So on Wednesday I took some free Bison baseball tickets over to our neighbor, Rob, then he and I stood outside chatting while the guys finished siding our barn. I asked Rob if he could write up a list for Tom and me of classic car shows, ones along the countryside. Rob and Barbara take their own classic car to shows, like, every week, and although Tom and I aren't such rabid fans, we sometimes get weird cravings to walk amongst old cars from decades past. Rob said he'd go and make the list right away but I told him, "Oh! No, there's no hurry. Really, just whenever you think of it."

Then yesterday finally we had some cool, cloudy weather and I was determined to finish planting my garden and not waste any of my energy on mowing the lawn. So there I was weeding in the early morning silence when vroom-vroom-vroom, here comes Rob's elderly lawn pesticide guy on his death-spreading machine just three feet away from my garden. Three feet! Gah! Rob and Barbara's property line is at least 15 feet from my garden.

So the guy stops beside me, idles the engine, looks at me and says, "That's a nice garden." To which I, tight-lipped replied, "Thank-you." And if he hadn't left the engine idling I would have added, "Please! Could you stay on the other side of the telephone pole over there? That's the property line." But I have a soft voice and I generally refuse to yell over machinery since it's quite unladylike. So I said nothing and continued pulling weeds and he moved on, leaving those death granules everywhere.

Then, not wishing to inhale insecticides, I practically ran back inside the house, fuming (but telling myself to calm down) and yanked down every window which had previously been welcoming fresh air, but now I wanted to protect Lennon and McCartney and myself from inhaling the stuff within our own walls. And for an hour I sat inside the house waiting for pesticide fumes outside to magically waft away (as if). And making plans.

Then after that hour, I returned outside (trying not to inhale), this time to our Bunny Pasture where I yanked the weeds in the raised bed I'd made out there, then using my wheelbarrow and shovel, I transferred more dirt to the bed (is anything more exhausting than moving dirt around?). Then I grabbed my buckets, returned to my main garden and dug-up my lettuce and tomatoes (some of them) and transplanted them into the raised bed since it's farther away from our property line and the poisoned lawn where the insecticides are now running through the ground into my garden. And our grapevines. And our orchard trees.

Later I pulled-up the weeds in the other raised bed I have out there, but was too tired by then to add much-needed additional dirt. Maybe I can do that today.

And all along, God kept calming me down. Or trying. He kept reminding me not to create anything in anger, for then there will be no enjoyment before or after the work. And how the way we treat people is just about the most important thing on this Earth. Then when I tried whining to Him about how I can't handle all this, He told me, "Yes, you can, Debra. I'll enable you. Do things my way and it will all get done eventually, inch by inch."

Well, I'll need Him to help me big-time. Now I must add more raised beds to the Bunny Pasture and replant my huge main garden with flowers (since we don't eat those). All that moving around of dirt! All that digging, arranging, planting and replanting...

And when I wanted to get red-eyed angry with Rob for poisoning his acre+ lawn three or four times yearly, here he came walking toward me, holding the handmade list of the car shows. It was sweet of him to make us that list so soon--Rob is always helpful like that. He's one of our neighbors who snow blows our driveway for us and mows part of our lawn and--well, all that other kind, country neighbor sort of stuff.

Sigh.

After that kindness, I did calm down. And I just felt deflated and bad for this poor old world where people feel they must have perfect green lawns and for ignorance and disappearing bee colonies and people with cancer and elderly men who ride around on machines spreading insect poison while wearing no face masks.

And so Life goes. At least for awhile longer.

***********

"The Earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof."

Three Helpful Hints

My online friend, Anne, sent me this YouTube link to a song by Brad Paisley (Tom's favorite) which has Andy Griffith (my favorite) in it. Throughout the song, there are hints which just may save a marriage. Hence, why I'm sharing it with you.

Hint #2: Months ago while on Oprah, Julia Roberts and a friend shared a recipe for a rinse which they said would wash chemicals (at least some) off of your fruits and vegetables. Considering where my mind has been the past couple days, I thought I'd share it with you now (I've not made it myself yet, but I plan to):

1 cup water
1 cup white vinegar
1 tbs. baking soda
20 drops grapefruit seed extract.

Combine and put in a spray bottle. Spray on fruits and vegetables and leave on for 5 minutes. Rinse.

Hint #3. And here's something which I've forgotten to share at least a hundred times... Did you know that raisins are more poisonous to dogs and cats than chocolate? I saw this on Rachel Ray's show and someplace else. If either animal eats raisins (or grapes), their kidneys can shut down and even cause death (they showed a dog who, later, had to be put down because he'd gotten into some raisins...). I've heard this in only two places--but I'm wondering why haven't we been told more often, as in the chocolate thing? Sigh.

I wanted to pass that along.... Occasionally I would give Lennon a raisin or two a few years ago (he loves them) and then all of a sudden he was diagnosed with diabetes and has been on insulin ever since. I'm not saying raisins caused it, but still.... I am living with the possibility that they did. And I don't want that for you to deal with...


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Here's a page with a list of foods which should not be fed to pets.

***

You might have noticed my kitchen at the top of this. :) It's coming along s-l-o-w-l-y. Finally I did more painting today and then grabbed those yard sale runners off the back porch window and put them up in the kitchen window, instead. I'm still waiting for the orange counter tops to magically fly away...

Oh, and if you enlarge the photo you can see my "God Bless Our Home" embroidery which I made 27 years ago. It's becoming an antique!

So it was time to begin painting our old farmhouse. 

I stopped at Sherwin Williams in town with my blue paint chip in my hot little hand, the one I'd taped beside the huge bay windows to watch the effect of the light upon it all day.

I'd made up my mind to buy a low-toxic paint this time, first time ever, so I walked into the store and asked the salesman if they carried one of the new low-toxic paints. He reached for a can on the shelf and gave me a neat little spiel about how it was low in this and that, plus, it was 25 percent off price-wise. Nice. I was out of there in less than five minutes.

But on Saturday, also on my way out to the farmhouse, I first stopped at our local Value Home Center to see if they, also, had a low-toxic paint, but perhaps for a bit cheaper. A rather elderly salesman asked if he could help me, so I asked if they carried a low-toxic paint.

Immediately, I was sorry I asked.

He rolled his eyes and told me all paints are safe. Well, except for oil paints. With virtually all paints, the smell disappears within 24 hours. ("That's not the point," I thought to myself. "I want to inhale the least amount of toxins each time I dip my brush into the bucket and stand nose-to-wall.")

He went on to say that oh, yes, (a certain company) carries paint which they say is safer (he smirked), but he'd heard they were all junk. "You're practically going back to the days of milk paint and that stuff was poor." Then he laughed.

I thought, "Most likely, this guy thinks 'going green' is a big fat joke and anyone who eats organic is a deluded moron."

After just nodding, smiling and stepping away, I tried matching a different paint chip to one of theirs, but couldn't and this salesman guy practically hovered over my back. He spoke as though I'd never painted a wall in my life. I felt about 20 years old (and not in a good way, either).  ツ

Oh brother. As soon as he walked away, so did I. Right out the door.

Why am I sharing this? Because if I was like I once was, I'd have argued with him about trying to stay away from as many toxins as possible. That's it's not just about the scent of wet paint, but a lot more. I'd have told him about my success with the lower-toxic paint I'd bought from Sherwin Williams--how, even on an incredibly humid day, it had covered super well. I'd have told him I'd been painting rooms for 30 years and knew my way around a paint can and a paint brush. I'd have said, "Just humor me, all right? Grab a can off the shelf and tell me it's the safest one your store makes."

All spoken sweetly-with-an-edge, of course, but I'd have told him.

But you know what that urge is called, don't you? It's an urge called Pride. Pride of having to defend oneself so the other guy doesn't think you're an idiot. Having to make certain that people understand you because hey, your opinions matter.

But yesterday when I considered saying any of the clever retorts swirling around my brain, I just sighed. Spouting off seemed way too tiring and a waste of time. There was no way I was gonna change this guy's mind, so why try? He'd been around longer than I have and--most likely--is one of those people who believe, "if it hasn't killed me after all these years, then there must be nothing wrong with it."

If I'd felt God nudging me say to something, I would have, ok?

But alas, no nudges. No anything. So I said nothing. And I walked out to the car rejoicing that I'd kept my mouth shut, because for me, Honey, that's progress.

Big-time progress. And big-time freedom, as well.

******

Here's an article about saving money at the supermarket (I've been reading this kind of stuff for 30 years and never tire of it).

Here's an article I found interesting about saving money on buying organic food.

So what did Tom and I do for hours and hours this morning? We searched online (all bleary-eyed) for houses to buy in our area.

Sigh. And here I told you yesterday that I didn't want to get out of balance with this, yet there I was, like all, Must. Find. A House. THIS WEEKEND.

So I'm taking a break and will just share some helpful hints with you.

 See, for a few weeks now, I've strolled down the five blocks to the convenience store to buy the weekly issue of Woman's World Magazine for the 'natural cures' section. I'm searching for natural cures because--I don't know about you--but the older Tom and I get, the more high maintenance we become.

Uh-oh.

So here are some of the hints, ones that I'm finding actually work(!) Especially the grape juice one--I'm really-truly sleeping better now. Thank-goodness.

Ease muscle and joint aches with cherries/or cherry juice.

Vitamin D3 helps protect against heart attacks, cancer , kidney stones, osteoporosis and eases joint pain associated with arthritis. It also helps your brain release serotonin, a mood-boosting hormone.

You can reduce 'bad' cholesterol by as much as 20% by eating three almonds per day.

Eating oranges can help decrease lines and wrinkles in your face.

Prevent migraines by: relaxing, getting enough sleep, cutting out lunch meats, taking CoQ10, getting more magnesium, and cutting back on fats found in foods.

Protect your memory by eating fish and foods high in vitamin B (folic acid), exercising, getting enough sleep, enjoying new experiences and taking krill oil supplements. Vitamin B also enables us to extract energy from the food we eat and keeps estrogen from fueling fibroids.

Trouble sleeping? Eat grapes! Grape skins contain melatonin, a hormone that clues you to feel sleepy. (I've been drinking 1/4 cup of organic grape juice before I go to bed and it's been helping me sleep better. Honest.) Or 1/8th cup banana helps, also.

Earwax build-up? You may be low in essential fatty acids. Try taking 1 tbs. flax seed or 2,000 mg. fish oil daily.

Also, you can fall asleep faster by avoiding starchy foods like potatoes, rice, within four hours before going to bed. Eating a little protein, like peanut butter, right before bedtime can help some people.


******

So It's Lipstick Now?

Oh great. Now lipstick is poisonous. Well, lots of them have lead inside them.

Is anyone else as tired of all this as I am? Lead in toys and paint and gas and window sills and the dirt and etc., etc.?

Well, maybe I'm not tired of hearing all this bad news, but I am sick of worrying about it. I mean, hey. I've only used lipstick for a mere, oh, 32 years, or so. What's there to worry about? (argh)

So as with everything else, this will just be another thing which I will research and learn about and then make necessary, informed changes. After which I'll trust God for some extra mercy and protection from this world I'm stuck in at the moment. (Just this morning I was thinking it's a miracle that any of us reaches the age of 50, given how polluted and dangerous our world appears to be.)

I mean, what's a girl to do? Go without lipstick? Uh, not this girl.

And she's not going to sit around adding lipstick to her list of Things To Worry About. She's been trying to keep that list very short and well, there's just no room for something this small.


***

P.S. Speaking of worries.... I have a correction to make. The five discs in Tom's back which are messed up are herniated, not ruptured. I thought I had that info. straight, but alas, no. Herniated discs aren't as serious as ruptured ones--they can, apparently, wait awhile to be taken care of.

Where She Runs to the Kitchen, Not the Medicine Cabinet

I don't know. Maybe it's that I'm so sick of all those commercials for drugs on tv. You know, the ones which say, "Side-effects may include searing headaches, wild urges to gamble, turning green, oh, and, well, uhm--death."

And maybe it's all the research my daughter and I are doing into nutrition and the dangers of med's.

But frankly? I think we've all been duped. Brain-washed.

And it's like the book, New Choices in Natural Healing, says:

"What's really tragic about this is that we were so busy learning how to fix broken arms, deliver babies and do all of those "doctor" things in medical school that we considered nutrition to be boring," says Michael A. Klaper, M.D.... "But after we get into practice, we spend most of the day treating people with diseases that have huge nutritional components that have long been essentially ignored. I frequently get calls from doctors across the country saying that their patients are asking questions about nutrition and its role in their conditions and they don't know what to tell them."

Good. Grief.

Well for the past four years, ever since experiencing a months-long sinus/ear infection, I've been educating myself. Heck, I've been doctoring myself (I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on tv). And instead of racing to a medicine cabinet, I now race to my kitchen or outside or to a quiet place.

Examples?

If I have a headache, I drink a glass of water with a tablespoon of lime/lemon juice added. And/or I spray organic peppermint juice on a tissue and inhale (or I use arbor oil). And/or I take 1,000 Mg's of Vitamin C (good, I've found, for sinus headaches/infections). Or I delve more into what I may be eating/thinking/feeling which may be triggering these headaches.

If I experience ear pain, I chew a couple papaya enzyme tablets and take 1,000 mg's of Vitamin C.

Tummy upset? I drink ginger tea and/or chew an acidolphulus tablet.

Trouble sleeping? I no longer eat after 6 p.m., except for a small portion of (non-meat)protein before bed. I take a Calcium/Magnesium/Zinc pill and a Vitamin D before retiring.

Night sweats? I don't eat sugary foods after 2 p.m., or again, I don't eat a meal after 6 p.m.

Gaining weight? I eat less, take more walks and learn more about nutrition. I avoid processed foods with sucrose (or its forms) because it blocks your body's ability to feel full.

Feeling forgetful? I take a fish oil tablet each day (updated: krill oil. It's more potent and great for many problems). I eat more fish. I avoid drinking out of aluminum cans or using any product with aluminum as an ingredient (as in baking powder and underarm deodorant).

Constipated? I eat a prune or two. I eat more fruits and vegetables.

Bladder infection or discomfort? I take cranberry pills or drink cranberry juice (not the kind with added sugar).

Feeling stressful? I stop and ask, "have I had too much coffee or wheat products lately? What have your thoughts been like? Worry or dread-filled?"

Back pain? I do back-strengthening exercises. I watch my posture. I walk to lose weight and strengthen those muscles. I take hot baths.

Facial wrinkles? I use pure coconut oil.

Feeling arthritic? I cut out all decaf coffee (I've switched to organic and only drink it occasionally). I re-study the list of foods which may trigger arthritis to see if I've been eating any of them lately. 

I use a dehumidifier to remove moisture around our house. I step up my exercise program and do more stretching, including stretching before I even get out of bed. I pay attention to my thoughts and I forgive those who have wronged me. I let it go and then get on with my life.

I-- well, you get the idea. This is just a blog post, after all-- not a book.

And I'm just saying this is what I do--or aim to, anyway. You can do as you wish. 

But as for me, I plan to keep on running just about any other place on Earth rather than a medicine cabinet when I need help. And may I learn more about the healing power of foods, vitamins, herbs and oils as the years go by.


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I'd love to hear your own favorite natural cures in my comment box!


******

Healthy This and That

So Tom and I have been eating organic and making other changes for less than 7 weeks and I've lost 6 lbs. (without trying), I feel tons better, and my friend, Laura, said over lunch yesterday that my skin looked much clearer and had I changed my make-up?

Gotta love that.

I've had way fewer headaches and now if I begin getting a headache I just add a little organic lime juice to a glass of water and drink that. (Read that somewhere.) Or I spray a little arbor oil on a tissue and inhale it (peppermint is supposed to work, too). Or I sit and think happy thoughts. :) All seem to help within minutes. Of course, it would help even more if I'd get prescription reading glasses instead of just using my cheapo Dollar Tree ones for my poor ol' over-40 eyes. But hey.

Want more good news? Dr. Don Colbert, currently my favorite online/tv doctor (one of the few who won't just hand you a bottle of pills, but will urge you to change your diet, instead), had this multiple choice question in my favorite Bible teacher's magazine (I'm writing this from memory):

Which of these has the highest amount of heart-healthy antioxidants?

a. Green tea
b. Coffee
c. Hot chocolate

Of course, I thought it was yicky old green tea, but no! Dr. Colbert said it was hot chocolate. Hooray! (And another reason he is my favorite doctor. heh.) He said it's the dark chocolate in it which is good, but skip the milk fat and sugar, which are bad.

Well alas, for weeks I've been making a morning drink in which I do just that. I add a bit of pure baking cocoa to hot water, along with vanilla, one packet of Stevia and a splash of organic carob soy milk which I use like cream. After experimenting, I've come up with a not-bad-at-all morning hot drink. And just skipping the powdered cappuccino mix I used for years is probably why I've lost half the weight, since the mix was mostly all sugar.

So on top of all I have happening in my Life at this moment, I've been piecing together a whole new diet, of which I'm only half-way finished figuring-out. And yet, it's fun to learn new things.... it's marvelous to feel an energetic 20-years-old again... it's fantastic to have weight fall off. And it's great to see favorable results in so few weeks.