ljgeoff

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I almost forgot to post about this! Mike came up from Lansing on Saturday and Sunday and installed Geriann's stackable washer and dryer -- it took him all day and he was amazing.









Originally posted to Dreamwidth, were there are comments. Dreamwidth comments. Note that ljgeoff can't get into her livejournal account so it'd be better if you left messages over on dreamwidth!

It doesn't look like much yet, but it's perfect. I'm working a lot this week, but I'll have Sunday and Monday to work on it next week. And then I go down for Trentyn and Zary's birthday party. Right now, though, I'm so tired! It's not even 7pm yet but I think I'll just curl up in bed. Lots of hours this week! Originally posted to Dreamwidth, were there are comments. Dreamwidth comments. Note that ljgeoff can't get into her livejournal account so it'd be better if you left messages over on dreamwidth!

My first week on the new job went well! I'm very much liking this assignment. And being on home ground is wonderful. I've started working on my little room in the basement -- all the supplies are there and I'll get it all put together next week. Then Luke and I will start on the rocket mass heater.

But that's a different post! *This* post is about cookies!

Today I'm making cookies!

- a gluten free chocolate cookie topped with melted Andies mint chocolate pieces.

- classic peanut butter cookies! The kind you squish with a fork, not the chocolate kisses type.

- Russian Tea Cakes

- seven layer bars

- jam thumbprints

And Geriann is making sugar cookie cutouts with her grandkids! It's going to be a fun day.

Edit, 19:45 - It was a relaxing day :) I made all the cookie dough, and the 7-layer bars are cooling. Tomorrow, I'm going to take all the dough to the Negaunee house and do the baking there; only a toaster oven here at Geriann's.

I feel very relaxed and content. Originally posted to Dreamwidth, were there are comments. Dreamwidth comments. Note that ljgeoff can't get into her livejournal account so it'd be better if you left messages over on dreamwidth!

I'll be leaving tomorrow to travel to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and will be starting on Monday at the Dickinson County Healthcare System in Iron Mountain. Mike and the boys are coming up with me, to see me off and also for Mike to help Luke fix his brake line in his car.

I'll be at this site until the beginning of March.

Over the last three weeks, I've been working at my old worksite, the nursing home. I've really enjoyed seeing everyone there and they've been happy to see me too.

So, I own this house in Crystal Falls, which is about a forty minute drive from The hospital. The house currently has no heat or electricity, but I'm thinking I can fashion a small living space in the basement that will do. If not, I can easily stay with family in Gwinn, Negaunee, or Marquette -- it's just that those towns are about 90 minutes away. So, *shrug* -- we'll see. I'll be fine in any case.

As a fun thing to do, and an interesting experiment, Luke and I are going to build a mini rocket mass heater. I've been interested in these things for a long time, and now's my chance to try my hand at it.

Today is my last day at the nursing home, just a four hour fill-in shift. Tomorrow we head out! Originally posted to Dreamwidth, were there are comments. Dreamwidth comments. Note that ljgeoff can't get into her livejournal account so it'd be better if you left messages over on dreamwidth!

I'm having all of Carl's family, so there'll be 4 adults and 8 kids. We'll have turkey, and a ham steak for Zary, who doesn't like turkey. Our tradition is a very carb-heavy feast, with our family's special rice pilaf, mashed potatoes and stuffing with gravy, and this year honeynut squash, steamed broccoli, homemade cranberry sauce, waldorf salad, jello-fruit ring, and pumpkin pie.

That will do! When Mike gets home, we'll do a bit of shopping. I'm working tomorrow but just from noon to 7pm, so when I get home, I'll make the jello. Mike will make the pies. It'll be lovely!

Other Americans! What are your plans? Originally posted to Dreamwidth, were there are comments. Dreamwidth comments. Note that ljgeoff can't get into her livejournal account so it'd be better if you left messages over on dreamwidth!

When I was very young, so young that I don't even remember the start of it, I had an invisible friend. I know -- tons of little kids had invisible friends. But my invisible friend was Jesus, the one and only son of God who lived up in the clouds but came to talk and play with me throughout my early childhood. The most amazing thing about having Jesus as my invisible friend is that everyone believed in Invisible Jesus! My mother had died when I was a baby and my father was in Viet Nam, so my three sisters and I were mothered by my maternal grandmother, a beautiful woman named Naomi. When Naomi asked who was I playing with and what were we talking about, I would explain that Jesus was my invisible friend, and she would smile, and nod, and perhaps wonder a bit about what would become of me.

Let me tell you: having Jesus as your childhood invisible friend has some real downsides. First, he had a very strong preference for doing the Right Thing, but was not always on point. Once I took my grandmother's favorite red lipstick and completely colored in the back window of her 1960 Lincoln Continental. Where was invisible Jesus? Not there until after I was crying in my room with a sore butt, when he both consoled me and wondered aloud what the heck was I thinking?

This would be how things would mostly go with invisible Jesus and me.

Naomi had a little pet parakeet named Perky. But he was always called Perky Bird. Perky Bird would fly around the house, perch on Naomi's shoulder or up on the curtain rod, call out "Who's a good boy?" and "Roland V!" which was both my grandfather and uncle's name. I don't know if I loved Perky Bird; he was just part of the family. Until one day he was cold and dead in the bottom of his cage with his feet sticking up in the air.

Other than the story of my mother's death, something I couldn't remember at all and if you asked me had no particular feelings about, this was my first death. We put Perky Bird in a shoe box, covered his almost weightless body with an embordered handkerchief, and buried him in the back yard.

Then I began to pray. I think I was about four years old. I knew a lot of the bible stories, about how Jesus died but came back to life after three days. So I prayed and prayed. I talked to invisible Jesus and told him how happy I'd be when Perky Bird came back from the dead. After three days, I went out with a little garden shovel and dug him up.

I have no memory of the next part. Naomi tells the story that I had grabbed my younger sister Shelly to share the miracle, and that she saw us out the kitchen window kneeling next to Perky Bird's grave and puking our guts out.

But I remember Naomi telling me gently that God and Jesus didn't work that way, and that death was something that we all had to suffer with, but that we also know that when our loved ones go away from us in death, they go to God and live with him. And also, dimly, that night, a memory of her holding my small hand in her big warm hand and saying that "Four years old is just too old to be peeing the bed!"

When I was six years old, my father came back. Since he hadn't been killed in Viet Nam, he'd started searching for a wife, someone who'd be willing to raise up four little girls who weren't hers, and he finally found her. She was tall and rawboned with blue eyes and thin blond hair. My father had brought several women for Naomi to inspect, and this one got the nod. They married and spent six months on their own, getting to know each other better. In August, the four of us, my sibs and I, moved from Texas to California to be with them. Invisible Jesus came with me.

I don't have many other stories of Invisible Jesus. I talked to him and he came to my dreams. It was cool to be able to see him. I didn't tell my new friends about him, but I was known for being a goody-two-shoes. My dad, who'd picked up the habit of drinking a six-pack or two of beer every evening after work, would tell me all that Jesus stuff was just stories. Stories to make the people be afraid of the priests and give money to the church. My new mom would be hiding in the kitchen doing dishes, or around in the dining room folding laundry. I would come sit by her and sigh, and she'd lay her hand on my head. We wouldn't talk but maybe we didn't have to.

It's been so long ago that you'd think I wouldn't remember. But I do; I remember Invisible Jesus' laugh, and the way he would nudge me with his shoulder when I was sad. As I walk my sixtieth year, in the midst of this unending pandemic and on the cusp of apocalypse, I go to church looking for Invisible Jesus. The congregation praise Jesus and sing songs of worship. They study the bible. The raise their hands in the air, feeling something. I don't. It feels empty to me. Invisible Jesus was real and alive. He laughed and played with me and told me that I was a good person. When I talked to Invisible Jesus, I knew that everything was going to be ok.

Maybe I'm just a frightened old woman. Hasn't the world always been frightening? But this world i share with you looks horrifying grim. When I look at our failing ecosystems, at this pandemic, at the droughts and floods, fires and hurricanes, I imagine that my grandchildren and their grandchildren will live short lives in a place of catastrophe and lack.

When I talk to Invisible Jesus now, he is quiet and doesn't say that it's going to be ok. In my dreams, he doesn't laugh. I don't think I could bear it if my dreams were so false. But he lays his hand on my head and I am surprisingly comforted. Originally posted to Dreamwidth, were there are comments. Dreamwidth comments. Note that ljgeoff can't get into her livejournal account so it'd be better if you left messages over on dreamwidth!

When I was about 18 mos old, my mother died unexpectedly (embolism? stroke? - no autopsy so we don't know). My three sisters and I went to live with her mother, while my dad handled his grief by volunteering for an extra deployment in Viet Nam.

I expressed my grief by pulling out all of my hair. There are pictures of me in a little cap that covered all my hair, with a strap under my chin. And pictures of me with a crew-cut.

I guess I withdrew into myself. I'm not very comfortable with physical touch, or at least it takes me a really long time to get there. But, oh my goodness, I do love very deeply. I just show it by working. Like, literally; pouring money into the family is the main way I show love.

And I've been off now for almost three weeks. I'm getting stuff done around the house, but I'm moping. Because I do. not. like. housework!

So far for the morning: deep cleaned bathroom, continuing with laundry, appointments with Trentyn (doctor and counseling). I still have not made the banana bread, but that is more fun than work. I'm saving it as a reward for mopping the kitchen floor. Originally posted to Dreamwidth, were there are comments. Dreamwidth comments. Note that ljgeoff can't get into her livejournal account so it'd be better if you left messages over on dreamwidth!

A list of books that I want to read; a list to add to at whim. Feel free to make suggestions in comments!

Read September 2021 Future Home of the Living God Author Louise Erdrich

Read October 2021 Beneath the Rising Author Premee Mohamed

Dignity - Seeking Respect in Back Row America Author Chris Arnade

This One Sky Day Author Leone Ross

Goliath Author Tochi Onyebuchi

Machine Author Elizabeth Bear

Bring Up the Bodies Author Hilary Mantel

Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities Author Diana Leafe Christian

The Round House Author Louise Erdrich

Read December 2021 I Once Met You But You Were Dead Author S.J. Sindu

Blue Skinned Gods Author S.J. Sindu

A Memory Called Empire Author Arkady Martine Originally posted to Dreamwidth, were there are comments. Dreamwidth comments. Note that ljgeoff can't get into her livejournal account so it'd be better if you left messages over on dreamwidth!

 When the arctic ice goes, life of earth will get bad for every living thing. Bad for us because our societies will crash and food and clean water will be scarce for billions of people. Bad for every other living thing because their habitats will change so quickly that they too won't have the shelter, food, and water that they need.

A couple of decades ago, I wrote to this crazy old scientist who lives in England, Dr. James Lovelock. He was talking about climate change in ways that made sense to me. He's still alive, living in England and engaged with the scientific community. But since he's 102 years old, I was surprised to see an op-ed from him this week in the Guardian.

"Almost 60 years ago, I suggested our planet self-regulated like a living organism. I called this the Gaia theory, and was later joined by biologist Lynn Margulis, who also espoused this idea. Both of us were roundly criticised by scientists in academia. I was an outsider, an independent scientist, and the mainstream view then was the neo-Darwinist one that life adapts to the environment, not that the relationship also works in the other direction, as we argued. In the years since, we have seen just how much life – especially human life – can affect the environment. Two genocidal acts – suffocation by greenhouse gases and the clearance of the rainforests – have caused changes on a scale not seen in millions of years."

A vast number of environmentalists have dropped Lovelock because of his position on nuclear power -- that is, Lovelock believes that wind, solar, waves and all won't be enough, that we should stop all fossil fuel burning now-right-now, and use nuclear until we get a better grip on large scale renewables. In his op-ed, Lovelock lectures about the properties of water -- how snow reflects heat back into space, how ice absorbs energy, and about how, when water is turned into vapor, humidity, it acts as a powerful greenhouse gas.

When reading about this stuff, it's good to know the phrase "global water amplification": water-holding capacity of the atmosphere increases as temperature increases. What this means is that saltier oceans will get saltier, fresher oceans will get fresher; dry places will be dryer and wet places will get wetter. More extremes. And the water in the atmosphere is yet another positive reinforcement for global heating.

But Lovelock goes beyond the heat-trapping qualities of water vaper. "Much of the confusion over global heating comes about because of the huge quantities of heat needed to change the state of water. Few are aware that to melt a gram of ice takes 80 calories, enough heat to raise the temperature of 1ml of water to 80C. Try an ice cube in your boiling hot tea.

Then imagine how much heat was needed to melt large areas of the polar ice cap during the recent summer and how much hotter the world would have been if the ice had not been there. No wonder there is confusion about whether there is global heating or not."
Lovelock op-ed in the Guardian

And, well, we'll get to that place where most of the ice is gone. Most artic ice is already gone in the summer and the arctic is transitioning to an only-winter ice ecosystem. I wrote to Dr. Lovelock, sometime in the 'aughts.

What should we do, I asked. What can I do? His reply then was -- Enjoy life. Travel and see this beautiful world. Love your family. Which, ya know, is what you tell someone with a terminal illness. I told him that I was studying nursing. I wonder if he knew that I'd get it. Originally posted to Dreamwidth, were there are comments. Dreamwidth comments. Note that ljgeoff can't get into her livejournal account so it'd be better if you left messages over on dreamwidth!

It was amazing, very human, and omg, I'm so in love with my family. Have a peek if you want; family vacation pictures:
( 19 Pictures!Collapse ) Originally posted to Dreamwidth, were there are comments. Dreamwidth comments. Note that ljgeoff can't get into her livejournal account so it'd be better if you left messages over on dreamwidth!

Mary Kay Kare has died

I didn't really know her -- but I always read what she had to say. Originally posted to Dreamwidth, were there are comments. Dreamwidth comments. Note that ljgeoff can't get into her livejournal account so it'd be better if you left messages over on dreamwidth!

Today was my day off and it started with laundry and transportation. I threw the first load of laundry of the day in, got Zary and Trentyn into the car, picked up my son Carl and his son Seth, and drove them all to school and work. Carl asked if I'd give a ride to two of his friends to work, so I did that, too.

For the last couple of days, there's been a young woman with some significant mental health issues hanging out with Wolf. Wolf lives in our attic for now. I told him that she needed to leave and he agreed, but was perplexed because she just wouldn't go. When I stopped home in between dropping the last couple of guys off at work and heading to the credit union, she was standing at my stove making herself a grilled cheese sandwich.

"Look," I said, "Wolf is going to be leaving sometime today to talk to someone at CMH and you're going to have to leave."

She gave me a sideways look from the corner of her eye. "Do you want me to make you a grilled cheese? Or grilled cheese and tomato, those are really good. But I don't think you have any tomato."

I sighed and said, "No, I just had breakfast. I've got to switch the laundry over and then do some errands. You need to get yourself together and head out."

After that, off to the credit union that my friend Monday goes to. Monday is going to help a lot with childcare while I'm gone travel nursing in Deleware, and in exchange I'm going put money into her credit union account. And to do that, I have to be a member of that credit union.

The boys only had half a day in school because of the holiday weekend, so right after finishing with the credit union, I went to pick them up. Then I dropped off Zary with Aunty Crystal, along with lunch for everyone.

When I got back from dropping off Zary and the Taco Bell Party Pack of a lunch to Crystal and the kids, Wolf was in the kitchen doing dishes, which was kinda nice.

But he looked worried. "I can't get rid of her," he muttered. "She won't leave."

The dog barked--Wolf's other friend, his buddy Dillon who got dinged by a car yesterday and I'm pretty sure he has a fractured tibia, came limping into the front door with the girl following him. "Hey," I said to them both, "you guys need to get your stuff together and go. I'm taking Wolf to CMH and I can't leave you here while I'm gone."

"Whatever," the girl said. "You didn't have a problem leaving me here this morning." She tripped up the stairs and then up the attic stairs.

Great.

I went and switched over more laundry, dropped the clean and dry load off in my bedroom, and went up to the attic. She was there alone, picking through some stuff on the floor.

"Ok, now you've got to go." I walked around her until I was standing behind her and she was closest to the attic stairs. "Let's go."

She grabbed her duffle bag. "I'm just ..." a huff and a puff, "I'm just ..." But she never got the rest of it out. She tossed the larger duffle down the stairs and followed after it. In the upstairs hall, she turned. "Can I get some money or something. Like, for the bus."

"All I've got is some small change. Not even enough for the bus." I never really have any cash on me.

"Yeah," she said, "that's ok."

I reached in my pocket and and handed her thirty-seven cents. There's a window there at the top of the stairs and the money caught in a sunbeam, glinting dully.

She had a thin scarf around her neck, and when she held out her palm, she trailed the scarf there, so that the money wouldn't touch her skin. She looked down at it and then threw it past me, onto the window sill. Then she turned and flounced down the stairs. I stood for half a beat, surprised, and turned and scooped up my change.

When she flounced out the front door, I locked it behind her.

She stood around on the porch for a while. Dillon was out there and he talked to her for a bit.

It was now about 1:30 pm but felt a lot later. I folded and sorted laundry. Mike got home from work at 3 pm and I helped the boys pack -- they're all going up north for the weekend. I can't go because I've put in my 30-day notice and so now I can't use any of my remaining PTO. After Mike and the boys left for the UP, I switched laundry over again, then grabbed a bag of chips and sat and watched two episodes of Doctor Who -- I'm way behind.

A few minutes before 6pm, my friend Monday, who lives just up the block, asked if I wanted to come over for nachos and meet some friends of hers. When I got there, Monday and her friend Shannon were looking out across the back yard. "There's been an accident, right in front of my house. A guy on a motorcycle got hit."

"When?"

Shannon has two little kids, and the older one was running back and forth.

"Now," Monday said, "Just now."

I took off running.

A man was lying in the street, flat on his back, eyes half open and rolled back. A wrecked motorcycle was about 20 feet away. A small crowd had circled around and was looking at him.

I knelt down next to him. "I'm a nurse," I told the small group. "Can anyone here do CPR?" Eyes went wide and a few people stepped back.

"Someone called for help," a small voice offered.

"Good."

He was agonal breathing, a reflexive type of breathing that happens when someone is in cardiac arrest. It meant that he was dying. I tried for a pulse at the jugular but couldn't feel anything, so I started chest compressions. I felt one of his ribs move and I closed my eyes and kept going. After about half a minute I realized that I lost count, so I said, "Twenty-nine, thirty!" and bent toward his face, placing one hand behind his neck and one hand on his forehead, I tried to open his airway and give two good breaths. Then back to chest compressions. The second time I stopped for rescue breaths, he seemed to be breathing for real, but I still couldn't find a pulse. I was finishing up the third round of chest compressions when the ambulance arrived and I stepped back.

I paced back and forth on the sidewalk for a few minutes, all pumped up on adrenaline. I yelled at the EMS because they didn't use a neck brace when they rolled him onto the stretcher. The police shooed me away and I went back to Monday's.

But I couldn't settle down there, so I went home, did the last bit of dishes, switched over another load of laundry, and settled down to write this. Before I was done, Dillon came and asked if I'd give him a ride to a friend's house who was going to take him to the ER and check his leg. "I think it's broken," he said.

I never did get Wolf to CMH

I'm home from dropping Dillon off, and I switched over the final load of laundry and walked the dogs. Time for bed. Don't really know how to finish this other than to say I'm really tired.

Motorcycle accident Originally posted to Dreamwidth, were there are comments. Dreamwidth comments. Note that ljgeoff can't get into her livejournal account so it'd be better if you left messages over on dreamwidth!

I'll be donating next payday. If you've got a little, the family is pretty low income but would like to have a nice service.

GoFundMe for Tone Gurley's funeral Originally posted to Dreamwidth, were there are comments. Dreamwidth comments. Note that ljgeoff can't get into her livejournal account so it'd be better if you left messages over on dreamwidth!

Tone died sometime last night. His mom called me today. His 36th birthday is next week.

He left Michigan last February to see how California might treat him. He thought being homeless where it was warm was better than being homeless where it was cold. He was a poet, an addict, and I loved him. Originally posted to Dreamwidth, were there are comments. Dreamwidth comments. Note that ljgeoff can't get into her livejournal account so it'd be better if you left messages over on dreamwidth!

In the coming week, I work five 12-hr shifts, so I'm not going to go completely crazy on my days off. On the list for today:

-- Mark and I will start on my modified huglekulture bed. Instead of using logs as suggested, I'll be using big and small branches, covered with leaves and then soil. We'll have one bed done today. (1)

-- haul down a load of boxes from the attic and set Mark to sweeping up and bagging the roofing shingles bits that fell down inside when the guys ripped the dormer roof off. Done!

-- clean up the kitchen while Trentyn and Zary clean up the living room. Done! Go through the fridge because something in there is rotting.

-- do a load of laundry so I have clean scrubs Done!

-- make lunch for eight kids and watch them play for a couple of hours! Just got back from the park, and pizza is in the oven! Carl has one more week of midnight.

-- take the boys to their other grandma's house and then go out to dinner with Mike.

I've had a relaxing morning with coffee, breakfast, and screen time. Time to get busy.

1) The kids helped me get the branches in; I might have Mike go in there with the little chain saw and make some cuts so they lay down better. Then we'll put in a layer of leaves and pile on the soil. Originally posted to Dreamwidth, were there are comments. Dreamwidth comments

I got sick this week with a UTI. I get a lot of UTIs, maybe two times a year. Every year.

Most people know all the little tips about preventing UTIs: drink lots of water and go to the bathroom as soon as you have the urge, wipe front to back and pee before and after sex. But some people might not know that your personal biology might have something to do with it too; in fact, if you get a lot of UTIs like I do, and you're doing all of the right things listed above, then your biology is probably a big reason for recurrent UTIs:

"Additionally, some women have cells that are naturally more receptive to bacteria, meaning the bacteria are less likely to be flushed out by your natural body functions. In a 2009 study of more than 1,200 women who experience recurrent UTIs and kidney infections, researchers determined that a genetic variation in these cell receptors is associated with an increased risk of bladder and kidney infections." Uristat.com

At this point in my life, my immune system is getting sluggish enough that I don't pop a fever until pre' late in the infection game. I tend to realize that I have a UTI when I get pain on urination, but by that time I'm also fatigued (I always blame overworking, which is true) and have brain fog. With those two things going on, I'm slower to act -- this time about a day slower, which is a long time in the life of bacteria.

The evening I started my antibiotics, I got the chills so bad that I could barely walk. I had Mike cover me in two extra quilts and the chills calmed down and finally stopped after an hour or two. Still no fever though. Come on, immune system! Fever is important!

I know that if this UTI had gone on completely untreated, I would have gone into septic shock and died.

As I was lying there shivering, I was thinking that this was why I'd become a nurse in the first place: it was the very first part of The Plan. What was an option for UTI if there's no available antibiotics?

Ive been thinking about this for a couple of days now, and the obvious answer for my little clan will be cranberries. Lots of cranberries. Because the bacteria that cause UTI have these little cilia, hairs on the exterior of the cell, that allow them to cling to the walls of the bladder. Cranberry has a chemical called proanthocyanidin, or PAC, and it was thought that this PAC dissolves the cilia, allowing the bacteria to be flushed away in the urine. Studies are showing that something is going on with the cranberry, but they're not sure what:

"It can be speculated that the increased urinary antiadherence and lower incidence of UTIs are connected to other cranberry constituents apart from PACs, anthocyanins, phenolic acids, flavonoids and their microbial‐derived metabolites (de Llano et al., 2015). The pentacyclic triterpenoids, mainly ursolic acid, may play a complementary or synergistic role together with polyphenolic constituents in the antiadhesion activity of cranberry fruit (Vasileiou et al., 2013). For example, this compound caused differential gene expression in E. coli and inhibited biofilm formation in several bacterial species (Ren et al., 2005). Ursolic acid has been shown to affect P fimbriae and the curli fibre morphology of uropathogenic E. coli strains and their adhesion to uroepithelial cells (Wojnicz et al., 2013). Also, some metabolites are formed through the action of intestinal microflora, which is unique for each individual (Cardona et al., 2013). This might explain individual sensitivity to the effects of cranberry.

In summary, results of this study showed that intake of 500 mg of cranberry fruit powder containing 2.8 mg of PACs/day for 6 months was associated with a reduction in incidence of recurrent UTIs. The compliance with the study protocol was excellent and no adverse events were recorded. From the results, it is not possible to pinpoint which compound/compounds in CFP protected the epithelium of the urinary tract against the formation of bacterial biofilm. Our data nonetheless provide encouraging evidence for the protective effect of whole cranberry (peel, seeds, pulp) in women with a medical history of rUTIs. This effect is possibly due to the synergy of all cranberry components and/or its metabolites rather than just PACs. However, additional studies are needed to determine which cranberry secondary metabolites in addition to PACs are responsible for the effects found." Vostalova, J, et el. (2015) Are High Proanthocyanidins Key to Cranberry Efficacy in the Prevention of Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection? Phytotherapy Research, 29(10), 1559-1567.

So, lots of mushed cranberries. The concentrate I'm looking at has 250 grams of dried whole fruit in 50 grams of powder. That's about one cup of whole, fresh cranberries -- unless it was 250 grams after drying? Aarg! I need clarification! Also, I can make my own powder by freeze drying the berries and grinding them. hmmm. Originally posted to Dreamwidth, were there are comments. Dreamwidth comments

Reading this post from siderea has given me an urge to write some of what I've been thinking but not talking about, except to Mike. And when I talk to Mike, it's in a code-phrase kind of short hand. But I feel the need to noodle this.

( this might be too depressing and triggery right now; talking about civilization collapseCollapse ) Originally posted to Dreamwidth, were there are comments. Dreamwidth comments

I want to experiment with this -

A Perspective on Terra Preta and Biochar

"In the Amazon Basin, there exists thousands of hectares of cultivated plots consisting of unusually fertile black soil, termed Terra Preta de Indio — “dark earth of the Indians” — called Terra Preta for short. These soils are many hundreds if not thousands of years old, and have remained remarkably fertile in spite of the tropical rainfall, which accelerates the weathering of soil and the leaching of water soluble nutrients"

Youtube biochar workshop:



Inoculating Biochar:



"What happens when we put biochar directly into the soil without charging it? If I was to go out into my garden and apply 5% biochar to my topsoil, chances are I'm not going to have a very good crop next year because it's going to come in and it's going to pull all the nutrients from my topsoil. It's gonna hold on to 'em. It may take a year, it may take two years to recover. And that's if I have good soil with high organic matter and a nice microbial population in it already. Dead soil, damaged soil -- it's not likely to do much of anything until it has microbes in it, and something to eat. So again, that's what we're talking about: nutrients and microbes.

Why this matters to me: The soil in the UP, where we're going to be growing our food, is acidic and sandy. Great for blueberries and potatoes. But I'm also fond of sweet corn, lettuces, and peas.

"Here's this little tip -- For you guys making this at home, some of you guys have systems where you have got drums, where you can let it cool off and you don't have to quench it -- but there are some systems where you need to be there to quench it or else gonna smolder and turn to ash... I would recommend that if you the opportunity, to quench it... That steam is gonna come inside and it's gonna inter those little pores in the biochar and crack them out even further... In some cases, it'll wash out some of the tar ... So what you're gonna end up is this wetting and cracking process all in one that will make the char way more absorptive. It's actually a process that they use to make activated carbon." Originally posted to Dreamwidth, were there are comments. Dreamwidth comments

12 Sentences -- the first sentence of the first post of each month:

Not-A-Resolution -- But the new year does beg for reevaluation of footing/path/goals.

UP we go -- In two weeks, Mike and I are going up to Negaunee to see Luke and start the remodel of the house.

Breathe -- Last Friday, Feb 28, we had a meeting with Chris' worker, Carlisle.

Still awaiting the electricians -- I worked four twelves and had two days off.

This is the last time I talk about my house this month -- There is this thing with Mike and I that really works -- I'm a dreamer and he's a realist.

Day 13 -14 / day 2-3 at the Covid unit in Frankenmuth -- On May 31, we had our first covid-19 death.

letters to my grandchildren's grandchildren -- It's a bit of a conceit thinking that my grandchildren's grandchildren will be interested in what I have to say; that I have some arcane wisdom to pass on to them.

to my grandchildren's grandchildren -- These posts are a series of letters that I'm writing to my grandchildren's grandchildren.

On the death of my sister -- These posts are a series of letters that I'm writing to my grandchildren's grandchildren.

Forward Movement -- We just got back from Negaunee last night; we'd been up there for a couple of days, working on the house.

Tick, Tick, Tick -- I bought a house this week.

I am sick -- I came down with a cold on Friday, just sniffles and then Saturday very snotty. Then on Saturday, a UTI developed and I started on Macrobid. That's better now except that Macrobid makes me feel kinda crappy. Then yesterday at work I tested positive for Covid-19.


Well, that kinda sums it up. Ttthhhppppttt, 2020! Originally posted to Dreamwidth, were there are comments. Dreamwidth comments