Life is Unpredictable

Our life went from quiet in 2022 to full of excitement in 2023. We were moving along quite well with the garden last year but for some reason I kept a close eye on my husband while he was outside doing things. It was odd of me to do that, but something just didn't seem right. Then the end of May came and I was out ready to work the front flower beds and I noticed him leaning over the wheelbarrow. I thought he was having issues with his back and I yelled up and asked him if he was ok. No answer. I walked up to him and asked again and he walked around to the side of the the wheelbarrow, said his chest and collapsed. He went into full cardiac arrest - but not from a heart attack but a birth defect that went undetected. My son has just gotten home from running errands and I yelled for him. He did CPR while I stayed on the phone with 911. Within minutes, EMS arrived and then transported him to our local hospital. A few days later he was transported to another hospital and had an aortic valve replacement. He is doing well now, but I look back and thank the good Lord that the niggle in my head that something was not right saved him. If I had gone on with my plans of working out in the front beds, he would have been alone and no longer with us.

Life has since settled back down. Hubby is now working in the garden again and seems to be doing quite well. God is good! 

This year is a year for change. We are close to retirement age and it's time to start thinking about purging things that aren't useful any longer. The kids have all grown up and have their own lives and they don't want all our treasures junk that is important only to us. It is time they need to be sorted, offered to the children and/or purged. I have stopped buying yarn and craft supplies and am now using what I have. I should have more than enough in my stash to last past this lifetime!! I had gotten into that "must buy now or it will be gone" mode. You know how crafting is - everything is a limited edition and if you don't buy it now, you're going to regret it in the future. I stopped all my subscriptions after hubby's operation and really haven't regretted it since. There are a few things I miss about them - mostly the excitement of opening the package and not knowing what is inside, but that excitement wears off quickly and the item ends up in the "someday" pile.

It is time to use what we have here. Over the past years, I've abandoned many of my make-it-from scratch ideals for the easier and more expensive prepared items. I really don't know why as the prepared items are of much lower quality. Food items taste less than delicious to absolutely unpalatable and are chemical/preservative laden plus so much is genetically modified. It was easy falling into that trap with only cooking for the two of us as it was so much easier to pull out something in a can or package instead of slaving over a hot stove! Oh how the lazies can easily creep into your life!

I'm back on the road of making from scratch. If I want it - I need to make it! Things are being cleaned off the pantry shelves and being replaced with staples that I preserved. Bread, crackers, cookies, etc. are no longer being purchased, but come fresh out of the oven. That is only the beginning. I'm pretty much making everything from the basics, including decorations, necessities, toilietries, cleaners, etc. I have found this is slowly removing the toxins, we are feeling better and saving money!

If you have made it through my long post, I thank you. I hope you will join us on our journey and I hope that you may find something useful from my journey back to being a traditional homemaker. It is amazing how much I have forgotten over the years!