Happiness is Good
there are so many good reasons to be happy
I’ve been miserable, depressed and stressed for months. All of that comes from within, but with a malevolent influence from something else. I would rather be happy than constantly suffering the slough of despondency. Most men are just as happy as they make up my minds to be. I’ve made up my mind to finally walk away from the alcohol that was the source of my unhappiness, and today I am happy.
So, some happy pictures for today.
Have a very blessed Tuesday.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
the rocks were all painted by school children
Food on Friday ~ Home Grown
growing your own food is like printing your own money
Some say they can’t grow their own vegetables because they just don’t have the space. And that all that bending and kneeling isn’t good for them. All I know is that if you get yourself a planter, or three, you can keep yourself in organic vegetables for 8 months out of every year.
Buying a planter can be quite expensive, but if you’re handy at all you can build your own. And if you’re no good at DIY, then find a man who can. (I made that planter above)
And if your space is really very limited, then just add some ingenuity.
Growing your own fruits and vegetables seems daunting to many people, but it’s actually very easy. All you need is a few square feet of good dirt, water, and a little time. Among the benefits you’ll see are;
- improving your health (and your family’s)
- saving money on groceries (your planter should last decades)
- enjoy better tasting food
- know exactly what you’re eating and where it came from
- stop worry about food safety
- have a sense of achievement
- get some outdoor exercise
- reduce your impact on the environment and food waste
If you have no idea where to start there are innumerable websites that will give you advice, hints, and tips; garden organic, good housekeeping, david domoney, to name but three.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
try it, and I guarantee you will like growing your own
Skills Men Should Have
learning is not compulsory, neither is survival
learn woodworking and gardening
There was a time when most men could turn their hand to just about anything; from growing their own vegetables to completing their tax returns, from plumbing to motor maintenance. Yet I know some young guys who are so impractical they can’t even put up a shelf. I once met a guy who didn’t know how to open the bonnet, (hood), on his car ~ let alone check the oil. Hell, I once met a blonde girl who couldn’t open her fuel filler cap.
But we are not talking about girls here, we are talking about real urban survival skills for real men. What does a guy need to be able to do to survive and thrive? Leave out the whole surviving alone in the deep woods thing, (with a camera crew, doctor, and evac helicopter on standby). Let’s concentrate instead on what a cool guy living a great life should be able to do, and most can’t even make a decent attempt at. In no particular order;
- cooking ~ from making an omelette to an impressive signature dish. including doing the shopping and cleaning afterwards.
- DIY ~ how to you loosen a bolt?
- finance ~ budgeting, balancing your income and expenditure, completing official paperwork, negotiating a loan.
- first aid and CPR ~ from the Heimlich Maneuver, to using a tourniquet.
- health and fitness ~ fresh air, diet, food supplements, exercise.
- motor maintenance ~ from checking the tyres, lights, and fluids to doing a complete exhaust rebuild, to building an entire damn car.
- navigate from A to B without sat-nav ~ can you find north, use a compass, read a map, know how far a mile is?
- read, write, and do arithmetic ~ do you read interesting and challenging books? can you write a letter in cursive script? Can you make change, approximate pi, and work out a right-angle?
- safety and security ~ is your home safe and secure and can you walk the streets at night?
- disaster recovery ~ what will you do if there’s an earthquake, or a wild-fire, or flood, or your home just suddenly becomes uninhabitable?
For once, I haven’t given you lots of links, because a man should be able to find appropriate stuff on the internet, and not just be able to find his own particular taste in porn. So whatever you can’t do, start learning…..
There are a lot more things that a true Renaissance Man is capable of, from building and sailing a boat, to building a car, to building his own home from scratch. In extremis a real man knows how to survive natural and man-made disasters. There is even a list of 100 skills every man should know, (but no Englishman needs to know how to throw a good spiral). And, a real man understands the art of attracting women and keeping her happy once he has won her.
Some say they don’t need to do anything because they can always hire someone else to do it. And that guys don’t cook, clean, or do the laundry, real guys just have fun. All I know is that I can’t bake a cake.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
learn car mechanics
Planter
The glory of gardening is having your hands in the dirt and your head in the sun.
I built a planter for my friend in California.
I hope that it gives her many years of pleasure.
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
there’s a handful of dirt from Red Rock country in there
I hope it gives her many years of pleasure
Patio Planters
Gardens are not made by sitting in the shade and drinking wine.
I have a friend who would like me to make a couple of planters for her yard.
Perhaps she will get some ideas of the kind of thing she wants, needs, and desires from these pictures. Hey, I’m just going to be building them and filling them with dirt.
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used railway sleepers (ties) make a great, everlasting planter
and they are strong enough to use as a retaining wall
but you should really line them with something
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
stone planters are a cool idea
this isn’t as difficult as it looks
JackCollier7 
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