Queen Anne's Lace is my current passion of the week. The seeds were used as a birth control. The root, when very young is edible and is also referred to as a wild carrot. Now that it is in its flowering stage though, the root is far too woody to consume, so better luck next year. Possibly, if I get a better idea of what I am looking for in a young plant, I can harvest the carrots. Until then, I am still a novice carrot consumer.
Contact with the leaves, to some, can cause a hypersensitivity to ultraviolet light. it should be known that the plant can be mistaken for poison hemlock. I need to take some pictures of this one for my readers. The flower clusters can be eaten French fried and the seeds are useful for flavoring in soups and stews and, as I mentioned before, a teaspoon of seed can be and has been used as a morning-after contraceptive. Studies have been done on mice and there is some truth to the theory, interestingly enough, in that the seeds do interrupt implantation. Not being on any contraceptive myself at the moment, I may explore this home remedy for myself since the prescribed methods make me sick and I should not be getting pregnant again.
I can go out and take some pictures of this one, but I'm not entirely sure I am ready to use it medicinally until I get more of an idea of what I am up against. Though, according to my studies, this is an excellent remedy for dropsy, or edema which I do have trouble with, especially on hot and humid days on my ankles. It would be interesting to give a tea made from the flowers a try, though most of the remedy properties are similar to that of the bee balm which I think is much safer an herb overall in terms of dropsy, flatulence, gastric benefits, etc.
That being said:
Dad is home. It turns out he had some kind of carbon dioxide poisoning. His C-PAP machine was not set correctly. Dad is horrible about getting himself or the stuff that keeps him alive checked up on regularly, so his C-PAP was unable to keep him breathing correctly while he slept and his O2 saturation was lower than it should be. At that point he said he wasn't feeling well, but when he went to the cabin for 3 days with no C-PAP at all, his O2 saturation was so low, that the carbon dioxide was building up? and this was making things shut down, like his bowels and his kidneys, which in turn made him retain fluid and swell up, thus making his breathing almost impossible, his body was essentially poisoning itself making him throw up and run a fever and do everything it ITS power to heal or get rid of the junk. Needless to say, the doctor that finally got his hands on dad said that it would have been a horrible, slow and very painful death. Dad even admitted that this time he was too close to the end. Will this encourage him to take care of himself? Probably not. I don't know how you can love someone so much and be so angry at them all the time at the same time...
I got the mail Monday and there was a letter from the circuit court judge. It seems Mr. Deaner Weener missed court. Why? Because he decided to drive a car without ever having more than a permit in his life and, he got caught. I really have no idea how many time I need to tell that boy that his mother will not allow him to get away with stuff. STOP TRYING. She is up there in heaven looking down at him and making sure he gets caught. With this in mind, would you not think the child would pull his head from his anus and listed to the higher power? Sigh. $200.50 fine for driving without a license. He said he didn't get a mile before the cop got him. I asked him what he did to draw attention to himself and he swears he did nothing, it had something to do with the plates being wrong or something. Why did he drive? he said his buddy was super overtired and falling asleep. Since Dean was the only one with any experience driving, he took over thinking he would be fine. Yeah. No.
There was some yelling and shaking of the papers at him on my part I will admit. It lasted all of 2 minutes before I pulled myself together and asked, "WHY did you not tell me!?"
"Because I thought I would just pay it and you wouldn't have to worry about it."
"Pay for it with...?"
"I don't know."
GAH!!!! If this is how it's gonna be with all the kids I had better start drinking now so I can be in good humor for the next one 3 years down the road. There is no limit to the drunken state I need to be in should this happen again...3 more times. So, I pay the ticket and he gets to work it off. Today he was supposed to clean the kitchen. it took all day and consisted of moving everything around and putting nothing away. There was standing water around the sink, a big pile of smelly washcloths all wadded up in a bowl under some dishes that were not done, the floor was half swept the cupboard fronts were dirty, the stove unclean and there was crap stacked on the stools. He said he was done. I could not have possibly screamed the word bullshit loud enough. Instead I got ugly quiet and started cleaning it myself letting my anger bubble and gurgle in my stomach. Smelly wet cloths all wadded up in the corner, rusty gross soap pad in the holder laying in an inch of water, the sink was drained and filthy, food in the trap, grime all over the bottom and sides, the soap bottle had mud on it, standing water all around the sink, under the sink was musty and wet and soaked into the particle board floor rotting away because of the standing water above. Everything that was on the counters was pushed over onto the service table. An open bag of bread, garbage, dirty dishes, paper all stacked on this table--this is cleaning off the counters and cleaning the kitchen. The rage was building until I finally went completely ape shit on a bitch spree pointing out all this filth and gross that we are supposed to eat and function around ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!!!???? I asked Dean if this is how he works at other peoples houses-"no." Why then do you insist on working like a jackass at home? "I donno." You know what? You made nothing today. NOTHING has been earned against this ticket and nothing will be earned until you get to work and do a decent job and follow directions. MY GOD!
To this he assumes he is going to go work away from home where either he does work well, or people are too nice to pay him according to the quality of his work. Little does he know that tomorrow when I am fresh and ready for his mouthing off, that any money he brings home from other jobs will go into his fix-up-his-car-and-get-his-driver's-license fund and he will still have to work off this ticket FOR ME. The child is almost 17 years old. Life is coming at him fast. If he thinks he can half as through life and expect not to be homeless and hungry he has got another thing coming. The lesson needs to be learned now. Get off the friggin computer and get your shit done. Good grief all ready! My anger issues are definitely stemmed from the fact that Dean is playing my harp right now, but also because my moon time is up and I am not pushed around as easily when the PMS fairy visits all. week. long. It's probably a good week to do this.
Luke's curriculum came in the mail today. I can't believe school is almost starting again. GAH! I have yet to sleep in. I got 2 cool summery outfits for Yaya that were on clearance. I hate to pay full price for a summer outfit for school when they will only be able to wear it a couple of weeks and the way Yaya has outgrown everything, I do not foresee her wearing them next spring. I also found a good deal on pens and mechanical pencils for Dean. Since he prefers mechanical pencils to wood, I try to find deals when I can. I got 6 of them for a dollar and they are the cooler looking ones. They will both be using their backpacks from last year. Yaya's I made sure was cloth and longer lasting and it is still in good shape and will look just fine after a wash. Dean never used his, so I foresee a 1-week backpack haul before he leaves it home the rest of the year. I hate school shopping. It always happens at the worst time. Maybe it won't be so bad this year with my new job and all.
Monday I train for work. They pay me by the hour for training!!! I am loving this. I may do a happy dance when I finally get a check. Maybe I should take a picture of myself grinning and holding it--No more working for free!!!
And now, pictures.
I woke up the other morning to a tinkling sound. It seems Yaya and Noosie decided to get in some target practice before breakfast.
Noosie with his official Red Rider BB gun. This is because you know you cannot raise a boy up properly without a Red Rider. My dad says so, therefore it is law. Dean got one too. Yaya wants a pink one. I think they make them.
Yaya and her bow. Notice how candid she is, trying to look like she is squinting and concentrating on the target, but at the same time, has her eye on her captive audience. Oh face it. She's not even remotely looking at that target. What a ham bone.
How could I exclude the Tiny? Look at them eyeballs.
Well, since I am really good and behind, I might as well add in pictures from the cabin on the 4th of July. Honestly, this procrastinating has got to stop.
The evening begins with the men sitting around with their drinks. Notice the half gallon of Captain and Coke Curt is nursing? That is Curt's very best friend in the world yonder, Tom. And my van.
Mmmmmm. Cherries.
The view from my throne.
Darkness descends and we start the fire.
Single marshmallow enters, stage left.
A big mosquito drained Luke of all his eye color.
Dean too. There are huge mosquitoes. Unfortunately, Luke did not bring his Red Rider.
The smoke got thick and everyone got a little loopy. Poor Luke was seeing dead people. Notice the look of awe on his face.
Yaya could not put the jazz hands away.
Dean took to the drink and his best friend Josh just was really confused. Notice the guilty I-spiked-the-kool-aid look on Deans face and Josh pretending he knows nothing about it.
Here are the men at the end of our wild night lit like a cigarette. The beer and Captain Morgan all gone, a look of satisfaction on Tom's face, Curtis is relaxed to the point of almost sleeping and Tom's girlfriend Rachel, seems to be possessed by the devil and would like to go home before something happens she might regret.
When we sobered up and awoke the next morning, Emma rolled up the driveway on the back of a Harley with THIS on her arm!!!
Okay, thats a lie.
So, there. Caught up. Whew. Emma, even in sleep is so influential. I just turned around to find her passed out cold amidst pillows and clean, warm laundry. Suddenly, I am so tired...
Night night.
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