Mrs.J

No they are not. We unfortunately at the time were still dealing the the builder as the neighborhood was not yet built out enough to turn it over to the community. So my neighbor and ourselves defied the rejection and with the State Law on our side went ahead and put up our systems. The builders reasoning was that it detracted from the aesthetics of the community. AKA they did not want anything going up that would what they think stop people from buying in my neighborhood, which is just plain crap! Had the guy in charge of our neighborhood actually send an email where he stated that it was ugly for potential buyers to see. We informed him that because of the state law, that aesthetics were not a reason to not allow us to put them on the front of our home. Another neighbor went ahead and took them to court and won. And because of him winning my neighbor and I got our approval after the fact. So for about a year we were in non compliance. Now there are at least 8 other systems up on houses on our side of the neighborhood.

Those new panels look great! Yea my friend has the Tesla battery as they live in rural VA and a BOLT so they can charge it overnight of the battery. It is something we seriously are considering to add to our system. And awesome for your mom going solar!

@vastateofmindWe went solar back in 2013. And I agree this winter has been the worst. But overall we have saved a ton having them. Also we contract SREC's to Potomac Edison so what we don't use goes into the grid. Get a check every year. But the reason we went solar was more of a conscious decision for the environment. We own our system, there is a company that you can lease from but you do not get the tax benefit at install. And your rates are just discounted. But if you cannot put out the up front costs it is a good option. We were told that our system would pay for itself after 6 years. And it has. Also as the roof is covered it extends the life of the roof material. And if the roof needs to be replaced the company we went with will come out take everything down, and reinstall after the roof is finished. We went with American made panels as they are black. Korean panels were cheaper but have a green tint to them and with the lame HOA excuses of looking "bad" the black panels look more like a roof. You need to get a reputable company to come in and they will design a system that fits your roofs specs. We have 27 panels on the front of our house as that faces South the most. Had a fight with the HOA about that one but won in the end as there is a law in MD that local power companies with lines in the state need to every year have a certain percentage of renewable and they count our house as commercial so that counts. I will snap some shots of my system on my app that monitors it daily and put it up for today. We have an East West facing Townhome and it is loaded with windows on both facades. Chose it for that very purpose as the main level has a bank of 5 windows across the front. So it allows me to not have lights on till much later in the day during the spring, summer and fall. Summer I hardly have any lights on at all till well after 6pm. Our friends got a battery back up and we have thought about that also. As because we are still part of the grid when power goes out even though we have panels our power is out. This protects the linemen working on the line issue as if our panels were live that would not be good.

Shepard’s pie with lamb and gluten free flour.

YUMMM! I just put in a Shepard's Pie with ground Lamb to send winter packing. But the English do not use Old Bay so wanting to be traditional left it out.

I don’t make them enough so keep recipes on hand. One thing I will have to try though is pork rinds. Since I am newly diagnosed gluten intolerant I recently made some fish cakes. Substituted plain crushed pork rinds for bread crumbs. Wow that is a well kept secret of Paleo eaters. Amazing flavor. They have gluten free Panko, but Pork rinds are cheeper and worked great. Going to try them in my meatballs next week. And serving over polenta instead of pasta.

I have a couple good recipes. Getting ready to crash but will put them up in the morning.

Here comes the sun, do, do, do do... here comes the sun and I say it's alright.

Oh my the family said I hit it out of the park with this dinner. Cilantro Lime Chicken with Roasted Sweet Potato Salad. The chicken thigh fell off the bone and the hint of lime and cilantro put it over the top! https://www.themediterraneandish.com/cilantro-lime-chicken-thighs-recipe/ https://www.averiecooks.com/roasted-sweet-potato-salad/

The one I hated the most was Max and Ruby. Swear I wanted to slap Ruby every single episode. She was so bossy to Max. And for some reason you never ever saw their parents. Occasionally they visited grandma. Also Lazy Town was just horrible. The Miss J’s loved it when little.

Have the back door open slightly for the cats. Their cable is out there to watch. Love starting to hear all the typical water birds as we have a creek behind our house. Lot of chattering going on out there today.

Ok that makes sense then. He got me a 40oz for the $13. And that almond meal cake looks amazing! Will have to try that. Thanks!!!

OH that all looks so good you two! I cannot have it anymore. Although I just had Mr. J buy me some gluten free AP flour with a 1:1 substitute that I am going to dabble with. Dang stuff cost $13 though! Had him pick up some more Tapioca flour/Starch as I have in the past used it in a yummy Brazilian Cheese roll recipe which is fantastic.

All about the context. Totally read it as big ass for the treadmill and not for his wife's butt. Treadmills are big ass!

Ehhh Pulled my shoulder muscle yesterday after trying to cinch a girth on the side with no elastic. Note to self check to see if said girth has elastic on both sides before you cinch.

Ok so I have taken to following Gators Daily. And I have to say their morning message yesterday has stuck with me today and just thought I would pass it along. "good morning gators. death roll the living sh** out of any obstacle you come across today."

Holy crap! I leave the house for a few hours and have to clean this mess up!

Ok that spaghetti hot dog jello ring needs to be BANNED!! And who made that meme?? That is hilarious!

I find it is that time of year where you just cannot regulate your temperature. The heat does not come on as it is too warm outside yet it feels so much cooler inside than what you want it.

Oh I don't know. You must not have seen the photo of my deranged cat from last night. He looks like this on a daily basis. Makes you think your last hours are up. Then again you must be right as I look for this look on a daily basis from him.

Thanks! We have always had an open door policy in our house. I grew up with crappy communication in my family and it lead to a lot of arguments and yelling. I swore to never have that in my house. Seems to have worked. So my girls probably have seen things that most parents would not show. They loved watching Nature on PBS when younger. So when "the" talk came up it was so much easier as they had already seen animals go at it. She is one of those kids who when born is an old soul. She has always been mature for her age and she likes to understand how the mind works. Just finished an into to Psych class to see if she wanted to take a dual enrollment course in it. Liked it so much that she signed up for the course for next year. She says she does not want to major in Psych in college but I think she would do well with it. Just need to find the right aspect of it for her. That and she does not want to have to do graduate school. Told her that she may feel that way now but if she really gets into it that might change. Floated the idea of a minor in Psych and that seemed to get more traction.

OH thanks for that recommendation of the documentary. Will put it in the que. And yes The Keepers was a very well done documentary. My oldest is into cold case crimes and while when I watched it a few years ago would not let her watch it. Told her that I will sit down with her and watch it as she is older now.

Oh I totally agree with you. But unfortunately it has been taken to what I described and you have said as much yourself. Believe me I have been a target of it right here on this board so I know what I am talking about. And you are right this topic should absolutely not be political. But it has been dragged there time and time again. And believe me no matter how many times you try to steer it back to safety for the staff it will end right back up on parents on parents for who knows best for their kids. Yes it sucks that we cannot have civil discussions in this forum. But the minute someone takes it to where it does not belong it needs to be tabled.

You as a parent should know and understand parenting wars. I have been in my fair share of the middle of a whole host of them. Breastfeeding/Formula, Cloth diaper/disposables, Public/Private School, boy/girl, yes that one exists and gets nasty, Organic/Non Organic I could go on and on and on and on. At the end of the day when I have tried to say what as a parent is best for my children certain posters here like to get into the "mommy" wars and in a round about way try to say your way of parenting is flawed and wrong. This very reason is why for the first time on a message board, yep you read that right, have a few members on ignore. I am all for discussion of differing views, what I am not up for is a bashing in a passive aggressive nature to say I am a better parent than you are. Because that is what is going on behind the scenes. You all know I tend to be a level headed poster. But I do not come here, even in banter, to be engaged in parenting wars. The whole COVID school opening vs. not vs. hybrid vs. not is right at the top of the parenting wars currently. When I tell someone that my decision I have made for my children and my family is different than theirs that should be the end of it. And vice versa on my end. I applaud the mods for understanding that this particular discussion has gone way beyond the typical I don't like vs. well I like discussion. And if it needs to be tabled for the time being until everyone can respect each others views so be it. Now back to the food posting and maybe occasional photos of my crazy ass cat.

Here is where I have been this wet winter. Mud has been extra special. Glad I have not lost a boot this year.