I have two unknown varieties, the clumps are over 25 years old, a bloom stalk comes out about every 5 years. The left clump has mostly green stalks and the right has red. The red clump gets slightly more shade. Shown after thorough harvest, just newer upright stalks remain. ----------------------- Some newer plantings will have thin stalks until the clump matures, or they may stay thin due to growing conditions and poor soil. The thin stalks are fine if they are firm (small stalks would be quicker to dehydrate and become spongy). Rhubarb in most recipes gets diced up anyway. If your diced rhubarb is around 1/4 inch, you may need to reduce cooking or baking time from what the recipe calls for.

Metal--You can get clay to absorb water better by doing a couple of things. When you water, water as long as you can before it stops absorbing, then water a different area the same way. Keep doing that until the whole lawn has been watered as much as possible. Then return to the first part you watered. If it hasn't been an hour since you watered there, wait until an hour has passed, then water there again. And continue doing this for the whole lawn. What this does is give the water more of a chance to soak into the soil. Another thing you can do is to try to increase the organic content of the soil. Mulch mow, mulch mow leaves in the fall and so forth. Doing this will loosen up the soil quite a bit. I can water much longer without runoff than I could when I bought my house as a result of taking this approach.

In my supermarket, the meat with short "sell by" dates is right there in the meat case, usually with a special sticker to indicate the discounted price. There are racks for "discontinued" merchandise, where I've occasionally found great bargains (e.g., on casserole dishes or storage containers), but most of the stuff is packaged or bottled products that, I suspect, are "trucked in" for display there. They are primarily gourmet or ethnic products that were never on the regular store shelves in the first place. I've found that, even if they're marked down, they're not necessarily low price, and usually they're not something I need or want to try. Still, I feel that magnetic pull to check the rack for true bargains. Sue

5 days keeps everyone's schedules more dependable and won't require changing existing patterns and habits? That's good for the very young, to be able to have and experience organization and dependable schedules. It's also usually less stressful on parents to not have to shuffle and re-settle into new patterns. 4 days of longer hours will require some shuffling before it gets to feel 'normal' and before it then becomes the new dependable pattern. It will require new duties from your partner in terms of taking the baby to daycare. Is he aware and able to do that? Do you have a choice about Mondays or Fridays to take off, or other days if taking a 4-day work week? You might be able to negotiate a 'trial' of a week or so with your employer so you can get an idea of the physical requirements and whether this kind of schedule is do-able for you (you need your health and sanity as intact as possible). Other issues can be complicated. Do you get a 'free' day to do the things you need to do (the thing to consider is whether, at stressful times, this change would feel like something that is resented). When the adults involved are both sleep-deprived their judgement can be impaired, or their thinking processes relatively slowed or otherwise affected by that lack of sleep. It can seem like, when offered what is felt to be needed (a free day) then of course it would be a good idea. It's harder to predict how one's life would change as a result. (If you end up feeling so overworked those 4 days that you really can't consider that 'free' day as 'free'; then you might a lot more support from your partner. He may not appreciate that, or be naturally adept and providing that as needed. No one benefits much at all if this change causes you to exceed your body's limits in terms of exhaustion and sleep.) deprivation. Basically, spend some time thinking about your own body's patterns. Which kind of work schedule would agree more with your own natural patterns (and why). What considerations are 'pro' and which are 'con' for the change. How sleep-deprived are you both, and how sleep-deprived are you both feeling (that is important because 2 people can have similar degrees of deprivation but one person's functioning might be more impaired by that)? Who will have to do what with the baby's schedule either way (note required changes)? Go through all these kinds of questions for yourself and with reference to your partner and baby. You'll be able to come up with a good idea about whether this change might be worth attempting. you can ask your employer for a trial of this change if you'd like to explore how you might be affected (positively or negatively, or not at all)