Chatting Over the Garden Fence! :-)

I suppose once they have allowed the child to choose its gender, and gone through whatever procedures are necessary everyone will know whether its a he or she.

It seems that the trend is to have only one set of toilets now, not male or female - I really don't like that idea!  If the toilets become generless Mums & Dads are going to have to supervise their children's visits to the loo for the children's own safety.

I am sad that we have needed to become so protective of our kids these days, they are really missing out in a lot of ways.

The trend today is to have one person toliets in the public area so no other person can share it with you...for your own safety...or bigger disabled ones that an wheel chair can fit into. Stright in ot the bathrrom and straight out...It's very hard to take an small kid somewhere unless the father is along with you so he can use the bathroom... and dad's there with him for safety.  Most school problems are often times occuring from the use of the bathrooms on school breaks...many have "monitors" for them now also.

Not to change the subject...but am reading Holy Blood, Holy Grail...an book most of you probably read with Tom Hanks Movie an Dan Browns book...Di Vinci Code...it said in there.. that when they hung people on the cross that back in those days (Jesus) they often gave them opium or Belladonna also..the latter an extreme poision in even small amounts. But it also has curative effects also. I had to look that one up as an herb yesterday...I've heard the old time "medicine" folk use to carry such things to put people out of misery. This was used in the past as an surgical anesthgia also in minute amounts. It's been known to grow in 48 areas of England in the past...most of Europe and northern Asia. Does not affect animals as it does people. Was given to an whole army as they "drank" in ancient history and when they fell asleep..were killed by thier enemies...Roman times. One entry likened it to the "Snail" I was telling you about with the Hebrews.. in it being purple for the flower last week..with the Swan/Stonehedge story. Looks like an blueberry but in an different kind of Pod encasing...rather then an separate berry of its own. You know "Dove" got me into noticing what's on our land growing these days as herbals...survival knowledge I guess. She was teling me that even "poke" you have to know when to harvest it or it can be posionous...you problaby heard of "Poke Salad"...from the southern states. She likes to gather "seeds" an make necklaces out of them and have them to carry around your neck for survival also, or medicine needs. They hurt her feelings in town as some of them called her an "witch" one time.. but she said it was how she grew in the hills being part Native American, in North Carolina...they had to know how to do for themselves.. with out doctors next door. Her grandfather had his own Mill...and ground flour for folks, or anything else they needed. She said he was just plain "smart" about everything in life to her. We often talk that if people couldn't rely on an grocery store these days they'd probably starve to death. There are less and less young people with the knowledge and the general irradication of any place that's got natural vegetation available in most parts.... for many of us we can no longer even think of having an "dandilion" salad these days. I have an old book of the way life was for an pioneer...it's an "repit" book that the Historical Society re-printed...it says to wash your clothes in boilin water from the big iron pot, near the creek...and after you get them going, slip in some fresh hen eggs, and get some cold milk from the morning milkin out of the Spring well...and some fresh baked bread and it makes an delish "lunch" on wash day...slather on the sweet cream butter or apple butter or jam of some kind. See to it the liittle ones learn to hang the clean clothes over bushes and to stay close around..so the injuns won't grab em...have at least one or two critters (dogs) with them. Silly I suppose, but I like learning or readiing about the ways of the past....... I am always finding myself saying.."I didn't know that!"

There are now whole web sites under the term of Paleo.Skills.  They are taking it back further one in learning to make things using nothing man made or bought..but more "off the land"...ususing natural resources only. Last I visited it...they had taken an knot of wood and it had an stone backing on the bottom of it, and rendered down animal fat and used dried twisted rope from tree roots to make an candle. You could also use "peanut oil" for the fat. The fella from California was pretty up with the land and what it had to offer down there...esp trees and the kind of wood for making thngs with. The plant above was one of them they use to use for tipping arrows in to kill animals with. You hae to remeber anything that would kill an animal might you also.. if you ate the meat. I had to laugh when one survivalist joking said to take out the 22 rifle and shoot an rabbit with it and have "scrambled" rabbit bits for dinner...and that is indeed what it would be with an rifle.But more so...not having an intact animal would not give any indication of an disease also...and you can not eat infected meats..you have to know what your about to consume. They were an lot more vegetarian I think back in those days then we might think...leaving animals for "feasting" with crowds... so the meat was used and didnt' spoil before it was used up.

My neighbors in the house up the street..before the original owner past on..whom I knew more then the ones living there now...came from an area that "sponsored" and cultural center and school for keeping the information of the Ozarks and along the hill people alive back there. Their names are Harlan and Alma Cornet...have since passed on.  Thier cultural school keeps things alive such as quilting, dancing iwth "clogs" and just general such living styles. It is VERYexclusive to beable to buy the old time remeants of log cabins, schools and such buildings iwth an history and hook them together torestore them and add on glass rooms to make into an whole house and of course furnish them in like manner...so few of them exist any more having deteriorated or been torn down. They can be so charming also, with the right hands to them in restoring them. I have read stories of people going 2,000 miles to get ahold of an one room period cabin...or barn...or school and taking it apart board by board numbered and an sheet of paper with it's design on it...or if small enough placed on top of an semi-truck- tailer and hauling half way across the country-side to put together again. Aren't you glad over in England you don' thave to do that with your stone Castles. It would be quite an job. Many of them have had thier original tapsestries sent to museums. Instead of wall paper...they hung huge elaborate woven (with scenes often) tapesteries down the wall...to not make them seem so "cold" with the stone work on an dark rainy day. Same for the stained glass windows...they helped to brighten up the rooms.

I am right now into the genealogy of "Jesus" in an book, trying to understand the "Fisher Kings".... but hope to start the one of the two fellas going across Africa on thier motorcycles trip also.  Cathyml..might after reading it send it to you to read. Make an nice Christmas read book perhaps....must go for now.