Inge Leonora-den Ouden

Wow! Who would have thought that split peas could sprout?! Not me.
But you don't know until you have tried. I see here some who tried and succeeded. When these are 'permies' I trust them (more than google, youtube, etc.).

Now I want to try myself. Split peas are the easiest to get here, because they are the ingredient for the famous Dutch 'snert' (or 'erwtensoep', meaning 'pea soup').

Anne Miller wrote:It might make sense to explain what PMS is so here is what Google said:

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a group of physical and emotional symptoms that occur before a menstrual period. Symptoms can include breast tenderness, mood swings, and food cravings

Thank you Anne. Originally I wrote a post in the thread on menopause, where PMS was already mentioned. Because it was late, bed-time, I didn't think of writing more in the new thread.

Christopher Weeks wrote:
Actually, I found (somewhere on the internet a decade or two ago) that whole oats are called groats and I picked up the habit of calling them that to distinguish between the steel-cut oats that my wife likes and the whole oats that I like. (I'm willing to change what I call them if that's not normal for English.)

This is how we keep them in the pantry:

Aha! I call those 'whole grains'. The word 'groats' ('grutten' in Dutch) I use for broken grains, probably also called 'steel cut' in English. But as I find out here, not all English-speaking people always use the same words. Maybe it depends on where they live (UK, Ireland, USA, different states). Or maybe they heard others use a word and they took over. My English words I learned at school (in the Netherlands) or I read them on the internet and in books.

Tereza Okava wrote:

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:

Christopher Weeks wrote:When Trace writes "oatmeal" and everyone else writes "oats", in all cases are you talking about rolled oats?

I make oat groats for breakfast sometimes but haven't ever enjoyed rolled oats.

I never saw oat groats. I only know groats made of buckwheat, and they're rare to find (only in the good-food stores sometimes).

I believe when he is saying "groats" he means the unrolled oats, sometimes called steel cut or Irish oats. they're usually broken in half, but they're not flat. They take a bit longer to cook and can be a bit like kasha, buckwheat, etc- nutty and chewy.

Yes, what I consider 'groats' ('grutten' in Dutch) is not rolled but broken (steel cut). But here I never saw groats made of oat (Avena sativa), only of buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum). Whole grains (not cut, rolled or anything) are sold in the good-food stores to, all species (oats, wheat, barley, rye, and buckwheat too) are available, but not in all stores. In larger stores in the cities there's more choice than in the small town where I live. Maybe there they have oat groats too ...

Christopher Weeks wrote:When Trace writes "oatmeal" and everyone else writes "oats", in all cases are you talking about rolled oats?

I make oat groats for breakfast sometimes but haven't ever enjoyed rolled oats.

I never saw oat groats. I only know groats made of buckwheat, and they're rare to find (only in the good-food stores sometimes).

Christopher Weeks wrote:When Trace writes "oatmeal" and everyone else writes "oats", in all cases are you talking about rolled oats?

I make oat groats for breakfast sometimes but haven't ever enjoyed rolled oats.

Sometimes the English language has strange words. "Oatmeal" is one of them. As far as I know this isn't a 'meal', but fine flakes. I think 'rolled oats' is not exactly the same, maybe those are the larger flakes, whole grains made flat between rollers.
My own language, Dutch, has many more strange words ... But for those 'oats' it is clear: there is 'havermout' (oatmeal) and there are 'havervlokken' (rolled oats). And of course there is 'haver' (oat), that's the name of this grain species, both the plant and the whole grains. And there is 'havermoutpap', porridge made of oatmeal, cooked in milk (with sugar).

This thread is about menopause, but several times PMS was mentioned. PMS is an even more neglected subject than menopause, I think. And it can have such an important influence in relationships / families!

When I was a child I always was a little afraid for my mother's reactions, because sometimes she could become angry for very small things. In general she was a good mother, but I wasn't able to know in what mood she would be.
It was MUCH later she explained it to me, that it had to do with her periods. Then I could understand it, because I had PMS too, and I knew what it was because I read about it on the internet. But experiencing the inpredictable moods of my mother when I was a child already had its influence on our relationship (and probably more aspects).

Probably back in those days (50 / 60 years ago) doctors did not know much about those things. And even if someone knew about it, they would not talk about it with children. I did not even know what 'menstruation' was until I had it myself (at 11 y.o.). My parents thought that was the time to tell me about it. And they gave me a sex-education-booklet (for children). I think everything having to do with 'sex' wasn't a subject parents told their children much about. It was almost a taboo.

I agree with what's said here in general: it isn't about 'luck' or 'bad luck' (or an 'accident'). In many cases we can prevent bad things from going to happen. In Dutch we say 'beter voorkomen dan genezen', meaning it's better to prevent than to cure/heal.

At the other side there are things we can do to feel 'lucky' (or happy, I think that is a better word). Like someone here said (sorry, forgot who it was) you can save your money instead of buying lottery tickets. When you have savings, you know you have the money, so you feel happy. But when you spent your money on the lottery you are waiting for the win that probably never comes, so you aren't happy.
That's just one example.

I hope you understand what I mean, somtimes I can not find the right English expressions to say what I want to say.

Normally I am full of creative ideas. But this is not my usual material.
I got these fence posts (treated roundwood):
 

If I would not have taken them, they would be dumped! So I took them without knowing what to do with them.
But they can't just 'be' there in the rainy weather for a long time. They need to have a purpose!
I don't need a fence.

I think this forum is full of people with creative ideas. That's why I ask here:
who has an idea for something to make with these things?