Mother

What LS said! ^ I have encouraged a lot of people to write, Jeepers, but seriously, I believe you should be writing a book. You have a wonderful humorous way of looking at life’s events and if you even just went back through your posts on Mrs S and compiled them into a book it would be a best seller. You teach us all that life can be really difficult but humor soothes the rough spots and that when life gives you lemons you make lemonade. From the depths of my ❤️ I thank you for those lessons.

Only Jeepers! ,!! Or maybe me… Thanks for the comic relief. I was laughing too hard to even read this to DH. He’s had some tough times lately and it even got a chuckle out of him.

Ambergris,,,,

Happy birthday, Blessed. I hope your day was super. 🌹🎂🍦

We have a small spring fed pond with only a few fish and lots of duck weed in it. We use Dunks. They are a biological mosquito control that doesn’t harm the animals or etc. They are donut shaped and float on the top as they slowly dissolve. We use pieces of them in my self watering grow boxes, in our fountain, and in any area that might get water in it. The pieces can even dry out and then still be usable when they get wet again. We have voracious mosquitoes here and these really do help.

Happy birthday, Little Sister. Have a SUPER day.

I do hang some herbs, especially woody ones, to dry, mostly for the nice aroma in the house and to use as aromatic fire starters or additives. Most of my tea or medicinal herbs and greens I dry in my dehydrator. When I had my herb shop with its extensive herb beds I dried herbs in a cabinet sized home made solar dehydrator but finished them off in the oven to ensure sanitation and dryness. Something to think about is how to dry herbs in a SHTF situation. You can buy or make hanging mesh drying racks similar to the cylinder type that they use for toys in kids rooms. They can collapse to almost nothing to store and are enclosed enough to keep bugs off and keep the drying leaves from blowing around in a breeze.

For those making your own teas, in case you don’t know, there are dozens of ways to prepare your leaf teas. There are all sorts of disposable empty tea bags. (Easily found on Amazon or ?) Most have drawstrings to close them but some are heat sealed. There are wonderful tea ‘spoons’ or ‘balls’ to fill and all kinds of tea strainers to use. You can make tea in most coffee makers using coffee filters and if I’m making a large quantity I use my very old non electric drip coffee pot. My favorite way to make tea is as sun tea in a jar. Root or bark teas often take some simmering though and are better prepared loose in the water and then strained. How do you prepare your home grown or foraged teas?

The chocolate taste doesn’t come through strongly but I do enjoy its brighter flavor. The orange and pineapple mint are very fruity tasting in my opinion. The problem with mints is that grown near each other they often take on a similar flavor or are taken over by the stronger mints. Still, it is so much fun to grow some of the dozens of varieties of mint. 😁😋

Ambergris, how very interesting.

Dogmom. I hope this day is special in every possible way!

HPPY BIRTHDAY, MIKI. I hope your day was filled with joy and love!!!

There are plant based omega 3 oil supplements out there for those who don’t like or can’t tolerate fish.

Derecho’s are more like straight line winds but they cover more than 200 miles. They can be as devastating as the recent disaster of clusters of tornados hitting a two or three state area.

We missed the worst of that wind, thankfully. I pray for those who were hit with it. Like Jeepers I had never heard the word ‘derecho’ until after we had been hit with the first one that went through our area.

Miki, I know people here who put their mailbox on an I-beam and then disguise it with wood facings. The vandals get a huge surprise when they try to run it down. A big costly surprise……📫

I like your way, Annarchy. I might have to try that. Sounds like they would be fresher tasting.

Consider this. Businesses of all kinds are in it for the profit. And the bigger ones need to keep the shareholders happy. It makes no difference how kind and caring their advertisements make them sound…..they cannot operate at a loss. Unfortunately, some are more greedy than others. Remember the old adage though. The bigger they are the harder they fall. I believe our economy is in that category.

I have frozen beets. For me the key is to have them steamed or boiled long enough to slip the skins easily but not so long as to be overcooked. Then when you reheat them they are just nicely done. Lately we have been finding diced beets in steamable packages. They take only minutes to be ready and are great on salads. Consider dicing them before freeing if you like them that way. They are hard to dice after freezing. You did great growing those beets. 👍

Happy Birthday, Madison. Have a super day. 🌹

Have you considered putting it in boxes on the drive out near the street with a big ‘free’ sign. If it isn’t taken it will at least be boxed up for you to donate it somewhere, perhaps at a homeless shelter. Or to trash it if you decide. You at least tried to help someone that way. It’s really good of you to think of others, Little Sister.

Our red raspberries are just starting but it’s pretty dry here so very few. Already missed the mulberries and the wild raspberries that are close to the house. They were very small, dry and dropped early. I see the birds being only mildly interested. Strange year here.

Becca, it is so hard not being with them. I have grands and great grands (like 38? Some) scattered all over the US and Facebook picts and videos has been my heart ache saver. Just having that random picture pop up on FB makes my day. Not quite the same as snuggles but it helps.

Have a super day!