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@conniewilkins56 and @Bella_Figura : re..tire...ment? What is this strange concept? How does one get to do that?
I highly recommend it! Though I know I'm super-lucky to be able to quit work at 55, and most people aren't in the same position. I was hit by a huge (-40%!) actuarial adjustment to my pension by retiring so early, but I figured you only live once, and I have a modest lifestyle, so I just went for it. Four hundred days later, I'm still not regretting it!Got myself out for a walk this morning! I have a nice 3 mile loop on the trails near my house. Heard the owl, but didn't go looking for him today (I was wearing shorts, it is a heavy deer tick season, and the trail into the woods is like chest high weeds). Saw a green heron, an osprey and what I can only assume is its "baby", and 3 turtles. Met a new neighbor dog on my way back. It got hot in the sun, but was nice to be out.
Your walk sounds amazing! I love turtles and it would be awesome to see them 'in the wild'.
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I went to work at 16 and worked through high school and college….my husband and I worked for my parents in our grocery stores for years and eventually bought their business….we expanded and bought and sold stores and houses….always paid as much Social Security as possible….finally decided to retire early, cut expenses by living with our daughter and family…downsize home, cars, etc….did a lot of traveling when we were younger….we were ready to retire so we did it!….40 years of working in retail was long enough!4
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conniewilkins56 wrote: »I went to work at 16 and worked through high school and college….my husband and I worked for my parents in our grocery stores for years and eventually bought their business….we expanded and bought and sold stores and houses….always paid as much Social Security as possible….finally decided to retire early, cut expenses by living with our daughter and family…downsize home, cars, etc….did a lot of traveling when we were younger….we were ready to retire so we did it!….40 years of working in retail was long enough!
Oof no kidding! Early days, late nights, weekends... not an easy career for 40 years! My husband worked retail at Target for a good 10 years until he just burned out on it. Now I have myself a house husband, so everyone wins
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Now I have myself a house husband, so everyone wins
A house husband is a wonderful thing! My husband had to retire on ill-health grounds in his early forties, so I became the sole breadwinner. It was wonderful to come home after a long, exhausting day and have a hot meal waiting and a clean house to return to. I was soooo lucky! But also that's the reason I took early retirement - to spend more time with my husband and dog, doing things we all enjoy. I'd rather have less money and quality time with them, than money in the bank but no leisure time to enjoy it.
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conniewilkins56 wrote: »So happy to be retired since I was 55!…..today is my birthday and I am 70 ( omg ) and to tell you the truth, I never thought I would make it to be this old!….so today I am eating what I want and doing what I want!….tomorrow is another day!…..one day isn’t going to make me gain 110 pounds, and I will never pass this way again!
@conniewilkins56 Happy belated birthday!
The hubby is feeling under the weather today, but we are beginning to suspect it might be the advent of KETO flu, which, while the not feeling good sucks, its a good thing as it means I've got his carbs down. He's been dropping water like crazy the last few days, too, and is 4 lbs away from a key milestone which if we can keep this up he may just hit before the camping trip mid August. IF I can get him solidly down below that threshold before our honeymoon in August and then we behave ourselves decently then and not entirely undo all our hard work, we'll both be ecstatic!
I'm feeling tired too, but then again, I too have sharply curtailed my usual carb intake in an effort to get the meals to his levels. I've seen water weight drop off and am solidly back under 260 lbs - seeing the 250's again was a relief! Now to continue working on getting it back down to the 220's........
Just goes to show that this is a life-long struggle for me. And I still haven't figured out what flips that switch in my head on and off - the switch of "yes, I can stick to this eating plan" to "no, I can't!"
I still haven't gotten my exercise back up. This weekend, I need to push mow and weed eat, pick beans and can them, and paint the new chicken coop - there was a group in the area looking to do missions projects and asked if anyone had something they needed done, so I asked them to come help me put together my kennel and chicken coop I've been wanting together for 3 years now - woohoo! My brother had been promising for 2 years to come help me put that kennel together but never showed up, so I had this church group help me with it instead. Now I just have to paint the outside of the coop, wrap some bird netting across the top and perhaps rabbit wire around the bottom, then I can get my chickens!2 -
Groan….still those chickens!….I will send you some eggs lol…..
I survived my birthday….thanks for the well wishes…l ate entirely too much but it is done!….I got lots of gifts and that made the day easier!…
New marriages usually cause weight gains but you know you can get back at it!…keep that new husband in line!
Glad to see you back…miss your posts and you!1 -
@bmeadows380 so jealous of your upcoming chickens!! If we could have them in town, I'd get some in a heartbeat. I even have their names picked out already...2
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So good to read your posts again @bmeadows380 !
Sounds like you had a wonderful birthday, Connie. Really great attitude you've acquired! Good idea not to weigh yourself for a few days.
I've been eating not great, but not bad - under maintenance every day, just way more than I would like. But can't weigh myself either after hitting +8 pounds on Monday. Some from eating sodium/wheat - but mostly from a bee sting on the weekend. Second day my arm started swelling, third day all of me was getting a bit puffy. Was puffier Tues and Weds - can't imagine how high the weight went.
Arm is going down now. Maybe I can weigh myself come the weekend and see how bad it is. Maybe it wont' be so bad??? lol.
Don't think I've ever been stung by a bee before - only wasps. But this one got caught in my hair - and by the time I got him untangled he was thoroughly confused and ... angry. Came back to sting me - swiped him off my arm, he flew in a circle and chased me tot he front yard from the back! I was calling him some nasty names right about then
Perhaps I've just hit a new weight loss low - blaming bees for the scale going up.3 -
@lauriekallis
sorry about the bee sting! the little buggers......I got stung late last week by a yellow jacket. I have 2 large black pots that are actually the tops of trash cans I cut off and filled with dirt. I had planted butternut squash in them at the end of June after the first round of seeds I had put in at the end of May didn't come up. Of course, all 6 seeds decided to sprout the second time around! So I transplanted 3 of them to the other pot and while I was walking away, I felt something on my heel then a sharp sting. Looked down to see the bee and then looked back and saw them swarming around the pot where the plants had come from. I watched closely and figured the nest was in the ground under the pot.
So I went out that night with foaming bee spray and sprayed all around the pot. Kill a few of the bees on the outside, but when I checked the next morning, they were still there. That's when I knew I needed the big guns - gasoline. The normal tactic around here for dealing with ground nesting bees is to pour gasoline into the nest and set it on fire, but since it was under my flower pots, I wasn't going to light it. Besides, the gasoline and its fumes is usually enough.
I went out that night with my gasoline can and a flashlight and shifted the pot a bit to see the actually entrance hole to the nest. Except as soon as I shifted the pot, I realized I could hear bees humming. Then they started coming out so I took off across the yard before they latched onto the flashlight light!
I realized at that moment that the nest was not in the ground under the pot; it was IN the pot! I gave the bees time to settle down a bit, then went into my shed and got my remaining can of foaming bee spray. I sprayed all around the bottom of the pot a second time where they were coming out at, then gingerly pulled up my plants to transplant somewhere else before soaking the entire pot in the gasoline. I'll have to dispose of the pot and its dirt now, but it did kill the bees!
If it had been honey bees or bumble bees, I would have left them alone, but yellow jackets are aggressive and dangerous and had to be done away with!3 -
Yes. I've dealt with a yellow jacket/wasp nest outside my door in the past, and on worksites (working as a landscaper) ... I swear they seem to enjoy stinging (perhaps because they do not die!), but I have never been stung by a honey bee before. Apparently they can get pretty darned aggressive too! And I thought I had the stinger out, but alas I hadn't (it was in an awkward spot to see) I didn't get it out until two days later - which is maybe why I had such a drawn out reaction.
Hope your plants accept the transplant well!2 -
Oof. As an adult I finally outgrew my phobia of bees/wasps (mostly). I now love honeybees and the variety of native wasps and bees and pollinators around. But there is a special place in hell for yellowjackets.2
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@eliezalot
or maybe yellow jackets are part of one of Dante's levels of hell........ lol
I love seeing the honeybees and native bumblebees flying around my garden plants and flowers. I cheer them on - please, please pollinate my beans and tomatoes and squashes!
my transplated butternuts are looking good, but I don't think they are going to grow fast enough to produce anything this season. We'll see, but I'm thinking unless the first hard frost is later than usual, they aren't going to get big enough to produce. OH well. My banana squashes, on the other hand, are looking great with at least 4 squashes that I counted. And with those squashes being the size of a regular watermelon and producing as much as 12 cups of squash from a single vegetable, that will be plenty!3 -
@bmeadows380 garden pics please!!!!
I didn't do any squash this year, but have about 30 various pepper plants (mostly hot) and about 15 tomatoes. I love to can green beans, but just didn't save enough room for them this year. I'll have enough to eat fresh, but will have to hit up the farmer's market to get enough green beans. I've never had banana squashes before! How is their flavor? (My current favorites are buttercup and delicata!)1 -
banana squashes are very similar to butternut in taste and texture, though in my estimation they are a little lighter on flavor. Still make a good pie or served in slices by themselves but light enough in flavor that they can accompany other veggies in dishes without overpowering the other veggies3
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Ha HA productive procrastination! Haven't been able to focus on work today, but I did reorganize some of my indoor plants by the window. Got them a nice little tiered shelf and decided which ones will go to the plant swap next month.3
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Happy August everyone! Wow, into the last month of summer already! Where's the year gone?2
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First of August, which is a holiday in my faith. We are hoping to get the cabinet we got for free up on the wall of the pantry to serve as a liquor cabinet. Then the box which is holding the liquor can be used to protect the cat food from the cat who prefers to go chew a new hole in the bag when he wants some crunchies. (He has crunchies in two different bowls, he just likes to hunt his own.) I object to expensive grain-free cat food being spread all over the pantry floor.
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AlexandraFindsHerself1971 wrote: »First of August, which is a holiday in my faith.
Holiday here for me as well.
I did some meal prep this morning. Made granola for the first time and it came out really good. Also roasted some cauliflower and sweet potatoes plus cooked some brown rice and quinoa. Then prepped a few things for my dinner tonight (roast chicken, cornbread dressing, and german sweet and sour green beans).
I have to put out offerings on my altars here in a bit. Then after lunch I will do some ritual work for the holiday.
I hope all have a blessed Lughnasadh and may the harvest season be bountiful to you and yours.4 -
Thank you both for sharing your holiday information. Not sure if you both celebrate for the same reason? @Athijade I read about Lughnasadh and think it sounds so wonderful. I was swooning at the grocery store today at the evidence of this years harvest rolling in. We are so lucky.3
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lauriekallis wrote: »Thank you both for sharing your holiday information. Not sure if you both celebrate for the same reason? @Athijade I read about Lughnasadh and think it sounds so wonderful. I was swooning at the grocery store today at the evidence of this years harvest rolling in. We are so lucky.
I read about it too….a couple of years ago when the huge Lunar Eclipse occurred, I aske my daughter if she would dance with me under the moon!…expecting a snide reply, I was surprised when she told me she would….( I am known in our family to be rather nuts! )…. So we looked up moon phases etc and Amanda, both grands, and myself went outside, joined hands, and danced under the moon….( thinking of Goodie Proctor and The Crucible )…. We wrote messages on slips of paper what we most wanted and then burned them in the empty bird bath….we also left a clear pitcher of covered water outside all night and made “ moon water “ that all of us drank the next day….we talked about the eclipse, Stonehenge, Irish traditions, and Pagan rituals….we did this for a few months until the novelty of it wore off but we made great memories doing this!…3
