Ruth Gregory

It sounds like you may have to have some type of livestock in addition to your neighbor's in order to get the grass under control. Have you thought about getting a few sheep?  It's my understanding that sheep eat the entire plant they graze on roots and all. There are other benifits to having a few sheep. You have the wool which can be spun and dyed then woven into cloth for clothes, blankets etc. You have lambs that you could use, along with the wool and cloth, for trade with your neighbors and/or in town for other items you might need. It's something to think about.

You are not being foolish with your questions. How are you going to learn about what goes on with expectant mothers if you don't ask questions? As for morning sickness, it is different for each expectant mother. The one tried and true help for it is a cup of hot tea and soda crackers. Oh, and removing the offensive item causing the nausea or removing the mom to be helps too. I remember being nauseous over scents and visual items like someone eating a sloppy sandwich, lol. Just be supportive and she'll appreciate it.

Your idea about making a list of things you know you could do and letting your friend pick a few things she would feel that would be most useful/helpful, is terrific!  From what I have read here, you are a great person and a wonderful friend to your friend. Go ahead and make the list. There is a lot of good information here as well as suggestions that you can use for your list. Let us know what she picks from your list.

Bibs are great and a must with babies almost from the get go. A few (3 - 4) personalized bibs are usually enough.
The cloth diapers I used were rectangle shaped and padded in the center. I also used the plastic snapping style pants that go on over the diapers. They cut my changing time down quite a bit. : )
Another idea for the mom to be is a hand made gift basket filled with items such as cocoa butter oil to soften the skin; herbal teas for relaxing and sleep; soothing natural bath soaps, luffa sponge, and or scented lotions with lavender or other pleasant smells she might like.

I like your ideas. If you make the diapers, that would help out a lot. Babies can go through sometimes 4 - 5 diapers a day. You could gift her 10 or 20 as a starter gift.

I noticed you like refurbishing old furniture. Well, if you can find an old rocking chair, you can breath life back into it for your friend. I know my rocking chair was a blessing. I would rock my children to sleep many a night or just hold them.

Hi Tara, my name is Ruth. I have a few roses around my place. I need to move two to a more advantagous place in my garden. I place my roses around different spots to attract pollinators. It has been a successful strategy for me so far. Maybe you can try it and see if it works for you.

Hi Paul.

I like your idea of a rotating paddock for the chickens. We have chickens and guineas and a fairly large back yard in which we use half of it for gardening veggies and the other half for flowers, gourds, ect. I am wanting to keep the chickens free range but out of my garden and I want to paddock the garden for the guineas. At the moment, we are having problems with the chickens finding our winter squash and pecking holes in them or just outright eating them! We have scrapped wire covers over some of them to protect them from the chickens. We are hoping to get the garden set up in 4 paddocks so we can keep the chickens to the rest of the yard and the guineas in the garden. Wish me luck.