This year, however, I am going to be trying some more natural concoctions and see if we can get away from so many processed things that could be detrimental to our skin and health. For mosquitoes around the picnic tables, I am going to be trying something I saw on Instagram posted by @inspiredlifeandhome. I am going to make her natural luminary, but I am going to add Belle Aroma® Lemongrass Essential Oil to the mixture.

I’m sitting in my recliner today with Tosh on my lap on what is my first real day “off” since semi-retiring a couple of weeks ago. That’s OK, though, because the things I filled my days with were enjoyable and things I needed to do. But today is the first day at home to catch up on some things around here. I’m in my recliner because it is storming outside, and thunder always makes Tosh very anxious. In fact, she usually runs to her papa, David, at the first crack of thunder. But since he’s gone, I’m the next best thing in a storm.

When my husband and I first moved to Missouri back in 1980 we were pretty poor. If we had a nickel, it would be lonely. Imagine how excited we were to have found a farmhouse to rent. It was owned by an older couple who basically just wanted someone in it so it wouldn’t get destroyed by vandals. It had been the woman’s homestead that she inherited from her parents. They offered it to us for $25 a month during the winter months if we would count their cows and feed them some hay. During the summer when they didn’t need to be fed, we were to pay $50, but they took pity on us and never changed it from $25!

We are traveling today to see family in Iowa. It’s a beautiful day, even though a bit chilly. We’re using my favorite car diffuser, the Belle Aroma® FlashScent USB Aromatherapy Diffuser, with my favorite essential oil, lavender. Tosh is calmly riding on David’s lap close to the diffuser. Did you know that dogs don’t have any problems with lavender? In fact, it can have a calming effect if they are having an “episode.”

My husband and I celebrated our 44th anniversary last month! It got me thinking about the time prior to our meeting. I had determined in my 21 years of living that I didn’t want to marry a farmer or a janitor. Now, don’t get me wrong: I have nothing against farmers or janitors. I just knew that wasn’t the life for me.

How did you and your family fare during the pandemic? I’ll be the first to admit it changed me and my family. In fact, my husband stood up in front of a large group of people recently and stated, “it changed me! I have a dog now! A tiny INSIDE dog!” Yes, that was quite a change for us. Let me explain how it came about, as she was not a pandemic dog in the strictest sense of the word.

A few months ago, my husband and I made what we feel sure will be our last move. We downsized our home by about 250 sq ft and by about 5 closets! We will be semi-retired and have figured out that while we do like possessions, we just don’t need as much “stuff.” So, we began the sorting, saving, and pitching process. I can only speak for myself, but I have found over the years that I am not a very sentimental person who forms a strong attachment to “things.”

Do you remember the first time you drove a car? I do but let me explain. Way back in the day my dad took his 1954 Ford Custom sedan and cut the back of it off! Right behind the front seat he cut it off and put some kind of wood or metal behind it, built a big white wooden box with sideboards a little higher than the roof of the cab. The sideboards were removable so it could just be a flatbed if he wanted. He painted the front of it sky blue. It was an ingenious way to get a pickup with little investment, even if it was a bit funny-looking. It was a 3-speed on the column, and it had the hugest steering wheel!! It had to have been 15-16” across! This “truck” is what we moved from Iowa to Oregon in so evidently it was reliable.

Were you given an allowance as a child? My earliest memory of an allowance was $.35 every two weeks, and I had to put $.20 of that in the donation box, so that left me a whopping $.15 that I could spend on candy, etc., for two weeks. I was recently reminiscing with a younger friend who has four children, ages 12 to 20. He told me he didn’t think his kids even knew money came that small! Hahaha!!!

A vivid memory at a very young age, maybe 7 or 8, happened in a forest. Let me back up, though. At age 6 my parents decided to move the family from Iowa to the Pacific Northwest. To my knowledge, we had never been there, or at least my brother and I had not. Both of my parents had lived in California as young adults, but we weren’t going there. We were headed to Oregon.

Being a child in wintry Iowa, I learned at an early age the enjoyment of scent. I only lived there for 6 years to begin with but that was long enough to experience cold and snow deep enough to play in. Each time we would get a snowstorm my mom would bundle my older brother and I up to go outside to play. You know the drill.