In article ,
George Shirley wrote:

I grew up in the piney woods of SE Texas, takes many moons to actually
acidify soil that way. It is a cheap way though if you're patient.

If you are less patient, see if you can find baled "pine straw." I have
some reservations about the fact that folks seem to be happy to strip
their forests of organic material to sell it, but given that they do, it
would help your (T's) yard a little faster than not. And of course, try
to get as many leaves as possible in leaf season, when folks are
throwing them away...spoiled hay is likewise highly useful (unspoiled
hay is also useful, but much more expensive.) Even shredded paper helps,
though it ties up nitrogen while it decomposes.

Creeping buttercup is currently my least-favorite weed; it will find the
surface from being buried 6" down and mulched over. I now aim for
partially dry and (sealed, anerobic) compost on that stuff.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by
Please don't feed the trolls. Killfile and ignore them so they will go away.

On 4/21/2016 9:03 PM, Ecnerwal wrote:
In article ,
George Shirley wrote:

I grew up in the piney woods of SE Texas, takes many moons to actually
acidify soil that way. It is a cheap way though if you're patient.

If you are less patient, see if you can find baled "pine straw." I have
some reservations about the fact that folks seem to be happy to strip
their forests of organic material to sell it, but given that they do, it
would help your (T's) yard a little faster than not. And of course, try
to get as many leaves as possible in leaf season, when folks are
throwing them away...spoiled hay is likewise highly useful (unspoiled
hay is also useful, but much more expensive.) Even shredded paper helps,
though it ties up nitrogen while it decomposes.

Creeping buttercup is currently my least-favorite weed; it will find the
surface from being buried 6" down and mulched over. I now aim for
partially dry and (sealed, anerobic) compost on that stuff.

I wish we had something other than live oaks in this subdivision. We
have a young pear and a young fig that drop leaves but that's about a
quarter bushel of useful leaves. The kumquat tree seldom sheds leaves
and the pine woods behind us have been decimated for more houses. Off
hand we have something between 3 and 5 thousand new homes going in
within a square mile or so.

I am going to drive around the nearby subdivision that has oak and other
leaf shedding trees this fall. I don't think those folks would mind if I
stole their bags of leafs from the curb. Might have to slide around
right after they have all gone to work. Being retired helps with that. G

We have a barrel composter, no compost heaps in this subdivision, it is
banned. Shredded paper of any kind takes a long time to compost that
way. I help it along with a bit of water each time I open the barrel and
have recently started soaking the scrap news and other papers. Will see
if shredded cardboard rots quickly when it has been through the
shredder. Looks like a good spot of "brown" stuff for the composter. I
put the egg shells through an old food processor and turn the shells
into very small bits, seems to compost much quicker that way and adds a
goodly amount of calcium to the mix. Also saves those items from the
recycling bin. Our trash output is very small, maybe three lbs worth on
a busy week. We can most of our own food at home so not many cans and
cartons to recycle.

I miss our huge cherry bark oak from our place in Louisiana. Seemed to
drop about a ton of leaves each year that went directly into the
gardens. Thing was a little over nine feet in diameter at three feet
about grade. I even forgave the tree for dropping a six inch diameter
limb through our roof during a hurricane. G

George

Ecnerwal wrote:
....
Creeping buttercup is currently my least-favorite weed; it will find the
surface from being buried 6" down and mulched over. I now aim for
partially dry and (sealed, anerobic) compost on that stuff.

if you're willing to use shredded paper then plain cardboard
or cardboard with some black ink on it is very good for
smothering hard to get rid of weeds. a few layers overlapped
so that water can get through will work just fine. then put
your mulch on top. by the time the cardboard gets broken
down by worms/pill bugs/fungi, etc. the weeds have usually
run out of energy. i use this method on most of the spots that
turn out to be a lot of trouble and i don't want to disturb
them by digging up the entire area. much less work than digging
and pulling weeds out too. especially considering you can
usually get cardboard for free from almost any store.

i used this method last year along a fence that was being
taken over by pennyroyal and also a low area that was collecting
weed seeds that i wanted to cover. spent about 5 minutes the
rest of the season getting a few stragglers along an edge. in
the low spot eventually the bark pieces and stuff i put in
there will be good humus to scrape up and use someplace else
and i can put down another round for the worms to work on.


songbird

On 04/21/2016 10:38 AM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
...
I can grow carp. Well except weeds. Maybe I can coax my purslane
to choke out the weeds. It hasn't come up yet this year.

put a few carp in your zuke mounds! at the bottom. best
fertilizer ever.

A few of the local fishing pons have goldfish (ugly carp) in
them from individuals that forgot to flush them. They mess up
the pond pretty bad. Haven't figured out how to catch
them yet.



purslane grows well here too. starts too late to be a
good ground cover (grows here as an annual). mixed with
other things it's ok. see if you can get some alfalfa
going.


songbird


I just found my purslane sprouts coming up yesterday!

There is a huge debate around these parts that zukes do
better without mounds. So far the flat earth crown is
winning with a higher yield. What are your thoughts?

Also, in my garage, I was going to pot my tomatillos
and zukes next week. We will have freezing nights
still till June. So I put my little pots over by
my garage windows and take them out side during the
warmth of the day (~65-75F), then take them back in a
night. Your thoughts?

Thank you for helping me with this!

On 04/20/2016 06:33 PM, George Shirley wrote:
On 4/20/2016 7:15 PM, T wrote:
On 04/19/2016 02:02 PM, George Shirley wrote:
On 4/19/2016 3:04 PM, T wrote:
On 04/17/2016 08:25 PM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
songbird wrote:
if you
got time to go around dumping or spraying you got time
to pull it or smother it IMO.

Hi Songbird,

Some blabbing and a question on the bottom for you.

Since I let my back lawn go to seed last year in hope of replacing it
with a garden, I now have weeds I never knew existed.

weeds are free organic matter, if they will grow
where nothing else will they can then be chopped
and used for other things, like building mulch or
topsoil fertility.


On of them looks like a small shade tree and it pulls really easily.
The rest suck to the ground, like the dandelions that won't die.
I have to dig these up with a shovel, which is no easy task
considering you can make some really awesome bricks out of
my soil.

My soil isn't soil anyway. I know the guy who graded my property.
My back yard is 20 feet down from top soil. It is basically
rocks and decomposed sandstone (like decomposed granite,
only way, way uglier). If you strike the ground to hard with
a shovel, it literally sparks.

How some of these weeks managed to bore their roots down in the
stuff, I will never know. And, you can only cut their tops off.
Then they grow right back and back and back. So vinegar and
soap it is, less the salt. Cussing at them doesn't work either.

The back yard is too big to cover in cardboard or plastic,
especially with the high winds we have. (Two category one
hurricane force winds last January.) Rock gardens work
with visqueen.

rock gardens are just fine ways to cover an area.
we have plenty of those here ourselves.

also, if you do not need it for anything is there
any reason to do anything with it at all? we have
some land here on the other side of the large drainage
ditch. i'd like to put some fruit trees back there
but it's so far back there and hard to get to right
now that it's just growing small shrubs and trees
now. i'll need to cut it all back in the next few
years if i don't want it to turn into woodland/trees.


Also, this is one for you. My blue garlic comes out pink.
I was told that this is because my soil is very alkaline
(verified by the local nursery lady.) I little vinegar
may help. Your thoughts?

if you are just going to grow a few plants, i would
bring in some good topsoil add some composted cow manure
and any other organic materials i could scrounge up.

make sure the area is leveled and drainage is good
and also make sure there is a wind break to protect
against the drying winds.

that will solve the poor soil problem and your
pH will be corrected.

for the rest of the area as you can scrounge free
organic materials and chop and drop whatever weeds
that grow to get your topsoil developing environment
going. as most of the processes of forming topsoil
involve moisture it is better to have things piled
deep enough to preserve moisture than to scatter
your efforts widely. you might also be able to
scrounge free fill that is better than what you
have. even if you have to do it a few yards at a
time...

as you get an area covered and able to absorb and
store moisture then it will support worm and other
soil community creatures (you may need to innoculate
the area with soil from a healthy area). these build
topsoil and support plant life. your pH will change
as more organic matter is added.

it's just a matter of scale, what you want to put
into it, how much money you want to spend, and how
much you're willing to be patient while nature does
some work for you.


songbird


Thank you. I am wondering where to get some cow poop.
We have lots of cows about, but I haven't seen anyone
selling it.
We've had good luck in asking about getting the cow manure and shovel it
yourself into a trailer or pick-up. Worked for us for many years. There
is a compost called "Black Cow" available at Lowe's. Now that we
basically live on the outskirts of Houston, TX that's where we get our
manure. Works well.

I got in late last night. I put my headset on and cut
a four foot wide swath through the weeds. When I am done
picking them and they dry out a bit, I am planning on
digging them into holes that I will eventually
plant zukes in.
The smaller you cut the weeds the faster they rot. I usually run over
them with the mower two or three times and it gets smaller each time

Here is an interesting observation. I think the weeds
were always there in my lawn. When the grass dies,
the weeds stayed.
Weeds are much hardier than grass. We are pestered with dandelions and
nut grass, takes patience and finger strength to get the !@#$% things
out of the ground. Wife enjoys it so I let her take the lead on weed
pulling. She lived further out in the country than I did before we
married. G

Thank you!

No pickup truck and no lawn mover.

Just out of curiosity, how deep do you have to go to
keep the little buzzards seeds/root from coming back up?
Nut grass actually has a nut at the bottom, that has to come out or
another weed grows. Dandelions is a shot at getting it all, we usually
stick a finger into the ground and feel for roots then push it out.
Every weed has some sort of problem with wanting to live and procreate.
Get rough with them.

I am planning on planting two more Ponderosa Pines to kep
my other one company. Their needles will eventually acidify
the soil and provide some ground cover.


I grew up in the piney woods of SE Texas, takes many moons to actually
acidify soil that way. It is a cheap way though if you're patient.

Not raining at the moment, more tomorrow is what the weather folk are
saying. Lots of folks in Houston proper and the other cities and towns
on the drainage plain are under several feet of water for the second
year. So far we're just getting lots of water on the gardens and they
are doing well. Sun came out this afternoon and everything growing
perked up. I took a lot of "rain" limbs off the pear tree. Blasted thing
grow faster the more water they get.

George


It is raining here today. If yo listen hard, you can hear the weeds
growing. Okay, I am exaggerating a bit. Only a bit. :'(

On 04/21/2016 10:14 AM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
...
The dandelions I recognize as I have been trying to kill them
for years. Vinegar might not kill them, but it sure screws them
something terrible, so it may only be an emotional thing for me.

i like dandelions, Ma just mows them down when they
start flowering and then about every three to four days,
not many make it to seed stage.


Cow poop it is! I will see what I can find in a bag. Hope
getting it home doesn't stick up my car.

it is composted already, doesn't stink like much of
anything that i recall, it's very low nutrient organic
material, that is why i use wood chips instead, can
get them much cheaper/free.

can you grow alfalfa anywhere on your property?
that's a good source of N to add to a heap for growing
zukes. or get a few bags of alfalfa pellets to mix
in your piles. for the money i think they're better
than composted cow poo.

we have another landscaper guy we talked to this
morning who will drop off wood chips when he's out
this way and has tree work as it saves him from having
to haul them somewhere else to dump. for the cost
of gas it will be a bargain.

i see you mention being able to grow ponderosa pines.
the needles from those would be good humus eventually
too. they do not acidify nearly as much as some people
think. humus itself is mildly acidic. just be happy
to scrounge any free organics you can and then let
nature do the rest. you'll get some good topsoil
eventually.

have i shown you this picture before?

http://www.anthive.com/flowers/100_6775_Wormies.jpg

the light colored soil is our native clay mixed
with some sand (if we can get it) and then the
dark is what happens when i take some of that native
soil and recondition it for a year in the worm
buckets.


songbird


Awesome!

I am told by someone to use "Canadian Peatmoss" to
acidify the soil quickly.

Also, the "someone" said my alkaline sold is hurting my
zuke production too. You thoughts?

-T

You do realize I think you know everything about gardening.

Picked all my pull-able weeds yesterday. Soon as the ground
dries out a bit from today's rain, I am going to go at
the ground huggers with my 20% vinegar and my pump bottle
sprayer.

http://www.amazon.com/Chapin-20000-1...ilpage_o06_s00

Hope it works as well as pouring a cups of 6% straight on
them. Man does that mess up a dandelion.

Then I make my ground pots.

On 4/22/2016 7:07 PM, T wrote:
On 04/21/2016 10:38 AM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
...
I can grow carp. Well except weeds. Maybe I can coax my purslane
to choke out the weeds. It hasn't come up yet this year.

put a few carp in your zuke mounds! at the bottom. best
fertilizer ever.

A few of the local fishing pons have goldfish (ugly carp) in
them from individuals that forgot to flush them. They mess up
the pond pretty bad. Haven't figured out how to catch
them yet.



purslane grows well here too. starts too late to be a
good ground cover (grows here as an annual). mixed with
other things it's ok. see if you can get some alfalfa
going.


songbird


I just found my purslane sprouts coming up yesterday!

There is a huge debate around these parts that zukes do
better without mounds. So far the flat earth crown is
winning with a higher yield. What are your thoughts?
We've never planted any zukes, etc. on a mound and they always produced,
some years heavy, some not.

Also, in my garage, I was going to pot my tomatillos
and zukes next week. We will have freezing nights
still till June. So I put my little pots over by
my garage windows and take them out side during the
warmth of the day (~65-75F), then take them back in a
night. Your thoughts?

Thank you for helping me with this!

We live where it's hot most of the year so have never had to do that.
Sounds like it would work though. If taking the plants out for a walk
kills them don't do it anymore. G
I am really glad we live where we do, even if we do get Biblical floods
occasionally. I DO NOT like cold weather. Had a company in Alaska ask me
to come visit and get a job with them. I was there in the winter of 1958
so just said no thank you for that one.

On 4/22/2016 7:08 PM, T wrote:
On 04/20/2016 06:33 PM, George Shirley wrote:
On 4/20/2016 7:15 PM, T wrote:
On 04/19/2016 02:02 PM, George Shirley wrote:
On 4/19/2016 3:04 PM, T wrote:
On 04/17/2016 08:25 PM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
songbird wrote:
if you
got time to go around dumping or spraying you got time
to pull it or smother it IMO.

Hi Songbird,

Some blabbing and a question on the bottom for you.

Since I let my back lawn go to seed last year in hope of
replacing it
with a garden, I now have weeds I never knew existed.

weeds are free organic matter, if they will grow
where nothing else will they can then be chopped
and used for other things, like building mulch or
topsoil fertility.


On of them looks like a small shade tree and it pulls really easily.
The rest suck to the ground, like the dandelions that won't die.
I have to dig these up with a shovel, which is no easy task
considering you can make some really awesome bricks out of
my soil.

My soil isn't soil anyway. I know the guy who graded my property.
My back yard is 20 feet down from top soil. It is basically
rocks and decomposed sandstone (like decomposed granite,
only way, way uglier). If you strike the ground to hard with
a shovel, it literally sparks.

How some of these weeks managed to bore their roots down in the
stuff, I will never know. And, you can only cut their tops off.
Then they grow right back and back and back. So vinegar and
soap it is, less the salt. Cussing at them doesn't work either.

The back yard is too big to cover in cardboard or plastic,
especially with the high winds we have. (Two category one
hurricane force winds last January.) Rock gardens work
with visqueen.

rock gardens are just fine ways to cover an area.
we have plenty of those here ourselves.

also, if you do not need it for anything is there
any reason to do anything with it at all? we have
some land here on the other side of the large drainage
ditch. i'd like to put some fruit trees back there
but it's so far back there and hard to get to right
now that it's just growing small shrubs and trees
now. i'll need to cut it all back in the next few
years if i don't want it to turn into woodland/trees.


Also, this is one for you. My blue garlic comes out pink.
I was told that this is because my soil is very alkaline
(verified by the local nursery lady.) I little vinegar
may help. Your thoughts?

if you are just going to grow a few plants, i would
bring in some good topsoil add some composted cow manure
and any other organic materials i could scrounge up.

make sure the area is leveled and drainage is good
and also make sure there is a wind break to protect
against the drying winds.

that will solve the poor soil problem and your
pH will be corrected.

for the rest of the area as you can scrounge free
organic materials and chop and drop whatever weeds
that grow to get your topsoil developing environment
going. as most of the processes of forming topsoil
involve moisture it is better to have things piled
deep enough to preserve moisture than to scatter
your efforts widely. you might also be able to
scrounge free fill that is better than what you
have. even if you have to do it a few yards at a
time...

as you get an area covered and able to absorb and
store moisture then it will support worm and other
soil community creatures (you may need to innoculate
the area with soil from a healthy area). these build
topsoil and support plant life. your pH will change
as more organic matter is added.

it's just a matter of scale, what you want to put
into it, how much money you want to spend, and how
much you're willing to be patient while nature does
some work for you.


songbird


Thank you. I am wondering where to get some cow poop.
We have lots of cows about, but I haven't seen anyone
selling it.
We've had good luck in asking about getting the cow manure and
shovel it
yourself into a trailer or pick-up. Worked for us for many years. There
is a compost called "Black Cow" available at Lowe's. Now that we
basically live on the outskirts of Houston, TX that's where we get our
manure. Works well.

I got in late last night. I put my headset on and cut
a four foot wide swath through the weeds. When I am done
picking them and they dry out a bit, I am planning on
digging them into holes that I will eventually
plant zukes in.
The smaller you cut the weeds the faster they rot. I usually run over
them with the mower two or three times and it gets smaller each time

Here is an interesting observation. I think the weeds
were always there in my lawn. When the grass dies,
the weeds stayed.
Weeds are much hardier than grass. We are pestered with dandelions and
nut grass, takes patience and finger strength to get the !@#$% things
out of the ground. Wife enjoys it so I let her take the lead on weed
pulling. She lived further out in the country than I did before we
married. G

Thank you!

No pickup truck and no lawn mover.

Just out of curiosity, how deep do you have to go to
keep the little buzzards seeds/root from coming back up?
Nut grass actually has a nut at the bottom, that has to come out or
another weed grows. Dandelions is a shot at getting it all, we usually
stick a finger into the ground and feel for roots then push it out.
Every weed has some sort of problem with wanting to live and procreate.
Get rough with them.

I am planning on planting two more Ponderosa Pines to kep
my other one company. Their needles will eventually acidify
the soil and provide some ground cover.


I grew up in the piney woods of SE Texas, takes many moons to actually
acidify soil that way. It is a cheap way though if you're patient.

Not raining at the moment, more tomorrow is what the weather folk are
saying. Lots of folks in Houston proper and the other cities and towns
on the drainage plain are under several feet of water for the second
year. So far we're just getting lots of water on the gardens and they
are doing well. Sun came out this afternoon and everything growing
perked up. I took a lot of "rain" limbs off the pear tree. Blasted thing
grow faster the more water they get.

George


It is raining here today. If yo listen hard, you can hear the weeds
growing. Okay, I am exaggerating a bit. Only a bit. :'(

If they start looking in the windows, RUN!

On 4/22/2016 8:26 PM, George Shirley wrote:
On 4/22/2016 7:08 PM, T wrote:
On 04/20/2016 06:33 PM, George Shirley wrote:
On 4/20/2016 7:15 PM, T wrote:
On 04/19/2016 02:02 PM, George Shirley wrote:
On 4/19/2016 3:04 PM, T wrote:
On 04/17/2016 08:25 PM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
songbird wrote:
if you
got time to go around dumping or spraying you got time
to pull it or smother it IMO.

Hi Songbird,

Some blabbing and a question on the bottom for you.

Since I let my back lawn go to seed last year in hope of
replacing it
with a garden, I now have weeds I never knew existed.

weeds are free organic matter, if they will grow
where nothing else will they can then be chopped
and used for other things, like building mulch or
topsoil fertility.


On of them looks like a small shade tree and it pulls really
easily.
The rest suck to the ground, like the dandelions that won't die.
I have to dig these up with a shovel, which is no easy task
considering you can make some really awesome bricks out of
my soil.

My soil isn't soil anyway. I know the guy who graded my property.
My back yard is 20 feet down from top soil. It is basically
rocks and decomposed sandstone (like decomposed granite,
only way, way uglier). If you strike the ground to hard with
a shovel, it literally sparks.

How some of these weeks managed to bore their roots down in the
stuff, I will never know. And, you can only cut their tops off.
Then they grow right back and back and back. So vinegar and
soap it is, less the salt. Cussing at them doesn't work either.

The back yard is too big to cover in cardboard or plastic,
especially with the high winds we have. (Two category one
hurricane force winds last January.) Rock gardens work
with visqueen.

rock gardens are just fine ways to cover an area.
we have plenty of those here ourselves.

also, if you do not need it for anything is there
any reason to do anything with it at all? we have
some land here on the other side of the large drainage
ditch. i'd like to put some fruit trees back there
but it's so far back there and hard to get to right
now that it's just growing small shrubs and trees
now. i'll need to cut it all back in the next few
years if i don't want it to turn into woodland/trees.


Also, this is one for you. My blue garlic comes out pink.
I was told that this is because my soil is very alkaline
(verified by the local nursery lady.) I little vinegar
may help. Your thoughts?

if you are just going to grow a few plants, i would
bring in some good topsoil add some composted cow manure
and any other organic materials i could scrounge up.

make sure the area is leveled and drainage is good
and also make sure there is a wind break to protect
against the drying winds.

that will solve the poor soil problem and your
pH will be corrected.

for the rest of the area as you can scrounge free
organic materials and chop and drop whatever weeds
that grow to get your topsoil developing environment
going. as most of the processes of forming topsoil
involve moisture it is better to have things piled
deep enough to preserve moisture than to scatter
your efforts widely. you might also be able to
scrounge free fill that is better than what you
have. even if you have to do it a few yards at a
time...

as you get an area covered and able to absorb and
store moisture then it will support worm and other
soil community creatures (you may need to innoculate
the area with soil from a healthy area). these build
topsoil and support plant life. your pH will change
as more organic matter is added.

it's just a matter of scale, what you want to put
into it, how much money you want to spend, and how
much you're willing to be patient while nature does
some work for you.


songbird


Thank you. I am wondering where to get some cow poop.
We have lots of cows about, but I haven't seen anyone
selling it.
We've had good luck in asking about getting the cow manure and
shovel it
yourself into a trailer or pick-up. Worked for us for many years.
There
is a compost called "Black Cow" available at Lowe's. Now that we
basically live on the outskirts of Houston, TX that's where we get our
manure. Works well.

I got in late last night. I put my headset on and cut
a four foot wide swath through the weeds. When I am done
picking them and they dry out a bit, I am planning on
digging them into holes that I will eventually
plant zukes in.
The smaller you cut the weeds the faster they rot. I usually run over
them with the mower two or three times and it gets smaller each time

Here is an interesting observation. I think the weeds
were always there in my lawn. When the grass dies,
the weeds stayed.
Weeds are much hardier than grass. We are pestered with dandelions and
nut grass, takes patience and finger strength to get the !@#$% things
out of the ground. Wife enjoys it so I let her take the lead on weed
pulling. She lived further out in the country than I did before we
married. G

Thank you!

No pickup truck and no lawn mover.

Just out of curiosity, how deep do you have to go to
keep the little buzzards seeds/root from coming back up?
Nut grass actually has a nut at the bottom, that has to come out or
another weed grows. Dandelions is a shot at getting it all, we usually
stick a finger into the ground and feel for roots then push it out.
Every weed has some sort of problem with wanting to live and procreate.
Get rough with them.

I am planning on planting two more Ponderosa Pines to kep
my other one company. Their needles will eventually acidify
the soil and provide some ground cover.


I grew up in the piney woods of SE Texas, takes many moons to actually
acidify soil that way. It is a cheap way though if you're patient.

Not raining at the moment, more tomorrow is what the weather folk are
saying. Lots of folks in Houston proper and the other cities and towns
on the drainage plain are under several feet of water for the second
year. So far we're just getting lots of water on the gardens and they
are doing well. Sun came out this afternoon and everything growing
perked up. I took a lot of "rain" limbs off the pear tree. Blasted thing
grow faster the more water they get.

George


It is raining here today. If yo listen hard, you can hear the weeds
growing. Okay, I am exaggerating a bit. Only a bit. :'(

If they start looking in the windows, RUN!

On 04/22/2016 06:26 PM, George Shirley wrote:

It is raining here today. If yo listen hard, you can hear the weeds
growing. Okay, I am exaggerating a bit. Only a bit. :'(

If they start looking in the windows, RUN!

and say "you called me a what?" and/or "my parents are
to married!".

On 04/22/2016 06:24 PM, George Shirley wrote:
I am really glad we live where we do, even if we do get Biblical floods
occasionally. I DO NOT like cold weather.

Hi George,

I can't help that I like the snow. Means trout fishing. It
is pretty too.

I was stationed in Texas for about a year. You forgot
to mention the Biblical sized cock roaches (Water bugs)
and the chiggers (don't walk on the grass!).

I remember being on guard duty in the dead quiet of the
night and one of those Texas sized cock roaches flying
at me. Sounded like a helicopter! (Roaches do to fly!)
Good thing they didn't give me a gun. :-)

I also remember the folks in Texas. Holy crap there are a
lot of nice folks living in Texas. Great steak houses too.
One or two ass holes, but they may have been military.

Tip: ask a Texan to pronounce Bexar, as in Bexar County,
and can tell the military apart from the natives.
My marriage license is from Bexar County. (For
those who don't know what I am talking about, it is
pronounced "Bear", as in "Smokey the Bear".)

Texans also talk r-e-a-l-l-y s-l-o-w.

-T

Oh, and don't ever, never never never ever stomp a Texas
cockroach with your boot. You will wake up in the morning
with about 200 of the cannibalistic *******s all our your
shoe! :'(

On 4/22/2016 9:21 PM, T wrote:
On 04/22/2016 06:24 PM, George Shirley wrote:
I am really glad we live where we do, even if we do get Biblical floods
occasionally. I DO NOT like cold weather.

Hi George,

I can't help that I like the snow. Means trout fishing. It
is pretty too.
We have rainbow trout here too, every year the state stocks a few ponds
nearby with rainbow and let folks catch them. I don't go, it's sort of
like Okay! here's a cow, shoot it.

I was stationed in Texas for about a year. You forgot
to mention the Biblical sized cock roaches (Water bugs)
and the chiggers (don't walk on the grass!).
They're not that bad, if you catch a few you can train them to pull your
kid's wagon.

I remember being on guard duty in the dead quiet of the
night and one of those Texas sized cock roaches flying
at me. Sounded like a helicopter! (Roaches do to fly!)
Good thing they didn't give me a gun. :-)
Which branch of military were you in and during what year? We're renting
the roaches out to the airplane companies now.

I also remember the folks in Texas. Holy crap there are a
lot of nice folks living in Texas. Great steak houses too.
One or two ass holes, but they may have been military.
A lot more asses have shown up, mostly from the states that have gone so
liberal REAL people can't stand it anymore and they seem to think
they're better than the natives. Most of them run for public office as
quick as they can.

Tip: ask a Texan to pronounce Bexar, as in Bexar County,
and can tell the military apart from the natives.
My marriage license is from Bexar County. (For
those who don't know what I am talking about, it is
pronounced "Bear", as in "Smokey the Bear".)
Folks in SE Texas call Bexar as Bayer.

Texans also talk r-e-a-l-l-y s-l-o-w.
Only in Bexar, the rest of us talk a wee bit faster, particularly if
you're married. That's the only way to get a word in. Some of us even
talk in several languages. We used to have a Russian couple next door,
they got homesick and went back to the frozen tundra. Have about ten or
more nationalities in this subdivision alone, maybe more. Why the hell
are all these strangers coming to my home state. The possibilities of
living a free life and getting a decent job most likely. Some of them
are nice people but some a-holes followed them.

-T

Oh, and don't ever, never never never ever stomp a Texas
cockroach with your boot. You will wake up in the morning
with about 200 of the cannibalistic *******s all our your
shoe! :'(
We've been in this house nearly four years now and I saw a roach on the
driveway once and it looked bewildered. I don't know what the previous
owners sprayed around here but it doesn't kill silverfish.

On 04/23/2016 06:48 AM, George Shirley wrote:
Which branch of military were you in and during what year?

Air Force. 74-80. Staff Sergeant. AF Commendation medal.
No it wasn't for my cock roach fighting skills. :-)

On 4/23/2016 6:41 PM, T wrote:
On 04/23/2016 06:48 AM, George Shirley wrote:
Which branch of military were you in and during what year?

Air Force. 74-80. Staff Sergeant. AF Commendation medal.
No it wasn't for my cock roach fighting skills. :-)
Navy, 57 - 60 active, recalled to active reserves in December 62 for
Cuban Missile Crisis, stayed in until discharged in June 63. I was what
the Navy called a "Titless Typist" Yeoman Second Class (E5). Three years
later the Vietnam GI bill came out and I instantly became a Vietnam
Veteran due to serving six months reserve duty in '63. Went to college
on the VVB starting in '71, graduated in '76. Meantime raising two kids,
working swing shift in a chemical plant, served with the Texas State
Guard from '63 to '76, got out as a Captain in MP outfit. I know Texas
still has a State Guard but not sure about the few other states from my
time in it. Nowadays the Texas State Guard has planes, choppers, all
kinds of stuff handed off to them by the Feds. We used to go help in
hurricanes and tried to keep riots, in the mid-sixties, down to a march.

Out of three cousins and an uncle in my age group. Only one cousin and I
got honorable discharges. I've always thought that was funny for some
reason. That other cousin and I are the only ones of the four that's
still alive. So far I've lived longer than my Dad, gone at 71, Grandad
at 55, Great grandad at 25. As a teen my Dad told me, "Marry young and
breed early if you want a family." I always thought that was funny until
I started doing the family tree. Wow!

Here I sit, will be 77 in September and still kicking. Well, can't kick
much, heart disease, diabetic, barely can walk from multiple strokes,
etc. It beats the alternative in my opinion.

Beautiful day today, current temp is 76F, no rain in sight for a change,
and the dewberries are ripe.

On 04/23/2016 05:24 PM, George Shirley wrote:
On 4/23/2016 6:41 PM, T wrote:
On 04/23/2016 06:48 AM, George Shirley wrote:
Which branch of military were you in and during what year?

Air Force. 74-80. Staff Sergeant. AF Commendation medal.
No it wasn't for my cock roach fighting skills. :-)
Navy, 57 - 60 active, recalled to active reserves in December 62 for
Cuban Missile Crisis, stayed in until discharged in June 63. I was what
the Navy called a "Titless Typist" Yeoman Second Class (E5). Three years
later the Vietnam GI bill came out and I instantly became a Vietnam
Veteran due to serving six months reserve duty in '63. Went to college
on the VVB starting in '71, graduated in '76. Meantime raising two kids,
working swing shift in a chemical plant, served with the Texas State
Guard from '63 to '76, got out as a Captain in MP outfit. I know Texas
still has a State Guard but not sure about the few other states from my
time in it. Nowadays the Texas State Guard has planes, choppers, all
kinds of stuff handed off to them by the Feds. We used to go help in
hurricanes and tried to keep riots, in the mid-sixties, down to a march.

Out of three cousins and an uncle in my age group. Only one cousin and I
got honorable discharges. I've always thought that was funny for some
reason. That other cousin and I are the only ones of the four that's
still alive. So far I've lived longer than my Dad, gone at 71, Grandad
at 55, Great grandad at 25. As a teen my Dad told me, "Marry young and
breed early if you want a family." I always thought that was funny until
I started doing the family tree. Wow!

Here I sit, will be 77 in September and still kicking. Well, can't kick
much, heart disease, diabetic, barely can walk from multiple strokes,
etc. It beats the alternative in my opinion.

Beautiful day today, current temp is 76F, no rain in sight for a change,
and the dewberries are ripe.

Hi George,

Wow!

It is about to rain again. Right now is is very dark outside.

I am a T2 Diabetic and am drug free for 2-1/2 years now. It is
really easy to do. Ping me if you want to know how.

I had to figure out how to get drug free the hard way, as the
information was withheld from me by the medicals I saw -- didn't
make them any money. They make a lot of money off Diabetes.

Speaking of making money off the sick. The major cause of
stroke and heart disease is homocysteine, not serum cholesterol
which doesn't show any coloration to arteriosclerosis
in autopsy studies. (Yup. You guessed it. Serum cholesterol
and arteriosclerosis is medical fraud.)

Homocysteine is treated with really cheap vitamins, so that
information is also withheld. (The guy who discovered it
had to go to court just to get a job as a coroner because
of the backlash from big med.)

A homocysteine test costs about ~$80 and you don't
have to go through a doctor. Just show up at
a test facility with cash in hand (call first). The test
results will show you safe ranges. (And you paid the
doctor how much to read the same exact thing you can read
yourself? Yikes.)

If you are high, just ping me and I will tell you
the vitamins to take for it.

I think I heard the weeds starting to sing. Probably
just the wind. :'(

-T

Had a customer with a heart attack: skinny, low cholesterol,
exercised at lot. The couldn't find out why. Eventually
declared is hereditary. Charged her out the nose.

Another friend and I keep hassling her to get a homocysteine
test. Her expensive heart doctors refused. Gee Wiz, no
self interest there!

When she finally broke down and got the test herself,
OH MY GOD, she was about 5 times higher than safe. It was
a wonder she was even alive! She now had a different
doctor, taking vitamins, and has recovered nicely.

The state of medicine in the country takes my breath away.
It is all about "treating", not "healing".