I just came in for a break from mowing my orchard. I made a print out to do a walk through. deer did a rub down in 4, and a lower limb cut back on 10. Voles got 3 but my jack russels got 5 voles running from the mower. 3 new trees just dead and all leafed out this spring. scab on the mac's and cortlands. When I plant corn I plant 1 for the cutworm , 2 for the crow , 3 for the coons and one to grow. plant what grows and eat what compeats people and plants live and die. Today I picked a northern spy apple that was great, next winter I hope to pick a orange that is just as good.

Caroline, I had lots of exposure to snakes growing up...my part of Fort Worth had plentiful copperheads, and we always did a lot of hiking and camping. Also, I had lots of relatives who lived in the country. Still, nothing prepared me for the vast quantity of snakes we'd have here. However, we have the Red River on 3 sides of us and lots of wild territory there, so we'll always have lots of snakes....even 30 or 40 years from now. Lisa, I am such a big baby when it comes to some forms of wildlife. I am sure that I would be considered a total failure as a "country woman" by most of the people who grew up here and have been surrounded by wildlife all their lives. I don't fish, I don't hunt, and venomous snakes make me fairly hysterical. I refuse to let locals come onto our property to shoot doves, wild pigs, deer or rabbits (they're welcome to shoot all the skunks and snakes they want). I don't like to eat (or cook) venison, squirrel, rabbits or anything else that has been hanging around the yard, so if someone gives us some game meat, DH has to cook it himself if he wants to eat it. Furthermore, I don't own any camo clothing and I don't plan our social life around the opening of deer season. In spite of all my failures and shortcomings, our wonderful friends and neighbors accept me and love me anyway. I think they just figure you can take the woman out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the woman! LOL In fact, if they hear a cougar roar, or a raucous fight that clearly involves coyotes and dogs and the noise is coming from our property, they come running, shotguns and rifles in hand, to save this fraidy-cat city slicker from the evil whatever. (And I am so grateful and appreciative.) One of them told me that I was "salvageable" because at least I could garden and cook. LOL I also keep them pretty entertained with the occasional "guinea parade". This happens when the guineas roam up the road, and I go after them to chase them back into the yard. Of course, the cats and the dogs follow me, so if you are driving down the road at the right (or wrong) time, you'll see the guineas, followed my me--waving a rake and a straw hat to chase them out of the road--followed by the cats, who keep getting under my feet, and several dogs happily running along, barking and wagging. IT STOPS TRAFFIC. Well, mostly they stop because we fill up the whole roadway and they can't get around us. It also stops traffic because my neighbors laugh until they cry. Life here is never dull, and I (unwittingly) do my part to keep everyone entertained. Dawn

You remember the reasons given for it being essential to let the market decide which is the best way to go? That competition will ensure that everyone offers the products and services that people desire ... they claim. And it's partly true ... the corporations love competition ... among their suppliers. That way, the big guys can dictate to each supplier what they're willing to pay: take it or leave it. If they're big enough, many suppliers will take it ... until they are near bankrupt. They love competition among their customers: if there are only a few, they have too much negotiating power ... there is more or less a level playing field. But ... they hate it on their own level. Remember how we had a lot of little (granted, inefficient) dairies? The locally dominant dairy'd come in and offer the little guy about half what his business was worth. If he refused, they'd undercut his prices till he could no longer survive. Then the big guys came along and ate the middle-sized ones. When you have half a dozen players doing 80% of the business, do you figure that there's much competition? We have a small number of gasoline suppliers in Canada. When there's a price rise ... four local stores all put up their price to the same amount ... at the same time. After many complaints were heard, the government carried out several evaluations, over the years. They all came up with the conclusion that, yes, there is competition in the petroleum business. And all is well. As communism fell in Russia, many very large businesses and agencies were sold off to certain well-placed individuals or small groups. So they start off with heavy centralization, from the start. The same is going on in China as they gear up for participation in the market eceonomy - many very large companies are being set afloat. A number of them with close association to the Chinese government ... or the army. So theirs is to be a mature, over-centralized, economy from the start. We talk a lot about "freedom" and "democracy" ... which we mean to be operational in the political, and substantially in the social, realm. But a measure of "economic democracy" that some of us feel to be a worthwhile way to fly, doesn't get much consideration. Corporations run by the golden rule: he wot has the gold ... makes the rules. Good wishes for wise management of your life and assets. ole joyful

I think that, with a perk pot, one of the dangers is that the just perked coffee is exposed to too high heat while the perking is finishing and that can make it taste flat. I find that happens with one of those auto drip pots where the coffee sits for too long keeping warm. The coffee sitting in that carafe is not pleasing. it has been over a week now that we are making perk coffee. While it is not the most perfect cup of coffee, it is the easiest to make in the morning. And, I really did want to try to use this beautifully simple pot that I have. I have found that it works best to bring the coffee up to a perk and then turn the flame down to it's lowest and let it perk for five minutes. It is a careful balance of getting the water to perk through the grinds while not leaving it exposed to high heat long enough to loose it's appeal. Husband grumbles a little about it. Even with the drip coffee, I will usually find a mud in the bottom of the last cup. It is not clear to me just how that happens, but it does. One would think that the paper filter would eliminate that. I have been pleasantly surprised to find my perked coffee to leave very little residue. That was not the case the last time that we tried doing perked coffee. Not sure what has made the difference. One problem with buying another pour over combination is that the carafes and baskets for these are usually geared towards making a small amount of coffee. For the two of us to have a couple of cups over the course of a couple of hours, we like to brew a larger amount than most of those combinations will hold. Most come just shy of the amount that we want. I am old enough to remember the Maxwell house coffee song! I don't see many commercials anymore and I wonder if they still run that ad with the coffee perking in the pot. It makes me realize just how long it has been that I have watched any TV with commercials. I only see them on the cable news stations and all they advertise is medicines, late life mortgages and supplemental insurance along with get um' up pills for older guys, mid life crisis luxury cars and resort vacations. One thing that I have noticed about this perk pot is that the smell of the perking coffee does get around the house much more. The pot with the little glass knob in the top is about as old fashioned as the phone on the wall. The sound of the Maxwell house coffee perking is just as rare as is calling up the stairs to one of the kids, "Telephone! For you!". Then, you lay the receiver down to wait for that person to come down stairs where the phone is probably mounted on the kitchen wall......all past history. Telephones and perk pots!