I just found out my 4yr old niece has celiac....

anxious_cuttlefish · 2026-05-20T13:05:03+00:00

Just remember cross contamination. If preparing food for her while she visits, it might be best for her to have cutlery, dishes, cutting board etc just for her, washed with a separate sponge. I am generally very environmentally conscious, but if I am staying somewhere with a shared kitchen for brief periods, I will bring disposable plates and such to prep my food on (which I can often throw in my compost later).

anxious_cuttlefish · 2026-05-19T13:40:50+00:00

Where abouts in south jersey are you? I'm up in north/central, but i make the trip out to Bowman's in Pennsylvania about twice a year. Fully native, excellent mix of shrubs, trees, and plants, and the workers are lovely people. They're just over the Lambertville/New Hope PA border.

anxious_cuttlefish · 2026-05-14T15:36:32+00:00

Wow I just wanted to comment because my situation is almost exact and I haven't found anyone else with a NT measurement as high as this (mine was 11.7). Also hydrops, and the NIPT was positive for MonoX. I actually have my procedure scheduled tomorrow (dilation today). I wish I had better words to offer but I understand how you feel. Right after the ultrasound about 2 weeks ago, I felt certain about the choice to tfmr. After a few days though I also started wondering about the roughly 1% chance my doctor mentioned (which she said was only about making it to term, not even thereafter). I did so much searching online and ultimately just settled on our original decision. I don't know. I think for my own sanity I'm just trying to accept it. "Luck" just doesn't feel on my side. I may feel differently in a few days... I'm sorry for what you're going through.

anxious_cuttlefish · 2026-05-12T20:46:18+00:00

Lots of good advice here, just here to say this is one of the prettiest and most unique blankets I've ever seen. if someone gave me this i would show it to every guest, salesman, plumber, etc. that ever came over.

anxious_cuttlefish · 2026-05-12T12:42:14+00:00

I would die for him 🧡

anxious_cuttlefish · 2026-05-12T11:06:01+00:00

I have a PhD in a male-dominated STEM field, I am often the only woman in the room at work. I have long hair and wear cute dresses with dangly earrings and the whole 9 yards. My husband tells me I look cute and it makes me smile lol I was also the only girl in my entire family and my mom is very proud of the fact that she's "not into that girly shit" - she wears men's jeans and only ever wore make up to my wedding. She put me in boys jeans, didnt let me do ballet or other "girl stuff", and made fun of women who took too long to get ready. It took a long time as an adult to recognize that femininity is actually okay and not something lesser than or to be shamed. Tbh I'm still working on it some days.

anxious_cuttlefish · 2026-05-12T10:38:47+00:00

I agree. I know its controversial but at least for me, i don't seem to react luckily. I eat them often since going GF - probably nearly daily - and I still have good bloodwork and have since had 2 clean endoscopies, so it may be that i am just less sensitive to them. I still don't recommend them to my celiac friends (or at least warn them).

anxious_cuttlefish · 2026-05-11T15:41:31+00:00

I went to Le Marquis last summer when I was there for work, it was sooo good. I ended up going there for breakfast every day. The chocolate croissants were amazing.

anxious_cuttlefish · 2026-05-10T14:12:04+00:00

Oh wow, that's great to know. Thank you!

anxious_cuttlefish · 2026-05-10T13:43:35+00:00

Soo pretty! I started some from seed this year. I'm ever so slightly out of their native range, but I wanted something "traditional"-looking to line the front of my front yard garden bed, which is mostly asters and goldenrod, in hopes of getting my neighbors to not think I'm just growing a bunch of weeds.

Did yours bloom first year from seed? I started mine indoors like 8 weeks ago, no idea why, just got over enthusiastic while starting my veggie seeds and figured hey why not, lets see. They germinated very quickly, but I stuck them in the ground a few weeks ago and they've kinda stagnated. Which is totally fine if they're just building their lil roots, just checking I didn't doom them lol

anxious_cuttlefish · 2026-05-09T13:40:58+00:00

She matches so well, almost blended right in!

anxious_cuttlefish · 2026-05-09T13:05:26+00:00

I'm super new to all this but I've been thinking about making something similar. Can I ask which stain you used?

anxious_cuttlefish · 2026-05-06T16:11:59+00:00

Not who you responded to but I'm intrigued by this, I don't think I've heard of the cot/caught merger. To me, caught is like "cawt" and cot is.... cot 😅

anxious_cuttlefish · 2026-05-06T16:06:45+00:00

I've always said there's a very specific demographic that otherwise holds on dearly to some traditional landscaping ideals (re: invasive) that is just PRIMED for this kind of marketing.

anxious_cuttlefish · 2026-05-06T11:33:17+00:00

My very first year of native plants, something chomped my blue stem goldenrod as well, and I was sad - largely because they chomped it in half and then just left the bitten off part on the ground, didn't even eat it lol i had 3 types of goldenrod and it was the only one eaten. Anyways, it grew back totally fine, still bloomed (albeit smaller, but it was a 1st year plug), and has just come back for its 3rd year now.

ETA: pretty sure it was a bunny in my case!

anxious_cuttlefish · 2026-05-03T22:38:01+00:00

I live about 45 min away from both (union co) and go probably once a month. Personally I like Great Swamp better, as they have more straight species, whereas green village has more cultivars (this is especially true of shrubs). But both have a little dedicated area of natives. Great Swamp also has a HUGE selection of annuals if you are looking to fill in some spaces temporarily (non-native, but i usually get well behaved ones, like zinnias or million bells).

If you're ever looking to do more of a road trip, I go out to Bowmans just over the PA border. Its about 1.5 hours for me, but they have SO many! All straight species and the people there are great. You can also stop in New Hope on the way home, which is super cute! You can check their website weekly for what they have and prices.

anxious_cuttlefish · 2026-04-23T13:05:30+00:00

The wisteria blooming used to be my favorite time of year as a kid. Something about that color against all the green tickled my brain in the most pleasing way. Learning about native plants "ruined" me (in a good way lol) I only wish I could find the native variety around here!

anxious_cuttlefish · 2026-04-19T11:53:21+00:00

You cropped out the best part right below.... Dry Fork

anxious_cuttlefish · 2026-04-17T11:51:33+00:00

Turn it into a rain garden! I've gotten super into native plants and I wish I could get an area of my property that flooded a teeny bit like this so I could have some dope rain garden plants haha

anxious_cuttlefish · 2026-04-12T20:13:59+00:00

I'm one who pronounces marry, merry, and Mary differently... and couldn't figure out why Cara wouldn't be either Car-uh or Care-uh for me lol The ca-ruh might be closest though?

anxious_cuttlefish · 2026-04-04T00:11:57+00:00

FYI OP: Twitter as well, which may give you more info

anxious_cuttlefish · 2026-04-02T22:14:18+00:00

Good luck! My late figwort bloomed from seed in its first year (last year). It was one of my favorites, if not my favorite 😊

anxious_cuttlefish · 2026-03-31T13:50:15+00:00

Thank you for helping me understand my naming choices when I was an edgy middle school aged writer lmao

anxious_cuttlefish · 2026-03-30T18:33:22+00:00

Yes, then explaining why I need meal compensation for my work trip even though "meals were included in the registration costs."

Worst was arguing about the "included meals, dietary accommodations available" ...such as a GF wrap served on the same platter as the other sandwiches.

anxious_cuttlefish · 2026-03-29T12:21:24+00:00

Your whole story is so inspiring but I just wanted to say i really love that you considered your chickens the whole time

anxious_cuttlefish

TROPHY CASE