TellaGraham's Profile

@Life in Europe, I laugh to think of the German neighbors. My husband is German, and whenever we visit, I always laugh to see those tiny, immaculate front yard that no one ever uses. In my husband's village, everyone hangs out in their larger, walled (immaculate) back yards.
One day I was standing on the tiny front yard, waiting for the Husband and his Mum, and I waved at someone biking by the yard, just the sort of casual "hey" wave I grew up with in the South. The guy swerved his bike and nearly fell off. My husband and his Mum cracked up when I told them. Apparently, waving at people you don't know is surprising!

I was just talking about the parties my parent used to have when my sister and I were ages 6-12. Mom and Dad moved the tv into our room, gave us great snacks, and told us that they did not want to see us in the front of the house unless someone was on fire or bleeding.
It was great. We watched tv in bed, which back in the 70s was an amazing treat, we only had one tv in the house and it was NOT in our bedroom. We got to eat the snacks, and maybe peek into the living room to see the adults playing cards or visiting.
Today though, most people I know don't have any control over their kids and seem to think that they should be included in everything from card parties to cocktail parties.

We have a fairly thick mattress pad on our bed to protect the mattress from sweat, bodily oils etc.
We were delighted to find out that it offered protection against something else.
Our elderly dog was on the bed, and unable to jump down by himself, he peed on the bed. I grabbed him and put him on the floor, ripped the blankets and sheets off, and whippped the mattress cover off. Complete save, not one bit of urine got through to the mattress. It's a LOT easier to wash a mattress pad than figure out how to deodorized an expensive mattress.

Anything with a big taproot. Comfrey works. The best thing you can do is just keep adding organic matter. Anything organic: chopped up leaves, compost, aged manure/straw, sawdust (thought that takes a while to break down), the leaves of weed plants (but not the seeds!). Just keep getting that organic matter in and eventually your soil soil will have some tilth.

There just aren't enough adoptive families out there. Those of us in dog rescue work hard to find homes and it is tough. For the cat rescuers it is almost impossible, there are just so many that need homes.

I hope this encourages AT readers to get their next animal from a shelter. Adopt...don't shop!

I'm getting ready to work with a landscape designer to transfer my rotten front lawn to a no-mow grass-free area full of native plants - a mix of shrubs, small trees, and perennials that will be good for the local insects, butterflies, etc.

We are going to develop a plan to execute over several years to plant mainly edibles in the back yard.

I make them with one cup water, 1 scoop whey powder, double handfull of spinach or kale, and any fruit (fresh or frozen) I have around.

I get that there are people that like coconut water, and for those who do, more power to you, but how is coconut water more hydrating than water? Isn't water pretty much the definition of HYDRATING? (smiling)

At this time of year it seems like all I want to read is books about gardening and flower catalogs. Timely post, thanks!

Love your "1 butt kitchen" comment. We have a small kitchen too, and at Thanksgiving as my mother and I cooked together, she said, "You know, this really isn't a two butt kitchen."

I just wish people would RSVP and then send thank yous. That's all.