ABC Wednesday Round 10 - B

OK, Here it is, ABC Wednesday time again. This is the day to join in the ABC Wednesday Challenge, and share a little bit of our world with friends all over the world, and learn about them as well, one letter at a time. You can participate too, in either the sharing, or the learning, or both, by visiting ABC Wednesday,Where this week, the letter is




I was all set to write about Binomial Nomenclature, the process for assigning scientific names to living organisms.

But, between you and me, that can get boring.

I will try to add some life to that post and post it later, but something happened today that was of such significance to me that I had to Bypass Binomial Nomenclature.

**Warning, I am about to embark on a long rant about a personal experience. If you are here to planning read something deeply educational I suggest you stop reading now.


We bought Diann a new laptop for Christmas this year. (actually waited until after Christmas to buy it.) Her old one was worn out, and falling apart at the seams and it was time to replace it.

So, we spent a Bunch of Bucks at Best Buy and Bought a Beautiful new laptop.

Now, Before I go on, I have to note that in the last 9 months, between a new desktop, a new camera, a new printer and now this laptop, we have spent about $2000.00 at this particular Best Buy, so although we may not be their best customers, we certainly have been loyal and regular customers.

But that was all about to change.

I set up her laptop, downloaded the antivirus protection software offered by our ISP (Comcast) and Diann was ready to go.

Last night, for the first time, she opened it up, logged on and started reading comments on her blog. About 2 hours later, her screen went crazy, and the computer shut down.

It had a virus.

So, today we took the laptop back to Best Buy, to ask them for help.

Mike, the Geek Squad Tech offered to sell us a protection plan for only $200.00 that would include up to three computers in our home, and then he could fix the problem. Or, if we didn't want to do that, we could contact the manufacturer on our own and buy the disks to reformat and reinstall our operating system.

I explained, as politely as I could, to Mike the Geek Squad Tech that since we had just paid a whole bunch of money for this computer and since it wasn't really working, and since we have owned it less than 3 weeks, and since we had never even really used it yet, and since we had spent a great deal of money there in the last year, I had hoped that they would be able to help us fix our problem.

Mike the Geek Squad Tech, told me that there was nothing else he was authorized do, and so I asked if I could speak with someone who had authority to do more.

After a 15 minute wait, Eric the Assistant Manager came over and spoke with me and explained that since the way the Geek Squad makes their money is by fixing things, that it wouldn't be fair for him to ask them to fix this computer without first paying them $200.00.

I graciously offered to simply accept an exchange for a laptop that actually worked, but Eric the Assistant Manager said that they could not accept that computer as a return because it had a virus.

I pointed out that the virus was definitely a factor in my wanting to exchange it, and suggested that perhaps it was on the computer when we bought it, since it WAS in fact a factory refurbished model, but Eric the Assistant Manager bluntly told me that there was no way that could have happened, and that the virus was a result of our actions.

I asked Eric the Assistant Manager if perhaps they could run a smitrem or a malware removal program on our computer and see if that would help. I was annoyed at this time, but still willing to give Best Buy the benefit of the doubt.

This was when Eric the Assistant Manager started with the B.S.

Now, I may not be an expert on computers, but I am somewhat of an expert on B.S. and I know it when I hear it, so when Eric the Assistant Manager told me that they couldn't run anything on this computer in the condition it was in, I immediately recognized that he had no intention of doing anything to help me, no matter how much I may have spent in his store up to that date, and that he was simply throwing words at me to get me to go away.

So I did.

Best Buy lost more than just a $200.00 service contract today. They lost a loyal customer.

I may not have ever been their biggest customer, but as of today, I am no longer even their smallest.

I am personally Boycotting Best Buy.

Fortunately, all's well that ends well.

I called my Brother, who works on computers all day long. (I hate bothering him, because I know he does this at work all day, so when he gets home it seems like he should have some time off.) Actually, I left him a voice mail, since he was busy, and he responded with a text message. He was able to text me the information I needed to remove the virus by myself, at no cost to me.

Now why couldn't Mike the Geek Squad Tech, or Eric the Assistant Manager have taken the five minutes it would have taken to talk me through this process?

So for me, today, B stands for Bravo for Brothers, and Boo-hiss to Best Buy.

ABC Wednesday - Round 10 - A

OK, Here it is, ABC Wednesday time again. This is the day to join in the ABC Wednesday Challenge, and share a little bit of our world with friends all over the world, and learn about them as well, one letter at a time. You can participate too, in either the sharing, or the learning, or both, by visiting ABC Wednesday,Where this week, the letter is


I have been ABSENT for this blog for a really long time, as I ALLOWED other things in life to take priority.

I'm going to see if I can give my blog some ATTENTION, now that the market season and the holidays are over.

In keeping with the herbal theme, which seems to be the primary focus of my life, today's A word is ASTRAGALUS.



I have been hearing a lot about this herb just recently. It seems like it is the new Buzzword for new age coffees and teas that are being sold at craft shows.

I have my own theories about this which I will cover in a moment, but for the record, here is a basic summary of ASTRAGALUS (Astragalus mollissimus).

A perennial plant, about 16 - 36 inches tall, that is native to the northern and eastern parts of China as well as Mongolia and Korea Astragalus mollissimus is characterized by hairy flower stems; numerous, hairy, small, light green leaflets, usually arching; and long and narrow pink-purple flowers that have a pronounced backward flare at the upper tip of the rather small banner. It blooms profusely in the early spring and where you find one plant you will usually find many. The root is the medicinal part, and is usually harvested from 4-year-old plants.


Astragalus has been used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years. It was often combined with other herbs to strengthen the body against disease. Astragalus is called an adaptogen, meaning it is thought to help protect the body against various stresses, including physical, mental, or emotional stress. It is believed to specifically promote immunity in the lungs.

Commonly known as: Goatsthorn, locoweed, bei qi, huang qi, ogi, hwanggi, or milk vetch, among other names.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of culinary use for this herb, it appears to be primarily a medicinal herb and is used both internally and externally. It is high in antioxidants.

Now, as to the fancy high dollar coffees?

I have seen these coffees selling for $1-$3 for a packet of instant coffee, which has some herb in it. The packet comes with a free cup of hot water so you can mix it up and drink it. By selling it that way, the vendor does not have to have a food license, and avoids a lot of paperwork.

They generally contain Astragalus and Ganoderma, a type of mushroom purported to have amazing health benefits.

Why use herbs and botanicals that few of us are familiar with and fewer of us can spell, or even pronounce?

Well, would you buy a cup of coffee that claimed it had garlic in it? Garlic has some incredible health benefits, but we have preconceived notions about it's taste and smell. Whether justified or not, these notions affect our decision to try a new product.

But by using unfamiliar products, the manufacturer avoids any preconceived notions about the herbs and supplements added.

If I tell you I have a glass of sugary lemonade, it sounds mundane. But if I tell you I have some water, infused with the essence of citrus fruit, and gently sweetened with crystals made from the sap of an all natural sustainable cane product grown in Florida, it sounds like I have some exotic new drink that you simply must have!

Well, it works the same way with most products, and especially well with things that sound exotic.

So, next time you hear about a cup of coffee, enriched with powdered mushrooms, and ground roots that are the secrets of ancient Chinese medicine, by all means go ahead and try it. But just remember that the value of any herb does not automatically increase in direct proportion to our inability to pronounce the name.

Herbs are good, they have a lot of health benefits and are part of an effective health regime, when combined with a good diet, active lifestyle and healthy habits.

But there is no "wonder herb" that will magically cure your ills, reverse aging, and make you more attractive all in one capsule.

They just don't work that way.

However, Astragalus certainly seems to be an interesting herb that those serious about herbalism may want to explore more fully.

ABC 4.2.8 T

OK, Here it is, ABC Wednesday time again. This is the day to join in the ABC Wednesday Challenge, and share a little bit of our world with friends all over the world, and learn about them as well, one letter at a time. You can participate too, in either the sharing, or the learning, or both, by visiting ABC Wednesday,Where this week, the letter is



But first, for those who collect my signs, here are the last two, I have been terribly delinquent, and have missed two weeks.

If Denise finds out, I will be in so much trouble!





Now, on the the letter T.

I wanted to talk about the THREE TYPES of THYME that we are growing this year, but then I realized that we have four, not three, and I could never admit that I have more THYME than I thought I had.

After all, we are all short on THYME.

So instead, I decided to repost an old, old, post from way back in the dark ages on my blog.

This originally appeared in August of 09, when I had less than 10 loyal readers, so I though I would share it with you now that I have made so many new friends.

T is for ...

TIRES!

OK, This post has nothing to do with herbs.

For some of you this may be boring, for some it may be interesting, for some it may be a review, but I wanted to share it.

We had to replace the tires on both of our vehicles this week. They have both been riding on a wing and a prayer for several thousand miles. The Original Equipment tires for our F150 were rated for 40,000 miles and we just passed 60,000 on them.

As for the tires on the Ranger, I have no idea how many miles they had, but they were dry rotted so bad that they were starting to leak, and I had to keep adding air to two of them. We put it off long enough. It was time to bite the proverbial bullet and buy new tires.

Some things to keep in mind when buying tires.

When comparing the cost of tires between different dealers, make sure and ask for "out the door" pricing.

Some shops will charge you for mounting, balancing, valve stems, old tire disposal, and anything else they can sneak in, while others will just charge a flat rate for tires. This is important to know when comparing prices.

For example. WalMart sells tires. They charge $5 to mount and balance, $2 for new valve stems, (they won't mount a new tire without a new stem) and $1.50 to throw away your old tire. So there is a minimum of $8.50 per tire added on to the price they quote you. They also do not include sales tax in their quote. So, a tire that they sell for $100 will cost you "out the door" $114.51. That $14.51 doesn't seem like that much until you multiply it by 4.

If a Mom & Pop shop tells you $450.00 out the door, for four tires and Walmart tells you the tires are $100 each, the Mom & Pop shop costs less.

The most important thing to remember however, above anything else, and I cannot stress this enough.
Never, ever let a salesman sell you a tire with a lower service description than your vehicle had originally. Even if they have them on sale, for a really great price, this is never a good deal.

How do you know your service description? It's one of that big string of numbers on the side of the tire. Have you ever looked at all those numbers and wondered what they mean?

Because I delivered tires for years, all those numbers made sense to me, but it occurred to me, as I was tire shopping, that not everyone delivers tires for a living. Before I had that job, those numbers would have all just been a meaningless stream of mumbo jumbo.

So, let's take a minute and explore the number on the side of a tire.

Our F150 Tires are P265/70R17 100S

For those who like secret codes, get your Goodyear Decoder Ring and lets go to work. First let's break the string up a little.

P -- 265 -- 70 -- R -- 17 -- 100 -- S

Now lets go to work:

The first letter indicates the service type, or what the tire is intended to be used for.

P = Passenger tires.
They could also say "LT" for Light Truck.

The difference between Passenger and Light Truck Tires, is the thickness of the rubber in the sidewall of the tire. An LT tire has a thicker sidewall and can hold more air. This allows your truck to carry more weight without damaging your tires. If you haul a lot of weight, if you use your truck for industrial work, or if you pull a fifth wheel trailer, LT tires may be a better choice.

If you use your truck mostly for light hauling, P Metric tires (as they are commonly called) will do the job just as well, and, as they have less rubber in the sidewalls, they will be a little more flexible and therefore will ride a little smoother.

If the first letter is a "T", these are temporary tires, such as an emergency spare, and are not intended for long term use or for highway speeds. (In the tire industry, these Mini spares are often referred to as Donuts)

"ST" indicates a Special Trailer tire, designed for use on a trailer. These tires should never be used on cars or trucks.

There may not be a letter at all. In that case, you probably have a Euro-Metric tire. Although they are used mostly in Europe, a few have found their way here, mostly on mid sized SUVs and mini vans. Euro-Metric tires are comparable to "P" metric tires, with only very minor weight differences.

The next number is the tread width.

265 - Means that the tire is 265 Millimeters across. This is the measurement of the amount of tire that touches the road, and not, as some people believe the width of the tire from sidewall to sidewall.

For those of us non metric people, 300 millimeters is about a foot, so 265 is about 10 inches. Those of you who are perfectionists can figure it our exactly if you want, but for most of us, That's close enough.

The next number is known as the Aspect Ratio.

This is a fancy term for the height of the sidewall, or the distance from the road to the rim. This number is a percentage of the tread width, so 70 means that the sidewalls of my tires are 70% of 10 inches, or about 7 inches tall.

The R indicates that these are Radial tires.

This used to be much more relevant than it is today. Most tires on the road today are radials.

This is a reference to the internal construction of the tire. There are cords, generally steel or fiberglass that run back and forth inside the tire and add strength. Radial tires have those cords running straight across the tire, while Bias ply tires have the cords running diagonal and criss crossing.

Radial tires get better fuel economy, and wear longer, since the cords do not rub back and forth against each other as the tire spins. Bias tires are almost obsolete.

The next number is the rim size.

For whatever reason, tires are measured in millimeters, but rims are measured in inches, so 17 means my rims are 17 inches across.

I was never much of an artist, but this may help:


The final numbers are what is known as the Service Description

The first part is the weight capacity and the second is the speed rating.

There are charts and tables available to break down service description codes, in fact you can find a good one, (and a lot of other helpful tire information) here
Click Me

By looking it up on the chart, I can see that the 100 S on my tires means that each tire can carry up to 1764 pounds and be safe at speeds up to 112 miles per hour.

If I ever decide to drive faster than 112 mph, I will run the risk of overheating my tires. My tires are simply not capable of dissipating heat at speeds higher than 112 mph.

Of course I also run the risk of getting a ticket, losing my license and having my wife take my truck keys away, but those are all insignificant when compared to a blowout at over 100 mph.

So, to recap,

P265/70R17100S Breaks down like this:

P..........Means my tires are designed to be used for standard highway use,
265/70......are about 10 inches wide and about 31 " tall (7+17+7)
R...........are radial tires
17..........Have a 17 inch opening in the center
100......And should be safe carrying a vehicle no more than 7056 lbs (1764 X 4) S ..........at speeds of less than 112 miles per hour.

Now that you understand my tires, you should be able to figure out your own. Armed with a basic understanding of what the numbers mean, you should be better equipped next time you have to go to the tire store. Remember, knowledge is power.

And the most important thing to remember? Above everything else, do not EVER put tires on your vehicle that have a lower service description code than the original tires.

If you do, your tires will not be designed to carry the weight of the car at the speed the car is designed to run.

Putting a lower Service Description tire on a car is like asking for a blowout.

As for the rest of the numbers, be familiar with what they mean on a general basis, but a good rule of thumb is to just buy the same size, and type that the vehicle came with.

You can find more helpful information about tires at these places:

How Stuff Works

Tire Tech, Tire Info.

If you want help with metric conversions, a handy guide can be found here:

ABC.4.2.8 Q Quandary

OK, Here it is, ABC Wednesday time again. This is the day to join in the ABC Wednesday Challenge, and share a little bit of our world with friends all over the world, and learn about them as well, one letter at a time. You can participate too, in either the sharing, or the learning, or both, by visiting ABC Wednesday,Where this week, the letter is


But first, several people have told me that they like the little letter signs I make each week, and are saving them and using theme in teaching, so since I was away from my files last week and couldn't make the letter "P", I promised I would do one this week. So here it is:



Now, back to Q.

I am in a bit of a quandary and I need advice from my loyal readers.

I recently got some new herbs to add to our garden, among them soapwort and some medicinal herbs that are good for skin conditions: Feverfew, Lamium, Yarrow, along with the Comfrey we already grow.

So I wanted to make some herbal soap and shampoo to sell at the Farmers Market.

There are a couple of different directions I can go with this, and I need some advice.

Traditional soaps are made by adding Lye to fats and oils. This causes a chemical reaction, called saponification, which makes the oils water soluble and solidifies them so the can be molded into bar form.

A by product of saponification, should one choose to take the steps to separate and reclaim it, is s substance called glycerin, which is used a lot in making clear soaps and liquid sops.

Soaps made from glycerin, or saponified fats have a very low water content and are relatively shelf stable.

But they are made with Lye, which is a harsh chemical. Although the lye is no longer present in finished soaps, it is, nevertheless a component of the process.

However, using soapwort root, I can make a soap and a shampoo that are lye free and chemical free. I can use herbal extracts and tinctures to add the herbal elements.

These are a water based solution, and as such have a short shelf life. They should be kept refrigerated and will last for about 2 weeks. Or I can add a chemical preservative, glycerin based, that will prolong the shelf life substantially.

So that is my QUANDARY.

And here are some QUESTIONS:

Do I sell a chemical free soap product, that has a short shelf life, or do I add preservatives?

Or, do I sell a dry package that can be added to boiling water, allowed to stand for several hours and then strained? Kind of a do-it-yourself shampoo kit?

Or do I just go ahead and use traditional saponification methods with lye and oils to make bar soap?

Would you rather buy a completely natural chemical free product, that must be refrigerated and will only keep about 2 weeks, or would you rather buy a product that is mostly natural, but has a few chemicals to prolong shelf life?

This is my QUANDARY.

I need your help...

ABC.4.2.8 P Parade

OK, Here it is, ABC Wednesday time again. This is the day to join in the ABC Wednesday Challenge, and share a little bit of our world with friends all over the world, and learn about them as well, one letter at a time. You can participate too, in either the sharing, or the learning, or both, by visiting ABC Wednesday,Where this week, the letter is

Sorry, I'm away from home so I dont have all my fancy files to work with so I cant do my regular letter with the ASL, Braile, Morse Code letter on it, I'll do a P for next week.

Speaking of being away from home, we spent the weekend at the Maple Syrup Festival, which ended with a PARADE.


(Does it PERTURB anyone else that nobody seems to stand up anymore when the flag goes by?

This PARADE had everything PARADES need to be successful:

PATRIOTS


PETS
(Yes, It's a goat, so what?)


POLICE CARS


PRINCESSES


PLAYHOUSES


PONIES


and a PINK TRUCK.


What more could anyone want??

ABC 4.2.8 O

OK, Here it is, ABC Wednesday time again. This is the day to join in the ABC Wednesday Challenge, and share a little bit of our world with friends all over the world, and learn about them as well, one letter at a time. You can participate too, in either the sharing, or the learning, or both, by visiting ABC Wednesday,Where this week, the letter is:



This weekend we head up to OPEN our trailer for the season.

It will also OPEN the market season, as we kick off a weekend selling herbs and crafts at the Maple Festival.

We have five OPEN AIR markets scheduled this year, so once the Farm Market season OFFICIALLY OPENS in about six weeks, I will be at the market every Tuesday through Saturday until OCTOBER.

But what I really wanted to talk about today was OLIVE OIL.

There are many ways to make Herbed Olive Oil.

Some ways are wonderfully safe and some are an invitation to botulism.

Which should we choose?

OK, that was OBNOXIOUS.

Lets review, the way to make Safe Herbed Olive Oil.

First of all, any herbed oil can be kept in the refrigerator from one to three days and be reasonably safe.

But beyond that there are some things to keep in mind.

While herbs themselves do not make very good hosts to botulism, water does. Any herbs with a high water content are more prone, therefore, to Food Borne Bacteria.

How do we start?

Well, there is no secret recipe to share. But here are a few tips.

The intensity of the flavor varies with the season, whether the herbs are wild or domestic, how the local growing conditions have been, etc. The oil will pick up the flavor fairly quickly, in the first few weeks, and then slowly intensify. It is fine to leave the herbs in for a long time; eventually all the flavor leaves the herbs and the oil flavor stabilizes.

But remember: It is unsafe to put anything in the oil that contains any trace of water or moisture. That would include garlic, lemon peel, fresh peppers, fresh herbs and spices.

Now I know, somebody will come along and tell me that their Auntie Grizelda has been making lemon peel and basil oil with fresh garlic and jalapenos for years and hasn't died yet. So maybe the odds are only 1 in 1000 that I will get sicker than a dog.

That may be fine for the other 999 people, but I always seem to be the 1 (except for when it comes to lotteries), so please be safe.

If you choose to use fresh dense moist ingredients, just make sure you store it in the refrigerator, use all the oil within a few days, and never, ever keep it longer than a week.

If you simply MUST use fresh garlic, pickle it first in a strong vinegar and salt solution. Commercial brine used for this purpose is as much as four times stronger than traditional pickling brines.

Or,(and this is the method I prefer) you could dry the herbs and other ingredients first. This will remove the water, while leaving the essential oils intact. A food dehydrator is faster than sun drying, and for this purpose, the less air exposure time your ingredients have the less chance they will have to pick up any other bacteria, so wash them thoroughly and dry them in a dehydrator. In order to dry Garlic completely it should be sliced thinly. Big chunks don't dry thoroughly throughout.

Try putting sprigs of dried rosemary, and thyme, and a dried red pepper into a bottle, then filling it with olive oil and capping it. Make sure you sanitize all your utensils and containers before you do this.

Oil made this way should be stable in your refrigerator for several months. But if you just make a small bottle at a time, it will never last long enough to worry about anyway.

Use it over potatoes, fish, on meats to be grilled, on bread, or get really creative and use a tablespoon of it to scramble eggs.

Once you taste it and start using it, it will be gone before you know it.

ABC 4.2.8 N (and M revisited)

OK, Here it is, ABC Wednesday time again. This is the day to join in the ABC Wednesday Challenge, and share a little bit of our world with friends all over the world, and learn about them as well, one letter at a time. You can participate too, in either the sharing, or the learning, or both, by visiting ABC Wednesday,Where this week, the letter is



But before we do N, I have to take a Moment to revisit the letter M.

Last week, I wrote this post all about the letter M. But when I tried to post it, it was gone.

But this week, when I opened up my file of HTML code for my links and pics, guess what was there?

That's right, all the code for MY MISSING post, MISLABELED, MISFILED, but still MYSTERIOUSLY intact.

So, without further ado, this week, you all get a double whammy.

Here is M:



I spent the day yesterday with out three year old, as she tagged along with me while I ran errands and did some chores.

One of the first letters she learned to recognise was "M".
She got "Michigan Bear" for her first Christmas, and she quickly learned that the big block letter "M" stands for Michigan.

But, like any child, it didn't take her long to realize that it can also stand for something else:


If nothing else McDonald's can be proud of the fact that they have helped millions of kids learn to recognise the letter "M".

Now if we could just figure out how to convince her that we don't have to stop at every single one we see. She is like Pavlov's dog. She sees the golden arches and becomes hungry, even though she just ate lunch before we left home.

But we didn't stop there yesterday, instead, we stopped at the garden when she found a visitor.


It is so fun to see the wonder in a child's eyes as they explore and discover things that we as adults dismiss as mundane or everyday things.

Our garden is at my in-laws home and my Mother-in-Law, who is a child at heart, left a surprise out in the back yard.

The two of them had been gathering twigs and building a pile, supposedly so the birds could use them for a nest. Before my in-laws left for vacation, she took some egg shells and painted them with exotic swirls and colors and designs and left them strategically in the birds nest pile.

So when Bingo walked into the back yard and saw her bird pile, she immediately "realized" that some birds must have hatched out and flown away.

We have been watching a live feed from Iowa, of a pair of eagles who hatched a brood of chicks, and we watched together a week ago or so as one of the chicks hatched, so she was familiar with the process of hatching out of an egg.

She was so excited that this same thing must have happened right there in her bird twigs.

Sometimes it does the heart good, to stop for a minute and view the MAGICAL MOMENTS in life through the eyes of a three year old.

I may not have got as much done as I wanted to yesterday, but I MADE some MEMORIES.

And that is what "M", and life, is all about.

And now for my post about N.



I saw a blog recently, highlighted by one of the blogs I follow. It made me smile, and I bet it will bring a smile to your face as well.

The blog, Wave At The Bus, is by a man in Utah, who dresses in a different costume each day to wave at the school bus. At the beginning of the year, his 15 year old son was embarrassed, but day after day, he persevered. The son, now 16, admits that he, as well as the rest of the kids on the bus, and even the driver, look forward to each new day to see what costume awaits.

So, My N for the week is NINJA.



What a great dad, and what a fun story. Check it out!

ABC 4.2.8 M Mad

OK, Here it is, ABC Wednesday time again. This is the day to join in the ABC Wednesday Challenge, and share a little bit of our world with friends all over the world, and learn about them as well, one letter at a time. You can participate too, in either the sharing, or the learning, or both, by visiting ABC Wednesday,Where this week, the letter is


I'm so MAD!

I wrote a long post, complete with pictures. All about the MAGICAL MOMENTS in life and how sharing them with a child MAKES MEMORIES.

But when I went to link up, my post was MISSING>

It vanished, disappeared, gone without a trace.

I am MIFFED.

I am MUTTERING curses under my breath.

ABC 4.2.8 L - Lots of stuff

OK, Here it is, ABC Wednesday time again. This is the day to join in the ABC Wednesday Challenge, and share a little bit of our world with friends all over the world, and learn about them as well, one letter at a time. You can participate too, in either the sharing, or the learning, or both, by visiting ABC Wednesday,Where this week, the letter is



Tuesday I gave a LECTURE on Herbs at the Michigan State Extension Office. It was a pretty basic presentation for beginners. I covered all the standard herbs that Beginners should consider...

Basil: An annual used in Italian and Mediterranean cooking. Easy to grow, very aromatic.
Chives: The smallest member of the onion family. Easy to grow, attractive purple flowers.
Dill: A self seeding annual, grows up to four feet tall. Dwarf varieties are available for tabletops.
Thyme: A small perennial good for both indoor and outdoor gardens. Many varieties available.
Rosemary: A perennial, grown as an annual in cooler zones. Great for patio containers.
Oregano: A fast growing perennial used in Italian and Mediterranean cooking.
Marjoram: A smaller sweeter member of the Oregano works great in tabletop gardens.
Mint: Easy to grow, but be careful it can be aggressive if you don’t keep it under control.

But as I spoke I kept thinking about all the fun herbs that I have wanted to experiment with and just havent had the time.

I want to LEARN about a few more, so this year I hope to add: LEEKS, LOVAGE, LAVENDER, and LICORICE to our garden.

Is it coincidence that those herbs would come to mind as we approach the L week for ABC Wednesday?

I dont think so...

I think it's Karma.

Anyone have any tips on growing any of those four? I'd LOVE to hear them. Otherwise it's time to hit the books and LOOK things up.

ABC 4.2.8 K

OK, Here it is, ABC Wednesday time again. This is the day to join in the ABC Wednesday Challenge, and share a little bit of our world with friends all over the world, and learn about them as well, one letter at a time. You can participate too, in either the sharing, or the learning, or both, by visiting ABC Wednesday,Where this week, the letter is



It appears as if, once more, I am tardy to the party.

I always start out the week with the best of intentions and then sometime late Wednesday I realize that those intentions must have been used to pave the proverbial road...

When I was a KID, every few years we would get KNITTED House Slippers from my mom.

We wore them until they wore out, then a year later we would get a new pair.

About the time I got in Junior High, it went from a once in a while thing to an annual tradition, and she has made each of us a pair of slippers every year since then.

The family has grown, significantly, so while she only had 6 pairs to KNIT in 1970, when I was 5 and she was 36, she KNITTED 63 pairs last year, when I was 45 and she was 76.

Every kid, grandkid, kid in law, grandkid in law, and great grandkid gets a pair.


She has already started KNITTING next years slippers. She has to KNIT at least one pair a week all year long and double up on some weeks to get them all done by Christmas.

Every year she tells us that she probably wont make them any more, and every year we hold our breath, hoping this wont be the year when we don't get them anymore.

I asked her this year if, when the time comes that she just cant keep up with demand anymore, she would make me a miniature pair to use as a Christmas Tree Ornament. It would be an heirloom ornament that would last for generations.

So, as they wear out, which they are bound to do, we have come up with creative solutions.

In 2008, I got a black pair,
and in 2009 I got a blue pair.



Since I walk heavier on one foot than the other, one side always wears out long before the other. I am hoarding my 2010 pair as long as possible before I break it out and start wearing it, so I am making my remaining slippers last as long as possible.

The pair I currently wear looks like this.



You will note that, while she used to make pom-poms for all her slippers, she has started crocheting "laces" and tying them in a bow. She says this saves about 30 minutes per pair. No big deal until you multiply it by the 65 pairs she is making this year (crossing my fingers that she makes them.) **One more marriage one more birth since last year.

So although they may look funny, I wear my black and blue slippers with pride and comfort.


Each and every stitch is KNITTED with a Mother's Love.

ABC 4.2.8 J Jot Jalapenos!

OK, Here it is, ABC Wednesday time again. This is the day to join in the ABC Wednesday Challenge, and share a little bit of our world with friends all over the world, and learn about them as well, one letter at a time. You can participate too, in either the sharing, or the learning, or both, by visiting ABC Wednesday,Where this week, the letter is:


Here I am, late with my ABC Wednesday post again, as usual.

I had planned on writing a tribute to my mother in law JANICE, who has a birthday coming up. She is an amazing, talented person, and a great friend. She always manages to see the good in people, the bright side of a day and the silver lining of any cloud, she spreads JOY wherever she goes.

But to do that right I want to take some pictures of some of her artwork and some of the other things she does, and time was the enemy, so maybe next time J rolls around I can be better prepared.

It's time for some input from my readers. I have been working on new products for the farmers markets and am trying to decide which JELLIES to sell this year.

I recently came across a recipe for JALAPENO JELLY and want to know. Has anyone tried it? What did you think?


Is it something you would be willing to buy and try at a farmers market, if the price were reasonable?

How would you use it? What would you eat it with?