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OLD AGE IS NOT FOR SISSIES

NOTHING IN LIFE IS TO BE FEARED

A Mother’s Day Remembrance & Giveaway

by Filed Under: Family Life

When I was young, I remember my mother wearing a corsage of red carnations to church on Mother’s Day. She told me that she did this to honor her mother, but when I got to church my Grandmother Hamrick was wearing a white carnation corsage. I found out later that she wore white in remembrance of her mother, who died when Grandma was two years old. When we got older, my little sister Pam and I wore little red carnation corsages with little red ribbons to honor ours.

My Mother and Her Parents

The beautiful tradition which seems to have been lost with time was to wear red to honor and white to remember. It is a beautiful mother/daughter tradition lost to modernity.

In 2009 at Mother’s Day, I was out of town and did not go to church; but I remember thinking that I could no longer wear a red carnation on that day. My mother passed away the year before. My life had changed in yet another way.

How Mother’s Day Began

Mother’s Day began in 1908, exactly one hundred years before my mother died in 2008. The woman who started it in the US did so in response to her own mother’s death in 1905. This woman Anna Jarvis never married nor had children of her own. In May 1908 she organized the first official Mother’s Day celebration at a Methodist church in Grafton, West Virginia.

She continued to work to organize the day and pushed through a letter writing campaign to have it made into a national holiday. Her persistence paid off because in 1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed a measure officially establishing the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day, the first ever holiday honoring a woman in the US.

Its popularity, though, mushroomed during the 1930s when women all over the country started wearing corsages made from a flower picked from the bouquets of flowers given to them by their husbands–white to remember their descended mother and red to honor their mother still living.

By the 1960s women sometimes wore pink instead of red. My Grandmother.

I even found a little poem about the corsage tradition.

A Mother’s Day Corsage

A Mother’s Day corsage 
has a meaning of its own.
Red is to honor a living Mom…
But White means she is gone.
A Mom with a Yellow Corsage, 
says she is always in grief.
She lost the child she cherishes…
Her flowers make up a wreath.
But what about a Mom
 who has no corsage to wear?
Does it mean her arms are empty?
 Does it mean her life is bare?
If your Mother’s Day corsage
 is adorned with flowers of white,
Go find a Mom without a corsage…
And Make her Mother’s Day Right.

by Kaye DesOrmeaux, 2000
Charm of the Carolines

But who gives the corsage, because women stopped making their own by the time I was a young girl? Actually, the tradition later says that the father gives the corsage, but many women are widowed far too early. I remember my Mom handling the tradition for her mother after my grandfather died.

Plus life gets in the way, and I think at some point it didn’t matter. Someone just did it.

Mother’s Day Today

Here’s a little Mother’s Day trivia? Did you know that more phone calls are made on Mother’s Day than any other day of the year? It seems that a phone call has replaced the earlier tradition of the corsage.

I believe the tradition disappeared for two reasons. First, people don’t go to church like they used to do so. And second, the corsages got way too expensive. I can remember the large white orchid corsages that came about by the 1970s.  Maybe, the answer to the second reason is that women should pick a flower out of their bouquet and wear it to church.

I used to own a florist when my children were babies. I operated it out of my home. Here are some simple instructions on how to make a simple corsage.

Step by Step Instruction to Make A Simple Corsage

The secret is in the mechanics. If you have the right supplies, it is easy; and the supplies are cheap. You’ll need 4-5 very thin florist wires, floral tape for wrapping, a corsage stick pin, and thin ribbon.

Old Age Is Not for Sissies Blog (oldageisnotforsissiesblog.com) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Below is a amazon link where you can purchase all three for less than $11.  I actually keep these supplies on hand.  I can’t remember how many boutonnieres and small corsages I’ve made over the years saving me boocoodles.  You can use the directions below for making both.

 

When I was young, we wore a simple corsage made with 3-5 miniature carnations. So I’ll use this example to teach you how to make your own. Honestly, it will only take you about ten minutes.

By the way, these corsages then only cost about a dollar. By the time my girls were young they cost about $3. I’m not sure what they cost today.

Take a flower and cut off its stem leaving a little on. Run a wire through to create a new stem that bends into the shape you want.

Take the tape and wrap it, thus so, twirling the flower and its new stem as you feed the tape. Floral tape is self-sticking on both sides, and this makes it easy to work with.

Now repeat with the rest of the carnations.

Next, press them together in the design you wish, pressing their stems together to create one bigger stem at the bottom. Wrap these all together with the floral tape.

Now, take a piece of wire and wrap it with the tape. You will use this to hold the bow together after you make a bow.

Then, make a bow from quarter inch ribbon and clasp it using the wire thus so.

Add this to the stem and then wrap the new stem thus so again with the tape. I placed my bow within the corsage, but you can place it at the bottom, too. Now curl the end of the stem.

Voila, you’re done! All you need is the stick pin to pin it on. Here, I show the corsage from the underside with the stick pin. You can see the corsage’s mechanics.

Finally, the corsage can be made a day in advance for flowers like carnations. Just seal it in a sandwich bag and refrigerate it. Make sure it is sealed well because the gasses from some fruits might make the flowers close or turn them yellow or brown.

You can also use flowers from your garden, just check them out, though. Some wilt quicker than others.  And gardenias bruise easily.

So there you are. Whatever you decide to do on Mother’s Day, wear a flower to remember her, wherever she is. I made this corsage in white to remember my mother, and I added a baby blue bow in remembrance of my mother-in-law, Dody. She loved baby blue.  I’ll wear it on Sunday to church and then to my sister-in-law’s home for Easter Dinner.

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AMAZON GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY

This is also an Amazon Gift Card Giveaway. So are you going to be the lucky person who gets this special $50 Amazon Gift Card for Mother’s Day?


To enter is easy. All you have to do is SIGN UP below to subscribe to get Old Age Is Not For Sissies emails.  I only post about once a week, and I share my email list with no one nor will I ever.

Giveaway ends May 2nd at 11:59 pm ET.

Good luck and Happy Mother’s Day!!!

Check out more Mother’s Day tips from the giveaway hosts here!

A Letter for Mom by Life on Summerhill

Memaws Homemade BBQ Sauce Recipe by the UnCoordinated Mommy

Mother’s Day Tips by A Savings Wow

 

Do you remember this Mother’s Day tradition about corsages? Do you have any unique Mother’s Day traditions in your family? Please share in the comments below.

How to Place Your Transplants in the Ground

by Filed Under: Home and Garden

Disclosure: This post has been compensated by Monsanto Co. and the “Hey Let’s Grow Monsanto Home Garden Program”. All experiences and opinions are mine alone. #HeyLetsGrow

This week it was time to plant everything in the ground–my transplants, my seedlings, and any seeds to be planted directly into the garden.

Hey Let’s Grow sent me thirteen different packets of seeds. There were two types of tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, three types of hot peppers, bell peppers, lettuce, a type of beans, cucumbers, and spinach.

By the end of last week, I had tomato transplants, the beans and cucumbers still in seeds, and the rest in seedlings. All were ready to be placed in the garden.

How About the View from My Garden!

Which brings me to last Friday, when I was able to finish the job.

Tilling

Chuck tilled the ground for me with a tiller rented from Home Depot. We made sure not to over till, though.  It is important to not bust up all the clods of dirt.  My garden this year is about 7′ x 9′. I purposely try to keep my garden small. One plant can sometimes supply more than my family can eat.


Laying Out the Garden

Then I mapped out my garden. I decided to plant my four tomato bushes at the four corners. In between the two tomatoes at the west end I planted broccoli and some of the cauliflower. On the next row are lettuce and the rest of the cauliflower.

Frankly, the broccoli looks puny. I’m wondering if it will make it, but the cauliflower looks good.

Next row over is spinach and the bell peppers.

After that row is a row of the three varieties of hot peppers. I only had two of each variety to plant, though. My peppers were the last to germinate, and not all did.

Finally in the last row before the far eastern row, I planted seeds for cucumbers and beans. I placed the beans near the northern fence line so they would have something to climb. Jack might need a way back down someday.

Lastly, the other two tomato transplants were added to the eastern corners. There is still more room for other plants if I decide to add them later. I did hold back two transplants of each kind for later planting if needed.

Getting the Soil Content Correct

After Chuck tilled, we spread eight bags of mushroom compost and an equal amount of top soil. Then I hand tilled them together and raked them smooth. I usually use Black Cow, but we have a mushroom farm nearby, so I decided to try mushroom compost this year instead.  We knew what to add to the soil because of past years of gardening.  Remember, we let this ground take a break last year.

Making Rows

Next, I made rows, banking up little parallel hills.  Sadly, my rows aren’t straight; but I didn’t take the time to run a string line between two stakes.

Planting

All plants were spaced at least 1 foot apart. The tomato transplants were planted deep, all the way to their colydon leaves, their lowest set of leaves.

The rest, seedlings, were planted only as deep as they had been before.

Finally, the seeds were planted about a half inch deep.

Next, I put out some ant bait near one of the tomatoes. We disturbed an ant colony while planting, and they gave me a fit.

Fencing

We have a lot of problems with critters.  So, surrounding the garden is a fence made of rebar. I get this from Home Depot, and it is fencing that requires hardly any fence posts. It is actually used to reinforce concrete, but I learned a long time ago that it is rigid and will stand up like a fence with little effort. I connected the pieces with wire.

You see, most of us in our backyards are not trying to fence out cattle. We just want to deter deer and small animals. Rebar can be used to stop deer from walking into your garden, but it alone will not stop a rabbit. And that is my second possible problem.

So I purchased some bird netting and stretched it around the perimeter using the rebar as a form making sure I secured it at the bottom and top. If I later have trouble with animals coming in through the very top, such as squirrels or birds, I can stretch the bird netting up there, too. I’ll let you know how it works.

I’ll let you know how it works.  Like my rows, the fencing isn’t that straight either; but if it does the job, I’ll be happy.

So this is what the garden looks like now.

I planted on a very overcast day with rain expected overnight. I didn’t want to plant my ? seedlings and transplants on a hot sunny day, so I had been watching my weather for a week looking for the perfect day to plant.

Also, I mulched with pine straw and banked the straw around the new delicate plants, using the straw for some added shade and protection.
Stay tuned. I’ll let you know how it’s going in another couple of weeks.

Do you have any special techniques you use to plant your vegetable garden? Do you use any other type of fencing that may be easier? Please share!

When You Should Transplant Your Seedlings

by Filed Under: Home and Garden

Disclosure: This post has been compensated by Monsanto Co. and the “Hey Let’s Grow Monsanto Home Garden Program”. All experiences and opinions are mine alone. #HeyLetsGrow

 

It was time for transplanting this week. But when should one transplant?

Update on My Vegetable Garden

To reiterate, I planted about thirty tomato plants of two varieties in small jiffy pods a couple weeks ago, and now it is time to transplant them. These got a little leggy, due to a problem with the amount of light vs. dark that they got during the first week.

Why a Timer is Important

I cannot impress enough that a timer is essential, especially if you plan to take a short weekend trip away. While I was gone, I left a light on and best I can tell the tomatoes jumped out of the ground sometime during the weekend.

The light was a little too far above the plants; and after they sprouted, they stretched for the light, especially since it stayed on the entire weekend. Not good, as I later learned.

So I dug around my garage until I found an old timer I bought years ago. I set the timer to turn on at 8 am and turn off at midnight, giving the plants 16 hours of Grow light. They began this part of their growing journey a little leggy, but I think I can correct that when I transplant them.

Thinning the Herd

A few days ago, I snipped off all but one plant in each pod, a thinning which made for ten tomato plants. Then I waited for the ten to grow their second set of leaves.

So When Do You Transplant

So that brings me to today. This morning I noticed another set of leaves beginning to form. This is their third set. The first being the seed leaves also called colydon leaves, then the next set called the plants’ true leaves, and now another new set. This means it is time to transplant.

 

Transplanting

In the past, I collected and have quite a collection of various empty pots from when I earlier brought flowering transplants home from the store, but they needed to be sterilized. So I used the sink in my laundry room to spray Clorox on the little plastic pots, and then I rinsed them very well. This way I know that there can be no fungus or other problems for the delicate transplants.

Next, I mixed half and half of seed starter soil and potting soil. I do not use dirt from my yard.  Why add more problems to the process.  I mixed the starter soil and potting soil in a bucket.

Placing a thin layer of soil in the bottom of each small pot, I added the pod and plant being careful not to hold the plant by its stem. Its little stem is its spine, its lifeline. If you crush it, it cannot survive. Then I filled the soil all the way to the top of the pot, completely burying the stem of the tomato plant up to its first leaves.



A tomato plant will grow roots from its stem if the stem is covered in soil. Only a little of its stem and its leaves peek out from the soil. Hopefully, this solves the problem of my leggy tomato plants. I’m also careful not to hold the plant by its stem.

Fertilizer

Next, I used a water soluble fertilizer and added it to water in my laundry sink, using the package instructions. I bottom watered each of the pots, adding a little to the top to soak it.

Hardening

After waiting an hour for the plants to soak, I took the pots outside to sit on my potting bench for another hour. This last step begins the “hardening” period. This will get the plants ready for finally planting them in the ground. I made sure they got no direct sunlight, though, the first day.


After their hour outdoors, I took them back into the garage to bask under the Grow lights. I added two more lights finally using the $50 ‘Hey Let’s Grow’ gift certificate to buy more lights.

Thanks, Monsanto! Until now I already had everything I needed, but the bigger pots required more lights. All four are on the timer now.
For the rest of the week, I’ll take the pots outside to sit in the dappled shade underneath a tree lengthening the time each day. An hour at a time at first and increasing daily.

Next week we’ll place everything in the ground! I’m also hardening off the rest of the seedlings as they produce their second set of true leaves. Two varieties of my peppers, though, still have not completely sprouted.

Why You Should Start Your Vegetable Garden from Seeds

by Filed Under: Home and Garden

Disclosure: This post has been compensated by Monsanto Co. and the “Hey Let’s Grow Monsanto Home Garden Program”. All experiences and opinions are mine alone. #HeyLetsGrow

 

For years I’ve had less than great results when starting my garden from seeds. I’ve tried to do it under the regular lights in my kitchen. I tried it on my potting bench in the shade. And I even tried it under a tree with dappled shade.

Sometimes the seedlings get really leggy like when I tried to start them in my kitchen. On my potting bench, I forgot them; and they thirsted for water and died. So I tried starting them in the dappled shade where the irrigation took care of the water problem, but they were less than healthy. I even gave up and did several gardens from transplants.

But with transplants, you don’t get exactly what you want, and this is why you should start your vegetable garden from seed.   There is so much more variety.

Years ago I was on a quest for great tasting tomatoes, but I found that the ones I planted from transplants tasted about the same as the ones I got in my grocery store. Which is to say they tasted grainy and not sweet.

I knew better ones existed. When my daughter lived in Romania, I had fabulous tasting tomatoes there. I even thought about smuggling some seeds back to Florida. I knew that better ones were available but only from seeds.

Now, of course, the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, also known as IFAS, developed a commercial tomato that actually tastes sweet. It is called the Tasti-Lee tomato, and I buy them at Publix. You can read more about them here. … But I digress.

So it was time for me to invest in a grow light system.  It is vital to starting your garden from seeds.

This year Monsanto asked me to do a little field test for them; and subsequently, they sent me some seeds.  I wrote about it here.  In the post, I explained how I keep the deer out of my garden and how my gardening isn’t always successful.

Now, though,  I didn’t want to experiment with these Monsanto seeds, so I started researching for a detailed step-by-step guide for how to plant the seeds. I found a very good one at the website for the National Gardening Association. You can find it at this link on my Pinterest board Gardening for Grannies. If you do not have a Pinterest account you can also find it here.

My biggest problem was lighting for my seeds, and I’m cheap so I didn’t want to buy an expensive light growing system. With a little research, I discovered that I didn’t have to do so. I ended up making mine, using information found on Pinterest. You can see it here.

I used their idea and made up my own grow light system using lights I already had, the proper light bulb as explained in a pin I also found on Pinterest (you can see it here,) and existing shelving in my garage.

I arranged it, and this is how it worked for me. It cost me nothing, and it worked like a charm. I used a timer that I already had for the Christmas tree to turn the lights on each morning at 8 am and off each evening at midnight.

My tomato, spinach, broccoli and cauliflower seedlings are now getting their second leaves so I’m getting close to transplanting. My tomatoes are a little leggy, but nowhere near as bad as in the past.  Their legginess wasn’t the fault of the lamps, but my own fault.  I left to go off over the weekend, and they weren’t to the stage yet where I needed the lights.  It is amazing how fast they grow all of a sudden.  I’ll update you then.

I’ll update you when I get to the next steps.

Learning to Die in Miami: A Book Review

by Filed Under: Books

The book “Learning to Die in Miami” is about the thousands of Cuban children airlifted to the USA during the early Castro years. Called the Pedro Pan Airlift, the story is a memoir told by the same author of “Waiting for Snow in Havana,” a National Book Award recipient.

Photo of Cuban Exiles in display at the Freedom Tower in Miami

Old Age Is Not for Sissies Blog (oldageisnotforsissiesblog.com) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

I just finished reading “Learning to Die in Miami”. The true story, written by Carlos Eire, who was one of over 14,000 Cuban orphans sent here by their parents in the early 1960s, captivated me. Their parents, desperate to get their children out, hoping to follow as soon as possible; and most thought they could get out within a few months. For many, though, it was years.

Once in the US the authorities placed these children, some as young as three in foster homes, orphanages, with relatives, and sometimes even with distant relatives. Not all stayed in Miami, moving all across the country.  I cannot imagine what it was like for the children, let alone the parents.

The Freedom Tower, former home of The Miami News was used as a facility to process, document, and provide medical and dental services for the Cuban exile newcomers.

Waiting for Snow in Havana

I read Eire’s earlier book “Waiting for Snow in Havana” about beautiful cosmopolitan Havana and Cuba before the revolution and immediately afterward.  Below are two pictures I found that compare the two cities of Havana and Miami.

Havana, Cuba before the Revolution

Miami in the early 1960s

 

 

This second book about his boyhood picks up where “Waiting for Snow…” leaves off; though it isn’t imperative that you read one before the other. Both provided an amazing history lesson into this time period.

For most of “Waiting for Snow” you get a child’s hopeful outlook to a beautiful future, and in “Learning to Die” you get a scary, disappointed wake-up call to what life is like for an immigrant, especially one without a parent to guide and protect them. Sadly, Carlos learns that in America the streets are not littered with cash as expected by a child. Still, there are hopeful and even comedic moments in the book.

A street scene in Havana, Cuba

A Street Scene in Miami

Other Reviews

In reading the reviews I noticed that many didn’t like the book. The author did jump around, and his little “whoosh” cue was used repeatedly to take you back and forth from one time period to another. But I thought it fit into a boy’s story. After all, this was written from a boy’s point of view, because it happened when he was a boy. It didn’t bother me, and I really liked the book.

I also wondered if some reviewers were put out by some of his more conservative views, such as his chastisement for those who want to protect the Spanish language as an intangible cultural tradition at the expense of Spanish-speaking immigrants. He thinks that this holds Spanish speaking people back from achieving their full potential in the American marketplace.

I know that protecting the Spanish language as an intangible cultural tradition created a small problem in my family. My aunt married a Cuban American or so it seemed. Both she and my uncle are now in their 80s; and because his mother required all the children and grandchildren to speak Spanish in her home which I visited on occasion, I made the mistake of asking Uncle Mario when was it that he got to the United States.

I thought it must have been when he was young because he spoke perfect English. Well, I upset Uncle Mario, because his family came to the Keys in Florida from Cuba in the late 1800s. His mother simply tried to make sure the grandchildren hung on to their language as her mother and mother’s mother did for her. Regardless, though, thanks to her my cousins speak two languages.

Wikipedia Map

Growing Up in Florida

Being from Florida I grew up with this Cuban-American uncle, the Cuban Missile Crisis, hearing about the Bay of Pigs, and several aunts and uncles who lived in Miami, all providing me with a picture of the refugee crisis down there in the early 1960s. These two books plus another one written by a dear friend, who also had to flee Cuba with her parents, helped me tie all these events together in context with the history of Cuba.

 

My friend’s book “The Front Row” by Silvia Morell Alderman, is the story of her parents as seen from the perspective of her mother. Silvia’s father, a justice of the Cuban Supreme Court for 10 years, the last two during the Castro regime, was the first justice to resign upon finding that Castro would not uphold the rule of law. Previously, he served in high government positions for two presidents. He and Silvia’s mother Rosa were student revolutionaries in the 1930s and indeed had a front row seat to the various revolutions down there.

So if you are like me and interested in Cuba and its history, these three books will give you an excellent picture.

 

What do you remember about Cuba in the early 1960’s?  Do you remember the Cuban Missile Crisis?  If so, how did your school prepare you for a possible nuclear war with Russia?

Exploring the Benefits of Magnificent Magnesium

by Filed Under: Health

I was deficient of Magnesium, but not anymore. I take my supplements religiously every night just before bed–400 mg of Magnesium citrate for me.

It took me years, but this may be the most important supplement for my body. For me it cured my sleeplessness and problems with an inability to poop regularly.

Different Types of Magnesium

I tried taking Magnesium years ago, but it didn’t seem to be working. That’s because it wasn’t. Turns out I was taking Magnesium oxide, a type that is hard for my body to absorb.
When we are young, our bodies absorb nutrients more easily; but as we age our bodies lose that ability. What I needed was a magnesium that absorbed easier. My doctor suggested magnesium citrate.

A few years ago, I had trouble sleeping. My doctor, Dr. Leslie Emhoff, suggested three supplements, one of which was Magnesium citrate. It turns out that it was the Magnesium rather than the other two supplements that helped me return to sleeping regularly. Big problem solved. You can read more here.

But still I skipped taking it, sometimes several days in a row, until I couldn’t sleep a night and then I would begin taking it again. I hate taking pills.

Magnesium for Regularity

So on to problem number two, which was a problem with doing number two. Frankly, I just couldn’t figure it out. I watched my fiber intake, but it was hit and miss. I tried to make sure I got whole foods including whole grains. And plenty of them, but still I found myself constipated from time to time. I couldn’t figure it out.

Photo compliments of Pixabay

Then a a couple of months ago I was at an elderly friend’s home, and Dr. Oz came on her caretaker’s tv talking about constipation. All of a sudden all three of us, my friend, her caretaker, and I were glued to the set. Seems all three of us, all over 60, have trouble in this department.

Somewhere during his presentation, Dr. Oz said that taking a Magnesium supplement can help with constipation. Voila! So I started making sure I took it every night and have had no problems ever since.

A Vastly Underappreciated Supplement

Turns out Magnesium helps with all kinds of problems. It seems that it is vastly under appreciated when it comes to our health.

It is vital for bone health, helping with bone density. For example, did you know that more than half the Magnesium stored in our bodies is stored in our bones?

It helps Vitamin D do it’s job, which I just found I’m deficient, even though I already took it.  Dr. Emhoff just increased my Vitamin D.

Magnesium is important for heart health. It seems that it relaxes our muscles, and our heart is just that–a muscle. It relaxes blood vessels, and this in turn lowers blood pressure.

Magnesium deficiency may be linked to the growing number of problems with insulin resistance and type II diabetes. There seems to be a correlation between type II diabetes and lower Magnesium stores.

Magnesium deficiency may be linked to inflammation. One study showed a correlation between higher Magnesium stores and less markers for inflammation.

So magnesium needs to be elevated to a super supplement in my book. Especially since it helps with problems in both my bedroom and my bathroom.

Sources of Magnesium

I take it in a supplement, but many people may be able to get it from the foods they eat. I’m a meat eater and love beef, chicken, pork, fish, etc.; but you need leafy greens, whole grains, nuts, and legumes to get enough Magnesium.

Photo compliments of Pixabay

Also, there are foods that take it out of our bodies, such as sodas and caffeinated beverages such as coffee and tea. I drink a lot of tea, so I probably need to take the supplement.
Magnesium deficiency can be related to all kinds of problems such as muscle cramps and spasms, tics, anxiety, and even seizures. It may also be related to chronic fatigue and depression. And when magnesium is low, our bodies strip it from our bones, where it is needed to work with Vitamin D and calcium.

Old Age Is Not for Sissies Blog (oldageisnotforsissiesblog.com) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

I purchase my magnesium citrate through Amazon.  Here is a link below to what I use.

 

A very good article about magnesium deficiency can be found here.

 

Photo compliments of Pixabay

 

But back to the bathroom problem. I remember my Grandmother taking Milk of Magnesia. I didn’t know why she took it, but I know now it was a laxative.

It seems that constipation is not caused by magnesium deficiency, but taking magnesium citrate simply helps relax your bowels and draws water into the intestines. You can read about it here.

The article also talks about those of us who should not take Magnesium citrate. If you fall in one of these categories, you should speak to your doctor before taking it.

My husband Chuck has problems with magnesium citrate, but his body responded well to Magnesium glycinate.  If your stools are too loose try Magnesium glycinate.

Magnesium is involved in more than 300 reactions in our bodies. All I know, though, is that magnificent Magnesium has made my life so much better.

 

 

Do you take supplements to ensure healthy aging? Are there any that you feel have contributed to good health in your 50s, 60s and/or 70s? Please share in the comments section below.

My Garden–Not Always a Success

by Filed Under: Home and Garden

Disclosure: Monsanto Co. has compensated this post and the “Hey Let’s Grow Monsanto Home Garden Program”. All opinions are mine alone. #HeyLetsGrow

 

‘Hey Let’s Grow’, a home gardening program of Monsanto just sent me a box of garden goodies. Every year I have a vegetable garden, except for last year. I decided not to grow one because we were gone so much of the summer. We were out of town for almost two months.  

Still, though, a volunteer cherry tomato plant came up, and I staked it and added some fertilizer to keep it producing until almost the end of July. It would have continued, but there was no one to harvest it after we left to go on vacation. 

Every year I try to talk family members and even the housekeeper into harvesting and taking home the veggies, but no one seems to take the time.  Or they just forget.  Two years ago I got a bumper crop of okra, but when I got back I had a lot of giant tough inedible okra.  Of course, it stopped producing, too. 

Let’s See What’s in the Box

In the box from ‘Hey Let’s Grow’ there’s almost everything I need for this year. There are all kinds of seeds, a medium for planting them in, a couple of cute coffee mugs, some honey to go in my coffee, a new gardening apron, and several gardening implements. There are even markers, so I’ll know what I planted and where. I can’t wait to get started.


Another reason I did not plant last year was that my little bed needed to lie fallow for a year. I broadcast some rye and let it go. So yesterday I walked down the hill towards the lake and checked out my little plot. I pulled down the fence and started preparing it. 

Gardening is Risky

Speaking of the fence. I had to fence off several of my citrus trees and my garden down the hill.  Two years ago I planted a new grapefruit tree that was about 4 feet tall. Sometime within the next month, a deer had a run-in with that tree, because one morning I walked down there and all that was left was a stub. It looked like it had a fight with a deer, and the deer won.

All that was left of my grapefruit tree.

 

Parts of the grapefruit tree were snatched about all over the place.  I thought the tree was surely dead, but my nurseryman Uncle Ferrell suggested that I simply let it regrow. I did, and this past winter I got 9 grapefruit off of it. 

Two years ago I planted some lettuce and spinach in my little garden, and I think the deer ate all of that too.  So I learned over the years that cheap pieces of rebar can be used to make a fairly tall fence to protect whatever it is that needs protecting.  Here’s how I use it around several of the smaller citrus trees.  You can cheaply fasten it together with some wire.

Using rebar for fencing

 

And Then There are the Weeds

It has been an unusually warm winter this year in north Florida. Our temperatures only dropped into the 20s about twice.  It has also been a rainy winter, and this means that the weeds are going to be harder to control this coming year.  My azaleas are already blooming.

Gardening in Florida

I do a lot of flower gardening in my four and a half-acre yard and spend a lot of time weeding it. It is so bad that I nicknamed it “the Garden of Weeden”.  All we can hope for down here in damp sunny Florida is a good hard winter.

The yard was a lot easier to take care of when I had teenagers who were always getting into trouble–all three of them.  There was frequently someone back there working off their punishment, but now they are all grown up and have ‘weeders’ of their own.

My Flower Garden

My garden includes knockout roses, antique roses, azaleas, several varieties of camellias, sago palms, elephant ears, several kinds of gardenias, and volunteer impatiens, to name a few.  We also have an orchard of blueberries, satsumas, mayhaws, grapefruit, kumquats, a Key lime, and a Myers lemon.  

Gardening in Florida

I planted several sweet potato vines for aesthetics a few years ago, and last year I noticed that I have sweet potatoes underground.  This will be the third year they’ve over-wintered.  They are growing in one of my flowerbeds.

Success Or Not, I still Love it!

I wished I could say that I am always successful with my gardening; but certainly, it is not so.  The Satsuma some years gives us a bumper crop and then other years nothing.  Also, the flower beds get away from me by August, and it’s a jungle out there.

Satsumas

 

One year I decided to try my luck with container tomatoes.  I got a grand total of about 2 to 3 on each very nice-sized lush bush.  My husband the comedian started passing information around Tallahassee that friends needed to make sure they asked me about my bumper crop of tomatoes.  Several people stopped me on the streets to ask me if they could have some.  I could’ve killed him.

There’s a variety of lettuce in the kit, but I have no idea if I can grow lettuce.  The deer ate my one and only try.  Plus my Mayhaw to this day has produced zero Mayhaws, and I even got it a mate.  So stay tuned!

It Makes Me Respect Someone Who Does This for a Living

By the way having your own vegetable garden gives one a newfound respect for farmers.  Raising one’s own food is such a risky undertaking that we’re all very lucky that there are those who will do it for us.  I wish to shout out a big ‘Thank You’ to America’s farming community.

 

 I used to can and freeze a lot of produce especially when I was younger, but hardly do it anymore.  Now I spend my time extra time writing, traveling, and visiting grandbabies. I’ll keep you up to date on the successes and failures of my vegetable garden inspired by ‘Hey Let’s Grow’. 

Morning at the Fair: A Sweet Spot for Retirees

by Filed Under: It's Not For Sissies

Want to go somewhere that is fairer, where it is entertaining and fun, where there is an older crowd much like you, where it is not crowded, where it is not expensive, and where we get to feel young again? Well, Chuck and I recently stumbled on just such an experience.

We spent Valentine’s Day at the Florida State Fair, but I think I need to explain the logistics. Because we found just the right time to go.

I worked for many years with the agricultural community, and over those years I probably went to the Florida State fairgrounds more than a dozen times for meetings and for the Agricultural Hall of Fame induction banquets.

In all those years, I never went beyond those meetings out into the midway. For the induction banquets, I walked in and walked back out afterward. For the meetings, the fair was always closed.

I even got a tour of Cracker Country one time when it was closed. I remember being told that I needed to come back when the characters in period costumes were there.

Fast forward to this year. Chuck and I were going to the Hall of Fame banquet again because my nominee was chosen, and Chuck had two of his Florida Land Council members chosen.

The banquet this year was on Valentine’s Day; but instead of dropping in and leaving, we came down a day early and really go the fair.

I loved the fair as a young person. I always loved the livestock barns and other competitions. I used to pick up pecans to pay my way.  Dad built our home in a pecan grove.   Mom and Dad always took me to the fair and paid admission; but if I wanted to spend money on other things, I had to pick up pecans.

I remember how crushed I would be when the market fell just as the pecans were ready. Also, when I was in my mid 20s I chaired the Arts and Crafts portion of our regional fair in Tallahassee.

But we quit going to the fair many years ago when our kids became teenagers. As a teenager, I remember when it wasn’t cool to continue going with your parents. So I wasn’t surprised when they no longer needed us to take them to the fair. Chuck and I just quit going, and the thought of the crowds made me not want to go as I got older.

So this Valentine’s Day, I got to go to the fair with my date; and we had a great time. We got there at 10 am when the gates opened. It was wonderfully uncrowded.

We casually strolled taking in all the sights and sounds. The fairgrounds were clean and neat, and this is a testament to the great staff of the fair’s executive director Cheryl Fulford Flood, who grew up on a cattle ranch over in Polk County.

Florida State Fair

First stop for us was the Craftsmen’s Marketplace. Chuck quickly started holding tighter to his wallet. Unfortunately, not tight enough. He bought red-skin peanuts from Virginia, and I bought sea salt scrub from the Dead Sea. I hit bonanza, though, when he bought me a beautiful 14 karat gold filled bracelet for Valentine’s Day. It was handmade by a man from New Hampshire.

Then we strolled down to Cracker Country, but got sidetracked by a trip to see the Arts and Crafts competitions. Loved the paintings, photography, flowers, furniture making, you name it.

Of course, I was drawn to the painting on the turkey feather.

Embroidery was my forte, and I still have in my cedar chest what I made back in my 20s that took first place at the North Florida Fair, so I enjoyed seeing what was Tampa’s best of show.

There was also a special exhibit on the history of candy, and Chuck bought those horrible horehound drops that one can only find every now and then…fortunately.

A Quick Concert

Outside, we heard a band playing, and we quickly investigated, taking a seat in the bleachers at the Tampa Bay Times Stage. The band was great, and within minutes it was standing room only.

Florida State Fair

The Tampa Bay Times Bandstand

Dennis Lee and his band, mostly from Nashville except for the lady fiddler from Lakeland, did a great job of working the audience mostly full of retiree couples just like us. That is when we realized that this was our crowd.

Florida State Fair

The last few times I went to the fair, it was in the evening, but what Chuck and I realized was that the daytime is “our” time. It is a sweet spot for seniors. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The experience was nothing like going in the evening when the crowds of kids jostle you all about.

We stopped to eat at the Jerk Shack and had a heaping, enough for two, helping of Curried Chicken, boiled cabbage cooked like my Mama’s, and fried plaintains. At $10 for both of us, it was great.  I think I got the name right, but it is located directly across the street from Cracker Country.

We shared the meal. Restaurants serve such big portions, that we always order like this and are seldom disappointed. Plus the Jerk Shack had a shaded table next to them where we relaxed and ate lunch. The couple running the shack were very accommodating and friendly.

Cracker Country

Afterwards, we crossed the street and visited Cracker Country. Cracker Country was the dream of one of Chuck’s Land Council members named Senator Doyle Carlton, Jr.   Long since passed away, this wonderful old cattleman, politician, gentleman, and son of a Governor wanted to make sure that Floridians didn’t forget their history.

We loved visiting the old Okahumpka railroad station, built in the 1880s…

Cracker Country

Cracker Country

And the early 1900s school house.

Cracker Country

In them are volunteers dressed in period costumes to bring the whole experience alive.  The telegraph operator had interesting stories about his job.

Cracker Country

Inside are all kinds of displays.

Cracker Country

Settled in the canopied shade of an old oak hammock (probably called a grove for you non-Floridians), Cracker Country is a wonderful place to stroll, listen to a blue grass band,

Cracker Country

or maybe even buy some ‘log hogs’.  No, we didn’t.  I distracted Chuck and got us through there as quickly as possible.

Cracker Country

Chuck and I especially loved the Hall of Governor’s. There is a painting of each Govenor of Florida from the first territorial Governor Andrew Jackson to today’s Governor Rick Scott. I’m a Florida history buff so I added my own thoughts to what made them famous, such as how Gov. Fuller Warren gave us Florida’s first fencing laws and how I once saw Gov. Bryant from the back of a whistle-stop train platform, the last Florida governor to campaign this way.

Cracker Country

Hall of Governors

We also made a stop by the Agriculture Hall of Fame, where so many of those men and women who we had the pleasure of working with, are memorialized.

Chuck and I had a wonderful day at the fair. We left by 4 pm, because it was time to go back to the hotel to change for the banquet. Besides, it was a good time to leave anyway. The crowds were thickening.

The Mooternity Ward

We finished our fair exploration with a visit to the Mooternity Ward, where we got to see all the farm babies.

Florida State Fair

It was a great day. We plan to do it again next year, and maybe even ride some rides. Both of us want to go back and ride the new 155-foot tall Ferris wheel!

Best of all, though, admission was only $9 per senior person. What a deal.

Great Florida Cattle Drive Redux

by Filed Under: Following Old Trails, Great Florida Cattle Drive 2016

Beginning tomorrow I will repost each day’s journey on the 2016 Great Florida Cattle Drive. Chuck and I participated in it one year ago, and now they made a documentary film about the event. 

On Thursday evening February 23rd, WFSU in Tallahassee along with other public television stations will air this one-hour documentary entitled “The Great Florida Cattle Drive 2016”, a film by Elam and Nic Stoltzfus and their production company Live Oak Production Group.
The film is about the reenactment of an 1850 Florida Cattle Drive, which was held last year in central Florida. Five hundred men and women spent a week-long journey herding cattle across central Florida, a 50-mile drive. Many were in period costumes, including myself.  


Chuck and I were part of that group, and I blogged daily about our experiences–the good, the bad, and the down right ugly. It was the trip of a lifetime.  
The blog posts begin tomorrow with the first post about training for the drive, when Chuck and I initially decided to participate. The entire series runs daily leading up to the film on February 23rd. Each post appears daily on my Facebook page.
If you have not signed up to receive notices from my Facebook page, entitled Old Age Is Not For Sissies Blog, please make sure you do so today. I cannot rerun the series directly from the blog, so there will be no emailed notices. So please “Like” my Facebook page. You can use this link to go directly to my Facebook page.  
Come join me daily and enjoy the ride. It was a wild one to say the least, and I enjoyed sharing it.

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