u/Helpful-Papaya6450
Please help me identify plants growing in my oak woodland
Hi again. I have some more plants I was wondering about. I like in an oaks woodland in West Central MN, Otter Tail County. The previous owners had all grass and never combated the invasive buckthorn or creeping Charlie. They would spray in early spring and then used your basic chemical fertilizers throughout the summer. We stopped spraying 2 years ago and have been fighting the buckthorn infestation while also trying to manage the creeping Charlie. We stopped mowing a good portion of the yard to allow the leaf litter to accumulate, and tons of interesting plants are popping up now. I was hoping to get some identification on them to see if they are keepers or to get rid of them before they add to the number of invasives I need to combat.
The last picture is harder to see, but it's the the one with white buds on it.
u/Helpful-Papaya6450 — 22 hours ago
Have these popping up in my oak woodland
Hi all, we are lucky enough to live in an oak woodland of West Central Minnesota in Otter Tail County. I've been trying to convert my two acres back to a natural understory so we stopped spraying as soon as we moved in 2 years ago and stopped mulching the leaves a year ago so I can start getting the 3 year leaf little that supports them and all the creatures that rely on them best. Since the mower hasn't been run over it this year, I have a bunch of these little guys popping up, mostly close to the base of the trees. Any idea what they could be? I want to keep a handle on invasives throughout this journey, so if they are, I want to pull them before they go to seed.
u/Helpful-Papaya6450 — 2 days ago
▲ 1 r/NRelationships
Using my kids to get at me
I have a covert narc older sister who spent our childhood and early adulthood keeping me off balance. No matter what I did to prove my love to her, it was never enough, I was always stupid, fat, and selfish. In our 30s, she married an Overt narcissist. This guy used the fact that i was a multiple rape survivor against me to force hugs and unwanted touching on me for years. I would beg him to stop and when I would ask my sister for help, she would just tell me if it wasnt fair that I would hug my friends and not him so i needed to get over it.
Unsurprisingly, it didn't work out, and they started the process to file for divorce until they found out everyone supported it. Once they figured out people were happy for the divorce, they formed a united front and made it their mission to prove to everyone I was the reason for their miserable marriage. I went no contact 2 years ago, and it has been the best two years of my life.
This weekend, however, my daughter graduated from nursing school. I am so proud of her, and we went out for her ceremony. My sister heard from my parents she was graduating and asked my daughter if she could come to her graduation party. My daughter was uncomfortable, but felt like she had to say yes, especially when my sister promised her husband wouldn't be there.
After graduation, our graduated daughter, my husband, and I and our other 3 kids were supposed to have a nice supper together as a family. While the one who graduated showed up, along with our youngest, my two other kids didn't show up, nor did they call or text. When I finally got a hold of them, they said they were having fun and just forgot. Turns out, they were with my sister, who brought her husband and convinced my recovering alcoholic daughter and her brother to go bar hopping with them.
The next morning at her party, they showed up again. They had told my kids he wasn't going to come to the party, so the kids didn't warn me. He showed up, and I lost it, I went into a panic attack and had to walk to a park to calm down. I didn't want to cause a scene, so I just let my husband know and went on my way. When I came back, the two kids who had missed our dinner went on to tell me I was over reacting and that they had a lot of fun with them and dont think I should be no contact with them. My son even told me he might quit school and move in with them instead.
I am devastated. My kids are grown, barely, but they are adults, so I can't force them to really do anything. I didn't think my sister would ever try to turn my kids against me, I definitely didn't think it would work. I can't stop crying, I love my kids, and I know they were manipulated, but I am having a hard time even looking at them. The two that they went drinking with both still live with me. One is in college, and the other is currently a recovering alcoholic like I mentioned above. Now we have a 9 hour car drive back home with them, and I know my feeling will get the best of me more than once on the way back. Uffda
Tldr; sister turned my own kids into flying monkeys, I feel more betrayed than I have ever felt before.
u/Helpful-Papaya6450 — 4 days ago