Comments On Article: Peek Week Is Back!

If you would like to share your comments for article Peek Week is Back!, this is where to do it! 

Click the Reply To This Topic button below to post yours.

Yay! I spent the entire day  today working on prepping the garden beds, washing the windows inside and out, weeding and fertilizing the plants, moving some survivors to where some didn't make it through winter and my downtime was spent starting at the beginning, re reading your blog posts!  I get a bunch of comfort from them as well as learn something. I tend to someone who enjoys getting things done myself if at all possible and love the feeling of a day's hard work (and night as I work 3-1130pm full time). I am always analyzing how to do things better and more the old school way and really enjoy doing so. I am going to teach myself how to re concrete my sidewalk as it wasn't done properly by the professionals when I purchased the house apparently! I agree, it's getting beyond my ability to fathom what is going on in the world at this point. I no longer listen to news and if I watch TV, it's brit box shows. I am fully aware of the possibilities of current events and don't have my head in the sand. What I can control is preparing myself to sustain my life and help my kids and mom. So, I do what I can control. I saw this coming in November. I am here to love others, help when i can, do what I can to live a simple life and appreciate what I have. I have found that with having a full time job,two part time jobs, caring for my mom and her home as well as all the care and maintenance on my home, there is no time to sit on the  phone and doom scroll. I do notice I tend to be one who enjoys moving and doing and in downtime I enjoy doing something where I am learning, like re reading your posts!!  I think these phones have been the downfall of productivity and actual accomplishments, giving users a false sense of time. I see the much younger coworkers (I am 55) complaining non stop about time, jumping at the first chance of voluntary time off, and find out it's to go watch tv or sit on the phone and do nothing. I am glad I taught my children down time is important but not the better part of your day. Pay attention to how much time you are on your phones and use your time wisely. They are very goal oriented and successful hard workers but still have social lives, it can be done! 

Question! I have wanted to ask and kept forgetting! Are any of Madge's kitties still with you? I know the oldest (?) one passed but don't remember seeing anything about the other. 

Thanks for the great site, I love re reading them and gleaning ideas. 

I don't know what I would do without your wisdom and encouragement, Grandma Donna. My husband and I have been so worried lately. Worried that he might lose his job in the economic upheaval, and we are not ready for that! 

We have done well with our garden. That's one bright spot. This year I am letting some radishes go to seed and we got some Southern cream peas to save seed from. It took us awhile to find varieties we like of things and that grow well here, but I think we've got all of them now. We did buy a few strawberry plants early this year, but we'll use the runners to expand the bed from now on. 

Our electricity is cheaper after 10pm and before 6am, so we've been doing laundry between those hours, and some cooking ahead, and charging phones, and anything else we can think of. We have a small solar generator that we use if we want to watch TV. It also runs the living room lamp. We're still working on only using the car once a week. Our meals are getting simpler and simpler. 

We don't have enough money put away to get through a depression. We have some dental work that we're getting done this year and then we won't have to worry about that or if we still have dental insurance or not. But we need the whole year to get through all the procedures. It's things like that that eat up money that could go to savings. We have a small amount of investment. If the market doesn't completely collapse, it would provide enough money to pay the property taxes and insurance. But our mortgage won't be paid off for another two years. So I just need a little more time to pay things off and put more money away. We're cutting all of our expenses down as far as we can to try and make it in time before something happens. 

And I love the Peek Week and new direction of the blog. I still have my money can on my kitchen counter from the last depression study. We use it a lot to count out change for what we need. A new old way we have of buying is using our credit card for purchases or payments (we leave the money in the bank, it's not really credit) so we can get Amazon points and get things from Amazon with the points. 

Your posts always brighten my day! These are trying times, indeed. We've watched our retirement diminish in a matter of days, and now my son's Medicaid account is under review. I can't lie, I'm terrified of our future stability as a family. I try to find solace in reading library books and taking walks in the woods. 

My daughter, who is taking horticulture in high school, is helping me with a little garden out back. Not much since we will buy from our local farm stand this summer. But, anything helps at this point!

Your posts on economizing and prioritizing the home are truly helping my balance my emotional state and help me surge ahead. Thank you!

A whole week of posts from you is just the boost I need! I'm feeling adrift, too, and trying to find solace in the ordinary stuff of life. Taking stock and reassessing what we need to focus on.

It's lovely to see your garden in full bloom. I'm in the Chicago area, so we're a good two months behind you, but I've been diligently prepping beds, tidying, and planning. We have a three year old, so our beds have been a bit neglected aside from some tomatoes and herbs the past few years. I'm looking forward to getting reacquainted with my garden. There's nothing like getting your hands dirty in the sunshine to take your mind off things!

It is so true what you said about people today not having the skills to survive another depression.  When I read blogs/vlogs about something as simple as saving money on food, I have to laugh about some of the ideas.  I'd have to spend a lot more to "save" as they do!!  As long as people believe opening a box or package of food and heating it at home is cooking dinner, I have little hope for them surviving hard times.

Sewing on a button is an unknown skill for the vast majority let alone making a garment.  And specially making a garment from a thrifted garment.  Somewhere I have a very old Extension Service booklet on remaking garments into new garments.  I've done so many times.  I once found some HUGE garments at a thrift store.  A floor length knit dress became slacks for my two dd's with enough left over for a pair of shorts.  A nightgown became a crib sheet and a half dozen bibs.  

Speaking of buttons, how many people today have a button box where they've saved buttons from discarded garments?  I inherited my grandmother's button box and have many jars of my own buttons organized by color.  I've purchased shirts at thrift shops minus a button and added a button and wore the shirt.  People actually discard a shirt due to lack of a button or an open seam both easy fixes.  

And mothers who cannot comprehend using cloth diapers while complaining about being broke.   I used cloth diapers for 7 and washed them by hand for #1, used a wringer washer for #2 and #3 and automatic washer for the other 4.  Sometimes had a dryer but mostly used a clothesline.  Good disposable diapers were available for the last 5 and I used them when away from home but at home it was cloth 100% of the time.  The amount of money saved was substantial.

Hi Donna , I love your new blog content . It makes so much sense in today’s world and it makes me feel calm reading it . It’s like a gentle long breath exhale . Everything I read makes sense and it seems sometimes like you can read my mind ! You’re way ahead of me with everything but I’m getting there . Between reading your posts and Rhonda H. Posts , I feel the world will be ok xo 

Grandma Donna Wrote,  Just to let you all know, I will be answering any questions in the Peek Week in the next days blog post.  Michelle, I will answer your question in the Wednesday post.  :) I am happy to see you all.  :)

I love your writing and am slowly making my way through all the topics. I’m so glad to hear you’ll be doing a post a day 

I’ve always gardened and saved seeds (grandparents bought a 250 acre farm when they retired at 65) and this year I’m stepping it up more.  I’m going to take some of your tips and line dry laundry. I already try to conserve electric and heat as much as possible. Utility prices are as crazy as grocery prices. 

I had to smile at above comment about people not knowing how to sew buttons. I work in a big law firm with lots of young attorneys. They send their shirts out for laundry and many times the buttons get broken. I am now the “button girl” and I charge them $1.00 per button ($2.00 if I have to sew button on while they’re wearing the shirt…as in they’re due in court and realize they’re shirt a button).  They all got big sign up bonuses so I don’t feel bad charging them. ????

Anyway… Thank you for so many informative posts. Please don’t stop! 

Maddie M -- I am so impressed! You not only use your skill to save money, but you make money too! I love to line dry. I wash early in the morning to beat the 6am deadline when my rates go up, and then I have the pleasure of hanging my laundry while the birds sing to me. 

I am so happy to see a new post! 

We feel a lot the same as you about the times we are living in.  So many echos of the past.  I try really hard not to dwell on it and just do whatever I can do to be as prepared as I can be.

I am really impressed by how much you and Charles get done.  The fences and replanting your front lawn, rearranging your garden and creating the paths in the back!  That is one thing we need to do here.  Prioritize things that will benefit us at home in the future.  One of the things I would like to try is fencing part of the yard ourselves.  An area for a garden and the dogs.  I grow in containers, but the deer are aggressive and eat everything!   They have lost a lot of their habitat and roam through the neighborhoods.  My husband says to find someone to do it, but I think if we read up on it and take it slow we can try to do it ourselves.  I noticed in the picture of the front of your house that it appears that you have some kind of fence panels?  The black framed fencing on the other side of the big tree.  What it that product?

What kind of mulch is that on your walking paths?  Wood shavings?

I used to sew and create a lot of things, but got out of the habit over the years.  Tomorrow I'm going to the thrift shop to look for a sewing cabinet, one of those things that the sewing machine folds into.  It would be better to have a dedicated space to sew and a cabinet to tuck the machine in then to haul it out of the closet and down to the kitchen table to sew.  I have a few projects lined up.  Thankfully I have a lot of sewing supplies of my own and from my mom.   I was just thinking the other day where will I get patterns in the future?  Joann's closing all their stores has left a huge gap for crafters.  I don't even know where I can get thread!  Maybe the thrift shop?

The picture of the little girl on the bike with her cat is adorable.  Is that you?  Your Mom?  The Cedar Waxwing is lovely.  I've seen pictures of them but never one up close.  

Have a good week ahead, Donna!

Grandma Donna, I am so pleased you are posting more often this week! I find myself spending more and more time on your blog trying to navigate a way forward. It is such a terrific resource and your wealth of knowledge is invaluable. I appreciate you so much.

I really think simplifying our lives is the best way forward. Sometimes we need to take a step back and look at what we did before compared to now. We noticed we haven't saved as much as we could have this month so spending less will be our focus for the month of May. I'll keep all of our receipts so we can see what we can do better on next time. 

I really liked the look of the crochet dishcloth you had from your 1940 study last year. Nice and light and not too large. It inspired me to find a vintage style pattern to make some dishcloths of my own. Please  excuse my crochet work, I'm a bit rusty. The cotton yarn was on sale for $3.60 a ball and I can make two dishcloths per ball of yarn, which I thought was really economical. I should have enough to make one for each day of the week. 

Thankyou Grandma Donna for the latest post. It's amazing how much you and Charles have achieved.

I have been thinking lately about the legacy of my grandparents, part of which is skills they taught me such as sewing, baking and growing vegetables.

That legacy is mine to maintain and pass on to the next generation and I'm glad this forum highlights the value of those basic skills.

I think it kind of skipped a generation with my own parents, who ran their own businesses and, as Baby Boomers, were encouraged to be dutiful Consumers.

I recently made a skirt for my daughter, using the drafting and sewing skills passed on by my Granny. She made a lot of my clothes when I was little.

I spent a lot of time standing still on the table in half-finished dresses, having hems pinned and seams adjusted!

In addition to choosing quality fabric, she would be sure to include wide seam allowances and long hem allowances, so that garments would wear well and could be altered to fit if needed.

Linings, and careful laundering and storage also extend the life of clothing.

Something I learned from my own parents was to look after your shoes. We were never allowed to go out with scuffed shoes; polishing the leather was part of the daily routine.

Then, if the soles or heels wear down, they can be repaired. Not that cheaply, but still for less than the cost of a new pair. And they can be passed on to others in due course.

We were taught that it was a privilege to have warm, well-fitting shoes, and that we should appreciate them.

I just wanted to pop in and say your garden looks so lovely, very interesting and I'm sure it would be fun to walk those paths. 

Many blessings to you both ~ Linda

An enjoyable and inspiring post.

This week I have been thrifty by filling the oven when I cooked the Sunday pot roast. I saved the mincemeat and marmalade jars and rinsed them with hot tea which I used to soak the dried fruit for a tea loaf, (bara brith recipe from Wales.) I eked out the dried fruit with grated apple, one of our stored apples from September.

Dinner has been tasty leftovers, a little meat and plenty of vegetables. I shall simmer the bones for stock and make enough soup for three days.

DH made the bread in the breadmaker, real bread for less than the price of the supermarket’s cheapest stuff. He makes our daily kefir too.

I have checked the weather forecast and left the laundry a day, to dry it in the garden. We use homemade laundry liquid

The hens have laid 16 eggs. 

I have read my library books and reserved one instead of buying a copy. It costs nothing, I can be patient.

I am always delighted to see a post from you and so happy that you will be posting each day for a week. 

I have learnt a lot from reading your blog and it is wonderful that you share so much knowledge to help others,

Thank you for all you do.

Good morning, Grandma Donna! I always check to see if there is a new post from you, and I am delighted to find that you will posting all week long.  Thank you for all the time and effort you put into this blog. It is so appreciated!

We are gearing up to plant more seeds and plants in our raised beds and containers than we ever have before. My husband works part time (semi-retired) and I work full time (2 days at the office and 3 days from home), so we are busy, but we want to grow more of our food. We will be growing herbs, tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, green beans, beets, cabbage, lettuce, and kale. We are eating more plant foods and less animal foods which is so much cheaper, plus we feel better.

I have also moved my grandma's sewing machine with cabinet and supplies to the spare room. It will make sewing and mending much easier. It has been a long time since I've sewed anything. My first project will be making some cloth napkins for our everyday use.

Grandma Donna Wrote,  this forum is becoming a library of wonderful information from all of you all over the world here.  We are learning so much from each other.  We can see patterns of how each country does things and how similar we are as well. Many of you have good habits learned from those before us such as stretching our food and no waste in soups, keeping our shoes maintained, knitting washcloths, sewing with consideration of size changes.  Sewing something new from old clothing, finding ways to save electricity, gardening, and reassessing  which is so very important.  I will also do replies in the peek week posts this week.  Grandma Donna

This is for Debbie (in PA). 

Like you I am wonder where I will get things now that Joann's is closing.  We have a Hobby Lobby that has material and thread, but no patterns.  There is an online store Connecting Threads that has cotton fabrics for quilting and also a large variety of threads and other sewing needs.  They do not have patterns for clothes but for quilts and a few other things.  I have bought fabric and thread from them and I have received good quality items.  Lots of colors in the threads.  They do run sales including thread.   If you find a place to buy clothes patterns please put it in the comments.

Like others, I'm lamenting the closing of JoAnns, but I do buy some fabric, thread and notions online.  I used to sew clothing, but patterns and material got so expensive, I stopped.  However, I'd like to find a couple of simple patterns - a skirt, a top, a dress, maybe - that I wouldn't mind making several times.  I detest patterns with multiple sizes on one pattern, but it seems I'm stuck with them, unless someone can tell me where I can get patterns that aren't printed that way.  I'm slowly getting back into sewing and look forward to sewing even more when I retire.  

I'm also moving my edible plants to the back yard.  I will have some in the front still, because some don't transplant well, but as much as I can is going to the back.  It will be much easier to maintain them that way.  

Even more than vegetables, I'm focusing on things that last anywhere from several years to a very long time, such as grapes, berries, citrus, etc.  My goal is to have something I can pretty much count on from year to year, even if I don't get to plant new things.  Fortunately, I have enough yard to do this. I also make no effort at working with plants that must be babied to live here, because I'm not in their usual zone.  If they can't handle the heat and humidity, I don't need them.  I am simplifying gardening year by year this way. 

Looking forward to the next post!

I was just thinking that it had been awhile since I’d received an email about a new post from you, and here we have one — and even better it will be a peek week with multiple posts!  Thank you so much for the example you show us and the encouragement you give!

Back in 2008/2009 we still had a mortgage and vehicle debt.  I remember talking to a friend about dialing back our grocery spending because of The Great Recession and she didn’t see the point of it as we had a decent income.  But these 17 years later she still has a mortgage (a bigger one for a bigger house), car debt, and other debt, and we achieved our goal of being debt free.  I realize now the point of it was to make ourselves more secure.  During that time another friend lost her house to foreclosure, and I knew I never wanted that to happen to us if we had the ability to prevent it.  In that friend’s situation a job loss made it impossible to pay the mortgage payment, especially as they were in a house they couldn’t afford due to the lending practices of the early 2000s.  It wasn’t an extravagant house at all, they were just lower income and stretched too thin.

I think some people don’t want to look at how bad things could get.  I know even I have to rely on grocery stores and can’t really contemplate a food disaster.  But most of us can find ways to pull back and spend less money so we can add to our savings.  That’s what we did in 2008 and 2009, we saved as much as we could and for those years we didn’t use it to pay down the mortgage or vehicle debt because there was a sense that maybe we would need it and it wouldn’t be good to have it tied up in the house or car.

I have now read this post and the comments 3 times... So far. It's like balm to a world weary soul :-). Thank you so much Donna for sharing your love and wisdom and to the people who comment that we can always glean new information or be reminded of things we'd forgotten.

In 3 weeks we will be completely debt free. We had 1 debt and it will be gone. I had a friend give me good advice to put my retirement fund into the lowest risk... Cash..no stocks.. and it has not had a loss in 2 years and has grown each week little by little even in today's unsettled economy. I'm grateful.

Like many others I've grown seedlings and many more than usual. There is fruit in the freezer to make jams and marmalade. Last night we had canned chicken soup that I added macaroni to when heating it up.

Knitting has been my handcraft the last 3 months. I had a cardigan that when finished I wasn't happy about the length so I unpicked the collar and seams back to where I began the casting off for the armholes and knitted more rows to add length then casted off again and sewed it back up. Took around 4 days as I made that a priority with the colder weather arriving.

Before I went to Australia to see our son in March I had knitted a sleeveless cardigan back and fronts as far as the armholes and this week so far have been finishing that off as well. 1 front to shape then the bands for armholes and front and finished.

I have 2 other lots of wool to turn into clothing then feel that will be it for the rest of my days however long the Lord keeps me here.

I feel the world has gone crazy with clothing. I don't have a wardrobe bursting at the seams. You can only wear 1 lot of clothes each day :-).  So good to read others are sewing too.

A few years back I picked out a red blanket that was 40 years old and had hardly been used. My daughter had it made into a lined red midi length coat for me for Winter. It is beautiful and oh so warm. When people comment on it I tell them the story behind it. A great conversation starter.  :-)

Joan S... I've gone back to making simple A-line skirts. Quick and easy and they always look nice. For the sleeveless cardigan I'm making above I have a cream blouse to wear under it and I brought a tartan pleated skirt from an Op shop that I'm unpicking the pleats as too small and making an A-line skirt from it.

You can buy thread, fabric and a small selection of patterns at some Walmarts and full selections at Hobby Lobby.  I find fabric and patterns at some thrift shops.  

As part of my preps, I bought basic multi-size patterns for slacks, shorts, night gowns, house coats, sweats, knit tops, jackets, aprons and a few other miscellaneous items back when you could still find them on sale for 99 cents.  With the basics you can play around with changes is you wish.  I had young grands then, so I also bought children's patterns.  I've passed the children's patterns on and never used them because none of grand's spouses would use "homemade" or the very nice like new thrifted items I bought.  

I love the idea of charging for sewing on buttons!!  When I remove buttons from a garment, I string them together before putting them in my button jars.  Makes it easy to find a full set without digging and matching.  As kids my cousins and I used to get to play with Grandma's button box and she'd have us match and count so guess it was also a learning experience.  She'd also play button, button, who's got the button with us.  Can you imagine today's kids enjoying such a simple activity??

Thank you for continuing to post grandma Donna....it’s like a friend ringing to cheer me up.

Your garden and pots look lovely and are inspirational.

Your tips on frugally (and Rhonda Hertzel’s Down to Earth blog/books) have allowed me to arrive at this stage of my life with no debt, savings, a beautiful mortgage free home, connected to family and friends and with a generous nature....share the abundance I say...don’t be mean spirited. 

However, I fear I have been “doom scrolling” too much, and yesterday I just sat on my front verandah and watched the morning go by....the birds diving into the bird bath for a swim, the ocean glistening silver through the trees, the sound of the wind, the bees on the lavender.  Yes there are a million jobs to do ...but at 75 I feel that it is okay to have a mini holiday from them.  

It’s hard to always stay up, to keep soldiering on with all the negativity that the media throws at us.

But I’ve had great kindnesses bestowed on my family which have reduced me to tears,  my grand daughter 15  won a place in a special school for sporting excellence in a city 3 hours drive from her home.  We were stuck.  Where would she stay? I knew 4 people in this city.   She had to be there immediately.   I put the HELP email out to two friends to see if they knew of someone who would board her and within 1/2 an hour my beautiful best friend (who died of a brain tumour 8 years ago) daughter say “Yes ..we will have her for a term until she gets settled”.  I cried..I was so overwhelmed with gratitude.  The good news is that the first term is over now, my grand daughter  has moved to another home, she loves her new school  and she is thriving. 

Also, my husband had an operation which has resulted in complications and not being able to be active.  A friend came twice and mowed our lawn..we didn’t ask..he just turned up.   Again we felt so warmly blessed.

 In these hard negative times, I say keep the small loving acts of random kindness coming.  Keep the good energy circulating throughout your world.  A bunch of flowers, a jar of home cooked biscuits, some homegrown produce given to a visitor can keep the good energy flowing. They leave your home with that nice fuzzy feeling of having been welcomed and valued.  

Thank you for inspiring us all to live our best life in a simple way. 

I am in my mid-60's now but in my younger years as a married woman I was 'at home' with my children and I dried laundry outdoors for years.  Later, when I had a dryer, I still used the laundry line except when we had flu or the weather was inclement for a week or so.  

I cook ingredients, not convenience foods.  I've learned to make my own convenience meals for those times when I might be ill or not have time to make a meal fully from scratch but mostly we continue to meals made from ingredients.  Like another said, I have the lucky ability to make a meal out of nothing so that there is always something to eat.

I also keep a pantry.  This was something I grew up seeing in my mom's, grandmothers and great- grandmothers' homes so I well knew the value of having that pantry filled with ingredients.  Three times I have helped struggling children who had to start over begin afresh with a pantry of basic ingredients pulled from my own shelves.  When my youngest daughter was first married she walked through the grocery store planning to pick up extra items.  She said she was drawn to the shelves of ingredient foods and realized what a huge gift I'd given her in supplying her with all the basics.

I don't garden, but I do harvest items.  I buy items in season and put them up myself, or I take what I have and make the very most of it.  We seldom have food waste these days because I can use most things to make yet another meal.  

My home is furnished mostly with items I acquired second (or even fifth!) hand.  We have purchased very little furniture over the years that was new and when we did, we found that often the used items outlasted the new ones.  

I can sew.  While I don't make my clothes, I could if I needed to do so.  I have learned to sew draperies and slipcovers, to recover furniture and to use paint to transform things.  I often make my own artwork.  

In the yard, I am learning to plant perennials that come back year after year as they give the big bang for the money spent, but I use my green thumb and purchase rescue plants or accept passalong plants from others' yards.  For the past six weeks we've had something blooming in the yard and only the daffodils were purchased!  

Because we lived on one much smaller income than most we made it our goal to NOT go into debt if we could possibly avoid it and if it was necessary, we paid off debts as quickly as we could.  That meant a lot of going without and making do, especially since I myself was not earning a full time wage.  We did it mostly on a regular salary but if my husband had any overtime, we counted it as 'extra' and slapped it onto a debt or put it into savings which allowed us to buy things as we needed them.  And we were willing to wait and make do until we could afford items.

Now I am looking at things I might live without.  Our microwave quit after 15 years.  It was a great microwave but I decided not to replace it.  We seldom used it for more than heating something in a minute or less.  It seemed pointless to me to replace it.  Yes, it takes longer to heat milk on top of the stove or to reheat leftovers but it's no big deal in the end.  

I did not grow up near grandparents so I didn't have them to learn from. My mother didn't teach me any old ways (she grew up on a farm) as she was eager to get away from that. But I love learning about the old ways! Sometimes it does take longer but it's better!

I have bought many patterns at church rummage sales and thrift shops.  There's also a lot of free ones online. I have found pattern books (thrift stores or library) that have patterns drawn on grids and you just draw it out yourself.

A library near me had a craft swap last year. It was all free. I got lots of fabric, thread, patterns and other things. Maybe readers here could persuade their library to host one. 

Donna,

            Thanks so much for posting again, and especially with a Peek Week! I feel like your blog is very much needed now. I've been bothered by all of the chaos in this country right now. I wish it would get to some level of normalcy. Even if the normalcy is bad times, at least you know what to expect. But things are changing so much now from day to day. Maybe I should quit watching the news, but I think it is important to be informed in case they decide to do something that is going to affect me.

          Like others have said, your blog is like a breath of fresh air. I haven't had a garden for several years, but this year I felt a need to. With all of the chaos going on, it feels essential to plant a garden. I saw a listing on Facebook Marketplace for two IBC totes that were cut in half to be used as garden beds. I am using the Hügelkultur method to fill them to save money. I visited my daughter recently, and she gave me some plants from her garden for mine. She gave me garlic chives, walking onions, and mint. I have a long fence in my front yard that I want to grow peas and beans on. I already have peas about three inches high, as well as lettuce, kale, Swiss Chard, and spinach. I am anxious to get my IBC totes planted. Something makes me feel the need to get at this.

          The other day, I was outside working in the yard. I saw a bird land on a low tree branch. I watched it and thought about how it didn't have a care in the world. It wasn't stressed about the chaos in the world. It was just enjoying life.

         Thankfully, I am 100% debt-free free including my house, so that helps a lot. I line dry my clothes, do a lot of canning, and anything else I can to save money. I have a friend who doesn't drive, and sometimes we go to the store together to split the cost. Or sometimes I drive her, and she will mend something for me since she is an excellent seamstress. She made her own wedding dress! I have a vintage apron from the 1940s that needs to be mended. Since it is my favorite apron, I don't want to take a chance on messing it up, so she is going to fix it in exchange for me driving her places. We will probably need a lot more bartering and people helping each other. On a positive note, I found out that now that I am 66, I get 100% back of what I paid for property taxes. That is an extra $376 for me, so that helps.

       Something that I saw at my daughter's library is that they have a seed exchange. You can take or leave as many seeds as you want. They also have other things that you can check out besides books, such as board games. It would be nice if more libraries did seed swaps. It would make it cheaper for people to get started gardening. Maybe people need to suggest it to their libraries.

       Have A Great Day, Everyone!

                                                            Becky Sue

Dear Grandma Donna . . . I am encouraged and heartened by your posts. My husband, Joseph and I are in similar stages of life and love history. We are encouraged by knowing someone who is also pondering the social changes, economic changes, and the changes we must face with aging. We have always lived a life of "self-sufficiency" and often implement the wisdom and practices of our ancestors. With our aging (early 70s), we have accepted less-frequent contact with our children and grand-children because they are very busy and productive people and are doing well themselves, thank God. We have lessened the labor of our gardens, I have re-evaluated my hobbies to adjust to declining vision, we travel far less and spend far more time in our comfortable (again, Thank God) home and our private piece of land. This is a PRECIOUS time in our lives, IF WE GRACEFULLY YIELD UP those things we can no longer do and find PEACE and JOY in the rewarding and quieter life we have created. 

Again, thank you for your encouraging and educational posts.