Twinky

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.

Ha ha, this thread belongs right next to "Cat Whispering"! Maybe, Ham, I should try feeding Crypto egg yolks. Problem will be keeping Tuxedo away from them. Waysider: ain't that just like cats. They know when to react, and when to carry on snoozing. Brainfixed: you'd enjoy Cat Whispering (Open forum) I haven't yet see Go-Cat in "Bacon and Egg" flavor (or even just Egg) but that might go down a treat. I did suggest to them that they made a flavor Robin and Starling, or Mouse and Shrew, but they didn't seem to think that was a good idea.

This guy seems like a drive-by. Says enough to get 4 pages of comments going, never comes back and answers anything. Must be too busy stringing chairs, or corn stooks, or whatever they have on that farm.

I cook an egg for me every morning. My cats have had eggs (raw, beaten), once - maybe twice. Cooked? You must be joking. So, Ham, does that mean I eat cat food?

I went to meet someone off a plane yesterday. This particular plane journey had come from Singapore, don't know if it started there or came on from somewhere else. There was an astonishing number of Chinese-looking people emerging, all with close-fitting face masks. They clearly don't expect that the air in any airport could be breathable. How sad, I thought, that it was so much some people's expectations that they should live in an environment where they needed to wear those horrible things. I wonder what the life expectancy is in some of those Chinese cities that are the most industrialized? Their lives ... for western consumerism. Not a very fair bargain.

We are supposed to STEWARD this planet. Stewardship means taking care of. Taking care of is not - dropping litter all over the place; ripping out rainforests; pumping oil up without regard to spillage; running fuel-inefficient cars, factories and such like; overproducing crops or other materials; and leaving your mess for others to clean up. Even if one's viewpoint is not "save the earth" - isn't it about respect for the other people on this planet? Who likes their next door neighbor dumping their rubbish in one's own back yard? Why do that to anyone else? Sure one day there will be a new earth. In the meantime, it befits us to take care of what we have. Even animals have the sense not to **** in their own nests.

Mean thing to do with the caterpillars. But if it works... I haven't seen any on the bush, but then, it's not in the most accessible of places. When I find 'em on the brassicas and on other things, I chop them in half with the secateurs. A bonfire is good, then work the ash in. I missed having one last fall. I have got something, a brazier wannabe, to burn wood in, so that I can use the woodash. This has been my most unsuccessful year ever as a gardener. It was a lawn before it was a vege garden; previous house-owner had tried a vege garden and didn't get on well with it and so turfed it when she put the house on the market for sale. She wasn't much of a gardener, though. Probably trying to grow illegal plants, LOL. I wonder if there was something dormant in the soil and it had just enough in it to support one decent year's growth (last year). But then, I worked in a large quantity of mature hoss muck when I built the garden. Lots of clay-ey stuff, and rocks (field brash) not too far down. It takes years of care to get a decent soil. My mum's cottage's soil has been worked for over 300 years and is so beautiful and light, it will grow anything. So different from her other house, only 250 yds away, which had been a field before my dad's 25 years of work on it and then her own and my further 25 years or so. ...My house is probably over 120 years old. Who knows what the garden has been used for?

Paw, sometimes it can get a bit difficult to keep a thread on topic. You've seen the posts where the starter has tried to bring it back, and just one or two have tried to carry on bickering. Ability to lock might also be useful if despite a call back to original topic, a thread veers off on something worthwhile and then a new thread could be started and the old one locked. Especially with the multi-quote thing, if previous posts can be copied onto a new thread. But some threads really do just go on and on and on (yawn) way from the original matter about nothing in particular or denying another poster's PoV/experience. Or they end up as a mud fight. Then the mods shift them to Soap Opera. Just a thought.

Another thing that might be helpful: would it be possible for the person who started a Topic to close/lock it? Maybe it was a question that was asked, to which a sufficient answer was received; or a topic that started well but seems to have degraded into something quite silly or off topic. I know that these can get sent off to Soap Opera, but perhaps they could be stopped before they get so debased?

Too funny, T-Bone!

Well, my gooseberry bush has suffered again. Its leaves were flourishing and then disappeared overnight. Then the leaves appeared again and the bush was flourishing. Now they are all gone again. I think it's gooseberry sawfly. Presumably a flying critter, that leaves a larva which turns into a voracious caterpillar. Any suggestions, gang? Nothing in my garden seemes to be thriving this year. However, I have dosed everything with Epsom salts (which contain magnesium and sulfur) and then a week or 10 days later gave another boost with Miracle-Gro. Some things are now showing movement/growth. At long last!! I was given some sweetcorn plants which I have never tried growing before. I followed advice on this thread. Those plants are growing nicely, best thing in the garden. They are underplanted with low-growing crawly plants like marrows/zucchini/squash/round cucumber. If I were relying on my garden this year, I think starvation would be imminent :( . Hey Kimberley what is this about "hilling up" corn? Do I have to rake up the soil, like with potatoes? Not going to be possible, with the underplantings, which I have seen recommended in a number of places. Presumably the raised soil is to improve the wind resistance of the plants?

I wonder how useful the "Reputation" button will be. Excathedra seems to have "damaged" her reputation quite a lot, which another poster has decided to put right for her. Ultimately, posters will get a feel for how worthwhile/helpful/destructive/distracting other posters are, independent of any "marks" given. Could it be that this Reputation button might be used to abuse? By marking a poster down if you don't like their PoV or what they are saying, and thus damaging their reputation? Might be more subtle way than badmouthing them in their posts. Untraceable, too.

Not only that, we weren't allowed to look at the way Jesus handled situations. We were discouraged from reading about him, his way of dealing with people. The gospels were "not written to us" and therefore didn't need to be studied. All we got was in relation to him as the fulfilment of what was required for the Passover. LCM announced that this was now the age of confrontation. But if we had looked at the way Jesus handled situations, we would have seen that he confronted religious hypocrites only. With ordinary people, he showed kindness, compassion, forgiveness. Nor did he make them feel bad about imagined wrongs, real wrongs, not being perfect. He didn't "confront" them in a face-melting way about what they'd done wrong (would the general populace then have worn it? If he had, would they have seen him as the Son of God - or just some nagging meanhearted interfering busybody?) They told us the God of the OT was only half the picture and He was really a God of love. Then they treated us like their view of the God of the OT - always calling it loving to "confront." It was threats, blackmail, and the constant wearing down of God- and self-confidence. Having said that - there were some great people who, if they did need to confront something, really did care to ensure that there were no hard feelings afterwards and made the person feel loved up.

Yeah, there were a lot of Fathers, too. I used to wonder how many people spoke to their male parent in such a manner.

JT, that seems to assume far too much importance for the guy. Yes, he affected all our lives, but he wasn't the Prez of anything important, that he should have such a dedicated web page. Whoever put such together would be either a dedicated VPW worshiper or a dedicated VPW hater and neither would be reliable. Have you checked out the Wikepedia entry?

Check out this recent thread:

Krys, you just might be right, maybe it was just a filler while folks just thought what to just say next. It's obviously a habit that's just far more widespread than I'd realized. Not so practiced in my church, but that might be just my church. Strange, really, when it's not part of most people's normal speech habits. Can't remember now, but was it modelled on some prayer(s) offered in the PFAL class? I have a dim recollection of VPW "just" praying about something or other though I choose not to reflect too deeply on that nowadays. Dmiller: musta been just a wild teaching! (LOL) Tzaia: You just didn't get it, did you? Waysider: you're saying it just got into God's vocabulary, even?

I was listening to an article on the radio this evening and the interviewee said he "just" did this and it was "just" something else and blah blah "just" ... and it felt odd and grating to me. Then I realized that that's how so many prayers went at twig. "Father, I just want to thank you for just [healing / helping / taking care of ...]" And this "just" expression was part of TWI prayers not "just" in the country I lived in, but in others, too. So I was wondering... do you folks who were round way way back remember prayers, "just" asking God to do "just" this one thing for them? Was this really TWI culture, or was it where I happened to find myself living? Was it all the time, or is it a mode of speech that crept in - if so, when? Innies, do fellowship prayers still follow this format? I've heard it among splinter groups... but only very rarely among other non-TWI folks, who tend more to pray along the lines of "Father, would you please..." or "I pray that you would [do something, heal somebody]". Which also sounds a little odd to my TWI-attuned ear. Comments, anybody?

Tag, your opinion is as valid as that of any other person here. You have the right to speak. Welcome! Some people have greater insight than others of the "bigger picture" or generally have more wisdom. Many people here still profess to be Christians; others say they don't believe in any of it any more. You will have to choose for yourself (yes, for yourself! You get to choose!) who you think are the most reliable posters, and who you think has an ax to grind. You do not have to accept anyone's opinion or advice: but it's a fool who ignores the lot. You will find posters who have thought deeply about issues who can disagree, but who do it politely. Allow your mind to be flexible and to change opinions. I'm glad you found PFAL helpful. You did learn some things - some things that are true and worth holding onto. Many of these things are hard to find in churches. I never learned much of anything in my Anglican church, either. Just as ignorant as you in the RCs. Many people here have similar reports. PFAL seemed like the answer to a prayer for me, too. Perhaps it was. But just because that was the answer - doesn't mean that I should have stuck around as long as I did. Should have observed the red flags in word and action as displayed by the "believers," and not brushed the red flags off as "It's just that person." The difficulty is working out what is true without the TWI private interpretation of what they say is true. That's why it helps to consider the views of mature posters here.

Well, I am trying with two things. First, I watered everything with Epsom Salts. These are supposed to be high in Magnesium and Sulphur, which improves uptake of other nutrients. That was last week. This week I have given everything a dose of Miracle-Gro. It's hardly rained at all, which probably doesn't help things! What's doing really well is the sweetcorn, which I've never tried growing before.

Just a thought. The wording under a Topic heading (the description) is in really tiny type, and it may be helpful if that could be perhaps a size larger?

Thank you, Shell. So many things would have been different, had he lived long. I may not even have got into TWI! Being a good role model for children is so important. I guess this was at the top of my heart, with reading some of the things on the Ephesians 6:1 thread. Am thankful he (and my mum) made a safe place to raise their kids. I'm sorry for the irreplaceable loss of your husband.

Looks like the icon for Go to last unviewed post is working properly now. Thanks. This "fast reply" box is good, too.

I just looked in on this thread. Which I have read in its entirety. Because I don't have any patience with those who say they couldn't be bothered to read the thread, or haven't followed it, and just stick some post in anyway. Session 12 almost terrified people into SIT. Instead of being something soothing, exhilarating, longed for - it became something to be "worked for." I felt pressured and worried. What if I didn't do it? What if I couldn't perform? And that's not how God works. Other first-time class participants have felt similarly. But talk to them soothingly, gently, privately, and don't try to shame or embarrass them, just allow them to relax with God, and out it comes. The "12 benefits of SIT" that Waysider mentions was always a problem for me - for some of the reasons Waysider mentions. How can you make something bigger, better, stronger, than it is, if it's already perfect? And - these 12 benefits seem repetitive, some saying the same things in slightly different words. If VPW had "kept it simple, stupid" and given only one or two supposed benefits instead of trying to show off his academic prowess (gag), then maybe we would have actually enjoyed that session. Incidentally I think there is evidence that there was some sort of "pseudo-SIT" thing going on in Paul's time, since he has to say that "no man can call Christ accursed" when SIT and that suggests to me that there had been some SIT-like practice already going on at the time that new Christians were uncertain about. Perhaps they had seen something similar in pagan worship. Ultimately, the question is not whether or not SIT is real, whether what TWI taught was true or false in part or whole, but - where's your heart at?