanitary. My favorite milk goats are Nigerian Dwarf goats. They give an extremely high fat content milk but are not prolific enough to use in commercial dairies.  I have milked a LOT of Nigies and not one had bad milk. And in fact I have milked a lot of other breeds too and only one or two had off tasting milk….as long as I was super careful to keep them, the milk, and the equipment super clean, kept them healthy, gave them good quality feed.  I have had people drink the milk and never knew it was goat’s milk.  It is the same for goat’s cheese.  Now mind you, goat’s cheese is SUPPOSED to be different.  In general I dislike commercial goat milk.  The same with commercial goat cheese but I loved loved loved the milk and the cheeses I made with my own fresh milk.  And that was either goat or cow’s milk.  There’ was a lot more milk and cream with our cows though.  Lot’s more!!!  
 

Jeepers, if you don’t drink much milk it wouldn’t be worth keeping a milk animal.  But if you ever did consider it you probably would like Nigerian Dwarf milk if it was handled right.  
 

We can’t legally get raw milk for human consumption in Illinois.  When you do get it, it has to be direct from the farm in your own containers.  We have a friend who had an organic jersey herd and got raw milk from him for years.  It was $5 a gallon at that time and was about an hour’s drive there and back to get it.  It’s $10 a gallon now and he only milks one cow and has only enough for close neighbors.  We do have Amish in the area and are able to get beautiful deep yellow natural raw butter from them and we buy it ten pounds at a time at $5 a pound.  Well worth it. 
 

If I were up to milking again, I’m not, I would have a couple Nigerian Dwarf milk goats.  They are the jerseys of the goat world and give a good amount of rich but pure white cream. Big sigh, I sure miss raw milk. 

10 hours ago, Mt_Rider said:

I'd chose to do mine without the help of the dratted burrowing critters.....or elk toes in my carrots....or deer taking big chomps outta my broccoli.  Hmph!

It appears that the criteria for your experiments needs a little tweaking. 

There was no raw milk thread started here though the controversy concerning it has been ongoing for years.  I bring it up now because of the latest info (true or not) about a connection between it and the bird flu.  
 

This link is to an article by Sally Fallon Morell, the author of Nourishing Traditions and major component and advocates of Raw Milk.  Thanks to Out Of The Ordinary for finding it! 

https://nourishingtraditions.com/raw-milk-at-the-crossroads-again/  

14 hours ago, euphrasyne said:

If you are going to eat it, use all parts of it.  That is my philosophy.  Respect what you use and do not waste it.  

👍 My philosophy exactly. 

8 hours ago, Jeepers said:

Yeah, I'm special that way.  

Yes, you definitely are!  
 

And your house must be special too ‘cause it seemed like the perfect place to nest to those woodpeckers.  We always used to joke here that I must have an X on my house because injured wildlife always seemed to find their way to me.  I bet your house has a welcome sign for woodpeckers.  

Woodpeckers can indeed be destructive but can also tell you something about the wood they are pecking at.  If there is one hole they are working on especially if the wood is rotting or soft they probably think the area would be a good place to nest.  If you find a line of small holes or an area riddled with small holes they are probably finding insects to eat. It could be termites but it could also be just ants or other insects.  If it is insects you might consider spraying the wood to kill the insects.

To discourage them you could try hanging bright shiny moving things in the area.  Things like pinwheels, Mylar helium filled balloons, wind socks, wind chimes, or strips of aluminum foil. . You can also try owl or hawk silhouettes placed under eves or overhangs. You do have to move them often as woodpeckers are smart and soon figure there is no threat. Another idea is to record their own or other woodpecker’s calls and play them near where the birds are attracted. Periodic loud noises works but the neighbors might object.  If woodpeckers (or other birds) are pecking at your window glass they are probably seeing their own reflection and are trying to fight with it. They are very territorial. Sometimes just putting something inside the windows to block the reflection stops that. Or using a cut out of an owl or hawk there.  You can also use two dark round circles on those windows to resemble eyes. Line men and tree workers often paint eyes on the back of their hard hats to discourage birds from attacking them.  Bird dislike eyes staring at them as it’s a threat.  

Always pay attention to what the animal or bird has to tell you.  
 

First, congratulations to her.  She has probably just taken the first steps on a wonderful journey of learning.
 

We took our DS out of school at the beginning of sixth grade almost 35 years ago. Before homeschool was main stream.  He was flunking so many subjects and was given the choice of HS or summer school/tutor. The adjustment was not easy but eventually he exceeded his own wildest imagination and finished high school two years early.  We also helped homeschool our DGS through all twelve grades.  Both are wonderful, caring, smart, innovative, and well rounded men. (22 and 43) We also have several grands who are homeschooling our great grands.  Thirteen at last count so far.  Grades preschool to seventh. Most of them use student led schooling in addition to the required subjects.
 

The fact that your DGD is actively being involved with her continuing education will make the transition much easier. Student led learning is the best as long as she meets the criteria for her state’s requirements.  OOTO  has given you one of the most reliable organizations to help them with the process. The Homeschool Legal Defense Association has been around for decades. 
 

If she loves sports have them check with the school to see if she can still participate in sports at the school.  Many schools will allow that.  Also have them check for home school groups in their area. Often times they have not only their own sports teams but also parents or even grandparents who will agree to teach or help kids with subjects the parents don’t feel comfortable with.  I helped with our DGS’s group teaching arts and crafts, things like weaving and other fiber arts, pioneer living/history, cheese making, gardening, archery, and more  (in a hands on way).  Our DD helped tutor older kids in accounting and management, which she does for a living. 
 

My advice to you as grandmother is to be supportive, encouraging, and offer to do what you can to help,  Sometimes the hardest part of homeschooling is the opposition you get from relatives who don’t understand and have fears the child will be uneducated or miss out on ‘social interaction’.  Those people are usually products of their own government propaganda that told them education could only be gotten from school led curriculums and Certified teachers. 
 

Think of all the knowledge you have, Necie.  You didn’t get it all from public school.   Take a deep breath.  She will be fine.  

6 hours ago, Necie said:

So I need to lift them and/or put stone in the bottom and/or just move them.

Yeh, probably.  As they already have soil in them an option is to just go ahead and drill some holes on the sides away from the building.  If you can slip some ground cloth or straw inside over those holes it will help with clogging.  Remember, you will most likely be dumping the contents onto a tarp at the end of the season and if you liked the results you can redesign them for the following year.  There are no mistakes in gardening only fun little experiments.  

I have a squirrel digging in my deck beds. Thankfully they are unplanted except for my regrows I have been planting out there again this year. I bought a roll of vinyl coated hardware cloth to make hoops to cover those beds.  I ordered 1/4” mesh thinking it would also be a good chewing insect barrier as we always end up with a lot of chewed leaves.  It is stiff enough to make hooped cages from that I, hopefully, can just tip up to work under. My thought was to be able to use them as season extenders with plastic covers as well but I’m concerned the mesh is too small and will block the sun too much.  
 

I’ve had that mesh three weeks but it’s still sitting in its box for the simple reason DH and I aren’t strong enough to get it out and unroll it, let alone get it cut to size. DGS was on vacation this week and came down a couple of times to help us with other things but he had so many things of his own to do he couldn’t give us a lot of time.  Totally understandable.  He’s a great young man and so good to us.  (And to others) I would never complain.  
 

I started no seedlings this year but will direct seed most things and I’m more than ready to start planting.  Soon as the weather cooperates.  We’ve had almost eighty degrees interspersed with frost for several weeks.  I’m concentrating on medicinal plants this year and some of them will be sensitive to cold feet so I’m practicing patience.  Believe me, I need to practice that…..

DH just reminded me that those strawberry baskets were similar to the ones we made with pvc water pipes in the center and gave a few tips.  (I love it when he has a day his mind is working).  First the pvc pipe might be bigger to hold more water.  Perhaps even three inch.  Second the holes should be small seep hole types and if possible the pipe could be wrapped with ground cloth or the drain field pipe cover like we used on the drains in our deck boxes to keep soil from filling in the holes.  Third, the bottom of the pvc pipe shoild be capped to keep more of the water higher in the pipe or the top part of the planter soil will be too dry.  Though the flowers on top would help bring the moisture up. He also suggests a cap for the top of the pipe to keep soil and debris from filling the pipe. 
 

And one final word for Necie.  Drilling holes one or two inches up on the side of a tub is preferable to drilling the drain holes in the bottoms.  That allows some water to stay in the bottom to help keep the soil moist and the holes won’t get clogged as fast. With holes on the bottoms you might want to raise the tub off the ground a bit to keep them draining well.  Unless of course they get too dry, then you might be glad of less drainage.  
 

Mind you, DH is NOT a gardener but he sure has built a lot of garden paraphernalia over the last 62 years for ME to garden. 

I will be interested in the potato project, Necie. With so many varieties it I’ll be a good way to see which does best in containers. In the past I’ve found fingerlings do well.

Becca. I liked MM’s strawberry ‘barrel’ too.  Flowers on top is a great idea.  You might have to be careful of ho deep rooted they are and feed them more often depending on the oil used.  
 

Keep the reports and ideas going. Maybe I’ll get motivated. 

36 minutes ago, Mt_Rider said:

Uh oh.  DH just came in to announce:  Israel just sent bombs over to Iran's nuke facilities.

Not a lot of info known yet.  ABC seems to have reported it first in a breaking news report but a couple others are picking up on it now.  One report out of Iran says there were noises heard but it was some drones they shot down.???  Something to watch.  

1 hour ago, Littlesister said:

Getting my plans together for the raised beds.

You could use some of that firewood in the bottoms of those raised beds to act as a sort of hugelkultur system and to help fill up the beds to utilize less soil.  Works well 

6 hours ago, Andrea said:

The nasturtium salt is okay and I will be making this as gifts in the future but I think the nasturtium vinegar is the best recipe when I have nasturtiums taking over the yard.  

Thank you for this info.  It’s too early here for planting yet but I always grow nasturtiums.  I can’t wait to try these recipes.  I bookmarked it and will be checking out other nasturtiums recipes.  

9 hours ago, Necie said:

I went to look at the canning time for the soup and it’s 90 minutes. Same as meat. 🤷‍♀️ Doesn’t make sense to me, but that’s what I did. Don’t know why, but I was thinking 40-45 minutes. Hasn’t been that long since I canned it. 🥴 D@mn CRS!!

My rule of thumb for canning things like soup or mixed foods was to can for the item with the longest time. In your case meat. 
 

I have CRS too…..but I finally have old age to blame it on! 

Becca Anne, I have AFIB and other heart rhythm abnormalities and have a pacemaker (which will probably need replacing in a year or so).  It really does give one peace of mind knowing those devices are able to help.  
 

Jeepers, if the olive oil doesn’t help, try mayonnaise.  I’ve had a month long monitor several times and that always works for me afterwards. 

Boating for me is more because I have an inner ear disease that prevents me from both boating and flying.  I’m doing good to even ride in a vehicle without major vertigo.  Sometimes even watching things move, like water, causes a problem but I really do like being near the water.  And I do like throwing a line in and see what I catch.  And I love to watch others fish.  So much so that my GD, who lives in VA, took me, via her phone out on the pier near them so I could watch a man bring in a nice sized fish.  He was so intrigued with me watching him fish in Va from Illinois he took time to explain what he was using and what the fish was.  He was still chuckling about it when ‘we’ left. 
 

By the way, she took me to see the cherry blossoms at the capital too!  I missed the smell in both places though. 

     My uncle owned a bait and tackle shop when I was young.   I loved going there but as a child was more fascinated with the live bait. I fished a lot with a bamboo pole with a line and hook.  DH’s grandfather bought me my first Rod and Reel at that shop when he came to live with us, after he had his leg removed, as a thank you for me seeing he  got to go fishing again.  That was the only new rig I ever had.  I fished a LOT with it over the years. From the bank.  I do not do boats but love being around the water.  
 

I love fish.  Not real crazy about small bones though. When DS1 lived in Texas he periodically would bring us BIG ocean fish by the coolers full for the freezer but then the darn kid moved and got old and stopped fishing, LOL.  Our DS3 fishes a lot and brings us the most wonderful cat fish.  I especially love the belly meat.  
 

I will avidly follow your fishing tales and pictures.  
PS, be sure to deduct the cost of entertaining US from that expense. 

20 hours ago, Littlesister said:

My worry is that she is giving her chunks of food to eat, and she has no teeth yet and both my DD and I are afraid if she doesn't puree it or at least cut it up really fine she might get choked. She is going to have to watch her closely. 

I was concerned about this as well with my great grands but it seems to be working for all of them.  Check out this link or some of the other info on Baby Led Weaning. https://www.yummytoddlerfood.com/first-foods-for-baby/  

16 minutes ago, Littlesister said:

My DGD has now started feeding the baby food. She makes her own. I am thinking about making it and canning it

Be sure to check with your GD first.  Some mothers don’t want their babies to have canned foods, believing fresh is best. Most of our grands fed their babies fresh. Several of them started with Avocado.