Microfiber sheets

I had this same discussion with my DH the other day. He is always "watching" what he eats because he's concerned about his cholesterol and his weight. He is only about 10 pounds heavier than when he was running marathons. Our 6 yo granddaughter wanted to take us out for ice cream for Father's day. When we got to the ice cream store he said he wasn't going to have anything because they didn't have anything fat free that he wanted.I told him he would be better off with a small dish of real ice cream ,than a large dish of fat free. I said that fat free had a bunch of junk in it and far to much sugar and left him feeling hungry. I finally did talk him into a small dish of coffee ice cream. When he finished he looked at me rather surprised and said it tasted so good and he felt like he had eaten a huge amount. I've been telling him "no more fat free stuff." It's not real food, most of the time it's just loaded with chemicals. He can have his fat free milk if he wants but not the other junk. I've gotten him to eat more fruit, he had always liked vegetables and I make all my bread and baked deserts, just not to often for the deserts. I make up most of my seasonings because packaged ones are loaded with salt and I haven't bought store sausage in years. IF he wants something like fajitas I use fresh chicken and my own season mix. Sausage I have replaced with chicken and my own sausage seasoning.We have better food and it costs less in the long run. Juno

Some dogs do, some dogs don't.

In the old days, dogs who got into the habit of killing chickens were shot.

Joy Beeson

Works best to lick your fingertip, then draw the thread through your pinch. Still better is to draw the thread between your fingertip and a cake of beeswax, but I can't remember where I put the beeswax.

And there's the "spit splice" in knitting -- I do use tap water when I'm splicing yarn ahead of time (as when joining scraps end-to-end to make variegated yarn). But if I don't have to get up to fetch the new piece of yarn . . .

Joy Beeson

When I was learning to sew in the late 1940s, Mom warned me not to get into the habit of biting my thread because it would wear a notch in my teeth.

Teeth don't cut clean anyway.

This discussion reminds me of a picture of a greek vase I saw somewhere, with a caption saying that the spinner on the vase had been depicted in the act of biting a slub out of her thread.

Joy Beeson

"Mary Fisher" wrote in news:485a684a$0$18031$ snipped-for-privacy@master.news.zetnet.net:

chondrodysplasia

has a picture of a chondroplastic calf. it's rather graphic.

could be because breeders there know enough not to breed carriers to each other. from what i see on the UK side, it

*says* do NOT breed a short legged Dexter to a short legged Dexter. one copy of the allele causes dwarfism. two causes an aborted very deformed fetus.

i haven't met a Dexter in person. i suppose if i was to purchase a pair i could ask for a DNA screening to prove they don't carry the allele. lee

Phaedrine Stonebridge wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@sn-indi.vsrv-sjc.supernews.net :

yes, aren't they lovely?

i love Jersey milk. it's yellow! Brown Swiss are also beautiful cattle, but they're *huge*. they were my grandmother's favorite breed though.

hm. i don't know actually, but mine stay in the yard... yard being about 3 acres (and they wander part of the pasture as well), so maybe that's why. they aren't dirty if they're cared for, which isn't that difficult. it does get a bit smelly in the chicken house in late winter if it snows a lot & they don't go out much, but i think that's just poor design in the barn they're currently in. hopefully the barn will be finished before next winter... (the last i saw of the barn builders was in March & i still don't have stairs to the loft or a poured concrete floor, the doors are warped already & the roof leaks. i'm not very happy with them) lee

"Mary Fisher" wrote in news:485ab743$0$770$ snipped-for-privacy@master.news.zetnet.net:

mine have split into two groups. one set stays with the rooster & the other (mostly the younger hens) has their own group. one of the Silkies (the tiny one) hangs around with my biggest Black Orpington, like a little shadow.

i almost wish i had the fox back. now we have a coyote... & it killed my favorite goat :( lee

Oh dear, how awful!

I was amazed how many ice creams have high fructose or regular corn syrup listed as one of the primary ingredients. I have to read labels because the grasses (wheat, barley, rye) all make me very sick due to celiac. It's amazing what you learn when you're reading labels all the time! And, of course, it's been revealed that HFCS is likely the single, largest contributor to the rise in diabetes in the US. But it's far cheaper than sugar and they only care about the profit margin--- not how many people get diabetes.

I highly recommend Michael Pollan's little book, _In Defense of Food_. Neither preachy nor fanatical, he really lays out the proven benefits, including economic, of consuming simple whole foods and avoiding, whenever possible, foods or food "products" that are too highly processed. I think his "no more than five ingredients" rule usually works pretty well.

I heard a discussion on the radio today about the belt-tightening people are having to do because of the slump in the economy and rising fuel prices. I nearly cried when one woman said she was relying on leftover restaurant and grocery food handouts to feed her four children.

One lady that was interviewed said she is saving money by buying only frozen foods like fish sticks, chicken nuggets and things like that. She said those things are far cheaper than fresh fruits and vegetables. And I wondered on what planet she was getting this prepared frozen food that cost so much less than fresh veggies.

Phae

That's very true but try convincing people of that ... :-(

However, you and I and a few others know :-)

Mary

I don't often read labels because most of the food I buy is one ingredient - but when I do I'm amazed that there's room for any food among all that stuff :-)

Mary

Can do, it depends on the dog and the chickens. One of ours was killed by a dog when there were 'No Dogs' notices everywhere :-(

They're good BUT you have to design it so that fox (don't know the habits of the other animals) can't dig underneath.

Mary

LOL!

I'm glad we only have urban fox. In the country other things can kill chickens, especially badger. And some birds will predate on eggs, a dughter is having lots of trouble with jackdaws at the moment.

Mary

I'm glad I'm not as idle as that.

Mary whose nose seems to be growing ...

And I should have heard of it because I read the Smallholder Magazine every month and this appeared last year in the letters column:

"I WOULD refer to the article in the January, 2007 edition of the Smallholder magazine regarding Dexter Cattle.

"As a Society we would like to point out a discrepancy in the article regarding the breeding of Dexter Cattle. The Society DOES recommend crossing short and long legged animals together, under no circumstances would we recommend that a short legged Dexter is crossed with another short legged Dexter.

"The Society office would welcome the opportunity to provide information and advice to anyone thinking of keeping Dexter cattle. For more details please contact the Breed Secretary Yvonne Froehlich, Dexter Cattle Society, 1st Floor, RASE Offices, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, CV8

2LZ. Dexter Cattle Society

"Jo Rowland replies: Yes this is quite correct. Not sure how I managed to make a gaff on this scale, but thanks to the Dexter Cattle Society for pointing it out. "Breeding from two short legged Dexters can result in a high risk of "Bulldog" calves. These, if they are not miscarried before birth, are severely deformed and often born dead. Short legged Dexters actually have a mild form of the Bulldog deformity which greatly increases the risk of its severity manifesting in off-spring when breeding from two short legged animals.

"The condition is caused by the chondrodysplasia gene and these animals will never breed true which is why short legged Dexters should be crossed with the longer legged variety.

"Anyone thinking of keeping Dexters or any other breed of cattle for that matter, should always seek as much advice from independent sources as possible, beginning with the breeder and breed societies to avoid falling foul of human error."

Thank you for this information, I hope to be more vigilant in future. There's so much to learn, I suppose if you haven't a particular interest in a subject things don't always stick in the old and failing mind.

Mary

Joy Beeson wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

my Malamute has accidentally killed a few chickens. he was running & the oblivious chicken walked into his path. his brakes don't work well & chickens break easily, so chickens are fenced away from where the dogs run (except Kate, who flies over the fence & apparently gets along very well with the dog, as i see them together frequently lately). my Border Collie/Great Pyr ignores all the chickens, except the Silkies, which he would chase & catch. he never actually injured one, just got them all gooey & lost feathers. i don't know why it's only the Silkies he bothered. my new puppy is cattle dog/lab cross & he wants to herd chickens. he wants to herd the goats too, but they'll attack him (he's only 5 months old & the goats are mean) lee

Phaedrine Stonebridge wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@sn-indi.vsrv-sjc.supernews.net :

yes, he was a old, fat, pygmy/dwarf nubian wether. i've had him for 9 years (he was 11). he was getting a little slow & not staying as much with the 'herd', which consists of 4 llamas & the 2 mean Oberhausi/Alpine doe goats. the attack was the night after i had cancer surgery. i heard the goat bleating & running, then the llamas started making alarm calls & i heard the does smacking something with their horns. by the time i got outside though, he was dead. the coyote has been back a few times, but it seems to be afraid to enter the pasture. i know it's out there because it makes a godawful racket out in the woods, like a giant demented chicken (yip yip yip). the llamas have made alarms a few times as well, but they *will* stomp a coyote to death if they get a chance. if the coyote attacked during the day, it could get the chickens, but a healthy coyote isn't a day hunter & the chickens are locked up by dusk. we had a (presumed) rabid coyote in the front yard last summer (during the day & it looked *bad*. scruffy & staggering) and i made the kid stay inside for 10 days unless we went out with him.

lee

Most of my food is one ingredient as well. I'm pretty much a scratch cook. But, you know, I don't always feel like making my own mustard, ketchup, jam or mayonnaise. And occasionally, I like to have a little frozen snack like some ice cream. I'm also mostly unable to make my own sour cream, cream cheese, tamari or soy sauce, fish sauce, pasta, crackers, sambals, miso, rice vinegar, lemon curd, and similar things so I have to read the labels to be sure they contain no gluten. If you make all those kinds of things yourself from scratch all the time, my hat is off to you.

Phae

That's right! They can dig. Good grief, there's danger lurking everywhere; we better get a dog that can protect chickens. Maybe another Newfie. ;)

Phae