james-in-lapine froze again chattered HappyDay, your 'What would Jesus do?' was off topic and is just fanning the flames. I know, cos every mention of Jesus incites unforgiving rage. It's the reason for His ministry and what He died for. Seriously, looks like my lil joke zoomed overhead. I'll explain. For some time I have wondered at the unbelievable cowardice of the librul haters. Aren't libruls historically the weak men already? Libruls are the lily livered, civil rights and free love if not feminist advocating, pot smoking back to the landers and conscientious objectors. They are the meek and mild bleeding hearts, like Jesus. You know, the intellectual and emotional conscience of society. So why are these gorilla headed neocons namecalling them? It's like a drunken wifebeater yelling "Tha b*tch got between me and my kids!" Talk about blaming the victim. Libruls are no threat to the rich, strong, and powerful who own everything and control the government and the military. Oh wait, they are. Love-ins stopped the Vietnam war. In a time of rampant overpopulation, lives were saved and military contractors lost money. Unforgivable. Today, the voice of the victim is the only voice that has any moral clout in American society. There is only one way for those in power to reclaim control over the hearts and minds of the populace. To silence the voice of the victim, they have to pretend to be even more pitiful victims themselves. This reminds me of the oil and land rich Muslim world resenting even the tiny corner lot that the Jews finally got back after a decade of suffering. Regarding Jesus, it's ironic, isn't it, that Hitler used Christian rhetoric to turn brainwashed Germans against Jews when Jesus Himself was a Jew? He was killed for being King of the Jews. In fact, Hitler was probably the illegitimate grandson of a wealthy Jew who may have molested Hitlers mother when she was a servant in their home. Isn't it also ironic that most neocons hate their fellow American libruls even more than Bin Laden? Divide and conquer. Don't think about it, just shut up and do as you're told. Well, to be fair, the terrorists are only shooting at the soldiers. A man can respect and even admire another warrior. But the Libruls might be saying bad things about the soldiers, and that is unforgivable. What bad things are they saying? Oh, bad things like stop the war, save tax dollars, bring our sons home. Horrible things like that. Unforgivable.

Fondest greetings dear Kathy! I'm humbly grateful for your kind words & compliments. Bless your heart! If you ever need a prayer partner or another kindred spirit to talk with, feel free to email me anytime. Always happy to make a new friend & fellowship :-). How are you feeling since last? I've been encouraged by what you & gardenofeden said concerning our trials & our Lord's faithfulness throughout. Believe me, I can wholeheartedly sympathize with such. If it's one thing I've learned, it's that He ALWAYS provides, in His timing & His way. I know what it's like to be laid up longer than one would like/expect & at the same time still having tons of things that need to get done. God's had to literally knock me to my knees on a few occasions because I was knocking myself out, & not in a good way (if that makes any sense). Congrats on your veggie garden going strong! Have you had any harvest yet? I got a few cukes, peppers, & tomatoes. I've had my heart set on some zucchini parm but don't know if I'm going to get any yield yet. Got flowers but no fruit yet. Been keeping a watchful eye for vine borers & so far so good. There's a nice fat eggplant hanging out but it needs to get bigger before I can pick it. Just hope the raccoons, possum, or squirrels don't get to it before I do! Can't wait to see pictures of your angel's when they bloom! That's awesome that they grew so vigorously after being cuttings from last year. I'm definitely going to put mine in the ground next yr. The pot I put mine in has become WAY too heavy now for me to move so I've been wheeling it onto my patio on a hand cart whenever nasty weather's expected. I would love to give you a peruvian daffodil but so far I've only got the one plant this yr. I know it should multiply next yr so come then I should have a plant to share :-). Will def keep you posted. In the meantime if I come across some bulbs I'll pick them up for you. We usually get them at Costco. Everything we've ever bought from there has bloomed better than the stuff from our high end nurseries. I honestly have no idea why the toads disappeared from my area. Sad though. I can remember catching a whole horse trough full of them, some of them were as big as my hand. My sister & I tried to keep them as pets but Dad told us they'd be happier being free so we'd always let them loose in the garden. Never had a pest problem back then. Now that my area has changed & the neighbors have become pesticide happy, I guess the toads either died or moved on to safer pastures. My yard is the only one that's organic. I only use something harsh as a VERY last resort (& even then I get the heebie jeebies about it). I keep my yard neat & clean but also as natural & woodland-like as possible, so it was a real treat seeing that little toad. Your mockingbirds sound like a fun pair! Mine just had 2 chicks. We raised our male ("Baby") after he was almost hit by a landscaping truck. I had to run out to scoop him up out of the street. Ever since then, he always comes back every yr with his mate "Pretty Girl" for peanut butter. They both come when called & even bring their chicks around as if they're showing them off to us. Speaking of which, how's that little sparrow doing? Have her chicks hatched? That is very sad about her mate! Thank God your sons are o.k. after those nasty storms! My friend's son & family had no power for over a wk in W.VA. I heard there's still folks w/o power. Thank you kindly for your advice Re:my brug! Truly appreciate it! I do have those white cabbage moths flying around. I'm going to take your advice & get some of that BT as a safe guard. Saw a brand called Safer caterpillar killer w/BT in it - would that be o.k.? Thank you also for the info about the homemade pest remedy too! Exactly how much ammonia should I use? It's in the 80's today on L.I. w/high humidity. My brug is hanging out in its spot & 3 of its buds are starting to unfurl. A garden spider has taken up residence amongst its branches & I couldn't be happier since its presence has been keeping away (for now) whatever was eating my brug's leaves. Have a happy day my friend! God bless & keep you (((hugs)))

Our story goes back to 2002, when my husband was laid off in the last downturn. We were living in a house that was at the top of what we were comfortable paying (though the banks thought we could afford oh so much more!). Fortunately, my husband was able to replace his income within a year by starting his own business, but it was a wake up call and we changed some things. The big things: -we live in a house that is about half of what we can afford and now have no mortage (we sold our more expensive house when we were at the top of our earnings) -we buy gently used cars with cash and drive them forever -we have catastrophic heath insurance and try to keep ourselves as healthy as possible through diet and exercise -we never spent money on preschool or private schools - we homeschool (though not for financial reasons, that's just a bonus) -we enjoy eating out, but we have potlucks with close friends more often. You can have an awesome potluck for what six families would spend eating at a restaurant! -no cable tv, just Netflix. You can watch television shows over the internet or get the DVDs from Netflix. -I purposefully cook to create leftovers. For example, my pot roast on Friday night became pot roast pasta on Saturday, so that stretched our meal over two days and saved us money. -No Starbucks or anything like that. Though like many here, we do spend some of our budget on wine ;). -I make a menu plan and a grocery list and I stick to the list when I shop. No impulse shopping! That'll get you every time. Things we haven't cut back on: -the housekeeper. They come once a week, and that will be one of the last budget items to go. It is a huge help to me as a homeschooler with a toddler, and I also don't want to hurt their business if I don't have to. -quality groceries/ organic. There are somethings I buy that are important to me and I don't mind spending extra on it. For example I prefer to buy Organic Valley dairy products because I prefer their business model to other organic producers that are available to me. -home maintenance. It's more expensive to replace an AC prematurely than to maintain it regularly. -giving. The people who need charity need it even moreso now. We also keep money in the budget for my husband to go on international mission trips, and I'll be doing that again after the baby is a bit older. Good thread!

The term 'black market' is not accurate. Any vendor of agricultural chemicals can obtain a license to carry and sell RUP (restricted use pesticides). You won't see these chemicals in a typical garden center but they are readily visible and for sale at our ag supply outlets, feed and seed stores, and co-ops. There are federal pesticide use laws, established by FIFRA that dictate very clearly how these pesticides are to be stored, who they can and cannot be sold to. Once the retail or wholesale vendor has the product, it can legally be purchased and used ONLY by a licensed pesticide operator. But the deadly chemicals can and do get into the wrong hands in several ways. The vendor is willing to break federal laws to make a few bucks and sells to a friend or neighbor or unlicensed customer. This is a frequent occurance. A legally licensed customer buys the product on behalf of a friend who claims he needs it. This happens all of the time....it's shocking. It is pilfered from a farm, orchard, or other workplace that has a legal supply. RU chemicals are supposed to be stored securely, but they often aren't. In each of the above examples, all of the unlicensed participants are guilty of breaking federal pesticide use laws. The licensing is rather lax, too. Any business who carries these products needs to license one individual as a dealer. That person may be an owner who never steps foot in the store. The actual applicators certification and licensing is different in each state, but typically just one employee (manager, owner) needs to have the credentials in order for a landscaping business (for example) to be legal. There are many categories requiring certification. RUP cannot legally be used or purchased by an unlicensed person. I hope that it will be discovered how this terrible tragedy happened, by whose hands.