The Coffee House-Come & Chat With Us (November 2019)

[Poppy]

Woo hoo! Page 1! (It 's kind of a bid deal on VV )

I have started Christmas shopping - a little. For me, this is very unusual. I usually forbid anything Christmas related to fall outside of the month of December. My granddaughters have made me somewhat more flexible in my old age.

 

[Mischief]

Yeah, the local honey guy at the farmer's market lost two hives last winter.
But we don't really know what causes CCD. The honey guy thinks it is pesticides. I read somewhere it might be a mite or a parasite or a virus. or maybe some combination of stress and all the above.

Another theory is that monoculture is a big contributing factor, which makes sense to me. If bees are getting almost all of their nutrition from one or two crops, they are not getting the varied nutrition that they have gotten historically.

Actually, that would help explain why hives that get moved from place to place to pollinate various crops don't suffer from greater rates of CCD than static domestic hives and wild hives.

I'm sure CCD has a number of contributing factors. We humans have screwed up so many natural systems.

Bees are really fascinating animals. I kept a couple of hives for a while. I really respect bees.

 

[PTree15]

Woo hoo! Page 1! (It 's kind of a bid deal on VV )

I have started Christmas shopping - a little. For me, this is very unusual. I usually forbid anything Christmas related to fall outside of the month of December. My granddaughters have made me somewhat more flexible in my old age.

Haha, kids will do that! My family is finally coming around to the idea that we don't need any more (expensive) stuff. So any gifts will focus on experiences, like dining out, movies, etc. We also agreed to put in some spending limits. I'm working only part-time at the moment and some other family members are experiencing a little financial stress, so this comes at a good time. I told my parents just to invite me over for a nice vegan dinner.

 

[shyvas]

Haha, kids will do that! My family is finally coming around to the idea that we don't need any more (expensive) stuff. So any gifts will focus on experiences, like dining out, movies, etc. We also agreed to put in some spending limits. I'm working only part-time at the moment and some other family members are experiencing a little financial stress, so this comes at a good time. I told my parents just to invite me over for a nice vegan dinner.

That sounds like an excellent idea. There was a study made on what makes people happy ; receiving gifts or sharing experiences with family members.
Guess what came out top ? Sharing experiences with family and friends.

Moreover, people spend far too much during the Christmas period.

 

[shyvas]

Woo hoo! Page 1! (It 's kind of a bid deal on VV )

I have started Christmas shopping - a little. For me, this is very unusual. I usually forbid anything Christmas related to fall outside of the month of December. My granddaughters have made me somewhat more flexible in my old age.

That's right as it's our most popular thread.

 

[KLS52]

Re avocados and almonds...I think there’s something about figs, too...too tired to look it up right now.

 

[shyvas]

Re avocados and almonds...I think there’s something about figs, too...too tired to look it up right now.

And the list can go on. I don't worry about such petty details.

 

[KLS52]

Woo hoo! Page 1! (It 's kind of a bid deal on VV )

I have started Christmas shopping - a little. For me, this is very unusual. I usually forbid anything Christmas related to fall outside of the month of December. My granddaughters have made me somewhat more flexible in my old age.

I need to figure out how to get more posts per page. I think I only have ten so you’re on page three, I think (post 21) in my world, lol.
I’ve done minimal gift buying so far. I’ve been watching money fly out of the window with all of the house stuff so it’s hard to get in the mood for spending for Christmas. Not sure why because it’s not going to matter in the end. But if I get to sign a contract next week *fingers crossed* I won’t have to do anything else to the house.

 

[shyvas]

Yeah, the local honey guy at the farmer's market lost two hives last winter.
But we don't really know what causes CCD. The honey guy thinks it is pesticides. I read somewhere it might be a mite or a parasite or a virus. or maybe some combination of stress and all the above.

Poor bees.

 

[hungryraccoon]

Sometimes you feel like a nut...sometimes you don’t! Lol

That may go over the younger members’ heads. (It’s an Almond Joy/Mounds candy commercial.) I’m definitely a nut.

You'd be a walnut KLS. Nice all year round but your time to shine is Christmas

 

[shyvas]

You'd be a walnut KLS. Nice all year round but your time to shine is Christmas

How sweet.

 

[KLS52]

You'd be a walnut KLS. Nice all year round but your time to shine is Christmas

Haha I love that!

 

[PTree15]

I will be going out to vote in our town's election today for the town council, board of education and constables. We have a ballot question as well, to vote on $16.5 in bonding for road repairs and the like.

 

[Poppy]

Amazon just sent me a giant toy catalog.

I've done so well in stopping catalogs in the mail. Now I get one from Amazon.

 

[SapphireLightning]

Re avocados and almonds...I think there’s something about figs, too...too tired to look it up right now.

Commercially harvested figs are all hand pollinated. Natural ones are pollinated by a wasp that dies inside of their own accord.

 

[shyvas]

Commercially harvested figs are all hand pollinated. Natural ones are pollinated by a wasp that dies inside of their own accord.

I read an article some time ago about fig wasps which are different to the more common yellow wasp.

BBC One - Planet Earth II

How animals meet the challenges of surviving in the most iconic habitats on earth.

www.bbc.com

 

[KLS52]

I found this fascinating.

“This leads to a surprising conclusion. Even those wasps that mistakenly enter the female figs will see their genes passed on to the next generation, because their sisters and cousins will breed successfully. This means there is not much evolutionary pressure on the wasps to fight back, or to abandon their dioecious hosts.”

 

[KLS52]

I was about to give up eating figs and anything fig related altogether but this started making me feel better. Until I kept reading further lol. It still kind of freaks me out.

https://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/fig-wasp2.htm

 

[KLS52]

I feel so good this morning. I slept until 4:22 instead of getting up at 2:45 the last few days. In order to break the cycle, I had to allow myself to fall asleep at 6 pm and force myself to get up at 7:30 pm. I was then able to stay awake until 11, hence sleeping until 4:22. It’s not ideal. I had a hard time waking at 7:30 because I wanted to sleep through. But it seems to have worked. I feel so refreshed. The body aches from the fibro are lessened. Can’t wait for the sun to come up so I can go for a morning walk.

 

[shyvas]

I feel so good this morning. I slept until 4:22 instead of getting up at 2:45 the last few days. In order to break the cycle, I had to allow myself to fall asleep at 6 pm and force myself to get up at 7:30 pm. I was then able to stay awake until 11, hence sleeping until 4:22. It’s not ideal. I had a hard time waking at 7:30 because I wanted to sleep through. But it seems to have worked. I feel so refreshed. The body aches from the fibro are lessened. Can’t wait for the sun to come up so I can go for a morning walk.

I beat you this morning. So pleased that you are feeling better.