Prepare for Surgery with Incision Decisions: A Book Review

Getting Ready for Surgery Can Be Traumatic

Very few people really want surgery, and most would do anything possible to avoid it. Sometimes, though, it simply has to be done. It may save your life during a health emergency or it may simply help you continue to be more comfortable or independent.

Photo Courtesy of Pixabay

I've had six surgeries as an adult -- four in a hospital and two in a surgery center where I could go home the same day. I wish I'd known about Kaye Newton's book, Incision Decisions: A Guide to Getting Through Surgery, Recovery, and Your Hospital Stay before having my surgeries. Since we can't always predict when emergencies that may require surgery will happen, it would be smart for every family to have a copy of this book on hand to take to the hospital in case there is an unpredictable surgery. 

What To Do Before Surgery

Medical Preparation for Your Surgery

This section of Incision Decisions explains how to pick the right surgeon and hospital. Getting ready to meet your surgeon for the first time might cause some anxiety. Kaye answers all the questions you may have about this meeting and more. She helps you get ready for your initial consultation with the surgeon and suggests questions to ask.  She also suggests tactful ways to get a second opinion. The book includes a guide near the end to help you understand the medical jargon your surgeon and the medical personnel at the hospital may use so that you won't be confused by their explanations.

In the chapter on choosing a hospital, Kaye explains how to pick the best hospital your insurance plan will cover. She answers questions about outpatient versus inpatient surgery, surgery that requires travel, and the best times to schedule surgery. 

Organizing Help and Information before Surgery

This section answers more questions than I would even have thought to ask. The author stresses the importance of having an advocate with you in the hospital and what to do if you don't have one. She also covers what your advocate needs to know and do. 

The book will help you determine how much help you will need and provides a Six-Week Recovery Coverage Checklist to help you plan. There is also a blank copy at the back for you to use in your own planning. This checklist ensures you won't forget some of the helping tasks you may not have thought of. It suggests you appoint someone to organize those who have asked what they can do to help, lists websites for organizing meals and rides, and explains how to get through your surgery on your own without helpers if you must. 

Incision Decisions Helps You Get Organized before You Go to the Hospital

Before going to the hospital, you will need to organize all the information and paperwork required for admission. This book explains how to set up a central repository for all your medical information. It also explains how to create your personal health record. 

You will, of course, need to figure out how to pay for the surgery. This usually means meeting with a hospital financial counselor before admittance, as well as finding out beforehand just what your insurance will cover. If you don't have insurance, your hospital may have a financial counselor available to help you explore payment options. The book even explains how to raise money with crowdfunding.  

Physical and Mental Preparation for Surgery

Most people are a bit scared before surgery. This section of the book answers questions about anesthesia, pain, scars, and even all those needles you will encounter. Here you will find information to help you deal with your anxieties. Even with that information, many may still be anxious. To deal with this, the author suggests people pray, meditate, or even just keep busy enough to distract themselves. Following the helpful suggestions in this book will keep patients very busy getting ready for a hospital stay.  

Are you worried about how to explain your surgery to your children? The book will help you reassure them about what will happen at the hospital and who will care for them when you are gone. You can also let them know how they can help when you are away and when you come back home. 

Newton offers suggestions on how to prepare for time off work and get yourself into better physical shape before your surgery. You may need to stop smoking. You will also probably need to refrain from taking some of your medications and supplements a short time before your surgery. Do you need dental work? Get it done before the surgery if possible. The book will help you implement these suggestions. 

If you have chronic health conditions, you may need to make extra preparations. Do you have sleep apnea? If you snore loudly, you may have it, and you should find out before your surgery to see if you need to take additional measures before your surgery. 

Most people will have to rest for hours, days, or weeks after surgery as their bodies heal. This section of the book explains what doctors mean by"rest," and how to do it. The author also discusses what to wear and what not to wear after surgery and how to get a handicapped placard if you need it. 

Preparing Your Home for Recovery Time

After you come home from the hospital, you will probably have to ease back into your normal routines gradually and you may not be able to reach or lift as much as you could before you left.  That means you may need to rearrange your kitchen. You also may have to set aside and prepare a certain room for your recovery. I had to do that after my foot surgery since I was supposed to keep my foot elevated at all times. 

I chose my recliner in the family room as my recovery place. I put a portable table beside it to my left with everything I would need to work on my laptop, eat my meals, read, etc. I put a surge-protected power cord near my chair and bought a Kindle Paperwhite so I'd never run out of things to read. 

The end table on my right held food and drink. I also bought a lap desk for my laptop computer and a ventilated laptop stand for it as an extra precaution. That enabled me to keep writing from my chair. I spent 90% of my recovery time while awake eating, reading, or working on my laptop, so my purchases and preparations made it possible for me to keep everything I needed beside me most of the time. 

Kindle Paperwhite E-reader - Black, 6Honey-Can-Do TBL-03539 Portable Laptop Lap Desk with Handle, Blue, 23 L x 16 W x 2.5 HAmazonBasics Ventilated Adjustable Laptop StandLaptop Table Sofa Bedside Table Overbed Table 5 Adjustable Height Space Saving Movable Sturdy Notebook Computer Stand Desk with WheelsIceberg 65491 Indestructible Too 1200 Series Resin Personal Folding Table 30 x 20 Charcoal

Kaye Newton explains how to organize your bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and laundry areas so that you will be able to easily reach everything you need after you return home to recover. She recommends getting a reacher-grabber like this Handi-Reacher, which I reviewed here.  We bought one before my husband's hip replacement surgery and I found it useful after my surgeries, too. Both of us still use it daily. In fact, we bought several more to keep handy throughout the house. My husband even keeps one in the car. 

When you return home you will also still need to eat. Friends may bring you meals at first, but after those meals stop coming you will need to have meals you can fix easily, especially if you live alone. Newton provides a suggested shopping list to help meet this need. She also lists activities you may enjoy during your recovery period to keep you from getting bored.  

To the Hospital and Home Again

Hospital stays need some preparation. Incision Decisions prepares you for just about anything you may encounter at the hospital -- preadmission procedures, donating blood to yourself, packing for your visit, and more. These are among the many questions Newton answers about your hospital stay:

• What if I get sick just before I'm to go to the hospital?
• How can I reduce the chance of medical errors?
• How can I avoid getting an infection at the hospital?
• How do I manage to get enough sleep in the hospital? 
• How do I manage visitors? 
• What can I expect hospital routines to be like?

The remaining chapters of the book deal with what you can expect to happen during your hospital stay and how to deal with any issues you may have at the hospital. They also cover the problems you may face once you get home to recover.

The last section deals with how to ease back into your normal life. That includes driving, sex after surgery, figuring out your medical bills, and cooking again. 

Incision Decisions: A Guide to Getting Through Surgery, Recovery, and Your Hospital Stay

My Recommendation
After reading this book, I can't think of one issue a surgical patient might have to face it did not address. It's a book to use for reference before your surgery, while you are at the hospital, and after you come home. I recommend it to all families who have a family member about to have a surgical procedure. I don't think you could find any book so thorough. It even offers suggestions on how to remind your medical professionals to wash their hands before touching you. I've often thought about how awkward that might be. 

I'm glad I have a copy now, since either my husband or I may need another surgery sooner than we'd like. Why not get yourself a copy now? You never know how soon you will need it. I suggest you get the paper edition so you can easily flip back and forth to the sections you need. I would not want to go to the hospital without it. 

Disclaimer: The author gave me a free copy of this book for review purposes, but this review is still my honest opinion about the book. If I owned a general bookstore I would definitely stock it and recommend it to customers facing surgery. I'm quite sure if they actually saw it, they would buy it. It's that useful. The copyright date is 2017, so its information is up-to-date.

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Crochet Plaid Blanket Pattern Reviewed

A Perfect Gift For His Man Cave

Crochet A Blanket For Him Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

Today, I'll be reviewing a crochet plaid blanket pattern that I plan to make for my son-in-law for Christmas. As I write this it is the 4th of July but now is the time to plan for making things like this to be sure that it is, in fact, finished before Christmas morning arrives.

I found this wonderful pattern at Yarnspirations.com. It is called the Buffalo Plaid Afghan and it is free to download and print. Actually, on the page it not only lets you get the pattern but you can purchase your yarn there, too; if you so desire. 

The pattern was created to celebrate the 150th birthday of our friends to the north, Canada. That is pretty neat in and of itself. What caught my eye was the manliness of the design. It is sometimes difficult to find things that we crocheters can do for the men in our lives. Oh, sure, we can do a scarf or a hat. We can hook up a pair of socks for them and we can even do other blankets. The options for a blanket are usually just picking a color scheme that might appeal to a guy, though. In my opinion a plaid blanket is perfect for a man. 

I've mentioned in other articles that I like to visit Mikey at The Crochet Crowd and watch his tutorials. Well, he has a tutorial on the blanket I want to make using this pattern!

The pattern and the video recommend that you use blanket yarn which is a thicker option of yarn. It is kind of bulky and works up pretty fast. You can choose any color combination that you want; it doesn't have to be in the red and black. Personally, I do not care to work with the bulkier yarns so when I start the one that I will make, I plan to substitute the yarn for a standard 4 ply yarn and use a smaller hook than is recommended in the pattern. That is the fun thing about crochet, you can usually adapt a pattern to suit your own tastes.

As you can see by the video this crochet plaid blanket will work up pretty quickly. It is just a matter of creating the mesh work and then doing the overlay crochet to finish it off. I love this pattern and I think that my son-in-law will love the blanket when I give it to him. If time allows, I may do one for my hubby, too.

For some additional ideas for things to create in crochet for the men in your lives, you might enjoy this set of patterns.

I know it is only July but if you plan to craft some gifts for the holidays; it is time to look for the patterns, get your supplies and start working on them. I love making things for gifts for my family. How about you? Do you craft items for gifts?

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Reviewing Colorful Pens, Pencils, and Coloring Books

Traveling doodles

I recently spent several days in a row attending presentations. Oh how the time drags when I sit for hours on end. Fortunately, I had several of my InkJoy pens with me, which made note-taking and doodling more interesting. However, I regretted not bringing along some coloring pages or one of my journals with me. I doodled so much on the training handouts that my notes ended up being illegible. With so many different coloring items available, it was an oversight on my part to not take sufficient adult "fidgets" with me. An oversight that won't happen again. I am writing this as both a reminder for myself and a review of some of the best adult coloring and journaling items available.

Adult Coloring Books

Bev shared with us the gift her husband gave her for Valentine's Day - Midnight Garden Coloring Book. Prior to her review of this adult coloring book, I hadn't been aware that coloring books with black backgrounds existed. What a great idea! the black backgrounds result in vibrant finished pages.

Adult coloring books are so much in demand that they are now offered in "travel" or "on-the-go" sizes. These small coloring books are the perfect size for me. They fit in my work bag so I will be able to take them with me everywhere I go. The spiral-bound books are the best for laying the books flat and coloring ease.

on-the-go coloring books with travel pouch included

Colorful Pens

I mentioned my InkJoy pens. I find those ball point pens to be the best for doodling, note-taking, and journaling.  The colors are vibrant, the ink doesn't blob, and InkJoy pens are readily available in local stores and online. I really like being able to journal or take notes in a wide range of colors. one day I may be in a "blue" mood and another day I may want to write in pink, or orange, purple, or brown.

While my InkJoy pens are perfect for doodling, journaling, and taking colorful notes gel pens are better for coloring pages. This highly rated set of premium gel pens include metallic, glitter, and neon colors.

premium gel pens set with case and refills 

Colorful Pencils

I tend toward colored ink and fine-tipped colored markers rather than colored pencils. But I know many people who prefer a quality colored pencil. How fortunate we are that our own Heather has created high quality colored pencils and offers them for sale to the public! If you create with colored pencils you must check out her pencils at Aurora Art Supplies.

Related Link - Beautiful Blank Journals

It never, ever fails... when I'm sitting somewhere and am trying to be attentive, my mind wanders. I come up with the best blog ideas or I remember the forgotten grocery list items. When I don't have a journal available, I write these random thoughts down on scraps of paper, only to loose that scrap of paper. 

I realize that currently, most people write notes and reminders on their phone. I have occasionally sent myself a text message as a reminder. However, I still tend to do better with written reminders to myself. Or some of my thoughts and reminders are too long for a text message to myself. If I put my thoughts or lists in a journal, I can find them later when I need them.

Blank journals come in many shapes, sizes, and attractive designs. They also come in lined and unlined options. I find that I rely on blank journals for writing and remembering the old fashioned way.

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How to Decorate a Small Space Using Color

Looking at a small space, we think, 'How will I get everything into it.'

If you've ever watched the TV show 'Tiny Homes,' you've seen how small spaces can be maximized and that, yes, it's totally possible to decorate a little room successfully and practically.

But What About Color in a Small Space?

You don't have to settle for bland colors because the room is small. You can make it funky and bright without shrinking its overall feel.

The Walls & Ceiling:

A good choice is a white-trimmed window to soften the darker wall. Also, having a light window on a darker background lets you introduce a pop of color using draperies. 

Yes, you can paint a ceiling a dark color and make it work. However, a dark ceiling can be challenging when a  room is small, and you're already putting darker colors on two walls.

The Wall Unit, Bed and Desk:

If the interior of a wall unit has dark shelves and a dark background, the room would feel and look more closed in. 

By putting color only on the front of the cabinet and leaving the rest white, you get storage and color without overpowering the space.

The primary reason a storage cabinet reaches the ceiling is the feeling of height it gives to the space, and storage of course. It gives a  sleek, streamlined appearance and lets you draw your eye upward, giving the illusion that the ceiling is high.

The Room's Accessories:

Other than the bedding, choose color. 

With solid-colored walls, floors, and bedding, the rug is a perfect place to feature funkiness. In fact, if you can find the rug first, you can draw colors from the carpet to determine the room's overall palette.

Use color in the lights, pillows,  drapes, bean bag chairs, photo frames, or a shelf or two as featured in the photo.

Texture - that's right, texture adds depth, even to a small room. Use texture in pillows, rugs, chair covers, and drapes. Without it, the room would feel stark. So go ahead and choose a bright textured rcarpet- you could even select a thicker shag rug.

Lastly, Your Color Palette:

That's easier than you think. If you're pulling colors from a rug, stay in the family of colors featured in that rug.

Another way to choose color is to select two colors, then allow the walls and floor to act as the neutral base, and always add a third and/or fourth color in the rest of the accessories. That helps to soften the feeling of the room. When you only select two primary colors, a space can feel more monochromatic and cold.

Don't let small spaces hold you back - let your funky side out.

Happy Decorating!

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How to Make Easy Healthy Vegetable Stock for Free!

Image by Lou of Lou's Designs

I love my slow cooker and one of the things I regularly make in it is my super easy vegetable stock.

The best thing about this recipe is that it's free food!  Well pretty much free - all you have to pay for is water (depending if you're charged for water) and electricity.

Let's review what you will need to make your own homemade vegetable stock (you won't believe how easy it is!) .......

What You Need To Make Easy Veggie Stock

• Vegetable scraps/peelings
• Water
• Slow Cooker
• Strainer

Vegetable Scraps

When I'm cooking I don't throw away any vegetable peelings, onion skins, carrot tops etc.  I have an old, empty, plastic ice cream container in the freezer and I put all of the vegetable scraps that are thrown away in most households into it.  I should note that I also add any mushroom stalks and skins (if I've peeled them), but I don't add asparagus ends as they don't do too well in the stock.

Basically making this stock is also reducing your household waste which is a big tick for the environment as well as your wallet - and the health benefits of eating stock that has got no hidden extras - well that's priceless.   Okay, sermon over and on with how to make the veggie stock.

I'm actually thinking that I need a bigger container to store them in especially since my daughter became a vegan.  At the moment I seem to be making a pot of stock once a fortnight.

Slow Cooker

I think everyone should have a slow cooker and they don't have to buy an expensive one.  I have a very basic slow cooker that has lasted me for more years than the company that made it.

 Crock-Pot SCV400B 4-Quart Oval Manual Slow Cooker, Black
The slow cooker I have has basically three settings - low, high or automatic and that's really all that you need for your first slow cooker.

 You can buy slow cookers that have a number of different programs, but I wouldn't spend more than $25 on a basic slow cooker for your first one and see how you find it.

The important thing that you want to make sure your slow cooker has is a removable stoneware for easy cleaning - I think most of them have this nowadays anyway.

Once you've left something cooking in your slow cooker and have walked back into your house to the delicious smells wafting through you will wonder why it took you so long to get one!   If you're already a slow cooker convert you know exactly what I'm saying, don't you?

So Exactly How Do I Make Simple Veg Stock?

The Easiest Vegetable Stock Recipe Ever!

Empty your veggie scraps into your slow cooker, add enough water to cover the scraps, turn on slow cooker and walk away!   How easy is that?  See if I say something's easy I really mean it!

I usually put my slow cooker on low and leave it for 6-8 hours, on occasion I have put it on high and left it for 3-4 hours and both options have worked well.

Once you've turned your slow cooker off you can either let it cool for a bit or strain it straight away.  I just ladle the contents of the slow cooker into a sieve over a jug and just strain all of the liquid through.   The vegetable scraps that you're left with get thrown away by me, although I might start keeping them for compost - I'm researching whether or not I should use them once they've been cooked especially as I've read that you shouldn't use onion skins in the compost.

You will note that I haven't added any salt to this vegetable stock - I just season the dish that you're making with the stock as opposed to adding any at this stage.   When I used to buy stock I hated it when you used a stock that was quite salty because your husband forgot to get salt reduced!

When you're making your own homemade stock you will notice that every time you make it the color can be different.  This is because of the different vegetable scraps you have, if you are using red cabbage and red onion one week it will look very different to a week when you have mainly potato peelings and carrot tops.

Most of my vegetable stock is used to make a range of different soups as I usually make a different batch of soup each week.  The soup is then put into single serve containers and labeled with my favorite label maker before being popped in the freezer.

On days when I'm working I simply select which soup I feel like and that's a nice, quick and healthy lunch for me.

So let me know do you make your own vegetable stock yet?  If not I hope you'll give it a try and let me know how you get on.

Image by Lou of Lou's Designs

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Anne of Green Gables with Megan Follows Movie Reviewed

When my daughter was in her teens, we watched the mini-series, Anne of Green Gables starring Megan Follows.   It was a delightful, perhaps even enchanting series based on the book with the same title.  We both loved the shows so much that I purchased them on VHS so we could watch them over and over again, which we did.  We spent many wonderful weekends watching Anne experience childhood and young adolescence.  Megan Follows made the storybook Anne come to life.  She made her lovable! 

I was really excited recently when "Anne with an E" was released on Netflix.  I expected another wonderful show, but I was greatly disappointed.  As a matter of fact, I wouldn't recommend this new Netflix series.  However, that series did make me long for the less "jaded" Anne played by Megan Follows.  I immediately ordered the DVD's of Anne of Green Gables starring Megan Follows and I spent the weekend watching and remembering the beautiful story written by Lucy Maud Montgomery back in 1908.

If you want to meet Anne, look for Megan!  She plays the part beautifully and leaves us wishing we could all adopt Anne.

Synopsis of Anne of Green Gables

 Anne of Green Gables: Collector's EditionFor those of you who have not seen or read Anne of Green Gables, I'll give you a brief description of the story.  For those of you who are familiar with Anne, I'll remind you to watch and read again.

Anne Shirley is an 11 year old orphan who is mistakenly sent to live with Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert.  Because he was getting older, Matthew and his sister Marilla decided he needed a boy to help him care for their farm.  It was quite the surprise when Matthew arrived at the train station to pick up the boy and he discovered a little girl instead.  He wasn't quite sure what to do with Anne, but he knew he couldn't leave her at the station overnight, so he took her home.  On the wagon ride back to the farm, Anne talked none stop about how happy she was to be adopted.  How hard her life had been when she was placed with other families over the past few years.  She had pretty much won Matthew's heart by the time they got home to Green Gables.  

Marilla was equally shocked when Matthew arrived with a girl instead of a boy and was determined to send her back as soon as possible.  After all, she didn't need a girl.  At least, she didn't think she needed a girl.  When Marilla and Anne went to visit the woman who had brought Anne from the orphanage, the woman recommended giving her to another mother who had 11 children and needed help.  That would have been Anne's worst nightmare and even Marilla wasn't too thrilled with that suggestion.  She ended up taking Anne back to Green Gables on a trial basis.

There were many adjustments for Anne, Marilla and Matthew.  Throughout the show, Matthew is Anne's champion.  And, while it may have seemed that Marilla was harder on Anne, she certainly did her fair share of defending Anne any time she did something embarrassing or wrong.

Anne excels as a student, but she is very imaginative and feisty.  She manages to get herself into a number of predicaments that make you smile at her temerarious and determined ways.  One my favorite scenes, which exemplifies her personality perfectly, is when Gilbert Blythe pulls her hair braid and calls her "carrot".  She promptly jump out of her desk seat, grabs his student chalkboard and breaks it over his head. 

I highly recommend the Anne of Green Gables DVD series starring Megan Follows to anyone.  Just make sure you get the right one!

 Anne of Green Gables Anne of Green Gables: Collector's Edition Anne Of Green Gables - The Sequel

 

Check Out More Movie Reviews at
ReviewThisMovies.com

I am not the only Contributor on Review This that loves Anne of Green Gables.

Brenda Little, aka Treasures by Brenda, has previously written several articles on the book.

Before Green Gables Book Review

Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning Book Review

Controversial Anne of Green Gables Book Cover Review

 

Anne of Green Gables with Megan Follows Movie Review Written by:

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Profoot Plantar Fasciitis Orthotics Review

If you dread getting up in the mornings because putting your feet on the floor elicits severe heel pain, and even the thought of walking makes you want to cry, then you may have a condition known as plantar fasciitis. Never fear, help is at hand. Let me tell you my heel pain story.

A few years ago, I began having foot pain with symptoms fairly typical of plantar fasciitis. When I mentioned it to my mother, she advised visiting a doctor right away. She had foot problems most of her adult life and she knew first-hand that having sore feet could absolutely ruin an otherwise good day and make a bad day worse.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and never played one on TV. The advice presented here is based on my personal experience as a plantar fasciitis sufferer. If you have foot pain that does not improve, take my mother's advice and visit a medical doctor for professional diagnosis and advice. 

I followed my mother's advice and consulted with my family doctor. He identified the problem right away and pointed out how I was allowing my right foot to roll inward. He also suggested some stretching exercises, and then wrote a prescription for medicine to help relieve the inflammation in my feet.

The anti-inflammatories helped and, having been made aware of the laxity in my right foot, I tried to do my best to correct the rolling habit on my own in order to strengthen that area. However, I figured that having a good arch support, and not only an arch support but support for that plantar fascia tissue that connects the ball of the foot to the heel and lends its name to this common condition, is what I really needed. After all, my feet aren't so young anymore.

ProFoot Plantar Fasciitis Insoles
Available for Both Women and Men

Now, I'm the first to admit that I don't like to spend money, so I tried a couple of inexpensive insoles first. It didn't take long to realize that I was simply throwing my money away on foamy pads that really didn't help. That's when I began looking again and found the bright green and black package containing a pair of plantar fasciitis orthotics (shoe inserts) that seemed very basic but exactly what I needed.

Even spending around $7 at that time hurt a bit, but didn't hurt nearly as much as my feet. And in a very short time, it was obvious that I had invested that money in the health of my feet and it was worth every penny.

I've been using ProFoot Plantar Fasciitis orthotics for a few years now and I wouldn't be without them. Recently I let time slip by and noticed that my old Profoot insoles were beginning to look a little ragged, so I ordered a new pair. Clearly, over time the insole "breaks down" (for lack of a better phrase) and needs to be replaced. This week my feet have felt even better with the new, very supportive orthotics.

As mentioned above, please don't take my advice as medical advice. If your feet hurt, you probably should visit a doctor. However, I can tell you that since my original diagnosis I haven't been back to the doctor, I no longer need an anti-inflammatory drug to keep my heel from hurting, and my feet feel great. The Profoot Plantar Fasciitis Orthotics get five stars from me.

ProFoot makes these in sizes for women and for men. Always wear them as a pair, making sure that the orthotic with the ProFoot logo is in your right shoe. These work in closed shoes, but may slip out of a sling-back shoe or sandal. I prefer closed, slip-on shoes and the insoles work great in those.

If you care about your feet, take care of them. And if you try the ProFoot Plantar Fasciitis orthotic, I'd love if you'd leave a comment to let me know how they work out for you. I hope they help eliminate your food pain as they have eliminated mine.

Two more quick things. One, inside the ProFoot package is an exercise guide pamphlet that shows how to do stretches to help improve your foot pain. This company actually cares about your foot health! Two, ProFoot is a family-owned company whose products are made in the U.S.A., Brooklyn, New York to be exact. Yet another reason to choose this excellent product.


~ Susan
Read more of my reviews here.

Read more about taking care of your feet.

Read more excellent product reviews from our reviewers.

Posted by Susan Deppner

About the Author

Susan Deppner is a baby boomer, a cancer survivor, and a Southerner who believes in the Golden Rule. She enjoys writing about food, faith, and fitness; health, home, and holidays; people, places, pets, and patriotism, and more. Follow Susan on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Sensational Colors in the Garden 10 Must Have Annuals

Summertime is a great time to enjoy the great outdoors.  Let's Review how to make that great outdoors colorful and attractive. 

Everyone loves the warmth of the summer season and I'm no exception to that rule.  What I enjoy even more is the colorfulness of the season.  Everywhere you look there are yellows and reds, greens and oranges. Reds and purples falling together into a riot of color.  

Pictures from Pixabay clockwise starting top left:

top left, top right, bottom left, and bottom right

Whether you are gardening in your yard or on your balcony, annuals that add color are readily available to brighten up all of your spaces where ever they may be.

What is an Annual Flower?

Let's get our definitions right!  Annual flowers are different than Perennials.  The definition of an annual is:

"An annual plant is a plant that completes its life cycle, from germination to the production of seed, within one year, and then dies. Summer annuals germinate during spring or early summer and mature by autumn of the same year." *from Wikipedia.

10 of the Most Prolific Annual  Bloomers 

Now that we have the definition straight, we can look at those plants that give you the biggest return on color and length of bloom.  

1.  Geraniums

2.  Snapdragons

3.  Marigolds

4.  Petunias

5.  Lobelia

6.  California Poppies

7.  Cosmos

8.  Four O'Clocks

9.  Impatiens *

10. Begonias *

These are my top ten favorites but there are many more that I am very fond of as well.  If I had to add another it would be Sweet Peas.

Let's learn some more about these choices!

Just For Your Information (FYI)

Geraniums come in a variety of colors from white, red, pink, coral and many shades in between, they are a bushy annual that you will find in almost every mixed planter.  Why? Because they stand out with their flowers that are actually many small flowers on a single flower head. Cutting off the spent flowers will encourage the geranium to set more flowers all the time. It is a non-stop flowering annual.

Pictures from Pixabay:
purple cosmos picture & white cosmos picture

Snapdragons  like geraniums come in many colors and bi-colors too.  Yellows, whites, pinks, oranges, reds, all of these colors are born on a stalk with many flowers on each stalk.  Again if you cut them back they will re-bloom on new stalks.

Marigolds are a must have in the garden.  They will do double duty flowering freely and at the same time encouraging the bees to pollinate your other plants.  Marigolds are even planted close to patios and outdoor areas as the scent is supposed to keep mosquitos at bay.  Marigolds come in light yellows, oranges, rusts, and can be short or tall depending on the variety that you plant.  One thing is certain, once they start to bloom they will not stop.  Dead-heading them is always a good idea.  You can also save seeds from the spent flowers for next years plants.

Petunias are a favorite of many gardeners.  They are not fussy plants and bloom non-stop. There are varieties of Petunias that you don't even have to do anything like dead-heading they are self-cleaning.  Once they start to bloom you cannot stop them.  Petunias come in a variety of colors from the deepest purples that look almost like black velvet, to the brightest whites in the garden.  They also come in bi-colors which are really quite impressive.  Red with white, Purple and white, Yellow and white are all combinations that are stunning.  These are trailing plants that love to hang over the edge of a container or pot and will flourish with little more than watering when it's dry.  By the time August rolls around, they sometimes get leggy looking, so give them a really good cutting back and a little fertilizer and they will start growing again like they were just planted.  

Lobelia is another must have annual plant!  These are small plants growing to a height of about 6 to 8 inches.   They have little purple, dark blue or white flowers and are like a cloud of color just bursting out of a pot.  Used mostly at the outer edges because it is rather shorter than most annuals, it will have a tendency to hang down over the pot edge giving your container a soft appearance.  

California Poppies are just as pretty as little ballerinas in the garden.  Perfect for fairy gardens their flowers look like Tutus.  Again this plant comes in a variety of colors from white to yellow, pink and salmon, orange and red.  Truly a pretty little annual that will bring you pleasure at all times.  One flower fades and the next two are ready to burst forth.  These are also easy to keep for their seed heads.  Once they mature you can save those seeds to sow for 2018!  

Cosmos Birds and butterflies just love this flower.  Born high on stalks that can be up to 18 inches high, the sight of these pretty pink, white or puplish flowers are a sight for sore eyes. Bees, butterflies and lovely little finches will be visiting your garden on a regular basis.  In the fall I would leave my Cosmos plants because the seeds are a natural attraction for the lovely little gold finches.  In my zone 6 garden, I would not even have to plant these, the birds did it for me.  They come out of the ground when it warms up, ready to bloom non-stop.  I don't dead head these at all because all through the summer the birds are feasting on the seeds. 

Four O'Clocks as their name implies start blooming later in the day.  Early morning all the buds on your plants will be tightly closed, but as noon and beyond comes closer, the buds start to open.  By mid afternoon there is a riot of color happening in your garden.  These annuals come in a variety of colors as well.  White, yellow, pinks, reds and more variations are abundant.  I have some Four O'Clocks that are bicolored, hot pink with a red cross and they are almost Neon bright.  There is no way to make these plants look less than fabulous.

Impatiens or Busy Lizzie as they are called colloquially, are great plants for shady spots in your garden.  Sometimes it's hard to find an annual that will bloom in the shade.  If your garden is shady, then Impatiens are the best shady flowering annual ever.  They also come in a variety of colors and color combinations.  Red, white, pink, purple, white with red stripes or red with white stripes, purple and white combinations and a whole host of others as well.  If you are looking for a multicolored garden or you have a preference for a certain color, Busy Lizzies or impatiens are a great choice for you.  They flower non-stop and are really easy to care for.  

Begonias  are another shady plant that will flower for you in the darkest corners of your garden.  They are easy to care for and will flower from morning to night without too much coaxing.  They come in shades of white, pinks and reds.  Depending on the type of Begonia you buy they may be short or taller but never more than 12 inches in height.  Used in hanging baskets as well they really are a pretty little flower that will keep you smiling all through the growing season.

Now I mentioned Sweet Peas only because I really love them.  They are an annual but they are a climbing plant.  So if you don't  have space for a trellis on your balcony, I would not recommend these.  If they do not climb, they are not nearly as pretty as when they are allowed to grow vertically.  If you do have the space and the height, don't miss out on these very pretty and nicely scented flowers.  

If you want to learn more about annual plants and their growing needs you can arm yourself with at least one of these books :

Not only will they help you with taking care of your annuals, but they may also spur you on to try something new and different for your garden this year or maybe for next year. A gardener always needs some good reference books and these are really good choices.

I hope that this lesson in non-stop flowering annuals has encouraged you to try your hand at growing some of them.  Don't fret either because even though it is the end of June, you can still plant these flowers and they will give you a burst of color for the remainder of the growing season.  

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Harry Potter Twentieth Anniversary Reviewed

It is now a classic 

Harry Potter Train Image from Pixabay.com

It might seem a little silly to do a review of Harry Potter since it has literally been around for twenty years this week. That is kind of my point, though. June 26th marked the twentieth anniversary of the publication of the first book in the series by J. K. Rowling.

The fantasy series geared to the young adult audience soon became an international phenomenon. Children (of all ages it turned out) were captivated by the young wizard Harry Potter and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Their adventures at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry tickled the imaginations and funny bones of children and their parents. The most remarkable feat of all is that it created an awakening of sorts. A generation of new readers rose up out of the fog to READ books.

As each new book in the series was published parents were convinced by their children to wait in long lines at book stores to get their own copy of the book. Libraries couldn't keep the books on the shelves. I don't know about you but I think this was a most wonderful event. Anything that can introduce a child to the joys of reading is a very good thing and J. K. Rowling encouraged millions of children to do just that.

Let's get the next generation reading

So, I've been thinking that there is something we can all do to help the next generation fall in love with reading. It could start with our little friend Harry Potter. To celebrate his twenty years in children's literature, let's get another generation excited. How can we do this, you ask? 

Boxed Set Of Harry Potter Books

My suggestion is a simple one, really. If you have children in your life who have not been introduced to young Harry, get them a boxed set of the books to begin their reading adventure. Another idea is to purchase single books and donate them. Donate to your local library or to a children's hospital. Find out if there is a local shelter for mothers and children and donate a book or two for them to read. Volunteer to read at the local library or on the cancer ward at a pediatric hospital.

I used to be involved in an outreach program at my church. Every month we visited a shelter for battered women and their children. We had a birthday party for the kids that were there and having birthdays. This would be a great time to give each child a Harry Potter book. So, ask around and see if there is a church near you that does something like that. Donate a book for a birthday child. You could also just visit the shelter and inquire if you could just leave a copy or two for any child that might enjoy reading it.

Let's get another generation of young people excited about reading by introducing them to the magical world of Harry Potter. And thank you J. K. Rowling for sharing your wonderful imagination with the world!

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Reviewing Garden Tags by SimplyYoursByDesign

I just received my custom garden tags by SimplyYoursByDesign and I have to write a review immediately. Whether you are an organized and skilled gardener or a hopeful and forgetful gardener like myself, you may be as excited about these garden tags as I am. I am thrilled about these customized, metal, durable, and beautiful garden tags.

Why are Garden Tags Important?

Perhaps you have a really good memory and can recall exactly what you planted where. Or perhaps, someone purchases land with existing plants and can identify every tree, bush, flower, and shrub. That's not me. No matter how hard I practice, I'm not very good at plant identification. And my memory is horrible.

I realized the importance of plant identification when I was looking for a certain type of rose bush that I had in a yard many years ago. That search has proved impossible without having more information than I have about that particular plant. As a result, I am determined to try to keep track of the plants I plant on my land.

I especially want to keep track of my PawPaw trees.

I have recently fallen in love with PawPaws. PawPaw is a tree that produces wonderful "tropical" fruit. I am planting PawPaw trees on my land at The Shack. Like apples (Red Delicious, Gala, Granny Smith, etc) there are different types of PawPaws. Some I like better than others. If I am successful at growing PawPaws, I want to be able to keep track - with certainty - which tree is bearing which fruit.

These wonderful tags by SimplyYoursByDesign will help me do that.

Recommended Custom Garden Tags by SimplyYoursByDesign

I need long-lasting tags to identify my PawPaw trees. Also, I need customized tags - after all, who mass produces tags for PawPaw (Sunflower) versus PawPaw (Mango) trees? No one. 

Luckily I found this shop on Etsy that makes customized tags.

With low expectations, I ordered two tags for the two PawPaw trees I just planted.  I expected poor quality. Or paper-thin "metal". Happily, these tags have far exceeded my expectations. They are perfect!

Why I recommend these garden tags

• customized - I was able to request (and received) both the tree name (PawPaw) and type (Sunflower)
• communication and customer service - the shop owners messaged me to confirm what I was requesting - avoiding possible confusion (i.e did I want one PawPaw tag and one Sunflower tag, or two tags with PawPaw Sunflower)
• I requested that they not send the included plant stakes - as I would be hanging these on the trees - and that request was honored
• several choices in metal types/colors 
• good thickness - the tag is as thick as a dime 
• the words are permanently stamped into the metal
• packaged in a simple but attractive manner
• a mother/daughter/grand-daughter family owned business (how cool is that?!)
• located in the US

shipped in a simple but attractive manner

There are only two very minor things about these tags/this shop that might cause someone concern. Neither of these things concerned me, but I feel that they should be mentioned.

• the corner designs on the tags are random (for example: the bee & tree and the frog & sun on my tags)
• a bit of time passed before I received my order

Because the items are customized, I did not receive my items immediately. It looks like I ordered on June 4th and the postmark on the envelope was June 19th. In my opinion, that was an expected amount of time for a custom order. Unfortunately, in such an instant gratification culture, some folks may not want to wait. The good news is that the shop owners clearly list their current production time on their policies page so you can decide if you can stand the wait. 

my two customized PawPaw tags

Personally, I found it to be well worth the wait. It is refreshing to get exactly what you ask for. In fact, to get better than you asked for. Thank you, women at SimplyYoursByDesign, for these beautiful, durable, and custom PawPaw tree tags. 

Related reviews:

The Review This! contributors enjoy their gardens and reviewing items and gifts related to gardening. To see more of our gardening recommendations, check out the articles under the gardening tab.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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