Pot Luck

The unknown berry (4.00 / 5)

I asked wide eyed lib to help identify a berry, and then provided misinformation that was crucially wrong. Good Golly Miss Molly.

The plant actually is a bramble. Thorns are broad at the base, curved, and point "backward" - away from the fruit, toward the base of the plant.

I picked two ripe berries today. The ripe fruit is black, not bright red! In this patch, these ripe berries begin to appear just a few days after ripe red raspberriesbegin to appear.

"Armed with this knowledge"*, I felt comfortable tasting the berries. They are delicious. Flavorful and sweet, not tart.

This plant must be one of the dewberry species. The pictured berries are in Houston. Notice that each berry is on its own stem (which has small thorns). Some species are tart, the berries I ate today aren't tart.

So - this one thicket provides black raspberries, red raspberries, and dewberries. Am I lucky, or what?

*Quote from Moose Turd Pie, a Utah Phillips recitative.

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by: count @ Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 02:49:38 AM UTC

I'm glad you figured it out (4.00 / 4)

though I still generally wouldn't recommend trying an unknown berry. The berries in that picture, however, are so obviously related to blackberries that I can't blame you. :)

I wish I knew half what the flock of them know
Of where all the berries and other things grow,
Cranberries in bogs and raspberries on top
Of the boulder-strewn mountain, and when they will crop.
--"Blueberries" by Robert Frost

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by: wide eyed lib @ Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 16:06:29 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

you wrote you went to the "Moreland" market (4.00 / 4)

and I read into that "Morrel" as in mushroom. For a moment there I was VERY VERY JEALOUS!

I'm coming off a 4-day long headache. I've tried drugs, sleep, and exercise. None worked. So today I went for the next tactic: Massage. Very pleasant, but too expensive to use except as needed. And today it was needed and it was WONDERFUL!!!! I hurt so bad I couldn't even sleep well last night. Let's hope tonight's better and tomorrow the headache's gone! Tomorrow I'm going to a blogger Q&A with Howard Dean about health care and I am VERY VERY excited!!!

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 03:02:55 AM UTC

I don't know how you can write as much as you do (4.00 / 3)

when something like that grips you.

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by: count @ Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 03:08:33 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

"It's all in the reflexes"... (4.00 / 3)

...as Jack Burton would say.

Jack Burton: Just remember what ol' Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, and the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven shake. Yeah, Jack Burton just looks that big ol' storm right square in the eye and he says, "Give me your best shot, pal. I can take it."

Jack Burton: You know what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like this?
Thunder: Who?
Jack Burton: Jack Burton. Me!

Jack Burton: When some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head up against the barroom wall, and he looks you crooked in the eye and he asks you if ya paid your dues, you just stare that big sucker right back in the eye, and you remember what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like that: "Have ya paid your dues, Jack?" "Yessir, the check is in the mail."

One of the greatest cheesy movies of all time, from The Decade of Fantastically Cheesy Movies...

:)

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 21:51:15 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Should I be glad I missed it? nt (4.00 / 2)

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by: count @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 00:46:31 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Have you tried tea tree oil? (4.00 / 4)

Neck, shoulders and down the back? I've never looked into it for headaches, but I've had great success with other uses for it. I also recommended it to a friend that fell down her steep cement steps last year and wasn't able to use her knees from pain. She is now using it for many other things and we talked for quite a bit about how it's helping her last night. She even got a better report from her doctor on an issue (she's obese and has many of the problems including lack of feeling in the feet etc). She says her arthritis is getting better. I'm using it for my "computer" issues. Anyways, just thinking if a massage helps, it may also :) Another would be an arnica cream and/or tiger balm cream/patch. Oh, and do you know relaxation techniques/self hypnosis?

So sorry to hear your having a problem :( Here's hoping you feel great tomorrow! Can't wait to hear your report!

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by: nycstray @ Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 03:13:55 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Can you say more? (4.00 / 3)

My ex-wife has been complaining about numbness in her toes, and she's obese. I think she went to her doctor about this recently, but I forgot to ask if she learned anything useful.

Are obesity and numb extremeties known to be related? She says she doesn't have diabetes, basing that on blood glucose measurements.

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by: count @ Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 03:23:40 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Correction (4.00 / 3)

I'm pretty sure she's been complaining about numb fingers, not numb toes.

Gad, I've been making dumb mistakes lately.

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by: count @ Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 03:43:57 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

obesity and numbness (4.00 / 4)

By the looks of this cursory search
Obesity and Numbness - Google Front Page
the cause could be anything. Either way, it's quite likely due to poor circulation, and the obesity is a contributing factor.

Dad was obese, Type II, and died of circulatory problems.

Yankee Frugality: use it up, wear it out, make it last, or do without.

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by: Anonymous Bosch @ Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 16:15:44 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Ooops! Sorry, got thrown off last night after I had (4.00 / 2)

typed up a response! Luckily I had saved it when the  site gave me an error message. This was in response to toes not fingers . . .
****************

* disclaimer: I am not a medical professional, certified anything, nor  do I play one on teebee or the blogs!

Ok, my friend was losing the feeling in her feet, lower legs. Not sure if it's just the obesity and/or diabetes, but she has lost some/enough that it's a problem. She noticed she was getting a sore/sores on her feet and couldn't get into her foot Dr right away. Infection is a big issue in these situations, which she is very aware of, and thought they/it looked suspect. She remembered the tea tree oil and what I said/used it for etc, and applied it. It has antibiotic (I think that's the right one for infection, tired here) properties. Her sores cleared up and when she was finally able to get into the Dr, they also checked to make sure her circulation/feeling wasn't deteriorating too much. It had actually gotten better, even though they said what's lost is lost (I even remember this from a couple years ago!), so she was very surprised. I think she continued to apply it after the initial treatment. I'll have to go over it with her again to get it straight as she was also blending it in with the fact she's been blending it with almond oil (for a carrier oil) and using it on her arthritis also.

I use it before bed when my fingers are feeling funky (numb) from the computer. I rub it into my wrists and hands. I'm having my mom check into it for my dad's back issues (he's elder and had Parkinson's, etc) as the last meds they gave him to help also had codeine, and those types of things wreck hell for him mentally. Do a bit of checking around on the internet about it. I've used it for multiple purposes beyond why I originally tried it. I got a booklet on it and grapefruit seed oil (another goodie!) and was surprised on it's uses. Mine are pretty much always the same, so I tend to forget all it's uses and what the actual "reasons" why it's effective are.

Between that and the arnica creams (which my chiropractor turned me onto years ago), my neck, back and hand issues are usually easily dealt with. I'd def check it out online and see if you think it can help. Losing feeling in my fingers is just too damn scary for me, and it def helps. Just check to make sure it doesn't interfere with other things she may be taking/doing. Also, if you have cats and they like to bathe feet on occasion, have her wear socks if she uses it. Essential oils and cats don't generally mix :)

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by: nycstray @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 04:17:12 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Hee hee... (4.00 / 2)

Nah, that one's on Thursdays.

;-P

Hope it helped, and have fun with The Good Doctor!

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 21:53:26 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Aha! Back to life. (4.00 / 4)

I ran afoul of some Iranian inet filtering software, but things are all better now.

Maybe.

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by: count @ Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 15:32:54 PM UTC

Love is in the air (4.00 / 3)

Yankee Frugality: use it up, wear it out, make it last, or do without.

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by: Anonymous Bosch @ Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 17:36:12 PM UTC

I'm sure Charles Darwin must have said (4.00 / 3)

something about this in one of his books.

I don't know what, though.

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by: count @ Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 18:05:09 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

More dalliances are emerging (4.00 / 1)

I wonder if they ever went hiking together...

South Carolina has a certain je ne sais quoi when it comes to personalities.

Darwin wept.

Yankee Frugality: use it up, wear it out, make it last, or do without.

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by: Anonymous Bosch @ Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 20:56:56 PM UTC

[ Parent ]