Here is the new CanDo thread. The other one was getting so long that anyone on dialup probably couldn't load it very well.
New CanDO thread - May 28, 2009
Good to meet someone who actually knows how things are done around here. I am fairly new to DG. Still fumbling around learning how it all works.
You should be careful Psychw2. Throwing medical terms at your co-worker might be dangerous. Who knows? He might have a case of hellenologophobia, the fear of scientific/Greek words.
Well, at least, I can still use the Greek and Latin rattling around in my head for some practical use. .It comes in handy with plant names and bad jokes.
Ha ha ha, last night my niece, who is 16 and lives with her family in Italy, where a normal HS course involves studying Greek and Latin, took on my brother, who is 43. Her cousin - his son - will be taking either Latin or Spanish or French next year. The other adults and the boy and the other kids were all in favor of Latin, all except for my brother - the father - who is in favor of Spanish. it was nearly a family feud.
(Kay) Whoah! I'm a retired medical transcriptionist. I know real phobias aren't anything to laugh about, but I always thought Hellenologophobia was the psychiatrist version of an inside joke. Might want to re-think that.
Like most blind people, I love words. Other people's words are like the windows that allow us to see more.
Sorry, I got everyone way off topic. Back to chickens. Is there a forum at DG on poultry? One of the people I share the property with is really into wild birds. So I have been thinking about having poultry here.
There IS a poultry forum. Does Kudzu have more than one person poesting?
Kudzuone is the house computer at Amargia. Amargia is a community-garden-in-progress. The property was misused by a large scale farming operation so we have to restore the land itself first. 90% of the time, if you see Kudzuone, it will be Jim. A man with severe back problems. Almost everyone associated with the Amargia project is physically challenged in some way. There are a few T.A.P.'s (temporarily able-bodied people) who have an interest in what we are trying to do. We don't discriminate against T.A.P.'s. They can join in if they want. There is plenty of work to go around!
It is raining today so I had a little free time to spend on the computer. I've been exploring Dave's Garden whenever I have time.
Sounds very interesting. There's also a "Soil and Composting Forum" and a "Sustainable Alternatives". I'm always interested in cooperative enterprises - it seems like my husband is always building fences.
Fences do have their uses, I think. Things would get chaotic very quickly without boundaries. Some times I think we overdo them a bit, though. Men have it ingrained in them, early on, that it is their job to protect. Maybe, that has something to do with their love for fences.
I had a garden lesson on respecting boundaries yesterday. I was cleaning up under a little grove of trees that a red squirrel has claimed as his territory. He kept dropping things on me. They are more aggressive than their more numerous, little, gray cousins.I knew it was a red squirrel because they make a sound like a little dog barking when their agitated. When the pine cones did not drive me away, he pulled out the heavy artillery. It seems he still had some old hickory nuts squirreled away.
When one of my teenage daughters was going through her attitude phase, she put up a sign on her bedroom door. “My Room……My Mess….My Business! One of the very art-sy types here is working on the sign for Red, the squirrel. . “My Trees…My Mess…My Business!” We CAN DO that.
ROTFLMAO - I love it!!! Funny squirrel, great idea.
Welcome, Kudzu. There is a blind lady on the healthy living forum. She is on the healthy lifestyle thread and goes by I0I. Lovely lady. You might want to contact her. She is an avid gardener. Mostly in Earth Boxes I think. She too is from one of the southern state. I think GA.
I think co-ops are great. Never had to belong to one, but I know people who do and they love them. It is the only way some people get to garden. You got some really good advice on forums to go to. I've just visited them and found them interesting even if I don't think some of it applies to me or everyone.
GOD bless & keep each of you.
(Kay) Thank you, Leaflady. I am looking forward to getting to know another blind gardener. I knew she was around. I looked for her on some of the forums I thought she might visit, but did not see her. I just learned about that click-on-the-name thing. Duh.
I use traditional gardening methods, but as I get older I am learning to appreciate more efficient, less labor intensive techniques.
Have a blessed day.
Thread about drugs and side effects:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1001174/
kudzu1, Id love to come see your red squirrel. The grey squirrels ran ours off except in towns.
leaflady, glad to see you back. Have you by any chance heard from leeflea? Think you wrote each other a couple of times. I miss him.
carrie, thanks for the medicine link.
Vickie
Vickie, I think leeflea is 'no longer a member.' Why, I don't know. He was fun!
Thanks carrie, That reminds me, my subsription comes due next month. The best $20 i'll ever spend.
Jim, i see almost as many men
as women using the electric carts. I'm so thankful they are available. I sometimes wish Hobby Lobby had them tho i want to look at everything anyway so the manual one is fine.
scraps, Do be careful in this heat. I hear we may have a break in temps by Sunday.
Kay, i'm always learning new features about DG. I spend so much time on Forums i forget how much other stuff is available. I've wanted to start a journal but doubt i'm disciplined enough to keep it up. I do enjoy the articles in DG letter tho.
Because of your favorite author, Vickie??? (cheesy grin.)
When I'm talking to people about the decision to begin to occasionally use a wheelchair sometimes, I talk about how I used to be at the point where all I could think about was standing up and not falling over. I couldn't carry things in a store or look at things in a museum or wander around a garden, all my energy and attention was on remaining upright.
The first time I used a wheelchair was at Kew Gardens in London. I couldn't have gone if I didn't borrow a W/C. As it was, I had a wonderful time! I'm sad that now I spend ALL my time in a W/C, but it's silly not to take advantage of the option.
I remember the days when left sided weakness left me WC bound. They are past by many years now but the vivid memories remain.
Hot here today. I have the soaker hose on the short row of asparagus beans which are climbers. I let them climb the 6' chainlink fence that is the south side of the bird yard. Most of the tomatoes are on the west side of the bird yard. Soaker hoses are a GODsend. I bury them under the newpapers used to control most of the weeds and let time do the work for me. I have hoses cut to the length of permanent beds. One has been in the grape row for years now. Occasionally I have to fix a place that has started to leak but that is it. The hardest part is dragging the long reg. hose out to it. If it is really dry I leave the reg. hose in place as long as possible.
GOD bless and keep each of you. My thoughts and prayers are with you daily.
Carrie, Get that cheezy grin off your face. Do you write articles? LOL!!!!!
I wish so much they had wheelchairs in mueseums. I'd spend most of my time going from one to another. I have a classmate with paintings at a local art museum That i will see at least part of next week. I could get my own moterized wheel chair but my car is'nt big enough to carry it,i don't think. It must be hard to be W/C bound.
leaflady, I'm going to have to start watering my tomatoes and cukes and daylillies. My outside water comes from a well so can water as much as i want.Have you done any canning yet? I hope to freeze a few tomatoes. We have sure had our share of heat. Hope it cool off some next week.
I've got tame muskadines. The birds beat me to them every year. Cause i'm never sure just when they're ripe but the birds always know.LOL
It IS hard being in a WC! Plusses and minuses like anything, of course ... Vickie, could you wheel yourself in a manual wheelchair? Because that's easy to fold up and fit in the trunk of a car. Do you have a physical therapist? That might be the best person to ask.
carrie, I can wheel myself around if i stop and rest every little bit.
No physicl therapist except me pushing myself to do.
Woke up this morning to temps in the 70s high in the 80s. I so hope scraps is getting some of this cool.
Well, do you have a manual chair that fits in the trunk of your car? Gloves so your hands don't get too beat up? (That's what bugs me about manual wheelchairs: having to hold the wheel that's wheeled through the gum wrappers and trash and mud and soda junk that's in the parking lot. Just my pet peeve.) The physical therapist can get Medicare to buy you a wheelchair, that's all. I know you don't need one to egg you on, but you might need one to negotiate Medicare paying for the chair.
I had to post this on the Can do thread. Yesterday i processed and froze 5 quarts of tomatoes all by myself. Don't think i would've even tried but for this forum and the people in it.
5 qts may not sound like much but hey, thats 5 potential soups this winter. Been a long time since i've put anything up. Am wiped out today but enjoyed every minute of it.
Carrie, i manage a manual W/C very well as long as i go slow. DD has been pushing for me to get one but as long as i can walk any,i hate to get one.Guess i'm afraid i might give up trying if getting around was easier not to.
Where is scraps and Kay and leaf?
I'm here. Just very busy and usually post on another thread in this forum.
Working up tomatoes can be a lot of work. So congratulations on a job well done, Cando.
I can still do enough stairs to work on cleaning the attic for the man who is suppose to do the electrical work on the house starting a week or so. We need to get rid of so much up there and organize the rest if possible. I burned quite a bit yesterday.
I can still use my hands to pull weeds & handle the shovel Jack made for me to dig out the garlic crop. And use the 14" bar electic chain saw a little bit to get rid of shrubs and small trees I don't want. I wear the big heavy brace on my left wrist yet when I do heavy work like that. I'm trying to wear braces less as time goes on so that wrist will regain strength. It's been 7 1/2 months now since I broke it so I feel it should be able to do mild to moderate work without support. I still put them on tho when it starts aching & the topical creams don't help or for more strenous tasks.
GOD bless and keep each of you.
I actually got about a dozen Cannas planted (finally) many had rotted from just siting in the bags for months. rather than beat myself up for the lost ones I will watch for the blooms and be pleased. there is already one coming up with a beautiful bloom that I had put in a pot it is yellow with sort of coralish splotches on it.
About an hour ago I also learned that I CAN sweet talk a frightened kitten down from about 25 feet up a tall tree. Now just have to figure out what to do and how to Not fall in love with him. He's buff colored.
GOD bless all of you ^_^ !# !$
Yeah, Sheri! That's an attitude I try to emulate. (The not beating yourself up part.)
Cando, All the tomatoes we grow here are snagged and eaten fresh. So we decided, if we are going to preserve some for winter, we needed to start growing more. That is what we planted in the new raised bed we created. It is just a child's swimming pool with drainage holes drilled in the bottom, filled with good soil, sitting on an old wrought iron table the same size as the pool. Wrought iron furniture is pretty, but impractical in the southern summer heat. You can burn yourself if it is in the sun and it isn't very comfortable anywhere. No one actually used the table and chairs set so we re-purposed them. Cut the arms and backs off the chairs and used the "stools" to raise containers (old tires flipped inside out) to a more convvenient height. Maybe by fall everyone will be burnt out on fresh tomatoes and we will have enough to freeze or can.
Carrie, have you heard about the new mind-controlled wheelchair Toyota developed? No kidding. I can just imagine what would happen to Jim if he had one of those and a pretty lady walked by. What happens if the operator gets distracted?
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/30/toyotas-mind-controlled-wheelchair-boast-fastest-brainwave-anal/
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/06/toyota-wheelchair/
And, who needs a wheelchair that can go 18 mph? http://www.geekologie.com/2007/10/toyota_ireal_is_a_wheelchair_o.php
Leaflady, my knees hurt just thinking about you going up and down those attic stairs. We are building low here and using only ramps. I say this is for the benefit of the mobility impaired, but I certainly won't mind having an alternative to stairs myself.
leaf, Good for you using comman sense in using the braces. Most of us just want to get rid of them without thinking of the future. When you're thru getting rid of stuff at your house you can come down here and and go thru mine. Afraid i'm a squirrel.
Sherri, That is a gift to talk a strange kitten from a tree. You've probably been adopted by a kitten.LOL
Kay Is'nt it great the things that can be turned into mini gardens with a little imagination. Those things might go on sale cheap next month. General Dollar store in the next town will have some large pots on sale next month. If can get there in time, i'll stock up. Seems like there are a lot of gardeners in ARK. That stash their money till sales time and go hunting for garden stuff in August.
There's a particle physicist in England, Stephen Hawking who is parylized and uses a wheel chair controlled by his mind, also a computer. I admire this man beyond description because despite his handicap he uses his mind to make great discoverys in Particle physics.
LOL Kay, my DD,s fuss at me because my car starts in the same direction i look when driving. they would have a lot of fun running after me were i to use my mind steering.
I hadn't heard about it, Kay, but it's a great idea, because then I could use my hands for something useful like holding a bag of groceries or carrying a baby or lifting weights or weeding! I need to click on those links. And I might need a W/C that can do 18 mph! It takes me so long to get in the car the way things are now. The real question is, who is going to tell Medicare about those new wheelchairs?
That's the real problem. There is some amazing adaptive tech for blind people, but most blind people can't afford it.
I don't know if I want to wear one of those oh-so stylish brain-wave helmets, though...
Can't see it myself, Carrie. But, if the comments posted on those sites are any indication, Toyota will definitely need to do something about that before it goes on the open market. A New York designer, I would hope. If they use Japanese fashion designers, it will almost certainly be Manga and Anime inspired. Meaning it will be red and topped with pink cat ears or something like that. .
Imagine Fruit Loops on steroids pasted all over a skin-tight black cap with chin strap - does that help? Permanent hat-hair, never a good hair day again!
Great word picture, Carrie...ROFL!!
Glad it was effective! (Giggle)
Yep. DEFINITELY needs work. That will never fly with the general public.
Any advice or pet peeves when it comes to ramps, Carrie. The only first hand advisor I have on such matters is young and athletic. Paraplegia resulting from an accident. Into wheelchair sports. I'm sure you've met his type. Not sure how reliable a source of information he is when it comes to designing things to be accessible to people in wheelchairs as the result of disease or age.
Well, Kay, how long do you have to sit and listen to my pet peeves? ^_^ I do have one or two.
Why not some pet peeves? I've got a couple also.
My biggest one is handicapped parking so far from door. Lowes is bad, so is KFC,Atwoods. There is room for parking at the door but they always use it for display or drive thrus. I complained at Lowes in Russellville once and the manager told me to park in front of the door if wanted. But have been afraid to try.Don't want a parking fine.
Some day we can all get together and have a protest day and all handicapped cars can park at the door. LOL
The store is who calls and gets the police to come fine those cars, so if he said to park their, I would and just let them know when you go in that you have parked there as instructed offering to gladly leave your name if they need you to move it for an emergency
how about when take-out orders get pkg closer than HP pkg? When there's stuff (the booster seats, a newspaper dispenser, a planter) making the path too narrow for a wheelchair to pass? Or HP stalls that are too small to let me get off the wheelchair and onto the toilet without leaving the door open. Don't get me started!
Oh arewe on pet peeves rather than Can do?? But why? we all have them, they are of no benefit unless one is a believer in misery loves company. I missunderstood and was honestly trying to help someone solve a problen and turn it into a can dobut appears to be more moaners when back to "can do" I'll be back!