Merry Christmas !! I had just ordered Smart-pot in 10 gallon, only $9.97 from Amazon (free shipping). I'll buy 3 blueberry bushes this spring (Walmart sells them), put 2 in SmartPot, and 1 in the ground. Didn't know that I need 2 or more blueberry bushes to pollinate each other. Info. from About.com: " Fertilizing blueberries - Blueberries don’t like too much fertilizer. Twice a year in the early spring works well. For organic fertilizer try blood or cottonseed meal, or a fertilizer designed for acid loving plants. Blueberries need friends – To get your blueberries to fruit, you will need at least two blueberry plants for pollination, three plants is even better and they need to be placed relatively close together. Also it’s a good idea to grow a couple of different varieties of blueberries, because they will produce fruit at different times and extending your blueberry season. Protect your blueberries – While growing blueberries you’ll have few pests to worry about other than birds. To protect your fruit from feathered poachers, you can cover your bushes with a light sheet or netting, a few weeks before the berries are ripe." Sam: Do you protect your blueberries from birds? If I put Smart-pot right next to the patio, hopefully there's less pests. I re-post the info. that Bluegirl wrote on pine-fines to buy from Lowe's. I would need 1/4 pine fines with 3/4 potting soil to create the acidic soil for blueberries. Bluegirl in Texas wrote: "I think Amazon has the sulfate of potash for ~ $11 still. See if your Lowes carries the mix ours does. It's "HapiGro Landscape Mix", sold in a big clear bag for about four dollars. Almost pure pine fines to look at it. Here are some photos, the bag is kind of faded, it's a mostly clear bag with white on front. dry stuff inside--looks to be mostly fine pine bark with a nugget or two of perlite. THis is some moist stuff from inside a bucket--finger for size. Pictures & info. above are from Bluegirl in Texas. THANK YOU, Bluegirl, for allowing me to post your info.

Got a really bad reaction to flu-shot taken on Dec. 19 .. started being dizzy & throw up & fever on Dec. 29. The few strains of virus in flu-shot inflamed my middle ear. Neighbor & nurse-daughter also complained about tingling of ears after flu-shot. Regarding the flu that I got from that blasted flu-shot: I went to the PA yesterday and he found my ears are VERY blocked. No one, including my 3 medical doctor siblings ever link vertigo to blocked Eustachian tubes. I learned that from the searching in Houzz, which a woman solved her vertigo problem by flushing her ear with hydrogen peroxide. I re-post what I posted in Health Forum today: "Bonide is the most popular vertigo medication, but there's side-effects. Best to treat the problem: blocked tubes which mess up equilibrium. I never have vertigo before, until I got my flu-shot from Sam's club Dec. 19 ... My right ear bled, then I got vertigo for one month. The right ear is the hardest to free from blockage: 3 flush with hydrogen peroxide to clean out the blood, and 3 flush of vinegar/alcohol to remove earwax. I used a glass dropper, filled with hydrogen peroxide and flush both ears. One ear popped, vertigo is completely gone on that side. The other ear is still jammed up, so I used 1/2 alcohol and 1/2 vinegar (alcohol to evaporates quickly and vinegar to dissolve solidified ear-wax, or dried blood). My husband has lots of wax build-up in his ears .. it got so bad that he got sick from it: lost his appetite, feeling tired & lethargic. He went to the doc. and the doc. flushed out the wax. After that my husband could hear better & regain his appetite & no more tiredness !! You can tell when your ears are blocked (WebMD): , Swelling from a cold, allergies, or a sinus infection can keep the eustachian tubes from opening. This leads to pressure changes. Fluid may collect in the middle ear. The pressure and fluid can cause pain. Ears that hurt and feel full, or feel watery. Ringing or popping noises in your ears. Hearing problems. Feeling dizzy. " WebMD has a fantastic exercise to clear-out the Eustachian tubes, I tried it, and it WORKED: " You may be able to open the blocked tubes with a simple exercise. Close your mouth, hold your nose, and gently blow as if you are blowing your nose. Yawning and chewing gum also may help. You may hear or feel a "pop" when the tubes open to make the pressure equal between the inside and outside of your ears."

See link below on some tips to lose weight, from Chi, originally posted in cooking forum. Also appreciate JohnLiu's honesty & humor. Below link also has pics. of portion-sizes: http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3579603/12-29-15-foods-to-lose-weight-daily-journal-toward-health-and-joy?n=21 WebMD on foods that help with weight loss: http://www.webmd.com/diet/obesity/9-foods-to-help-you-lose-weight?page=2 Eggs and Sausage A protein-rich breakfast may help you resist snack attacks throughout the day. Nuts Research shows that when people munch on nuts, they automatically eat less at later meals. Apples Whole fruit blunts appetite in a way that fruit juices and sauces don’t. One reason is that raw fruit has more fiber. Yogurt A Harvard study followed more than 120,000 people for a decade or longer. Yogurt, of all the foods that were tracked, was most closely linked to weight loss. Grapefruit Yes, grapefruit really can help you shed pounds, especially if you are at risk for diabetes. Researchers at Scripps Clinic in San Diego found that when obese people ate half a grapefruit before each meal, they dropped an average of 3 ½ pounds over 12 weeks. Drinking grapefruit juice had the same results. **** From Straw: Agree on eggs & I use sprouted & high protein Ezekiel bread. Agree on nuts and apple ... Sunflower seeds rank second to sesame seed in lowering cholesterol ... both are highest in plant sterols. Here's from ABC news: " A team of Japanese researchers split 210 overweight people into three groups. While everyone consumed a daily 7-ounce serving of fermented milk, two of the groups drank milk spiked with varying amounts of a probiotic called Lactobacillus gasseri SBT2055 which past research has tied to fat loss. After 12 weeks, people slugging the probiotic milk formulas dropped roughly 8 to 9 percent of their visceral fat." http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/probiotics-lose-weight/story?id=19607875 The below link offers clinical assessment of which yogurt is hype, and which probiotics is beneficial: http://www.cspinet.org/new/pdf/nah_probiotics.pdf For probiotics supplement which contains Acidophilus gasseri, Dr. Oz Show recommends Phillips Colon health. The year that I lost weight fast ... I had a tiny bit of Dannon yogurt for desert after every meal. A few days ago Google News had an article on how beneficial bacteria signal fullness so mice consume less per meal. Having yogurt AFTER meal makes sense, since the beneficial bacteria help to signal fullness. A few lean countries have a yogurt after meal. The timing of eating yogurt: right after meals matter more than the amount, See below WebMD info." A study published in the April 2005 International Journal of Obesity looked at obese adults who cut 500 calories a day while consuming three daily servings of low-fat yogurt. It found that they lost significant amounts of fat, especially around the waist, while maintaining lean muscle tissue. The three-yogurts-a-day group lost 22% more weight, 61% more body fat, and 81% more stomach fat than a comparison group who ate just one serving of yogurt daily. http://www.webmd.com/diet/french-womens-diet-secret-yogurt Below are some cherry tomato from my garden. They freeze well, and are much sweeter than big tomato. They are fantastic in soups for the winter, or I put in Ramen noodles, with kale, or Nappa cabage & shrimp. What are your healthy recipes, tips to eat more produce, any recipes for raw salads? Thanks.

Today is Nov. 16, 2021 - so obviously this post is meant for Dudette (and anyone else who has a hyperthyroid cat). We have a 15 year old cat who was recently diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. He also is on 2.5 mg of Methimazole twice a day. He did gain 1.5 lbs. as per his recent blood test (he has had 2 tests over a three week period) with a third test being set for the end of Jan. unless we notice something else is wrong. I wish he could be pilled, but there is no way. We are in Canada so the Methimazole must be custom compounded - we give it by ear in transdermal form. I know all about custom compounding due to a thyroid issue with our previous pet so know about the lead time when ordering and the importance of checking the expiry dates. He is not on the Hill's y/d because we have another cat who is not hyperthyroid. I also doubt either of them would eat the Hill's y/d because so far, despite spending a fortune on every type of wet cat food out there - plus trying to cook for them, they only like the one type of food - and it is available only at the vet's as well. But at least it comes in 3 oz. cans. I think that the thyroid food comes in 5.5 oz. cans? The kitties like fresh food so it is hard. I have resorted to putting the cans with lids into hot water and waiting 15 minutes but they seem to know. I dread the day that the food is not available or is reformulated. It is doubly hard with the wet food and a lot goes out to the street. Then we have the shortages and in Canada it is even worse than in the U.S. since so many of our products come from the states. Re a second opinion, depending on where you are I would line up the new vet first. We have an awful problem in Canada and I know it is also bad in some states. Our vets are operating via a closed door policy meaning you drop your pet off at the door wearing a mask and wait. I absolutely do not want to go to an ER should the need arise because people have waited as long as 15 hours - and again, a closed door policy. It is suggested that you call first to even see if they can see your pet. So just be careful! And of course it is very cold here in Ontario.