Hi Heather, I didn't mean to make you feel that I was talking directly to you and making you feel obligated to consider this particular plant. :)After all, you are right, and everyone has different ideas about what is special and you may not think the plectranthus 'mona lavender' is as great as I do.;-) I just reread it and it does sound like I was targeting you, so I hope you don't feel uncomfortable and like you have to find something to trade for the plant. The first part about the russian sage was for you. The next part about the 'special trade' was just thrown out there for anyone who might know the plant and want it as much as I did, or see the plant on the link and then decide that they would like it. I guess I rambled on about it(then and now-ha ha) because I had mixed feelings about letting any part of it go after looking for it for so long, but would if someone let me know that they really wanted it and/or had been looking for it for a while like I had been. I will leave it that if you want the plant, just please forget what I said in the original post and treat it like any other offer, and forgive my ramblings....If you don't want the plant that is okay too. It will still be on my trade list. I must have been too tired to post, and should have been in bed. LOL! gg

Goldy, there is nothing I can eat without stomach problems. I simply have an acid stomach and have had since I was a child. If I ate an apple I had a tummy ache. It didn't get serious until I was around 50. Most antacids have aluminum in them and the PPIs are not suppose to be used for more than a few weeks. They make me itch and stop working on me after about 4 months anyway. Right now I am taking tums after my first meal and soda after the second, if I have a second one. when my stomach gets to the point it's sore, I use the over the counter PPIs for a month and start the routine all over again.

Hi woodnymph, You know....my IBS started up after I had a horrible flu and pneumonia in l995. But in retrospect, I was on antibiotics for 2 months, and now I wonder if they damaged my GI tract. I really dread being on antibiotics now because I seem to lose more and more of my GI function. I think antibiotics are more injurious to our intestines than we know. I've been tempted to have a stool test run by one of those places (Smokey Mountain labs??) to see if I didn't develop some sort of overgrowth back then, but haven't done it yet. I keep hearing that those places are sort of unreliable. And it seems like conventional docs don't believe in them. (But they don't always know everything, right?) But it sounds like you might have developed your problems from the antibiotics, just like I did. How much calcium are you on? What kind do you take? For many years, before the diarrhea got too bad, most of my symptoms were just rumbling and feeling like I had a small animal living in my chest. I hate it. It seems to come and go and come and go, and I can't always know what sets it off. Fortunately, the calcium has helped me alot. If I miss 1 or 2 doses, I get the diarrhea back. And it seems to happen at the most inopportune times! I got one of those "Magic Bullet" small blenders. Its really great for slushie-type drinks. Several mornings a week I make one for breakfast. I usually put in rice milk or almond milk, part of a banana, blueberries, and a tablespoon or 2 of ground flax seed. I coudln't believe how much this drink slows me down (with my diarrhea). Maybe you could try it a few days and see what happens? Try to find organic flaxseed. I forgot to do that and wished I had gotten it. I got mine at the grocery store where they have all those "Bob's" fresh ground flours, etc. Another interesting thing with me......the doc finally talked me into having a colonoscopy last June. I had it and was relieved that all was normal in there.......but it made me feel awful for months afterwards. I think the clean out really messed up the balance of good bacteria in there. I was nauseous and dizzy for 2 months. Finally, after a couple months on probiotics, I began to feel better. I think some of us just live with marginal GI function. There are several interesting books out there on the digestive system....like "The second brain", and "Digestive Wellness". The second one has alot of good suggestions. I use pepto bismol sometimes and it helps get me through the day sometimes. Good luck woodnymph!

I shouldn't be such a whiner when I think of all you have to do Tricia! You're definately in my thoughts and prayers, I know this has been a rough time, I wish you didn't have to go thru this! I can't have chili powder, even mild, right now. Later, as I add things, probably if it doesn't cause a problem. I can eat red bell peppers, (you know, the most expensive ones!), so I may try my hand at roasting some, since the canned ones I usually buy have preservatives which are off limits now. Tonight for dinner I had some soup that was a POOF that was a riff on risi e bisi and Italian wedding--ham, peas, spinach, carrots and celery and caramelized onions (yes, I know but I made it before all this started) with Israeli style cous cous pilaf thrown in for the starch. Mostly OK ingredients. I was still hungry so I had an almond butter and honey sandwich on whitebread toast. I have to get rid of this great sourdough sprouted wheat bread BF brought me, because no sourdough either! I'm finding out all kinds of interesting things. Like a mail order source for tamari without gluten, it's made from rice and adzuki beans. I think I am going to order some of that since I actually might eat it on its own merits. I also discovered that I can use "amchoor" to add tartness, which is a bitter mango powder and I actually had some leftover from when I was on an Indian food kick. BF is kidding me incessantly, "Now you have to eat like me." It's actually the Standard American Diet--meat, mild dairy, starches, plain vegetables, fat, and sugar! The only thing missing is caffinated beverages and soda pop! Yes Beverly, it could be worse because I too think salt would be very hard for me to do without. I have decreased my salt over the years, but I find it difficult to go real low with it. Of course maybe that's coming down the road, lol!