March 19 2016

March 19 2016 Greetings My Friend This winter we saved on our electric bill half of what we were paying by using the wood/coal burning stove and propane. Our propane monthly charge is $100, wood is next to nothing although we have bought a truck load or 2 of cut up wood and coal is not expensive due to the coal mines and yards all around us. Last summer we started hanging our clothes outside and now that the laundry room is next to finished we have room to put up a rack to hang clothes up on. Since we are retired hanging up clothes is built into our routine although we have a dryer when we need something dried quicker. With the warmer weather this early spring I am planning on using our clothes line outside again too. While out driving yesterday I saw a clothesline of clothes being blown by the gentle breeze and fond memories came pouring back. Learning to slow down also allows me to return to a work style of my past that has always intrigued me. Last night I looked online how to make my own lemon ginger tea. It is very simple really and fresh ginger lemon tea is refreshing. After peeling the ginger root I wondered if I could also plant it and again I learned from online I indeed can. I enjoy the thought of starting some indoor herb gardening. Herb gardening has always sounded exotic and out of my grasp of knowledge but as I read about the ginger root it came to me that I need to plant the things I use the most. Right now I have several celery stalks rooting and planted. Junior and I are big on container gardening so growing vegetables, herbs sounds like a great plan for year round fresh food and herbs. Time will tell if this plan will work or not, in the meantime we will enjoy learning new things to us and old as history is. The more I am learning to eat fresh foods the less the taste I have for processed snacks. I can’t remember the last time I had a candy bar or one of my favorites cheese curls. My taste for sweets has not completely diminished. I make no bake peanut butter cookies a lot and right now I have a hankering for hard candies. I have not started making bread and who knows if I will. I know that I won’t be up to kneading the dough so if I do make bread I am going to make no knead dough. All of these things I want to do will keep me busy at home which means I can work at my own pace. Junior and I have been going shopping less which means we spend less money and we are busy at home. Creating our retirement life has been a long process. I always thought we would travel more, go to more plays and do mission trips along with volunteering. Neither one of us has that energy which is why we are creating a retirement that is home based. The nice part is when even these things get too much we can let go of what we need to. For now we enjoy the fruits of our labors in many ways. We have work to do to give our life meaning and direction. We are able to utilize God’s awesome creation of plants so we appreciate God’s provision. Life is good even if we are handicapped. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Jane