Apple Cider Vinegar

Day 34

Apple cider vinegar is a folk remedy for a lot of illnesses.  I've been drinking 2TBSP in a glass of water twice a day for about 3 weeks now and I can notice a boost in energy.  It's a little too acidic for me so I add 1/8th tsp of sodium bicarbonate before adding the water.  This helps to neutralize the acid a bit but doesn't change the beneficial effects.  The best kind to use for this purpose is raw, organic ACV with the mother.  There are several brands available.  We don't have a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods near here so I use Bragg's.
Drinking ACV is reported to help stabilize pH, and cure various illnesses such as allergies, sinus problems, arthritis and gout.  Add to these candida, high cholesterol, acid reflux, sore throats, chronic fatigue, acne and the flu and you can see how beneficial this inexpensive treatment can be.  ACV is also widely used for weight loss because of its ability to break down fats.  Another added bonus is the healthy glow it brings to your skin.  Drinking ACV daily will detoxify your body and keep your kidneys clear.
ACV is great for pets too helping with barn flies and fleas, adding a glossy shine to their coats and easing arthritic conditions.

Earth Clinic has the following recommendations:
APPLE CIDER VINEGAR RECIPES

Standard Dosage: 2 teaspoons of ACV in 8 oz of water. Add honey to taste.
Acute Conditions: 2 tablespoons of ACV in 8 oz of water. No honey.
Note: 2 Tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar may be too much apple cider vinegar for some people . We suggest you start with the standard dosage and see how your body responds to a teaspoon or two of acv. If all goes well, you can up the dosage over time if you feel a need arise.
In summer months: Add 1/4 cup of ACV to a quart of water. Add ice cubes. Drink this on a hot summer day, especially before working out. Your body will feel very cleansed.


In winter months: 2 TBLS of ACV in a mug filled with hot water 3x day. Are you used to drinking tea or coffee during your long commute to work? Try this instead -- you will feel energized but not adrenalized. Add a few shakes of cayenne pepper if you REALLY want an energy lift!

To detox: 2 TBLSP of organic ACV in a 1 or 2 Liter filtered water bottle (ie Smart Water, Evian, etc). 2 TBLSP = 1/8th cup. You can add more vinegar than this amount, however, make sure you dilute it with plenty of water. Do not add a sweetener. Drink this solution throughout the day. The solution will be cleansing your system and kidneys all day long. That's the point.

There are several things you will notice within a day or two of drinking Apple Cider Vinegar: your allergies will disappear, your face will have a healthy & youthful glow, you will look & feel more VITAL, you will have consistent energy, and you will more easily digest your food.

We believe that apple cider vinegar is probably the best (and cheapest) detoxifier for the body. As such, it is should be considered a critical component to the fountain of youth!

Check out their web site for more info and testimonies for folk remedies.

I'm sharing this link and a guest post @

"What Grandma Knew about Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar is a folk remedy for a lot of illnesses.  I've been drinking 2TBSP in a glass of water but it's a little too acidic for me so I add 1/8th tsp of sodium bicarbonate before adding the water.  This helps to neutralize the acid a bit but doesn't change the beneficial effects.  The best kind to use for this purpose is raw, organic ACV with the mother. Adding the water is very important because straight vinegar can dissolve tooth enamel and may cause irritation to the esophagus and sphincter valve at the top of the stomach. You can read the rest of my article @ http://woodwifesjournal.blogspot.com/2010/07/apple-cider-vinegar.html Stop by to check out other alternative and herbal remedies that we use in our home. But the change up that I'd like to share today is the addition of organic blackstrap molasses. Since I became severely anemic a few years back, I struggle to keep my iron levels where they should be. During bouts of perimenopause, with bleeding issues, my iron drops quickly. So, I decided to tweak my morning routine in an effort to regain healthy iron levels without over the counter iron supplements that cause their own problems. Each morning, after drinking a glass of room temp water to get my system going, I mix up a concoction of 1-2 tbsp ACV, a pinch to 1/8th tsp of baking soda and a tbsp+ of molasses. Then I fill the glass up with water and sip it throughout the rest of my morning activities. There are so many benefits to both the ACV and the molasses; just to name a few...cleanse the system of yeast and toxins, build iron levels, balance pH and provide more energy. Who couldn't use more of that! "

Sharing this post with the folks at:

Alphabe-Thursdays

more plants

Day 33

Today was the farmer's market.  Emma sold all her blueberries in less than an hour!  Elizabeth sold a little of several things and made a some money towards college.  Next week we'll hopefully add to what she has to sell.  One thing that sold well were the cut flowers from both Emma's house and ours.  What a great idea!

Of course my down fall was the garden club tent right next to the girl's with lots of end of the season plants.  I picked up a hops vine, a butterfly bush, feverfew, motherwort and pink hyssop.  Now for some ideas about where to plant them! 

After a trip to the farm for fresh milk, I have a gallon of yogurt and a half gallon of buttermilk culturing on the counter.

First green tomatoes of the season to fry up nice and crispy with some yellow squash!  More fingerling potatoes and beans to cream!

Farmer's Market

Day 32
Saturdays bring local produce farmers, bakers, craftsmen, dairy farmers and beekeepers together to sell their produce, etc. in the heart of our downtown.  Friends of ours will be selling fresh picked blueberries and my daughter is going to take some things from our home.  She's been working on some jewelry as well as harvesting some garlic and pulling together some other things that we grow or make.  I'm excited to see how things go for her. 
My oven is on the fritz or I'd be baking even in all this heat.  Maybe it's a good thing it's not working.  We've had some fairly hot, humid days in the past few weeks.  Maybe by next week's market I'll have more products for her to market. 
The straw bale beds in our garden are not growing as well as I thought they might but are improving a bit as the season goes on.  Our lasagne beds seem to be doing ok and I'm excited to harvest some of the many types of tomatoes that we are trying out his year.  The blueberries have been picked over by the birds and I think a bear but I haven't seen it.  We have a coon ravaging our chickens again so we're trying a humane approach first.  If he's too big to fit in the box trap, then we'll have to resort or other methods.  Hannah lost her meat chicken and I lost my oldest hen.  Now we're down to 5 laying hens.  If things keep going this way, I'm considering getting another batch and raising them with a goose to protect them.  I don't think I'm ready for a gander until I learn more about them.  I've heard they can be mean.

Roasting Coffee at Home - by English Vintner

When I first published this article, written by a young friend of mine, I was a new blogger and thought that just sharing an article was a good thing.  Since I've learned more about blogging, I've realized that exposure is good, so I thought I would give Zach a little shout out here. 

Zach is a homeschooled, high school student.  He's also really interested in sustainable agriculture and has created a great garden to raise food for his family of 11!  (He's the 3rd oldest)  Zach is always looking for ways to make his garden better.  He has many hobbies and interestes that keep him hopping.   So I thought I'd make a quick list of some of Zach's interests so you can understand a little more about this busy young man.
 
An organic sustainable gardener.
Inventions for the garden (like magnetic water pumps and greenhouses to name a few)
A musican
A singer
An aspiring chef who is already a great cook and baker
A winemaker (English Vintner)
A bit of a business man
A bread delivery man (works with his dad)
A beekeeper
A builder (working on his own cider press and built a small green house plus more)
A researcher who is always looking for ideas (Sea crop, Whizbang, etc.)
And I'm sure there are many things I've missed.

But you can read all about Zach's adventures because, when he has time, he blogs about what he's doing and learning at the English Press.   You don't see or hear of many teens being into this stuff the way Zach is so check out Zach's blog and follow along with all his adventures.  Be sure to comment so he knows you've visited!

Here's Zach's article on roasting coffee at home;

Roasting coffee at home is something that most people don’t think of as doing. Most coffee comes vacuum sealed, roasted, ground, and ready to brew. Some people take a step back and buy the whole roasted beans instead of the ground beans and notice quite a difference in flavor. The flavor of fresh roasted coffee is unlike any other coffee you’ve tasted. What most people don’t realize is how easy it is to roast your own coffee at home. I started out roasting coffee with a Hot Air Popcorn Popper. I made a some adjustments to it to make it work. After a year of using that method I took off the top of the popper and used a wooden dowel to stir the coffee beans as they roasted in the chamber. This Spring I got a coffee roaster from my Uncle. It has a few dents and cracks in it, but works well. Roasting coffee can be done using quite a few different methods. I’ve mentioned the method that I used. A coffee roaster like what I was given requires virtually no work. Like a bread machine, you put the ingredients in and it turns out the bread. You put in the green beans, turn it on, and in 6 minutes it is done. I roast coffee once or twice a week. Usually about 8 hours before I am going to drink the first cup. Which means the night before. How dark you like the beans is up to you. You just stop when it is as dark as you like and cool the beans down as fast as possible to keep them from roasting further. A colander comes in handy here. After you roast your coffee wait a few hours before storing it in an airtight container, and usually best out of direct sunlight. Don’t grind the coffee until you are ready to brew. Roasting coffee is an enjoyable hobby that is sure to amaze your guests. For more information on roasting coffee and buying it, visit the two links below.
http://www.sweetmarias.com/
http://www.thecaptainscoffee.com/

Zachariah E.

Homemade Sour Cream and Buttermilk

Sour Cream
My next project was to make sour cream from my raw milk. To do this, I needed to purchase a small container of good quality buttermilk from the store. In a quart jar, I add 2 cups of raw cream and 2T. buttermilk. Put the lid on and shake. I'll let this stand in a warm place for 24-48 hours.  To make a more mild tasting sour cream, similar to store bought, try pasteurizing the cream before adding the buttermilk.

Buttermilk
Traditional buttermilk is what's left over after making butter. But my husband likes to drink cultured buttermilk.
I'll mix 2 cups of raw milk with 1/4 cup of my store bought buttermilk and cover. Like the sour cream, this will rest in a warm place for 24 hours. Now that I've made my own buttermilk, I won't need to buy it the next time. I'll use 1/4 cup of the homemade buttermilk to start my next batch.


All these projects took only minutes to prepare and tomorrow I'll have lots of good quality, additive free dairy products for my family. And I should add that all this was done at a fraction of the cost to buy all these things at the grocery store.

Carla Emery's Encyclopedia of Country Living offers many recipes for homemade goods like the ones you've read about here.  You get a wealth of information for the price.  If you buy it through the link at the left, I'll earn a few cents, too.

Go over to the REAL FOOD WEDNESDAY blog hop to find more whole food recipes.

More yogurt news

Day 29

Yesterday was a good day.  After hitting the local farmer's market where we bought fingerling potatoes, zucchini, candy onions, and pickling cukesand visited with some good friends, my daughters and I joined my bff at the Y for zumba, went to the farm to get raw milk, did a little cleaning, made a gallon of yogurt, went swimming for a while, had chicken on the grill with fresh green beans and fingerling potatoes creamed together in a lovely white sauce, had a family movie night and slept through the thunder storm.  A full but rewarding day.

I've never done any experimenting with yogurt flavors preferring instead to add fruit to the finished product.  This time I added 1/2 tsp of vanilla to one quart and the results were wonderful!  Because it is SO warm here, I only allowed it to culture for about 8 hours insulated in a cooler to keep it warm.  The texture was really nice and creamy.  Can't wait to have some for breakfast!

Zumba is a Latin style dance/aerobics party!  It's too much fun to be a class.  If you have Zumba in your area, you should try it!  Definitely a workout but loads of fun.

More about Raw Milk

Day 28

Remember when I talked about the advantages of raw milk over processed? Here's a link to another blog that shares more info and sites a few other references to back up what I was saying. You can read just about anything on the web so it's best to do your research to verify claims for foods/alternative remedies that your unfamiliar with.

http://stay-healthy-enjoy-life.blogspot.com/2008/11/natures-perfect-food-certainly-for.html

Another great resource for wise food choices and food preparation techniques that were used by our ancestors is Sally Fallon's book Nourishing Traditions. She unites the knowledge of the past with scientific research to back up some of those old time traditions that grandma used when preparing food for her family.

It's important to realize that the word "bacteria" can refer to both good or beneficial microorganisms and dangerous ones. The funny thing is that once you learn about how these little critters work in our food, you can use them to increase the nutritive value of the food we eat, extend the shelf life of many foods by increasing the lactic acid content which is also working to give them more health benefits and proteting them from being colonised by the harmful kinds of bacteria. Grandma may not have understood everything that happened to the food she made for her family but she knew that it was healthy and good for them.

Our Homemade Laundry Soap

We've enjoyed making our own bars of soap for years now and have shared our skill with several families and demonstrated for groups. The possibilities are endless and we've come up with some great recipes and one or two that flopped.
One of my favorite things to do with our homemade soap is to make it into powdered laundry soap. We've tried recipes for making it into liquid soap but I don't care for the slimy, egg-drop soup-like consistancy. Here's our simple recipe:

3 bars of homemade soap
1 box of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda
1 large box of Borax
essential oils of your choice - optional (We've used peppermint, lavender, eucalyptus and even an insect repellent blend for camping and outdoor clothes, but our favorite is grapefruit for it's perky, citrus scent and deodorizing qualities.)

Grate the bars of soap.
Add powdered ingredients
Add approx. 1/2 tsp essential oils
Blend well to insure that the oils don't stain your clothes.

Use about 1/8 - 1/4 cup per load. Add to water and agitate before adding clothes.

Besides the wonderful aroma that stays with your clothes, this laundry soap eliminates that smell that happens when you wash a load of clothes before bed only to find that it is already smelling musty in the morning. I love that!

Tip:  Add essentail oils that are known to repel insects for built in protection.

Pickled Garlic Scapes

Day 25

My daughter has been working on a farm this spring helping the CSA farmer plant his gardens and take care of his free range chickens. We have a patch of garlic gone wild that never seems to do much so we've kind of neglected it. She noticed the little pods at the top and commented that they should be removed so the bulbs would grow bigger. Well, I've done that in the past with my onions but not the garlic. So, you're probably saying to yourself, "Well, doesn't everyone know that?" Here's the problem...I'd been told that the pod on the top was seed garlic for next year. So far, so good. But I'd been told to leave them on so I"d have some to plant the next year. I should also say that the person who told me about that was never able to grow nice garlic either. Should have been a clue, right?
My daughter also told me that the scapes are good in salads and stir fry. I think ours were a little too far along to use like that but we thought we'd try pickling some. We packed a large mason jar with scapes and sprigs of oregano. Then we added a brine of 4 cups vinegar, 2 cups water, 1/2 cup olive oil and 1/8 cup real salt. In two weeks we'll see how they taste.

Organizing and Time to "fess up"

For most of my adult life, I've had a secret. One that plagues my husband and makes our home a little crazy at times. Being a meanderer, who often ponders things too much, doesn't help. It's sort of a sickness that I've been both secretly proud of and also ashamed of at some points in my life. I'm sure that things would be a lot easier and simpler if I could overcome this obsession and just admit it...say it out loud...come clean...let go...easier said than done. Much easier said than done. And in some ways, I can see the practicality of both sides of the issue. If put to the test, I could argue my point quite effectively...at least in my own eyes. But maybe if I write it down, I'll be able to either get past the feelings of guilt I'm having right now, or appease my mind enough to convince myself that I'm really being quite helpful...thrifty...frugal...green. Maybe.


Here goes...My name is Sharon and...I...am a packrat!...there, I've said it. When it comes time to throw some things away, I can usually see another use for them and dream up a plan to use them in the future. My intentions are good, you see, but my "future" may be years away and it should become obvious how that could begin to be a problem. Now I'm not like the folks who only have paths through their homes or anything like that and I don't have empty baked bean cans lying around or stacks of unused paper napkins that I've saved from restaurants but my attic and garage are loaded with good intentions. I'm not talking about garbage here, folks...I'm talking about perfectly good things.  Things I can use to "build" other things. Future projects that need other components before they can be completed, things I just don't have time for right now... and things... I'll probably... never... get around to reusing.  ...That was quite painful to admit.

Of course you've heard the green motto, "Reduce, reuse, recycle." And that's where some of my justification comes from. Why throw away perfectly good things if you could use them to make something else that is quite useful and cost saving? Why load up the land fills with things that will still be in the same shape when I'm dead and gone when I could reuse them to make things that I/we need? It makes perfect sense...to me. Now my husband is the type of guy who throws everything away with the idea that if we need one again, we'll go buy one. That is completely against my philosophy as a green mama and can be very hurtful to our pocketbook.

So I guess the compromise will have to be that I organize my stash into a more compact hoard and eliminate things that I've had on hand for years but have never used. The only problem with that is...and I've had this happen before...within a week/month, I'll need the things I threw away and I'll be kicking myself! Maybe what I need is a book that will guide my wandering mind with new ideas about reusing things so I don't have to throw them away. That idea makes me smile and it's something I can live with.

Well, I'm glad I got that off my chest. I feel as if my burden is a bit lighter now. So...I'll wait for the next rainy day and dig into the black hole to unearth my saved treasures and hope that I don't see the reasons for saving all of them quite as clearly as I did originally. 'Cuz that could be a disaster!

Or...

After reading a few comments from my original post I've come up with a plan.  Since it seems that several of you share my creative penchant for saving seemingly useless treasures for reuse and a new life, I'll share it again here.


PRA (Pack Rats Anonymous) starts soon. I'm gonna need a sponsor! Maybe I'LL write a book on creative ways to reuse/recycle all this stuff! It can be the PRA handbook leading wayward hoarders of truly reusable stuff to find ways to use it up while making the world a greener place to live.  It's a win/win situation!...Right?


I'm already making mini greenhouses from the large plastic boxes that organic salad greens come in...they can also be used as storage containers for all kinds of stuff...they are stackable and clear so you can see what's inside...I could use them to store my own greens from the garden...the large flat surfaces are great for making clear windows for all sorts of projects...I made a protective cover for the screen part of E's iPod cover that I knit from left over pieces of wool yarn and felted. Speaking of left over yarn...I made a cute little camera bag, too...and I mixed colors to make a nice bag that receives lots of compliments. 
Wool sweaters that can be made into cool bags for all sorts of projects...jeans to line them or make into other things.  Holey socks for, well, you can read about that here if you haven't already.  And truly useful things like this greenhouse.  Good things can come of this...right?


Don't get me monologuing on this! I think I'll write that book with full color pictures of my projects.  See?...it can be therapeutic to my addiction. Maybe I can successfully turn my problem into a money maker and I'll become known as the "Reusable Stuff Guru" and...


I think I need to lie down...my dreams are making me giddy!

Sharing my confession with Jenny and friends @ Alphbe-Thursdays

Back to Basics

Day 23

Back to Basics is a great resource for making your way back to the way your grandparents did things.  Sometimes it's nice to go back to a simpler time when folks had to work harder but I can't help but wonder if they were more happy.
It talks about land, building, energy, raising your own vegetables, fruit and livestock and much, much more.
It's a "must-have" for your traditional library.

Second hand

Day 22

Have you ever wondered what happens to all the things we discard?  I'm sure that I could do a much better job of recycling our waste.  But, I'm pretty good at saving things that can be reused or upcycled (much to my husband's dismay!) 

My children have grown up wearing many "handydowns" as my youngest called them when she was little.  I've never asked them to wear clothing that was out of style or stained in any way.  In fact, most people didn't even know that the clothes were second hand.  Many of them were handed down to us directly from some lovely friends whose children had outgrown them.  Others were cool garage sale finds or unique buys at Goodwill.  Now that they are older, if they are looking for something specific that would be costly new, we've tried looking on ebay with some good results.  They may have to wait a little longer to find what they're looking for but it's worth it.  They've had fun shopping for second hand finds that expand their wardrobe with fun or interesting clothing we'd never be able to justify or afford any other way.  They are also even more mindful of the cost of new clothing now that they are making some spending money of their own.

I find a sense of accomplishment in stretching my husband's paycheck by recycling, upcycling or reusing second hand items that might normally be tossed in the garbage. I hope I've taught them well enough and that they will be able to live frugally when they are on their own regardless of their income level.

I have friends who have upcycled second hand clothing into completely new products by sewing, felting or actually unraveling yarn to make into something else.  I love those ideas and plan to try a few projects of my own sometime soon. 

Herbal Medicine Chest #10 - DIY Ear candles

Welcome to Post # 10 of our Herbal Medicine Chest.  We've been exploring creating our own herbal preparations to help us put together an Herbal Medicine Chest. The first 8 posts in this series have dealt with the different types and methods of preparing these herbal remedies.  Although there's a lot of information there, and it is not even close to covering all the bases, it's enough to give you a basic understanding and a starting point for your own Herbal Medicine Chest.

But I'd like to mention a few preparations that could be included in our medicine chest that aren't herbal in nature although they are highly compatible with all the herbal remedies we've discussed.  Join me as I take this herbal adventure in a slightly different direction with the same goal in mind...maintaining good health.

The Herbal Medicine Chest has it's own button!  Grab it from the side bar to share on your site.

See the Herbal Medicine Chest page (directly linked from the new button) to connect with all the articles inthis series...even info pages that are not included in the hop, or visit the archives for direct links.  (The page is incomplete because it's still underconstruction at this time.)

Ear candling

Ever experience that warm feeling of smoke in a tender ear during a cold? Often, it's just enough to ease the pain for a few minutes. Ear candling has always fascinated me but I've never been brave enough to try it. My daughter was also interested in trying it but as with most things, when I get an idea in my head, I don't want to wait until an order comes to move ahead. We had muslin and beeswax on hand so we decided to make our own ear candles!
So for all you DIY mamas out there, here's how we did it and what we learned:

We started with strips of muslin approx 2" wide by 12"-14" long. Melting the beeswax in a double boiler seemed the best way to go about it because we could easily move the pot and all to the work area from the stove without losing heat too quickly.  We added a little eucalyptus EO to the wax for the benefits of aromatherapy during the process.  After oiling a 1/2" wooden dowel with olive oil, we dipped a strip of cloth in the hot wax and began wrapping it around the dowel.  It was a little hard to form a nice cone at the end so after a few tries, we started forming the come with the fabric and then dipping that part in the wax.  After it had cooled a bit, we put it over the end of the dowel and started the wrapping from there.  Each cone turned out to be about 10"-12" long.

When the wax had cooled a few minutes, we gently twisted the dowel while holding the candle in the other hand to loosen it.  Voila!  Ear candles!

After trying them out, we realized that there was a potential for wax to drip inside the candle and possibly into the ear.  Some of the sites online had filters in their candles so we tried pushing a small piece of cotton ball down inside the candle to about 3" from the cone where you would normally stop burning.  The problem with this was that wax melting down the inside of the tube onto the cotton sometimes covered the top completely blocking the flow of air and making the candling ineffective.  Another option would be to wrap the fabric onto the dowel and then dip it in wax so that any melting wax would be on the outside.

Candling is a two person job because of the safety factors involved with trimming the candle and the flame itself.  Please don't try to do it alone.

Before you begin, gently examine the ear for any irritation or redness.  While candling is used to heal or soothe certain ear issues, use caution where infection or ear drum pressure may be higher than normal.  To use the candle, we made a hole in a foam plate covered with foil just big enough to put the candle through.  The "candlee" should be lying comfortably on their side with the ear to be candled up...of course.  Some sites show the person sitting in a chair but we found that lying down was more relaxing and easier for the person assisting to maintain the candle.  If you are having trouble with one ear, candle the opposite side first according to all instructions I've read.  After covering the person's head and shoulders to avoid any wax dripping should they move while the candle is burning, we lit the end.  The flame was surprisingly high.  To avoid ash or hot pieces from dropping into the candle or the ear, we cut the burnt end off at about 1" intervals into a glass or bowl with some water in it.  It took about 10 minutes for the candle to burn down to the 3" mark.  The candle was gently snuffed out and removed from the ear.  The ear seemed clean.  Then we did the other side.  

After both were finished, we decided to cut the candles open to see what was inside. What we found was some waxy residue and a light powdery ash.  Many sites claim that ear candles create a vacuum inside the ear drawing out pieces of wax and pollen, etc. from the ear canal.  Being a little skeptical, we checked it out by burning a candle in a clean jar.  The residue was exactly the same as the ones used in our ears.
However, my daughter has one ear that produces more wax and she sometimes has trouble with it.  After candling that ear we looked in the ear itself and found that wax had moved much closer to the opening after candling and could be removed more easily.  The idea of a vacuum makes sense but the power of that vacuum is what we're not sure about.  Loose pollen or dirt may be drawn out by the chimney type suction created by the flame but I think this would only work if the person is lying down.

Swimmer's ear is another problem that can be helped by ear candling.  Some people feel that ear candling can improve your sense of taste and smell as well as allow you to think more clearly.  TMJ sufferers have found that candling can ease jaw pain.  It make sense that headaches could also be relieved.  There are probably more benefits to learn about.  Faithful ear candling has been practiced by lots of people over centuries past so at least some folks must find relief of some kind.  I've helped with the candling for everyone in my family...now I need someone to do it for me!

As with any alternative treatment, use caution and be educated about the process.  If you have had a recent ear surgery or ear drum rupture, do not use ear candles.  Also if you have had tubes, or inner ear surgery candling at any time should probably be avoided until you check with you doctor.  As with most alternative treatments, your doctor may not be familiar or be contemptuous of treatments outside the pharmaceutical realm.
   

Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth

Wildcrafting Wednesdays #67

This post is part of the
Home Remedies Carnival at Keeper of the Home. 

Alphbe Thursdays @ Jenny Matlock

Here's a link from Frontier Natural Products for a new cook book.  Go to the link for a chance to win an autographed copy.  Or you can click on the link to the left to purchase from Amazon.  If I've done this correctly, I may earn a few cents....

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Frontier-Natural-Products-Co-op/11236694987?v=wall&story_fbid=136234796401223

Falling behind

Seems like it's been forever since I've been online.  We're having some computer problems that have kept me from writing here lately. 
And I'm not complaining at all but life's priorities often get in the way of the best plans.
Please bear with me as I try to catch up over the next few weeks.