Penny said: " Subsequently, when the soil food web came into my radar, I started noticing microbe "overlap". I was bouncing around the EM site the other day and realized they listed the ingredients, 2-3 of which I realized were in the yogurt/kefir, the other two unfamiliar. Hence, a little more net surfing while drinking my morning coffee. Voila, weird stories of camel dung and Nazis and BS!" That is what got my attention when you first brought up BIM, it sounded like Bug Juice immediately to me. After all the uproar about yeast I went back and checked again; Dr Martin said: " Vitamins: synthetic vitamins are sometimes added, but generally dried yeast is added as a food and vitamin source. Yeast contains the highest concentration of B vitamins of any known organism. Feeding yeast extract, as it is called, is a cheap way to provide the bacteria with pre-made vitamins. Bacteria can make most of their own vitamins, but this takes time and slows growth." And then: " Yeast: Yeast is a cheap source of B vitamins. It is also a source of cytokinins and protein. Mix two teaspoons of yeast, two teaspoons of sugar and one teaspoon of bread flour to 2 cups of warm water." BIM and EM dont even call for yeast, yet they do make it during the fermenting process. However, the microbes consume the yeast as food; the yeast isnt allowed to live long enough to develop into something bad. That is how I found out about Zymogenic/Synthetic soil. Now here you come with this "BS" stuff! I like being on a team with all of you guys on my side. As I said earlier, Carandang is a renegade telling all the trade secrets Dr. Higa is trying to make money from. Now we have (among others) "a librarian" on point like "a hound dog on a coons scent trail"; we might as well let the fat lady sing! Folks around here are at me for compost and plant whiskey like never before. Somebody came by today while I wasnt home and left $40.00 inside the screen door. I still dont know who it was or what the money is for, yet. It would appear that this season is going to be one to remember; of course I hold you directly responsible Pennymca Zone 7bAL. I know, "It really is on topic" Blutranes

I have a story, but it isn't funny. We have a little yorkie-poo. She was less than a year old when she got sick. She had a few stomach issues and they did a poop culture (sorry!), and found some type bacteria. Treated that but within a couple of weeks, she started vomiting one evening. She had never done this and after a couple of times I called our vet. Because of her small size (she's only 9 lbs. now fully grown) they had us bring her in so she wouldn't get dehydrated. They examined her, pumped her full of fluids and suggested we watch her closely overnight. The fluids and some meds helped with the vomiting but by early morning she was vomiting again. We got up, dressed and ready to get her to the vet their opening time. They did an x-ray and showed us that something was showing in her digestive track. Something she had ingested. I remembered that she had torn one of her little toys and although I never saw any stuffing out of the toy, I knew there was stuffing and we just assumed she had eaten that. They had to do emergency exploratory surgery. I bawled my eyes out. The next day when we were allowed to *visit*, the vet showed me the PLASTIC MEAT WRAPPER that she had eaten. It was to a pretty critical point, it had started through her intestines. The vet was wonderful, even took our little baby home with her overnight to keep a close eye on her and the pup came through the surgery with flying colors. And a nice little *zipper* down her belly. Hubby and I both felt awful. We didn't know she had gotten the wrapper. We figured that she had quickly grabbed it out of the garbage (which was behind a closed door, but if she saw us put something in there she'd jump up to investigate) and gotten away with it without us seeing. The stick on label on the plastic wrapping was what we were seeing on the x-ray. Alot of tears and $$$ over a meat wrapper! She's not interested in the garbage anymore (she was just a puppy then) thankfully, but we are even more cautious when throwing something away! I never throw away a meat wrapper now without putting it in another bag and tying it up first. Our pup too watches tv. It's hilarious. There was an M&M commercial that she didn't like. Now she doesn't like the Weight Watchers commercial where they have the little orange monster (hungry). She knows by the very first sound of that commercial that it's THE ONE and immediately starts barking. She barks at most dogs she sees on tv, other than cesear. Maybe because he's little like her. tina

Hi, just thought I'd share my story real quick. A year ago my family wanted a small toy dog. My sister, who was 15 at the time, was having back surgery and my parents finally allowed us to get one. Well, my sis researched all the breeds and it came down to the Bichon Frise and maltese . We ended up getting a male maltese. The lady told us Males are more loving and females are more independent. My dad didn't want one at first, he could care less. He was a big-dog-type of guy (We purchased 3 labs within 1 year of each other-all colors) But now he loves him just as much as the other dogs. Although everyone says he's mom's dog bc he follows her EVERYWHERE! They have a really strong bond. Anyway, at first, he'd bite a little. Usually our pant legs and he wouldn't let go. But I think that was just his puppy stage bc now he will only lick us to death. Seriously, he is too happy all the time. We give him a puppy cut every month and the only big issue was tear stains but we bought some stuff for that. Potty training wasn't bad either. Although occasionally there are times when he lets one out. lol (It's not bad though compared to labs!) Overall I'm happy with our family maltese. I am planning on getting one someday myself and I can't wait. Here's a link to a youtube video of 10 reasons to love a maltese. This describes how I feel about my dog but I don't know how to post videos. :() Here is a link that might be useful: 10 reasons

We had Tightrope surgery done on our 90 lb Akita 4 years ago. She was only 4 years old at the time, but I thought the TPLO was way too invasive. A week after surgery, the cast came off & we started 10 min walks 3-4 times a day, Never left the yard. we did put a ramp up the steps - they didn't want her doing any steps for 3-4 months. also had to keep her off the couch (no jumping) - so I had garbage bags of empty soda bottles that we would put on the couch to keep her off. Got quite a few comments & looks fromvisitors :) We gave her Tramadol for the pain - which worked just fine. The vet also suggested water therapy. I couldn't find anywhere in my area for this - so we went to the lake 3-4 times per week & she swam. Now - 4 years later, she doesn't seem to have any problems. Walks fine, runs & jumps -but on cold mornings, she is a little stiff until she gets moving. All of the food & treats I give her are loaded with glucosamine & omega 3, which I believe has contributed to her recovery & maintenance. We still swim as often as we can. Kita is pure white & is still my lovable polar bear.