Living in an uncertain economy

Hearing stories worldwide about the economy puts a little fear into peoples hearts. We hear of whole countries that are basically bankrupt. There is comparison to the great depression. Could we end up like that again?

The thought of that is pretty scary when one considers how dependent we are on the government now. How unprepared we are living in compact housing and cities with very little green space. At least in days gone by most people had a yard where they could grow some food. How would we cope?

There are lots of great gardening ideas on the web for planting a container garden on your balcony.. or maximizing your growing potential of your tiny yard.. but could that ever be enough?

There are some basic things that we should all know how to do.. even if we never have the need too. One of those things is to growing basic vegetables.. lettuce, potatoes, corn, carrots... of course depending on where you live the list would look different. But knowing how to grow some things that could at the least, supplement your diet could mean a huge difference to your health.

Cooking is another thing. It looks a lot different today than it did in the leaner years. Learning some basic recipes that are easy to make with limited, and obtainable ingredients.. what ever is cheap.. is essential to survival.

Repairing your stuff... when money isn't plentiful you have to make due. In our throw away society we aren't used to that and we also don't have things that are made to last. Could you sew your clothes if you needed too? How about repair your shoes?

Canada was hit really hard by the depression. By all accounts we were hit harder than most other countries. Spending was down by 42% and 30% of the population was unemployed.

Preparing ourselves for what ever adversities could come our way is a smart thing to do. You may never have to worry about money but the lessons one can learn can mean you also don't have to spend it unnecessarily.

I found a really interesting youtube channel called  Great Depression Cooking. Clara, who has now passed away teaches you how to make some very simple meals with what was available then.

I learned many things from my Grandma and I am so grateful that I listened to her... wish I could ask her many more things now though.

Do you have any skills that an elderly family member or friend taught you?

Bodipure Hand and Foot Treatment Review

I had the opportunity to try two Bodipure products. They were in the FabFitFun Spring box. The All in one hand treatment and the all on one foot treatment.

The first thing I noticed when I opened the package was the smell.. it wasn't a strong or over powering smell but it was very pleasant. I used the all in one foot treatment first. separating the two booties and slipping your feet into them is very easy to do.

Once on the first thing I have to say is it feels very strange.. I was prepared for it.. or so I thought. It isn't so much that it is unpleasant, as it is just ... well a strange feeling.  I had intended to sleep with the booties on and get the maximum absorption, but I was not able to. All I was able to leave them on for was about an hour.. which is longer than the minimum time that is suggested but I was disappointed that I caved in.

I made sure that while on I massaged the treatment into my skin and made sure it was evenly distributed over my foot through the booties.
When I took the booties off I smoothed the remaining cream over my feet and in the course of a few minutes it was all absorbed. My feet felt very nice.. but the best was the following morning, they felt amazingly soft. I am a barefooted girl and I have to watch my feet because they do dry out. I was left with wonderfully, baby soft feet.

Using the mits was very similar to the booties although getting your fingers into the right slots took a little bit longer. The feel was still very strange and  you need to be able to spend some time doing nothing.. good time to watch a movie!

I did the same as before and massaged the product through the gloves making sure everywhere was covered throughout the process. Taking pictures once the gloves were on was a bit challenging lol.

I left the gloves on for about an hour and when taking them off made sure I massaged in the cream well. My hands felt very soft and as with my feet I noticed it even more so the next morning.

I am pretty impressed with this product. I would definitely use it again.

Mmmmm Huckleberry time!

Picking and identifying red huckleberries.

Huckleberry muffins! Yum

Fun in the sun and tide pools

Today was so beautiful out.. I had to drag the kids around doing errands and when I got them done we headed to the beach. The tide was out and there were lots of tide pools to explore.

I don't know what this is.. I found two of them. This one was about 6 inches long. If anyone knows I would love to find out!

Here is a short video of the pools

Lottery Madness.. to play Powerball, 6/49 or not???

With all the lottery madness happening now, it is easy to get caught up in it. The jackpots have been quite big the past few weeks as they always seem to be during the holidays.

A lot of us dream of what we would do if we won that big jackpot..A new home, traveling, cars, charities. Wouldn't it be fun.. yeah the
new stuff.. but then to shower our family and friends as well.
*Sigh* you know the saying.. the dream never dies, just the dreamer.

So what are the odds of winning? Well..sadly, not very good. Of course someone has to win, so A chance is better than NO chance.

The Powerball jackpot.. the biggest in US history has odds of 1 in 292.2 million.
That is a LOT of people buying tickets. To sink that in a bit more,  Gary Grief, executive director of the Texas Lottery,
told NBC News' Weekend Today on Sunday. "At our peak last night, we were selling more than $1.2 million in Powerball tickets every single minute."
Wow..
That is a lot of tickets.
Here in Canada, the Lotto 6/49 odds are 1 in 14 million, and Lotto Max is 1 in 28.6 million... still a pretty big shot in the dark.

You have better odds of a few other things happening than becoming the newest millionaire.
1. Being killed by a vending machine. (1 in 112 million)
2. Being killed by flesh-eating bacteria. (1 in 1 million)
3. Dying from chronic constipation: (1 in 2,215,900)
4. Getting murdered during a trip to the Grand Canyon: (1 in 8,156,000)
5. Being Killed by an asteroid strike (1 in 700,000)
6. Dying from chronic constipation: (1 in 2,215,900)
7. Dying From Being a Left-Handed Person Who Misuses Right-Handed Products (1 in 7 million)

Will this stop us from buying tickets?... I kinda doubt it.. I am however rethinking that trip to the Grand Canyon! ;)