I refuse to bend over in the street for anything smaller than a 10p piece, Sharon  :-)


JC, I've been thinking about the minimalistic approach you mention and one of the great exponents of this is the tramp.   Feeding the ducks one morning my girlfriend was startled by a vagabond, carefree in the undergrowth.  

I sow no seed and I pay no rent,
  And I thank no man for his bounties,
But I've a treasure that's never spent,
  I'm lord of a dozen counties.

from John Drinkwater's The Vagabond  http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/53343-John-Drinkwater-The-Vagabond


Philip Larkin alludes to the freedom of the counterculture explorer with newspapers inside his winter shirt.  

Toads

Why should I let the toad work
  Squat on my life?
Can't I use my wit as a pitchfork
  And drive the brute off?

Six days of the week it soils
  With its sickening poison -
Just for paying a few bills!
  That's out of proportion.

Lots of folk live on their wits:
  Lecturers, lispers,
Losels, loblolly-men, louts-
  They don't end as paupers;

Lots of folk live up lanes
  With fires in a bucket,
Eat windfalls and tinned sardines-
  they seem to like it.

Their nippers have got bare feet,
  Their unspeakable wives
Are skinny as whippets - and yet
  No one actually starves.

Ah, were I courageous enough
  To shout Stuff your pension!
But I know, all too well, that's the stuff
  That dreams are made on:

For something sufficiently toad-like
  Squats in me, too;
Its hunkers are heavy as hard luck,
  And cold as snow,

And will never allow me to blarney
  My way of getting
The fame and the girl and the money
  All at one sitting.

I don't say, one bodies the other
  One's spiritual truth;
But I do say it's hard to lose either,
  When you have both.

Philip Larkin




When I slipped into unconsciousness in The Duck and Goose eleven years ago, I overheard my drinking comrade say:  I've seen more life in a tramp's vest

Enjoyed reading this. You spent your money on things that count. Love hearing that a straw hat was a wish-list item! Great stuff.

Think I touched a chord!  Hey, today I found a quarter, a state quarter, South Dakota, and it may be one I need in my collection (10 more sets to collect, grandkids you know).  Bless everyone here, great to be "aboard"!
Sharon  :D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_State_Quarters

Just googled state quarters (I'm from UK!) - nice looking coins, the full set'll make a handsome display, Sharon

I once thought of getting a metal-detector.  I must think about it some more - can see myself buzzing down a beach or farmer's field treasure bound!

I've sent partial sets to my grandkids for birthdays, 9 remaining, one spent them all immediately on pot and cigarettes, go figure!  Well it was a gift!!  But I will save one for myself, and complete it, one set, Pittsburgh (I think) mint (or Philadelphia) and one Denver mint, harder to come by in the southeast.  It's fun and occupies my mind!!

this was just forwarded to me and thought it was just tooo humorous not to share it here !


How to Cook Lasagna in your Dishwasher


Watch This Video

http://www.partselect.com/JustForFun/How-To-Cook-Dishwasher-Lasagna.aspx


and more important tips
http://www.partselect.com/JustForFun/Dishwasher-Lasagna.aspx

Hehehe. 

Hey, you've got me thinking I might cook up a beef bourguignon next time I'm in the laundrette (that's a laundromat to you American football fans :-))

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Beautiful_Laundrette


by the way Peter i have lived in The Netherlands for over 30 years.

Tis a lovely country, Holland, friendly people too.


Money Saving Tip
Have been there on the Hull ferry to buy hand-rolling tobacco.  Much cheaper than England for Drum, Golden Virginia etc and cigarettes too.  
Money Saving Tip


The Dutch all seem to speak English too, whereas their wonderful-sounding language can be very difficullt to get one's tongue around lol  

Mijn luchtkussenboot zit vol paling.  Nog een prettige dag toegewenst!

i suggest not save but give, and the more you give the more you will recieve , otherwise it is all struggle and worry , fear , have no fear
give your money away and you'll see!

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.


Matthew 6:25-34 (King James Version)

Look!! the Lord uses emoticons!!

{:->)~  Yes, I did a double-take on that too!

dear Lavonne

that reminded me of how when i was a very young kid .......
and i watched how some creative people used to add an auxiliary windshield wiper reservoir under the hood
and run a hose through the dashboard .....and pumped shots of Vodka into the front seat.