Small Talk: We'll Be Right Back

[nokat]

3 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

Blueberries need acidic soil.  My dad back in the day would use pine needles as mulch around his blueberry bushes.

That's interesting, and explains why the blueberry bushes thrived in a certain place in a meadow.

[nokat]

3 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

Yesterday was the first time that I have been successfully able to walk around the block since I was put in the hospital due to blood loss (ulcers) in 2016.  Before that bout of blood loss, I would go for a 2 hour walk in the evenings. 

I'm glad you're able to do a walk again. I do a half hour to an hour but I'm a fast walker and do several hills to get my heart rate up.Doing that brought my blood pressure down. I prefer mornings though.

The bad part of being a morning walker is you get a face full of spider web. 

Edited August 9, 2021 by nokat

[Bruinsfan]

15 hours ago, nokat said:

The jasmine though, I couldn't be next to it for more than a minute without it trying to grab me. The black widows loved it.

A ringing endorsement if I ever heard one!

My grandmother grew azaleas in the acidic clay soil of the house I lived in as a teenager. She had a thriving yellow rose bush as well, but I can't recall if it was in a flower bed or just the regular available soil. Oak trees and honeysuckle seemed to be the only other things that thrived on that land without intervention.

[peacheslatour]

Quote

I was the only one walking until I stumbled upon someone, and that person asked me why I was wearing a mask in the wide open spaces, wasn't I vaccinated?  I didn't want to answer either question, because I thought it was a complete invasion of my privacy.   But I was afraid of what she might do if I hadn't answered her questions.  I had gotten my shots when I was first eligible to do so, and I wear a mask, because I don't want anyone getting violent with me for not wearing one.

The only violence I've seen is people shooting and punching store workers for asking some asshat to put one on.

[susannah]

6 hours ago, Katy M said:

last I heard, they were giving Moderna for the third shot regardless of what you got the first time around.  

Oh dear. I had Moderna and a pretty rough time after the second shot.

[Katy M]

Just now, susannah said:

Oh dear. I had Moderna and a pretty rough time after the second shot.

Me, too.  The article I read said it was even worse after the third, but everybody's different, so maybe we'll have any easy time after number 3:)

[nokat]

55 minutes ago, Katy M said:

Me, too.  The article I read said it was even worse after the third, but everybody's different, so maybe we'll have any easy time after number 3:)

Our immune systems can be beasts, but it's still better than getting intubated or needing a lung transplant.

[nokat]

3 hours ago, Bruinsfan said:

She had a thriving yellow rose bush

Roses, I can grow.  I actually dug one up roots and all. It came back. I can prune them down to stubs, and as soon as we get rain, they are growing.  My mom would baby a rose bush to get a couple blooms.

[nokat]

1 minute ago, icemiser69 said:

The one thing I have learned about roses, is to fertilize the base of the bush, not the leaves.  I use liquid fertilizer, and when ever I get the leaves wet, they start to rust.

Roses can certainly be fussy. I walk by one yard that is full of roses. We have soil that they apparently love.

Bougainvilleas also love it here. I had to be out cutting them back every week.

[peacheslatour]

20 minutes ago, nokat said:

Roses can certainly be fussy. I walk by one yard that is full of roses. We have soil that they apparently love.

Bougainvilleas also love it here. I had to be out cutting them back every week.

One of the best $20.00 investments I ever made was our wisteria. We have it growing over a trellis at the end of our driveway. It grows like mad and blooms three times a year. Of course, we have to prune it at least that many times a year but it's amazingly beautiful. People actually stop their cars to take pictures of it. On the other hand, one of my favorite rose bushes dropped dead this summer for reasons that I still can't seem to figure out.

[Nicmar]

On 7/22/2021 at 3:25 PM, susannah said:

My grandmother made a jello salad thing with lime jello, cottage cheese and mandarin oranges. I loved it and used to make it myself but sadly, it doesn't work anymore. Some ingredient must have been changed and it no longer sets up properly. I do have to agree that it tasted better than it looked.

I worked for a cafeteria restaurant back in the early 90's and they made a lime jello with pecan, cottage cheese, pineapples and mayonnaise. We mostly had older people  who ordered it. I thought it looked gross

[nokat]

1 hour ago, peacheslatour said:

One of the best $20.00 investments I ever made was our wisteria. We have it growing over a trellis at the end of our driveway. It grows like mad and blooms three times a year. Of course, we have to prune it at least that many times a year but it's amazingly beautiful. People actually stop their cars to take pictures of it. On the other hand, one of my favorite rose bushes dropped dead this summer for reasons that I still can't seem to figure out.

I'm so envious of the wisteria.

[nokat]

53 minutes ago, Nicmar said:

I worked for a cafeteria restaurant back in the early 90's and they made a lime jello with pecan, cottage cheese, pineapples and mayonnaise. We mostly had older people  who ordered it. I thought it looked gross

Yes, if you went to a family BBQ or a Potluck, there was always something in jello. There's a site devoted to some of the vomit inducing things from the 50s that was supposedly fancy.

 

[peacheslatour]

2 minutes ago, nokat said:

Yes, if you went to a family BBQ or a Potluck, there was always something in jello. There's a site devoted to some of the vomit inducing things from the 50s that was supposedly fancy.

 

The James Lileks rabbit hole? Jell-O: The Thing For Which There Is Always Room.

Edited August 9, 2021 by peacheslatour

[Browncoat]

2 hours ago, nokat said:

I'm so envious of the wisteria.

My wisteria is trying to take over the world.  Every year it tries to bloom too early and always gets frost-bitten, so I don't even get the pleasure of the lovely blossoms, but I have vines everywhere.  Anywhere it touches the ground, it roots and spreads.

[nokat]

1 minute ago, Browncoat said:

My wisteria is trying to take over the world.  Every year it tries to bloom too early and always gets frost-bitten, so I don't even get the pleasure of the lovely blossoms, but I have vines everywhere.  Anywhere it touches the ground, it roots and spreads.

It always looks so pretty in movies. It sounds like it takes a lot of work to keep it blooming where you want it. It does take a lot of work pruning and weeding to keep things looking nice.

[bankerchick]

On 8/6/2021 at 10:47 PM, nokat said:

It was time for the hard as a board mattress with scratchy cheap sheets.

This is funny because I have always maintained that anyone who says, 'hey, come visit, I have a spare room' should be obliged to sleep in the bed/pullout couch in that spare room at least once a year.  If you can't sleep there, neither will your guests be able to.  Time to change the mattress or stop inviting people over.  My brother in Germany has had the same pullout couch, unfit for sleeping, for at least 20 years.  Last time I stayed there, I ended up sleeping on a cot in the same room as my other brother because I couldn't bear the pullout.  (I was there to escort my elderly mother to Germany for my nephew's wedding.  If I had just invited myself to Europe and assumed my brother would take me in, then I would have no right to complain about the accommodations.)

 

 

Edited August 9, 2021 by bankerchick

[nokat]

I've had to adjust to what grows here. I had begonias, and it was a snail farm. The snails ate every marigold and left the stems. I did ground cover and the ground bees loved it which is fine, they are not aggressive but it was a succulent and tried to take over the sidewalk. My shears would get all gummy.

18 minutes ago, bankerchick said:

This is funny because I have always maintained that anyone who says, 'hey, come visit, I have a spare room' should be obliged to sleep in the bed/pullout couch in that spare room at least once a year.  If you can't sleep there, neither will your guests be able to.  Time to change the mattress or stop inviting people over.  My brother in Germany has had the same pullout couch, unfit for sleeping, for at least 20 years.  Last time I stayed there, I ended up sleeping on a cot in the same room as my other brother because I couldn't bear the pullout.  (I was there to escort my elderly mother to Gemany for my nephew's wedding.  If I had just invited myself to Europe and assumed my brother would take me in, then I would have no right to complain about the accommodations.)

I live in a place where family uses me like a hotel. I have a nice room, and good food, and I'll take you to all the fun places (pre-covid). Two weeks is my limit. 

I may prefer the floor to a pullout.

 

I had a lot of people show up once, and I was like some of us are going to sleep on the floor. It ended up being fun though.

 

There's also the air mattress that slowly leaks air so you end up on the floor anyway.

Edited August 9, 2021 by nokat

[bankerchick]

3 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

I don't want to plant anything that gets out of control.

Several years ago when I first took up gardening, a friend told me to buy a chameleon plant (Houttuynia cordata.) It was quite pretty so I did, planting it in a small garden in front of the porch.  It really didn't do anything.  A few years later, I pulled that garden out and moved the plants to another part of the garden, but didn't like it there and decided to move it again.  My next door neighbour didn't look after her yard other than cutting the grass, and the side of her house beside mine was a mess of weeds, which I had been pulling for years.  I decided to throw the chameleon plant over there, figuring either it would continue to do nothing, or perhaps it would cover the weeds that grew there.  Well.  When they call this plant 'extremely invasive' they aren't kidding.  Apparently the side of her house is the perfect spot for it because it is now growing out of control, along the side of her house, creeping towards the front, popping up between patio stones and aggressively moving towards the back yard where her and my yards meet so in a few years, both of our lawns will be full of it.  Here's the kicker:  she doesn't seem to know where this plant came from AND I'M NOT TELLING HER!  None of you know where I live so you can't narc on me, but she seems to think her ex-husband planted it or she planted it by mistake and I just nod my head and act like I have no idea.

 

[Bastet]

10 minutes ago, nokat said:

Two weeks is my limit. 

I used to be able to handle an occasional week-long visit when I was young, but I got to the point where anything longer than a weekend and I'm putting a guest up in a hotel rather than inviting them to stay with me.  I just can't handle that much togetherness, especially when it's disturbing the routine and sanctuary of my own home.  I'm an introvert, so it's exhausting.

Thankfully, I've never had to deal with frequent guests - any family members visiting from out of town stay with my parents, and most of my non-local friends aren't people I'm close enough with for visits; with the few that are, sometimes I visit them, sometimes they visit me, and sometimes we meet up elsewhere for a vacation.

[nokat]

29 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

There were also lots and lots of pasta salads

For us it was mostly three bean salad, tuna salad, and something floating in jello. Hot dogs and hamburgers were for picnics.

6 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I used to be able to handle an occasional week-long visit when I was young, but I got to the point where anything longer than a weekend and I'm putting a guest up in a hotel rather than inviting them to stay with me.  I just can't handle that much togetherness, especially when it's disturbing the routine and sanctuary of my own home.  I'm an introvert, so it's exhausting.

Thankfully, I've never had to deal with frequent guests - any family members visiting from out of town stay with my parents, and most of my non-local friends aren't people I'm close enough with for visits; with the few that are, sometimes I visit them, sometimes they visit me, and sometimes we meet up elsewhere for a vacation.

If I visit, I stay in a hotel. My in-laws are sneaky and find a way to pay before we can. I figure it's just a thank you for staying in a hotel. :)

 

[susannah]

6 hours ago, Katy M said:

Me, too.  The article I read said it was even worse after the third, but everybody's different, so maybe we'll have any easy time after number 3:)

We can always hope!!!

 

[nokat]

7 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

I grew up in a dry, smoke-free house

My dad had maybe two beers a year, and my mom a glass of wine at Christmas. Neither of my parents smoked. My mom died from lung cancer, my dad from liver cancer.  The smokers and drinkers? Still alive.

[nokat]

55 minutes ago, bankerchick said:

Several years ago when I first took up gardening, a friend told me to buy a chameleon plant (Houttuynia cordata.) It was quite pretty so I did, planting it in a small garden in front of the porch.  It really didn't do anything.  A few years later, I pulled that garden out and moved the plants to another part of the garden, but didn't like it there and decided to move it again.  My next door neighbour didn't look after her yard other than cutting the grass, and the side of her house beside mine was a mess of weeds, which I had been pulling for years.  I decided to throw the chameleon plant over there, figuring either it would continue to do nothing, or perhaps it would cover the weeds that grew there.  Well.  When they call this plant 'extremely invasive' they aren't kidding.  Apparently the side of her house is the perfect spot for it because it is now growing out of control, along the side of her house, creeping towards the front, popping up between patio stones and aggressively moving towards the back yard where her and my yards meet so in a few years, both of our lawns will be full of it.  Here's the kicker:  she doesn't seem to know where this plant came from AND I'M NOT TELLING HER!  None of you know where I live so you can't narc on me, but she seems to think her ex-husband planted it or she planted it by mistake and I just nod my head and act like I have no idea.

 

I'm thinking you're a little evil but you're welcome to come for tea and scones.

Edited August 9, 2021 by nokat

[ams1001]

19 hours ago, nokat said:

I got my degree when college was affordable. We were living at poverty level for a few years, but always with a roof over our heads and a car that we shared. We both worked at restaurants and the things we saw make it difficult to go out to eat.

I went to an out-of-state private school. My financial aid package included a grant of $5600 a year, until my senior year. My brother graduated the year before me and they cut my grant to $1300. He went to an in-state state school; he wasn't saving my parents all that much. I had loans every year but my senior year I had two; one subsidized and one not. (Still, in the end my total loans were about equivalent to the average of a year's tuition over my four years.)

 

[cinsays]

19 hours ago, Nicmar said:

I worked for a cafeteria restaurant back in the early 90's and they made a lime jello with pecan, cottage cheese, pineapples and mayonnaise. We mostly had older people  who ordered it. I thought it looked gross

My mother always made a jello salad that had cherries, nuts, pineapple and shredded cabbage in it and it was delicious. 

I made the mistake of taking it to a work everybody-bring-a-dish Thanksgiving lunch and only 1 person tried it.  But, more for me!

[chessiegal]

5 minutes ago, cinsays said:

My mother always made a jello salad that had cherries, nuts, pineapple and shredded cabbage in it and it was delicious. 

Must have been canned pineapple. Fresh pineapple has enzymes that break down gelatin and prevent it from gelling.

[Bruinsfan]

18 minutes ago, cinsays said:

I made the mistake of taking it to a work everybody-bring-a-dish Thanksgiving lunch and only 1 person tried it.  But, more for me!

I've had that experience bringing focaccia to a family Thanksgiving. It's bread, people, not some strange exotic dish you need to avoid unless you've built up a taste for it!

[cinsays]

cabbage didn't wilt, was nice and crunchy, same with the nuts

and it was canned pineapple 

[Leeds]

1 hour ago, icemiser69 said:

The cabbage didn't wilt?  Were the nuts still crunchy?

That is horrible.  Going through all of the trouble to make and bring in a dish, and then only one person tries it?  I don't get it.

 

54 minutes ago, Bruinsfan said:

I've had that experience bringing focaccia to a family Thanksgiving. It's bread, people, not some strange exotic dish you need to avoid unless you've built up a taste for it!

There's a big difference between unfamiliar looking bread and jello full of crap.  Sorry.

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, cinsays said:

cabbage didn't wilt, was nice and crunchy, same with the nuts

and it was canned pineapple 

Sounds good to me. I would have tried it as long as there was no mayo in it.

[susannah]

6 hours ago, Leeds said:

 

There's a big difference between unfamiliar looking bread and jello full of crap.  Sorry.

There is no need to be rude about the jello, and cherries, nuts, etc aren't crap.

[susannah]

7 hours ago, cinsays said:

cabbage didn't wilt, was nice and crunchy, same with the nuts

and it was canned pineapple 

Yeah there is something about pineapple that doesn't do right in jello. The box says to not use fresh. I am sure I have had jello with canned pineapple in it, but sometimes jello sets up and sometimes not. This sounds good though!

[peacheslatour]

8 minutes ago, susannah said:

Yeah there is something about pineapple that doesn't do right in jello. The box says to not use fresh. I am sure I have had jello with canned pineapple in it, but sometimes jello sets up and sometimes not. This sounds good though!

My mom used to do a thing with apricot Jell-O mixed with sour cream and canned pineapple that was really good. Smooth and sweet and had a pretty color.

[chessiegal]

16 minutes ago, susannah said:

Yeah there is something about pineapple that doesn't do right in jello.

As I posted above, fresh pineapple has enzymes that break down gelatin so it won't set.

[Gramto6]

I haven't looked at the Jello aisle in many years. Is Apricot Jello still around? That sounds good to me...

ETA: It's on Amazon! Of course!🙂

Edited August 10, 2021 by Gramto6
eta

[Leeds]

On 8/9/2021 at 12:11 PM, Nicmar said:

I worked for a cafeteria restaurant back in the early 90's and they made a lime jello with pecan, cottage cheese, pineapples and mayonnaise. We mostly had older people  who ordered it. I thought it looked gross

 

8 hours ago, Bruinsfan said:

I've had that experience bringing focaccia to a family Thanksgiving. It's bread, people, not some strange exotic dish you need to avoid unless you've built up a taste for it!

Yup.  Focaccia may be have an unfamiliar taste but it's still recognizable as bread.  Jello full of crap is not recognizable as any kind of food.  I can't even get my mind around jello and mayonnaise.

[ams1001]

53 minutes ago, Gramto6 said:

I haven't looked at the Jello aisle in many years. Is Apricot Jello still around? That sounds good to me...

ETA: It's on Amazon! Of course!🙂

I've never seen apricot Jell-O! I do have, somewhere, a recipe that uses apricot nectar and powdered gelatin to make a homemade version. And now I want to go find it so I can try it.

[susannah]

1 hour ago, Leeds said:

 

Yup.  Focaccia may be have an unfamiliar taste but it's still recognizable as bread.  Jello full of crap is not recognizable as any kind of food.  I can't even get my mind around jello and mayonnaise.

You seem to have some need to be repeatedly rude. Jello with fruit, nuts, sour cream, cottage cheese, etc IS food, whether you think so or not.

52 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

I've never seen apricot Jell-O! I do have, somewhere, a recipe that uses apricot nectar and powdered gelatin to make a homemade version. And now I want to go find it so I can try it.

I've never seen apricot either. My favorites are lime, grape and cherry. Thawed frozen strawberries over grape jello is REALLY good.

[ams1001]

4 minutes ago, susannah said:

I've never seen apricot either. My favorites are lime, grape and cherry. Thawed frozen strawberries over grape jello is REALLY good.

I've always been partial to cherry or strawberry. I'm kind of a jello purist. I usually just eat it by itself. Sometimes with fruit.

[peacheslatour]

31 minutes ago, susannah said:

You seem to have some need to be repeatedly rude. Jello with fruit, nuts, sour cream, cottage cheese, etc IS food, whether you think so or not.

I've never seen apricot either. My favorites are lime, grape and cherry. Thawed frozen strawberries over grape jello is REALLY good.

My mom used to bemoan the fact that she couldn't find apricot Jell-O any more. Hallelujah Amazon.

[susannah]

1 hour ago, ams1001 said:

I've always been partial to cherry or strawberry. I'm kind of a jello purist. I usually just eat it by itself. Sometimes with fruit.

I like strawberry too. It's also good with a bit of whipped cream.

[Leeds]

On 8/7/2021 at 12:08 PM, susannah said:

I got hit in the face by accident during PE when I was in high school. I got a nosebleed that wouldn't stop, reaching hemorrhage level. So I got hauled off to the doctor, still wearing my lovely and fashionable one piece suit, and talk about 20 miles of gauze packed up the nose, and disgusting magician trick!

OMG thank you so much for reminding me of the thirty thousand miles of gauze that would be stuffed up your nose for a nose bleed.  Surely there was a better solution.  (And I need a photo of the suit please.)

Edited August 11, 2021 by Leeds

[nokat]

14 hours ago, Bruinsfan said:

I've had that experience bringing focaccia to a family Thanksgiving. It's bread, people, not some strange exotic dish you need to avoid unless you've built up a taste for it!

You'd have to slap me away from the focaccia.

[nokat]

13 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Sounds good to me. I would have tried it as long as there was no mayo in it.

We have our limits. :D

[nokat]

3 hours ago, susannah said:

I like strawberry too. It's also good with a bit of whipped cream.

We may be making fun, but we all eat it. I'm partial to lime, and whipped cream on top.

[susannah]

32 minutes ago, nokat said:

We may be making fun, but we all eat it. I'm partial to lime, and whipped cream on top.

There's always room for jello!! 😀

[Prevailing Wind]

49 minutes ago, nokat said:

We may be making fun, but we all eat it. I'm partial to lime, and whipped cream on top.

No, we ALL don't eat it. Some of us do. Some of us are grossed out by it.

[susannah]

37 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

No, we ALL don't eat it. Some of us do. Some of us are grossed out by it.

Well there isn't any any food that doesn't gross out someone, or alot of someones, so "wot's the odds as long as yer 'appy!," as the saying goes!

[nokat]

I can guarantee that a pan of brownies will go over better than jello.