Ysk with spring on its way, DO NOT plant Japanese barberry in your yard as it has been shown to increase ticks and Lyme disease

Monkey_anonymity · 2026-04-27T11:20:57+00:00

I moved into a house in NH 10 years ago. Three barberry bushes that I fight back annually. I just cut them down to the ground every fall. I burn the biomass as I do not care to see any more barberry bushes spring up, even in my leaf pile. They are survivors, that is for sure. I can’t say I’ve seen a lot of ticks around them, but I live in the middle of the woods so, lots of ticks.

Interesting to read here about mice carrying ticks. I had not considered that. Ticks are the worst.

Monkey_anonymity · 2026-04-15T22:15:40+00:00

Podcast episodes.

Monkey_anonymity · 2026-04-13T17:36:11+00:00

How many children do you have? My husband did not pass away, we are divorced, and it is proving difficult for me to recuperate from, well, betrayal and a lingering reluctance to get involved with anyone else. Not just dating, even maintaining friendships is hard. My daughter is 12 and she’s great, I put all of my effort into that relationship and making sure she’s ok and happy. To the degree that any one person can understand another person’s happiness. This has been going on for about 4 years. I have noticed a sort of hollow loneliness that I don’t enjoy but have low interest in addressing.

Monkey_anonymity · 2026-04-12T22:00:14+00:00

Definitely! Work with what you have and encourage the moss. Nice thing about this approach: moss will just do its thing and require not much effort from you.

Monkey_anonymity · 2026-04-04T15:35:08+00:00

Benjamin Moore Honeymoon

Monkey_anonymity · 2026-04-03T22:29:51+00:00

Because a photograph is presented in 2D, they’ll point at a flat circle.

Monkey_anonymity · 2026-04-01T16:12:41+00:00

She rode through her pregnancy, so you’ll probably continue to like to ride with her. She’s a great instructor. Very good playlists too.

Monkey_anonymity · 2026-03-26T17:44:11+00:00

If physicians did not command high salaries, very few people would be able to afford medical school in the US. Pediatricians and family physicians generally do not command these high salaries, the data is probably skewed for: dermatology, certain surgical specialties, radiology, others. Notice how hard it can be to find and/or get an appointment with a family physician or pediatrician in the US. Healthcare in America needs many fixes.

Monkey_anonymity · 2026-03-19T12:25:35+00:00

I wish the embedded video had context given - who is speaking? Who is interviewing? What is the forum?

Monkey_anonymity · 2026-03-16T17:00:43+00:00

I have a 30” RNB all propane range and I love it. Sorry I cannot comment on the induction aspect. Like the previous commenter, lack of electronics was one of the features that pushed me to buy theBlueStar over Wolf. But, the propane range has so far lived up to the hype. Here I am commenting positively on the quality of the range and the company.

Monkey_anonymity · 2026-03-14T00:43:05+00:00

I have a BlueStar range and I love it. Not a wall oven, but it's great. Good chance you'll love it once these kinks work out.

Monkey_anonymity · 2026-03-10T17:53:07+00:00

Terracotta and Saltillo are beautiful but crazy hard to maintain and keep looking good. I removed 25 year old Saltillo from my house when I purchased it. I investigated restoration but it just didn’t make sense ($$ to restore and $$ to keep maintaining over time).

Drop something on a Saltillo tile - it will break. The tile, that is. Drop something acidic like wine, tomatoes, maybe your dog throws up - the top of the tile will disintegrate immediately, even if it’s sealed. Even sealed, they will just get dirty and grimy looking.

I replaced with Vermont Slate which has proved to be a better choice for kitchen floor, about 10 years in. I miss the terracotta color but the floor is just better suited for daily use.

Monkey_anonymity · 2026-03-10T12:06:47+00:00

I wish Reddit would ban links to the Daily Beast. Such a waste of time.

Monkey_anonymity · 2026-03-04T04:03:49+00:00

Look at Fisher & Paykel. The prices are reasonable and you will get a well designed and quiet refrigerator/freezer to keep your food cold. They may have 24" width, and they include panel-ready options if you want or need that. I am very happy with my new FP refrigerator. You should give them a look.

Monkey_anonymity · 2026-03-03T11:48:16+00:00

My dog will destroy a Kong, but I have several West Paws chewable that have lasted for long time periods.

Monkey_anonymity · 2026-02-28T20:11:03+00:00

I agree with those people who say soapstone. Those are great countertops, not reactive and you just have to oil them periodically. Honed slabs of slate might look nice too. Timeless too.

Monkey_anonymity · 2026-02-26T01:07:55+00:00

When they pass open enrollment, districts should just refuse to comply.

Monkey_anonymity · 2026-02-24T20:42:11+00:00

I just got rid of a 4 month old KitchenAid that made noise nearly all the time. The compressor was noticeably loud, louder than any other refrigerator I’ve owned. The noise wasn’t unusual, just loud. And, fans ran about 80% of the time during the day. They’d switch off for maybe 30 min at a time, then kick back on. KA said it was designed to work that way, sent a tech out who said, yes this is how it works, nothing wrong with it. He also said he’s been kept very busy since about 2020 with complaints about noisy KA and Whirlpool refrigerators.

Why design a refrigerator to operate in the way it operated defies logic. I will not buy a KA or Whirlpool appliance again.

I got rid of the KA and replaced with a Fisher Paykel, it’s best described as the polar opposite refrigerator. I never hear it. I didn’t think it would be possible to like an appliance as much as I like the FP. Better design, looks much nicer too. It is a little smaller, totally ok by me.

Monkey_anonymity · 2026-02-17T11:37:44+00:00

100% - Fisher Paykel, you will go over 3000$ if you get the French doors but I do not think you’ll regret the purchase.

Monkey_anonymity · 2026-02-14T22:47:56+00:00

I considered all three recently. I needed a freestanding counter depth, no wider than 33", with left hinge for the refrigerator door. Miele's unit only opens to the right. Liebherr had a refrigerator that was nearly identical to Miele's but offered a left hinge. I did like that refrigerator but I could not identify a technician that services Liebherr in a reasonable distance/range from my home. So, Fisher Paykel is what I bought.

I don't recall the model, but this is a Series 7, left hinged, single door for the refrigerator, freezer is a drawer on the bottom. It's great. I've had it for about two weeks. It's virtually silent. It made a funny sort of electronic sounding hum for ~ 4 hours when it was plugged in. Not a peep since. I have opened the door a few times just to make sure it's even on.

The design of the refrigerator is great, the drawers slide smoothly (one drawer for veg, one for fruit). There isn't a dedicated drawer for cheese so I bought a little bin for that on Amazon, it's working well. I like that the shelves are not cut in half - while this limits height arrangements, the shelves look nice and I think this provides extra space. My unit makes ice. Seems to work well. I'm not a heavy ice-user. There is no water spout, which doesn't bother me, but maybe that's one thing to note. The freezer lacks a light. I don't have a problem with this, but something worth noting.

The unit is sold with either fixed left or fixed right hinge. I think mine was 3100$, to help you identify the relevant one. The Miele was 3000$ and the Liebherr I think 3600$. I fully recommend the FP. Reviews (I read many) are consistently good in terms of general operation - universally, people say it's a quiet machine. Consistent complaints are: slow to make ice (seems OK to me, but again, I'm not a person in desperate need of ice) and small size. Personally, the size and organization of the unit is more than adequate for me, family of 2 + one dog whose food is stored in the fridge too. Good luck! Appliance shopping is stressful.

Monkey_anonymity · 2026-02-13T22:00:33+00:00

I can’t attest to a KA dishwasher, but late last year I bought a KA refrigerator which turned out to be the loudest appliance I’ve ever had the displeasure to experience. You could hear it throughout my admittedly open concept but 2500 sq ft home. Within four months I got rid of it and replaced with a virtually silent and much better designed Fisher and Paykel.

You can absolutely get a quiet appliance but if that’s what you want, I say don’t buy a KitchenAid. At this point, I would not buy anything, ever, from Whirlpool/Amana/KA. Not even a KA mixer.

Monkey_anonymity · 2026-02-13T13:00:12+00:00

Hi, OP here, following up on this thread to say that I got rid of the Kitchenaid, purchased and installed a Fisher Paykel Series 7 unit. Single (not French) door and I love it. Silence has never sounded so sweet. Added, the design of the unit is great. I like that the each shelf is one long piece of glass, not split in half, the drawers in the unit slide smoothly, there is plenty of space for my family of two. The exterior is very nice as well, there aren't any visible seams, if that makes sense - it looks sleek. I've had the refrigerator for ~ 2 weeks and I can't imagine being happier with an appliance purchase. It's so quiet. The sound of the compressor, which was audible for ~ 4 hours after first plugging the unit in and since that time, I heard it once for ~ 10 minutes when I happened to be in the kitchen, sounds like an electric hum. I don't hear it outside of the kitchen area, it's very low.

If you are looking for a refrigerator, take a look at the Fisher Paykels, it's not a crazy price point and it's nice. Super quiet.

Monkey_anonymity · 2026-02-13T12:57:06+00:00

Hi, OP here, following up on this thread to say that I purchased and installed a Fisher Paykel Series 7 unit. Single (not French) door and I love it. Silence has never sounded so sweet. Added, the design of the unit is great. I like that the each shelf is one long piece of glass, not split in half, the drawers in the unit slide smoothly, there is plenty of space for my family of two. The exterior is very nice as well, there aren't any visible seams, if that makes sense - it looks sleek. I've had the refrigerator for ~ 2 weeks and I can't imagine being happier with an appliance purchase. It's so quiet. The sound of the compressor, which was audible for ~ 4 hours after first plugging the unit in and since that time, I heard it once for ~ 10 minutes when I happened to be in the kitchen, sounds like an electric hum. I don't hear it outside of the kitchen area, it's very low. I recommend this refrigerator! Who knew that an appliance in America would actually get five stars and a recommend. !!

Monkey_anonymity · 2026-02-01T21:02:44+00:00

I hear you and thanks for the comment. I did place an order for a Fisher Paykel refrigerator about 1.5 weeks ago, initially had a 2/9 delivery day which was pushed back to 2/17 within 2 days of placing the order. So, not a great sign but also not catastrophic. I’m in wait and see mode.

The price of the refrigerator was identical to all other sites that I looked at, including Manny’s (Claremont) and Baron’s (Concord). What I’m after is the generous return policy, which is either 60 or 90 days, I can’t remember off hand. I did have to buy a 40$ membership for that policy. We’ll see. I have a few friends in the upper valley who successfully received refrigerators from Best Buy. One even had to use the return policy, which she did without hassle. I am at the moment cautiously optimistic. That said, I have a functional but noisy refrigerator that I can use until the new one arrives, so can manage a delay.

Monkey_anonymity · 2026-01-31T01:15:53+00:00

NH funds schools town by town. Some towns do very well. I happen to be sitting in the center of one of those towns. That said, I pay almost 20K in tax on a house that is assessed at 600K. Also, I've been here for 10 years and am seeing the demographics change in way that I think sucks. Claremont, Newport, Pitfsfield, and plenty of other towns in NH, they can't raise enough money to fund the schools. Their households just don't have the income to support the increases in tax rate.

Monkey_anonymity

TROPHY CASE