Take a moment to share your successes, small or large. Have you lost a few pounds, managed to find a few moments of time for relaxation and stress relief, or found that you really enjoy those walks you started taking?
We all wish we’d make the big, life altering changes every day, but the facts line up in support of the little things done consistently. Over time they become the habits that we build upon to change our lives.
Among the little things that help, motivation is important. Seeing other people’s successes, sharing our own. And we can always get some good tips and ideas from what works for others as well.
This is not a political post. Keep politics on the President Open.
If you want the religious post, similar to this health/exercise/lifestyle post here is the link.
I have been learning about natural medicine and homeopathic medicine to take care of my family. It has been a great journey and I’ve discovered that 90% of the time I don’t need allopathic medicine to get better. For example, I receive Joette Calabrese newsletters every week. She told a story about how she got the stomach flu and felt like she was dying, took Arsenicum album, went to sleep and when she woke up she was a lot better. After I read the article I ordered through amazon for $8 Arsenicum album in the 6th potency (I thought I had nothing to loose). I put it in my medicine cabinet. Two months later I got sick like with a stomach flu bug, or maybe I just ate something bad. I couldn’t stop vomiting. I took 5 pellets of arsenicum album and fell asleep right away. Next morning I woke up with no nausea and my energy was back!
This and many other remedies like chlorine dioxide, silver, iodine, DMSO, different supplements, etc, are just what we need to have at home to prevent disease or get better. We need to start taking charge of our health. Now I feel empower to take care of my family for the most part by myself.
Eat the raw ginger, 3 times a day!
Joette is such a tremendous resource making homeopathy practical. We use it quite a bit on ourselves and our animals. I have had more success with it than essential oils or herbs.
I think many herbs and essential oils have quite mild effects and they tend to have an overall impact rather than a focused impact. For general health and nutrition, they are helpful. But if you need something strong and focused, homeopathy is your best bet.
We all need to go this route because most of our medicines are from China (even the Indian ones) and those supply chains can be cut at any time.
Thanks! I live in fear of stomach bugs! Seems like they seek me out.
Research the benefits of pine needle tea. We make a gallon at a time, and drink 6-8 ounces of cold tea per day.
White pine needle tea is also a highly effective decongestant. When my sinuses were stuffy that tea drained them like magic.
I then was able to use the distilled water + Povidone Iodine nasal flush (10:1) as per frontline Dr Peter McCullough.
A nebulizer works even better to administer antibiotics directly to the lungs in the event of a more serious upper respiratory infection.
Never taught school but:
Once a week, I and a co-leader teach 3 year olds the true stories from the Bible. Class runs from 9 to 14 kids at a time.
Watching their eyes as they follow along and listening to their responses (often surprising and hilarious) I realize I was given a challenging gift to serve these little ones. God is near me as I sometimes stumble His message, but I know what is going into ‘my’ babies hearts are His Words.
So, He keeps me going … up this hill. Love to all.
I have 2 grandsons whose parents don’t go to church with them. Can you tell me if you use any children’s bible story books or what in particular you do to get them to comprehend it. I try to get them to understand but I don’t think I am getting through. Much appreciated.
Hi Grammie!
I volunteer through a group called:
https://www.bsfinternational.org/
There are groups all over the US and world. Put in your zip code for a group near you if you would like to eventually attend in person adult classes. There are also groups that meet via zoom.
I attended and brought my grandsons when they were little. While the adult ladies are discussing specific books of the Bible, their kids are learning the same thing. Several grandmothers bring their kids.
There are kids classes for different age groups and may depend on location. There can be numerous classes that are geared toward infant to pre-K. Now even homeschooled kids come. Others I hear have teen agers!
Here is a video link of children’s lessons BSF headquarters put together for anyone with kids at home. The lesson last week was lesson 24, just started 25. The videos are short on purpose. In person classes of course last much longer.
https://www.youtube.com/@WeAreBSFKids/videos?view=0&sort=dd&shelf_id=0
Have fun. Do check it out. I loved taking my boys. Now they are in 6th grade, fortunately a Christian school.
Hi Farmer, there is nothing more rewarding than teaching children about the Lord!
May God continue to guide and strengthen you – and your helper – as His witnesses!
The Bible Study Fellowship International is fantastic group.
I participated in the womens studies for seven consistent years till 2020. Then it was stopped for the big C.
Learned so much. Highly recommend!
Go BSF! I went through the 5-year program long ago, when it was Women’s Bible Study Fellowship (yes, it started with women) – and my Mom headed up the Children’s BSF in Dallas at the time. (I wasn’t proud enough of her; I am now.). It was intensive and prepared me to teach Sunday School thoughtfully, recognizing the intelligence of the kids I taught. I’ve had other Bible study prep throughout my life, but the foundation, based on discipline, questions, and fantastic teaching, that I got from BSF has been indispensable.
Totally agree, aez! So thankful for the time I studied with them.
Now I want to go back, hmmmm.
Grammie, Mike Lindell has mypillow Bible story pillowcases, etc. for little kids. They’re bright, colorful and kids love them.
https://www.mypillow.com/accessory-pillows/childrens-bible-story-pillows
My grandkids loved theirs.
Grammie, what are the ages of your grands?
How old are your grandsons?
There is a wonderful, online, educational, Christian channel for toddlers through grade school called, Smile of a Child. It’s part of the TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network). You may have to download the TBN app to access it. It’s a 24 hour channel with, very well done, Christian content. It is the only television my son was allowed to watch the first few years of his life. He’s eleven now and still watches some of their shows. Some of our favorites: The Bed Bug Bible Gang, Mickey’s Farm, Aardvark to Zucchini, and Veggie Tales. They also have a teen channel you can check out.
Cut out processed foods years ago, started fasting before the covid craze. At this point I only eat between 3pm-8pm and I only drink water and whiskey.. I only go out to eat with family on occasion and when we do go out, we only support local privately owned restaurants. I’ve been baking bread since I was a teenager so I bake brioche and other breads for family consumption to try and avoid store bought bread. I make a mean pizza dough and usually enjoy lots of romain salads and steak/chicken/fish items. I don’t do a lot of working out in the winter but I generally swim 3x a week from April-Nov so I get a good 7-8 months of solid full body work outs. I end up having to increase my food consumption in the summer so much my wife gets super jelly. People get so hung up on counting calories every day but if you just isolate the time you eat and remain physically active you can eat a lot and still keep the weight off. Just for the record.. mid 40s no known health issues and unvaccinated..
I switched from beer to vodka at New Years and am down 14 pounds even with a 17 day trip to Morocco in there (couscous and tagines a plenty). Cheers!
20 years ago, I put away some not insignificant vocational skills, changed careers, for a number of reasons, and moved 2000 miles across the country to be with the love of my life.
In the time since, we have moved to the heart of red America, and lived a simple but very free life running our own small business. When we moved, we paid cash for the new-old house, the cars, and positioned ourselved to be debt and nearly bill free. We mostly fix our own vehicles – another lifelong skill I was blessed with that has helped greatly along the way. I swapped my first automatic transmission at 16 in pouring rain, laying on my back under the car in a puddle of rainwater and transmission fluid, and learned that day that you can do almost anything in almost any conditions, if you set your mind to it and position yourself with the necessary tools.
After years of waiting due to trying to get a very large family all in the same place at the same time to get married…the covid ghouls and their ‘treatment’ took my mother a year ago in january…this last november we finally had enough and went in front of a judge in a tiny county courthouse with 2 very nice female courthouse employees as witness, and got married. Even if Dad couldn’t be there physically, he can check it off his now very short list of things one wants in life to see before one passes, like having grandchildren and so forth.
Today, with bidens economy our free lifestyle became no longer workable, which is a curse but turned out to have silver or perhaps even gold lining – at least in our situation.
I recently dusted off those skills I put away 20 years ago, to find that they were very much intact and in high demand at a company with small town middle American values, just 20 minutes from my front door. I now enjoy a 4 day work week, great benefits, overtime opportunities, stellar pay, and 4 weeks of vacation after 4 years, at a company who very much appreciates those skills and people who have them. I work daily now, with red blooded genuinely ‘love America’ people with views and interests I share, in a geninely ‘love America’ environment, and couldn’t be happier at how this change – a big change – has played out in and for the lives of my wife and I.
No fads for me. I buy, cook, and eat from scratch basic ingredients. Bought 10 pounds of chicken leg quarters for .69lb the other day. Yes, sixty nine cents per pound. Seasoned and baked in a dutch oven, picked the meat off, boiled the bones, and fry the skin.
The old school farm method of diet is what I do. Processed foods have unknown chemicals, more garbage, and don’t taste as good. It is easy to break down meat or vegetables, freeze or can, use basic animal fats and whole butter, and plan your meals for leftovers. Minimize processed foods and you will also save money.
Here is a basic method for cooking that is easy and results in the best flavor. lets take those chicken leg quarters, salt and pepper and brown 3 in a dutch oven, add some wine, water, chicken stock until bottom is well covered, throw in some chopped onion and garlic, add a little sage, pop the lid on and place in oven at 325 for hour and half. Let it cool if you want the meat for chicken salad or chicken stew or whatever. Put all the juicy bits in a container in fridge, scrape off the fat when cold. Pick the meat off the bones and boil them for 2 hours for stock. 2 people will get 3-4 meals from 3 leg quarters cooked this way when you add the bits to noodles or make sandwiches or stew by stretching the meat and fat with plenty of vegetables.
This method also allows you to have an hour or more for something while it cooks. If you want to pick and process the next day, fine, that is leftovers on purpose.
Everything in moderation. I’ve been pretty much the same weight for 30-40 years, don’t formally exercise but like physical activity from gardening, foraging, fishing, walking, and shoveling snow. 5-8 inches tonight by the way.
I also forage for greens, berries, wild fruit, and mushrooms. This is an activity that clears your mind and provides wholesome vitamins and flavor to your diet. Learn and go out in the woods with someone who knows and you’ll be amazed at the things you see by getting off the trails.
Speaking of cooking methods:
The Hannaford chain has frequent sales on salmon, several dollars less a pound than anywhere else where I am. My method of cooking is so easy – poaching. Water in a pan – I throw in minced garlic, ginger, and pepper – boil for 10 minutes and cut open at the largest spot to make sure it’s done. It’s always moist, never overcooked. The garlic helps keep it fresh and I love it cold in wrap sandwiches and on salads.
Yum! I’m going to try your dutch oven recipe with a whole chicken. Sounds delicious and doesn’t add salt. After reading your comments yesterday I went to the store and picked up a whole chicken for 99 cents a pound.
How do you store your broth?
Thanks for the shopping and cooking tips!
If my broth sits around longer than a day or so I freeze it. One thing about broth you can’t get from store bought is the texture. All the bones and cartilage add the gelatin’s that make soups so much better.
Thank you. 🙂 I use a lot of canned and boxed chicken broth. This will not go to waste!
I needed to find a way to help lower my blood pressure, so I stopped watching the news and tried to stay away from a lot of political stuff and that all failed. I decided to try something new to relax and set out to make one of those framed Christmas trees made of bits and pieces of vintage jewelry. My hubby and I started visiting antique malls and would buy jars or bags filled with old jewelry, hoping to find pieces for my tree. Then it led to buying 10, 20 and 30 lb boxes of old vintage jewelry on ebay. To make a long story short, I never made that tree(still plan to though😄), but have learned so much about vintage jewelry and have found some of the most interesting pieces. I’ve found old sweetheart jewelry that Soldiers would send to their girlfriends, wives or sisters, bunches of old military medals and pins. Funny things like those little round photo charms and (this is really gross) teeth, a lot of teeth which freaks me out. The sorting/untangling is relaxing and a lot of fun, which helps lower my B/P, so the jewelry tree worked even though I never made it.😃
Several years ago in a very stressful job, I found vintage glass beads……oh, what beautiful miniature works of art! That progressed to making things with beads; I gave the things away to everyone. Then I discovered vintage costume jewelry – what lovely old things! Some needed repair or replacement of missing rhinestones or pinbacks or something else. So, I learned to repair them and collected a lot of old rhinestones to have exact replacements.
When I retired, that remained one of many hobbies. If I am sad or worried, I can look at these works of art from 60-80 years ago that were created cheaply to allow us to decorate ourselves, to feel beautiful, and to enjoy the beauty that man can create. Those old costume pieces are still being copied today, a testament to the designers who created them.
I’m learning to repair vintage jewelry now. I’ve been obsessed with Uranium and Vaseline glass beads and stones. My obsession started with this strange watch face I got in a random box or costume jewelry, the watch crystal had burn marks where each number on the watch face was, so after a little research, I found out that the burn marks were caused from the uranium paint that was used to paint the numbers. It was really interesting to me and a little scary also. If you ever get a chance to read about the Uranium girls who painted watch faces, do it, their story is so interesting. The half life of the uranium dust from those old watches is 1600 years, it’s crazy.
Uranium was used in make up, skin care products and so many other things, companies claimed it gave women a healthy glow, but that glow was actually from radiation. Crazy.
I’m so excited to learn about this! Never heard about it before.
I never knew that uranium paint was used in watches either. It was used up until the late 60’s, so any watch, alarm clock or dial that glows green made before 1968, is most likely radioactive and should not be stored in your bedroom or on your nightstand. Women(Radium girls or Uranium girls) who painted the watch faces would point the tip of their paint brush with their lips, they were essentially eating uranium and ended up with a lot of health issues.
A great aunt of mine was one of those young girls. She died of leukemia in her 20s.
I kept my son’s teeth, after all I paid for every one with a quarter. Freaked him out when he got them as an adult.
Lol.
I just can’t figure out why or how they end up mixed in with vintage jewelry or buttons. Some teeth have gold caps, so maybe someone wanted to keep the gold and tossed the tooth in a jewelry box, but most are just old teeth. I was worried people were robbing graves to get jewelry and stopped buying it for a while.😄 I’ve learned to wear rubber gloves when sorting old jewelry and buttons, it can get pretty gross.
I sing in a choir.
Singing harmony is known to be one of the best things for the brain. It’s such a lovely, transcendent experience.
When the voices blend correctly there’s this tiny “buzz” that you hear, but also feel in your body.
In bluegrass jams when the harmony is strong on a number, everyone tends to drop instruments at the end and just finish with voices.
I don’t consider this a “little thing”, but I’ve been actively listening to the Joe Rogan Podcasts on Spotify in the background while I work and give the current regime more profits to pillage and mishandle.
Listening to Joe Rogan Podcast Episode # 1963 with Michael Shellenberger today – super good thus far. This episode launches discussing the Twitter file dissemination and assignment to Taibbi, Bari Weiss, and Shellenberger and how it correlates to the Mass Media and NGO Disinformation Campaign that they’ve done to other countries and how it is actively being turned and weaponized against the American people. On spotify.
Rogan is a liberal – but he’s seeing a lot of sunlight – as our wonderful Sundance reveals to us. Some folks he has on his show are liberals, some are conservatives – so it feels balanced. It has been really helpful to me to listen to “both sides” and watch how they are processing these goings on. I am a Christian conservative and I believe in a TRUE two party system for checks and balances, at the minimum. Listening to these casts solidifies my position and listening to the speakers for 2 to 3 hours is so much better than the twitter soundbites we are being spoon fed as a public to get their opinions and participation in our American collective to educate and gain our country back.
True Americans are more alike than different – the propaganda is strong and relentless and it’s full-on mind manipulation. I thank Joe Rogan for giving these diverse personalities and leaders in their chosen fields a platform and chance to express and expound themselves. You can’t get that in the news today.
I am better educated for it. Joe Rogan Podcast should be called “Ungagged”
Matt Taibbi has/is doing a remarkable job of standing strong. Naomi Wolfe did the reporting for Bannon based on the reports of a team of volunteer doctors that went through the Pfizer trial data and documents for her book the bodies of others. Both were staunch liberal Democrats. Both have been viscously attacked for standing up for American values of a free press.
Funny you should ask! In 2020 I had surgery, then an infection in the hospital. I ended up staying in the hospital bed for 3 weeks to clear the infection. When I came home I used a walker, eventually moving to a slow shuffle without the walker. (I did ride an electric cart in the grocery store.) I have been that way all these years until about 4 weeks ago.
Ta dah! Drum roll. I saw a YouTube video on HOW TO WALK. Life changing! I first started in the house. After about a week I used the walking method in the grocery store pushing my own cart. (Almost like a walker because I kept a good balance.) Last week I went to a department store shopping. (I used a push cart to carry things.) First time since my bed confinement that I had been in a department store.
Yesterday I started walking outdoors. My goal is to walk 30 minutes a day continuously without sitting down. Every time the dog wanted to go out I walked up and down the sidewalk and parking pad which is on an incline. My longest walk time was 10 minutes. I walked outside for a total of 35 minutes. Plus I did my indoor walking. Today my first outdoor walk was 12 minutes.
The walking method is that you put your foot down like landing an airplane. Heel first then toes down. Then you spring forward on your toes. I am only simi good at the spring part but it is coming. My stride is just naturally getting longer as I walk.
I thank God for putting that video under my nose and the Holy Spirit for encouraging me that I can do it.
Here is the video if you or a loved one needs help.
NC, thank you for this!!
Blessed journey.
When my dog died, I, too, stopped walking. It has been a year, and the changes in my health have been profoundly negative. I am going to take your post as an encouragement to start moving again. Thanks.
Today I increased my walk time to 14 minutes x 2. Thirty minutes is on the horizon even if the time is broken up.
Blessed travels in your new walking plan. In His name. Amen
Our beloved little dog died on Inauguration Day 2001. We planned to travel so we didn’t get another dog. In 2018 we had a surprise. We got another dog when we didn’t plan on it. He needed a home urgently. He was truly a gift from God. We didn’t know how much we needed him but he shows us God’s blessings every day.
Blessed travels in your new walking plan.
Gargle with black seed oil once a day.
My biggest thing is that I went up against the Board of Directors at my company on behalf of my team members last week. I didn’t ask for one red cent. I told them I’m tired of having to deliver bad news to all those that kill themselves for ME and the company.
The boards response was to offer me a massive bonus. I took the bonus and split it amongst my entire team. The BOD was floored. They sent emails to me about my leadership and praised me. Yet none of them did anything fiscally, such as take a piece of their millions in bonuses and give me the tiniest piece to say “here you keep this”. And that’s fine. It just let me know that I am not a fraud and they are. And I’m proud I did it. My team was over the moon with what I did. THAT was my reward.
I recall a mom and pop business somewhere in the Midwest that took great pride in its workers. The workers were stakeholders in the profits, and the company owner also shared the proceeds of the business sale.
It’s amazing how “equitable” the world can be when workers pitch in to contribute real value as stakeholders in the business. Our parents held a ‘stake’ in their jobs back in the day with profit-sharing and defined benefit pension plans to reward valued staff.
But of course that all changed drastically in the 1980’s with the 401K replacing the company pensions. The repeal of the Glass Steagall Act then removed protections for investors and led to the house of cards we’re stuck with today.
After 3.5 years of trying we secured the funding necessary to grow our business!
We are blessed to live within 30 minutes of great instructors in various disciplines. Between us, we’re taking seven different classes. I’m a lifelong learner, but it took me decades to realize my “formal education” is only marginally relevant to real life.
Success…a relative term. Victory is when the city signed our occupancy permit on the home we constructed over three years. Victory is when I finally figured out how to train my dog not to pull on the leash. Victory is when hubby and I can smoothly waltz to the entire song. Victory is when a grapevine cutting I propagated flourishes and produces fruit. Victory is when I figure out how to set up a digital wallet. Victory is when he masters a speedy piece of music with multiple meters differing from those of other sections of the orchestra. Victory is when he emerges from a battle with cancer mentally stronger and more resolved to enjoy life and do good.
After years of semi-sedentary lifestyle due to getting older and being more comfortable in “my comfort zone” at home- I got back into a lifelong passion. I used to be a professional dancer in my younger years so I decided to start taking adult tap, ballet and line dancing classes. I wasn’t particularly interested in the run of the mill Zumba class or an hour of jumping around exercise class.
I found that it motivates me to do more exercise. I love it, it keeps my brain and body working with relatively low effort. It much adds much joy to my life. I put it off for so long I wish I would have started years ago!
It gets me out of the house, I have found adult dance classes in studios when I travel and online. I am grateful that this has been made available for us ‘adults’ to participate in at all levels of skill. This didn’t use to be the case.
Anyone wanting to get up and move to great music can do it.
Mist’ears Mom…. if you take the apostrophe out of your name, I promise you, you’ll no longer get stuck in moderation.
After the death of my significant other 25 years ago, friends started taking me out into swing dancing that they were all doing at the time. I got the (positive) addiction – spent 13 years doing it.
Now I no longer dance – too much arthritis – but it improved so much lifelong – my physical balance (can’t count the number of times I’ve avoided a fall with “dance balance”), my rhythm and stage presence for my music, my jazz education. I can’t say enough good things about dancing…
Would love to hear success stories of those who have remained relevant to their post-college children’s lives. Especially on how to communicate the value and benefits of continuing to be mentored by parents.
I am relevant to my adult son’s life, not always in ways that are planned. He gives me his old stuff and borrows it back as necessary. I send him links and comments on stuff I read/videos I watch. I make suggestions on some I think are important, but I never ask and he never gives feedback. He’s very busy, so, I don’t pressure him. He decides whether he wants to read or view or not. He suggested I get T Mobile wifi instead of Spectrum and that has been a real winner. He uses my old person discount for his phones and business Internet and he pays my bills for them.
I buy clothes for his kids and books and a few toys for his children. His wife loves the clothes. I also gave her a propagated cherry tomato plant. I forgot Valentine’s this year, but I bought build it yourself Valentines boxes for the children one year and now its a big deal. Their mom brought the children over to deliver them this year. I usually attend soccer games every year.
I see them at church. Sometimes I sit with them, sometimes I don’t. I attend VBS and look for my grandchildren.
Before he was married, I was his girlfriend and marriage advisor as needed. I always actively supported his dating whomever he chose, except once. I paid for prom dinner. The once was a girl he had dated a few months and broken up with a couple of weeks. His room mate at a breakfast out made it clear to me that this young lady had keyed his car and I figured out he was still having relations with her. I told him he had to break it off completely. He listened and his next choice became his wife. So, glad he did not marry crazy. When he was dating his wife, they were together a few months and he wanted to get married, but she wanted to experience more of life. She was not ready. She was 3 or 4 years younger. I told him to respect her wishes but not to give up. Give her some space and wait. He did that and she is a total blessing to us both.
Before he got married, he had a cat. The cat stayed with me for a month due to rental issues. Easy cat to care for. Then, he took the cat with him to live at his dad’s house in DC. Then, he got married. Shortly, before their first child arrived, the cat ate a whole in the quilt or bedspread . Understandably, his wife was upset. I was concerned because clearly the cat was acting out in distress. The more I thought about this cat being around a new born, the more concerned I became and I volunteered to adopt the cat. This got everyone out of a jam and I had a new housemate. Only now the cat had behavioral issues, woke me up every morning, scratched the bedroom door. I learned a lot about cats in the next few months.
All of this was NOT supposed to happen. When his father, remarried he moved him out of state to get him away from me and they made their ten year old and older kids call the steps – mom and dad.
Adult children have already learned values from you. You must let them make their own decisions. You can provide input, emotional and physical support and an ear to listen, so, influence. You can ask for help but not demand it. There are decisions he and his wife have made, where I have just bitten my tongue and waited. Some of those they figured out that my input was good, others, I found out that their way worked. It is a balance. There is give and take. You can suggest. You can not push. When you suggest, you have to accept that their decisions may differ from what you think is best.
The only times you can take a really tough stance with them is when the big 3 come into play (prayerfully never). Those are drugs, infidelity and violence. I dealt with violence when he was young by divorcing his dad, so my son learned to lean away from corporal punishment on his own. He saw its bad fruit and made his own decisions. My son’s children are not teens yet.
It’s wonderful to hear how active you are in your son’s and grandchildren’s lives. It is also a testament to you that you are so close with your daughter-in-law.
My adult children are scattered in different states. I worry how I will connect with my future grandchildren if I am not physically close to them.
Last June I decided to pay more attention to my eating habits – rather than dieting. I was severely obese. I started with getting a share of vegetables from a local organic farm, started actually cooking, using recipes and thinking more about what I put in my body. I would also walk for a short period after every meal. Last October I added a health coach (and did this with a friend for support and cost-cutting savings :-), and with her guidance I tweaked my diet to remove some of the foods that didn’t agree with me (gluten, some dairy), moved my walking around so now I walk in the early morning and late evening, and added a bunch of water. I have lost 70 pounds since last June – and am almost to the place of “overweight” and no longer obese. My blood pressure is down, my cholesterol is down, my well-being is up, my creativity is up, and my connection to nature is being fed every day through my morning and evening walks. I was thinking this morning during my walk about “living my best life” as Sundance says – and I could say to myself, “yes, I am living my best life today.” God bless.
Awesome! Few people manage to ever lose that amount.
After 22 years in an abusive marriage and 9 years single I have found love.
I also found it, very late (both over 60), but we were, for the first time in my life, clearly meant to be.
Congratulations – it’s the very essence of Better Late Than Never!
Defeated Type 2 diabetes, and became self sufficient. They can turn off the power, the Internet, close all the banks, and stores, and I can survive.
It started when I first came here. Thank you Sundance, and God bless you, your family, and the Treepers. We are not all experts, but it is always an education.
How did you defeat type 2 diabetes.? I am on a very limited income and I struggle every month. I’m looking for employment, but not finding it yet as I’m in a rural area and I”m “overqualified” for everything.
I have read through all of your comments and they are inspirational in so many ways. One topic that is common is weight loss – excellent and keep going. I do have one useful bit of information to share and it is really simple – hot broth. It doesn’t matter what kind, choose your favorite and keep it in the fridge. Use the low sodium or unsalted. When the hangry’s start, fill a coffee mug and microwave it until hot. Then go sit down with it and sip away the hunger pangs. I discovered how well this works when I had to fast for a colonoscopy for 36 hours. I’m not sure how or why, but it convinces your body that you’ve eaten and stops the hunger. Maybe that will help, it can’t hurt because broth is very low in calories and provides a good dose of nutrients.
Yes, broth has a lot of health benefits.
Here is a good book about with many entries on broth and soup stock. It contains many interesting cultural quotes on the benefits of broth.
Nourashing Traditions – By Sally Fallon
Yes, it has great benefits!
I’m familiar with Fallon’s book. Either in her book or another place, read the longer you cook the bones in water, the more nutrients get into the broth.
Not sure, but sounds right!
Beef bones takes longer than chicken. I think when simmering on the stove you can simmer the stock between 6 to 8 hours or 8 to 12 hours… chicken and beef respectively. (just going off memory)
In later years we’ve been using an Insta Pot pressure cooker and it breaks bones and geletin down well. I have a suspicion that cooking it the longer way on the stove is probably healthier as you’re not cooking the fats at such a high temperature. I’d be interested to see a pros/cons comparison between the 2 methods.
We also add chicken feet with the whole chicken (& crack the bones) when we make chicken stock.
The farm that I buy my chicken from leaves the feet on and the gizzard, heart and liver are wrapped inside the cavity.
This much I know from my experience… meat/bone broth does fine in a pressure cooker. But the natural sugars in vegetables will darken the stock quite a bit and caramelize at the 250F temperature of a pressure cooker so I prefer a crockpot for vegetable stock due to personal taste preference.
Thanks for the tips Baileysdad ~
We usually add 2 or 3 stocks of celery (some people add onion) to the pressure cooker and sometimes a carrot but I prefer just the celery as I don’t like the taste with the carrot (probably due to the caramelizing you mentioned).
Then we might use the concentrated stock later & add it to water when making chicken/vegetable soup.
Crock pot sounds like a good idea. One benefit of the stove method I suppose is that we can scrape off the impurities that rise to the surface when simmering at low temperature.
Very nice to share what we have both learned. That’s how the Lord intended it to be. I hope you have a very peaceful evening, friend.
Thank you. Hope you have a good evening as well ~ 🙂
Thanks for your tips, too, Stillwater!
Have used both crockpot and stove.
Prefer stove since I cook in stockpot for larger quantity. Then I freeze in smaller amounts.
But, you definitely have to attend to it while using stove.
You both have motivated me to start cooking broth – again!
We have a pretty large stock pot which I haven’t used in years.
Back when we used the stock pot I found that the simmer temperature was easier to control or fine tune with an electric exposed element. The glass top was kind of tricky to control.
The gas stove/range was the most difficult as the simmer would very easily turn into a boil and I’d loose too much water when trying to cook for the required time. (Maybe I’m too picky.) Sometimes I would add boiling water to the post so I could maintain the volume. Not sure if adding this additional water after the fact affected the stock any.
Thanks for this great reminder! I used to drink beef and chicken broth every day, esp in colder months.
It does help with hunger, plus provides nutrients.
Would get beef bones from the butcher for this purpose. Need to start again!
Yes, indeed. The trace nutrients found in the bones and marrow are important too. I also put the fat and skin into the pot because many vitamins and proteins are in there as well. Then once the broth has been strained and chilled it’s easy to remove the solid layer of fat and discard it, leaving behind that broth ‘jello’ that is so nourishing and delicious. 😋 Best of all, it’s free when you already bought that chicken or roast and usually just throw away the bones and trimmings.
Would cook whole chicken and use all the meat for several meals.
Then, would cook the carcass till it crumbled. Strain and cool.
It just felt satisfying knowing that NOTHING went to waste – every bit of that bird was put to good use!
As my grandfather who lived through the Depression used to say, ‘we learned to live like a king on pennies’.
Haven’t heard that one before – but love it!
Grew up with four grandparents (and parents) who lived during the Great Depression and heard their stories. Wish they were still here, as I have more things to ask them!
But, I witnessed how that terrible situation shaped their lifestyle, many years later.
None of them, would spend money carelessly…
I am thankful to have been part of their lives. Great generation.
Amen, Miss Della. I miss mine too. Their wisdom will carry us through this mess we are in now.
It has been my pleasure to help, Miss D. I hope your evening is peaceful, healthy and happy.
You, too!
Shalom…
We drove 1800 miles over three days through hours of massive traffic jams, detours, interstate freeway traffic to get here in Miami. We had wanted to drop off several large tarps in the areas where storms ripped off roofs, but failed. So now we have them here for a few days until we head back north. Would like to find a way to donate them to those in need.
I’ve played guitar off and on for more than 50 years. I never felt like I was actually particularly good but I had fun. Somehow, the last year or so, I have actually developed the focus to play every day and followed a pattern for skill development and it has improved my play and my enjoyment immensely.
But there are three other things that make all the difference for me.
First, I have been happily married to the same wonderful woman for 45 years, nine months and one week.
Second, we live two miles from our irrepressible triplet grandkids and host them nearly every weekend for an afternoon of fun and nonsense. I told their mother that when I hang out with them, I can feel my odometer rolling back.
Third, I get down on my knees every day and thank God for what he has given me.
The best thing that happened to me in the last year is when I adopted sweet little Libby, a 4 year old black cat. The love I’m able to give to her, and the love I get back in return, makes all this tolerable. When she cuddles up with me, eyes half closed and purring her face off, all these worldly problems just fade away.
We rescued a dog a little more than a year ago so I know exactly what you mean. She still is a bit hesitant at times because she was clearly abused and beaten. But love conquers all and she will lick us to death if given the chance.
On March 31st, 2004, I took my last drink. While that little devil still reminds me of his presence from time to time, I have not found it necessary to drink since that day and I get more grateful as time goes by. I became a better husband, father, son, brother and employee. I’m also convinced it wasn’t me, it was a power far greater than I. Thanks for this opportunity to share.
This week was the happiest I’ve ever been after completing my taxes. ZERO tax liability for both federal and state.
Going Galt, as much as we can, and surviving off Social Security (not touching our retirement $….until we have to).
I refuse to feed the beast.
Is this bragging? I finished my first novel (age 34) like pulling teeth, and then taught my daughter how to write hers (age 12).
Thanks Menagerie for a wonderful question.
Love that!
I am a crafty person. I will find things on the side of the road or resale places and turn them into beautiful things. My latest project is taking apart an old cedar wardrobe and will turn it into a customized corner table to hold our tv. I cut my pieces out last night and stated sanding today. I plan to have it completed by Monday.
I find it satisfying to create something from nothing.
I hope Menagerie doesn’t mind a music post here. It’s a young Americana group called the Trishas, and this wonderful song is all about this type of reinvention.
My success is this. I have found this site. You people. This fight. Nobody sees what’s going on like the people here. THANKS. This is my success. Oh, and I can use Blender pretty good now. MAGA ‘24 and beyond. #LGB
Blessed to have survived and Thrived on Fort Myers Beach after IAN- it’s been and continues to be a Brutal battle on all fronts -new right away I had to be sure to endure for 100 days – couldn’t get hurt ,Waver or Fail , helping others while one is without is very gratifying as is being in it with others (neighbors) .we are in our home Enjoying Gods Creation – SWFLA
#FMB since Thanksgiving
-Many Miracles daily
I lost another pound. I did a 3 day fast and lost 6, but that was 2 weeks ago. Then, 2 came back when I ate cantaloupe, drank some wine. Those dropped off when I curtailed the carbs and this is moving down again. I will be doing another fast because it took 3 full days for ketones to show up on the urine strips and blood test. It’s a great way to reset one’s insulin sensitivity.
I built a chicken tractor (big) out of PVC. I haven’t figured out the door for it yet. Ordered stainless steel zip ties from Amazon. Was going to buy hardware cloth at Home Depot but the car battery died. I have to wait until Monday for a jump.
Put together the nesting box I ordered off Amazon, but its shy 2 bolts and a nut and I can’t go to True Value for the same reason as above yet. Cut myself a few times putting it together but only one screw was very difficult. It’s well made.
I am NOT mechanically inclined. These were both tough for me. However, I was eventually able to decipher the instructions for the nesting box.
Had a fruit tree planted in January and it is thriving as is my vertical planter garden. Finally, the bell peppers I planted from seeds are fruiting in quantity now. I bought those peppers a year ago from Publics and planted some of the seeds. I am thrilled, I had quit buying them due to expense. I have had 5 and a few are still on the plants. Plus, I saved seeds and planted red, yellow and orange peppers that are getting big but not old enough to fruit. My 2 hot peppers I bought as plants from Walmart and they have been prolific from the get go, I have too many.
My cherry tomato has started fruiting for the third time. My cucumber has two fruit that are large pickle size. I am looking forward to eating them with peels like I did before they waxed them. I keep killing the dill, but the basil propagation worked. I will plant it in the herb box next time and baby it. The butternut squash (2) have taken over one vertical planter and have many fruits. The squash I planted with the cucumber in the ground have no fruit. I trellised the cucumber but not the squash. I planted a couple of spaghetti squash, took the seeds from a store bought squash. Will be interesting to see how they fare in the planters.
The lettuce and kale are prolific. Some are ready to bolt cause Florida is getting hot. I love it when seedlings sprout. It’s like they become my babies. Then, when I go outside in the sun to prune, to harvest it makes me feel happy. The 2 lemon grass I propagated then planted in a long row across the front of the house are tall and healthy. This is my 3rd garden in my life and my most successful. I am to the point where I can make a salad a day out of my garden, some days with bell peppers and some days with tomatoes. Took about a year after moving in.
I was planning on making raised beds out of cinder block, I will still do that. But I have to pull the plastic from the backyard edging first because it attracts ants. I moved up plans for a chicken tractor so they can help with the weeding and fertilizing instead. Glad I did because prices are going up.
My worms are happy and reproducing. But, I went ahead and ordered some ready made castings because I started with only 100 worms (500 is usually the minimum) and it will be a year before I have a couple yards of castings. I have the ingredients to make vermiculture extract with biochar to improve my soil in and out of raised beds. I have not made it yet. Will need it for raised beds.
Everything will be on hold next week for taxes. I haven’t done them in a decade, 2012 to be exact. Not looking forward to the process.
Number 1 is put it in a sunny place. Number 2 is don’t over or under water. Number 3 is fertilize every 2 weeks. Most plants produce more if you prune them but you do not have to. Plants with heavy fruits benefit from trellising but it is not required.
Every plant type is different, but most want lots of sun, water and fertilizer to give you big gorgeous fruits or leaves.
Transplanting from Walmart or a nursery is fastest and easiest. Second is propagating from an existing plant. Hardest is seeds. I have had failures and successes in all 3 types of attempts. Some seeds need weeks to germinate. Some propagations or transplants require a couple of weeks to take. If they get too much or too little water they may die. If they get too much sun (Florida) they may die. When they die, I use them as mulch and try a different method to grow the next attempt.
Free seeds come from the produce you bring home. However, hybrid varieties do not sprout true to type. Google to find out.
Beans, squash and cucumbers are big and fast. Bell peppers and tomatoes from seed take months.
Plant what you like to eat that grows in your climate. I do not have to deal with winter just hurricanes. Everything grows in Florida except spinach. Some things drown and some things get burnt and everything has a bug that eats it.
I was sitting on the porch today and looked down the street, I saw my neighbor struggling to put debris into those flimsy paper recycling bags. So I took off my slippers, and put on my crocks and went down and held the bag open for her. We had a nice talk about how it was when we were growing up. How everyone knew each other, and helped each other. How we looked out for our elders. Just two humans connecting with each other.
Seven weeks ago I had to take my sweet, brilliant, naughty boy out of school, due to the fact that he was failing the 5th grade. The worst of it was that it didn’t bother him a bit that he was flunking. After endless hours of yelling, coercion, threatening and bribing made NO DIFFERENCE whatsoever, I finally decided to send him to my mother’s, so that I could go back to work. (I am a single mother and sole supporter of our family.) Well, the penny finally dropped! He kicked it into gear, got caught up on all of his work and earned his way back to school! He returns on Monday. Thank God almighty that we both survived and still enjoy one another’s company.
Indimex, just wanted to encourage that God will see you and your son through- no matter what!
He will always be there for you. It’s hard for all parents nowadays, especially those single.
Keep faith in the Lord God. And I pray for your son to prosper in school and in all he does.
🌷🙏🏻🌷
Consequences always teach. As exhausting as it is now, every minute you spend working/playing with him now pays serious dividends when they are older and he doesn’t have a drug problem or a pregnant girlfriend. They learn a lot about how to live by our examples.
One little success to share – I just celebrated my one-year anniversary writing a healthy recipe column on Substack called Recipes Made Healthy by Darlene Zimmerman, MS, RD (https://recipesmadehealthy.substack.com).
For nearly two decades, I wrote a weekly recipe and healthy living column for a major newspaper. I decided to venture out on my own and created Recipes Made Healthy.
If you’re looking for healthier recipes, I hope you’ll visit my site. Subscribing, which is totally free, just means you’ll get a recipe delivered to your inbox each week.
As a registered dietitian, one thing I know for sure is that eating healthfully doesn’t mean sacrificing taste. My hope is that this site will inspire you to cook well, eat well,
and live well.
Thank you, Darlene! Always interested in healthy eating WITH flavor! Sometimes an oxymoron, right!
Off to check your delicious recipes!
🌷🌷
Thanks Miss.Della.B. Hope you find some recipes you like 😊.
Retired Magistrate here: About 7 years ago I started painting again; I hadn’t done much artwork for about 40 years, didn’t have the time.
Now I paint with acrylics: portraits, landscapes, animals, buildings, etc. It is very relaxing and rewarding. Have been blessed to have won some awards, but what I really enjoy is giving most of my work away to people that are having a difficult time either due to health, emotional or financial issues. My work is very colorful and cheerful and makes people happy. I walk every day and get inspiration from nature. Sometimes, if the weather cooperates, I do battle with the bugs and paint outside. It is a challenge; I have to paint fast to catch the light because it shifts so quickly.
If you haven’t tried painting, try it. Craft stores will have sales on 5 packs of canvas and you can get a beginners paint set very inexpensively. No, your first attempts will leave a lot to be desired, but just keep on painting. The more you paint the better you get. You can also watch videos on how to paint on U-Tube. Happy painting!
I’ve logged over 2000 phone calls (not that difficult with today’s technology) in support of Justice Dan Kelly’s reelection campaign for WI Supreme Court. I also helped nearly beat Robin Vos, WI Assembly Speaker, this past fall. Gradually, I’m becoming an effective activist and feel like no more than 100 committed households per Assembly district (20,000 voters) could run pretty much every local election.
The fat old bat went on the OMAD (One Meal A Day) diet six weeks ago. One simply eats one meal a day of whatever one wants (even including a sugary desert) followed by fasting until the next day. The bat lost 29 pounds!!!
set aside two hours a week to do something for someone else. It doesn’t matter what it is that you do, just show that you care and want to make them happy.
I’m sure we all do this instinctively for our own families…but look outwards…look for a way to make someone else smile.
I have new neighbors. Two kids. Both parents work. One former military and the other a school teacher.
so that’s my weekly two hours. Making new friends. Inviting people to my church and making sure they know they have a reliable friend.
it doesn’t take much effort. The relationship and friendship is the reward.
God Bless America
Encouraging and inspiring. Thank you.
🌷🙏🏻🌷
I Thank everyone for sharing their inspiring triumphs and successes. This is what I feel good about accomplishing…
“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world.
Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” –Rumi
I changed myself from an in-agony pessimist into a Joyful optimist with EFT {Emotional Freedom Technique
( emofree.com AND eftuniverse.com )} and the general umbrella of
alternative & energy medicine/natural healing methods.
I was programmed very early – since gestation; beginning with discovery trauma – to expect & accept pain & rejection, so I can vouch for the Truth of the universal Law that states: “That which is like unto itself is drawn.” Or, stated another way…
“Everything is energy and that’s all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want ((or feel/expect)) and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics.” ~ Albert Einstein
My earliest traumas were inflicted by the religion my people ascribed, adhered, and were loyal to, so I escaped & stayed away from “church”… couldn’t even think the word ‘God’ without feeling revulsion… and one bad/painful (both physical & emotional) thing after another continued to occur & plague me; until I was educated on Natural Law – God’s Law – in mid-life.
Once I came to understand that deep & ongoing programming – the deliberate perversion/inversion of God’s Love by committing heinous acts, in the name of God, on an innocent Child of God – I began developing my Spiritual life & relationship with God our Creator. He led me first to alternative/natural healing then quickly to the EFT work, and it was astonishingly helpful from the first minute; it has allowed me to heal deep trauma & emotional scars & inner obstacles to a functional life that I couldn’t even see before, much less neutralize. I attracted many abusive relationships and much pain & confusion/self-sabotage situations by being out-of-alignment with understanding my own Truth & Natural Law. I came to understand by Grace; I was inspired to ask 3 questions: Why am I like this? What happened to me? How can I heal myself?
“Ask and it is Given; knock and the door will be opened.”
I’m still alive, and authentically connected to The Almighty, because the “weird, crackpot, mainstream-derided” alt-med & EFT+ work allowed me to heal deep Spiritual, emotional, & mental wounds from complex trauma that were totally out-of-reach by other methods of “medicine” & “health care”. Had I gone there for ‘help’ I’d have been diagnosed with “mental illness” & been a captive of pHARMakeia. In Truth, trauma & complex Trauma is the cause of every “mental illness” that has been designated for diagnosis & proffered for profit.
The silver lining of my very early/developmental period of ongoing mis-&-maltreatment/programming (complex trauma in the language of astutely aware, True, contemporary healers) is: high sensitivity to recognizing harmful things/situations + deep skepticism for “official authority”, + openness to solutions that work (accepted/sanctioned or not) + willingness to embrace – and a compulsive curiosity toward – what’s ‘outside the box’ & to search for what does work in all categories (Permaculture = personal/local/international food security) + following Guidance to study things that really matter in life (health, birth, Spirituality, Truth, etc.) + feeling inspired to deliberately look for & recognize Beauty, Truth, Love, and to deeply appreciate them, big & small, wherever & whenever + learning how to pray effectively + when severely tested later in life, being now able to rise to the challenge & overcome by using what I’ve learned + successfully demonstrating the ability to create win-win-win circumstances for myself & others+ I still believe in Loving relationship (even though relationships that matter, at various times, have been Bigly challenging for me) + knowing I’m a work in progress & feeling inspired to continue healing & learning all I can to benefit myself & others + feeling genuine optimism.
So… little outwardly-apparent success in the worldly realm I admit… it’s taken all my energy strength & fortitude to do this inside job through time… my biggest Earthly accomplishment is staying above ground & vertical … and I’m OK with that too.
I think I was brought to my knees by life, because I was literally disabled from going there (to relate with God) willingly at the beginning by dark forces pretending to be God; God Almighty has been on my side though, & waited for me to ask to show me clear direction; and has helped me as I’ve helped myself as directed. I believe that is what’s happening to our Nation’s citizens now – being brought to our knees because not enough of US have been willing to go there of our own accord for so long. This is definitely a defining time for US… I believe it’s a near-death experience for our country (anybody ever had one? I have, & this feels like that);
I also believe we can & will come back to Life by the Grace of God. We do have to ask & follow His Guidance, and there is a period when all seems lost; we may well be approaching that now.
I’m praying on behalf of all US/Humanity repentance & beseeching that Divine Guidance for the actions to claim Victory in the Name of Almighty God.
My Country Tis of Thee
Home Free – My Country ‘Tis of Thee
Instead of spending time worrying about the themes the news companies choose, I have spent more time studying my faith and praying.
Additionally, I began focusing on my home and my health. My husband and I have finished redoing our kitchen. We are working on creating a home environment that is a sanctuary for family and friends.
Since November, I have lost 36 pounds, nearly half of my goal.
While I keep up with the world, I have made a conscious choice to live in this world but not be of this world.
I have very little control when it comes to the oligarchs, the elite, the uniparty, banana republic actions, billionaires, WHO, big pharma, or the myriad other dark forces, so I live well my small life.
And I often say when worry tries to creep in, “But, God!” God showed up for Esther, He showed up in Egypt, He will show up today. I trust Him implicitly. Remind yourself who He is everyday.
This is it – you got it, LB!
Striving for this, too.
Either live in worry and misery – or peace and grace..
We have a choice. You chose best!
🌷🌷
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galations 5:22-23 Amen
I’ve lost 15 lbs in 10 wks. Started seeing a functional medicine specialist. Learning what to do to improve my health without drugs. Like a lot of us, I’m done with allopathic medicine. So I’m taking matters in my own hands.
I’ve found a lot of good info on this site: https://www.gardenbetty.com/the-blog/
I found it when looking for instructions on using the Florida Weave trellis method for tomato plants and found lots of other helpful ways to garden. I don’t keep chickens but she has tips for that too.
I also like her fermenting recipes such as ruby kraut, kimchi and salsa. One that I plan to try soon is a fermented rice (or wheat) bran bed for pickling (look in the fermenting and pickling section).
There are recipes for homemade vitamin water that’s useful for fasting but be careful with adding fruit since it can break a fast (sugar content). Substitute citrus peels or add some spruce tips (citrus flavor). https://www.gardenbetty.com/homemade-vitamin-water/ I like to add trace minerals like ConcenTrace Minerals too.
Pretty soon conifers will be putting out new growth spruce tips and these can be gathered and frozen or dried. Try peeling off the brown husk while picking them and eating a few. You can make a syrup with them (simmer with sugar or honey and water or just layer with brown sugar in a jar for a couple of weeks), a liqueur (chop and macerate in vodka or gin) or an oxymel (layer with lemon, ginger, mint, add some honey and apple cider vinegar, let steep for a few weeks, strain and mix with water for a tonic). Classic use is in tea (pine needles work too), about 1 oz. dried to 1 qt. water in crockpot on high for a few hours.
There’s lots of info online, just search for forage conifers or spruce tips. Conifers are full of vitamin C, potassium, magnesium and chlorophyll. Warning: be sure you identify what you’re foraging, check pictures online because YEW must be avoided, it’s very poisonous.
I forgot to say thanks for this thread, Menagerie, and thanks to everyone for the tips and inspiration!
I’m a single mother of a grown son. I bought my first house in 2007 after saving for several years for a down payment. I was at the right place and the right time, it was a definite ‘God’ thing as my son would say. Shortly after we moved in, he at 15, started down a path of addiction for the next 15 years that nearly killed both of us. I’ve learned much grace during this time and though life isn’t perfect, we’re in a place of peace at the moment. He still struggles and I still give the reins to God. I no longer sweat the small stuff. Oh, and I paid off my house in December as a Christmas present to myself. 🙂
Watching your child go through addiction is the most painful thing Ive ever experienced. It tears at your heart and consumes your life. So glad your house is paid off and you two are in a better situation- I hope it continues to get better!
I was working crummy jobs for low pay, as I had dropped out of college some years before, and living in shabby, cheap, city apartments . I had two failed marriages, one abusive, behind me. Then at 36, I met someone totally unlike my usual type (musicians!), kind and decent– and as a bonus, I found out he was brilliant and a “seeker,” like me.
We went back to school together in mid-life, up in the Cafornia redwoods. I earned a B.A. in journalism and another in English, minoring in social studies, while he earned his degree in social studies. Then we stayed on and earned graduate degrees, the Ed.S, in special education. We went on to teach disabled kids for years after that and became homeowners, something I had only dreamed of when younger.
I’m retired now; he’s still teaching. We left the city and the West Coast behind long ago and returned to the Heartland. Now we live in the country on ten acres in a 4-bedroom house. We board horses (and a donkey) and have lots of furry friends, our own, and the ones that come around to visit (cats). We love animals and traditional American values, although we were both lefties when we were younger. Teaching in the inner city will do that for you. (MAGA to the core now.)
The first half of my life was completely different from what the second half is shaping up to be. As a nice bonus, after gaining and losing weight over and over all my life, I lost 60 pounds about five years ago, and this time, have kept it off.
The bad part, of course — what we all feel — is that we are now going through a time of spiritual darkness that none of us ever, ever thought would come in our lifetime. Hey, we’re Americans– our country will always be here and always be strong! We never thought the evil that lay dormant for 100 years would reappear while we were still living; that’s something only found in history books, right? Oh, and in “1984” — turns out Orwell was…well, prescient doesn’t begin to cover it.
I was born just after the last evil time in America (used to wonder “Why did the Germans let it happen?” After covid, I don’t ask that anymore.) All I ever knew was a strong and prosperous America, beginning with the last two years of Truman’s presidency.
Now I see that the cycle that comes around every 80-100 years, the 4th Turning, as it were, is here again… and that we will not escape it. It seems now that everything changed when the planes crashed into the WTC on 9-11. I tried to tell everyone I knew that obama was not what he appeared, but they were all caught up in the excitement. (“Isn’t it great, a woman and a black man running?” they would say, and I would say, “Yes, but look at who they are!”)
So here I am, late on a windy Friday night, after my Chunky Monkey (yep, still indulging, but intermittent fasting works!) and a bracing conversation in which we solved most of the problems in the world, me and the Dude of the House…getting ready to give “the fellas” (cats) their night snacks and head off to bed.
Counting my blessings, thanking God, praying for our president-in-exile and his family… and for our country, asking that God please help us to see a way out of this, to give us the strength to deal with the daily hate thrown our way by the democrats, and to bless and lovingly heal the families of the martyred in Nashville .
So…bless all the Treepers and thank you for the wisdom and hope you have given us both the past several years. I fear that we may be living in the last days of this beautiful country, and it breaks my heart. I can only hope that a few years from now, we’ll all be writing again, remembering this night… and how we all gave each other the hope we needed to make it through these dark days….
…and that by then, we will all be stepping confidently into a new future already brightening as it will be the first few shining months of PDT45-46-47’s brand new term…for him and the morally strong VP by his side, Kari Lake.
(I won’t even ask that a good number of people be in prison, though that would certainly put a nice finish on it all!)
My daughter’s very first words as a baby were “Chunky Monkey.” Ice cream can certainly be a powerful motivator!
I have done cardio exercise 6 days a week since the start of 2023. I haven’t lost any of the 5 pounds I need to shed, but I know it’s doing good things for my heart, blood pressure, and cholesterol…the important stuff!
Free Christian movies are being shown at the Vision Max Cinema, Salisbury, Massachusetts. April 1& 2 and April 6 to April 9.
There will be six full length movies shown for a total of 28 screenings. Bring your family and friends
Jordan Peterson said “Never underestimate the power of small steps toward your goal.”
Developed severe heartburn that even interfered with my sleep.
Tried Tums, baking soda, sleeping with a wedge pillow, all of which only helped a little.
Saw a Youtube video with Dr. Berg on digestive enzymes.
Evidently as we age the digestive system creates too little stomach acid.
The esophageal sphincter needs a certain high level of acidity to close properly. Too little and it won’t close tightly, so the acid creeps up the esophagus. Hence heartburn.
I increased the stomach’s acidity with digestive enzymes and that solved the problem for me! Found them at a local health food store.
Is the following of interest ?? olde reb
********************************
THE 16TH AMENDMENT COUP
The Citizens have lost control to prevent confiscation of the wealth of the nation by nefarious actors. The scheme of the income tax, allowed to be arbitrarily escalated by corrupt politicians/financiers since 1913, is the harbinger of the destruction of our society. The 16th Amendment abrogated Sovereignty of the Citizens — A Sovereign has immunity from taxation by a subordinate political power — and established an uncontrollable tyranny of corrupt bureaucrats and financiers. The coup is pervasive in today’s society. The Amendment negates the restrictive conditions on Direct and Indirect taxes established by the Founding Fathers.
If a government has political power to impose a tax, it has the power to confiscate 100% of the assets of the taxed object. “Unreasonable” is not a judicial consideration to a tax; the power to tax is the power to destroy. If an income tax on Citizens exists (assuming one exists —which conspiracy theorists deny), the U.S. government can impose slavery on the citizens. (think 87,000 new, armed, IRS agents). Slavery is illegal in the U.S.
In addition to the Amendment’s clear violation of a Republican Sovereign Citizen’s Right to be free of taxation, other Constitutional Rights are improperly infringed by the income tax. Liberty of the Citizens, as enshrined in the 5th and 14th Amendments as a Right, has been judicially recognized to include the Pursuit of a Livelihood. Ref. 16A Am Jur 2nd Constitutional Law §616, 617. Such Rights, similar to the Right to a Trial by Jury, are not subject to taxation or fee. If it were otherwise, they could be taxed out of existence.
The Amendment was a Coup that must be corrected. An Income Tax on Citizens — in a Republic — is unconstitutional. Ref: Constitution, Article IV, Section 4.
NO COURT HAS JURISDICTION TO IMPOSE OR ENFORCE A COUP !! It would violate their Oath of Office.
******************
It is suggested that a coalition of States would have the resources to demand a court challenge to the coup. VIVA !!! MAGNA CARTA !!!