Twinky

Well this is not exactly how MY garden grows, but last night I went out and picked heaps of yellow plums. They are on a load of trees in a playing field. Very tiny, about the size of cherries. And very sweet and delicious. Jam-making, tomorrow. There are also little red plums too, but they are not quite ripe yet. Another raid next weekend, perhaps. Mmmm-mmmm.

Bumping this thread, because it looked like good fun. Perhaps new Cafe arrivals from earlier Corps could add fun recollections. Like Scout on post 128, under the LCM reign, good times were few and far between. You earlier Corps seem to have had so much fun. You were better "educated" too, at least some semblance of it: before all the people with knowledge had been run off.

Welcome, Alex, good to have you here. You are another European believer? Jeepers, marry this person or be put on probation? :blink: :wacko: Haven't heard that one before, at least not so blatantly. I do remember LCM yelling one lunchtime and saying "I'm not gonna tell you who to marry!" but then again, at the same time they did engineer situations where one person was eased out of the marriage so that the other spouse would be able (they hoped) to marry someone they thought s/he would be better married to. You know, husband stands up to leadership (especially protecting wife), he gets eased / kicked out, they want to marry her to someone less protective so that she will be prey to those with less Godly intent. I don't know about the salt covenant being unbiblical; most weddings were and are celebrated with a feast (both families eating together) and the food would be salted. Would indicate peace between the families. I can see it would be a burden though in the TWI situation, where if you broke your salt covenant you were spitting in God's face. What a laugh, who caused most of the marriages to break down? I am going now before I get too worked up. Very interesting subject and it would be good to hear from spouses who stayed and (presumably) have since left. Spouseless.

Potatoes and tomatoes are much the same family and do suffer from similar diseases. Yes, what gets the 'maters will also get the spuds. I have an abundance of courgettes (zucchini), some of which are fast turning into marrows. I did try a sort of fried/sauteed mishmash last night (was it kimberly who recommended it, in In the Kitchen?), didn't look pretty but was tasty. My fridge-freezer is on overdrive and has frozen everything in the fridge, so I was using up some frozen capsicums, tomatoes (bought) and other stuff. The courgettes had also been in the fridge and were frozen solid. Something else to fix! No shortage of things to do when you have a few possessions! Travelling light somehow seems rather attractive at times. Did I tell you I have finally found a purpose in life for cabbage white butterflies? They are wonderful cat sport. My pair of scaredy-pants cats love chasing butterflies of all sorts (maybe I posted something on Cat Whispering??). They spend much time perfecting their hunting skills and leaping in the air and then rush in the house to play with and eat their prey. I have no objection at all to the Large Whites (cabbage whites), but prefer them not to nosh on the Peacocks or Tortoiseshells or the Green-Veined Whites (which are not cabbage whites). This year in fact I don't have much of a problem with the cabbage white butterflies. That's because the woodpigeons have got to the brassicas first, not-lol. Hey, my experimental sweetcorn is going really well, has flowers (flower like spikes, anyway) and there are lots of tiny stamen-like things hanging from them. They all look the same, so am assuming that's right. You experts out there, anything I need to do? They are all planted quite close together for cross-fertilisation purposes.

Too much like an admission of how bad the loss has been, JT. Anyway, it's not so much who's left - but who's still around. That probably shouldn't take too long to type up.

Actually I think I grew old out of The Way. After they'd M&A'd me and abandoned me. First they asked me to take a break for a few months. Nobody was allowed to talk to me. Then I was invited back to fellowship. There I was publicly humiliated and given such a load of abuse that I couldn't think straight for years. Then they all left the city where we'd been WoWs. Left me in this strange city, with a crushing load of guilt and condemnation. No-one to talk to, at all. I hardly remember any of that time. Many years later I discovered the Cafe. The guilt and self-condemnation fell like scales from my eyes. The weight on my shoulders evaporated. My sound mind began to return. I looked in the mirror and saw the lines and haggard look that I had acquired in the past decade. And as my sound mind returned, I saw some of those lines soften, and the haggard look disappear. Yes, people grow old in the Way. They grow older out of the Way. And they grow younger in the Cafe.

Unbelievable response, Oakspear...but actually all too believable. Glad you got out. Rejoice in your freedom. :) So sorry about your wife. Her choice, but they will have to answer for their part in the breakdown. But elsewhere you've said she's also out now, isn't she?

I have a Hotmail account, have done for years. Now "they" have added Messenger and a few of my contacts are in Messenger and most are not. I am not remotely interested in this facility and in fact am annoyed by the silly messages that some contact people post. The FAQ tell you all about how to ADD someone (an existing contact or otherwise) to Messenger, but not how to stop / delete them once added. I'd still like to retain these people as contacts. Any suggestions?

I think you mean "severe" side effects, but maybe it was a freudian slip. Anyway many of us here in fact suffered "sever side effects." Depending on how our severance from TWI was effected.

Tzaia, sounds like you are feeling the difference between Christianity the religion and Christianity the lifestyle. Your former friend's lifestyle and behavior both past and present doesn't match the book.

Geisha, I do love your funny cat stories!! ...So I am a den leader. They definitely do "respect" me as the boss. They come and miawl at me when they think it's feeding time, whenever they have a need - usually food or please clean the litter tray - Tuxy mews at me after she has used the litter tray (she never covers her leavings, ugh, very stinky). I do not yet have a cat door and don't fancy dealing with dead uninvited guests when the girlies get better at predation. When I was a teenager, one night about 11pm there was a noise in the bedroom window, the top light of which was just ajar. On investigation, Ginger our cat was found blinking at one side of the window sill, and one of next door's pigeons was the other side of the window sill. The cat had captured the pigeon, jumped several fences (or hedges), climbed onto a flat roof, jumped a gap of about 3 feet onto a narrow ledge, and then scrambled up about 3 feet of window to climb through the open light. Cat and pigeon both survived. Next door neighbor was in hot pursuit (knocking on the front door) and was seriously angry. Crypto (the little one) has made a few runs at woodpigeons, so far unsuccessfully. They fly off, laughing at her. Tuxy sees that they are quite large and wisely decides to lie in the sun instead.

PFAL is in mothballs because it is so holy. Ah, no - that would be "holey."

I don't know about holding someone against their will, but I do know that my Corps sis was not allowed to go to a family wedding (her sister, I think) because it would interfere with her Corps training. I think it was a few States away but the airfare was proferred so that she could attend. The person in rez was told that they could catch up with the bride and groom when they'd completed their in rez training. However, on another occasion, someone else in rez was allowed to attend the funeral of a family member (grandfather?). They were given maybe 3 days to get there and back. I don't know if they asked for time to visit prior to the deceased's death and to say last goodbyes. The family was dysfunctional and the deceased was unlikely to have been a believer of any stripe. WG, I can't believe that! :wacko: What happened to sharing of one's abundance? I guess your WoW coord forgot about how manna was shared out - a nice OT story "for our learning" - or not !!! Bleeargh...

Conflicting Poll title, and Poll question. Assuming George Aar and Way2much both answered this question: "Is TWI still worth talking about?"and said, "No" - why then are you both still here? (LOL, not that you should go away!) and that they didn't answer "Has TWI become old news?" which it probably has. The impression that I get now is that it booooorrrriiiiiing. Perhaps it's moved into "passive evil" and not "corrosive evil" or maybe they're not teaching even that stuff any more.

Well, at last I have found a use for cabbage while butterflies. They are an endless source of joy and delight to two black cats. Not just cabbage whites, either, but the pretty tortoiseshells and other butterflies. And flies. And wasps and bees. They are both avid hunters, but Crypto is terrifying. She just doesn't want to admit defeat and really goes for it. Tuxy enjoys but gets a bit bored and finds it not so exciting as lying around. Crypto grabs her prey and then rushes into the kitchen with wings sticking out of her mouth, to eat her critter or play with it on my kitchen runner (mat). It's good to see them enjoying life and "catty" pursuits but I don't fancy either of them bringing other prey (small rodents or birds) into the house. Like a small mouse that then escapes. Can I deter her from bringing home the bacon (as it were), do you think? How? If she can be deterred - should I deter her?

I found these recipes on the web: Cooking and eating Raw beetroot can be peeled and grated into salads to add a sweet flavour and great colour. You can also juice it with other vegetables such as carrots and celery. To cook beetroot from raw: Don't peel or cut it, or the colour (and nutrients) will leach out. Gently scrub the beets to clean thoroughly, and twist off the green tops. To roast: Small to medium beets can be roasted whole, or cut into quarters. Pre-boil for 15-20 minutes, drain and place in a roasting tin. Lightly coat with oil and seasoning and roast at 180C/360F/Gas 4 for 40-45 minutes (timing will vary depending on the size of the beets). To boil: put beetroot in a pan of water, bring to the boil and heat for 40 - 45 minutes. Beetroot is naturally quite high in sodium so you don?t need to add salt. To bake: preheat oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3. Put the whole beets into a baking dish, cover with foil and cook for 1-2 hours (depending on the size of the beets). Leave till cool enough to handle, and remove the skins - they should slip off easily. I have only ever tried boiling, never heard that you could do any other things. Boiling takes a surprisingly long time, given the small size of the beetroots. If you cut the globe, it will bleed, so just twist off the top (leaves). You can cut the root off later, when it's all cooked. They are best cooked when small - more tender - if left to get too big, they are quite woody, not so nice to eat, and take faaaar too long to cook. My great grandfather used to enjoy beetroot as a cooked vegetable and ate it regularly. However, it is not - at least nowadays - commonly served as a cooked (hot) vege, more as a salad item.

Well, my garden has finally figured out what it is supposed to be doing with these little plants, which are now huge and highly productive. Never mind courgettes, I am getting marrows faster than I can eat them. Anyone know of any decent way to preserve them so that there will be something to eat in a few months' time? I have previously tried dehydrating them...okay if you need some extra shoe leather... :blink: Previous freezer experiments haven't been very nice, either.

Here's two: 1. I needed a new job but wanted to travel the world (not an easy thing with my sort of occupation). Then I decided I needed to develop my relationship with God, and wanted to be with some great believers (Way believers, of course!). Nothing was happening until I put God at the top of the list. I chatted with a non-Way friend about my plans, and do you know, the next week in the national newspaper was a job in another country exactly what I needed, 3 months paid holiday at the end of the job... and there was (I later found) a twig in that city. As soon as I saw the ad (which my non-Way friend sent to me, because as a young believer I was expecting some bolt from the blue or who knows what???), I knew it was the answer to my prayer (the job was hopeless because the business collapsed, but the fellowship was sweet, the country great, and I stayed for many years). 2. One of the young men in my twig was under considerable family pressure and was very unhappy. He just disappeared and could not be found. I got very worried about him. My WOW family and I went out to search for him (where to start??). Yet we found him - in a city of over 1/2 million - within 20 minutes inc travel time. I felt we should go to a suburb where a lot of people of his nationality lived; then to a particular street; then up a hill; then knocked on the first door... and there he was. It was his cousin's house. None of us knew the cousin lived there - or anything about this lad's family. I felt rather like Ananias going to find Paul, in Acts.

Maybe you should post your recipe on Cat Whispering, Dooj. Recipe sounds nice but The Girlies may think otherwise. They have the view that if it is not Go-Cat or liver (Tuxedo) or ham (Crypto) it must be something that will poison them.

So, innies, may we have a sample from the latest Way Mag of an article by the lovely Rosalie herself? Can you scan something and post it? (Or if you don't want to post it yourself, scan it and email to me and I will post it.) mmm... so many Waymag articles weren't really inspirational when I left...they sound even worse now.

Leafy and GC, sorry to hear of the loss of your pets. Always distressing. Creosote is carcinogenic (=gives you cancer) and that's why it's not used any more. Thanks for the tip that lawn needs more nitrogen. Maybe that's it. Though I think the person who sold the house to me had only laid the lawn fairly recently(to make the property look good) - a year or two only before she sold it. Things seem to be flourishing at present. Maybe recent rain has something to do with that.... Took off my first two courgettes (zucchini) yesterday. Some things still haven't got the message though.

Some more firsts, here. I got one of those feeder things that has a clockwork timer on it. Filled the little trays and shut it. Provided an extra big bowl of water. Put down a clean extra litter tray Made no other provision for them (ie, didn't ask neighbor to call in and feed them and empty the litter tray). Stayed away from home overnight. Got home yesterday and the d@mn feeder lids hadn't opened. That means tht the kitties had had no food for - it would be about 36 hours. I thought they would hate me but surprisingly they weren't even very bothered when I put some food down. And because they hadn't eaten much, the litter trays were scarcely used. While I was away I managed to get some peacock feathers (this pub has about 1/2 dozen peacocks just wandering about). One of the feathers is about 5 feet long and has a sort of pointy reverse arrowhead at the end. The spine of this enormous feather is both very strong and very whippy. So I can dangle the "arrowhead" in the air, and waft it around, and wiggle it all over the floor behind chairs and things. It is a most excellent toy and they clearly both love it. They played (with me) with it for nearly 2 hours last night, which must be something of a record. When I got up this morning, there were peacock feathers all over the place. They had grabbed them for themselves and played with them. Third "first". Crypto is getting much more touchable and likes to come and rub near me and sometimes invites me to fondle her head or neck or allows me to stroke her. She was friendly this morning so I grabbed her and sat her on my lap for a couple of minutes. She was as usual terrified and couldn't wait to get away...but she wasn't quite as terrified as she has been in the past. This time she only leapt onto the floor. Other times she has run up the wall (!). Taming these two is only marginally more exciting than watching paint dry on a cold day. However, we are getting there. Incy wincy little bit by incy wincy little bit. Leafy, all you need now is some peacock feathers....

Really interesting, Shaz, thanks for posting.

Nah, he hasn't responded. Right now, he has 10 posts, nearly all in the early part of this thread, none responding to any of the four pages of questions here. I think we'd all like to hear what he has to say, if he can say it rationally and calmly. We see it as the thin end of the wedge, but he probably doesn't. I'd like to know what he really has learned (and not about farming, either) - what has he learned about people and handling situations in a genuinely Godly way? The uproar on this thread and the strength of feeling displayed should give him further pause to think and consider what he may (or may not) have learned. If he is wise, he will be asking himself the same questions posed on this thread. But he hasn't responded at all. Given no information, answered no questions. Just provoked people and stirred up anger. So that's why I wonder if he is a serious poster or merely a poser.