Life's serendipities or some magical rendezvous

Right this very moment, on a distant farm, there basks a fig, a nut, or a berry, whose very life force will soon be your own. But that's not all...

Right this very moment, there's a gorgeous home on a splendid property with a spectacular view, whose roof will someday give you shelter. But that's not all...

Right this very moment, there are beautiful souls on our beautiful planet, whom you do not even know, yet through your meanderings and theirs, paths will cross, love will be shared, and eternal friendships will be created. 

And nothing you do, or don't do, can prevent these serendipities I've just shared and so, so many more.

Let life flow over you and enjoy these serendipities as they happen and learn to adjust your attitude. Retirement is a new way of looking at life. Enjoy

Looking for love in all the wrong places

Sometimes having more fun and being happier comes from looking for another or for ourselves in crazy, new places; instead of waiting for people to come to us. Life is an adventure and one where it is sometimes difficult to go back. We need to look for fun, and excitement not where you've found them before or where others are now finding them now but in new and crazy places.

And I do mean crazy. Not just from the old standbys of travel, adventure, and romance, but from stretching, reaching, and growing.

What does stretching, reaching and growing mean to you? Everyone has a different idea of what this means. For some stretching may mean reading a new genre of literature, moving from the genre of poetry to the genre of Philosophy, for example. For some stretching, this may mean, expanding a bucket list and going out and jumping from a plane or going white water rafting. For some, it may mean reaching out and saying I ‘m sorry to an old friend who became an enemy over an imagined wrong. For some, it may mean taking a risk and telling someone special that they are loved and wanted. We all have our own standards of crazy and what may mean crazy to you is not crazy to me. Life is too short to hold grudges or to be afraid to take a risk.

Accepting new responsibilities for your happiness is part of the responsibility we have as we move through life. Others can add to our sense of well being, but cannot make us happy. We are the only ones that can make ourselves happy. To do this sometimes we have to be totally accepting and trusting of others. We have to reach for even higher ideals. Philosophically taking ourselves to places where we have not yet dared to go.

Some ideas to keep grandkids amused

It is the dog days of summer, and the grandkids are over for a visit, what can you do to keep them occupied, outdoors while having fun. Here are 10 ideas that you might want to consider

Ribbon Sticks:
For this you need nothing more than some strips of wide ribbon and some bamboo sticks. A few 4ft sticks will do. Snap them in half and tie a length of ribbon to one end. Make the ribbon length no longer than what the kids can handle. 

Let the kids loose with the sticks and tell them to try to make shapes, circles, and snakes etc just like the gymnasts do on T.V. My 8-year-old grandson absolutely loves this one, and it’s one of the few things he’ll actually do for longer periods of time.

 Garden Fun: 
Buy a cheap plastic double sided sandbox for the garden. Fill one half with sand and the other half with water. Add a whole lot of kitchen utensils and containers, and the kids will occupy themselves for ages.  Make sure you always cover the sandbox when the kids are done, or you might find that your neighbour’s cats may think it's their litter box.

Picking Berries:
Find a place with lots of berries, be it blackberries, strawberries, redcurrants, raspberries or whatever and go berry picking for the day.  Sometimes you may have to pay for the berries, but there are a lot of places where berries grow in the wild and are free to pick and use.  

Kids LOVE picking berries, so take this chance to make it into an educational thing by bringing along a book about berries. This way you can teach them which berries are safe to pick and which ones they need to stay away from. Use the berries you pick to make desserts, jams and cakes. Scrumptious fun!

Organize a Treasure Hunt: 
This can be done in the house, garden, park or even on a short walk. Hide some small items, toys or sweets in various places. Draw up maps with "X Marks the Spot" and easy to follow directions. 

Vegetable Patch:
If you have a garden or access to one, see if you can get the kids involved in making a vegetable patch of their own. Seeds are pretty cheap and a lot of vegetables are extremely simple to grow and cultivate. 

Try with carrots, lettuce leeks, spring onions and pumpkins for starters. Herbs are also really easy. Some extra simple ones are watercress, parsley, chives and basil.

Nature Walks:
Nature walks are one of the most inexpensive boredom busters ever created. All you need is energy and wide-open eyes. Of course, you can make the whole walk a lot more interesting by having something specific to look for. 

Luckily for townsfolk and city people, nature isn’t just about being out in the country. Wherever there are trees, there’s going to be birds. Where there’s grass growing, flowers and weeds grow etc.

Borrow a book about wildflowers, birds or animals from your local library and refer to it every time the kids see something of interest. Take along a notepad and pencil for each of the kids to write down what they saw on the walk.

Borrow A Pet:
A great way to beat boredom during the school holidays is to get the kids involved with animals. If you don’t own a pet of your own, you could offer to look after the school's gerbils and rabbits, or for that little bit “extra”, why not offer to take your neighbours dog along with you on your nature walks? 

Camping Out:
One thing kids never tire of is camping out somewhere. The easiest and cheapest place for that is in your own backyard or back garden. You can buy tents pretty cheap these days, and you don’t need something huge. If you don’t want to go to the expense of buying a tent, you can always make your own “temporary tent” by using a few sticks, sheets and tarpaulin. 

Give the kids lots of snacks, a few flashlights and some sleeping bags. Warn the neighbours that there could be some noise. (If MY kids are anything to go by, there WILL be noise). Please make sure that don’t lock ALL of your doors when you go to bed, as even though the kids may seem ready to “camp out” they might possibly get a bit wary late at night when the rest of the gang is asleep or it might even get a bit chilly and then it’s good for the kids to be able to snuggle up in real beds.

Toy Sail Boats:
This one is a really old pastime, but tons of fun. Get a plastic bottle and cut it in half lengthways. Make the sail from a wooden Kebab stick and some paper. There are tons of other household items that can be used, so look around and use your imagination. 

Make sure you hang some weight to the bottom of the boat to make sure it doesn’t keel over. A lollypop stick with some oil based play dough will work for a short while. (Practice in the kitchen sink to see what works best for you.)  Once the boats are ready, walk to your nearest pond or stream, or even fill up the bathtub and go sailing. Hours of fun for free!

Neighbourhood Walk:
Believe it or not, most kids like to actually learn about the area where they live. Take them out for a walk in your neighbourhood and let them explore the houses, parks and shops in the area. Talk about the older buildings and imagine what life might have been like in the “olden days” 

A trip to the local library can be good fun and useful for researching “the way it was” in your area, and it can use up a lot of otherwise fruitless hours of kids having nothing to do.

Ring Toss:
You need a few plastic bottles filled with water, sand or small stones (2-litre bottles are best) and some paper plates. Buy a packet of at least 20 cheap paper plates. Glue 2 paper plates together and cut out the middles to make a ring. When you glue 2 together it will add weight to the rings. 

Paint the newly created rings in bright colours and hand them out to the kids. Make a line with chalk or rope for them to stand behind and place the bottles at various intervals and distances away from the children.

Anybody who manages to get a ring over a bottle takes one step back and tries again. See how far away they can get and still manage to ring the bottles.

Saving for Retirement at 60

Are you sixty years old?  If you are, you may be preparing for retirement.  As excited as you may be about no longer have to work, can you really afford the transition?  If you haven’t been preparing for retirement, it isn’t too late to get started, but you need to get started now.

The first thing you will want to do is start contributing to your retirement plan.  At this point in your life, any contributions that you can make, you should.  At the very least, contribute 5% of your income.  However, know that many employers will match contributions made by their employees.  There is a minimum amount that you must contribute to receive this matching.  If you do, you can essentially get free money for your retirement.

Next, you will want to examine your retirement wants and needs.  Typically, this is the first step that you take.  However, if you haven’t been saving for retirement, it is imperative that you get started soon.  Depositing any extra money that you have right from the start can help you get ahead in your goal to save for retirement.

Returning back to your retirement needs, examine your housing.  Is your house costly to maintain?  If it is and if there isn’t much sentimental value attached to your home, consider relocating to a more affordable housing option.  In fact, you may want to closely examine retirement communities.  Most are affordable to live in and you are automatically paired with neighbors that are your age, many of which will share your interests.

It is also important to examine your retirement wants.  What do you see yourself doing when you retire?  If you are like most retirees, you will likely want to do things other than stay at home watching television.  Do you want to travel?  Do you want to start your own business?  Are there other activities that you want to enjoy, such as camping, boating, or fishing?  If so, it is important to examine these costs and add them to the estimated amount of money you need to save to retire comfortably.

Next, it is important to learn to cut corners.  Do you live on a fixed income?  If not, it is time for you to start. When in retirement, most men and women are on a fixed income.  For example, if you were to spend your retirement savings before you pass away, you are essentially left with nothing.  Is this really how you want to live?  It is important to practice living on a fixed income.  If you find that you cannot do so, you have a small amount of time left to increase your retirement savings by working longer.

Now is also the time to examine your debt.  Do you have any?  To see, request a copy of your credit report.  Usually, the companies that you owe money to will try to collect.  This may involve a request to appear in small claims court.  Should this happen to you, you may be court ordered to pay the money.  This can put a damper on your retirement savings and plans.  Eliminating this from happening by making sure that all your debts are paid off before you retire.

One question that many individuals in their sixties have involves paying off that debt.  Many wonder how they can pay off their debt when they are also supposed to be saving for retirement.  The two actually go hand-in-hand.  When you pay off your debt, you should have more money for retirement in the long-run.  Also, you can work to save money by eliminating unnecessary purchases or temporarily supplementing your income with a second, part-time job.  A good approach to take is dividing the money into two.  Some money can go towards your unpaid debt and the rest can go into a retirement account.