I hope the bear made it safely back up into the hills, and stays there. I have no idea if the sheriff had to intervene to remove it. (I suspect not - this town is small enough that trapping a bear would be newsworthy, but I didn't hear any news about it.) It disturbed me that it was not afraid of people at all - that tells me that this was far from the first time that it had wandered around humans and their property to obtain food. (LOL, I wasn't sure that yelling at it was the right thing to do. Besides, I wanted to get a picture as proof that I wasn't just imagining that a neighbor's Rottweiler in my yard was a bear.) I don't think that bear is full grown - it isn't very large. I can't say that I would blame a homeowner for taking matters into their own hands if the proper authorities had not tried to solve the problem of a bear staying around people. If the bear charged him, it was habituated to people and a genuine menace, and self-defense trumps warm fuzzies. (Although why the man was out there with a gun powerful enough to kill a bear, in a back yard in a residential neighborhood, begs a question of its own - firing a gun near houses is illegal here, and probably in most places.) That was a rotten situation for the people and for the bear, definitely no-win. Laurel

Very interesting study, Carol. I'm amazed at the changes in portion sizes just since 1996! I have to look to see what year my edition was published - not that I use it that much. But I have to say, if I cook 8 chicken thighs in the slow cooker with a mushroom sauce or a tomato sauce and the meat is almost falling off the bone, DD will eat almost 1 thigh and somehow the other 7 disappear (or only 1 left) between the rest (3 )of us. But cook those thighs on the grill or broiler, and I will definitely have 1 or even 2 (if large thighs DD won't eat a whole one, but DS will finish it plus another) left over. I've been buying pre-portioned (4 thighs to a pack) club packs at BJ's b/c they're less expensive than grocery store and also I don't have to separate and use the Foodsaver to freeze, but I wish they'd put 2 thighs in a pack instead so I could just cook 6 instead of 8. I guess I have to open 3 at a time and repackage half of them? 24 thighs weigh app. 10 pounds so 6-7 oz each with bone, I should be able to just cook 4 for the 4 of us but then DS and DH think I'm trying to starve them. I think these are a lot bigger than the chickens we had when I was growing up, even now a 7 lb whole chicken will last us 2-3 meals plus soup, but put a hunk of meat in front of the guys and they will eat 1/2 lb (cooked weight w/o bone) in a sitting! I can get by with 1.5 lb steak again b/c DD will eat maybe 2-3oz (and she LIKES steak), but a 3 lb roast will give 2 meals plus some sandwiches. I think the key is any meat I carve we eat less of, anything put whole on a plate or mixed into a sauce, we eat more. I can stretch a pound of stew meat with beans and rice or pasta into at least 3 meals of chili or soup however. Kali - I think it's been even less expensive around the holidays, but I don't know if I want to wait that long.

Remember to look in the refrigerator for your missing car keys. Do not stamp your foot for emphasis when making beef stew in the pressure cooker -- although most exhaust fans benefit from being dismantled and cleaned now and then. The reason your microwaved dish of oatmeal is just a rim of crust is because you pressed the 'minute' button one time too many. Unless you *want* to mop your laundry room floor every time you do a load of wash, make sure the laundry tub is empty before the washer discharge hose empties into it. (Hark! What's that 'waterfall' sound?)

What a nice thread; I too love her red hair. Congratulations to you both on such a well spent day. Great that she's learning so sew at such a young age, I promise that'll be useful to her. I learned to sew when very small (4 or 5). While I can't remember who taught me (I thought Mom, she says it wasn't her) it still comes in handy, buttons, hems, made me quasi-fearless as a quilter cause I knew I could hand sew things well. Downside is I really resent having to pay someone to hem my trousers. I live alone, so there's no one to pin them & I hate to pay a tailor. Upside is a almost enjoy hand tacking down my bindings as it's the only hand sewing I get to do much of these days. You & your little quilter enjoy -- a job well done! Her bright smile bursting w/ pride really DOES say it all!