Making the Most of Everything.....

I know everyone if so tired of hearing about the economy and how bad things are. I am more tired of hearing how the government is going to fix it for us. Why must we wait on them to spend more of our money and we reap less return. I am not talking finances but I am talking things we can do for our own well being and contentment that can make a big difference in our lives. We as Americans have so much and for some have Had so much and are losing it. Take a look around you. Say you are a senior citizen, in a small apartment on limited income and see few visitors. I will call you Jane for today. Jane has a sunny window in her living room that faces nowhere but the sun. In front of that window Jane could position a small table and saving fast food containers or other containers that holes can be punched in the bottom for drainage. Scavenger up some dirt from areas around you. It won't take much and if you drink coffee ....save your coffee grounds. get you some cheap seeds. They are being marked down now..thinking the season is over BUT you can play around with this all winter. My mother saves a salad tomato plant all winter last year and we enjoyed fresh tomatoes ever so often. Try lettuce and onions, herbs maybe some small flowers. Nurture these plants and their surroundings and when you harvest for a meal, make it a special affair. It's only Jane in this apartment and I have it on authority she talks to her plants and waters them daily, in return they keep her busy year around. If you have excess for one, freeze it and take it out later for soup. My grandpa use to tells us to pull up our boot straps which coming from him meant "toughen up and make things work for you." I know this is sorry times for seniors and many, many of my friends are suffering daily. But we baby boomers come from good stock and can make good if we set our mind to it. Don't be afraid to try. love always Pokie

Grandma Says

I grew up in a college town in Southeast Missouri in the late forties.  We were a modest family.  No one ever discussed it but we knew we weren't rich.  We had cousins who lived in St.Louis that must have been rich because their Christmas presents always came in Famous Barr Red Boxes. I saved these boxes and when my friends had birthdays during the year I would be sure they were given something that fit into a Red Famous Barr Box.  We saved the small things for worse times and thats what we should be doing now.Hopefully we all won't have to live through a natural disaster, but does it hurt to be prepared to save YOUR family if one happens?What are your grandkids going to eat and drink for a week while the Government takes care of itself first..  Have you got a spare closet? Could you store a week supply of water in gallon milk jugs?....One per Day.  How about some candles and matches batteries and radio?

Learn a new old plan "Take Care of Your Own".  Are you watching the Haitians? They had nothing and are going out in the middle of fields and sitting up some sort of shelter to huddle under. God bless this mother of seven, who lost four and had three left and was squaring off in the corner of a field so they all knew where each other were.

No matter how much I fuss, my mother cannot throw anything away.  I throw containers  in the trash upstairs and she takes my trash out and sorts it and washes every discarded container and brings them back into the basement. When I head off to town for groceries, she brings them back upstairs and we start the cycle all over again.  Crazy maybe, BUT my mom was one of ten kids.......... five, boys five girls who grew up during the Depression.  Their father was an unemployed carpenter and their mother was disabled most of her life due to a open leg wound..

If there is anything I know, it is how to stock pile, cook and can...prepare for the worse day you could ever have  and come out having a good time. This country needs to stop waiting for the government bailout.....the government will bailout the government...My.Grandma always said, "Straighten up,  stop sniffling and do something...Love Pokie