Have I told you about my favorite herbal products yet? My friend, Mother Of Blessings, makes her products with all-natural and organic ingredients and they are just great! I have used her Immune Booster for several years. Along with a healthy diet, I credit it with keeping us cold and flu free for a LONG time!
I have also personally used the Boo-Boo Cream. I use it almost daily, truthfully. It goes on any scrapes, bug bites, rashes and dry spots, that happen so frequently around here.
My wonderful husband and I went fly fishing together recently. I brought the camera, but he wisely had me leave it in the truck, in case I fell while walking in the river. I took these pictures of where we fished from the roadway where we parked.
We slowly walked far up the river and fished. Since it was my first time, I spent much of the time learning to cast smoothly and deposit the fly right where I meant to. We didn't expect to actually catch anything, since it was already mid-morning by the time we got there, but we had such fun anyway!
You can see the beauty of our mountains, but you can't begin to get an idea of the scale of the place. It's an amazing area. I love to go. Thanks to Mother Of Blessings for watching our children so we could spend the day together.
After reading Rhen's solution to springtime fleas, I thought I'd post what worked for us.
We battled them about a month ago. My poor Troubles was the only one getting bit...but just everywhere! I began adding apple cider vinegar to the cats wet food: 1 tsp per can. That causes them to be an uninviting host, and they didn't seem to mind the new flavor.
Then I sprinkled borax on the carpet, brushed it in with the broom and kept the kids out for an hour or two. A thorough vacuuming later, no fleas! I repeated the carpet treatment the next week after any eggs hatched, and we haven't see one since. Some people use a salt and borax mix on the carpet, to dry the flea eggs and prevent any hatching, but I though the salt might damage my metal vacuum, so I refrained and repeated.
I was re-reading one of my favorite bloggers, Granny Miller, tonight. She has put her blog in mothballs, but I hope she returns to it before too long!!! She had this wise observation in her November "Ask Granny" post. I thought I'd share it with you:
"In my opinion the most important skill people need to be working on is their critical thinking skills. And that starts with throwing out your television.
Next is reading the Constitution of The United States and memorizing the Bill of Rights, and then holding our elected representatives accountable to both.
I think other important skills are learning to use a firearm, find a way around the money economy, grow some of your own food, make your own clothes and making your own repairs.
Learn to do without and learn to make do with what you already have."
~Granny Miller
My six year old son, Jack, has kidney disease. It's called Nephrotic Syndrome. A simple explanation: when his immune system is challenged by a bug, his kidneys begin to allow protein to exit the body through the urine. This damages the kidney and can lead to renal failure. When he begins to have sustained elevated protein counts, he needs a two and a half month course of prednisone.
We found out about his NS one month after his second birthday. I had noticed that his eyelids swelled slightly when he had a cold, but the doctors that he saw said it was nothing to worry about. One morning, after he'd had a little cough for about three days (no fever, no nothing else), I went to his room to wake him and found him swollen, terribly, from eyelids to toes. It was shocking! He was in no distress, so I arranged for a friend to come to watch the children and took him to the clinic.
Since he wasn't yet adopted, we had to go to the state Medi-cal-accepting clinic instead of Kaiser. The doctor who saw him did a fine job of examining him, consulting with other doctors and diagnosing his condition. Several hours after entering the clinic, he was admitted into the local hospital with consult with the big Childrens Hospital in the closest big city. Three days later, his condition was under control and he was able to go home. I had learned a lot in those three days!
For the next year, he relapsed and required Prednisone three to four times a year. Poor baby. That strong drug has so many terrible side effects! Blessedly, he is Prednisone respondant, so it worked and further kidney damage is avoided. I hated for him to be on it though.
I found little on the Internet as far as natural treatments. I did find that raw milk helps boost the immune system, so I searched out a local source and added it to his diet. We also had a year old son who was lactose intolerant. As an aside, he can drink the raw milk with absolutly NO trouble. I initially began the research on raw milk due to him. It just happened to benefit Jack as well.
I also read that sugar depresses the immume system, making it much easier to catch any viruses that are floating around. We cut back on sugar. Around the same time, I began making our bread from freshly ground grain, and cooking much more food from scratch. Jack would still get ill occasionally though, end up on Prednisone.
Here's the natural treatment that works, though, even with elevated protein counts: A small clove of garlic, eaten with honey or applesauce, chased with a saltine if he has trouble swallowing the last bits of garlic, brings the protein count down in just a few hours. Seriously. Even at a 3+, it works.
He may smell like garlic bread, but he has not needed medicine but one time in almost three years!! I begin "garlikin' him up" as soon as I notice an elevated count and usually give it every day for a week, or until his count stays down without the garlic. We do daily urine tests during this time. After a week, I stop the garlic and keep testing daily. If the numbers go above 1+, he takes a clove, under 1+ and he doesn't. If his count stays good for several days without garlic, I begin testing every other day. When it still remains low, I test him every three or four days.
I'm so thankful that the Lord created this wonderful bulb. It's so very useful, even to the point of 'curing' us of our ails!
As you may remember, we camped a little over a week ago. We went to our lovely Sequoia National Forest, which we SO enjoy visiting.
After setting camp, we explored, enjoyed and relaxed. We were blessed to be with our dear friends, R and E and their three kids. R is quite adventurous, and among other things, knows how to rock climb. He brought his equipment and all the children got to climb up and repel down! I have many more pics, Grandma, if you want them. All the children made it up to Daddy, even Troubles! They had a great time.
We also fished in the pond, with a few little fish being caught. We hiked, enjoyed smores and learned that crushing fern and rubbing it on nettle burns makes the stinging stop.
I found a wonderful exoskeleton of a dragonfly nymph that had "made the change" while clinging to a blade of thick grass. I collected it, but it was accidentally crushed before I got a picture. We also got to see a newly emerged dragonfly resting on his discarded exoskeleton. Here is a photo essay on the process. We observed chipmunks, squirrels, birds of various kinds, water skimmers, trout, and lots of insects. We collected pond water and creek water for observation under the microscope.
At home, we found tiny plants and microscopic little worms in the pond water and had a discussion on why you always boil water from natural sources before drinking it! We haven't looked at the creek water yet, so we won't find anything living, I think.
Here is a picture of all of us in front of the Sequoia in our campsite. The 'cave' in the tree that is behind me was big enough for most of the children to fit inside, all at once. Sequoias often have these hollows.
Here's an amazing "fact" on the side of a Coca Cola box that I saw:
"It's true. All beverages hydrate, including soft drinks. So if you are looking for hydration, but want the delicious and refreshing taste you get from Coca-Cola, don't compromise - go for it! You'll be hydrating your body with each and every sip.
We offer over 80 ways to hydrate, energize, nourish relax or enjoy every drop of life."
We have had ants on and off for a few months. I have finally for something easy to mix up that seems to do the job.
Ant Killer
Combine on something the ants can climb easily onto/into; I used a canning jar lid:
1/2 tsp EACH aspartamine (Equal, Nutrasweet, etc it's a potent poison, to humans and insects!), Borax, and honey.
Add a drop or two of water if needed to thin out the mixture. Mix well.
Set into the path of the ants. They will gather, many thousands together, and take it back to their colony for food. It should wipe them all out in a day or two!
I had ants in my cup cupboard three or four weeks ago. I used this and I haven't seen one in the kitchen anywhere since!
They were in my bathroom this morning. They came from under the counter top by the wall and tracked down into the sink. I guess they were thirsty?! Out came my mix! I put it out at about 6:30 AM, and by 9 AM, it was surrounded by thousands of ants drinking their way to death. I took this shot at about 10:30 (photo deleted), when most had already gone back home and poisoned the queen. Many of the ants you see here are stuck in the honey and drowning. I have only about 20 ants roaming the counter, and they will be gone by this afternoon.
Happy killing!
Momma
(6-2008 Update) They did disappear. I haven't had them back yet this year either. Insert Happy Dance Smilie!
It's Wednesday, so that's "Works For Me Wednesday" time! This week's edition is a Backward theme. We are to ask a question for Bloggityville to answer.
My question: How often do you change sheets?
Are you a "once a month"er or a "once a week"er? An "every three days" or a "when I can't stand the stink any more"er?
We are every other week-ers. I find I have too much laundry with just clothes to make it every week. I have seven beds to do, for goodness sake!
I have taught my Lambies to make their beds themselves. The eldest children can remove the mattresses and get the pads and sheets on just fine. The younger children are able to strip the beds without ripping pads with little supervision. So my responsibility is only the actual washing. But even with a front loading machine that takes two days washing to get the all the sheets and pads through.
I have been experimenting with homemade cleaners lately. I like how purchased products clean, but don't want the toxicity. I have been using a lot of vinegar and baking soda...it really sparkles up the sinks! I recently found a recipe for an easy all purpose cleaner that actually cuts grease and works on the stove top. It readily cleans the front of my stainless steel dishwasher and stove, leaving no annoying streak marks. It also works well on mirrors. It's really working for me this week!
All Purpose Cleaner
2 cups rubbing alcohol
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tsp. dishwashing detergent (like Dawn)
1/2 tsp mint extract (or other oil, etc. for scent), optional
Combine in a gallon container. Fill with water. Use in a spray bottle.
After a great day visiting with friends yesterday, I threw a load or two of laundry and made dinner. At about 7:30, I made a terrible discovery in my dryer...
Inside a pocket had been lurking two crayons, a red and a blue. Now they were smeared all over the inside of my dryer and all the clothes. This was a load of mixed colorfuls, kacki and light colored pants, white shirts, washrags, dresses, bathtowels...
I brought the children out to the dryer and showed them the mess, reminding them that crayons are not to be carried in pockets. I knew exactly who had done it, for the only pants in the load belonged to just one child. She was very upset at herself!
I got on the computer and found a method for removing the stains:
A wet rag, baking soda and light elbow grease removed the crayon from the dryer, including the plastic seal. Other methods mentioned using toothpaste, the white paste kind and a Mr. Clean Eraser. Baking soda worked fine for us. The guilty party did this part.
I removed the ruined clothes from the garbage can where I had flung them in frustration and re-washed them in this mixture:
Hot Water
regular amount of detergent (the website said to double, but I didn't)
1/2 cup borax
1/2 cup baking soda
1/2 cup spray and wash or shout or something similar
generous squirt of Dawn
I have a front loader and though it was very sudsy, it rinsed fine, and the stains were GONE!
I do not have to replace all the washrags, towels, pants and shirts that I had given up for stained!!!
This is my first post with pictures! This one is my very favorite pic from our date in the mountains. Amazingly, this quiet place is just yards from the convergence of two rivers...turning around to the right you would see swirling, rushing madness!
I'm the blessed wife of My Honey of 14 years, and Momma to eight wonderful Lambies aged 13 and under. We live in Central CA, and use Ambleside Online for our curriculum. I'd love to meet you , so browse a while and feel free to leave a comment!
I have many more pics, Grandma, if you want them. All the children made it up to Daddy, even Troubles! They had a great time.
