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What a pleasant surprise to see a new post! We have been fixing all of the things that don't work right in our home. The ones we can change anyway. It's made our home so much more comfortable and relaxed. We started repainting the inside of our house last year, and it's made such a wonderful difference! But we did run into one problem.

I've wanted to turn my kitchen into one with a 1930s' decor from pictures I've seen from that time. Originally, my kitchen was going to be blue cabinets, light walls, and red accents, with a little bit of yellow here and there. (Instead of brown cabinets, brown walls, brown floor.) But the light wall color I chose did not work at all once it was actually on the walls, and I had to have a big rethink about the kitchen colors. I looked and looked at more pictures from that period, and I finally decided to switch to soft yellow cabinets, green walls, and the red accents. I've been buying red kitchen reproduction pieces for years to spread out the cost (1930s' red bread box, red Fiesta pitcher, red mixing bowl to hold fruit, red and white canisters, things like that), so I was very pleased to see that the red, yellow, and light green combination was a popular color choice back then. We have so much going on with getting the house right this year that we're only doing the wall repainting right now. I'm not sure when we'll get to the cabinets, but when we do, we're taking out the cabinet thing that the refrigerator is in. Like the crown molding we took off the cabinets, that fridge cabinet is too much for the small space of the kitchen. When we took off the crown molding, it opened the kitchen right up and gave the cabinets nice clean lines. The fridge cabinet is glued to other cabinets on one side, and the thought of removing the glue is daunting, but I'm going to do it. :) I've never seen a fridge cabinet in the 1930s' pictures. 

Tuesday the roofers are coming to replace the roof and the siding.

I got two small zucchinis before the bugs found the plant, but I've since planted plants in two other spots. We left the first zucchini there as a decoy. I don't know how well growing the zucchini vertically would have gone because the bugs found it too soon, but the winter squash on the arch trellis is just beautiful! No bugs either. Our potatoes are starting to harvest and we're going to have pounds and pounds of them! Our tomatoes started well but then it turned hot, so they are going to wait until fall when it's cooler to produce any more. My corn is growing, but my watermelon plant is just sitting there and not growing. It's perfectly healthy-looking but I guess it has a lot to think about right now. 

I look forward to seeing what everyone else has been up to. :)

Oh, yes, we had a wonderful Fourth of July because about 11 at night it started pouring rain and no one could set off fireworks until the wee hours. ;-) 

You are wise to make things user friendly for your height. I am short, also, and reaching things are frustrating. My grandmother was 4ft 10inches, so my grandfather, who was a carpenter, ripped out the kitchen of their home and built it entirely for her height.

Have a nice week.

Glenda

It has been so hot here that I’ve been sewing and cleaning. I’m also working on repairing and editing things that don’t serve me any longer. We have finally gotten rain and I hope cooler temps this week so I can garden. Today I made pickled beets. It’s time for me to set fall seeds and I hope to do that this week. Also need to clean the stable and pastures. How can anyone ever get bored at home!? lol

It feels strange now to read about all of this. I was home for 35 years with the exception of helping my husband with his businesses on and off. I also have subbed at the local schools a few days a month for the last few years after all of my kids had left home.

Now, I am working full time in a doctor's office at the front desk. I'm trying to help my husband pay off bills. The big one that I'm working on is the car payment. We had paid for cars, but a suicidal deer totalled our dependable car. He uses his car for work, so we had to borrow for another one. I have to admit, I was angry at that deer for awhile. 

So, now I'm away from my home at a time when I desire to be home for than ever. I'm 61. My husband works from home. My energy is pretty low when I get home from work at night. I've stopped doing most of the things that make homemaking special. Oh Laura, enough whining!

Anyhow, it blesses so much to read about things that you, Donna, and you other ladies do. I know there will come a time when I can focus more fully on my home again. Right now, God gave me this work to help get us in better shape financially. While we will never be able to retire like we thought we would, we know that our bodies will slow down over time. My goal is to get as ready for that time as possible.

So, I say good for you girls! Keep the home fires burning. We will keep on keeping on. 

Keep calm and keep busy, 

Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage

Laura,

I have been where you are and I’d like to encourage you to find one thing every day to love your home. It helped me get through those hard days of working after my life changed and I had to support myself and my son. Sometimes I would stop and buy myself flowers. Or I’d take a lunch break and thrift as I looked for something beautiful for my nest. Or I’d wash one window with homemade cleaner scented with lemongrass. I also made a chart for my fridge so I could track my progress and encourage me to keep on keeping on! You can do this! And before you know it, you’ll be home again for good! I’m cheering for you! 

What lovely photos and sound advice, as always!

We are still struggling to have a good rhythm to our days.  In truth, I had a solid rhythm before my husband retired, and now 6 months into his retirement we still don’t have that back.  He couldn’t just slot into my rhythm, naturally.  What he does during the day depends very much on the weather.  I don’t always know when I wake up if he will be riding his bike and at what time.  I don’t know if his friends will text him to come for a walk.  So we are still figuring it out.

One thing I have been doing is getting outside for at least 2 hours everyday, usually in the morning with my little dog and again after lunch, until the sun creeps onto the porch and I risk burning my feet.  I sit out again after dinner and watch the sky as the sun sets, listening to the birds and squirrels, and also seeing the birds retuning to their trees.  One night we saw two raccoons on the neighbors roof — this was unusual as we don’t usually see them before it is completely dark.

I am also making and effort to meet my neighbors, not the ones that live right near me who I already know, but people on other blocks.  I see them when my little dog and I go around the block, and when they walk around onto our street.  My little dog is getting to meet many new dogs and he is doing really well with it.  In the past he always went on the big walk with my husband and the big dog, but with his health issues he can’t go on those walks anymore, and as such we are now morning companions and I adore it.

For the holiday we stayed close to home.  I am a big believer in making days special with our meals!  I made tacos Friday and pizza on the 4th, which seem like American foods to us even if they come from other countries to begin with.  For lunch we went for a burger at a very popular chain here, which is reasonably priced, because burgers are very American, and my husband and I are making an effort to have a couple of very low cost dates each month.  I bought an apple pie at Sam’s Club for my son rather than baking one, but I did bake bread pudding and make a sauce.

I was the reader at church today, we did a service from the 1662 prayer book which would have been the prayer book used in 1776, before we Americans made our own book.  I was the lector and had many thous and shalts and loveths in the reading.  We were asked to wear red white and blue, which I don’t have a lot of in my wardrobe, so yesterday I sewed a simple skirt from a rectangle using a blue cotton with gold stars, to wear with a red shirt, and then this morning 45 minutes before I was to be at church I decided I needed a matching scarf for my hat, so I sewed that.  I don’t always wear a hat to church, but as I knew of the special service that was planned I decided I would wear one as a woman wouldn’t have attended church without a hat or bonnet.  I bought the fabric nearly 20 years ago for a project and then never completed it.

We don’t have any planting going on in this heat, but are beginning to make plans to spruce up the beds using the plants we already have.  We have many irises that need dividing

I just had a yard sale and got so much out of the house!  But, as always, there is more to go.  I enjoy having more room for the things I truly use, instead of having to dig for them amongst things I no longer need.  I made $200, which satisfied me

My garden has slowed down greatly in this high heat, and we are still very dry.  I had a lovely cucumber plant that just wilted and died after only producing 4 cucumbers.  I pulled it up and it had nematodes.  I am solarizing the raised bed and will try again for the fall in a different raised bed, but cucumber beetles are still active in the fall here, so even if I escape nematodes, I will have those to contend with.  

My kitchen cabinets in this house are too high and always have been.  I have so far been unable to find a finish carpenter to help me with them.  My late husband could do basic carpentry, but he didn't feel competent to do cabinetry work.

I am still trying to keep electrical costs down, but the higher than normal heat is not helping with that.  

I find that pretty things do wonders for my spirits.  A pretty dish, a lovely book cover (of a book I enjoy reading; I don't buy books just for their looks, which I imagine is also true of everyone here), an attractive piece of hanging art, or a pleasing array of flowers blooming in the flower beds really brightens my home.    I started buying all-cotton sheets and now iron them after washing and hanging them to dry.  I smile every time I make the bed with smooth, neatly folded sheets.  I go thrifting a lot these days, but I rarely buy things.  It has to be a specific something I need, such as a replacement item for something broken, or something I know I will love and have a place to put it.  

In this heat I just haven't been outside as much, but early in the morning or late evenings I will do some work on weeding, digging, etc.  And of course, I have to water a lot of plants almost daily.

I'm looking forward to autumn, even though I know it will be October before the weather starts to cool!

We are heading into mid-winter here, so it will soon be time to start raising seeds for spring planting. Thanks for the reminder, Grandma Donna!

For those in summer at the moment, if you are able to, acquire some 50% Shade Cloth to make shelters for your productive gardens. Failing that, old sheer curtains from the thrift shop will help. Anything to reduce the temperature around the plants will also reduce transpiration - the loss of moisture through their leaves. It will hopefully attract pollinators looking for relief from the heat. Possibly also reduce the effect of hot, drying wind.

I'm sure Grandma Donna has frames in the garden that provide a good model of how to support the Shade Cloth.  There are many ways to achieve this. I don't have any up now, as it's winter.

Putting small containers of water for pollinators among your plants might also attract and support them so they can help you! Good luck to all in the present hot weather. 

Good to read another post, I've missed the more regular ones and miss the comments when these are closed.  I used to name things but don't now although I have a lovely pink dinosaur stuffed animal that all my grandchildren used to play with and my daughter threw him out - I collared him and he's been my little mate ever since, named him Dino and he sits and looks after things and I often pick him up and hug him, he still has his growl

Winter is the time for planting here in Queensland although I don't have vegetable gardens any more, just a couple of herb gardens and some pots - we're in our early 80's and watering is a problem so we just buy from the local markets instead.  I can buy produce that's lovely and fresh for a fraction of the price in season, process it and freeze it and then have it all year round.

We don't have any clutter here, the less the better in our opinion and we've made it so that our girls won't have to worry about it when we leave the planet.  I don't have excess plates, bowls, platters or cooking utensils any more, no need for them so have donated them all.

Having said that in my previous post, it all comes home to me when I tell you that my older brother is again in hospital and has now been assessed for aged care residential placement - which means my sister and I as his executors have to decide what the next step is.  It's not an easy process, he lives four hours away from us and more still from my sister.  We both have enduring power of attorney (which we've only just found out) so have to go from there to work out what is best but he's also very independent and stubborn so heaven only knows how we'll manage to work it all out.

When my m-i-l had to go into a nursing home, I told her she could make up her mind to hate it and be miserable, or she could decide to make the best of it and be happy.  Thankfully she chose the second option.  She didn't speak to her sons for a few weeks but from the first day she moved to the nursing home she was involved in all the activities.  She lived there for six years before passing and I believe she was happy until the last few months when her health failed rapidly.  My dh went to spend most of the day with her to the point she told him not to come as he was interfering with her activities!  He went anyway and spent time visiting with other residents.  He also volunteered there as long as he was able.  When he had to go there himself, he was totally comfortable with doing so.

I don't believe most 1930's kitchens had electric refrigerators.  Unless the family was very well off, they would have used an ice box if they lived in town with ice delivery or continued to use the old ways such as a box in the window covered by a wet cloth, a spring house or perhaps a deep hole with a basket to let down/pull up.  One place we lived when I was a child had a clay tile buried vertically that had been filled in.  When I asked about it, dad told me it had been used to keep foods cool.  

My grandmother's kitchen had white cupboards, and they were repainted white as needed.  However, she painted her kitchen chairs every few years to various colors.  

I've seen some beautiful sets of china at the thrift shop for $10.  I'm seriously considering buying a set and then sharing with friends who also live alone.  No reason we couldn't enjoy luxurious china on a daily basis.  I need more dishes like another hole in my head but sometimes wants are important too.  

Laura of Harvest Home -- since your husband works from home, would it be possible to have only one vehicle?  I can understand your concerns about paying debt.  Debt is a prison financially, emotionally and the stress can affect health.  

I'm average height but have back issues that make leaning over to get into the back of lower cupboards painful.   It is also painful to stretch upwards to reach high shelves.  One way I've dealt with the problem is to use dishpans and old 9x13 cake pans to put items in so I can pull the container out rather than getting on hands and knees to reach into the back of the cupboards.  I also prefer to avoid the stepstool.  I use just the front of top shelves and put lightweight items there so if they fall on my head, they won't kill me!!  I use my grabber to snatch them down.

I have to wear support hose and I have arthritis in my hands so pulling them on has been a painful challenge.  A friend told me to use vinyl gloves and it works because your hands do not slip off the fabric.  I also struggle putting on fitted sheets and it occurred to me I could use the gloves for that too and it certainly helps.

Thanks, Donna, for another fine post! I have been busy gardening and making trellises. A friend gave me 8 tomato plants, 2 yellow crookneck squash, and 2 cucumber plants, so I have been busy planting. I was running out of places to plant, so I made the end of my clothesline into a trellis. My Jelly Bean tomatoes are already over the top of the trellis. I am able to eat out of my garden every day now. I took a picture of my recent harvest. I was at Walmart recently, and in the garden center, they had a whole cart overflowing with zucchini plants they were going to throw out. I rescued six four-packs of zucchini. When I got home, I posted on our local Facebook page about the zucchini, so hopefully more of them got rescued. I planted 12 of them and, very thankfully, gave away the other 12. I also bought worm towers to put in my garden. You can see them in the first picture. You put your food scraps in them for the worms to enjoy. I recently got a new water heater and also made the old one into a trellis. Thankfully, I live in an area with no HOA rules, and my neighbors can't see my creative projects either.

When the gas prices were really rising, I started walking much more. I hadn't been able to walk for about a week due to the excessive heat, but this morning I was able to walk to my religious meeting. It is about 1 1/2 miles each way. It felt so good to be out walking again! Tomorrow I should be able to walk into town to mail a package at the Post Office. I got a Fitbit, and it has really helped me get more exercise. You can set step goals for yourself. It also sets cardio goals for you, and it tracks your sleep, heart activity, and so much more. By setting step goals for myself, I have worked up to 11,000 steps, though I sometimes reach 14,000 or more. I only averaged 3,000 steps a day when I first got it, so I have improved a lot. I think I am doing okay for a 67 year old woman.

I have been reading a book called Our Mother's War by Emily Yellin. It is about American women at home and at the front during WWII. It is interesting. I found out things about U.S. rationing that I hadn't understood before.

Have A Good Day Y'all

Becky Sue

Thank you for another post GDonna.  I looked for it yesterday (patience never being my strong point), and was so glad to find another post today.

I was sorry to hear about the health issues suffered by some of the posters and their family members: good health is truly a blessing that I'm increasingly appreciating. 

I'm sitting outside on my cabin steps typing a reply and drinking tea. We've been having an unusually long hot and dry spell here in West Sussex and I'm needing to get up early to water and enjoy the cooler weather before it gets really hot (for the UK), later on. It means that I get to enjoy staring over my garden and listening to the local crows and distant traffic- bliss!

My garden is doing well but I've been watching YT clips about preparing for Winter so have sown more autumn fruiting seeds and will hopefully harvest them before the first frost.  I have a, much repaired,  small polytunnel which seems to be bringing my one cucumber and two of the loofah plants along much quicker than the one I planted outside. I've taken off the side shoots from a couple of tomato plants, rooted them in water and popped them into small pots.  I hadn't planned to grow more tomatoes but it'll mean that not only will I have more tomatoes to process but, hopefully, I'll have some to share too.  I must sow another cucumber though...  I'll find room in the polytunnel and extend the growing season by a couple of weeks.  I've saved the seed from some of last year's Spring onions and have some carrot seeds maturing under my watchful eyes.  I tend to grow heirloom seeds so have no doubts about saving the seeds that eventually mature. My hope is that one day I'll be self reliant on seeds if not on compost... 

I've been much more creative about finding extra ground to plant things and will make sure that I fertilize the extra ground come the autumn/winter season.  Yields are slowly increasing.  Last year I harvested one small bunch of lavender.  This year I've harvested four. It doesn't seem like much but after drying I shall make a couple of lavender bags for my linen.  Younger me hated the smell of lavender - it was too "Old Lady". Now I guess I am that old lady as I love it!

Because I've been spending so much time outside and because the temps. climb in the afternoon, I haven't been spending time indoors.  Your timely post has reminded me to give my bedroom a good going over and I'll make a special effort to make my bed- I love how a tidy room looks but am much averse to actually doing the tidying!  I've got lots of sewing to do and it's getting to the point where I wake up at night castigating myself for not getting it done. But it's too hot to sew! (I'm British, we love moaning about the weather!).

Hello Grandma Donna, 

Another beautiful post. Your house looks so inviting. Your way of dealing with your deep mattress is very clever. I dread tucking the blankets in, these new mattresses are so very heavy and unwieldy to lift. I also have a issue where the fitted sheet keeps coming off the corners of our mattress. It is quite annoying. 

It must be frightening having to contend with the possibility of tornadoes. We get severe storms and very rarely a cyclone will threaten to track down the coast. Fortifying your hallway sounds like a wonderful idea and will no doubt bring you some peace of mind. 

As for making things easier, I have been finding that if I give my shower a spray down and a quick go over with a scourer and then leave it for half an hour before rinsing it comes out much cleaner than if I scrub and rinse it all in one go. I make my own cleaning spray from eucalyptus, washing soda, vinegar, dish liquid and water. It isn't as strong as chemical products but is much gentler on the hands and lungs. 

I've been working on reducing waste and this week I made pumpkin sourdough to use up a leftover piece. It was really delicious! It made a much softer crumb and crust than a usual sourdough. 

Oh so nice to see a post! I look forward to them! They make me happy! Gr. Donna I love the green kitchen. That is the color of mine, but I have oak cabinets with a whiter countertop, so the oak doesn't make it so depressing. Your kitchen is so homey and thanks to you I've rearranged a few items that I use all the time rather than schlepping them out every single am. Ball jars are so nice!  I am tall 5'10", so I despise bending over, so I had fixed that last year!  

That topper is a phenomenal idea!!! I have a tempurpedic King and it is a beast to make due to size, however the tempurpedics don't have all their weight on the edges of the mattress so it is easier to change sheets, but the size and my back - it really does me in!  Just folding those sheets! That is a task for today.

So I read this book called Eve of Eden a biblical book on feminism. It talked a lot about women making their home a place people (& family) want to be. We women are about pretty and a home should be a place people come home to. Gr. Donna, yours is one of them! Great book! So you being mindful, even naming your items, which I love, does create more mindfulness. I just pondered yesterday whether I was lazy in my life because I never wanted a career or job outside the home. But no. I love being home and making a home every single day. I like laundry, I like cleaning, I like pretty, I love it all. (Cooking well... I like baking. lol) So the fact that I could be home and do what I love is really a gift!   

Stephanie, I have so many colors that I want in my kitchen - It's mostly green- I just purchased little strawberry patches to go on my gingham green kitchen curtains. :)  But I so love blue, so sometimes I change my curtains to ruffled blue and do blue and green and red.  Sometimes I just do the green and red.  Trial and error. It'll be cute. I hope you'll post a pic when it's done! 

Mostly I've been nursing my husband who has a fake knee that got infection. We have no idea how or why since its been 1-1/2 yrs since he got it. Landed him in the hospital for a week (we thought he had the flu), and now he has an IV antibiotic for 6 weeks. He's getting more mobile, but it's put a little damper on my home cleaning & enjoyment. Plus one of our dogs is getting us up at 3:30-4:15AM and we're just dead to the world. Evidently the Siberian Husky is nocturnal preferring the coolness of morning dusk (if she makes it that long) then sleeps during the heat of the day (100+). So we're exhausted as we get snippets of sleep after those hours. I feel pretty good today, so hopefully my brain cells will engage and get back to making my home pretty!  Oh! and during this time since my cat passed last month, I finally bought a comfortable chair that I've been wanting so desperately; I was able to get a nice one. MY chair! ;)   

I name all the little items and the wildlife outside, too. It’s how I know that the little critters are my friends! :)

We have both owlets and baby ravens nesting on the property, and their cries for food are ringing out at all hours. The owlets are especially persistent, and right outside the bedroom window. I would rather have them here than not, so we just live with it even if it does sometimes make it a bit hard to sleep. It will be a short inconvenience, as they will be fledging soon. 

I am glad we worked so hard to preserve tons of Asian pears and plums last year, because this year is the alternate bearing year and they aren’t as abundant. We will have some for fresh eating, but none to can for winter. We have enough from last year to last until next summer, though! The apple trees are laden, which is good, and I have already put up tons of cherries (my favorite). I’m making bourbon cherries for holiday pies and gift giving this afternoon when I get home from work, then I should be done with cherries for the season. We also had a great strawberry season, so I have several quart jars filled with dehydrated strawberries and a lot of jam, too. 

Our summer has been cool and wet, which is slowing down everything. The peppers keep losing leaves because of overwatering, but it is the clouds overwatering, not me! I know much the US (and Europe) is hot right now, so it feels bad to complain about cool and wet. It’s à La Niña summer, which means the west coast goes very mild. It’s a bit disappointing, both from a gardening standpoint and because I enjoy getting all the sun and warmth I can get to power me through the gloomy, dark winters. We are supposed to get up to 80 F today, which will be hot but nice before the rain returns on Wednesday. Fingers crossed that this sort of weather means a reduced risk for a wildfire season. 

I make a lot of our own fertilizer. Compost, of course, but I also grow comfrey because its leaves make a wonderful plant fertilizer. I cut back the plants (don’t include flowers/seeds!) and put them in a five gallon bucket. Fill it to the top with water, put a lid on it, and let it sit a couple of weeks. It will stink! But it is good for the plants. We also will dry out egg shells and grind them up for calcium for the tomato plants (helps prevent blossom-end rot). In the fall, we incorporate saved up coffee ground with some finished compost to spread around acid-loving plants, like our blueberry bushes. 

We didn’t do anything for the holiday weekend ,except work around the house and have our normal at home entertainments. I did make a point to read a bit of honorary founding father Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. As always, the neighbors celebrated by blowing up everything in sight, but fortunately we are buffered by a very wooded 12 acres so the sound was muffled enough that we could still sleep. I felt bad for the wildlife, though. Birds kept flying in, well past their usual bedtime, in a panic. Hopefully our quieter woods gave our poor feathered friends some respite. 

It was lovely to hear from you this morning. The woodwork to strengthen the storm shelter area looks very tidy. We had a thunderstorm with some heavy rain for several hours one night which was a blessed relief after unusually hot weather, for Britain, over 34°C. I sat with my feet in a bit of cold water in a bucket, in the worst of it, so unglamorous.

It was almost too hot for my daily bowl of porridge, and I was going to make bircher muesli instead and soaked the oats as usual, but so used to routine, I forgot. We have been having salads, a plateful of colourful vegetables, with anything which is good to eat raw, even cauliflower, with new potatoes or homemade bread and butter, a few tinned chickpeas or red kidney beans, and a frugal protein, tinned sardines, or pilchards, tinned corned beef, or hard boiled eggs.

We picked the few strawberries and plenty of cherries from the garden, the plums will be next, Czar, Yellow Pershore and Victoria. The blackberries are going to be early this year. The tall Munstead lavender bushes along the front of the house are just starting the first flush of blooms, I shall be picking lavender for weeks, filling all of the vases and letting it dry. I have large bowls of dried lavender to stir up to scent the bedrooms, and I give it away to friends, in saved paper bags from the pharmacy.

We had an afternoon out at David Austin Roses at Alrewas. The climbing and rambling roses were at their best, over arches, pergolas, and along walls. Next week I am going to meet my two sisters at the lovely National Trust gardens at Hidcote Manor. We shall take a picnic and catch up with all of the family news. We used to go there often when we were children, even cycling the 7 miles through the lanes in summer with our older brother. It was a wonderful place for hide and seek.

DH has had his first cataract operation so he has a month away from the crown green bowls which fills his time all summer. He commented on how vivid all the colours are now. When Mum had hers done she said the operation gave her wrinkles, "Because they definitely weren't there before!"

I have found a few treasures at the Barnados charity shop, a stoneware hot water bottle by Lovatt's at Langley, and a Heatmaster teapot with a felt lined metal cover, by Ellgreave Pottery at Burslem.

I bid £6 and won 4 perfect vintage tablecloths, 2 linen and 2 cotton. Also a box of hand painted, Irish linen, huckaback towels and an embroidered cloth for £5.44. They would have been suitable for a jug and basin wash, the cloth to stand the basin on, and small towels rather than a bath sheet, for uncovering, washing and drying a bit at a time in an unheated bedroom. Linen towels are soft and very absorbent. 

My son is out moving things away from the house and trimming the lilac bush away from the siding. The roofers are coming early tomorrow. He's also putting more hay on the garden now that it's stopped raining all of the time and it's gotten HOT! The new green kitchen paint is arriving today so the paint is going on the walls this afternoon! 

I have one of those extra deep mattresses, and that topper tip is one I'm going to keep in mind because it is hard to lift those huge corners to try and put sheets on them. Why did we go away from the old ways? When I replaced the oversized mirrors in my bathroom, I looked for medicine cabinets that might work but our walls are too shallow for a recessed one, and if it's not recessed it sticks out four inches from the wall. Medicine cabinets used to be standard in every home. Now we have to put the things that would have gone in one in drawers or cabinets, and I don't see the improvement. The crown molding on top of the kitchen cabinets meant you couldn't ever clean the tops of the cabinets, and when we removed them, we got out the trusty lye soap and had to scrub off years of dirt. Again, where was the improvement in using the crown molding? And now there are big, clunky mattresses! I remember in the past that people used to put the mop and broom next to their fridge. I've been trying to remember how they did it. I've been thinking about doing that once I get the cabinet off the fridge. I'll bet it's really convenient that way. 

I love to hear what everyone is doing.

Sheryl C I used to be so happy when I got anything at all from my garden, and now I ruthlessly pull out volunteer flower and vegetable plants like they're weeds! I love how abundance is built-in with gardening. It just takes a little time. :) 

Janet W I planted a David Austen rose this spring! They are so beautiful. Those fabrics are lovely.

Stephanie G  I truly believe we're going backwards in what makes sense.  Very thick mattresses serve no purpose.  And medicine cabinets! Amen to that! What happened?  I try to think back when homes made sense and now they don't. I just saw a floor plan (and there are many in AZ) that you have to carry groceries from your car all the way through the living room and around to the kitchen, or down a long bedroom hall to the kitchen. It just makes zero sense. At this age, I could never!  And where are the broom closets or that space we put the broom as you mentioned.  You couldn't pay me to have a new home. 

One of my issues is the kitchen island and I've been trying to figure out what to do about it. Counter height chairs are uncomfortable for us older folks. Even for my young son-in-law. The chairs cut us off at mid thigh, so you really always have to have your feet placed on a rung. That's quite a trip hazard for us - getting a foot caught, so what to do with the area where the chairs should be?  We just had the counters replaced and the floors so not sure what to do with it. No chairs leaves an awkward open space.  So if anyone has any ideas on what to do. The island has an 8" overhang. Another oddity. 

Sheryl C (and anyone who grows loofahs), what variety do you grow and are they very firm?  I bought some loofahs online and they collapse as soon as you get them wet — they are nothing like the loofahs I used to buy in the 90s.  I had already decided I would grow them for next year, so now I need seed recommendations.  Using loofahs is part of my plan to eliminate plastic anywhere I can.  I started by tossing the scrubby sponges used on dishes, to help prevent microplastic ingestion.  I also switched to a bar dish soap, although we have Dawn for the major messes (and toilet cleaning).  My guys use a plastic bottle brush and there’s no point trying to replace that, as they are using it to wash plastic water bottles for cycling.

Ann E, I live in a bungalow and we have to carry our groceries through the front door, through the (small) living room, and into the kitchen.  The other route would be in the side door, through the small laundry room and into the kitchen, but our camper van doesn’t fit under the carport (100 year old house and carport is a beautiful structure attached to the house), so I can’t open the gate, drive under the carport, close the gate, and unload the groceries.  In truth, it’s probably just as much work anyway.

Grandma Donna, do you mind sharing which glass storage containers you’re using in the freezer?  I do store some things in glass jars, but only if no one else is going to take them out.

We had an inspector out this morning because the mold from April might not have been fully mitigated.  Tomorrow the bathroom wall will have to be cut into.  We’re praying not to find mold, or if there is mold, for it to only be on the upper section of wall, not the lower tiled section.  It’s imperative that we figure out where the faint mold odor is coming from, which is worse on cooler and damper mornings.  I have a very sensitive nose — my husband usually can’t smell the mold even though I can.

I realized last night that this is the first summer in my life that I can set the thermostat cooler and not have to think about it at all.  There are so many other areas of the budget that require careful planning, so this is a nice thing to not worry about

Wow!  Some of the pictures here in the comments are making me hungry :-)

Oh G Donna, you crack me up.  Name our toilet brush - hahaha.  I will have to think on that, maybe Harry or Mugsy - hahaha still chuckling over that one.  A great point though, and I've actually been trying to "be present" for a few months now as we've had many moving parts in our lives (personally).  

Hope everyone had a wonderful Independence Day and the gardens are taking off and producing :-)

Kimberly F, my glass food storage containers came from Amazon because I could not find what I needed anywhere else.  I do not know what is happening to stores and why they will not keep a good stock anymore making us have to order.  In the past they did order their goods so I guess that is something.  They had catalogues and I have a few I have picked up from our history stories all the way back to 1900.  The food catalog is very interesting and I could not believe the canned food items they could order back then.

Anyway I made sure the containers I ordered were glass and freezer safe.  They do have plastic lids but that does not touch the food.  I ordered 8 ounce, 12 ounce and 16 ounce glass storage containers.  The 8 ounce is from their baby food storage containers and are round with snap lids.  The other two are square and rectangle.  I did not want round ones but that was the only 8 ounces I could find.  I want them square and rectangle so they stack nicely in the freezer.  

Each time we take something out of the ziplock we know when be buy groceries next time it will be going in glass containers and will be nice to not buy as many plastic bags.  I am sure there will be a need to keep a few on hand for some things.  I do have larger size freezer safe glass containers already so I did not have to buy them.

To Everyone, I am so happy to see you all here and am enjoying your comments and photos!  

With the comments about the new houses, and what were they thinking?  I do agree and even though we do not have a lot of closet space, we have a pantry, a built in old fashioned medicine cabinet, a built in laundry hamper and a built in towel cabinet.  

Thank you, Grandma Donna!

Your husband is doing a wonderful job with the hallway!

I'm making an effort this summer to do some de-cluttering and re-organizing of drawers and so forth. I find that the results make life easier, for obvious reasons. I'm also attempting to get more sleep at night. Finally, I am trying to remember to hug my husband more often. This makes me cheerier, which makes life easier for my whole family! Sometimes if we feel we aren't getting enough affection, we need to just take it!

Hello ladies! I just recently came across this blog and now discovering this comment section- it’s simply delightful! I’m really just enjoying the general camaraderie, kind of reminds me of an old fashioned tea or luncheon. I wish more of my generation were interested in the simple things of homemaking, though I know when one doesn’t have their own home yet, it can be more difficult. Personally though, I want to invest in these homemaking skills with the time and resources I do have right now. I’m 19 and still living at home on the family farm (we milk 4 cows and my dad farms around 350 acres). Whenever I converse with older ladies who are homemakers, it just inspires me to keep working on the skills and mindset even though it can be pretty frustrating at times! Lol!  
 But anyway, thanks for sharing just the everyday things, I know I can do those and help at home better when I love the simple! 
 

Grandma Donna.  Another beautiful post.  Thank you for sharing.  I think Charles is the perfect handyman to have around.  We have had a hot summer this year which happens every 2-3 years in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  One thing we did differently this year is hire someone to mow our lawn  My husband is 74 and not in the best health although he gets around okay.   This has taken a large burden off him and he can use his time to do other things he needs to do, such as weeding!  The guy that mows also shovels snow in the winter so I am lining him up for that task, too.  There are too many older men that die of heart attacks here shoveling snow in the winter.  We were unable to plant a garden this year due to health issues but there's always next year.  We do have a local farmers market each weekend we can attend.  I love the idea of the mattress topper.  We have a huge, heavy mattress also that it takes two of us to make.  The rubber gloves is also a great idea.  I don't know what was wrong with the smaller mattresses.  There are a lot of things that the younger generation needs to leave alone and mattresses was one of them.   Most of the older things are just better.  We have our heavy mattress on a 100 year old iron bed.  The bed frame alone weighs 90 pounds.  Needless to say, we don't move the bedroom around once the bed is placed.  It stays in the same position until we move to a new home.  I love all the suggestions and tips in the forum; always informative.  We stayed home and had chili dogs on the 4th.  We will drive to Mt. Rushmore in a few days now that things have calmed down,  

Well now I'm going to name my toilet brush after someone who deserves to have his head dipped in a dirty toilet, lol.

I just finished making 14 concrete steps to replace rotted-out wooden ones in the path to my house.  It was a huge cost savings, at about $5 in concrete per step, for a total project cost of only $70. 

When I first decided to go with concrete instead of wood (hoping not to have to replace them again in my lifetime) I looked into prefab steps, but the size I needed was almost $300 each, meaning that a project this size would have been around $4,000.  Eeek!  So I'm pretty proud of my $70 homemade steps.  

I have ten in place now and they look great.  As soon as I get the last four in place, I can start on the fun part - landscaping around them with rocks and native plants, to replace some invasive periwinkle I tore out this spring.  It will be so nice to have this done!

I spent the holiday weekend trying to calm a dog who is terrified of fireworks, because she does better with me than at home. She wasn't happy, but at least she didn't go into a full blown panic.  

Grandma D ... your reinforced hallway looks good.  You mentioned it had several doors.  Be sure to reinforce them too.  When we had our tornado, the bathroom door was solid wood (old house) and opened inward.  After the tornado the doorway in the hall completely blown off its hinges.  

I've never named appliance or other household items.  I did have a vacuum that I hated because it attacked me (still have scars on my shins) and I called it several unprintable names regularly.  

I do give thanks to the Lord to show appreciation for various household items I use.  I went many years without decent pans and other kitchen items until I discovered estate auctions.  I think that has given me more appreciation for those items now.  

When I was first married and nine months later had my first child, I was washing at the laundromat when I had money or washing by hand at home.  When my dh brought home a Maytag wringer washer from an auction, I was beyond thrilled and to this day still consider it the best gift ever!  So, I do not take having an automatic washer and dryer lightly.  I do have a clothesline outside and lines in the basement but don't use them often.  It doesn't make sense to carry a basket of wet laundry down the basement steps and not safe at my age.  I live in a very windy area, and the wind will beat laundry to death, so I don't hang outside when it's windy and it's usually windy.  Lately the mulberry trees are loaded and mulberries plus birds equals stained laundry.  I have a natural gas dryer, so it does not cost as much to run as an electric one.  I do try to hang sheets out whenever possible.  Nine months of the year, it's too cold and windy to hang outside.  Arthritic hands do not like cold/wet.

Janet W ... I have a tablecloth like the top one in your picture.  Most of my tablecloths have come from estate auctions or garage sales.  They are usually cheap because no one wants to iron them which I don't mind doing.  Perspective, I spent years ironing all the family's clothing, so a few tablecloths are nothing.  I especially hated ironing men's dress shirts and when Perma press shirts became available, I replaced all my dh's shirts right away.

I often bought boxes of linens at estate auctions and sometimes I'd find tablecloths that were beyond saving.  I cut them apart and hemmed them into dish towels.  Perfect dish towels as they are absorbent and lint free.

Elizabeth S, Welcome to the blog and to the forum, I am happy that you found us!  You said, I wish more of my generation were interested in the simple things of homemaking.  Tell them about this blog and we would love to have them join in the wonderful conversations, we all learn from each other and the older people share what they remember of the past to keep the old skills going.   We need more young people to learn the old skills so we do not loose these skills that our Grandparents, Great Grandparents and Great Great Grandparents used to get them through the bumps in the road.  We also share how to make a comfortable home no matter where you live, even if it just one room in your house. Many of us live very frugal and it is very difficult time for our young people to get started keeping their own home and no better time to learn than when you are young.   Again welcome to the blog from all of us.  Grandma Donna :) 

I'm loving seeing how your home is constantly changing and being improved according to your changing needs GDonna. You are truly blessed by having Charles in your life!

This is the first year that I'm growing loofahs Kimberley F. Although I've wanted to grow them for a couple of seasons I only got the seeds (Vital Seeds here in the UK), this spring.  The variety is luffa aegyptica- I'll let you know how I fare once I've harvested, processed and used the finished product.  I'm growing them in the hope that they'll replace the plastic scrubbers that use around the cabin; I'm on a 'reducing plastic' drive in my home and have been watching with interest the information about using glass in the freezer.  At the moment I use (and re-use), plastic freezer bags but again I'd like to permanently move away from plastic.  The cost of replacing the bags with glass is prohibitive though.

 I've been very much inspired by this blog/forum, and also by re-reading 'Lark rise to Candleford'.  I know that it's fiction but those village ladies really knew how to make the most of every little scrap and how to make every single penny count.

  I'm totally blessed by living within a short driving distance from the Weald and Downland open air museum.  They have rescued and rebuilt a collection of old houses and dwellings from the Anglo Saxon era up until Victorian times.  It's become my 'happy place!', and I gain a lot of inspiration from learning how women (and sometimes men!), ran their households in times past.  

A very warm welcome to the blog and forum Elizabeth S.  As long as there are young women like you who are interested in learning past life skills then western humans will survive.  I've long thought that we need to be able to take care of ourselves without the aid of the rampant technology that is so prevalent today. I see adverts for farming games that make it look as if a fully working farm can be set up almost instantly- very, very attractive until you actually have the experience with live animals and crops. Technology does have its place but I do worry about how reliant we have become upon it.

One skill that I would love to learn is canning.  It's not so popular a method of food preservation here in the UK and I really don't have the space (or money), to set up a canner and glass jars.  The thought of electricity free preservation is really attractive though!

I'm sitting outside again and as it's just gone 6.30 I'd better make a shift to get my hand washing done and out on the line.  I think we're due for another unusual 'heatwave' here in the UK over the next few days so early mornings are definitely on the agenda.

(P.S- I did sow another two cucumber seeds yesterday).

Ooh lovely, checked the site and there is a new post :)

As JanetW has said here in the UK we are experiencing a hot summer, my courgettes (zucchini) are growing great guns as are the tomatoes but we went away for a week to the coast and when we came back all the salad crops had died in the heat. Luckily I had done some succession planting before we went so hopefully in a few weeks I will be picking again.

I try to get all my chores done in the cool of the morning so that I can just relax in the afternoon with the curtains shut against the heat with either a book, my sketch book or mending to keep me busy. Our rescue dog has discovered the joys of sitting in front of the fan and this keeps her nice & cool.

The cottage where we stayed for the week had a much higher sink than mine and I noticed that it made my back ache when I was doing the dishes, at 5ft3 I’m only going to shrink now as I age so it’s something to think about going forward. Suspect that the cupboards up high will be replaced by easier to reach shelving.

As for naming things, well I’m guilty of that too, especially cars. My current mini is called Mickey :

so happy to have a new post to enjoy.  Thanks GDonna. Midwest has been in the heat dome and while my sweet dh and doggie stayed home and endured I was able to enjoy a week in Denver with my daughter and family.  I really think Denver is a most perfect place.  Sun over 300 days a year, fabulous snow that the city deals with quickly/or it melts quickly, mountains, and very little humidity.  It was a terrific week. 
Our biggest thing to check off our list is that we have purchased our cremation plans. Sounds rather somber, but practical and takes a burden off our children.  My parents did this and it was so simple for us during a crazy time of grief and clearing the home of SO MUCH STUFF.  I know my in laws have done the same.  For years my MIL had a corner in the garage where she put items to go:  visitors always had to stop by and see if they’d like something.  FIL is a painter and always had pretty things if a person wanted something.  
I know there is much going on to make homes easy to stay during retirement times, but have people made plans for “the home” as my one grandma called it. She was able to live in her modest apartment until cancer took her quickly.  My other grandparents moved to a retirement village.  My grandmother said she wished they had moved earlier. She was 10 years younger and able to manage the house easily, but once grandpa had a small stroke and couldn’t do the steps etc they needed to sell the family home.  It was a loss for everyone but necessary.  But grandpa really struggled with the change. If they had changed earlier he would have made friends more easily and felt more in control of the decision.  GM said she could have have coped in the house, but it would have been lonely.  They were used to going places and entertaining friends. Staying in the house would have been terribly isolating.  It’s not as common these days for the elderly parents to move into their children’s houses.  It’s a hard dilemma.  My husband did nursing home medicine for a number of years and feels a huge concern because most primary care givers are immigrants, and as they are deported, there will be few to care for us.  Hard decisions coming for us.  On this cheery note, I’ll had outside to deadhead some flowers. 

I want to welcome Elizabeth S! Absolutely wonderful to see young people interested in "home!"

Tea S. I laughed out loud at what to name the toilet brush. One person came to mind. LOL

Kimberly F, your grocery trip would do me in. I had two homes where the garage door went directly into the kitchen and both kitchens had a countertop right there to set the groceries on. Now at 65, that to me would be a dream!  Now I have to go through two doors, a doorway, stairs and 45 ft! I still love our first home when my husband and I were married!

I forgot to comment, Gr. Donna on Charles' workmanship! Impressive! That hallway looks great and I love the natural wood.

The green paint was perfect for the kitchen. The second coat is going on this afternoon. The roofers are not coming today after all. They are arriving on Friday and only to put on the new roof. They couldn't give me a date for the siding replacement. It's a lovely sunny day here, and the birds are happy and the bunny has been by to visit. 

I got a shocker recently. My husband can't wait to quit his present job so he doesn't have to travel so much, but we'll lose our dental insurance from his company. I found out we're going to have to pay quite a bit more for a new policy, and no preexisting problems are covered. This is one thing I didn't include in my new budget. Not at that price! I called the dentist to find out the prices if you don't have insurance to see if cash pay is less than a year of premiums, and as long as you just need cleanings and only occasional x-rays, it is. If you need fillings or something else, it costs a fortune. I wondered if we could become tooth hygiene fanatics to the point where we only need cleanings. We will try it for a year after he changes jobs and see. I've had a problem with my gums being irritated for quite some time now and the dentist has recommended this or that toothpaste and mouthwash product. I finally got fed up with all these expensive products and started using just baking soda to brush my teeth. My gums stopped being irritated. :) Old ways are so often better ways. They are certainly cheaper ways! 

Ann W, thank you for mentioning the doors for the hallway.   We have been trying to figure out what to do about the doorways, the bathroom door goes in and has rooms on the other sides.  If a tornado is coming we probably would quickly get into the closet by the hallway and at least the hallway would reinforce that closet.  We have thought about the old fashioned board across the door with the heavy slot things.  

Were you able to learn anything else about what the house needs to help with a tornado?  I realize they can completely take the house away but anything we can reinforce would help.  We have too many tornadoes in this time we are living. 

Grandma Donna,

I know I'm not the one you were asking, but if your house doesn't already have them, it's a good idea to add metal hurricane ties where rafters meet ridge board and rafter-joist pairs meet the top of the wall.  In a lot of older homes, the rafters are just nailed in place with no hurricane ties, which makes it easier for a tornado to lift the roof off.  They cost around a dollar a piece, and if you have an attic that gives access to the roof structure, adding them is quick and easy. (Otherwise, less so, since it would require ripping out the ceiling.)

You might want to have a professional check whether your house is anchored to it's foundation or just sitting atop it.  I have no idea what anchoring a house might cost if it isn't, though, and I don't think it's a DIY project.

It's also a good idea to keep bicycle helmets or hard hats in a shelter, because most tornado deaths are due to head injuries from flying/falling debris.  And something like couch cushions you can throw on top of pet crates for extra shielding, since they won't wear helmets.  

Thank you Gr.Donna for another lovely post.   

Charles is certainly doing a great job on the hallway. I love the wood.

We have just returned from a short vacation/trip and it was a wonderful time. Good to be home, it is amazing how things have grown. I wish my garden had done well this year but even after planting twice it is a bust. For some reason I got absolutely no germination on any of the seeds I planted and the tomatoes are doing okay but nothing to brag about. I have to wonder if it is because of all of the rain we got during germination time. Thankfully the whole family grows so we will have plenty but it is very disappointing. 

I have 6 Ball freezer/fridge jars that I use for making yogurt. They hold 1 and 1/2 pint each. I probably bought them at an auction or estate sale. I have no idea if they are still available in stores. I do use regular Ball jars to freeze in but cautiously because they will break. 

I also put pantry items in either canning jars or recycled jars, I like being able to see what I have.

We have been under a heat dome and I am just so thankful for AC, I think about it every day.  I do not super cool my house because it makes going outside even more miserable. AC does help with my allergies.  I know it sounds silly but I get so mad at my allergies, I never had them until after age 40 and was not allergic to poison ivy but I am now....frustrating. I am even allergic to certain kinds of toothpaste. 

We were gone over the 4th of July, on a houseboat so no fireworks, but I did take a "walk done memory lane" remembering the celebrations we had when I was a child, always at grandmas with watermelon, a hot dog roast and grandpa taking us kids for rides in a homemade wagon fastened to his garden tractor. Simple fun and memorable. The only fireworks were sparklers that we put into a metal coffee can when spent.    

It looks like the weather is cooling off and the 100 degree weather has left us at least for a while.  Our garden is just starting to produce green beans and we have had beets and some greens.  Our tomatoes have disease and I am just hoping the tomatoes will ripen before the disease kills the plants.  But more positives than negatives.

I have heard that women will shrink 5 inches as we get older.  That will make me short so if we are not short now we will be and that top shelf will be high.  The way that we bring groceries and things in the house is by wagon.  We have a wagon we bought at the hardware store that has drop sides and I leave the sides up when I load with groceries and roll up the sidewalk to the house, but then I hit the steps so I have to carry up 3 steps and into the house to the kitchen.  We can also use this wagon in the yard to carry trimmings and weeds that we want to get away from the house and then drop a side or back and just push that out.  Much better than a wheel barrow.

I do freeze in canning jars.  Most of my jars are Ball jars and they usually have a freeze line that you are not to fill over for the freezer.  I have been freezing my green beans in Ziplock bags because I want to pull the air out, but for things like berries they work well.  I have used them for spaghetti sauce and soups too and give more head space than marked on the jar.  You need a place in your freezer where they will not be knocked and don't go from freeze to heat in a jar.  I defrost in the refrigerator or put in some warm water to defrost if I have not given enough time to use the refrigerator method.  You can reuse the lids in the freezer even the ones that have been used for canning.  I never reuse lids for canning. I  use wide mouth jars, they have more expansion room when freezing.

Another saving tips I have is how to fold towels.  The first fold should be made by folding in 1/2 the length of the towel.  For example if you have a 2' x 4' towel when folded it would be 1' x 4'.  Then fold the other way twice so it will fit on the shelf.  When you go to use the towel you can simply unfold the last two folds and place over towel rack.  You will not have to refold the towel to use it.  

We don't have too many tornados in our area but a few.  One thing they suggest is to go in the bathroom, but I wonder about the glass in there.  There is the medicine cabinet and we have glass doors on the tub.  The glass seems to be a big problem.  

Ann W thanks for the tip on the vinyl gloves.  My husband wears compression socks and we will try that with them.  Thanks for all the reminders to start seeds for the fall.  

CindyD W That wagon for groceries is a good idea that I have forgotten about. It's a little rough for us since we have parking "logs" to go around and a door threshold to a screened in patio to get to, but I need to revisit this idea.  At least bringing it into the patio and to the main door would be extremely helpful. And what's funny is we did this with a garden cart years ago, but living in AZ the tires were always flat due to heat and thorns.  But I am going to research this one! I need a wagon with no flat tires! Thanks for the great reminder idea!

The tornado that hit our town was an F4 or F5.  Houses that were hit directly disappeared.  One house had a large chest freezer full of meat and nothing of it was ever found.  Checks from the bank were found 50 miles away.  The girder beams over the school gym were twisted like they were wire.  The tornado zigzagged and we were fortunate to have missed a direct hit, so we had a house still standing but too badly damaged to repair. Recommendation for shelter is interior room/closet without windows.  As CindyD W said flying debris causes most injuries.  

Tornadoes do strange things, my refrigerator was closed and looked normal until opened and there were pieces of shingles, sticks, glass, leaves and dirt.  The door was cracked where it had whipped.  My ironing board was set up in the bedroom and after the tornado the iron, still plugged in, was between the mattress and box springs and the bed was still made.  Dining room chairs were down hall to west, in kitchen to east, in living room to south and one had gone through the kitchen turned north and was by the back door.   We were in the basement praying and frankly in that situation praying is the best thing you can do ... well duck, cover and pray.

Optimistically, I am convinced that I will not be hit by a tornado again.  However, I'm prepared to go to the basement where I have a safety area, with battery lamps, weather radio, water and other items.  I also have a master list of what I want to take downstairs with me and recipe cards in each room with the items I need to take from that room.  When I receive a watch alert, I will organize everything ready to go downstairs and when a warning is issued, I take everything down.  When the sirens go off or my inner warning says time to, I go down.  

FEMA has a book entitled "Are You Ready? An In-depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness".  It was free and it has all natural hazards and also gives likelihood of it happening in your location.  I'm in Iowa and my risks are floods, tornados, thunderstorms, lightning, winter storms, extreme cold and extreme heat.  Zero likelihood of earthquakes, volcanoes, mudslides, hurricanes, tsunamis, wildfires and low risk of fires.  It also covers technological hazards, nuclear, terrorism and other general preparation/recovery information.  

The website listed in the book for information: www.ready.gov or calling 1-800-BE-READY for printed information.  I've had my book for several years so there probably is an updated version by now.  I just looked at the website and it appears everything is download now.  I could not find a spot in my quick review for ordering books to be mailed.  Further research might find a way to order the book and other information.  I personally hate reading books on screens.

I thought I'd chime back in after reading others' comments.

Re: a wagon for groceries, I found one online that folds up like an umbrella stroller when not in use.  I have a long walk from our parking pad to the house, and this has saved me many trips.  Some of these wagons/buggies have stair-climbing wheels in the back to make that easier if you have steps.  I have a ramp that was installed for my late husband, so I use the ramp.  Ann E., it may be possible to find one with solid tires or be able to change the tires out to solid tires.

Medicine cabinets:  my daughter and son-in-law bought a house built in 1952 or 53.  One day when I visited, my son-in-law showed me the original medicine cabinet still in the bathroom and asked me the purpose of the slit in the back of the interior.  He was so surprised when I told him it was for razor blades.  Most of us don't use safety razor blades anymore (although some do), but why don't we still have medicine cabinets automatically installed?  I agree with the others who asked that.

Freezing in glass:  I was told that canning jars are safe for freezing, but only the wide-mouthed jars, never the regular-mouth jars.  Expansion is hindered in regular-mouth jars and can make the jar burst, or so I've read in my old canning pamphlet.  I usually don't use glass because I've had too many get cracked when getting moved around.  If I had room to crate them and protect them with a little padding, I would use just glass.  I guess I am too rough when digging in my freezer.

Ann W, I grew up in an area with a lot of spring and summer tornadoes, the worst times usually being late spring.  I remember my parents talking about a devastating tornado that occurred when they were teens.  My dad and his siblings recalled seeing everything had been turned over in their yard or blown away, but an empty bucket left sitting in the yard was right where they left it before the tornado had come.  The things you describe are amazing.  I'm sorry you had to go through that.

I read an article today about insurance executives sitting in on a cyberattack on US water systems simulation so they could decide how to direct their resources in such an event. The simulation was dated July 1, 2027, and China was supposed to be attacking to prevent the US from getting involved with Taiwan. It was pretty grim; however, I felt much better prepared. For washing clothes, dishes, or bodies we have the rain barrels. We have a Green Egg grill to heat washing water, and clotheslines inside and outside for drying. I have enamel basins for washing dishes and my small trash can and plunger for washing clothes. Grandma Donna has explained how to take baths and wash dishes using very little water. We can stay clean during a cyber attack. :) We need a potty, though, and a way to get drinking water. There are systems that are supposed to pull water out of the air, producing clean drinking water. We could also try straining the rain barrel water, then boiling it, then filtering it. There is biological water from eating water-heavy fruits and vegetables too. I need to lay in a supply of soap bars for washing, baking soda for tooth brushing, and extra water filters, and make or buy a potty like Grandma Donna has explained about. 

In the 1960s, I guess they worried about nuclear strikes and built bomb shelters. We get to worry about our infrastructure going out. Thank goodness Grandma Donna has passed on all of her knowledge!

Grandma Donna, thanks for describing your glass freezer containers.  I would really like to get away from plastic in my food packaging, but I think it is going to be a long endeavor to get there.  Before I can switch completely to using glass we have to eat a lot of what we have, so the freezers can be better organized.  I am torn between the money saving and convenience of keeping a deep freeze, and the simplicity of buying our foods as we need them and eating the leftovers within a few days versus freezing them.

Once I have a decluttered, organized freezer, I am going to try using the glass containers we already have in the inside freezer.  They are the Pyrex Ultimate with glass and silicone lids and are rated as freezer safe.  I realized I can do this and not have to buy anything new because I can use my vintage Pyrex refrigerator dishes in the refrigerator again — I stopped because the kids broke a couple and because there was fussing about hand washing them, but no one is a child anymore and we don’t mind hand washing.

If we freeze in canning jars, they have to be completely straight sided or if they are wide mouth with slight shoulder we aren’t supposed to freeze them above the shoulders.  I haven’t had a lot of luck freezing liquids in canning jars even with those parameters in place.  My guys knock them around and the glass cracks easily when it’s so cold.  I do use canning jars in the door of the freezer for yeast, lemon zest, and dehydrated sourdough starter.

There was no mold in our bathroom wall!  There is some damp attic insulation that will be removed tomorrow, and an area of roof that wasn’t fully sealed when our newest 8 solar panels were installed last May that will be sealed tomorrow as well.  The company that opened up the wall isn’t going to charge us for that (a miracle) since they did the original mold abatement and also had concerns that some mold might have been missed.  We do have to pay for the drywall repair, and we’ve decided to hire the person who repairs the drywall to paint the bathroom as well.  We could do the painting, but this is a friend with a business and we want to give him the work.

One thing we learned a few years ago is that we didn’t have powerful enough exhaust fans in our bathrooms, which led to condensation drip stains on the walls.  Also, we always closed the bathroom doors to keep the pets out.  This repainting will cover those stains, and now we have the right exhaust fan and we leave the bathroom doors open for at least an hour after using the bath, with the fan on to dry everything out.

Ann E, it sounds like you go farther to bring your groceries in than I do!  We go from the car on the street, up the walk and the steps to the house, through the living room and a few steps into the hall before ending up in the kitchen.  From the car to the front door is about 30 feet, but it is only 10 steps from the front door to the kitchen counter — my house is a bungalow.  In those 10 steps I take 2 steps in the living room, 2 steps in the dining room, 3 steps in the hall, and 3 steps in the kitchen.

I have a folding wagon stroller I use if I walk for groceries or if we need to cart items from the car or house to another spot, like a parade, concert, or race.  A long time ago I had a folding wagon from Costco, but find the wagon stroller much easier to manage with the push handle.  It’s roomy and can carry a lot of groceries, but it isn’t easy to get up the steps to the house unless I have someone to help.

Stephanie G, I would love to see photos of the green in your kitchen!  I think many of us have to figure out dental coverage, as it isn’t covered by Medicare.  We chose to keep our dental coverage through COBRA for now.  The thing is dental insurance isn’t really insurance at all, it is considered a discount plan.  We asked the dentist and he said routine care of two cleanings and one set of days annually would be about $500 per person cash pay.  Our fillings and crowns are discounted about 50%, but the coverage maxes out after the plan pays $2000.  Anyway, what I meant to say is we found out we can buy a dental plan through our university alumni association, so we will look at that when the time comes and decide between that and cash pay.

Sheryl C, I’m interested to see how your loofah growing experiment turns out!  We are also moving away from any plastic scrubbers.  I have loofahs, natural fiber brushes, a chain mail scrubber, and cellulose sponges, plus hand knit cotton dish cloths.

My house has been “braced and bolted” to help prevent it from sliding off the foundation in an earthquake.  In the event of an earthquake we are supposed to get away from the windows and anything that can fall — getting under a sturdy table is recommended.  If any of you have every been in a bigger earthquake, you know that is somewhat easier said than done because at first you are figuring out what is happening and then you don’t really have a lot of time to get to a safer place, plus it’s difficult to walk when the earth is shaking.  When I was younger we were told to go to doorways and brace ourselves there, but that advice has changed.  We did “duck and cover” drills in school; we were told it was for earthquakes and it does make the most sense for a group of students in a classroom to get under their desks.