How do I invest~~~~

Hello My Diva Dahlings,


I know, I know---where Have I been? Well I won’t bore you with details; except that I’ve been spending time with my family and a few dear close friends, traveling here and there with them and taking care of some medical and dental needs as well, as one gets older, things take a bit more maintenance. Not to worry I’m doing fine, just a little older, a little slower but no less a Diva.


I can also assure you that my little diva darling Princess is doing very well and has been traveling with me, Juanita and her family are also doing well, while I’m gone she is free to come and go as she pleases, and she has been making arrangements to have an eye kept on my home.


I have been asked by some of you darling Diva’s, how do I financially live? Well I’m not the “grasshopper” that fiddles away the bounty of spring, summer and fall, I do put away for the winter, and yet I’m not overly working like the ant, but working enough to maintain a life style that is comfortable for me.


Yes Darlings, the operative work is “comfortable”. Depending upon where you live, an income of $150,000 can seem like a fortune, but only if you live in Tennessee or other mid-states, if you live in California or New York especially in the Big City or San Francisco or Los Angeles you are barely middle-class.


I’m not saying I earn that much, as a matter of fact I’m not saying to you how much I earn, but I do live very comfortably. You see it is all a matter of perspective. I’m not a billionaire, no, with that comes headaches. But I’m not on food stamps either. Although I can understand the difficulties of those in which circumstances requires them for government assistance.

I was fortunate, my parents were very savvy people, Dad worked hard, worked his way though college, was smart enough to make very good contacts with people (now a days it’s called networking), lived within his means, saved, did his best to stay out of debt and (here’s where its important) conservatively invested.


Mother too came from a hard working family, went to business school, listened, lived within her means, saved her money, but as I said she listened very carefully and like Dad investigated before investing.



Dad was a lawyer, he handled mostly business contracts and mergers etc, he met Mother and she worked for him, but they had a partnership much like “Perry Mason and Della Street”, they worked as a team. They first became good friends and then discovered they loved each other and married, Mother continued to work for Dad after they married until the first of 3 children came along, but even then she would work in the office part time, making arrangements with Grandma to watch us and then she’d come home prepare dinner and then took over checking our homework and putting us to bed. When we were old enough to go to school, she’d send us off, go to the office and then at 2:30 leave to pick us up.



We children were loved, I’m not saying it was a perfect “Father Knows Best” situation but even we as children were included in any decision making, we were not sheltered, our parents were honest with us.



So how does that describe how I live financially? First it was by example from our parents, I say “Our” because I have two brothers, one older and one 18 months younger, My brothers shared a bedroom and I had my own, Our parents bought a house which was easy to expand if needed and it did go to eventually 4 bedrooms as Grandma (Mom’s mother) moved in with us after Grandpa died.



I and my brothers were immersed though Dad and Mom’s instructions on investing and financial business, Dad would talk frankly to us about business dealings that had developed, in some cases were developing, sometimes he’d put us to work to find things in the investment papers or at the Library going through the out of town newspapers.



Dad told us about the Rothschild’s and Hetty Green (the witch of Wall Street), Andrew Carnegie and other successful business people, although for a woman to be successful was rare and looked at with suspicion, especially in an environment in which women were looked upon as property and not having any business sense. Luckily my parents and Grandparents were not of that mind-set.



In my previous postings I talk about how to learn to be frugal with the “Make do, use it up…etc” routine, and also to not live beyond your income, please go back to those postings as a refresher course.



Dad also told us that even in the Bible (we were and are Catholic) it talks about money, one needs to read both the old and new testament. No I’m not talking about the Biblical Money Code that Sean Hyman speaks of---its there really for anyone to read and learn from, Hyman just uses the biblical teachings to get some real foundations across to us.

Something that was already taught to me and my brothers by our parents.



First off, one has to avoid the “Love of Money” and realize it is simply a means of exchange to buy goods and services, but don’t waste it or horde it, make use of it to make money, but do not squander it either, if you have 2 dollars, save $1, then divide the remaining dollar in half, 50 cents to pay for your daily needs, the other 50 cents to invest in or with.

I call it my thirds rule. With the dollar saved divide that in half, 50 cents into a regular savings account, the other 50 cents into a long term retirement account, by having a regular savings account you’ll build up money for those sudden expenses, like a roofing problem, or car repairs etc. this way you will avoid going into debt by using a credit card, unless it is something very extensive. This is where a Budget rule is important.


O.K. Darlings so from an early age, my Dad played a game with my brothers and I, using pretend money, such as worn out or incomplete card decks, Aces were $1, 5’s =5, 10= 10, Jacks were 20, Queens 50 and Kings 100 dollars. On used envelopes Dad would write down the stocks we’d choose listing the number of shares we’d buy at the amount that the stock was going for per share.


Now as part of our “Homework” we had to investigate the solid foundation of a business whose stock was listed, then we’d watch to see how it would do, if the price per share was low we’d buy, then we’d have to see what it was going to do, and make a decision on it. Also we’d have to watch to see how much in dividends did the stock pay out, those dividends were written on the remaining cards, at the end of a certain period of time, usually 6 months, Dad would note how we were doing. Come January 1st Dad would announce who did the best and would get an increase in their allowance based upon results, those who didn’t do so well, well if they did do fairly well, would get an increase but only slightly, if our stock choices failed, our allowance did not get an increase.


You certainly can see the incentive here.


Hetty Green’s motto was “Buy cheap and sell dear” meaning buy low but sell high, the Rothschild’s based their investments on information gathered, that is how the head of the Rothschild family worked, during the campaign between Wellington and Napoleon, many investors had heard, (incorrectly) that Wellington was losing, but Rothschild had one of his sons near the battlefield and set up a system of immediate information relays, using carrier pigeons and light systems to send signals to him what was exactly happening, so when people were selling in a panic he was buying, and eventually when the real news hit the London exchange, Rothschild was in a position to make a tremendous profit.


Hetty Green was the same, this was told to me by my Grandfather whose brother worked at a bank that Hetty held her “office” in, through various contacts among the working class and clerks Hetty could gauge the worth of a company and therefore its stock value, even if the stock appeared to be going down, Hetty would know of things in the works that would bring a profit to the company, so when the stock price was at its lowest Hetty would buy and then when the company turned a profit and its stock value went up, Hetty would hold and hold until she felt it had reached its possible peak and then sell it at a profit. Grand Dad said that the clerks at the bank were very protective of Hetty, why? She would make small loans to them at a very low interest, and even would extend their time to pay it back, something that is very rarely mentioned in any biographies about her.


Hetty was cheap, rotating between just two suits of clothing, living in the most inexpensive rooming houses, buying the cheapest cuts of meat, walking everywhere, even avoiding doctors to treat her son’s injured leg, which he never condemned her for.


To her Money was a weapon to be hoarded, not squandered, she in a way took it to the extreme, but even the Rothschild’s did not live extravagantly.


So let’s look at investing----

Rule one----never invest more than what you can afford to lose


Rule two---never invest all your money into one stock, diversify


Rule three---do your homework, make sure that the company whose stock you’re interested in has a solid foundation to be able to ride out a lot of economic storms.

On Rule three this includes, how well is the business run? Is their management team solid and looking at the future, without over expansion? Is their sales pipeline large and are sales increasing, are their customers happy? Does it have a big market capitalization with plenty of liquidity in stock volume? AND This is the Most Important…is the company worth the stock price you are going to pay.

Remember Darlings buy cheap but don’t buy a cheap company.


Everyone remembers that stocks slide up and down on a roller coaster, so even with doing your homework if there is a stock pull back right after it takes a position that does not mean it’s a bad investment. This is where you have to be like Rothschild so that when it appears that a stock loses value this is where you need to review in your mind why you bought it and hold on. Do not allow Greed or a quick turn over or even fear cause you to panic

And don't buy a stock because a friend, or relative says its a good thing or the latest thing, it could be a disaster if you do not do your homework.  Solendra was one of them.  Fortunately I did not buy into that.

The best way to see how a stock performs is to look back on its track record for the last two possibly three years. For example if a company shows what I have just explained to you as still being solid it is solid.


John Deer Tractors, everyone needs that from the homeowner to the Farmer.


So with Rule Three you are doing a fundamental analysis of an investment


Rule Four---determine when to buy --- this is done after you have completed Rule three. So you turn to a technical indicator called the relative strength index, this will tell you when a stock is being oversold or overbought, on a scale of 100 if its under 30 the stock is getting cheap because people are selling but when it starts going over 80 on the RSI scale then its getting pricey---why? Too many buyers are buying it


Warren Buffett has used these two principals to see how a stock is going to do, it is what caused him to stay away from those start up companies that had no foundation, even I stayed away from Facebook stock when it opened and then it started going down and down, but just to be a little cagey I bought some shares when it looked like it was going to go for a $1 a share, then slowly it began to show its true worth.


So when you see a stock going down on a company, a company that you know has a strong foundation based upon the questions I outlined for you don’t be afraid.


Although I have to admit I did “Take a Flyer” on Facebook.


Because this is where you grab your courage and work outside that box, and that may mean buying companies that people don’t like, when you see massive selling hitting a stock on a company that is solid, that is when to look for the bargain. Don’t allow Greed or the Love of Money or your fear of losing blind you to an opportunity.


This is where you look for large volume spikes and then shows steep declines. Apple is a good example, Steve Jobs dies, Apple stocks went down, panic selling, but now a time to buy at a lesser price, because if Apple is any good it will steady out even without Steve Jobs, because you are looking at the true value of the stock and the foundation of the company.


So Rule Five---Ride out the Roller Coaster, it may take weeks or months but you are in for “The Long Haul”


And that is what my Dad taught us, “Don’t buy for profit, buy for the long haul, for a generally steady income to serve you into your old age and beyond” SERVE YOU; in short have your money make money.


With my Facebook stock once I did my initial purchasing I use the dividends from that stock to buy more stock, the same with Apple. Eventually I will have those dividends be paid directly to me, like my other stocks.

And this is where we come to RULE SIX:

DO NOT LIVE BEYOND YOUR MEANS

Even though I have a very, very good income, I determine how much I will need to live on per month, for that I have 2 checking accounts with separate debt cards, the first checking account will pay insurances, mortgage, utilities, medical/dental. I pay those bills immediately, I do not procrastinate.

The second account is to pay for Food and sundries, including if I want to treat myself and some friends to lunch.

Then I set quite a bit of it aside, for that I have 4 savings accounts, one for emergency repairs, one for fun things like a vacation, one for any increase in living costs so that I’ll have a chance to re-do my budget and one to purchase things as needed such as birthday gifts or replace something in the house etc.

I know that having that many accounts can be a bit mind bending, but I keep cash books on each, and each book clearly labeled, being able to call in to the bank and listening to the auto response is very helpful as well as logging in each evening any purchases.

For that you HAVE to be DISIPLINED.

I know people who have to have a new car every 4 to 5 years, once its paid off they buy a new one and are back into debt, I had my Caddy for nearly 20 years and was only beginning to consider buying a new car if it appeared that it would not pass smog or I had to have it worked on long and hard to pass smog, but that was taken out of my hands when some teenagers stole it for a joy ride and wrapped it around a pole.

My current car I will keep until it is not repairable anymore. Don’t over charge on credit cards, use coupons, watch for deals, on a number of things you can buy at either Target or Wal-Mart, on other things buy quality because you want it to last a long, long time.

Don’t buy a MacMasion when something smaller will do.


I have only 3 credit cards, one of them is a gasoline card, the other two are bank credit cards, one is for any auto repairs or if I’m traveling, the other when I want to purchase clothing or items for myself. On all three I watch my balance very carefully, and pay them down immediately, usually within 3 to 4 months. This is where the savings accounts come in handy.


Really one doesn’t need more than 3 cards plus your debt card(s). One handy device is being able to pay over the phone, I have a small date book that lists when a bill will be due and with the phone numbers of those cards and if I’m traveling I can call the credit companies and pay over the phone without a fee.


Some people prefer auto pay; I do that for the Utilities and the home mortgage.

To be able to balance all of this I look into what I Need to buy or pay, this includes property taxes, medical/dental insurance, auto and home insurance, utilities, home mortgage, Food, medicine. These are NEEDS.


Everything else is WANTS, well I need a good pair of walking shoes, I have them and I have them re-heeled and re-soled and will do it until they are worn out, one does not need 20 coats, a good winter coat, a good raincoat, a light suit jacket, and a lovely shawl, plus a few sweaters, until they wear out.


I don’t drive my car everywhere, I’ll use public transportation, and it works just as well, so it saves on wear and tear on the car, if you have to do a lot of errands then plan on the best use of your gas.


My clothing is classic, so is my jewelry, I go to the Library for recreational reading and magazines, even DVD’s and music, there are some things I do buy but that is because I consider them hobbies. Remember the simple things are always best.


But again always save, determine needs vs. wants, and look for the best deals from food to travel, avoid the credit card use this is where cash money is important by using your credit card you are falling into temptation on buying a “want” and therefore living beyond your means, and don’t be extravagant when there is no need. Network with people who can help you achieve your goals and be genuine.


And remember there is Good Credit and there is Bad Credit, Good Credit or debt is paying on a house, Bad Credit (really debit) is having 20 charge cards at rates 15% to 29%, they do not give you any return, whereas paying on a house is a tax write off.

Now my Diva Darlings review what I have posted before, be sure to have a Good CPA who Really knows the Tax Code, keep receipts, keep records, and keep a good accounting of everything. It pays in the end my Darlings


And remember----YOU ARE THE CEO OF YOUR OWN COMPANY—it is called your Life.

And here is where we come to Rule Seven:

Remember those who are less fortunate.  

This means donating to charities to help the needy, like Salvation Army, your Local Food Bank, charity walk for Cancer,  your local Animal Shelter or Nature preserve (yes we need to remember those who cannot speak for themselves),  I donate to "Cover your Cop"  this is to buy bullet proof vests for Police Dogs as well as other charities.  You can even do it in memory of a loved one or a friend.

So just as the money flows in, be sure to have some of it flow out for a good  and worthy cause.
Until Anon, Kisses Darlings

More Budget Ideas....

Hello again Darlings,

I am happy to say that I am making excellent although slow progress, last Sunday I was able to take my little Darling Diva Princess for a walk, granted it was only two blocks, but it was a start.

I am hoping that the weather will warm up mildly; I’ve had just enough of the chill and the wind for one winter.

The other evening I had a wonderful telephone conversation with my Brother Tom, he has invited me and Princess to join him and his wife up to his cabin in the mountains for a few weeks, the grand children will be up as soon as school lets out, they spend a few weeks up there, then off to see a fantastic place like Zion National Park, or historic places, then they come back and spend August with the grand parents. But part of their arrangement as encouraged by their parents is to write a two page essay about each of the places they saw and how it historically created our society. I was very surprised to hear what their parents are doing but they told me it was to help expand their education and awareness---of course they will go to Disneyland, that is their treat for keeping their grades up, poor grades no Disneyland. I think it’s a fair deal.

But even I have found it to be so restful out under the stars, which is why my niece and nephew love to go camping with their children and have them see historic places as well. Good education they say, and I have to agree.

But interesting enough my brother and his wife are going up and staying there for a while because of some legal business, not that he is having trouble but he’s decided to make sure the Homestead on his property is up to date and he is having the land re surveyed to make sure the property lines are still correct.

Then he informed me that he was going in to buy the timber, mineral and water rights as well as any other rights to his land where the family cabin is located plus making sure that the right of way is correct. He told me that the rights were still available, but many people do not realize that when they buy property they forget all these other property rights and the homestead option to protect their holdings.

Especially if you are buying land in the country, by having the homestead and all these rights, no one can get the land out from under you, if nothing else they will be forced by law to pay fair market value, and they will have to pay you for the rights or to lease the rights from you. I don’t know all the ins and outs of this but to you my Dear Diva’s and Diva’s in training one other person to add to your people to assist you is a real estate lawyer or property lawyer.

Never assume that your property is going to be safe, not with the government trying to condemn the land right out from under you and then giving them over to private developers.

Always Darlings protect what is yours, never surrender it without a good fight and then make sure they pay dearly for it.

Hetty Greene, whom some people referred to as “the witch of Wall Street” was a very sharp investor, her policy was buy cheap and sell dear, invest in something that there will be a demand for. The thing of it is, what is it that they will want, that is the trick.

Personally I’ve been looking at food products and products that people will always need, a child will always love to eat Mac and Cheese, so who makes a good product that sells well? Then find out who owns it, and then find out who is the ‘parent company’, that would be the best one to invest in for the long term. Other products as well such as toilet paper, Supermarkets, commodities. But go in for the long run, the sustainable run, not a quick profit.

Gold besides being used for jewelry is used in electronics, dentistry, and other applications, that will always go up. But I also invest in Silver as well.

And how are all you Diva Darlings doing?

I hope you are all doing well. Especially with all the sticker shock that is going around.

My “Business Ladies Who Lunch” and I had a gathering this last week and had been talking about the economy.

We do agree that part of the problem is the cap on oil production with demand increasing especially in China and India. As well as the useless and dangerous concept of using Corn for a Bio-Diesel fuel.

As one of my Ladies said “We can’t all convert to Bio-diesel or buy a Hybrid or Electric Car. Our current budgets simply don’t allow such purchases and there are places we want to go where such resources of that type of fuel, or plug in’s are not available. So we are stuck with gasoline/oil.”

Another said that the use of Corn, a staple of most food products, is financially dangerous, “We should look into other products such as sugar cane, or a form of sedge grass that seems to work well, even soy---something that grows fast, is quickly renewable and is not the foundation of the food economy, even reusing cooking oil from our homes or restaurants, didn’t they do something like that during World War II (yes they did as an oil/glycerin substitute). Looking into what Brazil is doing is important.”

I have to agree but for many people who have cars that run on gasoline, if they do not have a vehicle that runs on diesel such a conversion is not possible, the only thing is to hope for that more people will buy diesel engines, run on bio-diesel and in turn lower the cost of gasoline because the demand will be less.

And currently the investment return on Hybrids would be a long time in coming.

Another of my ladies said that Bamboo is an excellent wood crop for floors, plywood, furniture, and even paper products, etc., it’s fast growing, strong, and quickly renewable

“Cissy” mentioned that she re-discovered her LP collection when she was given as a gift a combination record-player with Radio, CD player and Tape player recorder. She loves it because it looks so old-fashioned.

She began to look over her unused Long Play 33 1/3 speed vinyl records, especially the classics, so carefully cleaning her records she began to play them and tape some of her favorites so she could play them over and over again without wearing out the records, and she tapes some of her favorite songs off the radio. Granted she has to put up with a brief bit of commercials but it’s worth it and again a saving instead of buying the entire CD she gets the music she wants---“later on” she said “I’ll buy the best of ‘so and so’ but I’ll save up my cans and plastic for that.”

Other suggestions were ~~~~

Plans your meals in advance, see what you already have in your pantry and then only shop with a grocery list; avoid impulse buying at the Supermarket or anywhere. Make a check list of your pantry so you’ll know what you have and what you’ve run out of, and only buy store brands if possible and be sure to use coupons.

If you simply have the urge to shop then go to Garage or Yard Sales, but also go with a list, only get what you need. Another suggested Holding a Yard sale at least twice a year, “cleans out the closet and you make money, then what is left over I list and donate and get a tax write off.”

The concept of cans and plastic for money was also brought up---Crush them (cans) so you can store more, but be sure to spray for ants and such, they get attracted to the sugar.
One of the ladies said that she was sure if she saved the money from turning in the cans and plastic she could save up for a nice vacation.

Another said that when she bicycles she carries several bags with her to collect the cans she finds (wear gloves as well). She also is fairly close to her grocery store, so she bicycles there, she found a place that sells second hand sports items and she found what she calls a tag-a-long, mostly people put their kids into them, but she found that it works well to carry her groceries, especially that she uses the recyclable cloth bags from the store. It works very well but put a flag on it so people in cars can see it since it rides low and follow all the vehicle laws, don’t just blast through a stop sign and stay to the far right of the road.

She saw someone who didn’t follow the rules, run a stop sign and got hit by a car, she told the police that the bicyclist was in the wrong, which ticked the bicyclist off, but as she said---he broke the law.

Several of the ladies said that the idea of Ipods and other portable electronic equipment are “…just useless” with the exception of the cell phone, “… there are times when you have to be in touch with the office and your clients…or if the car breaks down….emergencies…..if you can write if off as a business expense that would be good, check with your tax person…it’s stupid to use that at your main means of communication with friends to just ‘chat’ that’s what e-mail and land line phones are for…..I still need my lap top for my job but to write that off in taxes would be good.”….this was all the round-robin talk on electronics.

But one of the ladies mentioned a news article that appeared in the May 25, 2008 issue of the Los Angeles Times that said that the old services that most people had abandoned are coming back, railroads, Steel Companies, mining concerns, and agriculture, what is old is now new again.

All the tech. industry has offered things that occupy our minds and entertain us but it seems that in the long run people are now running back to that which you can hold, whether its cotton, cooking oil, or metals like copper or steel or fertilizer for food crops. In comparing U.S. Steel to Microsoft, Microsoft has flat-lined while Steel has shot up 1,000% in recent years.

Now I had told the ladies several years ago just after the dot coms had deflated that in time the old-fashioned tried and true will become the new wave of the future, I had been saying one needs to look to what is China demanding, what China demands is the wave of investments of the future.

I kept my U.S. Steel stock because it was given to me by my grandfather and I held it out of sentiment and just allowed it to grow and do what it does, granted it’s fortunes have been up and down and when it was down is when I bought more stock, and just let the funds come in.

Yes there are towns in the mid-west that are dying, but they can be re-vitalized with the new demands in solid tangibles, mad cow disease be damned. Although it could be at the expense of the coastal areas, unless one invests in shipping or Ports, the U.S. can increase its export potential.

The only problem is that job growth in these sectors is slow and in some areas jobs have been lost. The ladies believe that it’s because of improved ways of farming that use less labor.

But it’s much more---If any of you can, do read this article from the May 25, 2008 Los Angeles Times it is written by Peter G. Gosselin, and he’s right---one just needs to look at the raw materials demands of China, India and Brazil which the U.S. is rich in.

That may be the wave of the future and a possible bull market for 20 to 40 years, even if the U.S. dollar maybe slow to bounce back.

In the meantime, the ladies and I are still looking for ways to budget and cut back, another thought is overextended consumerism.

One of the ladies is going to try for a year to only buy food, medicine, hygiene products, just pay bills, insurances, purchase only what is needed for the upkeep of her car, and see about getting for free her magazines, books, DVD’s and CD’s at the Library and avoid buying clothes. Of course she does need to maintain her hair cut, and she will get her shoes re-heeled and such. But she’s going to try to put some of our suggestions into action and see what happens.

As a matter of fact all of us are going to try to do the same, it will be interesting to see how much we can save.

But in the meantime I’ll also be packing and selecting my clothes for my little vacation, it will be nice to be out under the stars and enjoying peace and quiet.

Until Annon Darlings, Kisses.

Updates on investing and my life~~~~

Hello my Diva Darlings,

I have not been posting of late do to medical problems, well to put it bluntly I've developed Congestive Heart Failure, I'm on pills and medications and there is the possibility that I will have to have a pacemaker implanted.

Everything is an effort right now, doing something as simple as reading is tiring.

Fortunately my home is set up so if I become invalided I can still move around and be some what independent, right now if I want to go shopping I have to be in a wheel chair. How frustrating!

Fortunately my family and friends including my dear Juanita have been taking good care of me. So I've managed to keep up with things.

On investing----I've gone conservative on my investments of late (before heart problems) and have been looking into Utilities instead of high flying things, when one reaches the senior years going for conservative will bring in the steady income.

I still do my "Mac and Cheese" investing as well on food stuffs and baby items, who would have thought "Pampers" would be such a good idea...I did.

There is talk that Colorado may follow the way of Utah in having gold and silver as the real commodity of exchange, there is a bill being looked at right now. Several States are already reconsidering re-jecting "fiat" money and going with a dollar that is backed by real gold, real silver.

I'm not saying that investing in gold and silver is the way to go, although silver is a good investment, but gold is very high right now. But this is a trend that is building ground.

But my Diva's don't sell your gold jewelry or anything like that, and never get anything less that 14 kt, if it's 10 kt that's costume jewelry in my book and look for the bargains you'll find it.  Check my earlier posts on jewelry investing.

Now I must go, I tire to easily right now my Darlings, remember always take good care of your health.

Until Anon, Kisses

Catching up~~~and Group Investing~~~

Hello My Darling Divas,

Busy, Busy, Busy is my only excuse, repair and remodeling on my home, working with my brothers on updating our financial portfolio's.

The tensions in Greece, Spain and Europe in general had us looking at our investments, and we've all made changes. No loss but no profit either, but that is at this time is what it should be.

Face book has proven to be a very poor investment choice and we were glad we did not take the plunge.

I've always been a "Mac and Cheese" investor, and now am looking more seriously at what people will need for children and for the elderly---one cannot get away from diapers, that is a given.

So I've been carefully shifting my portfolio. If anyone of you have been reading my earlier posts I've always recommended that it's wise to review it at least every 6 months and depending upon where you are age-wise.

And I have been taking my own advice. Part of it is to also always look at what people will always need. Again a type of "Mac and Cheese" investing.

I feel from what we've been seeing that the stock market is going to stall a bit, the Europe crisis is having people take a very hard look at things.

There is a oldish type of social gathering that ladies have been doing for a while and if you Divas have not been doing it then you should consider it.

An investment club---a group of people, mostly ladies, study the stock market and then pool their disposable money into investments---now this has to be a group decision based upon research. A book was written about this and once I find the title I will re-edit this post with it. Alright I've found out the name it was the "Beardstown Ladies Investment Group" both famous and infamous.

The reason that I say infamous is that they touted that they made more than the stock market SP. Which upon investigation proved to be incorrect. But this is what I'm trying to say....

Now some people think that is passe---but really it is a good social interaction and my late husband's partners re-marked to me the other day that they have seen a minor resurgence in this...they feel that woman are re-thinking and want to gain control again over their lives. One of the partners was asked to speak at one of these ladies weekend luncheons, he stressed in his talk that it is best to get educated as much as possible about how the stock market works, especially since it is so global for the 21st century.

He remarked to me how incisive and very deep thinking the ladies were with their questions, taking into account none of them had ever invested in the stock market before. He cautioned them about the type of schemes as done by Madloff.

My "Ladies who Lunch" and I have done this as well and still do it, although with changes in their individual lives we have had a few rotate off and new one's come on, each bringing their own outlook, but we've done well.

This is in addition to my own personal investments.

Now your choices may not do as well if you were with an investment firm but some people gamble playing the slots, poker, the horses. In that type of gambling, you'll lose your money and lose it quickly.

But what my late husband ex-partner remarked is that with careful monitoring, one does not have to lose all their money and can still salvage something. But it is something that if one is going to invest in should be for a long term investment not a quick turn over, and they should get together at least once a week, plus, with the use of the cell phone or smart phone each person in the club can stay in touch and can vote far more quickly than at standard meeting if something should suddenly come up.

So my Dear Divas, you might want to consider this as a social investment gathering with some profit in mind---so much better than going to a club for Mojito's and Chips.

On my repairs and remodeling---My dressing rooms are all done, painted, polished, new fixtures and beautiful, next is slowly putting in the clothes and while doing that weeding out things as well.

Juanita wants to buy a Sewing Machine, a good dependable Singer she says and she has one in mind, nothing too big, for her room. Her Grand Daughter who has a sewing business on the side is doing very well, especially with Prom Dresses, I asked Juanita if she is going into partnership with her Grand Daughter and she said no, but she'd like to have a machine to do repairs on her clothes and mine. And I thought that was a perfect idea, so we are going to leave in a few minutes and go Sewing Machine shopping.

And that Dear Divas is another good investment.

Until Anon, Kisses Darlings

Updates briefly~~~

Hello All my Diva Darlings,

Forgive me if I haven't been posting of late, so much to do, so little time to do it in. >p>I will be posting in the near future about my friend Ralph, I've had a few inquires about him, suffice to say he is now doing well and has a new apartment. But I'll go into that later.

Also the loss of Donna Summer has upset me, it seems another part of my life is gone. I will post a comment on her later. Just so sad, but a magnificent lady.

I have been getting inquiries about the stock options on "Facebook"---My Darlings, although it might be a good investment on the surface, I feel it will not be a sustatining one. My impression is that people will go in while the prices are affordable, and then allow it to build up to a point where when they sense another, better social network comes out, they will sell.

Remember I strongly believe in "Mac and Cheese" investing something that is not volitale and will stay for the long run, dispite its up's and down's. My ATT stock is a prime example, they have to be creative to stay for the long term. And I was in on the ground floor with Apple, because I felt it had "legs", but something as insubstantial as "facebook" ---well Darlings, I will pass. Some people may feel it's a mistake but I'll have no regrets.

Now I must run, I have a few errans to do and then this evening I and my friend Betty will have some fun at the Vintage Fashion Show.

Until Anon, Kisses Darlings

Politics and Money

Hello Dahlings!!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas Holiday.

Currently I am blogging from my brother's computer system. I am staying at his place with his dear wife, Lois until Friday.

Today we are going to the SPA and treat ourselves to being pampered. Lois has chosen the place and I haven't a clue where it is. I love things like that.

Another thing is I'm going to invest in a laptop computer, my brother has strongly suggested that it would be a good thing, because when I travel I can link in through a hotels' wi-fi when I want to know about investments. And frankly I have to agree with his assessment.

I had been holding off because I don't buy one day and sell the next I select stocks and funds for the long haul. But it can tell me which way "the wind is blowing".

I have been doing this since I knew how to do math when I was child and I can thank my parents for that and my brothers and late husband.

I've had several of my blog friends ask me if I have an "office". Well yes and no.

You see I use to go to my husbands and his business partners office, and he'd have a desk and phone for me to use (so much has changed since those early days)and I would invest only my own independent funds.

Upon his death, I made a deal with his business partners, that I could have a small office (with windows thank you) and continue to do my investing. But I also maintain an office at home as well, Wallace my friend, joined my husband's firm after my husband's death and we've continued this business relationship.

It works out well, because sometimes they will come to me for my opinion on things, which I can talk to them more freely than I can here on this blog (there are laws about that you know), but please be aware that when I talk to them I don't "darling" them at all. I talk to them as an equal and they know it. (please see my earlier posts).

The other day there was concerned about North Korea and Iran, especially around transportation of oil through one of the main water ways. There were private rumbles about that.

And if you have recently read the news Iran is threatening to block the strait that many oil cargo ships use, even though the strait is international waters.

Saudi Arabia to keep the peace and good relationships with us and Europe has done and end run which has lowered the cost of oil, but transporting it may raise the price.

We are concerned about all this "saber rattling", is this going to be another war?

Frankly my dears, if my husband were alive he'd say bomb Iran back to the stone age, and take out all the nuclear reactors. If I wasn't so concerned about repercussions I'd say the same thing, it can get very frustrating.

Now North Korea---we are dealing with an unknown quantity, personally don't be surprised if Kim's son eventually disappears from the scene, or he is used as a figure head.

But getting back to my "office" I am much like that gentleman who is 106 years old and goes to his office everyday, he has retired from the company but he keeps his office as a private investor, and he stays up with the technology. I just adore him. BUT I am not 106 years old.

Now I must go, Lois is ready and we are going for lunch first.

So what is this post all about Darlings? Remember you are the CEO of your life, what happens politically and economically, both local, state, nation and internationally, affects you. You cannot change things, but be prepared for them to "weather the fall out" so to speak.

That is why the media, newspapers, radio, television, Internet, magazines are so important to making careful judgements. Always be "the ant" not "the grasshopper" if you remember Aesop's fable.

Untill Anon, Kisses Darlings.

Diamonds, Taylor & Christmas

Well Darlings I am amazed!

Darling Elizabeth Taylor’s fantastic Jewelry and other items went for nearly $150 million dollars!!!

Christie’s estimated some of her pieces at 1 million or so and they went nearly 10 times as much.

Scripts estimated at 2 or 3 thousand dollars went for over a hundred thousand!

And all to her AIDS foundation. Such a worthy charity. The lady knew how to live and she knew how to plan her final kickoff even being late to her own funeral.

One of the last of the True Diva’s of the world, there is no one else like her and there never will be.

I’ve managed to save her White Diamonds commercials, well I have a friend who knows someone and they made copies for me, next will be the J’adore commercial where they show Grace Kelly and Sweet Marilyn along with Charlene Therzon, wonderful splicing.

All these young actresses only borrow their jewels for the big events; they don’t OWN them and choosing one to make their own statement. They make enough money, and with a bit of shrewd understanding of the value they can have it as an investment.

Mae West bought and was given diamonds all her life, and she even sold some to finance several of her plays such as “Sex”, “The Constant Sinner” and most importantly “Diamond Lil”.

From that investment she was able to “bankroll” the incomes into buying land, beach front property, and even the apartment building that she lived in.

Darlings do you see what I’m getting at? Tiffany, Cartier, Bulgari, Winston are all good investments as well as personal adornment. Just don’t brag about it, let them guess but you feel good wearing the real thing, it’s like knowing that you’re wearing a simple but well-made business outfit, but wearing sexy lingerie underneath.

I invested in the Christie’s auction catalogue for the Taylor auction, it was not cheap, but I’ve also bought her book “My Love Affair with Jewelry”.

Hmmm it’s no wonder Mae West said “Diamonds are my career.” She is so right.

It reminds me of that song from the James Bond movie “Diamonds are Forever.”

Diamonds are forever,
They are all I need to please me,
They can stimulate and tease me,
They won't leave in the night,
I've no fear that they might desert me.
Diamonds are forever,
Hold one up and then caress it,
Touch it, stroke it and undress it,
I can see every part,
Nothing hides in the heart to hurt me.

I don't need love,
For what good will love do me?
Diamonds never lie to me,
For when love's gone,
They'll luster on.

Diamonds are forever,
Sparkling round my little finger.
Unlike men, the diamonds linger;
Men are mere mortals who
Are not worth going to your grave for.

I don't need love,
For what good will love do me?
Diamonds never lie to me,
For when love's gone,
They'll luster on.

Diamonds are forever, forever, forever.
Diamonds are forever, forever, forever.
Forever and ever.

(written by John Berry/Don Black)

But that is not to say that relationships are not important, they are and to always have good friends, wonderful family and a wonderful relationship with people that you know and work with is always important. For those are the most precious diamonds of all.

And now my Diva Darlings, tonight I’m going to take a wonderful bubble bath and relax, the holidays are not over yet. Because I will be plunging into the holiday crowd and look for goodies for myself. I’ve already bought things for others, Juanita and I had fun finding toys for her grandchildren, my “adopted grandchildren” and I had fund finding things for my great nieces and nephews, and thank goodness their parents were able to tell me what they needed and desired and what they had already got for them, in some cases all I needed was to get accessories for them.

Tom and the family and I will be going to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, I’ll be spending the Christmas Holidays with them as usual and Juanita will be with her family. Ralph informed me last night that his new landlord, very apologetically informed Ralph that the painters would be available to paint Ralph’s apartment just before Christmas, and Ralph is worried that the paint smell would give him headaches, so I invited him over to house sit for me, since I and Juanita will not be home, I told him to be sure to turn on the outside lights and make like someone is living in the house.

Ralph leaped at the chance, all he has right now is a cheap bureau and a bed frame with mattress and box spring and just one set of bedding, he hasn’t even thought of getting anything else because of the Christmas crowds, so right now he is going to pack all his clothes, store the bedding, cover the bed and the bureau with painter’s plastic and let them go to it, the landlord said that if Ralph wanted to he could remove the old carpeting after all the painting is done, especially since he found beautiful hardwood flooring underneath. I’ll have to do a separate post about Ralphs’ find of an apartment. Just a precious jewel.

So Darlings all of you have a wonderful Christmas Holiday, Be Merry and Bright and be Safe.

Until Anon, Kisses.

Investing, gardening and Staycations

Hello All you Darling Divas,

I know I haven’t been blogging for some time; I have to confess I’ve been busy, busy, busy.

The rains have done “a number” on my garden so I’ve been working on getting it up to par, thanks to Juanita's son-in-law Manuel, I'm so glad that he's willing to take on some side jobs besides his regular work.

I'm happy to say that Juanita and her family are doing well, Constance and Manuel have such a nice large back yard that they are planting vegetables and several fruit trees and are getting into the food canning and preserving. Manuel knows some small holding farmers and he is even able to buy fruits and veggies that he is not growing. Constance told me that there is something very special in having a vegetable garden, a sense of time and purpose, something she really can't put into words but I know what she means.

Of late both Juanita and I have gotten into going to the Farmers' Market for much of our groceries and the variety and freshness is so wonderful, and it's so easy to over buy, so now in the garage Juanita has started a pantry of preserved foods.


Princess my little Diva Darling had a serious tummy ache a few weeks ago, seems she swallowed something she shouldn’t have, well as all you dog lovers know having your beloved pet going in for surgery is always a worry, but I’m happy to say she is just fine and her fur is growing out after surgery, we'll have to be more watchful from now on.

This brings me to the question of pet insurance. Should one pay for pet insurance especially in today’s economy? Only if you can budget for having a pet, otherwise I suggest that you not own a pet beyond a goldfish, although goldfish are not exactly huggable, in the right aquarium they can have a wonderful calming effect after a stressful day, far better than Valium.

But if you are considering owning a dog or a cat, I first would have to say you need to look at your life style, many Divas’ work 12 to 15 hour days at this time, or they love to travel or go out partying when they can afford to, or they are caregivers, or they maybe facing layoffs or budget crunches.

If you are in that category then do not get a pet, stay with gold fish.

But if you are more stay at home, love to jog, have a solid job with nearly normal hours and can give the attention that a pet needs, then a pet companion is worthwhile, and pet insurance is also a good investment, but you have to make sure that the insurance covers a lot of things, remember if you buy cheap you will get cheap and not have what you need covered.

Much of the vet visits are check ups, shots or the fox tail embedded in the skin or ear, the latter can cost you $400 if you are going after hours. Also find out what kind of pet insurance your vet takes or recommends, that can save you much worry.

It is a wise Diva who is thinking of being a pet owner to consider those things.

Now about finances: The state of the Union with its debt is not good, unless changes are made, and if they can raise their debt ceiling it still will not put us in good shape.

I recommend reading Thomas G. Donlan’s editorial in the June 20, 2011 Barron’s magazine, page 51, it is worth the read.

Unless the U.S. can bring back jobs to the U.S., increase it’s export of goods, get businesses back in American hands, stop giving money to countries that do not pay us back, become a credit nation as oppose to a nation in debt to others, then the U.S. will cease to exist as a great nation and be under the thumb of foreign interests which it already is.

And even owning gold will not help, unless we give up fiat money. We are paying more than the value owed, so it’s not real.

I Recently read in Fortune Magazine June 13, 2011 the article about Robert (Bob) Rodriguez (page 136) he predicted the last two market crashes when most other investors just poo-pooed his prediction and they were caught flat-footed, and he’s predicting another one---currently he’s refusing to invest in a bond market that is being distorted by government interference and he’s sticking with this approach, frankly I’m with him on this. READ THIS ARTICLE IN FORTUNE!

Currently his fund FPA Capital is closed to new investors but there are three others that have his approach such as risk aversion, emphasis on cash flow or a focused portfolio---they are The Jensen Portfolio, Yacktman Focused Fund and Sequoia Fund. I’m inclined to go with Sequoia Fund myself but all three are excellent.

More than ever people are looking at what they can truly afford; they are cutting back on useless things and taking a hard look at what they really need.

And Divas should do the same, you don’t need 10 pairs of Jimmy Choo’s shoes, shoes can have style and be sensible as well. Just the other day I ran into an acquaintance of mine and she had on the most stylish but sensible heeled shoes I’ve seen, I asked her where did she find such lovely things and she said that she found them at Nordstrom’s and on sale, they can go from Summer to Winter and back again, perfect for work meetings as well as going out.

The dear sweet young thing said to me “I’m going back to the ‘three basic black skirts’ concept” and it works! So what are the three basic black skirts? Three skirts of three different lengths, above the knee (but only if you have great looking knees and thighs), just below the knee, and ankle length, each one fills a perfect need, the ankle length is excellent for formal affairs, the below the knee is excellent for work and informal occasions, above the knee is fine for going out and having fun---but again that length only works if you are a certain young age.

She was surprised to find out in “The Week” magazine June 24, 2011, that back in 1930 women owned on an average just 9 outfits, now in 2011 the average woman has at least 60 pieces of clothing, and this is not including underwear, nylons, shoes, purses and for some—hats.

I know of one young man who is putting together a basic working wardrobe for young men or Divos (male divas) he said that as soon as he has it figured out he will let me know to post on my blog since he follows it as well.

Getting back to finances I still recommend following the investing articles in all the previous money magazines that I’ve suggested and I still recommend investing in commodities that withstand the test of time and economic fluctuations and companies that build support products for computers, such as printers, software, etc, but with electronics you have to be constantly on the watch for any sudden changes. Continue to avoid the dot.coms start ups as much as possible, a company such as Apple only comes along once in a generation.

Currently IBM (International Business Machines) is holding up very well, so if you want to invest is something like IBM or Apple, research it carefully, see if it has "legs" and is not "Pie-in-the-sky". I was very lucky, my Grandfather saw the solidness of IBM many years ago and in time I inherited a portion of his stock, which I built upon, and I did take "a flyer" on Apple many years ago because I felt it had "legs" but it is a bit scary when a stock on a company goes up and down based on the health of it's CEO. IBM doesn't do that, again I suggest look into companies to invest in that will hold out for the long haul, it may have a slow growth rate but you want it to be able to withstand the fluctuations of the economy.

On electronic equipment---Do I suggest going out and getting the latest ipad or ipod? No---what I do suggest is looking at what you really need to keep up with your job, what will work best.

Although I do have a cell phone I do not go in for all those apps, I feel they are a waste of money, unless you take public transportation, that application can come in handy, especially if time is of the essence and the calculator.

I still keep my hard wire land line only because the voice quality is so good, I’m not big on skyp, again I find the voice quality poor, but hard wire comes in handy when you are doing an order over the phone or you need to talk to someone about something and it’s going to take a long time to talk about whatever you need to discuss.

One thing I’ve been very discussed with is the phones that are hardwired to the wall but then you pick up the phone and can roam over the house with it, what one forgets is that the batteries in those phones die, so I prefer to have the head/hand set hard wired to the phone base, nothing dies although it’s difficult to roam all over the house but that doesn’t count when one is conducting business.

Alright enough of that----So vacations are becoming staycations, and gaining a certain amount of interest. Of course Mommy misses out on not having to cook or clean, but staycations can include that if everyone else pitches in on the cooking and cleaning and making mommies work easier, especially during the Summer.

Riding the bus, going to a park, camping in the back yard, visiting the local museum or Zoo, many people are amazed as to what is close to home that are either free or low cost---of course some young people need to go to that huge amusement park, but this is when the entire family should save up for it, save those pennies, nickels and dimes, recycle those cans and plastic bottles and see what one can get, have a yard sale or two, with a big event as the goal, with everyone joining in and working together towards the same goal it makes it more memorable.

Now that is for the family, but my dear Divas you can do it as well. Select the local spot that you are just wishing to spend a night or two at and be spoiled, by doing those savings, that is what makes it so much more splendiferous.

And for Moi? Well once again my brother and sister-in-law have invited me to their Ponderosa cabin in the mountains, I’ll get to see what improvements and special touches has been made on their home away from home, as I understand it some progress has been made but with the snows it had been a bit slow, but they are making up for lost time. Either way it will be nice to have a little get a way and do a bit of catch up with the family.

Until Anon my Darling Divas. Kisses.

At my brother's cabin and a future investment idea~~~

Hello Darlings,

I am 'blogging' from my brother's cabin up here in the wilds (sorry Darlings for the sake of my brother's privacy I can't tell you exactly where).

My brother always needs to be in touch with his business even when he's on vacation, although he knows the business runs almost on it's own, he's set it up so well.

We're right on the lake, and there is a stream that runs near the cabin that you can hear it, but this drought is very bad, the lake is so low that my brother had to run his boat out onto a floating raft and we can walk through the low water to it. Where the raft is the edge of the lake drops down deeply, but still one can see the effects of the drought

Lois my sister in law, has planted native plants that deal with this type of weather very well.

They've done a marvelous job of re-decorating the cabin with their finds from the White Elephant sale. The lovely cowboy painting over the fireplace gives it a perfect finishing touch.

It's so relaxing up here, even Princess is enjoying it although it is warm, I had her fur trimmed down just enough so she's not too wrapped up in her fur, and I've put down wet towels for her and she is in the shade, with lots of water. And a fan for her. I stay in the shade as well, I'm so fair skinned, that I would burn before any tan.

Juanita is on vacation as well visiting family all over, I have a bonded house sitter staying at the house while we are gone. Although Juanita has told the house sitter that she will be coming back from time to time to check on things. That's why I love her.

Although I love to go into the city to keep up with my investments, there is something just so decadent being up here. It gives my mind a chance to relax and percolate as well with ideas.

My "Business Ladies Who Lunch" e-mail me with ideas although they are also planning vacations as well.

I know, who can plan a vacation when gasoline is so high---well for one thing---let someone else do the driving. One lady I know has had for over 18 months reservations to stay at the Ahwanee Hotel in Yosemite, so she and her husband have taken the train and the bus shuttle to the lodge, they rent bicycles there or take the tram to the various spots. Now they were planning to drive to Yosemite originally, but when gas hit $4.00 a gallon they starting thinking, so a friend drove them to the station and they were off. When they get back they will call a taxi.

In the long run it will cheaper.

That's is one way----you, my Dear Diva's will have to put on the thinking caps---because there are other ways as well.

I have to admit I drove to my brother's but then I wanted my car to be available to go anywhere at anytime. But it is no trouble to ride a bicycle around here to go to the store or anything. My brother made sure that the bikes were heavy duty and have baskets to carry groceries, including insulated bags for ice cream---I'm going to pay for this at the gym, but maybe not, it's usually Lois and I cycling to the store together so maybe with that exercise I won't need to.

Today is the First Day of Summer---and we are seeing a number of people on the Lake, my brother always worries that someone will have an accident. That is why he has a red, yellow orange bouyes around the raft and boat, and a blinking beacon on at night. "People don't use proper caution or their eyes" he says.

My nieces and nephews have been here and gone on their trip.

But they will return in August.

My brother has been directing some cleaning team to make sure that all the dead fall and dried shrubs have been removed to avoid any fire hazards. A friend of his, who lives up here year round who is a member of the fire dept. showed my brother what he needs to do. Fortunately a lot of work was done last year, a ceramic roof, vents screened, pine needles swept away, some natural firebreaks created and a water pump system to wet the area should the unthinkable happen, now it's just maintaining it.

Lois said that should a fire start and we have to leave the one thing she's going to grab from the house is the painting. Everything else is replaceable she says but that painting is one of a kind.

As a matter of fact my brother and sister in law are planning to retire up here in a few years.

Lois told me that they will just sell off everything at their San Francisco home, all they need is their family pictures "Everything" she said " was bought both to use, admire and as an investment, we can sell it all, and give to the children anything they want. We accumulate so much, that as one gets older one has to see what is really important in life"

What she told me has given me an idea for a future blog which I'll address at another time.

But right now Darlings there is something I want to pass on to all of you.

My brother has been following this story, and even I had noticed it back in 2007.

There is a venture company called LS9 in the Silicon Valley area---just Google in LS9 and you'll find the stories---it seems that they are developing nano-bacteria that will turn garbage into oil, or as my brother calls it "they poop oil". The only draw back is to develop a refinery to create enough oil to meet the U.S.'s current needs would require an area the size of Chicago. However, there is no need to use trucks to transport this oil---it can travel through the current pipelines that we now have.

My brother is watching this development very carefully, right now LS9 is privately owned but with the right breakthroughs, it could become the future "Apple Corp" to invest in.

I have to agree, anything that is reasonable that can produce oil at $50 a barrel and is less hazardous is worth investing in especially if it can take our garbage and "Poop oil" and get us away from foreign oil. As 'Mean Kitty' told me when I told this to her---"anything to stick a stick in the Foreigner's eyes".

So Darlings, watch for the future investing in energy, there are companies out there, check the latest Forbes and Fortune magazines for suggestions. But energy development is going to be a new wave of investing.

And that is one to put your thinking caps on my Dears.

For now this Diva is going to enjoy a nice ice cold Lemonade drink and relax.

Until Annon Darlings, Kisses.

More Budget Ideas....

Hello again Darlings,

I am happy to say that I am making excellent although slow progress, last Sunday I was able to take my little Darling Diva Princess for a walk, granted it was only two blocks, but it was a start.

I am hoping that the weather will warm up mildly; I’ve had just enough of the chill and the wind for one winter.

The other evening I had a wonderful telephone conversation with my Brother Tom, he has invited me and Princess to join him and his wife up to his cabin in the mountains for a few weeks, the grand children will be up as soon as school lets out, they spend a few weeks up there, then off to see a fantastic place like Zion National Park, or historic places, then they come back and spend August with the grand parents. But part of their arrangement as encouraged by their parents is to write a two page essay about each of the places they saw and how it historically created our society. I was very surprised to hear what their parents are doing but they told me it was to help expand their education and awareness---of course they will go to Disneyland, that is their treat for keeping their grades up, poor grades no Disneyland. I think it’s a fair deal.

But even I have found it to be so restful out under the stars, which is why my niece and nephew love to go camping with their children and have them see historic places as well. Good education they say, and I have to agree.

But interesting enough my brother and his wife are going up and staying there for a while because of some legal business, not that he is having trouble but he’s decided to make sure the Homestead on his property is up to date and he is having the land re surveyed to make sure the property lines are still correct.

Then he informed me that he was going in to buy the timber, mineral and water rights as well as any other rights to his land where the family cabin is located plus making sure that the right of way is correct. He told me that the rights were still available, but many people do not realize that when they buy property they forget all these other property rights and the homestead option to protect their holdings.

Especially if you are buying land in the country, by having the homestead and all these rights, no one can get the land out from under you, if nothing else they will be forced by law to pay fair market value, and they will have to pay you for the rights or to lease the rights from you. I don’t know all the ins and outs of this but to you my Dear Diva’s and Diva’s in training one other person to add to your people to assist you is a real estate lawyer or property lawyer.

Never assume that your property is going to be safe, not with the government trying to condemn the land right out from under you and then giving them over to private developers.

Always Darlings protect what is yours, never surrender it without a good fight and then make sure they pay dearly for it.

Hetty Greene, whom some people referred to as “the witch of Wall Street” was a very sharp investor, her policy was buy cheap and sell dear, invest in something that there will be a demand for. The thing of it is, what is it that they will want, that is the trick.

Personally I’ve been looking at food products and products that people will always need, a child will always love to eat Mac and Cheese, so who makes a good product that sells well? Then find out who owns it, and then find out who is the ‘parent company’, that would be the best one to invest in for the long term. Other products as well such as toilet paper, Supermarkets, commodities. But go in for the long run, the sustainable run, not a quick profit.

Gold besides being used for jewelry is used in electronics, dentistry, and other applications, that will always go up. But I also invest in Silver as well.

And how are all you Diva Darlings doing?

I hope you are all doing well. Especially with all the sticker shock that is going around.

My “Business Ladies Who Lunch” and I had a gathering this last week and had been talking about the economy.

We do agree that part of the problem is the cap on oil production with demand increasing especially in China and India. As well as the useless and dangerous concept of using Corn for a Bio-Diesel fuel.

As one of my Ladies said “We can’t all convert to Bio-diesel or buy a Hybrid or Electric Car. Our current budgets simply don’t allow such purchases and there are places we want to go where such resources of that type of fuel, or plug in’s are not available. So we are stuck with gasoline/oil.”

Another said that the use of Corn, a staple of most food products, is financially dangerous, “We should look into other products such as sugar cane, or a form of sedge grass that seems to work well, even soy---something that grows fast, is quickly renewable and is not the foundation of the food economy, even reusing cooking oil from our homes or restaurants, didn’t they do something like that during World War II (yes they did as an oil/glycerin substitute). Looking into what Brazil is doing is important.”

I have to agree but for many people who have cars that run on gasoline, if they do not have a vehicle that runs on diesel such a conversion is not possible, the only thing is to hope for that more people will buy diesel engines, run on bio-diesel and in turn lower the cost of gasoline because the demand will be less.

And currently the investment return on Hybrids would be a long time in coming.

Another of my ladies said that Bamboo is an excellent wood crop for floors, plywood, furniture, and even paper products, etc., it’s fast growing, strong, and quickly renewable

“Cissy” mentioned that she re-discovered her LP collection when she was given as a gift a combination record-player with Radio, CD player and Tape player recorder. She loves it because it looks so old-fashioned.

She began to look over her unused Long Play 33 1/3 speed vinyl records, especially the classics, so carefully cleaning her records she began to play them and tape some of her favorites so she could play them over and over again without wearing out the records, and she tapes some of her favorite songs off the radio. Granted she has to put up with a brief bit of commercials but it’s worth it and again a saving instead of buying the entire CD she gets the music she wants---“later on” she said “I’ll buy the best of ‘so and so’ but I’ll save up my cans and plastic for that.”

Other suggestions were ~~~~

Plans your meals in advance, see what you already have in your pantry and then only shop with a grocery list; avoid impulse buying at the Supermarket or anywhere. Make a check list of your pantry so you’ll know what you have and what you’ve run out of, and only buy store brands if possible and be sure to use coupons.

If you simply have the urge to shop then go to Garage or Yard Sales, but also go with a list, only get what you need. Another suggested Holding a Yard sale at least twice a year, “cleans out the closet and you make money, then what is left over I list and donate and get a tax write off.”

The concept of cans and plastic for money was also brought up---Crush them (cans) so you can store more, but be sure to spray for ants and such, they get attracted to the sugar.
One of the ladies said that she was sure if she saved the money from turning in the cans and plastic she could save up for a nice vacation.

Another said that when she bicycles she carries several bags with her to collect the cans she finds (wear gloves as well). She also is fairly close to her grocery store, so she bicycles there, she found a place that sells second hand sports items and she found what she calls a tag-a-long, mostly people put their kids into them, but she found that it works well to carry her groceries, especially that she uses the recyclable cloth bags from the store. It works very well but put a flag on it so people in cars can see it since it rides low and follow all the vehicle laws, don’t just blast through a stop sign and stay to the far right of the road.

She saw someone who didn’t follow the rules, run a stop sign and got hit by a car, she told the police that the bicyclist was in the wrong, which ticked the bicyclist off, but as she said---he broke the law.

Several of the ladies said that the idea of Ipods and other portable electronic equipment are “…just useless” with the exception of the cell phone, “… there are times when you have to be in touch with the office and your clients…or if the car breaks down….emergencies…..if you can write if off as a business expense that would be good, check with your tax person…it’s stupid to use that at your main means of communication with friends to just ‘chat’ that’s what e-mail and land line phones are for…..I still need my lap top for my job but to write that off in taxes would be good.”….this was all the round-robin talk on electronics.

But one of the ladies mentioned a news article that appeared in the May 25, 2008 issue of the Los Angeles Times that said that the old services that most people had abandoned are coming back, railroads, Steel Companies, mining concerns, and agriculture, what is old is now new again.

All the tech. industry has offered things that occupy our minds and entertain us but it seems that in the long run people are now running back to that which you can hold, whether its cotton, cooking oil, or metals like copper or steel or fertilizer for food crops. In comparing U.S. Steel to Microsoft, Microsoft has flat-lined while Steel has shot up 1,000% in recent years.

Now I had told the ladies several years ago just after the dot coms had deflated that in time the old-fashioned tried and true will become the new wave of the future, I had been saying one needs to look to what is China demanding, what China demands is the wave of investments of the future.

I kept my U.S. Steel stock because it was given to me by my grandfather and I held it out of sentiment and just allowed it to grow and do what it does, granted it’s fortunes have been up and down and when it was down is when I bought more stock, and just let the funds come in.

Yes there are towns in the mid-west that are dying, but they can be re-vitalized with the new demands in solid tangibles, mad cow disease be damned. Although it could be at the expense of the coastal areas, unless one invests in shipping or Ports, the U.S. can increase its export potential.

The only problem is that job growth in these sectors is slow and in some areas jobs have been lost. The ladies believe that it’s because of improved ways of farming that use less labor.

But it’s much more---If any of you can, do read this article from the May 25, 2008 Los Angeles Times it is written by Peter G. Gosselin, and he’s right---one just needs to look at the raw materials demands of China, India and Brazil which the U.S. is rich in.

That may be the wave of the future and a possible bull market for 20 to 40 years, even if the U.S. dollar maybe slow to bounce back.

In the meantime, the ladies and I are still looking for ways to budget and cut back, another thought is overextended consumerism.

One of the ladies is going to try for a year to only buy food, medicine, hygiene products, just pay bills, insurances, purchase only what is needed for the upkeep of her car, and see about getting for free her magazines, books, DVD’s and CD’s at the Library and avoid buying clothes. Of course she does need to maintain her hair cut, and she will get her shoes re-heeled and such. But she’s going to try to put some of our suggestions into action and see what happens.

As a matter of fact all of us are going to try to do the same, it will be interesting to see how much we can save.

But in the meantime I’ll also be packing and selecting my clothes for my little vacation, it will be nice to be out under the stars and enjoying peace and quiet.

Until Annon Darlings, Kisses.

Have Been Busy---White Elephant Sales and all~~~

Well Darlings,

You are just going to have to forgive me for not posting for so long, but I have been very busy.

First of course, were the taxes and fortunately they were exactly as I had expected. My tax preparer is always so happy that I keep excellent records; well it does help to work with him throughout the year, especially if one has any questions. When I was with my friend Michelle in Reno, I did have some substantial winnings, but they will be for the 2008 taxes.

Then the garden, while we had some good weather I had my gardener work on the garden to make sure that I would have blooming flowers all year round and right now the plum and cherry trees are in magnificent full bloom, but it does aggravate one’s allergies, but I’m a bit fortunate in that regard, just some sneezing and sniffles and it’s worth it to see all that beauty.

I hired Manuel, Juanita’s son-in-law to work on the platform dock that I have to make sure that it is solid and to upgrade it so that when the weather is fine one can have coffee or cocktails without it sinking into the water. He did a wonderful job, and I was surprised to discover that he is such a fine craftsman with wood furniture, an artist really; I’m going to recommend him to a number of my friends who are doing some remodeling in their homes.

And I’m still decorating my home, well Darlings it never stops. I had a spare bedroom that I had not furnished yet, I wanted to continue my art deco/art moderne theme, but it was finding the right bedroom set. Now my house has 3 bedrooms, mine, and one that I converted for Juanita’s use and one spare bedroom but it wasn’t ready when Michelle stayed a couple of nights earlier this year.

But finally I found it and could get a nice tax write-off, The Oakland Museum White Elephant Sale, my brother Tom and his wife, Lois and I never miss it and this year we were prepared as always, Tom’s two sons and their wives were also coming with us and we had their trucks with rented trailers attached for our haul.

I asked Juanita if she wanted to come with us and she did. It was there that I found it, the perfect bedroom set, it had that wonderful round vanity mirror with the vanity and matching chair, two night stands, a dresser, double bed and an armoire with a mounted mirror. And a bonus, I also found the perfect table that would go with my Bogart Lux Dinning chairs; I just could not believe my luck with all of that.

My brother found some furniture to go into his cabin to replace some odd pieces that were there and that would match the décor a bit better and Lois, the girls and I found some jewelry we couldn’t live without (I know it sounds so, well you know, but it was fun). I also found a statue in the art deco style, my sister-in-law Lois came across a painting of an old western town street scene and we agreed that it was perfect for the cabin, Tom and the boys fell in love with it.

Juanita was also very lucky, she found the perfect chaise lounge chair and reading lamp that she had been looking for her room, just right to rest in with one’s feet elevated to read or watch T.V. and also a good sturdy table for her T.V. and DVD player.

So with all the loading and unloading we were delightfully tired, but it didn’t end for Tom and his boys, they all were going up to the cabin at Donner Lake to take the furniture and to check on the Cabin for needed repairs. So after a late lunch off they went while Juanita and I dusted and polished our hard won prizes.

But poor little Princess was feeling a bit neglected so I moved her little bed into the spare bedroom while I polished and cleaned everything to my satisfaction and she had the fun of trying to curl up in my lap as I sat on the floor cleaning every single bit of carving on the furniture. She even fell asleep. Juanita came in and laughed at the fact that I dared not move with my little darling sleeping in my lap, but move I must much to the little darlings’ complaints.

Juanita was very proud of her finds and they fitted into her room just perfectly.

Just when we took a break to have a bit of coffee the door bell rang and it was my sweet darling Kenneth, asking if he could treat me to dinner and an auction preview and I said only if I could go casual.

Then I took a look at Kenneth’s shirt and it was the exact type that Charlie Sheen wears on “Two and a Half Men” (well I do like the humor in that show), so with my (dare I say it) jeans, flannel shirt, tennis shoes and my hair it a cherry print scarf, and his Dockers and Charlie Sheen bowling shirt if that is not casual, then we don’t know what is, so off we went. But I had to sneak Princess with me; she had been neglected enough for one day.

Juanita was fine as her daughter called and she and Manuel were coming to pick her up to go to a relatives house for dinner, so freshening up my face, bundling Princess in her carryall off we went and had fun at the auction preview and made plans to come back the next day for the auction itself.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend, Tom and his family arrived at their cabin just fine without any problems and would be staying there for the week I had asked my friend ‘Mean Kitty’ if she had wanted to go with us to the White Elephant Sale but she had to work that day and hoped she would be lucky on Sunday.

I got lucky at the Auction as well and was able to purchase some jewelry at below their value. And here is where there is another lesson for all you Darling Diva’s.

Jewelry is also a good investment, no matter what, the value of gold and silver is always going up, so are gems, there is only a finite amount to go around, the only one that can be manufactured is pearls and to a certain extent coral, but if the seas or waters are not the right temperature then even pearls will not be available.

There are two prices to look at in terms of jewelry, their cash value (that is the amount of gold or other precious metals or gems) and their design value (that is the design if it is unique and by a well know company or designer) the second can be more valuable than the first.

I have a friend of mine and she will buy what she calls “casual jewelry” at Mervyns or T.J. Max, and sometimes at Macy’s on sale---what she does is takes photo’s of the pieces, puts them in a catalogue binder, tapes the purchase price and what was the original price next to each picture of each piece, this way when she plans to sell them she’ll know what to ask for it. And she has always made a profit.

But this is also true with your good pieces as well, always keep the receipt for the purchase price on file, and then after 5 years get an updated appraisal on it as well.

And all you Diva’s out there who get engaged, remember this---there are several rules about the engagement ring, one of which is traditional, if you break off the engagement you are suppose to give the engagement ring back, if he breaks off the engagement you can keep the ring because it is also a gift or promise to be married.

The only time I would absolutely give the ring back even if it is he who breaks the engagement off, is if the ring is a family heirloom from his family, even if you are the one who breaks the engagement off and the ring is a family heirloom return it, since it would not have any sentimental value to you, by giving the ring back (since it’s an heirloom) you would be looked upon as being an honorable person. If you keep it then be prepared to be sued in court for the ring or its value. A true Diva does not wish to have the head ache of going to court. But always find out first if the ring is an heirloom or if he bought it.

Now there is a gray area here, if he bought the ring and you break off the engagement, then you should give the ring back, but sometimes the ring is kept by the ex-future bride, in that case one of two things will happen either the ex-groom will demand the ring back and even go to court (so be prepared to be sued) or he will walk away and forget the whole thing, the latter rarely happens so it would be best then to give the ring back when you break the engagement, but anything else he gave you (and make sure even in writing) that these are gifts, so you may keep them---if he includes a card or something that indicates it was a period of gift giving, write on the card the date and what he gave you, this will be at least limited proof of his gift giving. Whether this will hold up in court will be up to the judge, but by having the gift cards with the dates it could help your defense. If he asks any questions just say you’re sentimental and also for insurance purposes.

If you do go ahead and get married and then eventually divorced, the rules are this, if he bought the rings you keep them. If they are family heirlooms give them back, it is so much simpler that way---but any jewelry that he buys you or you buy your self---that is yours, only family heirloom jewelry that is from his family should go back. Unless it is stipulated that it is to go to your daughters, in this case it would be best to be magnanimous and speak to your mother-in-law in regards to the heirloom jewelry without interference from your soon to be ex-husband and let her know that you wish to know her feelings on that matter. She will look upon you in a different and positive light, even if her feelings towards you maybe hostile and she acts like a witch, she cannot deny that in regards to the matter of the family jewelry you were honest.

But if you are single and having fun and your man of the hour gives you “bling”, then be calm and collect it, and make sure that the gift card lists the date and the item he gave you and then lock it up in a bank safe deposit box where he can’t get his hands on it.

Just on the news last night, I heard about gold going over $1,000, of course weakening the dollar, but I knew that was coming, since I follow the business and stock news. That is why I have been looking at stocks with growth potential that can weather this unsettling economic situation so remember even jewelry is going go to up in price , don’t waste you money on something that is 10k unless you regard it as just above costume jewelry, make sure it is at least 14k or 18k.

And also about all those little doggies that were going to the Marin animal shelter being rescued from an elderly couple that had over 800 dogs in their home!!! Well I wrote out a check as a donation to help out with the feed and care of those poor things.

Now before anyone thinks that I think more of animals than of people, I do think of people, there is this one charity that I donate regularly that supplies wheelchairs to needy disabled people, I also donate to a women’s shelter and several others that help women in need and children. Women, Children and pets are the one’s that have no voice in this world.

Of course some of you are going to say to me, “but you don’t have children” I have nieces and nephews so I know how it’s like for a child, I am a woman so I know how it’s like for a woman. And yes I do eat meat and I do wear fur, but those are from animals that are specifically bred for that, but even then I do believe that when an animal is made for human consumption it should be done humanely. And I will make no further excuses. Diva’s never make excuses Diva’s just do it.

Well Darlings, it is now Friday and I have plans for this weekend, so Until Anon, Kisses Darlings.