Another poster write: "How do I know if my Tomatoes are getting 2 much or not enuf water .. do I need to get a moisture meter ? " An intern(Not yet a board certified) , by the name of BETTY, replies: " Your finger is the best soil moisture test instrument. Just stick it in couple inches into the soil (Hopefully you don't have sharp object ,( like pieces of your broken wine glass !!) in it . Is it moist or not ? That is as simple as it gets. (Thanx Doc) ==================================== The above sounded like an excerpt from the book called : GARDENNING FOR DUMMIES (JMO, seysonn) This post was edited by seysonn on Thu, Jul 11, 13 at 4:19

It turns out that I'm wrong about Patrick McManus writing that story. I searched around the Internet a bit and found out that no one seems to know who wrote the story. I did find this addendum. Now for the local legend. I was pretty beat up. My scalp was split open, I had several large goose eggs, my wrist was bleeding pretty good and felt broken (it turned out to be just badly bruised) and my back was bleeding in a few places, though my insulated canvas jacket had protected me from most of the worst of it. I drove to the nearest place, which was the Co-Op. I got out of the truck, covered in blood and dust and looking like hell. The guy who ran the place saw me through the window and came running out yelling, "What happened?" I have never seen any law in the state of Kansas that would prohibit an individual from roping a deer. I suspect that this is an area that they have overlooked entirely. Knowing, as I do, the lengths to which law enforcement personnel will go to exercise their power, I was concerned that they may find a way to twist the existing laws to paint my actions as criminal. I swear... not wanting to admit that I had done something monumentally stupid played no part in my response. I told him "I was attacked by a deer". I did not mention that at the time I had a rope on it. The evidence was all over my body. Deer prints on the back of my jacket where it had stomped all over me and a large deer print on my face where it had struck me there. I asked him to call somebody to come get me. I didn't think I could make it home on my own. He did. Later that afternoon, a game warden showed up at my house and wanted to know about the deer attack. Surprisingly, deer attacks are a rare thing and wildlife and parks was interested in the event. I tried to describe the attack as completely and accurately as I could. I was filling the grain hopper and this deer came out of nowhere and just started kicking the hell out of me and BIT me. It was obviously rabid or insane or something. EVERYBODY for miles around knows about the deer attack (the guy at the Co-Op has a big mouth). For several weeks people dragged their kids in the house when they saw deer around and the local ranchers carried rifles when they filled their feeders. I have told several people the story, but NEVER anybody around here. I have to see these people every day and as an outsider a "city folk". I have enough trouble fitting in without them snickering behind my back and whispering, "There is the dumbass that tried to rope the deer!" TM

...when one of your shower doors explodes! No joke, last night a minute after Cathy stepped out of the shower the door exploded. She has quite a few abrasions and one significant laceration on her left shin that's going to leave quite a horse-shoe shaped scar. I'm sure glad it didn't happen while she was still in the shower or we'd probably be at the hospital today. Fearing the other door might do the same thing we had a handyman come over and remove it this morning. Rather than taking it to the dump he wrapped it in a blanket and took a sledge hammer to it so we could also put it in the garbage can. Danged if he didn't have to give it 6-7 good wacks before it would break. Go figure!

I do wall hanging size FMQ on an old 1970s Kenmore with great results. I release presser foot pressure and drop feeds. I also reduce upper thread tension a bit. I make a note to myself about those settings and keep it nearby as I go back to straight sewing a lot. My FMQ teacher says to quilt in ditch first and do fancy stuff after. I suppose it depends on style of quilt really. If I stitch in ditch I just use regular sewing settings and feed dogs up. I don't use rubber gloves now that my FMQ teacher said to use Neutrogena Norwegian Formula body emulsion lotion on my hands instead. It gives you grip without hurting fabric. I have a modern Janome I also use but prefer the old Kenmore for the FMQ. I think the heavy weight makes it more stable. I built a table for it to make a level surface since it's basically a portable without top case on. I just used an old prefinished shelf piece about 18 x 24" and cut it out with a jigsaw from a cardboard template I made first. (I can explain to anyone who is interested.) I may make a larger one for occasional use later.