I was thinking of her today too as I perused HMF. Come back Strawberry Hill. I too hope all is well.
Susan

Wow, I had the same thought last night and hoped everything was OK with her!

Strawberry where are you?

I was thinking about her just yesterday. Maybe she's traveling?

Hi Jeannie, Susan, Seil, and Brittie: Kim (Roseseek) e-mailed me about Gina Rose that he's rooting for me and mentioned this thread. Gina Rose is a red thornless rose bred by Ralph Moore. Thanks for thinking about me.

Since Bluegirl in Texas had a team of gorillas chopping holes for her, I have been training a team of squirrels to dig holes for my incoming 10 bands from Burlington Roses. Actually I have been informing folks in the Cooking Forum about the evils of tight socks while cooking, they reverse the blood flow backwards to their brain, that's why socks screw up their cooking. I posted stuff in the Cooking Forum like:

"I don't have elephant feet either, I wear size 6 woman. So it must be a conspiracy between Hanes and Fruit of the Loom to make socks that shrink to infant sizes in the dryer, so people have to buy more. Yes, I stretch these socks on top of every cans, including oatmeal in my pantry. People would open my pantry and exclaim, "what's this, a socks party?"

For more good laughs, check out the below thread that I posted in the Cooking Forum. Folks brought up exotic dishes like "Roasted Warthog Rectum". I can be myself there: crazy and zany. I was that way at first in the Antique Roses Forum - but someone criticized my sense of humor, so I became serious and it was no longer fun.

Here is a link that might be useful: What's the worst dish you made or ate?

I think strawberryhill's decision to leave the rose forums is a reminder to us that we need to be careful in how we present our views, and to be aware that feelings can easily be hurt by the tone of a message, as much as by the content. I will certainly miss her, and I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one.

Ingrid

Awww, Straw, say it ain't so! We miss ya. You can even borrow my gorillas.

Though I haven't personally been "jumped" here (yet), I'm thinking of adding a 'sig' to posts, just in case:
"Justmyopionin, YMMV, FWIW, this works for me/myclimate/myplants," TM.

come back & keep joking--we need the laughs. Best wishes :)

This post was edited by bluegirl on Wed, Jan 16, 13 at 22:53

I second Ingrid on the tone of the message can be misunderstood and feelings get hurt. I should educate myself on the chat symbols for smilley faces, instead of the trite LOL!

The second aspect is "freedom of speech", if I can't be myself, there's no point of wasting time in forums. We all are entitled to be ourselves: I am free to be as funny as possible, and Ingrid is free to talk about the beloved creatures in her garden. No one should censor me for my sense of humor, nor censoring Ingrid for unrelated topics of animals in her garden that she cares for. A lot of my jokes have nothing to do with roses.

In the Cooking Forum that I recently joined, there's a respected member that got banned. Sure, that person is a senior member with experience, but she treated newbies with a condescending ego-streak that cut people down. Someone reported her bullying to the forum manager, and she got banned. It's yes to "free to be oneself" and talk about any topic, but "no" to attacking others. It's safe to talk about oneself, but one enters the "unsafe" zone when speaking for others.

I get sick of being misunderstood, that I have to begin every sentence with "IN MY GARDEN ONLY" OR "in my compost pile only". At least in the cooking forum I don't have to begin every sentence with "in my kitchen only." I always speak for myself, but I got nit-picked anyway.

Sorry to hear that--I find your humor uplifting & your posts very helpful & enlightening.

That cooking forum is a hoot! I may have to lurk there for the laughs even though I'm not a cook.

Hi Bluegirl: The cooking forum is a good place for Newbies since they are talking about how a nasty and bullying member got banned. I find it more nurturting and supportive with cooks who take care of their families and their health, such as lose weight, lower lipids and blood pressure.

There are less control-freaks in there. There are less ego involved, such as my roses are the best or my way is the best. I spend time in the Rose Forum to search for info. and answers. I don't pull info from my armpits ... I spend tons of hours researching, such as talking with the rosarian at Cantigny park (1,200 roses), or finding how the Chicago Botanical Garden (5,000 roses) feed their roses, or checking on University Extension sites.

To find out why Ingrid's Dark Lady is bright red, it took 1/2 hour, to find out the NPK of her granite soil, it took another 1/2 hour. But I'm glad to find the answers for Ingrid, who is in the forum to share her love of roses, and not to nit-pick the info. I gave.

There are 2 types of people in a forum: those who search and share info., and those who nit-pick the info. given. Mike_rivers, a retired chemist in his 70's, doesn't visit the forums even with his wealth of knowledge. I appreciate him for being fair and standing up for me when I was attacked:

Posted by mike_rivers z5 MI (My Page) on Tue, Nov 1, 11 at 15:12 "Jaxondel and Flaurabunda, I'd far rather hear your facts to dispute Strawberryhill's claims, than read your attacks on her sense of humor."

I also appreciate Kippy_the_Hippy standing up for me when I was attacked by sharing the research done by United Kingdom and Sweden on "The influence of pH on fungal growth". Kippy asked the attacker, "do you have any valid research, then start your own post, rather than attacking Straw."

Although University of Haiwaii Extension stated the 3 factors that help with phosphorus (more blooms and root-growth) in soil are: humus (composted pine bark or hay), sand, and organic matters. I don't post such, unless I do experiments in my garden first. I dug up roses just to check on root-growth and find the best soil-medium.

I'm driven to do experiments to find why my last house had tons of BS, but zero in my present house, only 1/2 hour away. I still get nit-picked for sharing the results of my experiments. I got insulted by sarcastic remarks, despite my B.S. degree in Computer Science and minor in chemistry. Some folks in the forum are not interested in answers, they are out for an ego-boost, or to control others.

I respect Ingrid for speaking in the language of love: love for roses and for the creatures in her garden. But forum bullies speak in the language of power and control, Bullies also make sarcastic comments for ego-boost, that's why I left for a more nurturing place, the Cooking Forum.

Hi Straw..
I spend less time here than I used to. So was not aware of the problem directed at you. I globally apologize to you for the offending post.Like most people, I've occasionally been flamed. It doesnt feel good. I try to picture the ignoramous as a slimey green troll.
Try it..
Jeannie

Straw,
When I first posted on the Forum I had some experts gang up on me, I felt, and it was a while before I posted again. I think I was a little prickly because I live in a state that has been the butt of jokes (potatoes, anyone?), and a haven for rednecks, not red roses. Buy, hey, I received a good share of my college education in the Golden State, and lived there as a newlywed (both north and south). My daughter is even that rare creature, a Cal native. And, guess what, I minored in chemistry, too, with a major in zoology. So I appreciate all the research you do, straw, and wish you'd come back to the Rose Forum (and post more photos of your gorgeous roses). Try the Rose Gallery, too. I've found the members who post there to be extra friendly. Diane

Hi Strawberryhill, I want to wish you and all the folks on the Forum a Happy New Year! I hope our gardens bring us much joy in this new year.

Hi Strawberry, I am glad some one posted this. I had been checking to see what happened to you on a couple of forums. I figured that you were taking the winter off from roses while yours were hidden under a white blanket of snow.

I wish you were closer, I can see you and a few others on this forum as being a lot of fun to hang out and visit gardens with. We might all do different things and have different visions for our own gardens, but that is what makes gardening so fun. There is no right way and Ma Nature is going to have the last laugh.

Personally, I am feeling totally stressed and behind because it is January and I am not ready for spring. I think I need some real winter so I can have a garden break!

Tomorrow it is back to working on the new entry arch and transplanting roses. (today was a goof off day-looked at sail boats)

So

What is for dinner? And it better not be warthog!

I mentioned your cooking adventures to my cat while he was smelling flowers. He's really into wafting fragrances, kinda like you.

{{gwi:220264}}

Roasted warthog? He immediately straightened up and wanted to know more.

{{gwi:220265}}

He said he didn't know what a roasted warthog is but wanted to know if you knew how to cook these. Times are getting hard and canned cat food may be a thing of the past around here. He's reading a book called "Survival in Hard Times for the Refined Cat." He is not into rodents, I'm not either, can't blame him. Not sure about the sea gulls either, but they are plentiful, I'll give him that. Let me know if you come across any recipes and I'll pass them along.

{{gwi:220266}}

And you know, I love roses and gardening, but hey, they're just plants. It's a hobby. People are more important. And cats, don't forget cats.

Thank you, Gean (Harborrose), for making me laugh so hard with those pictures. How can I resist your compassion and sense of humor? Thank you, Kippy, for your friendship and ditto with Krista's warm wishes. Jeannie comforted me with her grace, and Diane helped me with her previous experience. I appreciate all your kind words and encouragement.

I am very impressed with Bluegirl's self-defense codes in case someone jump on her. Bluegirl wrote: "Though I haven't personally been "jumped" here (yet), I'm thinking of adding a 'sig' to posts, just in case: "Justmyopionin, YMMV, FWIW, this works for me/myclimate/myplants," TM.

Hi Bluegirl: What is YMMV? Does that mean "You May Mock Viciously?" What is FWIW? Does that mean "For when I waddle?" I assume TM means "Think Mighty".

I also come up with my personal signature in case I post again. It's IMHO (in my humble opinion) and IMOG (in my own garden). So it's IMHO + IMOG, if written in algebraic form, it's IM (HO + OG). If I write this before I post: Disclaimer: IM (HO + OG) ... that should cover my buns in case someone want to nit-pick.

For more codes, such as =) for smiley face and other Emoticons, check out the link below:

Here is a link that might be useful: How to type Emoticons

Strawberryhill - I too, miss your posts. I am sorry that anyone on here has hurt your feelings - that has happened to me, and I am sure to many others. However, I quickly figured out that there were only a very few people posting over critical or nasty things, and that everyone else was friendly and went out of their way to be helpful.

One time, someone responded to a post of mine in the most amazingly nasty, vicious, and almost even pornographic way, and two others cheered her on - I couldn't believe it. But Mellissa immediately came to my defense, and that made me feel so good...

I have come to the conclusion that the best response to any sort of attack (or perceived attack - sometimes it is just really a misunderstanding) on myself is to ignore it. I don't respond, I don't try to explain, and that way it does not escalate. I hope you will start posting on here again - you have many admirers - "Don't let the turkeys get you down!"

Jackie

Hi Jackie: You are right, I witnessed someone mocked you before. I felt your pain when that happened. I admire your garden a lot, and delight in all the pictures you post ... I'll e-mail you to ask for your garden pictures so I can use for my screen-saver.

Bluegirl delighted me with her crazy sense of humor. I'm a fan of Melissa in Italy and enjoy her writing. Although Mike_Rivers mentioned Jaxondel and Flaurabunda as attackers, Jaxondel did not hurt me at all, it's Flaurabunda with her repeated mockings that hurt me tremendously.

Jaxondel was very nice to me after that incident, and I appreciate Jaxondel's help in my questions about making potpourri and animal-repellant. The first time I let go, but there is no excuse for Flaurabunda's repeated bullying. One time I saw a guy posted clumsily about the definition of a rose in the Rose Forum. Flaurabunda responded with "Scram!!!!" I should had posted something nice to welcome that newbie. I did not know how to defend myself or other newbies from bullying.

Since then I read 2 books on how to handle difficult people such as bullies, snipers, mockers, and sarcastic folks. I also researched on bullying sites. Bullies speak in the language of ego and control, and won't understand nice, polite, nor hurt feelings. The best way to handle a bully is to confront him/her through questions: "Are you putting me down here?" "Is that a sarcastic remark to shoot me down?" "Do you have nice things to say? If it's negative then start your own attacking post, but not in someone's else."

People have the right to be themselves, to post what concerns them, be it the weather, animals, and my jokes are not about roses either. But the Roses forums will dwindle down if folks continue to attack or to nit-pick others. The best way is to speak the same language as bully: of power and control. Bullies don't understand feelings, hurt, nor speak with respect and support.

The best way to handle bullies is to ask questions that expose them. When I was young, a lady gave us a loaf of bread that she made. I made a careless joke, "it's probably hard like a rock". She overheard it and confronted me, "WHAT DID YOU SAY?" I was so embarrassed that I complimented her profusely. From that time on, I make jokes at my expense, but never on someone else.

A Christian boy carried his beloved Bible in a public school. He was ridiculed and harrassed. He stood up to bullies, "Are you brave enough to carry a Bible like me, or are you wimps?" I remember boys in junior high was passing a pornographic magazine around... it was quite popular. It's ironic to be nit-picked when doing something right, like sharing info. But when someone makes a nasty remark, few dare to stand up.

I got hurt by sarcastic folks who mock the info. I shared, so I gave up. Now I can see why that lady was hurt after putting that much effort in making a loaf of bread, and got a careless joke, just like my putting tons of time researching, doing experiments, and got mocked for sharing the info.

When I first started law school I was going through a divorce with two young daughters. And let me tell you, law school students can be real a**holes. I mean like nasty saboteur type stuff. Anyway, I've always been a pretty easy going gal and took folks at face value.
My best classmate was a young man half my age. One night I came to class and on my computer he had put the screensaver:
LIRO. "Let It Roll Off". I have taken that to heart.
When I first started practicing it was so easy to get my feelings hurt by judges or opposing counsel or whatever, Someone told me "Don't take it personally".
Folks who pick on others are miserable. They will always be miserable and in order not to self implode that misery has got to leak out somewhere.
LIRO and into the gutter where it belongs.
I value your opinions and this is an open forum. Ya know, "marketplace of ideas".
And the next time someone cuts you down----well, you just let me know.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (evil chuckle).
Susan

Wow. Thanks for the kind words. I really appreciated your posts about Dr. Huey having an acid-secreting ability in its root tips that allowed it to survive alkaline soils. I'm just now starting to understand--via posts like yours--how different root-stocks can greatly affect success or failure of grafted plants. I'm embarrassed to say I just never considered it. I just wondered why various roses I had bought came looking so great but just didn't survive or thrive (duuuh).

The info. you shared re. alkaline soils was very interesting & useful to me also. I appreciated the amount of time just to TYPE it, let alone the research itself & the impressive documentation. Let me say THANK YOU now, something I neglected before. I print out a lot of posts to save in a loose-leaf binder for easier reference--& yours have a big place there.

Re. abbreviations, YMMV is your mileage may vary, FWIW--for what its worth, TM is a jape at Trade Marked.

I post on few forums though I lurk at several--for the very reasons you posted. One of the nicest forums I used to participate in got this comment from an expert who was asked to comment on the various (strongly held) opinions expressed in an emotional thread:
"I enjoy seeing everyone sharing their opinions in this site the way they do...I know other groups that opinions are seemingly viewed by some as facts & it becomes a very edgy topic, not a sharing of ideas."

Another (very well credentialed) expert posted that he had NEVER seen such swift eagerness to help others & such excellent advice as given on that forum.
I thought it was a nice commentary on the community posting there & a good standard to strive for elsewhere.

I feel like the GW forums I've participated in have been generally very friendly & helpful--lots of experts willing to help us amateurs without ridiculing our dumb questions. It's a shame that a few stinkers don't hold to such standards but I don't want to let it ruin things for me. And I hope you will choose to participate some more because you are one of the delights of the forum with your knowledge, willingness to share & YES, YOUR HUMOR (which I have never found to be cruel or belittling) Cheers!

Strawberry,
You really put your finger on the best way to be able to continue to post on any forum or deal with people effectively in life - realize that you yourself have screwed up in the way you have talked to people and give others grace when they do the same to you. Goes back to the Golden Rule - treat others the way you want to be treated and don't get your back up or offended when you get a negative comment. That's the reality of turning the other cheek.

I like Jackie's attitude - just ignore it. Hey Ecclesiastes 7:21 - Do not take seriously all the words which are spoken ... indeed there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never makes a mistake.

I enjoy a lot of the conversations here but I've learned that when I post, my words or pictures are a gift that I give of myself. If I give so I can get positive feedback, it's not really a gift, I'm just wanting positive strokes or reinforcement in return and when I've done that in the past, I'm always disappointed or hurt if I don't get it. When I realized that it helped me to see that I should be careful and gracious in what I say, but my words are a gift to others and when i give, I don't give expecting anything in return. That way, I am never hurt because I don't expect anything back, like kindness in return. If I get it, I am happy. If I don't or if there's a negative feedback, I go back to Eccles 7:21 which reminds me not to listen to everything. Makes my life easier and my posting here is stress free. Well, relatively, anyway.

If you stop posting here, I'd miss you, Strawberry, but I don't want you to be continually upset because you don't always get the positive feedback you want. Your experiments are fun, but not everybody will think so. So what? Do it for youself and others that enjoy you and that's all. I like your algebra code. I homeschool our 14 year old and we're doing pre algebra right now. It's a lot of fun.

I don't read everything here so don't know a lot of what you're talking about. I missed whatever Jackie is talking about too. hugs,

Gean

um yeah, I guess I missed some stuff too, but really Strawbs, I thought you were made of sterner stuff. Certainly I am sure I have disagreed with you mightily (and my tongue can be viperish even the vastly modified version on here). Get a grip and get back on - are we a forum for discussion and such or are we massaging each other with niceness? Hating saccharine tosh of all sorts, even the gloopy rubbish I have posted myself in times of weakness - and I will admit it, when you go off on one about soil PH my brain goes to sleep but really, stiffen your sinews - I swear I will be having a major flounce if we are all reduced to vanilla.

Campanula - I have never seen anything you have posted that was nasty, or "viperish" about other posters - just sometimes about life, the govt, weeds, anonymous people who were inconsiderate while growing things in your "plot", etc. - I do enjoy your posts so much. Hope Strawberryhill takes your advice.

Jackie

I don't need positive feedbacks since I post to solve my own problems and questions. However, I don't need constant sarcastic jabs from Flaurabunda on everything: below -20 windchill factor in my zone 5a (she's in zone 6a), my planting roses in partial shade, my report of sticky-trap for chili thrips didn't work, the NPK table that I got from cannabis site (which I didn't realize what it means until Laura made a sarcastic remark), the cornmeal experiment, and many others. Her CONSTANT ridicule was so bad that it wasn't worth it.

I agree with Jackie and Gean to ALWAYS overlook the 1st attack. I overlooked the 1st bad feedback from Jaxondel, and Jaxondel became a blessing thereafter, helping me on many issues. I hope that Ingrid overlook the 1st perceived attack from Kim. People can have different views on animals which can cause hurt feelings. My husband love the bunnies and think they are his pets. I don't like bunnies since they eat my flowers and veges. I told my husband how great it was that the neighbor drowned the entire litter of bunnies. I was appreciative of the neighbor's solving my problem ... but my husband was furious and ready to kill the guy. I understand the love he has for the animals, and the hurt turns into anger.

I understand how Ingrid felt when she posted on the beloved squirrel and bared her feelings. Although I don't like squirrels I won't invalidate someone's love for them, or tell them they can't post on squirrels, that's controlling and a violation of freedom of speech.

The first attack always hurt the most, but needs to be forgotten. When Laura first atttacked me, it hurt so much that it took me more than a month before I could post again. I thought it was over, until the pattern repeats over and over.

Hi Camp: I'm always glad to hear from you. I always respect your honesty and fairness. Yes, I have a strong spine: I forgive the 1st attack, but I won't be a doormat to stay around and be stabbed with sarcasm and ridicule.

Hi Susan (poorbutrichrose): I agree that lawyers are hard to deal with, my two older sisters are lawyers. When they nit-picked me, I complained to get the respect I deserve. If I ignore them, they give me more crap.

Hi Gean: My kid taught me a lesson on how to deal with berating people. When she was 3 years old, I had a hard time potty-train her. One night she made a mess, and I lost it, I berated her for being a baby, that her friends can do it, why can't her. She cried, "Mom, why do you make me bad?" I woke up and realize that berating people is a pathetic way to exert control and power. What I should had asked Laura is, "why do you make everything I do bad?", "Why do you need to feel successful by putting people down?"

Thank you, Bluegirl - I'm glad the stuff that I looked up helped you besides helping myself. I'm a fan of both Bluegirl and Gean's humors and love all the pics. that Gean posted ... her photography is great, and the cat is so adorable.

Question for Bluegirl: What do you do with your unlimited variety of poop on site in the winter? I wish I can turn the squirrels here into poop-eating machines. All the animals (cats, dogs, raccoons) use my garden as potties. The saw-dust that horse manure comes with is nice and soft for their buns.

I saw squirrels trying to climb Frederic Mistral and it was hilarious. They also jump up for the rose hips. There's a site on how to make tea with rose hips .... someone reported it has a pumpkin and apple flavor. I ought to try that for herbal tea.

Oh, I don't have unlimited on-site poop now, sadly. When I did, we had pasture cows, a cow hoss & some penned rabbits. Plus I worked at a (bull) stud ranch where the bulls were stalled on sand. It was GREAT. The major source, from the cows, came from under the hay barn where they ate hay & loafed around. I loaded a pick-up full as wanted, with the loose, fluffy shredded hay & dried poop. I used it year-round but especially in summer, as a water-retaining mulch that worked also as a slow-release mild fertilizer.

I swept under the rabbit pens daily & deposited the poop in a little garbage can, then used it as wanted for fertilizer.
Any excess went on the compost pile with grass-clippings & oak leaves.

In this new deserty area, composting is very slow & I don't have the livestock anymore. But I do layer used bird paper with kitchen scraps to try to make some of the good stuff.

I always liked your brave scientific spirit. Not many people are going to try things out for themselves and research things like you do. There have to be people who challenge the way things have always been done. Some people don't like any change and will put up an argument. It's hard to be the different voice. My nurseryman friend is always trying to get me to see a different view about soils about watering about planting and mulching. I bring up the ideas here and some people say it's nonsense. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I just have to try it and see for myself. Everybody has the right to say their idea. Sometimes I get lost in the more complicated science of soils and fertilizers but I always got a little out of the discussion anyway. I always thought you were nice and had a very bright mind.

Joining in this discussion a bit late, but I do know how it feels to have some ONE poster always on the attack. It happened to me many, many years ago, when I was a newbie here. It was really one of the most unpleasant experiences and caused me to go into lurking. She even tried to bombard me with vicious emails and I had to block her. But I just couldn't stay away from the GW rose forums and by reading only kept up with the posters I truly enjoyed and didn't open myself up to any more pain. But happily for me, that particular nasty lady ended up getting herself banned by the then moderator and I felt free to post once again. Thankfully my self-imposed ban didn't last more than a few months!
But you're so right. It is one thing to LIRO when it's one comment or two, but when everything one says is jumped on, that's a horse of a different color. So I understand your distaste for this forum now but would like to say that you ARE missed! Hope you can see your way to come back and post about roses someday.
Anne

Thank you, Kitty and Anne (Annecelilia) for your kind words. A lot of stuff I wrote about soil is for my own understanding and "working-out" things, and I didn't mean to bore people.

Annie, I appreciate your past painful experience very much. That's why Gardenweb banned LindaC in the Cooking Forum, because she singled out specific people to be mean to, which deepened their hurt.

Standing up to bullies during the 1st attack help to make them better people. If that lady did not confront me with "WHAT DID YOU SAY" regarding my put-down joke about her homemade bread, I would continue being an insensitive clown during my youth. I believe in standing up to bullies, but give people a 2nd chance after the 1st offense.

Gean, Jackie, Susan, and Anne are right about overlooking the first "perceived" negative feedback. I hope Ingrid overlook the 1st "perceived" attack from Kim regarding animals. That lady could had hold a grudge against me, but thank God she confronted me "WHAT DID YOU SAY" which embarrased me and made me a better person.

I was a stutterer and could not say the "R" when I was in grade school. Instead of "rice" I said "lice", instead of "run", I said "lun". In 5th grade there was this big girl and a boy who mocked me mercilessly. I was tormented for the entire year. In the last day of school year, I turned around, faced my attackers, and blew up with anger. I screamed "why do you tease me? I HATE YOU!". The girl's face turned beet red, and the boy's face was deepened with shock and pain. To this day, the image of his painful face is still on my mind. The girl was the leader, the boy followed her for fun, and he did not realize how much I hated him.

Good people feel pain when they did something wrong, I am embarrassed for that stupid joke I made about the lady's bread. Kim didn't mean Ingrid harm when he spoke out against animals in her post, he was telling the truth from his garden. Squirrels ATE the wooden roof of my last house. Ingrid was at her most vunerable when she bared her feelings for animals in her own post. But Kim was equally hurt by the ganging-up against him, and people don't see that.

There are lots of misundertandings in forums on "perceived" attacks, when people just have different experiences and emotions on things. If I had to do it all over again, I would put this on top of every post:

Disclaimer: IM (HO + GO) = ISFM
It translates to In my humble opinion, and in my garden only, equals to "I speak for myself". ISFM could mean "I shop for more" =)!

Hi Bluegirl: Too bad you don't get poop like you used to. BTW, bunnies eat their own poop, so they are self-cleaning animals. Thanks for the translation of your self-defense code: "YMMV is your mileage may vary, FWIW--for what its worth, TM is a jape at Trade Marked."

So your equation woud be: YMMV + FWIW = TM

YMMV could also mean "You made me vomit" amd FWIW could mean "From when I withdrew", and TM could mean ???

I made a self-dense code for Campanula (Susie): it's "Kiss my arse" ... just kidding. Camp, you never give me any pain nor jabs, just lots of good laugh. Thank you.

The above are just jokes on the abreviations, I hope no one take it seriously. Thank you, Gean, for your great quote from the Bible: Ecclesiastes 7:21 - Do not take seriously all the words which are spoken ... indeed there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never makes a mistake."

I like Jesus' way of standing up to the attacking Jewish lawyers of his days. He asked them questions which embarrassed them and which they could not answer. That's how I felt when my 3-years old asked me in tears, "Mom, why do you make me bad?" when I berated her for making a mess & failure in potty-training.

Since my entry into the Cooking Forum, I researched tons of good recipes and pinned them on my Pinterest board. Thank you all for your kind words, I'll drop in with positive feedbacks to your threads to show my appreciation to your kind spirits. Below is a link to my Pinterest collection of recipes. They are the best from the cooking forum & other professional chefs site. You'll like them, please put in comments if you tried out the dishes, it will help other cooks. Thanks, Straw in Chicagoland

Here is a link that might be useful: Straw's Pinterest on delicious dinners

I just saw the copycat recipe from Olive Garden on your Pinterest page. We order that all the time and it will be fun to try it at home. My meals are often whatever I can take outside with me in the garden. My dream is to build an outside kitchen. I like to use the bbq and I use the fruit tree trimmings from the previous year because of the wonderful flavor it gives but it takes time so it would be nice to have a permanent gas range out there.

Talk about outside kitchen! Kitty, I always adore those outside kitchen in magazines, like the one with a barbecue pit, and stone/brick wall. They are so cozy! We can never have such in our cold winter, so it sounds wonderful. Even without a permanent gas range, the idea of a stone barbecue pit is awesome. All three of my neighbors neglected or gave away their gas-grills, and they cook on Webber charcoal grill instead ... they told me it charcoal gives better flavor. I agree 100%, we used to use charcoal for 40 years, until my husband bought a fancy gas grill, I'm not thrilled about the taste... even stove-stop taste better (more moist).

I wrote to a friend about how to create her own Pinterst pinning board, using mine as a template. So I'll copy the instructions here: "About my Pinterest, last night I made salmon, a detour from the routine. I chopped shallots and green onions, fried them, then put salmon faced down on a saucepan. I cooked for 10 minutes, squeeze some fresh lemon - my kid & husband loved it. For the past 1 year, my husband HATED my salmon until the dinner last night from Pinterest. The original recipe called for "garlic, green onions, dill and lemon juice."
It's easy to set up your Pinterest board: log on to Pinterest, they'll ask for your e-mail account. You choose your user's name, and your board's name. I put alias "Straw Chicago" instead of my real name. Then you get into my "Straw Chicago" board, and click "re-pin" on any recipes you like, it will pin those onto your own board in your account.

If you click the "FOLLOW" button on top of my board, it will give you my new recipes in the 1st page of your Pinterest. You don't have to log-on to Pinterest once you create your own account. I put Pinterest onto my Favorite Bar tool, so I click on it to get recipes. Once you set up a Pinterest account, there are 2 pages: the first page will give you daily free recipes based on who you follow, so whatever new stuff I pinned, will show up on your page. The second page (under your name) shows what you choose to pin, and no one else's recipes will show up.

Strawberry, I too am sorry you aren't posting. I really enjoy your thoughtful comments and hope you will start posting again. I have learned alot from you. I ask more questions than give advice and posters like yourself add so much to the forum. I dont see it too often but it shocks me when I do to see the bad manners some people exhibit with their comments. I saw a long heated exchange on the clematis forum a couple of nights ago.....the posters kept going back and forth at each other - should have been nipped in the bud and not commented on further. Hope you will continue to post - want to add my name to the list of people here who truly enjoy your posts and learn something from them. Best to you......Judith

"Standing up to the *Jewish* lawyers"?? Please consider rephrasing that, won't you?

Thank you, Monarda, for the kind request. I meant to use Pharisees, but after spending a long time googling for the correct spelling, I gave up, and used "Jewish Lawyers" which is referred to as "teachers of the law" in the Bible. Pharisees is a "social movement", and has more than one definition. I apologize for my failure to spell Pharisees correctly and had to use a substitute term.

I lived in Connecticut for more than a year. My best friends there were Jewish. I read more than a dozen books on the Holocaust and should had used lawyers instead of Jewish lawyers. I thought Pharisees meant a term for Jewish lawyer, and since I could not spell it correctly, I put the definition down.

I found the current "best answer" for the definition of Pharisees by wiki.answer.com: Today, the word "Pharisee" is usually used to refer to someone who is very legalistic and judgmental.

Pharisees is perfectly reasonable, IMO.

Hi Monarda: I'm glad you are OK with that. I have fond memories of my 3 Jewish friends in CT. It helps offset the horrors in the Holocaust books and documentary films I watched. I still feel for those past victims. I read a few books on Hitler, he was into Satanism, so was the killer in Sandy Hook, CT. My Motto in life is "feel less for oneself, and feel more for others."

I am glad that a love of roses can transcend parochial and sectarian differences.

First Please let me say, I am not trying to start anything, but, Strawberryhill, do you realize that by not posting what I beilive to be interesting and valuable information because of this, you are giving these people exactly what they want? May I suggest that instead of giving up, maybe you should just tell them to go blow and continue to share your posts with those of us that appreciate them so much. Just a thought.