If the soil holds together without packing densely, it’s just right. It means the soil is slightly moist, and forms a weak ball with rough surfaces, no water staining on fingers, and a few soil grains break away. If the soil crumbles apart when you open your fingers, it’s too dry. When it’s too wet, it forms a ball with well-defined finger marks, light to heavy soil/water coating on fingers, ribbons between thumb and forefinger.

Hi Alice,

Elations is 30 calories per bottle and contains just 1 gram of sugar.  If your husband is diabetic, we recommend he monitors his glucose level per guidance from his doctor.

Unlike many Glucosamine products, the Glucosamine in Elations is derived from corn through a wet milling process. It is not derived from and does not contain any shellfish, so no shellfish allergy warning is required.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common cause of disability in the United States. The disease, which causes degeneration of articular cartilage and bone changes at the joints, most often affects the knees of people over 60 years of age, limiting their ability to rise from a chair, stand, walk and use stairs. The total number of people with functional limitations caused by arthritis is projected to climb to 11.6 million by 2020, with total medical care related to OA estimated at $60 billion annually.

There are two challenges to properly treating patients with OA. First, many people often experience symptoms of OA well before any x-ray might shows its existence and the second is that many people who show OA on their x-rays are still asymptomatic. Additionally, people who experience OA pain often treat it with acetaminophen and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication, despite the fact that the benefits are minimal (when compared to a placebo). Moist heat and ultrasound have also proven ineffective in treating OA.

The most effective solution? A combination of manual physical therapy, such as joint and soft-tissue manipulation and mobilization, combined with exercise and joint health supplements. Patients typically report significant relief from OA symptoms after only 3-4 visits, and are less likely to feel the need to take medication. If you are currently feeling the effects of OA in your knees or hips, visit a trusted physical therapist and exercise regularly – your body will thank you!

The typical restaurant pasta meal is at least four times the recommended amount. Dole out a single serving — about the size of a tennis ball — and spare yourself hundreds of extra calories. Ditto for rice and  potatoes.

Take cuttings of favorite annuals or sow seeds in pots for winter flowering indoors. The following bedding plants root easily: coleus, geraniums, impatiens, wax begonias, and fuchsia. Plant calendula, ageratum, marigold, stock, impatiens, and snapdragon from seed. 

“I don’t know what to do. I need to be in class, but my daughter’s day care provider is sick. She needs a sitter for my grandson. Dad also needs a ride to his doctor appointment today.  I’ve made the decision not to attend class, but I’m not sure who to help. Do I pick up my grandson and take him to dad’s appointment with me?”

These are words of a boomer woman at midlife who went back to school to become a nurse. Being a member of the sandwich generation can be overwhelming. When we include our spouses and selves, we are often caring for four generations. We’ve got Mom and Dad, our spouses and siblings, our children and their children, and lastly, ourselves. Our sandwich is piling up. I refer to us as a club sandwich with boomer women often squished near the middle piece of bread while loved ones chomp away at us.

This is reality for boomer women. We multi-task to survive. You can find us sitting at the red light while talking to Mom’s doctor, with our college age son beeping in to see if we could please send the bat bag he forgot to take back to school. HELP. We feel as though we are no longer members of the human race. We now belong to the rat race and we don’t like it. What can we possibly do to give ourselves the occasional breaks we need? What can we do to lessen our burden? How do we embrace caring for others while caring for ourselves?

Here are 15 tips to remind you that we must take time to care for ourselves or we will no longer be of help to our loved ones due to burn out.

• Reduce stressful situations by saying no. Perhaps you can run that errand for Dad but you can’t do it until the weekend while you are running your own errands. Maybe you can’t baby sit your grandchild at her home, but you can watch her if they bring her to your home for the evening.
• Tell your grown child that she may have to hire a babysitter. As much as you love your grandchildren, you can’t be expected to baby sit every time they need you.
• Say no to things that are no longer rewarding. Perhaps it’s time to step down from being the neighborhood association secretary or the Sunday school teacher. There is a season for everything.
• Ask for help without feeling guilty. Perhaps there’s a sibling who isn’t pulling their weight. Have an honest conversation with them and let them know they are needed. Try calling a local eldercare agency to see if they have services to help with small jobs concerning Mom and Dad. Hire a maid to clean your house when you just can’t stand the mess any longer.
• Surround yourself with a network of supportive people who will listen and allow you to feel heard.
• Plan a Girl’s Night Out because you can be certain your friends will be able to relate and empathize. Recognize you are not alone.
• Enlist help around the house. There’s no reason teenagers can’t do their own laundry or clean their bathrooms. Make food lists and have your child who just got their license do the food shopping.
• Spend alone time with your loved ones. Plan a date with your hubby, a movie with your daughter, or lunch with Mom. Do something fun that has nothing to do with the nitty gritty of care giving.
• Escape by reading a good book or watch a movie.
• Get Outside. There’s something about the great outdoors that’s healing. Go alone or take your hubby, dog, kids, or grandkids. Walk, run, garden, or simply sit in a chair while taking in the sights and sounds. Feel the breeze and revel in it.
• Visit your doctors. Keep up with your own doctor appointments. Don’t put off your annual physicals or visits to the dentist, gynecologist, etc. Preventive medical care is essential.
• Eat well and exercise often.  Be careful not to skip meals. Make sure you begin the day with a healthy breakfast, followed by a healthy lunch and dinner. Walking with a friend is therapeutic, especially if they too are a boomer woman.
• Take a deep soaking bubble bath before jumping in bed. It relaxes your muscles and prepares your body for rest.
• Spend time in prayer each day. If you don’t have time to do this while you’re at home, at least listen to a spiritual radio station or CD that allows the spirit to enter in and give you the much needed peace you deserve.
• Count your blessings. Take time to make a list of what you have to be thankful for each day. It’s worth it. It helps change your focus from the negative to the positive.

Attitude has a lot to do with how you view your care giving roles. If you count your blessings each day, you may recognize how grateful you are for what you have. To give an example of how that works, look at the above list and begin giving thanks.

I am thankful:

·         My parents are still living.

·         My grandchild lives nearby so I can be an integral part of her life.

·         My child was able to marry and get a job in the town in which I live.

·         I have choices and can choose what committees and functions I want to be involved with.

·         I have siblings who can help share the load.

·         My girlfriends who understand what I am going through and can offer much needed words of wisdom.

·         My teenager is finally driving and can help with the errands.

·         My husband knows when I need a break and is willing to steal me away to be alone with him.

·         All the authors and screenwriters who provide much needed escapes from reality.

·         His beautiful creation that clears my head and allows me to focus on the outdoor beauty.

·         Doctors and nurses who are capable of sharing what I need to do to remain healthy.

·         Good food and the company of loved ones with which to celebrate.

·         My healthy body that allows me to walk and get the exercise I need to release tension.

·         Hot baths, comfy beds and someone to snuggle with at the end of the day.

·         I have a loving God meets me very time I call upon Him.

While care giving is certainly something that can be trying at times, be sure you keep a healthy perspective and remember that it is an honor to care for loved ones. Just be sure you continue to care for yourself.

I am an advocate of high-quality multi-vitamins and minerals, anti-oxidants and phytonutrients. No matter how complete you believe your diet to be, you can never get enough of the multi-nutrients your body needs. By achieving a proper balance of these multi-nutrients your body’s organs can function to their full potential. Deficiencies in vitamins and minerals will hinder your progress and efforts in the gym and your everyday life. In addition, your body is exposed to pollution, physical stress, as well as other contaminants on a daily basis.  The result? Free radicals in your body, which attack your body’s cells. All cells are vulnerable to the damaging effects of free radicals. That is why anti-oxidants play an important role in supporting healthy cells. It is very important to know what you are buying because not all vitamins are created equal.

Look for vitamins that are derived from a whole food source. These vitamins are more absorbable in the body.  Other vitamins will contain excessive amounts of multi-nutrients in hope that your body will absorb the right one.  This can be toxic to your body because your organs have to process the excess amounts and discard them. A high-quality whole food source vitamin will run between $50 and $75 for a month’s supply.

Drying tomatoes is a great way to extend the season, plus when you decrease the moisture in the tomatoes the sugar concentration totally increases the flavor.  And you can store the dried tomatoes in the freezer and reach for that homegrown flavor all winter long!  Here’s how: (This works well especially for meatier tomatoes like Romas).

Cut tomatoes in half and place on cookie sheet with cut side up.

Lightly sprinkle tomatoes with kosher salt (optional)

Place in 250-degree oven (prop door open with wooden spoon). 

Cook 6-10 hours or until tomatoes are leathery but not dry.

Place dried tomatoes in an airtight container and store in a dark, dry location. Or place in a plastic zip-closed bag, remove air and freeze.

As fall sets in it’s easy to get lazy in the garden.  It’s easy to let the garden go and watch the weeds grow…Big mistake and here’s why. Many weeds produce thousands of seeds.  Lambsquarter can bear up to 72,500 seeds per plant, curly dock 30,000, purslane 52,000, and redroot pigweed 117,000!  Do the math, even if only 50% of the pigweed seedlings germinated next spring, you’d have 58,000 pigweed plants to pull or otherwise get rid of.

Speaking from experience, I’ve found that fall is an excellent time to get ahead of the game and break the weed cycle.  Pull, yank, smother, burn, or spot spray them.  If you decide to till the garden, do it in the fall, not the spring. Spring tilling turns up buried seeds that will sprout in multitude. You have a better chance of killing off perennial weeds such as dandelion, thistle and bindweed if you spray in the fall since the weeds will take the weed killer straight down to the roots. Fortunately, controlling weeds in the garden is easy since you don’t have to worry about other plants like grass.  If however, you’re looking to kill off weeds in the lawn, you need to make some considerations because fall is an excellent time to seed cool-season lawns too. 

So weeding and seeding together doesn’t work!  You have to pick one.  If the lawn is thin then choose to seed.  If the lawn is nothing more than a patch of weeds – control the weeds this season and seed in the spring.