Do not vaccinate anyone!

The following is the best thing I have read so far about NOT vaccinating. I couldn't have said it better myself and I didn't have to do the massive amounts of cross referencing.

http://healthimpactnews.com/2013/dr-kurt-why-i-will-never-choose-to-vaccinate-my-own-son-and-any-future-kids-my-wife-and-i-have/

Bellies and Babies: Acceptance and Surrender

Bellies and Babies: Acceptance and Surrender: I am going to start changing my vernacular. I used to say that the stages of labor were primarily 3-fold. Early/Active, Transition/Pushing...



Excellent observation.

Time to plant...

In the next 12 or so weeks, I will be busy in my growing room, then in my garden. I thought I would try to help others who live in my growing zone and post exactly when I start my starters under the growing lights.

Today I am planting brassicas, celery, and luffa. Brassica means all the cold hardy broccoli, kale, cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts.

Stay tuned. In approximately 2 weeks, there will be the next step.

DIY Reed Diffuser with Essential oil... blog link

http://feedblitz.com/f/?fblike=http%3a%2f%2fwww.theprairiehomestead.com%2f2014%2f02%2fdiy-essential-oil-reed-diffuser.html

Valentines

One day, I will have to formally write why my family does not celebrate this holiday. But for now, this article can start explaining the basis.

http://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133693152/the-dark-origins-of-valentines-day

Essential oils for life

I was blessed today to be able to listen in on a Young Living Essential Oils webinar by Tricia Spears. I came to know Tricia through my midwife, Erika Obert. At that time she was a practicing midwife and I called her to pick her brain about homeopathy and pregnancy.

I asked her if I could tell all of my readers what I learned from her webinar, and she said yes. So here is what I learned.

I hope that someday all of this is common knowledge and many people will be saved from having to take the horrible chemicals that are routinely prescribed.

The theme for today's webinar was "The Natural Medicine Chest"

Before you start using essential oils, it would be a good thing to have a foot reflexology chart printed out and stored with your essential oil kit. You can find one here.

During the presentation there were 2 books mentioned. I would like to get them someday and read them. The first, Healing Oils of the Bible. The second, Cure Tooth Decay.

An interesting tidbit Tricia shared was that when people in the Bible were anointed, they were anointed with essential oils, not regular oils, since they have the ability to help the body heal from it's ailments.

The entire hour and a half, I was diligently writing as much information down as possible. At least as much as I could, with one hand trying to steady a pen and notebook and the other with a sleeping, nursing baby.

As you will see, high quality essential oils are a must. You can not just go to the health food store and purchase a bottle, although I do buy Aura Casia for laundry and household cleaning for our co-op. Most essential oil companies tell you that they are not to be used internally. While I don't see using EO's internally often, I do want a product that has a high quality in the case that I do want to take it internally, I can, without questioning what will happen. I have not yet used Young Living or DoTerra brands, but I have found another EO source that I trust just as much, Native American Nutritionals.
Some of the names of the EO blends are exclusive to Young Living. I have a reference chart that are equivalents to Young Living, Do Terra, and Native, here.

Please be aware that there are EO's that are considered "hot" and will need to be blended with a carrier oil such as coconut oil or sweet almond oil. Clove, cinnamon, and oregano are ones I know of.

There are 5 ways to use EO's. Neat, diluted, inhaled, ingested, and diffused. Neat is very simple, just put 1-2 drops straight on the skin. Diluted usually means adding an equal amount of EO to carrier oil. Inhaled means just that. You put the bottle under your nose and inhale deeply for a recommended amount of time. Ingested, you add a recommended amount of drops to a liquid or use a dilution in a capsule. Diffused, you purchase an EO diffuser to diffuse the EO around a specific room in the home.


Here is a list of common ailments and the EO's to help with each.

• Stomach aches / vomiting
• peppermint
• 1 drop on the arch of the foot, temples, forehead, or base of neck
• Headaches / Backaches
• peppermint, Panaway, or Valor
• 1 drop on location of pain
• Allergies
• lavender, frankincense, roman chamomile, or Valor
• 1 drop behind ears, on wrist, chest, or feet
• diffuse for 15 minutes every 2 hours as needed
• Asthma
• lavender, frankincense, R.C., or Breath Again
• 2 drops on the bottom of feet
• Bee stings
• mix together 2 drops lavender, 2d German chamomile, 1d peppermint, 1d vetiver
• put on sting every 15 minutes for 1 hour
• Broken bones
• on your way to the hospital, rub in 20 drops each of Panaway, wintergreen, and spruce
• AFTER you are back home take homeopathic remedy Eupatorium perfoliatum 30 and Arnica 30 (this was not in the presentation, just my own research I wanted to add)
• Burns / sunburn
• lavender directly on burn
• or 2-3 drops in 1 oz of distilled water in a spray bottle to mist
• Hyperness
• lavender on the bottom of feet before bed
• mix 1 cup Epsom's salt and 8 drops of lavender in a bath of water
• increase mineral intake with pink Himalayan salt
• Cavities / toothache
• butter oil and cod liver oil
• Thieves, clove oil, or tea tree
• Thieves mouthwash on a cotton ball between the cheek and gum
• Chickenpox
• 1 drop each roman chamomile, lavender, Melrose, Raven (Australian Blue if you have it)
• drop directly on foot and let each absorb totally before applying the next
• Tummy aches
• peppermint, ginger, fennel
• massage on abdomen in a 50/50 dilution in a clockwise motion
• if it is diarrhea, massage in a counter clockwise motion
• Cold sore
• mix 4 tbsp. coconut oil with 2 drops each lavender, Melissa, Melrose, sandalwood,Ravensara, thyme
• Cold / flu / bronchitis / virals
• 1-2 drops Thieves or frankincense on the top of the foot near the toes
• dilute 50/50 with coconut oil to use as a "Vick's" alternative to rub on chest
• Cough
• lemon or Purification
• dilute 50/50 and massage on chest or back
• Thieves on feet
• cough syrup (for 2 years and up)
• 1/4 cup raw honey, 6 drops Thieves, 10 drops lemon
• Colic
• 2 drops roman chamomile in a small bowl of warm water, use as a compress
• 1 drop dill in oil (very strong smell)
• massage into abdomen
• Cuts
• 1 drop helichrysum to stop heavy bleeding
• lavender to clean
• Earache
• lavender, lemon, or Raven
• rub on earlobe, around ear and behind
• NEVER in the ear
• Eczema
• lavender, juniper, ledum
• need lots of liver support
• rub over liver or bottom of feet
• Insect bites
• 1-2 drops lavender on bite
• spray repellent: 4oz distilled water, 10 drops Purification, 5drops peppermint. Mix together in a spray bottle and mist every hour or so.
• Insomnia
• Peace & Calming to pad of big toe
• 10 drops lavender with 2oz distilled water
• mist bedding
• Morning sickness
• peppermint
• inhale deeply and apply to left arch of foot before you step out of bed in the morning
• drink lemon water all day - always from glass (lemon leaches things from plastic)
• Pinkeye
• eucalyptus radiate, lavender, geranium, Purification, 3 Wise Men, or Immupower
• apply around bones of eyes, feet, thumbs, ankles, or base of neck
• NEVER in the eyes
• Poison ivy
• peppermint, eucalyptus dives, German chamomile, lemongrass, or lemon
• dilute 50/50
• Pneumonia
• Thieves, R.C., Raven, Immunpower, Purification, goldenrod, ledum, thyme, cinnamon, oregano, or frankincense
• 1-2 drops on ball of feet
• dilute 50/50, rub on chest/back
• use warm compresses
• diffuse 15 minutes, 3-10 times a day
• Runny nose
• peppermint, lemon, Thieves, R.C., Raven, Melrose, Idaho balsam fir
• rub on bottom of feet or bones of eyes (sinuses)
• Strep
• Thieves
• inhale
• apply to throat, chest, back of neck several times a day
• ingest: 4oz water or juice, 2-3 drops Thieves
• can also use a small amount of maple syrup and 2 drops Thieves
• Teething
• Thieves in coconut oil
• Panaway to jawline
• UTI
• Melrose directly over bladder with compresses
• lemongrass, Thieves, or Melrose
• ingest
•  2-3 drops in juice every 3-4 hours
• 10 drops lemon in 16oz of water
• take 2000mg vitamin C right before bed
• Vomiting
• ginger, peppermint, or fennel
• inhale
• 1 drop behind ear and over navel
• under tongue

I do hope to be able to sit in and listen to Tricia's other webinars. If you are interested, please contact me and I will get you the information.

I pray this information helps someone who needs it.

Homemade Laundry Room

After years of using Charlie's Soap, I am finally going to start making our laundry detergent too. I am planning on only making small batches, as large batches are hard to mix thoroughly and need a cool place to store. All my cool storage space is for food...

I am going to use the following recipe

• 1 bar (or 4 1/2 oz) of grated bar soap (homemade basic bar soap, Dr. Bronner’s, Ivory, ZOTE, or Fels-Naptha) I will be using my own homemade soap.
• 1 cup of borax
• 1 cup of washing soda
• 1/2 cup baking soda (buy in bulk and save big!)

Thoroughly stir together and use 1 tbsp for small loads and 2 tbsp for large/heavy duty loads. Yes, this is safe for HE washers.

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I also came across homemade fabric softener.  I haven't used any for a long time, much to my husband's dismay. So I will start, so his clothes can "smell clean". It's amazing what the laundry industry has done to us. Making us think our clothes have to reek of smell to be considered clean!

You can either add 1/4 cup of white vinegar and 6 drops of essential oil (lemon, sweet orange, tea tree, or lavender) or you can mix 1 cup Epsom salt and 10 drops of essential oil and add 1 tbsp in the softener spot.

I will try out both versions and let you know which I prefer. One may be better for hard water, but we will see.

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For dryer sheets, I have 2 alternatives. I have made/bought wool dryer balls. You can add a drop or 2 of essential oil on it and toss it in with your laundry. The other is to dampen a cloth square (my cloth
diaper wipes) and add a drop or 2 of essential oil on to that and toss it in with the clothes.

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Lastly, I have been using a natural alternative to bleach. There is a recipe here, but I just squirt a little lemon juice (bought in bulk at Sam's) and a squirt of hydrogen peroxide (also at Sam's) in the bleach spot.

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Here is an alternative to Oxyclean that I have not tried out yet. If you do try it, please leave a comment.