The WE2's

I can hear your broken heart, I can see you bleeding. But know this..."this too shall pass". It's a true tragedy when a soulmate relationship comes to an end...death or divorce. I was widowed after 42 years and faced a world I suddenly realized was very different. Married at 19...and suddenly at 60+ thrust into a world that seemed to consist of singles, marrieds, divorced or widowed. Most of whom I didn't know. I did know that as a Christian, they weren't going to find me on a bar stool! One of the most important things I did learn...if it makes my life more difficult, then it has no place in my life!!!! And that includes people! Some may think it's a calloused world view, but I served the church realm for 30+ years and gave 10% of everything I could get my hands on...but when my first husband passed...2 preacher friends "showed up". My daughter said "Mom, where's all you and Dad's church friends?" How do you answer that? So...I did like you're going to have to do...CLEAN HOUSE. And that's going to include people and things that make your life harder than it already is. Surround yourself with people that love and adore you...you need it. And don't be concerned with what people might think of you being "calloused" ... or "that's not the woman we used to know". You're NOT the woman you were a short time ago. My first husband was abusive...first 8 years by meanness, the last 3 by dimensia. I didn't have a happy marriage with him...even though I loved him...figure? Anyway, about a year after his death I found myself standing by his grave in the rain, sobbing...because I missed him? NO!!! Because I realized I had slipped from being a loving wife to a loving "caregiver". It set me free. Shortly after that I met my current husband on a ballroom dance floor where there was no alcohol or smoking...a true gentleman! Happy? You bet your sweet tootie! I wouldn't go back to the former way of life for nothing, and I thank our Lord every day for His grace in leading me through that mess I called my life to what is now my life. Hang in there girlfriend! There is something better ahead of you...take the right hand lane (off ramp) away from the highway of destruction you were on.

Happy that the Dollar Tree has such good stuff "sometimes". Found ZiCam for $1 a box (stocked up!) and Mentholatum Rub for $1 a jar (stocked up!) EVERYBODY'S RICH AT THE DOLLAR TREE STORES! LOL

Ughhhhhh...it is that season isn't it!? Oh well, we were pleasantly surprised when we were nosing about in our local Dollar Tree (everything is $1.00) and found ZiCam of all things. We've used this stuff at the first hint of a cold or ??? and it works wonders. Bought ourselves a generous supply, not just for this year! We'll go ahead and take the flu shot (we're over 60) and have ZiCam on hand for if we can't get vaccinations. Also found mentholatum rub...$1 a jar (WM is 3x that!) so stocked up on that also. EVERYBODY'S RICH AT THE DOLLAR TREE STORE!!!

Sorry for being so tardy in greeting you! I'm not sure we can ever really "prep" for the people who will end up coming to us...and what we'll do (or have to do) if they do come empty handed. The Bible was pretty specific on what happened between the parable of the foolish virgins. We're empty nesters (except our lab/aussie...Abby) and have 2 grown children and 2 young adult grandchildren. Also have both of my elderly parents. My husband was an only child and both of his parents have left for the kingdom of God. My daughter assures us that she and her family (and in-laws) are well prepared. My son is another story. Divorced, not in good health and out of a job at this time. Either way, maybe I'm being cold, but I think we prepare for our current household, and try to make sure we have "buckets of mercy" to give away so they won't starve. I'm amazed at some of the "preppers" that expect to continue to eat in their current live style. In my humble opinion, if they're not willing to cut back on their diets, they're the ones we need to fear, not the ones who are truly hungry and will take a bucket of food with much thanksgiving!

These were grown in buckets, with holes drilled in bottom for drainage. The last of our harvest. Yucon Golds...they didn't produce as many as we expected though!

We're savages...we put out mice poison! We're still recovering from a racoon attack that occured in this same house (because it's been vacant?) 2 years ago. Used a live trap and gave her a new home in a state park. But...let me tell you...what they don't eat or tear up they'll poop on...BIG TIME! It's a nice little house and we've just neglected to get the remodeling done promptly! Sure glad we weren't storing any of our current prep items there! But micies can leave almost as a big a mess if you're not there to keep things current! We're there almost on a daily basis now, even though it's a 30 minute drive, to get it finished so we can move into it! Then we'll sell the one we're in. When our "homestead" is ready, then we'll move again because that's where we've built our 3-bay metal pole-garage, a 12x26 metal pole shed, plus 2 other sheds. The house is currently occupied by our "renter"...my mom. She pays $1 a year for the rest of her life...

We don't own an SUV. Drive a van and a truck with a cap on back. Just can't go into debt at our ages.

I hope your pics stay at the top of this forum for everyone (newbies and all) to see. A reminder just what can happen when bad weather threatens. In the midwest, when there's snow or ice coming, you find people lined up to buy...especially those of us 60+ who understand the danger of not having what you need to sustain you for ??? You might even get caught in the middle of a pay cycle and not even HAVE the money to buy! Now, to me that's scarrrrrry! Stock up! Even if you don't think you need to.

I'd love to have their can rotation containers!

Pinched some pennies really hard today! Picked out the rest of our Sq.Ft.Garden today...potatoes, carrots etc., and cleared out the rest of the 1x1's, covered them over with the left over Mel's Mix, and will cover them with plastic to keep them free of grass and squirrels wanting to plant their "winter crops" in them. Then, I sauteed up one huge mess of fried 'taters and stuck them in the frig for breakfast. Steamed one mess and stuck them in the freezer for ??? The sweet basil is neatly waiting in the frig for us to add to our meals these next few meals. For supper...made a huge batch of egg noodles and added left over chicken that I roasted a couple of days ago. Made us 3 meals. Being empty nestes, it saves us more money if I cook a big batch of something and then we eat left-overs. Don't have to fire up the stove every meal. I love this particular forum, I see sooo many ways to save even more!

I'd call that being fed from the hand of God! Don't get no bettah! Sorta reminds me of something I read about feeding the sparrows! (ooops...forgot something...if you click on the rose hopefully you'll watch it bloom!)

My Walmart has a tiny section close to the baby lotions in the health and beauty area, that has aspirin, ibuprofen, acetomenophine, generic Zyrtec, and some other generic otcs for $.88. I've started tossing two- four of something into the cart whenever we go. Walmart also has Fels-Naptha for $.99, which trumps my local grocer,who charges $1.69.i ont remember the exact price of washing soda and borax, but it was cheaper than my local store too. I bought one of each box and three bars of the soap. Paid $10.23 w/ tax. That's not bad for a year's laundry laundry detergent. More than a year, really. The borax and washin soda will make maybe another three batches, even with me using one cup per instead of one half cup. I still had half full boxes at home, and 6 other bars of soap, not counting the home made bars of lye soap I inherited when mil moved to assisted living. Yeppers...except our local WM had several huge bins in the middle of the "action alley" between the registers and the beginnings of the merchandise. Just couldn't believe all the OTC's I was able to find. Everything, even cough syrups, cough drops, and everything I mentioned before and then some. Got ourselves 3 big storage bins in our pantry area stocked with it. Then went to $Tree and stocked up on cortisone creams and triple antibiotics...just to add to our pantry. Came in real handy a couple of weeks ago, ran out of something and when we went to the store we usually purchase it at it wasn't there! So...I just shopped in my own "action alley"...

Just about finished picking out what we've grown this year in our square foot garden. Still have lots of green tomatoes, several bell pepper plants, 2 small winter squash plants, and one lady finger eggplant bush. Cleared out all the other squares & put the residual Mel's Mix into the now bare squares, and will cover them over with plastic to keep them ready for next spring's crops. Got all the potatoes, sweet basil and some of our round carrots ready for storage...or to eat! Yummy!

We've been working for some time to get one of our houses remodeled so we can move from where we're at, into it. What a surprise...it got broke into...by these little thieves!

My granny did that to me when I was a youngster. She saw the rash, grabbed me by the wrist and headed for her bathroom! (I thought I was in for a lickin') She grabbed this bar of soap, ran it under water for a second and then scrubbed the dickens out of my wrist where the rash was. Then reached into her linen closet, grabbed a strip of white flannel and wrapped it around my wrist and fastened with a safety pin. Gone so quick! I can't remember exactly, but I know it was gone in 2 days and never did itch! Granny's have the know-how!

Just made a huge batch from my icemaker! Hope I can keep my pooch Abby out of them. They're her favorite treat.

This is a wonderful forum...let's not let it get too old! Recently (not today) our local Big Box store had huge bins with all kinds of OTC's for 88 cents! Stocked up big time on Diphenhidramine (?), mucous relief, acid reducers, Ibuprophen, low dose aspirin, just alot of goodies!

Dimentia and Alzheimers are so hideous! My first husband was a brain tumor survivor for 24 years...and the last 3 years of his life were haunted by this terrible condition. I also had to gain guardianship, for his protection and mine. Not trying to frighten you, but the worst is yet to come. I had to get an aide to help with him during the day. He'd have halusinasions(?) of people trying to break in, someone trying to set the roof on fire by throwing matches, and even of men hiding under my bed. Had to cover mirrors because when he saw his own image he'd think it was another man. Once found him hiding crouched down between the washer & dryer. My prayer was "Lord, don't let him leave this world in this kind of fear, not knowing who I am, nor violently". God answered my prayer. He took flu and quietly passed into the arms of our Lord. I stood at his bedside the night before (Valentine Day) and "flirted" with him. After 42 years I didn't think I could survive...but I have. Placing your parents in an assisted living center will increase the quality of YOUR life and allow you to spend quality time with them while all of you can remember. I just didn't have the guts to do it for my past hubby because once when in a nursing home he totally "shut down" and would have passed then, about 10 years earlier than he did. I hope this isn't a negative post, but just felt I had to let you know that there are others who share this kind of sorrow.

(oops...had to edit!) Hmmm...I have some stored in bags inside sealed bucket. Perhaps I need to dig them out and get them cooked and dehydrated for their own safety and my use. Here's one of my favorite links..She says cook them first then dehydrate them and store. I've just been lazy and haven't gotten it done. Thanks ladies, for reminding me that I've let something go amiss! When in an unzipped spot, I don't want to have to boil beans for several hours! http://www.youtube.com/user/katzcradul

Had some speghetti stain one of mine. Depending on size...fill halfway with water. Add about 3 tablespoons of white vinegar. Put in microwave and nuke it until it boils. Let set until it cools. Then wash well with hot soapy water. Works for me for stains, should work for anything else?

Lemons, Limes and Oranges too!!! They make wonderful Lemonaide, Limeade and Orangeaide out of water bottles, water jugs or pitchers full of water. Add a bit of green tea now and then and WALAH!

Catfish bait here I come! We hid some once in the talking piece of a fellow workers phone...too funny!!! She thought she was having a bad morning of bad breath LOL...what a hoot when we finally told her what we'd done...

Good-good-good! One of the very first things we did in August was go to every seed source we had locally and stock up on seeds. Some we bought for 5 cents a pack. One of the most concerning things was corn...I had told hubby I expected corn seed to spike or be hard to come by this next spring, and was surprised that we couldn't find any stores that had them. Finally found some at ACE and paid $4 for a scoop. Bought them anyway because I felt we might have to pay more this spring. Just sharing some of my concerns.

We have a wonderwash...works great for us. But...we're empty nesters.

Added note...this is totally waterproof!