| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Jen |
Posted - Mar 18 2007 : 3:28:28 PM
Welcome to the Dispatch at MaryJane's Outpost! The Outpost is a gathering place for all of us who, in our remote corners of the globe, are seeking the company of like minds.
As you trek down through the list of forums, you'll get a good sense of what goes on around here. Whether you're looking to swap trade secrets or stories from your frontier, you're invited to pull up a seat at the campfire. Sit back and listen awhile, or dive right in and speak your mind. Either way, you're among friends.
I'll be your moderator here at the Dispatch, so let me tell you a bit about my background. I bushwacked, snorkeled, and wrangled wildlife for 5 years as a field biologist before heading into the uncharted territory of fulltime motherhood. These days, I spend most of my time raising 3 kids (Rita-7, Sophie-5, Sam-almost 2) and freelance writing. Once in a while, I even get a chance to slip back into the woods.
My family and I have covered a lot of ground in the past six years, moving cross-country 4 times. In 2006, we returned from Washington State to our Midwestern homeland and bought 25 acres of lovely possibility in the backwoods of Izard County, Arkansas. We've got dogs, cats, and even a couple of chickens who are teaching me the unexpected joys of free-range fowl. We're nurturing fledgling fruit trees and berry bushes on love and luck ('cause we know next to nothing about organic orcharding).
I stumbled upon MaryJane's magazine (the Shoulder to the Wheel issue, as I recall) a few years ago while I was collecting stories for a book about women working in the wilderness. Immediately I knew I had to track this woman down. You see, before MJ's farmgirl days, she was one of the first female backcountry rangers for the US Forest Service, and she knows how to spin a yarn with the best. Long story short, after spending a couple of nights around MJ's campfire, it was clear that we were kindred spirits. Her funny fishing tale "Caught for Sure" appears in my anthology, A Mile in Her Boots. And now here I am, manning (womanning?) the Outpost!
Stop in for a visit - I look forward to getting to know you.
Jen Bové
PS - here's a link to my blog too:
www.bovesboots.blogspot.com
"The earth is your grandmother and mother, and she is sacred. Every step that is taken upon her should be as a prayer." - Black Elk, Lakota[/brown][/center]
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| 16 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Elizaray |
Posted - Jul 13 2009 : 07:49:32 AM
Welcome back, Kate! I have been gone for a while too! Life has gotten crazy and now I am getting my things in order for the start of the semester next month! Wow this summer has gone quick!
Elizaray |
| Kuiu Kate |
Posted - Jul 09 2009 : 1:42:11 PM
Hello the fire!
Finally made it back on-line, hope everyone's been well! Retired from the office job (YAHOO!!) am full time on the ranch now, and lovin' it! Garlic harvested (the new local co-op bought ALL my early variety and the other types are hanging and curing). Garden is taking off! Slowly clearing ground for the new cabin site. Makin' hay while the sun shines!
Out there Farmgirl Sister
"May I live simply, so that others may simply live" ~Gandhi |
| Elizaray |
Posted - Apr 26 2009 : 08:13:11 AM
Welcome Carole!
Yes Grace! I have been hearing this for years! Check out this article from just a couple days ago!
Download full size image Drug-Makers Leaking Pharmaceuticals Into Water Supply
Posted on: Monday, 20 April 2009, 06:20 CDT
Government scientists say that they have detected significantly elevated levels of pharmaceutical residues in the water downstream from treatment facilities in charge of disposing waste from drug manufacturers.
Preliminary results from two important federal studies compared the wastewater flowing from sewage plants that handle waste from drug companies and compared them with others that do not. The studies examined only a handful of the 1,886 U.S. drug manufacturing plants recorded by the 2006 Census report.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey’s report, some of the samples contained a range of pharmaceuticals, from over-the-counter medications to opiates, barbiturates and tranquilizers; some of them at significantly higher concentrations than what were found at other plants.
At one location, the muscle relaxer metaxalone was found in treated waste-water at a concentration several hundred times higher than the concentration used by drug regulators to examine a drug’s impact on the environment.
Because of privacy agreements, the specific treatment facilities were not listed by name.
Herb Buxton, a researcher with the USGS and co-chair of the federal task force on pharmaceuticals and the environment, spoke of the significance of double-checking the environmental safety claims of drug companies.
“It’s critical that those types of assumptions are confirmed through real testing,” said Buxton.
In a study conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of a municipal wastewater treatment facility in Kalamazoo, Mich., the city’s public service director provided evidence that showed elevated levels of the antibiotic lincomycin entering the plant. The facility services a large production factory for the pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc., which was producing the antibiotic around the time of the tests.
“There’s some product going down the drain,” explained Merchant plainly.
While the vast majority of the lincomycin was properly removed from the water during treatment, traces of it did remain. A separate 2008 study showed that the antibiotic can combine with small concentrations of other drugs to stimulate the production of cancer cells in both humans and fish.
Other experiments have showed that lincomycin can cause genetic mutations in fish, bacteria, algae and other aquatic microbes common to streams and rivers.
Francesco Pomati, a biologist at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, has expressed extreme concern about the levels of these drugs found in drinking water. He and his colleagues at the university have cautioned that repeated exposure to this cocktail of drugs – even in minute quantities – could be “a potential hazard for particular human conditions, such as pregnancy or infancy.”
Pfizer spokesman Rick Chambers has assured that “compliance with all environmental, health and safety laws is imperative to our business operations worldwide.”
The two U.S. studies added to a slew of similar research projects carried out in Asia and Europe recently that have connected pharmaceutical production facilities to dangerous levels of drugs in water supplies. Other drugs detected include the antibiotic sulfamethoxazole, the pain reliever diclofenac, the anticonvulsant carbamazepine, as well as a range of milder medications like aspirin, antihistamines and female sex hormones.
Recent studies in India have shown that a waste water plant that services dozens of multinational drug companies had been releasing as much as 100 pounds of the antibiotic ciproflacin a day into local rivers through supposedly treated water.
A Swiss study paid for by the pharmaceutical giant Roche found that some 0.2 percent of its active ingredients managed to escape during the production process. Such a small number may not sound like much until it is multiplied by the thousands of drug production plants around the world, many of which likely have a much higher loss rate than that reported by Roche.
This has many experts in the U.S. questioning their own production standards.
“Is it as bad in the U.S. as it is in India? Probably not. But it does make me think we should test,” says former EPA enforcement officer Kyla Bennett, who is now pursuing a career as an ecologist and environmental attorney.
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http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1673139/drugmakers_leaking_pharmaceuticals_into_water_supply/index.html
Elizaray |
| Alee |
Posted - Apr 23 2009 : 8:48:43 PM
Welcome Carole!
Grace- Isn't it scary when we can't even trust good old "clean" water anymore?! Things like this make me want to move far up in the mountains and plant trees across the road! |
| katmom |
Posted - Apr 21 2009 : 9:00:27 PM
hey Carole,
No "kidding", triplets? lol! I couldn't resist the "kid" pun...
I so agree with you regarding the "milk industry"....and to add horrors to horrors,,,,I heard today that some cities across the US are having horrible issues with the water systems being tainted with "drug waste"...scary!
>^..^<
I'm a Gardener in need of a Dirt Manicure!
www.katmom4.blogspot.com |
| Jen |
Posted - Apr 21 2009 : 2:30:41 PM
Welcome, Carole! It's wonderful to have another "outpost" artist among us. We'd love to see your work. Will you share your website with us when you get a chance?
Jen
Farmgirl Sisterhood Member #9
The View From My Boots: www.bovesboots.blogspot.com
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| ArtistForGod |
Posted - Apr 17 2009 : 3:03:30 PM
Hi Jen and everyone else,
I'm a country woman by heart, and by God's grace, get to live the country life. My husband and I have 20 acres in Eastern Washington where we have a variety of laying hens, Nigerian Dwarf Dairy goats (one doe had triplets 11 days ago and the other is due any minute!), cats and one Rottweiler. We are planning to have our own 'homegrown' milk and dairy products since the 'industry milk' is not what it used to be. I am a retired RN but now putting in more time into my painting. I always have a variety of fine art and prints for sale and have a website. I'm anxious to add some new little "kids" to my painting subjects.
It's always fun to get to know other women with the same interest and share knowledge. Thank you for running this forum.
Carole
Only by His grace. |
| Alee |
Posted - Mar 20 2009 : 10:14:10 PM
Welcome to the Outpost, Sandra! |
| Jen |
Posted - Mar 16 2009 : 11:15:12 AM
Yes, indeed, Sandra! Let me check on the paypal question...
Jen
Farmgirl Sisterhood Member #9
The View From My Boots: www.bovesboots.blogspot.com
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| Thistle Cove Farm |
Posted - Mar 16 2009 : 03:31:45 AM
Good Morning - not my first day but first time I may actually figure out how to post. I thought I'd introduced myself before but am not seeing my intro; SO low tech but I'm a dab hand on the farm -smile-.
Sandra, here, in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains of southwest VA on Thistle Cove Farm. It's So Very Nice to find a community of women who are of similar minds. We live in a very remote area and I don't see women until I either go to quilting bee on Thursday nights or church on Sundays. I raise rare breed and primitive Shetland and other sheep along with rare breed, hypoallergenic American Curly horses.
I'm in a hurry to join the Sisterhood, does Mary Jane take PayPal? I'd rather not use a charge card.
Good news reading folks are well from fires, Kate, and ice storms, Jen. Isn't it good to, safely, see how strong we are when the need arises?
Sandra
Sandra at Thistle Cove Farm ~ God's blessings on you, yours and the work of your hands & heart ~
www.thistlecovefarm.com
www.thistlecovefarm.blogspot.com |
| Elizaray |
Posted - Aug 30 2008 : 11:52:15 AM
My husband made some homemade marshmallows. They are amazing! I can't wait to try them with our Chill-Over powder!!
Elizaray |
| LunaTheFarmLady |
Posted - Aug 24 2008 : 9:36:45 PM
Thanks for your kind words Jen and Elizaray....Jen I love your blog too. I'm going to try those marshmallows soon. They look scrumptiouse...
Luna
http://blueballmountainspindleneedleworks.blogspot.com/
whereever you go, there you are... |
| Elizaray |
Posted - Aug 23 2008 : 7:22:57 PM
Luna- I love your website! What a creative site!
Elizaray |
| Jen |
Posted - Aug 05 2008 : 3:26:17 PM
Neat website, Luna!
Jen
Farmgirl Sisterhood Member #9
The View From My Boots: www.bovesboots.blogspot.com
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| LunaTheFarmLady |
Posted - Aug 05 2008 : 10:05:57 AM
Hi Jo!
I guess I'm guilty! That's me or this is me, here now and there too!
Luna
http://blueballmountainspindleneedleworks.blogspot.com/
whereever you go, there you are...
whereever you go, there you are... |
| blueberries in alaska |
Posted - Jul 22 2008 : 10:18:14 PM
Are you the funny Luna from the other site that's full of spunk? jo
there's no place like home....
http://web.mac.com/thomja
http://homepage.mac.com/thomja/PhotoAlbum22.html |
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