Sanibel

Today Faith Marie is 1 month old. ❤️ 🙏🏻 ❤️ We are told that her odds of making it to a yr old go up if she made it to a month old. I say she has the same odds as the rest of us. When God calls us home, we go.
 

What are 'ghost apples'? Record low temperatures create freaky phenomenon
These clear apples aren’t an optical illusion — here’s the real deal behind the viral photos. Ghost apples can happen when ice casings of apples hang from a tree.Andrew Sietsema/Facebook
    Feb. 13, 2019, 10:15 AM EST / Source: TODAY By Julie Pennell Nature is certainly capable of creating some pretty amazing things, and one resident of Sparta, Michigan, just happened to be in the right place at the right time to see one of the winter's most beautiful formations.
Last week, Andrew Sietsema was pruning some of his apple trees after freezing rain had hit the area and while he was working, he snapped a few pictures of what he has since dubbed “ghost apples” — hollowed-out ice casings of apples that were never harvested.
Sietsema told NBC affiliate WOOD-TV that the apples are of the Jonagold variety, "but we'll call these Jona-ghosts,” he said.
    So, how exactly does something like this form?
Susan Brown, Herman M. Cohn Professor of Agriculture and Life Science at Cornell University, explained to TODAY Food that the flesh of some apples, especially those that remain on trees late after the harvest season, will decay into almost an applesauce-like consistency. “The skin keeps it in like a filled water balloon,” she said.
Due to a combination of freezing rain and prolonged subzero temperatures, ice initially encased the whole fruit, but then the rotted apple mush seeped out from the bottom of the icy sphere, leaving the detailed, hollowed-out impression of an apple.
“I like the term that was coined ‘ghost apple,’” Brown said. “What I love about this story and the excitement it generated is that it showcases all the hard work our apple growers do in all weather conditions. The fact that Andrew Sietsema was out in freezing conditions, tending to his trees, allowed him to capture this beautiful occurrence.”
Photos of the clear "fruit" have been reposted and liked hundreds of times across various social media platforms. Many are simply in awe of the unusual phenomenon:
While this may seem like a rarity, Brown (who herself hasn’t seen a ghost apple first-hand), said she’s heard from many researchers and growers that they have seen this occur before and that it’s most common with Golden Delicious and Jonagold apples. Jonagolds, known for their crisp flesh and tartly sweet flavor, are an offspring of the Golden Delicious.
  The professor expects that Sietsema was basically just in the right place at the right time ... and had his smartphone handy.
“Others have seen it in their orchards, but only those brave enough to face the elements after an ice event,” she said. “I would imagine that after this report and photos, you may have more [people] venturing out to see if they can spot any. I’m sure other growers out pruning may also document their own ‘haunted’ orchards.”                                                                                                                                      SEE TWEETS;    https://www.today.com/food/photos-ghost-apples-are-going-viral-what-are-they-t148759

Something pretty from freezing rain!  Imagine that! 

For being so tiny, she sure is kicking everyone's butt! Those are great pics! 

More from last week.

I was laughing at her forehead this morning, her father has the same exact lines. 😂 Faith Marie was bright eyed & looking around at her surroundings, so her mommy decided to get pics of her forehead.

Peanut gained another 2oz this week. She is up to 4# 7oz now. She also pulled her feeding tube out this morning, but she has been taking a bottle that is equal to what she was given through the feeding tube. As long as she continues to take a bottle, she won’t need the feeding tube. 🙏🏻

She is beautiful! You are all in our prayers. 

As told by her mother Brandi...
So many of you have been wondering how Faith is doing. Thank you all for your thoughts prayers and support through this journey. Faith had a rough start since being brought into this world and been through more than most adults. She was born full term via c section due to being breech. Her head was under my ribs and she wouldn’t turn. When she came out she did pretty well Tuesday then on Wednesday she started having episodes of apnea. Her brain wasn’t sending signals to her lungs to breathe. She was put on a cpap then by Thursday she was placed on a ventilator. Friday we were told that she has trisomy 18, Edwards Syndrome which is a rare chromosomal defect. There is no cure, no fix, it just is. These babies have short life spans. They are lucky if they live past the first 6-9days of life. 
By Saturday the ventilator was doing all the breathing for her and Deryk and I had to make a heart breaking decision. That’s not a life living on a vent for the rest of her days. 
But our little girl wasn’t done fighting yet, she was not done living! The vent was discontinued, she opened her eyes and breathed! She was placed on monitors to track her oxygen, heart rate and respiration’s. We waited another week to see how she would do. No more episodes of apnea! We went through a week of education and learning how to care for once she came home. Our hope was restored! She would come home! Our Faith is now 2 weeks old and defying the odds! Our Faith is a true testimony that there is power in prayer! ❤️
I also have to say that the staff at Penn Highlands DuBois NICU and maternity are amazing people! We couldn’t have gotten this far without them! They went above and beyond their call of duty and made whatever accommodations for Faith, us and our family. They have been a God send for us and we are forever grateful to them. 💝

Great out come, and prayers work. Beautiful little girl.

She is beautiful! You are all in our prayers. 

She is beautiful! You are all in our prayers. 

Spider - Better be good to me 1981 (Tina Turner had a bigger hit with a remake of this a few years later in 1984)
 
 
 

Very true. And y'all got a new pet monkey

This is how I found this website. I heard about it the day it happened, and the only thing that came up on my Google search was a thread by mr.d.  The original thread got lost when the site changed the format 
 I came here with the best of intentions, I can only blame myself for everything that followed...

How about Browsey??  

I did not really do anything in my garden. My wife planted it. I just tilled it up a bit not to shallow this year and put the plastic down with her help. I put the stakes in for the tomatoes and other than that I really wasn't to involved. I just did not have the desire this year. The tomatoes turned out great and they are very big for the variety and should make excellent spaghetti sauce. The peppers are good. I also have pics of celery. I believe I have 14 stalks of them. The one tomato plant has around 30 tomatoes on it.
 
 

Must be a misprint
How about an eye of an eagle. Never heard that expression on describing a checkers player though.

Monarchs searchers have taken over my neighborhood which is wonderful for the Monarchs and the searchers, but if anyone finds them and cannot raise them, please put them into a closed plastic container and drop them off at Charlie's Alternators where we can pick them up and get them into boxes to be raised and released.
We have 500 tags to fill!
If anyone sees my feet sticking out of a ditch in the vicinity of milkweed, then please get me onto my feet so I can go to the next location to find more.

Odds and ends of commercially released Monarchs have been dribbling through our area for about a month or more, but the mass of native migrating Monarchs is now here!  Please check the milkweed anywhere you see it and collect eggs and cats.  If you do not want to raise them yourself, then please call me and we will take them to raise.  
The BUDS Gardeners have ordered 500 Tags from Monarch Watch since we feel we can realistically reach that number or higher.  We will begin tagging just as soon as the tags arrive which should be mid-August or so.  Monarch Watch does not send them out till the Monarchs start migrating south again to Mexico.
I collected about 25 today simply by checking a few stands of milkweed.  Just place them in a closed container, out of the sun, and call me to arrange a pickup.  590-9010.
If you would like to become part of the project, BUDS Gardeners will provide instructions, plastic boxes and will tag them for release for free.  Become a Monarch Wrangler by contacting us at 371-3322, 590-9010 or by e-mailing cshenkle@verizon.net.

The other landfill thread made me think about this one. There have been drastic, sweeping changes across the country in hundreds of landfills that I know of this year.  Millions of dollars in business has been turned away for the sake of safety.  Everyone in the industry knows what happened up there, and knows why it happened.  If any of Billy's friends or family are still reading this thread, just know that my job is now safer after the tragedy up there. This isn't how any of us wanted it to happen, but good has come of it, and will benefit thousands of people for years to come 

Thanks...it was fun redoing. When we bought our house last fall, the bench was left here. I said goldmine😆  the black was chipping and rusting...I sanded. The wood was all rotted, I put all new on. Brought it back to life...my husband was very surprised 😉
Repurpose and reuse!!

Redid my bench...very happy how it turned out. I had to share😊

Pet Alert! Blue-green algae in lake water is toxic to dogs
by Laura Hand
Sunday, June 10th 2018
Photo: CSIRO / CC BY 3.0 (Via MGN Online)
If your dog goes swimming in a lake, or drinks lakewater while you walk lakeside, be aware that if there's blue-green algae in the water, it could be harmful to your pet.
Some algal blooms can produce toxins that affect the liver, nervous system and the skin of pets (and their humans!), according to Dr. Jesse Lepak, Ecosystem Health Specialist with New York Sea Grant.
If dogs swim in water where blooms are visible, they should be washed off immediately, to stop their taking in toxins while cleaning fur. You should also keep pets out of 'scums' where algal blooms are present, and away from beach wrack (a brown seaweed at waters' edge).
The most severe reactions are from drinking contaminated water. Neurotoxins have immediate effects including drooling, tremors and seizures. 'Hepatoxins' can also destroy the liver. Animals need to get to a vet immediately.
There is a FREE brochure (with more links & video clips) with detailed information for pet owners. The brochure is available at information kiosks in parks across New York, or you can download a copy by clicking here.
 
A FREE brochure will help protect your dog from blue-green algae. It's a deadly hazard if your pet drinks contaminated lake water, or even goes swimming in infested water{p}{/p}                                                                                                                                                                          http://wjactv.com/news/nation-world/pet-alert-blue-green-algae-in-lake-water-is-toxic-to-dogs

The fungus feeds on dead or rotting wood so it doesn't actually cause the problem but it a sign that the tree or roots are bad.  It won't invade healthy wood.I agree with Petee and Lavender. I wouldn't use bleach on the soil.