Hello, Al. We had some electrical stuff going on here and my power conditioner was going nuts. Today I had to chkdsk my drives and just got back online. I'm not sure yet what it takes to get started. No idea how much of anything I need, though I know I'm not ready to make large quantities yet. I would be mixing in small amounts since I would need to use a container that fit on my rather small table in the garage. If I only need three ingredients, I suppose I could talk my husband into storing three large bags, though I'm not sure what large means since fifty pounds of a lightweight material would be a lot larger bag than fifty pounds of stone. Would the T67 Soil Sieves at $17.97 be sufficient? They don't seem like they would be heavy. Someone mentioned esj collanders. If that's like the one I drain pasta or greens in, it sounds managable. I'm thinking a dishpan to mix the ingredients would be easier than something larger. Mid May seems so close! I know you say it wouldn't be a hardship to come early, but it feels like it would be such an imposition. At the same time it sounds so promising. I could check with my daughter (who has offered to help me) and see if she could be here to work with us and keep my brain less scattered. Since the fibro has gotten worse I get overwhelmed easily. Frustrating because I used to be easy going. I would need to get started now to have things here that we need, especially if I have to order them. Would you give me a better idea of what I would need to have ready and set up? Meantime, I'll check with Mary (my daughter) and see if she would be free on the 13th. Please, if anything comes up that makes it inconvenient, don't hesitate to let me know! Just a side note. One or two of the plants I bought seems to be planted in some kind of bark. The water just runs down the side of the pot and doesn't absorb at all. Is this a danger with bark or did they use the wrong kind/not enough other things mixed in. I don't usually let plants sit in water, but it seems the only way these can get a drink. I don't mind watering often; in fact it would be better because I would be less apt to forget if it was a more regular routine. Reminds me, I need to have pots also. So much to think about. Will wait to hear from you. I don't manage to get online every day but will try and check often. Bless you so much for your willingness to help, Al. Peggy

I understand the feelings that you have trying to do the best for someone whose company you don't especially enjoy. About all you can do is just what you feel comfortable with and forget the rest. Here's one way of doing it. A little tricky, but it can be done. Sell her house. Then she lends that amount of money to you at a certain rate of interest. Put the money in CDs. The amount of money that the CD earns should about offset the amount of interest that you will owe on the "loan". This interest then goes to help pay her bills. Have it set up so that when she dies, the loan is forgiven and you get all the money in the CD. We did this for my aunt when she had to go into a NH and her pension and SS money was not enough. I, as her agent, lent her money to the family business paying "her" a monthly interest payment which was paid to the NH. When it was all over, the principle of the note was intact and was distributed according to the terms of her will. Just a thought as to a possible solution for you.

In gen people who are in this situation shouldn't IMO keep pets unless they have plans for what happens to the animals in question, and the species they keep. Most people like this cannot afford good/decent pet food, or are too lazy, ignorant to see to that, stats show diet is often the most neglected aspect of pet care. I think this is an excellent idea though KF88 because people are not going to just wake up and see sense,and it is true there are curtain arrangements where I see it to be very very good. I'm lucky my parents will take my cats in the future, so bad things don't happen to them in the group home or the other way around with the people. Cats especially are by law, in MN at least, (only if loose and at large,free roaming) considered wild animals, and the ways group homes use to limit/control. problems such as scratching are barbaric as well as possibly dangerous to the people who live with them, we had a woman get bit by a de clawed cat- and I got bit by the cat when she brought the cat to work . On the other hand I understand why de-clawing would come up- my dad got a blood infection from a clawing that one of our previous cats in my childhood- the answer is then just not to have um in the first place. Many people do not like cats/dogs/pets, or are ill equipped to live with them especially those who are violent and unstable, we had someone throw a chair at one of my friends, at work, she, the attacker, probably lives in a group home, a lot of the people at my job do.. The victim got a bruised leg. - I asked what happened to stop the behavior from happening again., the victim reported to me the attackers mother was "rich and powerful" and so nothing was done. On the whole through if everyone is okay with it, accepts its what the animal does without resorting to cruel solutions, and no new people are going into that arrangement who may have an allergy, its a good idea.

I am going to put a thought out there that hasnt been mentioned yet, but is a possible explanation for part of the young mans aversion to his ill half brother. My sister passed away a few years ago, at the age of 35, after a six month battle with cervical cancer. ( get your pap smears ladies, it could save your life) After her original diagnosis, which occurred right around Xmas time, everyone , friends, immediate family, long lost relatives, all came to see her. It was assumed that she would recover, since most cervical cancer does not result in death, because its caught early on. Sadly, that was not the case with my sis. As it became more obvious that she was very gravely ill, people began to withdraw from her. In the last four months of her life, most of the family who were not immediately close to her, made excuses why they couldnt get over to see her, and ALL, and i do mean ALL of the young men in the family between the ages of 15 and 35, pretty well avoided her like the plague. Many many young adults cannot handle the thought of human mortality, and are extremely uncomfortable with someone who is seriously ill. Men are worse at it than women are. This young man doesnt feel particularly close to the six year old anyway, since, although they share a dad, they are more than twenty years in age difference, and a lifetime apart in experiences. Instead of assumeing that this young man is intending to be hurtful and insulting... Perhaps he is just uncomfortable with the thought of death or illness, as MOST people his age are, and is avoiding the boy for that reason, since they havent been particularly close, because of age and circumstance. I just am not ready to hang this young man out to dry for behaviour that I saw fairly often from many people during my sisters illness. People who were otherwise very good caring people.