Day Thirty One: This Little Piggy

Day 31

We're off to a great start to the year 2017.  
2017.  2017.  If I say it enough or write it enough times on checks perhaps the year will soak into my bean and I will KNOW it is a new year.

At my age, time flies faster than ever.  February is knocking at my door.  Reds and pinks, hearts and candy.  Maybe some roses and lots of cards. 



The 'i luv u' month is near.

So on this last day of the month of January I'll attempt to write out a to do list for February.

1) HELP Mom sort through her closets and thin out her clothing.  Mother is a clothes horse.  She will be moving in the near future and is working at thinning out her belongings as she will not have the space she has now.  She'll go from having 4 closets to having 2.  My Dad's clothing will be let go of and hers will be thinned down.  

2) Inventory my personal effects.

3) Celebrate 3 grandsons birthdays.

4) Work on organizing RETIREMENT COTTAGE.

5) Celebrate VALENTINES DAY WITH MY SWEETHEART.

6) Send Valentines cards and candy to Loved ones.

7) Furniture shopping for Living room furniture...possibly purchase.  Will do LOTS OF LOOKING.

8) Do stretching exercises on the floor.

9) Located my one pounder weights and have them sitting beside my TV chair waiting for me to use them during commercials.

10) Clean chandelier crystals that will be used next year on Christmas decorations and trees.  Put away for next Christmas Seasons.

11)  AND then some.

12) THINK THAT's ENOUGH FOR THE MONTH.

If I think of anything else will note that.

Is February a special month for you?  I always think of childhood valentines.  Making a Valentines container to put cards in then take home to read.  I really liked the ones that had candy attached.  haha.  Imagine that CANDY.

I still love the Conversational Hearts to this day.  

Holidays and Seasonal Celebrations help ease the dread of really cold weather for me.  Looking out the window to see the bare trees has required a labor of love on my part.  I love the spring greens. The colder months take some doing appreciating their lack of warmth.

My right foot is healing nicely.  Four weeks has passed since I stubbed the toes.  I am able to walk. Yesterday a stack of miniature metal pots 'n pans fell on my left foot causing injury and more pain then the right foot.  My left big toe and the toe next to it ached so badly last night I could have cried.  Pain reliever wasn't working.  I woke with less pain, but good grief if grief is good I am in pain.  How do I explain?

The toes that were not injured on my right foot were injured on my left foot.  I am a mess.

As the essential oils become more and more popular here in my neck of the woods, I can look at the feet chart and see what area of the body I affected by injuring my toes.  'Lord have mercy.'
Also reflexology charts are available.

Gives a whole new meaning to the childhood nursery rhyme, This Little Piggy.
I use to tell my children and grandchildren this as I wiggled their toes one at a time....

"This little piggy went to market.

This little piggy stayed home.

This little piggy had roast beef and this little piggy had none.

AND this little piggy cried wee wee wee all the way home."

I will work at being healthier the older I get.  Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.

All the best,

d

Day Thirty: Mother Goose's Mnemonic

Day Thirty 

Thirty days has September,

April, June, and November.

All the rest have thirty-one,

Except for February alone,

Which has but twenty-eight days clear,

And twenty-nine in each leap year.

This version of the rhyme attributed to Mother Goose.

WIKIPEDIA shares many other versions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_days_hath_September#Knuckle_mnemonic 

mne·mon·ic

nəˈmänik/

noun

1. 1. 

   a device such as a pattern of letters, ideas, or associations that assists in remembering something.

adjective

1. 1. 

   aiding or designed to aid the memory.

Knuckle mnemonic                                                                          

The knuckle mnemonic.

The Spaniards, German, French, Swiss, Turks, Romanians, Slovenes, Russians, Greeks, Danish, Dutch and Belgians typically use a mnemonic by counting on the knuckles of one's hand to remember the numbers of days of the months.^[6] Count knuckles as 31 days, depressions between knuckles as 30 (or 28/29) days. Start with the little finger knuckle as January, and count one finger or depression at a time towards the index finger knuckle (July), saying the months as you go. Then jump back to the little finger knuckle (now August) and continue for the remaining months.

One variant of this approach differs after reaching the index finger knuckle (July): instead of wrapping around back to the little finger, some people reverse direction and continue from the index finger knuckle (counting it for both July and August) and ending on the ring fingerknuckle.

Still others use two hands (as shown in the diagram, right): starting with the little finger knuckle of the left hand, proceed to the left index finger knuckle, then (swapping hands) jump to the right fist's index finger knuckle for August, finishing on the knuckle of the right ring finger (December).

CAN'T COUNT THE NUMBER OF TIMES I USED MOTHER GOOSE'S MNEMONIC AND NEVER KNEW IT WAS HER'S AND NEVER KNEW THIS NURSERY RHYME WAS CALLED A MNEMONIC.

I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT A MNEMONIC WAS.  

I LEARNED SOMETHING NEW TODAY. 

Thank you for stopping by to read me.

God bless you.

Home Life Is For Me,

d

Day Twenty Nine: Pass The Cream

Day Twenty Nine

Thanks for stopping by.

Coffee?

 SOMETIMES ALL YOU NEED IS COFFEE AND A FRIEND.

LOVE GOES ALONG WAYS,

d

Day Twenty Eight: AMISH PROVERB

Day Twenty Nine

OLD AMISH PROVERB

Eat it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!!! 

Blessings to you,

d

Day Twenty Seven: Product Review

Day Twenty Seven

I rushed off to Topeka to get some lab work done.  No waiting after I checked in.  Lab completed and medicine taken as I drove to McDonalds to get a salad for lunch, coffee with cream, water for the day and my all time favorite root beer on ice.  

After I ate in the quiet of my car, I went to a THRIFT SHOP to see if they had any Blue Willow Dishes.  It was a no go on the dishes.  

Instead I picked up some Oh So Prudee Shannon Crystal pitchers, half off earrings, silver-plated soup tureen on feet with matching lid, a framed picture, a beautiful 3 piece stainless steel carving set, a vase of roses since I LOVE ROSES, and a few other thrifty buys that were calling my name.  HELLO. 

After my successful shopping trip I returned HOME very tired and ready for a nap.  So glad it's FRIDAY!  The week-end is here.  Hamburgers tonight with French Fries. 

TIME FOR A PRODUCT REVIEW 

DOVE RASPBERRY 

AND HONEY ROASTED ALMOND

~raspberry flavored cranberries

in dark chocolate

with honey roasted almonds~

ALL THUMBS UP.  Delicious mix of fruit, chocolate and almonds.  Sipped fresh brewed iced tea with these and it was a wonderful after Dinner snack on a FRIDAY NIGHT.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND THESE.

Have a pleasant week-end.

Thanks for stopping by,

d

Day Twenty Six: Helpful Hints

Day Twenty Six

Staying indoors to read or at least thumbing through cookbooks makes for a pleasant time for me.  Time traveling while looking through vintage magazines.  When I surf the internet to look at interior design I am in my element.  Relaxes me.  My someday list grows ever so long.  Someday I'd like to vacation seeing some historic houses and see first hand their rooms.

As for thumbing through books for helpful tips,  it seems that I like shortcuts and when tips/hints are given my ears perk up.

HINTS are:

*SEEDS and NUTS, both shelled and unshelled, keep best and LONGEST when stored in the freezer.  Nuts in the shell CRACK more easily when frozen.  Nuts and seeds can be used directly from the freezer.

*CHEESES should be served at room temperature approximately 70 degrees.

*When serving hors d'oeuvres on a silver tray, you may want to protect it from acids by covering it with a layer of leafy green lettuce.  

'd' Note: Noticing that many silver trays have additional glass dishes to use with tray to protect silver.  Easier clean-up to use glass dish.  Also could already have appetizers on glass dish and stored in fridge until ready to serve.  Would allow you time to prepare appetizers ahead of time when you weren't rushed.  Simply pull dish out of fridge and placing on silver tray when ready.

*Try placing fresh or dried mint in the bottom of hot chocolate for a ZESTY TASTE.

*WHEN POSSIBLE, float an ice ring in punch rather than ice cubes.  This not only is more decorative, but also inhibits melting and diluting.

'd' Note:  Mom fixed a ice ring filled with plastic flowers for my sister's wedding reception.  LOVELY.  Terrible me I cannot remember if I had one as well.  Think I did.  Will look at pictures.  One step future, you could make a ice punch bowl liner, place it in the punch bowl then pour punch in the center of ice liner.  Beautiful.  

*Calorie-free club soda adds SPARKLE to iced fruit drinks, makes them go further, and reduces calories per portion.

*ALWAYS chill juices or sodas before adding to beverage recipes.

THANK YOU FOR STOPPING BY 

TO READ ME.

BLESSINGS,

d

Day Twenty Five: Alphabet Vitamins and Clean Living

Day Twenty Five

I learned where calling LUNCH Dinner comes from.  

Southern women call lunch DINNER.  Northerners call lunch 

LUNCH and SUPPER Dinner.  Read about this 

from the Delany Sisters.



BUT in my world my Mom called lunch DINNER.  Mixed me 

up when I grew up in a community that called Lunch LUNCH 

and Supper DINNER when at HOME my Mom called lunch 

DINNER.




After I married, I thought DINNER was a fancy supper.  A 

refined meal served by servants using fine china, crystal, 

silverware, cloth napkins, centerpiece and candles.  


My thinking was too high dollared for lil 'ole me.  I 

misunderstood.  COMPLETELY.  So I compromised and 

decided that anyone can have a candle light meal in the 

evening without servants, go ahead use nice china, etc. and 

still call it Dinner.

  

Clean Living, staying pure in heart, plenty of Vitamins, 

exercising before Breakfast, eating a good Breakfast were 

what was suggested by the Delany Sisters who lived long 

lives.  ASKED many times what their secrets were for LONG 

LIFE.  Healthy Longevity.  Snagged a few.  


I believe I can do the vitamins, exercise a little, pray, have 

milkshakes for supper, drink water that's been 

sterilized.  


NOT SURE I can take the cod liver oil with garlic.  Have to 

think on that one for awhile.  



Believe the Breakfast they ate was great:  scrambled egg, 

hard roll and piece of fruit along with a bowl of cooked 

oatmeal. 



Let me call the vitamin supplements they took THE 

ALPHABET Vitamins: vitamin A, B complex, C, D, E, 

along with zinc and tyrosine.  I looked up tyrosine and it's 

benefits.  Do you need a L in front of the tyrosine to be 

affective?  L-tyrosine.  

TYROSINE OVERVIEW INFORMATION

Tyrosine is one of the amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein. The body makes tyrosine from another amino acid called phenylalanine. Tyrosine can also be found in dairy products, meats, fish, eggs, nuts, beans, oats, and wheat.

Tyrosine is used in protein supplements to treat an inherited disorder called phenylketonuria (PKU). People who have this problem can't process phenylalanine properly, so as a result they can't make tyrosine. To meet their bodies' needs, supplemental tyrosine is given.

People take tyrosine for depression, attention deficit disorder (ADD), attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the inability to stay awake (narcolepsy), and improving alertness following sleep deprivation. It is also used for stress, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, chronic fatigue syndrome(CFS), alcohol and cocaine withdrawal, heart disease and stroke, ED (erectile dysfunction), loss of interest in sex, schizophrenia, and as a suntan agent and appetite suppressant.

Some people also apply tyrosine to the skin to reduce age-related wrinkles.

How does it work?

The body uses tyrosine to make chemical messengers that are involved in conditions involving the brain such as mental alertness.

RESEARCH SAYS:

At 105 and 103 years old, Sadie and Bessie Delany might 

very well have a few "secrets" to their healthy longevity. In 

this second of two excerpts from their new book, "The Delany 

Sisters' Book of Everyday Wisdom," the sisters share their 

nutritional and exercise regimes, and give some pointers to 

"older folks" on how to maintain personal dignity and control 

of their lives during their later years.



Bessie Delany: Folks constantly ask about the "secret" that 

has kept us alive so long. Well, that's something only the Lord 

can say! We try our best to preserve our health, and one way 

we do it is to watch what we eat and drink.

We start our day by drinking a full glass of water, followed by 

a teaspoon of cod liver oil and a whole clove of garlic. A 

whole, raw clove - that's right. Garlic is good for preventing 

colds, and it's good for your bowels. We chop the clove as 

finely as we can, then scoop it up with a spoon, and swallow it 

all at once, without chewing, to prevent odor. We wash it 

down with one glass of cold water, then one glass of hot 

water.

Then we fix our breakfast. In the past few years we've found 

that breakfast is our most important meal. It's our biggest 

meal of the day, and we eat it right after we do our exercises. 

We have a scrambled egg each, a hard roll and fruit, along 

with a bowl of oatmeal. I mean home-cooked oatmeal, not 

that instant stuff.

We have a good meal at midday.  Northern 

folks call that lunch.  We Southern gals call it dinner. 



We eat chicken or beef - although we love fish, we don't eat it 

much today. We worry about its being contaminated. 

In the evening, we make ourselves a big vanilla milk shake. 

It's not good to eat your big meal toward the end of the day.




Plenty of vitamins

Every day we take vitamin supplements: vitamin A, B complex, C, D, E, along with zinc and tyrosine. 

We vary the amount depending on how we've been feeling 

lately. For example, if I start to get a little tickle in my throat like I am going to get a cold, I take more vitamin C. 

Antioxidant vitamins are the best. We think it's best to get your vitamins naturally, from foods you eat, but supplements are a good idea.

I keep saying "we," but the truth is Sadie's the one in charge of our health. She makes me take my cod liver oil - I can't stand the nasty stuff - and eat what she tells me.

She drives me a little crazy but I guess she's doing something right! I have 103 years of living to show for it.

Sadie Delany: There's another thing I make Bessie do that she doesn't like too much, and that's exercise. You've got to exercise, not just for your heart and lungs, but to keep from stiffening up. It keeps you limber, and that's important when you get older.

We started doing yoga about 40 years ago. You don't have to get down on the floor and do yoga. You can get exercise from doing housework, gardening, all kinds of things - anything's better than sitting on your behind all day long.

Bessie: Alcohol is a little indulgence that's OK, as long as you use it in moderation. It can help you relax and that's good. But we don't go in for that store-bought stuff. Instead, we make our own with the rose petals from our garden.

Water, of course, is the most important drink, and so we're very careful about ours. Why, we'd never dream of drinking it straight from the tap. We boil it first to purify it, then when it cools down, we store it in glass jars.

That's what smart folks did in our day. Another thing we do is wash our hands the minute we walk in the house, the way Mama taught us. She was the cleanest woman alive!

Clean livin' - that's what we believe in. And hygiene's only part of it. 

We also try to stay pure of heart.




ARE YOU A SOUTHERN GIRL OR A NORTHERNER???
Guess I'm a little of both if possible.


Thanks for stopping by and reading,
d