Planting seeds and memories

Planting memories
slc

Spring has sprung and so have seeds and memories.  My daughter wanted to start some seeds inside with her five-year-old daughter this spring.  She asked if I would help.  Being an avid gardener since my 4-H days on the farm and loving to spend time with my family, I was delighted to assist.

I bought a 36-count box of the refill Jiffy Peat Pellets, found one of the trays my daughter and I used to start seeds in when she was a girl and I headed over to their house.  My three grandkids, my daughter and I piled into her vehicle (it had the three car seats) and headed to Lowe’s for some seeds.  We carefully selected marigolds, cosmos, cucumbers, sweet peas, cilantro, and sweet peppers.

Planting memories
slc

Once the boys were down for their afternoon naps, we got busy planting seeds.  First, my granddaughter, Jovie, and I placed all the peat pellets in the tray.  Next, my daughter added warm water  and we all watched as the peat pellets expanded as they absorbed the water.  Then we made little indentations in the top of each pellet.  Jovie’s slender little fingers were just the right size to gently place two or three seeds in each one.  She carefully pinched the peat over the top of the precious seeds and now the tray of peat pellets was ready to be covered and placed in a sunny window. Lastly, we placed a heating pad under the tray and turned it on for an hour or so.

Planting memories
March 24, 2017 (slc)

Driving away from their home that day I felt very blessed to have such a loving family and to be able to share my passion for gardening with them.  Planting seeds and memories.

Two days later, I received a phone call from Jovie who excitedly told me some of the marigold seeds had sprouted.  It was supposed to take at least 7-14 days for most of the seeds to come up but the heating pad accelerated that timing.  I told Jovie that she had a “green thumb.” She did not know what that meant so I had the pleasure of explaining it to her.  A new generation of gardeners has sprung. Planting memories.

planting memories
askideas.com

Are you doing good by volunteering?

volunteering
fgcsic.es

Seniors Find That Doing Good Is Good For You

The Brownsville Herald, March 17, 2017

“There are two things that older adults have in spades these days: time and knowledge. And both make them the perfect match for volunteering.

By giving back as little as two hours a week, or about 96 hours a year, older adults are discovering how to keep their lives active and healthy.

Research shows that seniors who volunteer can combat depression, stave off chronic pain, and boost brain power. In short, volunteering can promote longevity.

Still need another reason to get out and volunteer? With the number of volunteers age 65 and older expected to double in a few years, chances are you’ll reconnect with old friends and make new ones.”

The point is, there’s a volunteer opportunity for everyone, and it can be found with the simple click of a mouse.

Read more or download Doing Good is Good for You brochure

Aging in place actions in Maine making a difference

Aging in place actions
Elaine Briggs (Photo by Elise Klysa/Kennebec Journal)

Wayne looking for ways to help elderly age in place

A citizens’ group is trying to coordinate seniors’ needs with services that other residents can offer.

By Charles Eichacker, Portland Press Herald, Central Maine

March 14, 2017

“In the 17 years Elaine Briggs has lived at the northern end of Wilson Pond, she’s made the little property her own.

She maintains a flower garden. She makes soap in the basement of her boxy, one-story home with ingredients such as lavender and spearmint. She isn’t a vinyl snob, but maintains a record player and a collection of old country albums. Chickadees compete with squirrels at the feeder on her front lawn, and she sometimes can coax the small birds to peck seeds from the palm of her hand. She can put her kayak in the stream behind her house and paddle to the pond. She likes her neighbors, who have helped move snow from the front of her driveway after heavy storms.

Now 63, she hopes to stay there as long as possible, and also help fellow Wayne residents stay in their homes as they get older.

A group of citizens has been seeking the views of people like Briggs. They want to make Wayne a community where residents can age in place more easily, and they’ve been surveying town residents to get a better idea of the needs of the elderly, as well as what skills and services the young and old alike have to offer.

In doing so, they’re making Wayne just the latest Maine town to launch an aging-in-place initiative. A couple dozen Maine communities have been working with AARP – formerly the American Association of Retired Persons – to implement a set of age-friendly practices.”

Read more about aging in place actions in Maine

2017 “Best Cities for Successful Aging”

2017 Best Cities for Successful AgingThe Milken Institute Releases 2017 “Best Cities for Successful Aging” Rankings

Provo-Orem, UT and Iowa City, IA Take Top Spots Among Large and Small Metros

March 14, 2017

“The Milken Institute today released the third edition of its “Best Cities for Successful Aging” report and index, a collaboration between the Institute’s Center for the Future of Aging and its Research Department. The report evaluates 381 U.S. metropolitan areas to determine how well they serve the needs of the nation’s growing population of mature adults, enabling them to age productively, securely, and in optimal health.”

The top 10 large and small metropolitan areas for 2017 are:

Rankings – Large Metros   

Rankings – Small Metros

1

Provo-Orem, UT

1

Iowa City, IA

2

Madison, WI

2

Manhattan, KS

3

Durham-Chapel Hill, NC

3

Ames, IA

4

Salt Lake City, UT

4

Columbia, MO

5

Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA

5

Sioux Falls, SD

6

Austin-Round Rock, TX

6

Ann Arbor, MI

7

Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA

7

Ithaca, NY

8

Jackson, MS

8

Lawrence, KS

9

Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH

9

Logan, UT-ID

10

San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA

10

Fairbanks, AK

Read more

Blueberry supplements provide benefits

blueberry supplements
naturalnews.com

Concentrated blueberry supplement increases cognitive function in older adults, study finds

March 7, 2017

“Drinking concentrated blueberry juice improves brain function in older people, according to research by the University of Exeter.

In the study, healthy people aged 65-77 who drank concentrated blueberry juice every day showed improvements in cognitive function, blood flow to the brain and activation of the brain while carrying out cognitive tests.

There was also evidence suggesting improvement in working memory.”

Read more

A “school for grannies fulfilling life-long dreams”

Widows, Some Aged 90, Start School Near Mumbai, Families Drop Them Off

Hip-Hope for elderly at risk of falling

Hip-Hope
Hip-Hope Technologies

Hip-Hope cushions falls to prevent fractures in elderly

March 6, 2017

The belt-like wearable device is a high-tech Israeli response to a serious and costly health problem faced by the world’s older population.

“When his elderly mother fell and broke a hip for the second time, former Israeli Air Force pilot and industrial and management engineer Amatsia Raanan searched for a product to prevent this most common serious injury in older people.

‘Through her suffering I learned about the epidemic of hip fractures,’ Raanan tells ISRAEL21c.

Each year, nearly 3 million seniors worldwide are hospitalized due to hip fractures. Many of them experience a drastic deterioration in quality of life. And the direct annual cost of treating hip fractures exceeds $15 billion in the US healthcare system alone.

Rather than focus on better ways to treat the broken bone, Raanan decided to leverage cutting-edge technology to protect the pelvis upon impact and avoid injury in the first place. He and three cofounders developed Hip-Hope, a smart wearable device designed as a belt.”

Read more and view videos of its use