Messages

61

Chit Chat / Re: It sounds like Braeden may go home

« on: February 06, 2009, 05:49:06 PM »

I simply cannot believe how strong you and all the family have managed to be.  Please know that my thoughts and prayers are with you and have been with you all thru this . . . . I do hope he gets to go home.

62

Pond Chat / Re: lily pics.

« on: February 05, 2009, 02:50:45 PM »

Correct identification IS of utmost importance to me but I can only do what I can do.      I was just trying to help out.      Sorry.

If you can't identify a lily or take the time to identify it correctly, it's better just to say "how pretty" and leave it at that.  It is never helpful when you carelessly misidentify a lily in public.  And it can definitely stir up a hornets nest among people who care.

I for one was biting my tongue as hard as I could about this post, and others like it.
Been biting it for a while now. 

  So how much blood you got in your mouth now?   

63

Chit Chat / Re: Hey Tea Drinkers! What's you favorite hot tea?

« on: February 05, 2009, 02:45:06 PM »

Tazo - Chai for me, Calm for the older teenager and Wild Sweet Orange for both teenagers . . . . But I also like some loose teas, especially those that I mix myself in the herb store . . . .

64

Chit Chat / Re: Hey Joyce! Check this out

« on: February 05, 2009, 08:02:14 AM »

On Cat Bordhi's site while I was putting together a handout of knitting sites and resources.

http://www.catbordhi.com/free_patterns.html

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Chit Chat / Hey Joyce! Check this out

« on: February 05, 2009, 07:14:13 AM »

It's called "Stole with Swimming Jewels"

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Chit Chat / Re: Party Fun Idea....

« on: February 05, 2009, 05:44:42 AM »

You gotta wonder who thought that game up?  What kinda mind did that come from? 

67

Pond Chat / Re: Does having a pond make it hard to sell you house?

« on: February 04, 2009, 04:38:29 PM »

According to the real estate agent who is selling my father's house, yes.  Unless you find someone who specifically wants a pond, having one is a detriment.  Even if you do find someone looking for a pond, the chances of finding someone who falls head over heels with the way you built your pond are between slim and none.  And in the current market where nothing is selling, any negative is enough to leave your property sitting on the market for a very long time.

68

Pond Chat / Re: lily pics.

« on: February 04, 2009, 04:36:06 PM »

I don't think I identified fool pink as anything. What I did was ask if she thought it MIGHT be leopardess. 

So it seems reasonable to you that a lily she calls 'fool pink' MIGHT be leopardess which is a blue lily?  And it's ok that you suggested that it might be that lily on an open forum where any newbie could take that name and apply it to their similar looking lily and trade it or sell it?  Especially after you, yourself, have been the victim of just such a mistake of identification?

If you fancy yourself a hybridizer of waterlilies, this should be of utmost importance to you.  Your lilies are all very similar to lilies already on the market and surely you don't want them misidentified and traded as someone else's lilies once you release them. 

69

Pond Chat / Re: lily pics.

« on: February 04, 2009, 03:01:36 PM »

It's a very bad idea to improperly identify waterlilies on an open forum because newbies often take those ID's as the positive ID and then go trade or sell the lily with that name.  There is one trader who has made quite a bit of money off falsely named waterlilies.

Seems to me that it is very difficult to positively identify a lily from pictures or a book.  It also seems to me that if you have an unidentified lily, then giving it a name like "fool pink" is a much better idea than mis-identifying it as something that it is not.  I don't think the real hybridizers like to have their names applied to lesser lilies or vice versa . . . isn't that the point of the Truly Named program?

70

Pond Chat / Re: Show Me Your Snow Covered Ponds!

« on: February 04, 2009, 11:38:58 AM »

It looks pretty in pictures, but I sure don't want to see any of that in my yard!

71

Pond Chat / Re: lily pics.

« on: February 04, 2009, 11:04:39 AM »

Do you think it might be a Leopardess.           

Leopardess is blue . . . . Lou's pic:

72

Pond Chat / Re: Gonnere and seedling.

« on: February 04, 2009, 05:34:04 AM »

Gonnere is white - at least the real ones are - here's a pic from victoria-adventures . . . .

73

Chit Chat / Re: Have you ever had a sushi party?

« on: January 07, 2009, 05:20:06 PM »

my youngest made some for new years - we bought the special short grain sushi rice and made it with the salt, vinegar and sugar called for in the recipe on the instructions - it was sticky and perfect and the sushi were all delicious (she made about 8 kinds)

74

Chit Chat / Re: Please Pray

« on: January 07, 2009, 04:04:13 PM »

I, too, have been praying for Kevin and Dawn and Braedon and his brothers and sister, and also for you and your family.  I continue to check in here regularly to read the news always hoping it will be good news.  I surely hope things are ok today.  You are all in my thoughts.

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Pond Chat / Re: Submerged

« on: January 06, 2009, 02:21:55 PM »

Is that Barbara Dobbins?

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Pond Chat / Re: Elephant ears seem to be edible

« on: January 04, 2009, 04:53:50 PM »

Turtles like colocasia and it doesn't seem to hurt them in the least . . . tho they can hurt it.

77

Chit Chat / Re: My Stop Smoking Anniversary is Today

« on: January 04, 2009, 04:50:29 PM »

My quit day is sometime in January, but I don't recall what date (the 16th or 18th maybe?).  I'm pretty sure it was 10 years ago, but might be off by a year or two.

The great thing is that if you have made it 5 years, it is highly unlikely that you will slip . . . so congrats are really due as you are now a really reformed smoker!

78

Chit Chat / Re: Easy Bake Oven

« on: January 04, 2009, 04:47:56 PM »

Esther, my daughters had/have one.  Yes, you can bake other stuff in it, just be sure you know how much to put.  Don't follow the time given on the package for the stuff that comes prepackaged - use a toothpick to test it just like you would in a real oven and it will come out ok.  My girls liked the stuff like the mac & cheese and the other stuff and eventually started to use the real oven to make the same things.  They did enjoy the little oven tho - made them feel like they were the boss.

79

Chit Chat / Re: Robots

« on: December 19, 2008, 04:33:56 PM »

I'm so sorry that Braeden won't get to enjoy a nice family holiday.  I certainly hope that the rest of the family can enjoy some kind of a holiday.  I just cannot imagine how difficult all of this is.

How about a good game that they can all play?  That's what we enjoyed as a family when I was a kid.  And a good game can bring the entire family together, if only for a little while.  Another great option that my girls have loved lately is a good puzzle - one with lots and lots of pieces.  Ok - one more thing that my girls really get into is any kind of craft thing - last year they had these little wood kits where they glued the wood pieces together and then painted the resulting model.  I have to say that they both enjoyed making little wooden tanks and then fighting each other with them, but there were also airplanes and birdhouses that they made.

The daughter who is into robots is now 12, but she's been building them for 5 years now.  The other daughter will turn 17 in a few days and is already looking into colleges.  I'm not ready to be this old.

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Chit Chat / Re: Robots

« on: December 19, 2008, 12:27:41 PM »

Wish the news about Braeden was better - hope he and his family manage to have a nice Christmas anyway.  And you too!  All of you deserve at least a little peace and happiness after all you've been thru. 

The robot sounds very cool.  I'm going to tell my daughter about it - she builds robots now and wants to be an engineer in robotics when she grows up.

81

Chit Chat / Re: About Braeden

« on: August 11, 2008, 05:40:05 PM »

Esther I'm so sorry to hear this.  I've followed Braeden's story pretty much all along and hoped and prayed for the best right along with everyone else.  Bless you and the family for all you are going thru.  And bless that little boy's heart for all he's going thru - there must be a reason, even if we never know what it is.  My continued thoughts and prayers for him, you and all his family.

82

Pond Chat / Re: Turtle Laying Her Eggs

« on: July 02, 2008, 07:41:30 AM »

Yes, females will lay unfertilized eggs.  However, if I remember correctly, these turtles joined your pond as adults and not too terribly long ago?  Female turtles can store sperm for as long as 5 years . . . . so those could be viable eggs. 

You can leave them there and protect the nest or you can dig them up and move them if you want.  Incubation can be tricky - temperature can determine sex - but can be done if you are careful.  Or you can dig the eggs and put them in some kind of container and keep it in a safe place outdoors.  Just be sure that the eggs stay the way they were laid - do not rotate or turn or you'll destroy the embryo and that they don't end up in sitting water as they will drown. 

If they are going to hatch, it will happen in 60 to 90 days.  Mine always seemed to take exactly 70 days from laying to hatching, but it can be more or less.  The number of eggs increases every year the female lays - so you could have anywhere from 3 to 12 or more eggs in that nest.

And you can ship a couple of those babies out this way if you want . . . . .

83

Pond Chat / Re: For our Turtle Experts

« on: June 29, 2008, 05:28:24 PM »

Will a female turtle without a male lay eggs? I have 2 red ear silders indoors and last night I swears one of the dug a pit into the sand island we have in their pond and was lying eggs. I though I took a picture of it but when I went to download it today it was not there so there must not have been enough light and I did not want to scare her by getting closer while she was straining tail down in the pit. Today the hole is all smoothed over and looks like normal.

Yes, female turtles will lay with or without males.  Females who have been exposed to males can store the sperm for up to five years and lay fertile eggs.  Females who have never been around males will still produce the eggs and must have access to dirt to lay them.  Some who don't have access to dirt will drop the eggs in the water where the eggs (if viable) will drown.  Yes, drown.  Turtles lay permeable shelled eggs which must be allowed to breathe - and yes they can breath while buried in the dirt.  (This breathing thing is why a lot of eggs seem to hatch just after a rainstorm in the summer.)  Other turtles who do not have access to dirt to dig a hole and lay their eggs will just hold them inside - sometimes they are reabsorbed, but more often they bind and end up killing the mother turtle.

When turtles dig their hole and lay their eggs, they end up covering it in such a way that it looks like nothing was ever there.  They even manage this when digging in the hard-as-a-rock georgia red clay - which is completely amazing.

84

Pond Chat / Re: Turtle on a "walkabout."

« on: June 25, 2008, 03:45:51 PM »

If you are sure that the one trying to escape is a 'she', then you can also be sure that she's looking for a suitable place to lay eggs.  (Yes, it's a little late in the season, but not unheard of for a new mom to lay now.)  I would, temporarily, put some kind of fence or wall around the pond that she cannot climb or dig under and let her spend some time on the dirt.  Usually their preference is to lay eggs uphill from the water - way uphill if they can find it - and they will walk miles to find a suitable place. 

85

Pond Chat / Re: Mixed emotions regarding new arrival

« on: June 13, 2008, 04:51:11 PM »

It’s absolutely not true that turtles don’t eat fish (or meat) as adults – most, if not all will eat fish or any other meat (bugs, carrion, detritus) they can get.  It’s also not true that if you feed them enough they will leave your plants or fish alone.  Their brains are simply not that big – they are programmed to eat food when it presents itself, regardless of whether they are hungry and need to eat or not.  I’ve watched my turtles kill and eat large, adult fish and I’ve seen turtles (RES) kill medium size koi and eat them. 

And Mikey – they are particularly fond of arrowhead and will continue to eat all new shoots until the plant eventually dies.

If your turtles are doing little damage then you are lucky – there are either enough plants so that you don’t notice the damage or their appetites are small or they are finding other sources of food.  Mine used to love to sit above the underwater lights and catch the bugs that flew into the water.  But when they get the urge to nip the waterlily buds or leaves, they will do it, no matter how much you feed them or what you feed them (mine always hated cucumbers but some of them liked grapes and all of them liked shrimp.)

Karen, I’m sure you already know to move those turtles in the direction they are heading when you find them.  Otherwise, they’ll turn themselves around and cross the street again as soon as you put them down.

I did manage to keep some plants in my pond by surrounding them with black mesh netting.  It had to be several inches above the surface of the water, and had to go under the plants.  The turtles did occasionally get thru the barrier and devour the plants, but usually didn’t do enough damage to kill the plants completely before I found them. 

And I never had an undamaged water lily bloom in all the years that I had turtles in the pond.

86

Chit Chat / Re: My oldest son just called

« on: May 28, 2007, 08:57:48 PM »

Esther, I've been praying for Braedon and his family (including you).  I just wanted to say that I know a wonderful young lady (she's all of 5 1/2 now) who went thru this horror and have come out the other side.  She was completely bald for a while, but now has a beautiful head of curls and a charming (if fiesty) personality to go with it.  I'll keep praying for all concerned - may it go as well for you as it did for my little friend . . .

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Chit Chat / Re: Need some prayers for happyoutsidegirl's husband!

« on: May 28, 2007, 08:52:31 PM »

Deb I am so very sorry for your loss.  I'm sending all the hugs and prayers I can your way.  I just cannot imagine what you are going thru or how you are feeling - my experience doesn't go that far.  Bless you and your family and I hope your faithe and family help you thru this . . . .

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Chit Chat / Re: Guess who's here!! Pics added

« on: May 11, 2007, 02:17:15 PM »

Sunshine!

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Chit Chat / Re: Guess who's here!! Pics added

« on: May 11, 2007, 02:15:58 PM »

Check these out!!!
A before and after version of the tree that hangs (used to hang) over the pond:

90

Chit Chat / Re: If you ran a marathon and some one was offering free photos emailed to you .....

« on: May 11, 2007, 09:07:29 AM »

They are probably worried that you are trying to harvest the email addies of all those runners to try and sell them something . . . .