country n news-heat flowers

COUNTRY N NEWS-HEAT FLOWERS

i walked around our country n property this last week
looking at things that bloomed
despite the excessive heat
and
the lack of rain now going on two months

now i dont water any of these plants in my yard
so
if they are blooming and doing well
its on them
nature that is

so if you were to go to an old abandoned home place
to see things blooming
in the hot dry texas summer
well
you might find some of these plants
that we have planted here in our yard

this is a tougher than nails plant
called yellow belle
commonly found growing in abandoned home places
last watered probably 10 years ago

this is a trumpet vine
i found it growing on the side of the house
so i transplanted it to its present location
last watered probably 15 years ago
it does like to pop up in the landscape but if you
keep these pup vines pulled up its worth it
hummingbirds love this vine

the yellow flower is a sunflower that the birds
planted for us
bees and butterflies and birds love the flowers
then the seeds
the purple flower in the background is a
4 oclock donated from new orleans by a friend
never watered these at all

this purple flower is a mexican oregano
bees butterflies and hummingbirds love this one
the leaves are used as a spice in some mexican foods
last watered over 10 years ago

this small red flowered turks cap is loved by the bees
butterflies and the hummers
this one was transplanted from my wife shes school
last watered 10 years ago
loves the shade

this is the flower on a purple hulled pea
planted in my garden
as a cover crop and as a source of peas for us to eat
now this i do water with my underground watering technique
once a week
i find bees hummers and butterflies on this one

this is an okra
yes i water it once a week with my underground system
it produces a lot of okra for us to eat
plus the flower beside being beautiful
is loved by the bees and butterflies

this is a milkweed
the host plant for the monarch butterfly
it was planted by nature from a seed blown from
a nearby milkweed last year
its not been watered by me yet this year
bees and butterflies love it

so if you have a xeric yard like we have
and
never water it
you can still have some color
some flowers in your landscape

the bees butterflies and hummers seem quite content here
as
are we

the organicgreen doctor

how to successfully retire

HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY RETIRE 
i have been retired now for going on six years
it has gone fast
wonder what the next 6 years will bring

so my thoughts on a successful retirement
the kiss one
keep it simply simple

first
you must have money
you have to have been prepared years before
if you wait well
you arent going to have a successful retirement

for us
years before retirement
we
downsized our house
downsized our expenses
downsized our expectations for retirement
downsized our travel
to doing those things that were important to us

the end result was
we have a budget we can live with
without depleting our monies
my goal is to have 99 cents left in my estate
when we both die
odds are my wife she will outlive me for a few years
we have to be ready for her to be alone for that time

so money may be the most important

we have that covered as long as we live like we are now
we do what we enjoy
travel as much as we want to


second
you gotta be busy
mentally physically socially spiritually
doing all these i think are the secret to a successful retirement
plus
you need some moments to yourself

for me
now my wife she isnt retired yet
but when she does she needs to read this blog also
i use my volunteer efforts to fill up those areas above
i use our property with its maintenance and garden to
help fulfill those needs

i do pause a lot to meditate inside
sometimes people may see me in the garden
staring out down towards the river
whats he looking at so long
oh it must be a deer or a turkey


no
im meditating
letting my mind wonder jump around from topic to topic
then
i move forward with what im doing
heck
sometimes youll hear me talking
maybe youll wonder whos he talking to
myself i would say
and
yes i answer myself also

then
you have to share retirement with someone
that someone of course for me
is my wife she

so i see folks heading into retirement
without these things above
not being prepared
my guess is they arent going to last long


the one thing that you need to do also
is volunteer
ive chosen meals on wheels habitat for humanity alzheimers texas
and school gardens to be my focus of volunteering
the end result is the folks on the receiving end are better off
and
so am i
inside that is

so i talk to folks about going into retirement
some i can tell arent ready
theyre going to struggle and not do well im afraid
others
well
they are going to do good
for themselves
and
others


so far i feel like my retirement is successful
the profits arent monetary though

the organicgreen doctor

my first one

MY FIRST ONE

on august 7, 2010
i posted my first blog
after my wife she showed me a video on tv about
a lady that started blogging

i can do this i said
so
i did

here is my first blog

introduction blog

this is my first posting

have interest in organic gardening green living rainwater harvesting solar power
and am a practicing family physician

will do section on my experiences as a family physician both past and present and
my thoughts on health care

will trace my organic gardening through the different growing seasons and what
success and failures i have had

will discuss rainwater harvesting how i did it and how it is working 

will discuss solar power and passive solar heating and how we have used it here

will discuss how our green living has developed

i decided i would not use punctuation or caps

i always liked ee cummings

so it was my blog

so i dont use this stuff

one thing i have noticed is that has spilled over into my 

every day writing

this will be my 1526th blog postings

i have had over 629,000 viewings of my blog

i have had folks from all over the us and the world look 

at my blog

my blog is listed as favorite blogs at multiple sites

including foreign countries

via my blog i have been in contact with folks all over the world

i have helped folks i dont know with getting themselves

or their family evaluated for memory loss

as well as 

helping folks with their organic gardening or rainwatering

i have generate interest in alzheimers

and

have used this blog as a vehicle to educate and fun raise

for alzhiemers

in the fall of 2010 i wrote a blog on mild cognitive impairment

little did i know that that label would be put on me

a few months later

after i was diagnosed i added a day a week

i call alzheimers news 

which is about alzheimers information 

like new promising research or treatment

how i am progressing

eg

coming up i plan to have my alzheimers brain scain 

that will give me a more my definite answer 

about my diagnosis

to help me better plan my future

i plan to write about having this done

yes i will cry when i write it

i do a day called the country n news

which is about whats happening here on my property

since

folks like to know about my gardening rainwater solar setup

what they can be doing at a certain times of the year

in the garden 

i am always trying new stuff here in the garden to make

the use of water more efficient

since my granddaughter was born i added a day 

called dear ms b

a blog letter to her

hoping she will read them later in life

so she can get a feel of what i was like

that one i get teary eyed some when i write them 

the rest of the time

i write on whatever pops in my brain that morning

so

i want to personally thank all those who read my blog

especially my daily readers

here is hoping i can continue this on a few more years

the organicgreen doctor