Senior Sustainable Living with Jo

  First, let me say let me say that I've preserved my own food for over forty years. Preserving my own food has been a lifetime of learning and doing. It's part of who I am. So after my my hemorrhagic stroke in 2012 left me paralyzed on my right dominant side, I was lost. It was very important to me to get back to who I was in some ways. Of course, I took baby steps in taking back/relearning/adapting how to can. I wasn't always as proficient as you see me in the videos. Being a homesteader, it was about knowing how and where my food was grown so I got it to do my body good. It give me a connection to the earth, and God's Grace and abundance. Washing jars, flats, rings, and other necessary equipment and utensils. Cleanliness is next to Godliness, right? Okay, but in this case it helps keep the nasty germs that will make you ill. I'll wash everything I'll use to can with the night before and cover them with a dish towel, or stick them in the oven overnight. Next, ...

I've never had any luck canning potatoes without an almost metallic after taste and smell to them. The jars would have so much starch in them almost half the jars were impossible to see the contents. So disheartened,  I quit canning them at all. What was the sense of canning potatoes like that? It was a waste of time and energy. As you may have guessed, I spend quite a bit of my time watching YouTube videos. With my strokes, I have difficulty reading and comprehending written instructions (actually most types of reading) without reading anything four or five times through or storing it in my long term memory because my short term memory is gone. So much got my photo- and phonographic memory. It's gone too. Now, I guess my memory is just like anybody else my age with CRAFT (Can't Remember Any Frigging Thing). It gives a whole new appreciation to the other anagram, KISS (Keep It Stupid Simple) me please. Whereas before, everything was easy, now it takes hard concentration to ...

  Let's face the facts living on a fixed income, is no picnic. Especially, when it's based on disability like mine is. You re juggling life expenses just like when you were working fulltime except now, you can't just go out and get a part-time job to supplement your income without jeopardizing the income you do have coming.   (made up people names) We've all heard or seen the stories about poor Mrs. Jenson who eats cat or dog food because she can't afford to eat regular food and meet her basic expenses. Or, how Mr. Clark rations out his prescriptions. He skips taking it as prescribed because there's a deductible on his RX plan, or it's too expensive even with his plan, or to make allowances for the dreaded Medi-Gap. This is more the normal rather than rare happenings today. It might even be you or someone next to you. And every day, I'm thankful for my departed beloved who still taking care of me that I do not have to face those choices.  I'm not rol...