A Review of the Movie The Tomorrow War

I recently watched a movie on Prime video called The Tomorrow War.  Being a fan of science fiction, I was totally enthralled by the scenario.  Great story!  I thought the acting was well done, in addition to the extremely realistic special effects.  Overall, I gave it a 10 out or 10!  Let me tell  you about it......

The Tomorrow War is a Amazon Original Movie that was released in 2021.  It was supposed to be released to theaters, but because of Covid, it was decided to release it straight to Prime Video.  It was the most streamed movie on Prime Video in 2021, and a sequel is in the works!

Main Cast

Chris Pratt as Dan Forester

Yvonne Strahovski as Colonel Muri Forester

J.K. Simmons as James Forester

Betty Gilpin as Emmy Forester

Sam Richardson as Charlie

Jasmine Mathews as Lt. Hart

Edwin Hodge as Dorian

Ryan Kiera Armstrong as Young Muri Forester

Short Summary 

The world is shocked when a group of soldiers, armed to the teeth, appear in the middle of the World Cup to tell the world that in 30 years the earth will be invaded by a hostile alien species.  The soldiers are from the future and have come to ask for our help to turn the tide of the war that they are badly losing against the vicious invaders.

They want to bring people from our time to the future to help fight.  A world draft is instituted and Dan Forester, and ex Green Beret is drafted to go and help save the human race.  What Dan finds in the future is stunning, but it is nothing compared to what he finds when comes back home.

The Trailer:

The below synopsis contains spoilers, please skip if you don't want to know!

Detailed Plot Synopsis

In December 2022 former Green Beret Dan Forester and his wife and daughter are having a home Christmas party.  Everyone is watching the World Cup when a disturbance happens on the field and a group of heavily armed soldiers appear out of nowhere.  They announce that in the year 2048 hostile aliens, called Whitespikes, invade Earth and start killing every living thing on the planet.  For them that was three years ago and now the population of the Earth is almost gone.  The soldiers have come back into the past to ask for help defending our world before the human race becomes extinct.

A worldwide draft is initiated and within a year Dan is drafted.  Upon arrival at the draft office he finds that the term of service is only seven days, but only 30% of people make it back.  The people drafted are sent in with weapons, but almost no training.  Another thing Dan finds strange is that they do not show the draftees a picture of the enemy.  

Dan and his fellow draftees are sent through a device called the Jumplink to the year 2051, but due to a glitch in the system, they are transported to the wrong location high above a skyscraper and the only people that survive are the ones that had the luck to land in the swimming pool on the roof.  Luckily Dan and a couple of his newly made friends do, along with a few others, and they are radioed by Colonel Forester to proceed to a laboratory downtown and to rescue a group of scientists and a toxin they are working on to kill the Whitespikes. While on the way to the lab, the draftees finally get a look at the aliens and it quickly becomes clear why they don't show anyone pictures.  The Whitespikes are the stuff of nightmares!

Image by Ken Barthelmey

Creature & Character Designer | info@theartofken.com

Upon arrival at the lab, the scientists were dead, but Dan is able to find a dozen vials of the toxin.  While trying to flee from the city, the group is besieged by Whitespikes and all but Dan and two of his friends are killed.  An explosion saves them and they wake up in the Dominican Republic in a military camp hospital.  When Dan meets the camp commander, he is shocked to find it is his grown daughter Muri.  Happy to see her, he is puzzled and hurt at her cold attitude and refusal to speak of the past.  

Muri explains that they need to capture the female Whitespike, who is like a queen bee.  After they capture the queen, and transport her to a lab on an oil rig they find that the toxin that kills the males does not work on the female, so work begins on finding a variant that will.  When they finally find a workable toxin to kill the female, the male Whitespikes flood the base to free the female.  During the fight, Muri gets wounded by a poisonous spike and just as she and Dan begin to connect, his seven day term of service comes to an end.  As he is about to transport back to the past, his daughter gives him a vial of the toxin and tells him to mass produce it in the past so they can be ready to use it in 2048.

Back in his own time, Dan tries to give the toxin to the government to produce so he can go back to the future and distribute it when he finds out that the future Jumplink was on the oil rig that was overrun with Whitespikes and damaged so it was no longer functional.  The world goes into panic thinking the loss of the Jumplink means the future war was lost.

Dan and his wife try to figure out where the Whitespikes come from, and they formulate that maybe they didn't come to earth in 2048, maybe they were already here all along.  Since they were first seen around a glacier on Komsomolets Island in Russia, Dan decides that would be the first place to look.  After drafting his two friends Charlie and Dorian from his future group, they go to see Dan's dad, James, who is a prepper and conspiracy theorist.   Of course, James knows someone with a plane who can fly them to Russia where they find the crashed space ship.  They deduce it has been there for over a thousand years.  After finding half a dozen compartments with frozen Whitespikes, they realize that this was where the "invasion" came from.  They were here all along, frozen in the ice.

They begin injecting the Whitespikes with the toxin and it quickly kills them, but also wakes up the others and the mission devolves into a vicious fight to kill the aliens before they escape and start the war early.  They plant explosives to blow up the ship which manages to kill the rest of the males, but the one female gets loose and leaves the ship running out into the snow.  Dan and his father go after her in an all out battle which they finally win and kill her.

Conclusion

I really liked this movie.  If you like science fiction, I believe you will too.  It is more than just a shoot 'em up alien war movie.  The connection between the Forester family members is quite complex with interactions I didn't include in the synopsis.  (I can't tell you everything!) I also loved that it had a happy ending!  I highly recommend this movie!

Unfortunately, this movie can only be seen on Amazon Prime, and cannot be purchased on Amazon.  I have had Prime for years and find it to be more than worth the $139 a year.  A full Movie channel and free shipping on all orders along with other perks......definitely worth it.  If you are interested in subscribing, click here:   Amazon Prime

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Essentials For a Safety Kit to Keep With You

A Review by Tracey Boyer 

Everyday life is very busy for most people.  It is common for most people to visit at least six different places every day; some people visit many more than six...

Work, cleaners, grocery store, pick up kids, piano lesson, gas station, shoe store

or

Drop kids at school, clothing store, fruit market, take cat to the vet, go to son's soccer game, restaurant pick up for dinner, PTA meeting, stop for coffee

With all the places that people go every day, it's smart to carry some essential items with you that would help in difficult or even extreme situations.  It is easier than you think, and also take up much less room that you would believe.  Safety items that will help in most any situation can be stored in a ladies makeup bag to carry in a purse or backpack, or to keep in a car's glove compartment.  I have been carrying one in my purse for years.

What Can You Carry in a Bag That Small, 

That Would Be So Important?

Contents of my Safety Kit

This is a general list of what I carry. The red pouch is where I keep my first aid items.  You will need to think about your own life and what items you may need to add to take care of situations that are specific to your life.  

First Aid Items - alcohol wipes, band aids, aspirin.  (May include prescriptions if there are some that must be taken at specific times)

Solar Powered Phone Charger - If your car battery is dead and so is your phone battery, this charger will save the day.

Swiss Army Knife - many tools in one small package

Ponytail Holder with Bobby Pins - great for hair use or for wrapping something together or picking locks!

Dental Floss - Very strong for tying things together in a pinch and there is a lot of it, in a very small container. 

Travel Size Hand Lotion - good for everything from burns to removing rings that are stuck on a finger.

Chapstick - great for your lips as well as greasing things like screws that don't want to go in their proper place.

Safety Pins - the uses for these are too numerous to mention.  Carry at least a dozen!

Lighter - This is something no one should be without. It can not only start fires, it can also heat metal so it can be bent, melt plastic or burn through strapping that can't be cut.  Make sure to have one in your bag.

Small Flashlight - You do not want to run down your phone's battery using it for a light, so have a small flashlight in your bag in case you are ever stuck in the dark.

Pen and Small Pad of Post It Notes - You never know when you will need to leave a note, or give someone important information.

Pepper Spray - I usually have two small pepper sprays.  I keep one in the outside zipped compartment of my purse and one in my safety bag.

What Kind of Bag is Best?

I bought a fairly large make up bag (7" x 8") with three zippered compartments.  It has been a while, so I don't remember where I bought it but it looks like this:

My Safety Kit

It fits well in all my purses and I also bought one to put in my husband's truck.  It fits without a problem in his glove box and still leaves lots of room for the rest of the junk that he has in there!

I know that many of my readers are probably thinking....is this really necessary?  My answer to that is no one knows.  If it isn't necessary and you have it on hand, what's the harm?  However, if it is needed and you don't have it, the results could be terrible.  I have used my bag for things as mundane as pinning together a shirt when I lost a button to as scary a thing as pepper spraying a creepy guy at a gas station that kept insisting he needed a hug.   So I would say.....

It is better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it!

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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A Review of Growing Vegetables in Pots

Can You Successfully Grow Vegetables in Pots?

I have grown plants in pots practically my whole life.  It started out when I lived in apartments and I grew flowers on my balcony.  I always loved having pots of pretty flowers around my table and chairs where I sat to drink coffee in the morning.

Things changed when I moved to a beautiful ground floor townhouse with a large sunny patio.  I loved the patio and I was discussing it with my mom when she came over to see it and and she told me I should start a potted vegetable garden.  I was surprised as I did not know that veggies could be successfully grown in pots.  I was excited to try this and I picked her brain for all the gardening tips I could get!  Remember, this was in the 80's, and we did not have all the information at our fingertips like we do today on the internet.

Thus began my hobby of vegetable gardening in containers.  I have learned a lot over the years.  I continued doing it even after I bought a house.  I would have vegetables in both pots and in elevated garden beds.  Here are a couple pictures of them:

My Tips for Growing Vegetables in Pots

1.  Soil - Always buy premium potting soil.  What comes out of a pot is only as good as what goes in.  Never dig dirt out of the ground or buy top soil.  Don't put rocks or gravel in the bottom of your pot, fill the whole thing with earth.  The more soil you have to hold moisture and fertilizer, the better.

2.  Pots - Pots made of clay, ceramic, plastic, concrete and wood are good.  Never use a container that is metal or heat conductive, as it can literally cook the roots and kill your plants. 

3.  Drainage - It is imperative that your pot has a few good drainage holes.  If there are no holes, the water will sit at the bottom of the pot and roots can rot and mold and slime will contaminate your soil.

4.  Plant Tags - When buying plant sets they always come with a little plant stake with the name of the plant and instructions on how to plant, water, sun needed, etc.  Make sure to save these tags and stick them in your pot for handy reference.  Follow the directions, it is the best way to get great results.

5.  Slow Release Fertilizer - Mix slow release fertilizer in with your soil before planting.  Do not put it in the hole before dropping the plant in as direct contact can burn the roots.

6.  Quick Release Fertilizer - When your plants start to flower, give them some fast acting fertilizer like Miracle Gro, and then give them a bit more in the middle of fruiting to help them produce more.

7.  Sunlight - Make sure your plants have the required amount of sunlight needed on their tags.  Not enough sunlight and they will not produce as much as they could.  This is the great thing about pots.......you can move them in or out of the sun as needed!

8.  Water - Potted plants dry out much quicker than plants in the ground.  As such, they need to be watered every day in the heat of the summer.  Try to water in the early morning or evening and not during the hottest part of the day because at that time much of the water evaporates.

9.  Soil Maintenance - Put a teaspoon of fish emulsion liquid in your water once a week or so.  This helps the soil to maintain the nutrients needed for healthy plants.  

10.  Trimming Your Plants - If you see leaves turning yellow or the edges turning brown and curling, don't be afraid to trim those leaves off.  If a leaf is dying, the plant will use valuable resources to try to save it.  Those resources could be better used making more fruit, or helping the stem grow.  Don't be afraid to trim your plants, sometimes that's what it takes to save them if they are looking bad!

11. At the End of the Season - When your harvest is done, pull all the plants and throw them away.  Dump the dirt and rinse out your pots and store them inside for the winter.  (if you have winter) Leaving them outside full of dirt in freezing weather can make them crack.

12 At the Beginning of the Next Season - In the spring, put one part bleach to 9 parts water in a spray bottle and generously spray the inside of your pots to kill any bacteria, diseases or insects that may be inside.  Rinse well to remove the bleach and set in the sun to dry.  Now you are ready to begin your new potted garden!

Gardening is fun and relaxing

Don't expect things to perfect from the start.  I have made a ton of mistakes over the years.  Sometimes you are just unlucky, like the year my peppers were invaded by pests and I lost almost all my plants.  Sometimes you can replant, if you have enough time, but sometimes you just have to shrug it off.

I will never forget the year that I somehow thought it would be smart to plant 6 pots of lettuce all at the same time.  We had barely eaten two of the pots worth when the rest bolted and went bitter and I had to throw it away.  A valuable lesson learned.  Don't plant more than you can eat before it goes bad!  This applies only to veggies that you cannot can or store to eat later....like lettuce!

If you want more detailed information on how to grow lettuce, check out my blog Homemade by Jade and the post on How to Grow Lettuce in Containers

Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns as much from his failures as from his successes." - John Dewey

Seven years ago we moved to the country on five acres.  Believe it or not, I still grow a lot of stuff in pots.  It is just so easy.  Less weeding and easy to water and pick.  We also do it because it is just too dang hard to garden in the ground at our age.   That is why we use elevated garden beds and tote and trellis systems for most of our gardening, in addition to pots.  It is so much easier for us old folks!

Elevated Garden Beds                                Tote and Trellis

If you would like to know more about Elevated Garden Beds, check out my Review of Elevated Garden Beds, right here on Review This Reviews!

I guess this is not really a review, more like a recommendation.  Container gardening is fun and easy, not to mention saves you a bit of money and gives you healthier food to eat.  It helps to calm your mind and gives you a feeling of accomplishment.  It's also a great way to spend time with your kids and teaches them how to be more self sufficient.  Everyone should have a garden and growing in pots lets everyone try it out and learn, even if those who don't have any land.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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A Review of Siamese Cats as Pets

Siamese cats have been around for hundreds of years.   It is believed they were first seen during the Ayutthaya Kingdom, which was between 1351 and 1767.  At that time the country was known as Siam.  In 1939 the leadership of Siam was changed from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy, and along with this formation, the name of the country was changed from Siam to Thailand, which is what it is known as today.

Legend tells the story of Siamese cats being collected as treasures of war by the king of Burma, who brought them home to live in his palace, believing them to bring luck and power to those that kept them.  At that time, royals were the only ones allowed to keep these cats and they had the run of the palace and grounds.

This is all conjecture, of course, the exact origin of Siamese cats is not known for sure, only that they have been kept by humans for a very long time!

Or do the Siamese keep us?    That is a question for another time....

The first Siamese cat arrived in America in 1879 as a gift to President Rutherford B. Hayes from from the American consul in Bangkok.  The female cat, named Siam, was the first Siamese to live in the White House, but not the last as the daughters of both Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter had these beautiful cats as pets and they roamed the White House as their ancestors did the King's palace.

Why Many People Think Siamese Cats are Mean

Many people think Siamese cats are mean and they would never want one as a pet.  Much of this misconception comes from the 1955  cartoon movie Lady and the Tramp, that almost every youngster watches multiple times during childhood.  The portrayal of Siamese cats in this movie makes them look not only mean and destructive but also cruel to other animals.  

See the movie clip below from Lady and the Tramp.

I am sure it was not a deliberate act on the part of the screenwriters, they probably had no idea at the time that this movie would make many kids (that later grew up into adults) think that Siamese cats were mean and would not make good pets.  Even today, in 2023, when I have repairmen or painters come in my house most of them always say "Your Siamese cats are so friendly, I always thought they were mean!"

Siamese Cats Are Not Mean!

I grew up loving Siamese cats.  I never had one as a kid, but I loved the look of them!  So beautiful and regal.  I knew they were the cat for me!  I got my first Siamese in the mid 90's and I have had 5 others since.  I have three of them now!  Affectionately called "Meezers"  I have adored all my Siamese cats.  They are lovable pets, just ask anyone that has one.  They are pretty much like any other cat, the only major difference being they are very chatty.  They like to talk to you and will hold a conversation with you, if you give them the chance. The bad thing is, only they understand the entire conversation, since they understand human language and we have no clue how to speak cat!  

Don't ever doubt they understand what we say!

Siamese Cats as Pets

I have had both male and female Siamese and found them to be equally loving.  Some are more cuddly lap cats and others want to be around you all the time, but not touching you.  Some are more a one person cat and others are attention hounds to everyone that will pet them.  Each has their own personality, just like all cats.  One great thing about Siamese cats is that they are long lived, and if cared for properly easily live 15 to 20 years!

One Thing I Have Noticed From Experience

The cats we got as small kittens have turned out to be more loving, calm and trusting of us than the ones we have adopted as adults.  I would bet that this is probably true of most cats, but it seems especially true of Siamese.  Two of the Siamese that we have now were adopted as adults.  It took a very long time for them to warm up to us, and I am still not sure that they trust us completely.  Not knowing their history before coming to us, it is impossible to know what happened in their past to make them how they are, but we still love them unconditionally.

Here are the cuties we adopted from a rescue:

Tater Tot - adopted 2020 at 1 year old

Jazzy - adopted 2022 at 5 years old 

Here is the cutie that raised from a kitten:

Bitty - now 13 years old

And last but never least is my two boys that have already passed.

 Tiny - passed at 18 years old and Benjamin - passed at 16 years old 

Tater is a flame point Siamese, with probably an orange tabby mixed somewhere in his ancestry, which is most likely responsible for the stripes in his tail.  Jazzy is a seal point Siamese/ Ragdoll mix, which accounts for her long, beautiful fur.  Bitty and Tiny are full blooded Siamese from a breeder, and Benjamin we got  from a friend who found him as a kitten in an alley in the city.  I have no proof of lineage on him, but the vet said he looked full blooded as well.

It doesn't seem to matter if they are full blooded Siamese or not, if they have Siamese in them, they are characters that love to talk.  If you don't like cats that meow a lot, these cats are not for you.  However, if you want a fun companion to keep you company, Siamese are perfect!

If you want to know more about Siamese cats, this is the book for you!  It has all the information you need to decide if you would like a Siamese companion.

The Complete Guide to Siamese Cats

I could be prejudiced, but I believe you could not make a finer choice for a pet than a Siamese cat.  They are sweet and loving and lots of fun.  If you don't believe me, ask any Siamese, they will be happy to tell you!  Meow!

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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A Review of my Homemade Italian Salad Dressing Mix

We eat a lot of salads in our house, especially in the summer when the garden is growing a multitude of fresh veggies.  Our favorite salad dressing is Italian.  We always used to buy Wishbone House salad dressing, but we really went through it because we not only used it on salads, we also liked it on sliced vegetables and as a marinade for meats that we cooked on the grill.  I was buying two bottles every time we went shopping!  

I found myself mentioning it to a friend of mine who also loves salad and grilling.  She said she made her own mix for salad dressing and marinades.  She said it was much cheaper, especially since she had a herb garden which provided her with many of the needed ingredients.  I had to laugh, I could not believe it never occurred to me to make my own, which is really silly since I make so much other stuff from scratch instead of buying it.  

I asked her for the recipe and she texted it over.  I lucked out because I actually had all the ingredients, so I didn't even have to go to the store.  She had split the ingredients in half, dry ingredients and wet ingredients.  I asked her the reason for this in a later conversation, and she told me that she makes the dry mix to give away as gifts at Christmas time.  She said that people loved it because it was so easy to make, and it saved them money too! 

Ingredients:

3/4 teaspoon lemon pepper

1/8 teaspoon parsley

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

2 teaspoons sugar

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (omit if you don't like spice)

1/8 teaspoon oregano

1/8 teaspoon basil

Wet Ingredients:

1/8 cup of finely grated bell pepper

1/8 cup of finely grated carrot 

1/4 cup cider vinegar

3 tablespoons of water

1/2 cup of olive oil (can use any oil you like)

 All you have to do is mix the ingredients and shake well for two minutes.  Refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.  Keeps in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

This dressing is not only good on salads and meats, it's great drizzled over hot vegetables.  Toss it over noodles and with grated cheese for a great side dish.  It is so versatile once you make some you will not want to be without it.   I usually keep a jar of the dry ingredients mix in my cupboard to season soups and casseroles.  It really is almost like an all purpose seasoning. 

If you want to make this mixture and give it away as a jar gift, simply fill a decorative jar with the dry ingredients only and shake thoroughly.  Tie a pretty card to the jar that lists the wet ingredients to mix with the dry.  That's all there is to it.  An easy and thoughtful gift that almost anyone will love.

This is my favorite jar to use for gifts

4 ounces

I have told my friend what a blessing her recipe has been to me and all the things I make with it.  I have even given her some ideas!   I highly recommend you try it, I think you will love it too.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Get Rid of Slippery Bathtubs! Use SlipDoctors Non-Slip Treatment

 Use in Baths or Showers

When we moved into our house in 2016, one of the first things I noticed was that the bathtub floor was slippery!  I mean dangerously so.  Stepping over the side, I had to hold on to the wall because my foot would slip when lifting my other leg in.  It was scary!    After a few months, I knew I had to do something.  I dreaded taking a shower because I was honestly was afraid I would fall.  

When I looked up on the internet what to do for slippery bathtubs, I first thing I saw with the textured rubber stick ons that you can put on the floor of your tub.  So I ordered some.  When they arrived, I cleaned the tub and let it dry and stuck them on.  I immediately hated how it looked, I felt like I was back in the 70's.  Those stickers looked pretty tacky.  However, they did stop my slipping problem, even though I didn't care for the feeling of stepping on them.  I figured it was the price I would have to pay to be safe.  Unfortunately, less than a month later, when I was cleaning the tub, I noticed that the stickers were starting to peel off. I remember thinking.....there has got to be a better solution than buying and applying these ugly stickers once a month.  

So back to the internet I went.  This time, I looked on You Tube to see if there were any how to videos on preventing slippery bath tubs.  I took a look at a few different ones, and I found out there are solutions you can put on your bathtub or shower floors to give them a more stable grip when wet.  Many of them were a bit more complicated than I wanted and some could actually cause harm to your tub, like one that called for sanding your tub floor!  I didn't want to do anything like that and end up with a scuffed up awful looking bathtub.  

I decided to take a look on Amazon.  I typed "preventing slippery bathtubs" in the search bar and the first thing that came up was "SlipDoctors Bathtub & Shower Kit | Non-Slip Treatment for Ceramic or Enamel Tubs & Tiled Showers"  When I looked further, I began to get hopeful.  It seems easy to apply and it got good reviews from other customers.  This is the video I found showcasing this product:

I ordered it.  I knew I would be kicking myself, if it didn't work, but I had to try.  A couple days later, when it arrived, I handed it over to my husband and said "please put this on the bathtub."  He was happy to, as he didn't like the slippery tub floor any more than I did.  I am allergic to many chemicals, even soap,  or I would have done it myself, I was just that anxious to try it!

It didn't take long at all, after washing the tub and wiping it dry.  The solution was dry in a short time as well, but I let it sit a couple hours just to make sure.   I finally was ready to see if it worked.  I turned on the water and stepped in and I had no slippage!  I even tried to slide my foot across the tub floor and it was difficult.  However, picking when my foot straight up, the floor was not at all sticky.  The floor looked exactly the same and felt the same under my feet.  It was like a miracle!  My slippery bathtub floor problem was solved.

They gave us enough for two applications, but believe it or not, 7 years later it still is as non-slip as the day it was applied.  Now that is what I call a GREAT product!  

Remember, you must get the right product for the type of tub or shower you want to apply it to.  We got the ceramic and enamel treatment,  but if you have an  acrylic or fiberglass shower or tub, make sure you get the treatment for that.  The two different treatment are in the links below. 

Ceramic and Enamel

Acrylic and Fiberglass

To look at all of the products that are available from SlipDoctors, click the link below:

SlipDoctors Treatments

I highly recommend this product, it worked perfectly for us and has lasted for over 7 years.  We no longer have to worry about our safety while showering and that is worth much more than the price of the treatment.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Elevated Garden Beds - Great for Senior Gardeners!

 

I've always been fond of gardening.  Even in my younger years when I lived in apartments, I would always have plants on my balcony.  Most of the time, I grew flowers, but over the years, I began also growing a few vegetables like lettuce and peppers.  Lettuce is really pretty and because you can snip off a leaf at a time, it stays pretty for quite a while as long as the weather is not too hot.

When I bought my first house, I happily saw that it had a lot of flower beds in the front and in the back.  I grew some very beautiful flowers, but as time passed I realized I was missing an opportunity to grow healthy vegetables to eat but also to save the money it would take to buy what I could easily grow myself.  I dug up all my annuals and  planted a blueberry bush, peppers and onions.  I got rid of the bushes down my driveway, and planted cucumbers. It took a few years and hard lessons, but overall, I was very pleased with the results. 

As the years passed, I found it more and more difficult to bend or kneel in the dirt to plant and weed and harvest.  My knees were not what they once were.  It all came to a head when I had to have knee surgery,  After that, getting on my knees for anything, let alone gardening, was out of the question.  I was devastated.  I did nothing in the garden that summer, and by August it was a weeded mess.  I didn't even want to go out on the deck.  

I missed gardening very much, so I began to wonder if I could do raised garden beds.  They were up off the ground, but usually only about a foot.  I might be able to make due with this!  I decided to have a look on Amazon and see how expensive they were.  While scrolling through  The raised garden beds, I saw a garden bed that was up on legs!  The top of the dirt was at waist level and could be planted and weeded comfortably while standing up!  

EUREKA !!!!!

This was the solution I had been looking for.  After spending some time looking at the different styles and prices, I decided on this one:

Elevated Wood Planter Box

This was about 5 years ago.  At that time, they were $99 each.  After checking today, I see that they are still the same price.  Not bad!  Unfortunately, they do not arrive at your house ready to go.  My husband and I had to put them together and stain them.  It was a lot of work, but it was very much worth it.  The only thing we added to the boxes was some metal strapping to reinforce the corners. 

Metal Strapping

Below is a picture of one of our boxes four years after we bought it.  Still looking pretty good!

These garden beds have been a lifesaver for me.  I can grow my own vegetables without hurting my back or my knees.  Weeding is a breeze, and it is so much easier to examine your plants to look for problems like insect damage.  It just makes gardening so much easier, I wish I had known about them years ago!  We add a couple every year so we can grow more kinds of vegetables.  We are up to eight!  I highly recommend trying these garden beds if you dislike or are unable to garden in the ground  They are great for growing vegetables, herbs or flowers!

Our Garden

    https://www.reviewthisreviews.com/elevatedgardenbeds

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The Great Protein Bar Search

As someone who is always looking for ways to maintain a healthy  diet and lose a few pounds, about a year ago I decided to start eating a protein bar and fruit for lunch.  It's quick and also makes it easy to track the calorie count, which is something I always try to do.  Little did I know that deciding on this lunch plan was the easy part.......because finding a good tasting protein bar was anything but easy!

I started out with Premier Protein Bars, which I thought would be good because of the high amount of protein in them.  Unfortunately, they were kind of hard to chew, and the bar size was huge!  They were also over 300 calories, which was higher than I wanted..  

Thus began The Great  Protein Bar Search

 I spent a lot of time and a lot of money looking for a bar that did not taste like sawdust, or be as hard to chew as salt water taffy.  I also did not want to have to spend $5 a piece for them.  I tried so many....some were ok, some were even pretty good and some were so awful I could not understand how they managed to sell them.  The thing they all had in common was they were pricey.  The better they tasted, the more expensive they were.  I did find one bar that was really good, called Built Bars.  The problem was they were super expensive, but the taste and consistency was so far superior that I resigned myself to being forced to spend that, if I wanted a really good protein bar.

I bought Built Bars for about a year, and during that time things went downhill with their company.  They raised their price even higher from 18 bars for $40 to 12 bars for $30.  But the last straw for me was when they changed the recipe of my favorite bar.  It was called Coconut Almond and it used to taste just like an Almond Joy. Then the last time I ordered them they had a horrible chemical after taste.  That, in addition to the fact their shipping times were getting longer and longer, I parted ways with Built Bars.

I swore to myself that this time I was not going to try protein bars that were outrageously expensive.  I started scrolling through Amazon and I ran across a bar that looked almost just like a Little Debbie Nutty Bar....which happens to be one of my most favorite things in the world.  They were called Power Crunch Protein Energy Bars.  They were also only $15 for a box of 12!  So I ordered a box of peanut butter fudge and hoped for the best.

When they arrived, I opened up one and took a bite.  IT WAS BLISSFUL!  I swear I think I saw little birds and butterflies flying around my head when I was chewing.  This protein bar tasted just like a Kit Kat candy bar.  Chocolate covered wafers with peanut butter cream filling.  It was truly yummy.  I had finally found my dream protein bar.....and at a fair price!!

They also had pretty good caloric and nutritional statistics:

Since trying the peanut butter fudge, I have also tried other flavors such as Coconut Chocolate, Strawberry Creme, and S'mores.  There are so many more flavors I want to try, I order one new flavor and two peanut butter fudge bars a month, so I will be trying new flavors for a long time to come.  Here are all the flavors they offer:

Needless to say, I am very happy that The Great Protein Bar Search is over, and I have finally found what I was looking for. Power Crunch Protein Bars hit the high bar on everything I wanted:  convenience, taste, price and flavor selection. Eating these protein bars every day has helped me not to crave the sweets that make dieting harder and the protein is good for me and helps me to maintain energy throughout the afternoon.   

I highly recommend Power Crunch bars for everyone from kids to adults to seniors!  You won't be disappointed and people of all ages can use the extra protein!

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