Free Republic

When my spouse and I purchased a fifteen-year old home in 2020, we had our work cut out for us. The place wasn’t quite a fixer-upper but that is where is was headed. The household neglect extended to the surrounding grounds. After much back and forth with a landscape architect, we settled on the design and plants. In the back and side yards we wanted bottlebrush, podacarpus, wildflowers, black-eyed susan, day lillies, scarlett hibiscus and indian hawthorne.Soil Analysis Before ordering the plants, I got up with our county extension agent to discuss a soil analysis. Why spend thousands of dollars...

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga) and Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich) are co-sponsoring the Equality Act. this legislation would make "gender identity" a protected class under federal anti-discrimination law. It would require schools to open female-only spaces to biological males who identify as transgender girls, including sports teams. "I realize that opponents of my bill predict that allowing males to participate in women's sports would effectively abolish segregation by sex and lead to the demise of unique female only teams," Ossoff admitted. "I say so what. Isn't the existence of separate teams a disparagement of females. Doesn't it say that these females...

A gang of criminals recently invaded an NYC subway train and went car to car looking for their next target. Shockingly, this even happened after the highest number of security personnel (police, national guard) were deployed to NYC's subway since 9/11. Update on America's most dangerous transit network.

So I have common Bermuda grass (not sure exactly what kind)here in the burbs of hotlanta. I have a crabgrass and clover issue that has been frustrating to control. I’d been using bioadvanced previously and it didn’t control the weeds like I thought it would. My grass is pretty green though. Any recommendations for my lawn that’ll help. My back will appreciate any feedback. Pulling those weeds are a pain.

"There is something in us that wants to return to the Earth," terramation provider Return Home CEO Micah Truman said. Arizona has become the latest state in the nation to allow terramation, also known as human composting, as an alternative to traditional burial methods and cremation. House Bill 2081 and Senate Bill 1042, also referred to as the "Grandpa in the Garden Bill," was signed into law by Governor Katie Hobbs on March 29 and gives accredited funeral providers the ability to offer the service. While terramation has grown in popularity over the years, it has faced backlash from many,...

More than 100 congressional offices are already using artificial intelligence for everyday tasks — such as writing constituent correspondence, handling member scheduling and drafting legislation. And lawmakers and staff alike are hungry to find more ways to harness AI.

Everyone always has new hacks and tips on how to save money. But it isn’t necessary to reinvent the wheel to change your financial situation. Instead, you can look to the frugal living tips from the Great Depression that a lot of our grandparents used. The Great Depression from 1929 to 1939, was the gravest economic downtown in U.S. history. The stock market crashed; the unemployment rate reached new heights; and industrial production was severely impacted. During the Depression, everyone had to learn how to scrimp and save and there’s a lot we can learn from that era today. Even...

In December, Energy Secretary Granholm announced that the administration had taken 110 actions on energy efficiency standards in 2022 alone...and are moving forward with rules impacting dozens more appliances. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Joe Biden administration continues to use executive authority to regulate popular household appliances at an unprecedented level, with claims that their changes will save consumers money and help slow climate change and its alleged effects on the environment. Though the latest set of restrictions the administration is mandating is for gas powered furnaces, that is only the latest and far from the last. “According to the current federal Unified...

In Ohio we have had a very wet summer, puffballs come out every year but this year they are 4 times the size.

This week Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) released a previously hidden unclassified FBI document, known as an FD-1023, outlining how the Biden business syndicate extracted $10 million from a Ukrainian firm in exchange for protection services to be provided by then vice-president Joe Biden. That "protection" turned out to be engineering the firing of a Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating Burisma Holdings--the energy firm that was paying Hunter Biden $83,000 a month to serve on its board of directors. White House spokesperson Ian Sams accused Grassley of "playing shameless, dishonest politics and refusing to let truth get in the way. The...

Arizona law prohibits most abortions after the baby has reached 15 weeks of age in the womb. However, the state's top Democrats have ensured that this law will not be enforced. Attorney General Kris Mayes says she will not enforce this law. Gov. Katie Hobbs issued an executive order barring county prosecutors from prosecuting anyone for violating this law. Hobbs justified her refusal to allow the enforcement of the post-15-week ban on abortion by contending that "a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy takes priority over the legislature's misguided attempt to negate this right. Fortunately Kris and I are on...

Food costs are still rising, as we see the food-at-home in February 2023 were 10.2 percent higher than in February 2022, and we feel it at the grocery store every day. Yesterday Stefan came home from the store with four full plastic bags and a gallon of milk, and spent more than $200. It is good thing we have emergency survival food we bought almost nine years ago, because it looks like we will be using it unless we win the lottery……..then again we don’t play the lottery, so there goes that idea. With food inflation still topping overall inflation,...

Another day, another empty claim that we need to alter our lifestyles to appease the power-mad brokers of our country. The latest hectoring harbinger is that our landscaping equipment is murdering the planet, so changes need to be enforced. This is what the over-educated and under-employed generations have wrought; the constant grazing for the next offense that needs to be addressed.USA Today delivers this latest solution to a wholly manufactured problem, claiming that the lawn mower and the leaf blowers used by your lawn service are the most pernicious producers of deadly emissions, saying “Regulators and clean-air advocates are increasingly...

https://twitter.com/AMAZlNGNATURE/status/1653460296688873472 OK FReepers. Is this real or a trick? Some at Twitter say it is trickery

https://www.walmart.com/ip/PowerSmart-209CC-engine-21-3-in-1-Gas-Self-Propelled-Lawn-Mower-DB2194SH-with-8-Rear-Wheel-rear-Bag-Side-Discharge-and-Mulching/193485183 This Chinese engine lawn mower is $197 at Walmart. You can buy a 2 year protection policy for 16$. I have this coming in on Friday. Walmart gives you 90 day returns on this but please verify for yourself BUT I already have one that I got off of ebay with a 60 day return policy where seller pays for returns/ So if Walmart runs better I will return it? Or maybe keep both. My review-- A bit hard to start with normal gasoline that has 10% ethanol. So...... I went and got some ethanol free gasoline. Now it...

In my opinion, Artist Georgia O'Keeffe looked good both in how she appeared as a woman (click the link in red below the title above to see why) and in how she looked at the world and reimagined what she saw. The Mother Of American Modernism. God Bless Freedom. God Bless America.

On Friday French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne talking about spending 100 billion Euros (105 billion US Dollars) to modernize the French rail system by 2040. The plan creates new rail lines in 12 large cities and expands rail service in the countryside. The massive plan aimed at creating a rail system that is an alternative to the use of cars... Meanwhile the 2030 scheme of President Emmanuel Macron, pension reform, is on a path to its final approval by March 26th... The Saturday afternoon protest in Paris is again underway... Today French President Emmanuel Macron announced a trip to China...

The Iranian government is “mapping” Jews around the world with plans to kill them if Israel attacks Iran, according to a report in London’s Jewish Chronicle. Catherine Perez-Shakdam, a Middle East scholar and research fellow at a think tank, met Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in February 2017. She believes that he was unaware that she is Jewish. According to Perez-Shakdam, the only thing Khamenei fears is an Israeli attack. “He believes Netanyahu’s threats, and he knows that for now, Israel is militarily superior,” she told the paper. “He feels that the Iranian regime can’t sustain a defeat.” During...

A furry critter in a western Pennsylvania town has predicted six more weeks of winter during an annual Groundhog Day celebration. People gathered Thursday at Gobbler’s Knob as members of Punxsutawney Phil’s “inner circle” summoned the groundhog from his tree stump at dawn to learn if he has seen his shadow — and they say he did. According to folklore, if he sees his shadow there will be six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t, spring comes early. The “inner circle” is a group of local dignitaries who are responsible for planning the events, as well as feeding and...

With Republicans demanding spending cuts in exchange for an increase in the federal debt limit and President Biden refusing to consider negotiating a compromise, House Democrats are proposing legislation that would eliminate any limit on the debt. Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill) argued that "if there were sufficient popular support for limiting how much the government can borrow voters wouldn't be electing so many Democrats. Rather than periodically raising the limit, I say we simply allow the government to borrow and spend as much as it wants to. The GOP's refusal to go along threatens the full faith and credit of...