Attention gardeners.

I know some folks out there like to garden, and some like to grow their own food. Are any of you folks also in the habit of saving your seeds? Want a list of companies that sell only heirloom seeds?

Courtesy the Baltimore Snacker, I give you this list. It tells you what companies are owned by Monsanto (i.e. seeds that won't breed true from year to year) and what companies are certified non-GMO/heirlooms.

I've noticed it's getting harder and harder to find heirlooms lately. Seems like everyone's growing Big Boy and Better Boy tomatoes, which taste like nothing to me. I prefer "ugly" tomatoes.

Oh, and a recommendation...buy from Landreth and Baker Creek. Both companies have fantastic customer service, their seeds are reliable, and their selection can't really be beat. They've got gorgeous catalogs, too.

I figure it's the time of year when some of us start thinking about what we want to grow in the spring, and some of us are even starting seeds by now. Can't hurt to get a jump on things. :)

...Get by with a little help from my friends...

I don't normally talk about my problems on here. Might rant a little here and there, but overall I try to keep this more about gun stuff than personal stuff. I think I succeed, most of the time anyway.

I'm going to break that rule today, for one particular reason. Someone needs to be thanked, because he's awesome.

First, though, here's what I've been dealing with. Back in the last week of July, I went to the emergency room. I was severely jaundiced, in significant pain, very dehydrated, and having a second panic attack in as many days due to that pain. I'm that crazy person who drove herself to the ER despite the pain.

Arrived at the hospital, got through triage VERY quickly, and was booked in a room within 2 hours. While in the ER I sucked down two bags of saline - apparently I was VERY dehydrated. Due to the condition in which I arrived I didn't leave for 5 days - I went in on a sunny Wednesday afternoon and left the following Sunday evening. During that week I had an ultrasound, a HIDA scan, and an MRI. They tested for everything, including a full hepatitis blood panel. I was on a liquid diet until Sunday (my last solid meal that week had been Monday evening). By Thursday evening, I was extremely worried...they honestly thought I had Hepatitis A. I spent that day worrying and trying to figure out how it would affect both Chris and I. Fortunately, by Friday all signs of hepatitis had been ruled out. Sometime during those two days I managed to pass at least one gallstone, and by Friday I no longer needed the dilaudid they had been pumping through my system. Saturday I had surgery to remove my gall bladder, and I was sent home Sunday after my first solid meal in a week.

The stress from that week was almost more than I could handle...and Chris was an absolute rock. Thank god for that man. The following week was spent at home, mostly by myself, stressing over the bills. Few people checked up on me and the only visitors I had consisted of Chris's mother and my parents - I was lonely. And sad that the people I considered my closest friends mostly ignored me. It's a trivial thing, I suppose. Anyway, I have mentioned my situation once or twice since then in comments on other people's blogs, but I never went into the scope of what happened or just why I was worrying.

I recovered rather quickly and my quality of life has improved significantly. It's amazing to me just how long I had been living with something that could have been fixed with a simple outpatient procedure.

All that aside, in my post from October 1 I complained of not finding what I was looking for at the gun show down in Virginia, and left it at that. I figured I'd just keep looking when I had money again. (And, again, we had a great time down there. And I'm grateful for friends who open their homes to us. Seriously, this group of people is pretty amazing.)

And Bubblehead Les swooped in and gave me something that really turned some of my stress and anxiety around. It was a small gift - an ammo pouch packed full of stripper clips for my Mauser - but it's more than I ever would have expected. Thanks, Les. You're an awesome person. May have been nothing for you to send it, but I really do appreciate it. And yes, I'll put the money I would have spent on that towards one of my bills. :)

If this got rambly, I'm sorry. I've got a cold building in my sinuses and I tried my best to write this clearly.