Good Living Guide

THEMES

Jelly Drops Are Sweets That Help Keep People With Dementia Hydrated

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A new sweet could be the answer to a serious health concern. With Jelly Drops, it’s easy for elderly people and others to boost their water intake.

Why Hydration Matters

Dehydration is a serious problem for older people. Many elderly people with dementia and Alzheimer’s don’t drink enough water to stay hydrated. Every day, older adults are hospitalized for life-threatening dehydration.

It’s also a serious concern among children with special needs and people in nursing homes.

An Easy Way To Drink More Water

Now, an easy-to-eat jelly candy could be the answer for people with dementia and their caretakers.

Jelly Drops are round, brightly colored jelly candies that come in fun fruit flavors. Each is about the size of a ping pong ball. You just pop it in, chew it and enjoy the juicy goodness.

The Story of Jelly Drops

Lewis Hornby invented Jelly Drops after his grandmother ended up in the emergency room with dehydration. He knew she loved sweets, and he used that knowledge to develop Jelly Drops.

The candies were an instant hit with elderly people and their caretakers. Jelly Drops have received awards and recognition from a slew of organizations, including the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Alzheimer’s Society, the European Investment Bank and the Helen Hamlyn Center for Design.

Drops of Goodness

Jelly Drops contain 95% water, natural fruit flavors and no sugar. They are soft, chewy and easy to eat. The bright colors and fun shape make them attractive to people with dementia who have lost interest in food.

If you eat 10 Jelly Drops, you take in the equivalent of a cup of water. They contain no harmful ingredients, and it’s safe for children and elderly people to eat as many as they like.

Where Can You Get Them?

You can buy them directly from the Jelly Drops website. Most people use the monthly subscription service.

Jelly Drops

Gatlinburg’s Treetop Skywalk is the Longest Tree-Based Bridge in North America!

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When you were little, did you dream about walking in the treetops like a bird or a squirrel? You can live that dream at the Treetop Skywalk in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Anakeesta Theme Park takes you soaring above the earth and through the forests of the beautiful Great Smoky Mountains.

FLY ABOVE THE CITY

The Treetop Skywalk is a series of interconnected bridges that soar high above the city. Its 16-bridge skywalk is the longest tree-based bridge in North America.

Walk through the trees as you catches glimpses of birds, bears and other wildlife. Watch as the fog that gave these mountains their name rolls through.

FAMILY-FRIENDLY FUN

The park is more than the Treetop Skywalk. According to Knoxville Moms, Anakeesta is the family-friendly destination you need to visit right now. This year, Anakeesta has added the AnaVista Observation Tower. It’s the tallest building in Gatlinburg, and it gives you breathtaking 360-degree views of the forest and mountains.

If you feel daring, try zip-lining through the treetops or ride the mountain roller coaster. Try the various obstacle courses. BearVenture is an easy activity all kids can enjoy. TreeVenture offers more of a challenge.

MAGICAL MOUNTAINS

The Smoky Mountains Local Expert Team has high praise for it, saying it’s a magical experience: “As your eyes seek to take in the utter splendor of the living mountain, you are surrounded by the aroma of dogwood trees, spruce and hemlock. No matter how warm the day, the air that touches your face at that elevation feels cool and fresh.”

WIND DOWN AND RELAX

If all that activity makes you hungry, stop for a bite to eat. The park offers several places to eat and drink, including some that offer panoramic views. Wrap up your day with a drink or a bite by a cozy fire pit.

If you’re looking for a fun activity in Tennessee, get your spirits soaring at Anakeesta Theme Park.

Treetop Skywalk

Pets For The Elderly Charity Expands Effort To Help Isolated Seniors

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A charity that brings pets and people together is expanding its outreach during the coronavirus pandemic. Pets for the Elderly specializes in helping people over 60 find a loving, four-footed companion.

Pets For The Elderly

HELPING SHELTER PETS AND PEOPLE FIND EACH OTHER

Loneliness is hard on seniors, and animals make wonderful companions. Those two facts are the driving force behind Pets for the Elderly, whose mission is to end loneliness among the elderly. The organization calls its program Companion Connection. The program helps pay the adoption, spaying and other fees for people over 60 who adopt shelter pets. It’s a win-win. Seniors find a fluffy friend, and pets find a forever home.

Around 50 shelters in 30 states take part in the program. It has helped more than 100,000 shelter pets find homes.

FORGING A LIFELONG CONNECTION

This week, the organization announced it was ramping up efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pets for the Elderly is reaching out to help older people pay for food, grooming and in-home visits from shelter workers.

Loneliness is a serious problem for older people. According to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, more than a third of adults aged 45 and older feel lonely, and nearly one-fourth of people over 65 are “socially isolated.” Many are even more isolated without the ability to socialize or receive visitors because of the pandemic.

IT’S THE RIGHT TIME

Executive Director Susan Kurowski said this is the right time to increase the organization’s efforts.

“With COVID, bridging this isolation gap with companionship is going to show, when we look back, as being key to many people’s mental wellness. You don’t have to live alone to feel isolated.”

Has a pet helped you cope with the pandemic? Let us know.

Kroger Hires Homeless Woman Who Slept In Their Parking Lot For A Year

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Lashenda Williams was sleeping in the parking lot of a Kroger grocery store in Nashville. One day, she took a step that changed her life.

Kroger Hires Homeless Woman

Larry McCormack | The Tennesseean

A DIFFICULT LIFE

Williams had a tough life. She grew up in foster care. She had cerebral palsy, a severe learning disability and a history of addiction. She was working occasional cleaning jobs, but her history and health problems made it hard for her to find steady work. Unable to afford housing, she began sleeping in her car in the Kroger parking lot. The store was open 24 hours, and she got to know the employees there.

“I felt blessed on the days when I could walk into that store and get something to eat and drink and hear a kind ‘hello’,” she said. “I’ve always felt safe there.”

THE DAY EVERYTHING CHANGED

One day, she saw a flyer announcing a job fair. Williams asked if there might be a job for her at the store. Jackie Vandal, the assistant store manager, helped Williams fill out an application and hired her on the spot.

She started as a part-time cashier. A month later, she became a full-time associate.

HER FIRST HOME

After a few months, Williams had saved enough money for a deposit on a one-bedroom apartment. Although she was thrilled, she didn’t have any furnishings for it.

Verlenteez Williams, a regular customer at the store, told her he could give her some items he didn’t need. He also posted a message on Facebook asking for donations.

Enough donations poured in to completely furnish the apartment.

LEARNING WHAT LOVE IS

Williams’ story was featured on local news and Good Morning America.

Williams said she still can’t believe she gets to drive home now instead of sleeping in her car. She said, “I have never known love like the love I got from Kroger. I never knew what love was before now.”

Kroger Hires Homeless Woman

How To Keep A Christmas Cactus Looking Beautiful All Season Long

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The Christmas Cactus is a beautiful plant that produces bright, delicate blooms during the holiday season. It’s not just a seasonal plant, however. Many people enjoy keeping this plant alive and healthy all year.

Christmas Cactus

Keep Your Plant Alive All Season

With the right care, your cactus can live, thrive and continue to bloom year after year.

To know the basics of caring for one, it’s important to know that these cactuses come from the mountains of South America. There, they grow in cool forests under the shade of giant trees. They receive scattered sunshine, cool mountain breezes and light rain.

You don’t think of succulents as forest plants, but that just tells you how unusual these plants are.

How to Care for Your Christmas Cactus

To keep your plant healthy, follow these steps.

  1. Bring your plant indoors. Keep it in a cool area away from heat sources.
  2. Don’t rush to repot your cactus. These plants do well in tiny pots. Repotting can shock them, so don’t do it until it’s necessary.
  3. Keep the plant in indirect sunlight.
  4. If your Christmas Cactus is still in its decorative wrapping, cut holes in the bottom to allow drainage. Place the plant on a dish to catch excess water.
  5. Speaking of water, don’t over water your plant. Give it a little water about every three days.
  6. If you need to add soil, use a cactus mix.

Keep Your Cactus Blooming

The above steps will keep your plant healthy. If you want to have blooms every year, follow these steps:

  • Cut back on watering in the spring and summer. This lets the blossoms rest.
  • At the end of summer, feed it with bloom food diluted to one-quarter strength.
  • When buds form, stop fertilizing and go back to normal watering.

Enjoy Christmas All Year

Do you ever wish it could be Christmas all year? You can’t make that happen, but you can keep one part of Christmas alive with a little loving care.

Do you have tips for keeping Christmas plants alive and blooming?

Christmas Cactus

Struggling 89-Year-Old Pizza Delivery Driver Receives A $12,000 Tip

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A pizza delivery driver in Utah got the tip of his life after his regular customers did something wonderful for him.

Struggling 89-Year-Old Pizza Delivery Driver Receives A $12,000 Tip

KSL News

HE’S A HARDWORKING MAN

Derlin Newey is 89 years old. He works evenings delivering pizzas for the Papa John’s pizza chain.

Derlin became very popular with his customers for his cheerful, friendly personality. His signature greeting was to shout, “Hello, are you looking for some pizza?”

HE BECAME A TIKTOK CELEBRITY

One of his best customers was Carlos Valdez. The couple has a TikTok account with over 50,000 followers.

They were so charmed by Newey’s friendliness that they began featuring him on their TikTok videos. Viewers began asking to see more of Derlin and his funny greetings.

TikTok is a video-sharing social media site where users can post 30-second videos.

INSPIRED TO HELP

Some of their viewers began wondering why Derlin was still working at his age. Inspired to do something, Carlos asked his account followers to chip into a fund for the older man.

The donations came pouring in. By the time the donation period ended, the TikTok account had raised more than $12,000.

HE BURST INTO TEARS

Carlos and his wife went to Derlin’s home with the check signed, “From your TikTok family.” The older man burst into tears when he saw how much the check was.

They also gave him a shirt that says, “Are you looking for some pizza?”

The event was filmed for the TikTok account and by local news station KSL.

CARING COMMUNITY

Derlin lives alone. He said he works about 30 hours a week as a delivery driver because he can’t pay his bills on Social Security. The Valdez family said they are still getting donations for him.

Derlin didn’t even know what TikTok was, but he certainly knows what generosity is, thanks to a caring community.

Struggling 89-Year-Old Pizza Delivery Driver Receives A $12,000 Tip

Wavy Lips Are The Latest Beauty Trend Taking Over Social Media

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Is it a symptom of quarantine boredom? Is it a clear sign of the end times? It could be both. We’re talking about “wavy lips,” a new beauty trend storming its way through your social media feeds.

 

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Weird, Wavy Lips Are Popping Up All Over

Girls on Instagram and Tik Tok are showing off lips that have a distinctly scalloped shape with several defined arches instead of a normal, human curve. They’re called “octopus lips” or “Russian lips” because the trend apparently started in Russia.

You thought “duck lips” were bad.

 

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Is It All Just an Elaborate Joke?

These wavy lips look so strange that it’s hard to imagine anyone thinks they’re beautiful. Some beauty bloggers are having fun mocking the trend as they show you how to achieve it using liners and lipstick.

It matches the “wavy eyebrows” that had their own unfortunate moment.

Some bloggers say it’s all a hoax created by a volatile combination of boredom, Photoshop and a reaction to the overuse of lip fillers by celebrities.

 

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Are You Ready to Try It?

Doctors and estheticians warn that using lip fillers to achieve this look could cause permanent damage. If you want to try it, use a technique that doesn’t harm your actual lips or eyebrows.

 

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What do you think of the wavy beauty trend? Are you ready to try it?

 

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Woman Obsessed with the 1950s Transforms Her Home Into A Mid-Century Mecca

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Stepping into Emma Edwards’ house is like stepping into a 1950s television show where glamorous people hosted cocktail parties and dined in avocado-colored kitchens. Edwards made over every inch of her Manchester, UK, home to look like a 1950s American home.

Woman Obsessed with the 1950s Transforms Her Home Into A Mid-Century Mecca

The House Is Like a 1950s Movie Set

The house is a perfect recreation of the “tiki” style that was popular in the 1950s.

“The kitchen is based on a Youngstown American 1950s kitchen, but the units are all modern made to look retro,” she told the Manchester Evening News in 2016.

A Lifelong Passion for Another Era

It’s safe to say that Edwards is obsessed with the 1950s. She’s the owner of Miss Bamboo, a business that sells reproduction 1950s clothing and accessories.

She usually wears vintage 50s clothing with hair and makeup to match.

Edwards fell in love with the time period when she was in college. She found like-minded groups of students who were equally obsessed with the 50s and 60s, and the idea for her business took root.

Emma Edward aka Miss Bamboo

Living In the Past

Since then, she has continued living and breathing her chosen style. As she explained in an article for the Manchester Evening News, she began by decorating a camper van. She and her partner then took up the challenge of transforming their 1930s house.

No Detail Overlooked

There are five tiki-themed cocktail bars in the house. The living room has purple shag carpeting with a zebra-patterned area rug on top.

Tiki-Themed Cocktail Bar

The style even extends to the garden, which has has 1950-style outdoor furniture.

The attention to every detail makes the overall impression glamorous rather than tacky.

She Was “Gutted” to Sell It

Edwards sold the home in 2017. She told the UK Mirror she was “gutted” to leave behind some upgrades like the $100-a-roll wallpaper she bought from a specialty US retailer. The furniture, accessories and knick-knacks, she said, were all moving to the new home.

Woman Obsessed with the 1950s Transforms Her Home Into A Mid-Century Mecca

Both A Solar And Lunar Eclipse Will Be Visible In June 2020

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Star watchers have something to look forward to this year. This June, you’ll get to see both a lunar eclipse and a solar eclipse in the same month. The lunar eclipse will take place on June 5th, and the solar eclipse will follow on June 21st.

Solar And Lunar Eclipse

Rare and Spectacular

It’s extremely rare to have two visible eclipses in the same month. Even more astonishing, the solar eclipse promises to be an unusually spectacular “annular” or “ring of fire” eclipse.

What’s that? Read on to find out.

Explaining Eclipses

Eclipses are fascinating astronomical events that cause a planet to be hidden from view.

A solar eclipse happens during a new moon, when the moon passes between the earth and the sun to cover the sun from view. You can only see a solar eclipse from certain parts of the world.

A lunar eclipse can only take place during a full moon, when the moon blocks the sun from view. This can happen when the sun, earth and moon are all in perfect alignment with each other. Unlike a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse is visible from anywhere in the world.

What’s Special About the 2020 Eclipses

The June 21 solar eclipse will be what’s known as an annular or “ring of fire” eclipse. That means it will look like a dark planet surrounded by a glowing band.

As the Space Tourism Guide explains, “During annularity, the sun is completely darkened, and the sky goes dark as well. Imagine sunset, dusk and sunrise all occurring in less than five minutes. Meanwhile, the sun is a great fiery ring in the sky. That’s what annularity is like during an annular eclipse.”

According to eclipse expert Jamie Carter, the so-called Strawberry Moon Lunar Eclipse will also be worth seeing, but the solar eclipse will be the true star of the skies.

How to Watch the Eclipses

As gorgeous as a solar eclipse is, you should only look at it using the right eyewear.

  • Use specially made eclipse glasses or solar viewers to look at the eclipse.
  • Don’t point a camera, binoculars or other devices at it.
  • Do not look directly at the eclipse.

Solar Eclipse Glasses

If you can’t find solar viewers, you can make your own pinhole viewer.

Stay safe while you enjoy the beauty of the night sky.

Both A Solar And Lunar Eclipse Will Be Visible In June 2020

Refusing To Dump Milk, Pennsylvania Dairy Farmer Decides to Bottle Their Own. Sells Out in Hours.

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The economic effects of the coronavirus have been especially harsh on family farms, but one small farm found a unique way to stay in business.

Refusing To Dump Milk, Pennsylvania Dairy Farmer Decides to Bottle Their Own. Sells Out in Hours.

Facebook | Whoa Nellie Dairy

A Longtime Family Business

Ben and Mary Beth Brown own the Whoa Nellie Dairy Farm in Acme, Pennsylvania. The Johnsons sell milk, cream, cheese and other products at their dairy store. They sell the rest to Schneider’s of Pittsburgh, a large dairy distributor.

The farm has been in the Brown family since the 1700s.

Refusing To Dump Milk, Pennsylvania Dairy Farmer Decides to Bottle Their Own. Sells Out in Hours.

Facebook | Whoa Nellie Dairy

The Distributor Told Them to Dump the Milk

Recently, Schneider’s informed the Browns that it wouldn’t be picking up the milk and they should just dump it.

“I hate the idea of wasting food or milk when people are struggling,” Mary Beth told CNN in an interview. “We decided instead to pasteurize, bottle and sell the milk ourselves.”

Working Around the Clock

In a Facebook announcement, Ben told local residents, “We can only pasteurize and bottle 30 gallons at a time, but we are going to work around the clock to try to bottle as much as we can. We are really going to try to not waste a drop.”

Over the next few days, Ben worked 24-hour shifts to get it done.

Refusing To Dump Milk, Pennsylvania Dairy Farmer Decides to Bottle Their Own. Sells Out in Hours.

Facebook | Whoa Nellie Dairy

Tremendous Community Support

The response was overwhelming.

One Facebook post showed the cars and trucks that lined the road as people waited for hours to buy milk. The entire community turned out to support the Browns.

Refusing To Dump Milk, Pennsylvania Dairy Farmer Decides to Bottle Their Own. Sells Out in Hours.

Facebook | Photo credit: michaelmphotos.com

Still Standing

In another Facebook post, Ben wrote, “Over the last couple of years, hundreds of farmers have gone under, yet we remain. I want to thank all of you who have stood in line for our milk. It is you who are keeping us going and keeping this family farm alive. Thank you!”

The Browns are still selling milk and other dairy products. They have also donated extra milk to area food banks. They purchased a larger pasteurizer, and Ben no longer has to work 24-hour shifts to get the milk bottled.

Refusing To Dump Milk, Pennsylvania Dairy Farmer Decides to Bottle Their Own. Sells Out in Hours.