Karyn trust me, I have the same thoughts about Bambi not thanking me one day and eating it all lol. All one can do around here is HOPE they leave you SOMETHING when they get to your plants. Dorothy thank you, I needed a that hug. Siam words can not describe the pain you feel when you realize that the fur baby that only been with you for 9 years, might not make it and be with you anymore. Pam even in these bad times...I DO think about my friends here. I just hate it to unload the sadness on everyone. Day after day. I like to cheer folks up and not make them sad. Oh and YES they have been jumping the lower fence to the porch. Eating lots of goody stuff. I just tell myself that it must have been the starving mom, needing food so she can feed her baby. That thought makes it a little bit more bearable lol Barb, don't worry. I KNEW who is suppose to eat that castor bean plant rofl. But that would mean they are in the back yard and I rather keep the castor bean plant safely away from them lol Tammy no changes in food and NO questions are dumb. Especially when one is in so much pain, you might not see the hole picture. Not think of thinks others do. So thanks for caring. I do have another kitty. She is doing good. Besides the fact that SHE had a urinary track infection and that is why I did not catch on that it was Amadeus peeing in places he should not and that HE is sick. I just kept my eyes on HER. Right now I am feeding him Pedialyte mixed with Gerber Turkey baby food into a pasty mix. The only time he drinks water is in the morning when I take him outside. To the deer. I believe my neighbor must have a sign up...come deliver your bambi here. Just look at this one taken a few days ago. Mom saw me and took off. I saw them to late so Bambi laid there. Thinking it can be INVISIBLE from me lol From Pictures to share with Garden buddies Susan I am giving Amadeus so much lovin, he hides under the bed now lol I just want him to know that I love him. So THANK YOU everyone for listening to my heartache. But I hope I also shared with you that I believe that even when thinks hurt like hell, there is a reason why things happen. Like Maddy ask me on Friday what heart break is. So my best example was to say that my heart would break if Amadeus would die right now. Because he is still so young. One is NEVER ready to say good bye to someone you love. But I also told her that he would be in heaven and a better beautiful day. It was interesting that a 5 year old came up with that question in my time of sadness. It came out of the blue and made me THINK about what IF. Hugs Lucy

Maddie, My tractor mower has headlights. Mine is an old one I bought for $300 - mows great, has four speeds, plus revearse, and has headlights. :) I tend to get cracked heals, too, and cracked fingers and they are painful. I use a dremel to sand off the thick calluses and then I apply bag balm. At night, I put socks on afterward when are very cracked & sore. Works great, gets rid of the stains and helps them heal. Bag balm has a natural anti-biotic in it that helps heal cuts and sores, too. Great for cat scratches. When I was a Vet-tech years back, I used it on the animals feet or sores or when they bit or scratched me. I found that it helped prevent my feet from cracking, because of the emolients in it. Put the bag balm, rub in well, then don your latex gloves or other gloves. In winter, I put on latec gloves then my winter gloves to keep my hands dry and warm. I love to "play in the dirt", go barefoot and garden till I am grubby, but I can't stand to be dirty and wet afterwards, for some reason. I am constantly rinsing off my feet and hands with the garden hose, which of course, tends to make my feet dry out and crack even more. The calluses get so thick that they crack and it really hurts. It also cripples me if I don't keep them sanded off with the dremel. I don't like that. But wearing shoes causes my ankles to swell, so it is either men's sandles, Flip-flops (we used to call them thongs), of I go barefooted. I do have a pair of men's Adidas slides, but they are size 12 - just twice my shoes size, but I wear them. I look like a Hobbit in those! I am a dust magnet and always have things caught in my hair - twigs, bits of grit, flowers, leaves, bugs. Believe me, I am not a "priss", but I like to look nice when I go somewhere. Once a week I work my feet over really well. I cannot go to bed with dirty, craggy feet. Grosses me out! I also paint my nails from time to time. (doesn't last too long, but I like it and it makes me feel pretty). Gotta go put up my chickens. It is thundering and about to storm. Zooks! Love this thread! Keep it going! ~ SweetAnnie4u

There was always a way to rebel when one was at that age. I think though, that it's getting harder when there's so much more "anything goes" these days. It seems every time the rebels go to extremes, the extremes become more mainstream or at least familiar enough to no longer be shocking. Back when I was growing up, a rebel only needed to grow his hair long...the longer, the more rebellious. I recall what a todo was created when the "mop head" Beatles first came on the scene. I mean their hair was actually quite short and they wore suits and ties for goodness sake! I'm not sure what kids will do next to rebel...I mean tats are common, pants can't go any lower...they even make suspenders to keep the pants from falling completely down, skirts and shorts have already been shorter than short, make-up has already gone totally goth with black eyes and lips, hair has already been every color of the rainbow and gelled to the sky, earlobes have been stretched, tongues have been split, genitalia have been pierced and ringed. I honestly don't know what's next. I remember back in the hippy days, my FIL, a prof, who was very matter of fact with his students, would comment on their long hair and baggy bell bottoms and say, "You know, if you want to get attention, you don't have to go through all that effort....you could just walk around with your fly open." (Please don't misinterpret...I'm not suggesting all tats are a statement of rebellion.)

I have mentioned the following pet peeve before on RP. I find it irritating when people, especially those in the media, substitute the word orientate for orient. The two words mean essentially the same thing, but the latter is shorter and more familiar. My Oxford Concise Dictionary has a whole paragraph listing the many uses of the word orient, including to "settle or find the bearings of". Yet only a few weeks ago I heard a reporter state that newly-arrived athletes were "orientating" themselves in Olympic Village. The word orientate is in no way an improvement in meaning to orient. In fact the former sounds awkward and affected (to me). In a backhanded way, the above reminds me of the slow death of the perfectly-acceptable noun quotation. You almost never hear someone under 45 use this word, unless they are referring to the title of a specific reference book. The word quote is now commonly used as a catch-all, to be used both as a verb and a noun. It is now commonplace to hear/read people say/write sentences like: "This is my favorite Shakespeare quote." I am old enough to remember when there were two specific words (quote, quotation) both of which had slightly different meanings and uses. Okay, I have to got to lighten up about things most people don't care about.