Day: February 24, 2016

Turkey Tracks: Snow Day Quilting

Turkey Tracks:  February 24, 2016

Snow Day Quilting

It’s a kind of a snow day.

We had wet, slick snow early, followed by ice, followed now by rain–and temps are rising.

The Coastal Quilters Sit and Sew cancelled for this morning, wisely.  People come from far away here in rural Maine, and the early roads were not good.

I did get out for my haircut, but am now hunkered down with the pleasure of sewing to my heart’s content.

These 30 quilt blocks are ready to sew together:

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Is this wild or what?

Here’s a close-up:

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I have not decided about a small border yet.  It seems wild enough.  What do you think???

I have a great backing fabric for this quilt.

These are Bonnie Hunter’s block from the 2015 “American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine” four-patch challenge.

This is my second quilt using this block.  This one is set in cheddar fabric and surrounded by sashings made from my “crumb” bag.

(I don’t think the crumb bag is going down in size; I’m pretty sure those crumbs are breeding during the dark of night.  But I adore sewing them into something fun.)

I had to make fourteen more sashings, so I found my self organizing the crumbs into piles that stopped all the mindless pawing through off of them.)

I pulled off fabrics that I thought would work in Bonnie’s Wild and Goosey block:

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I now have TWO of these.  And I’m thinking they will make a third “bright” quilt for Bryan and Corinne’s youngest.  I’ll put up pics of the first two “brights” after they have been gifted.

I’ll use sashings to surround each block–maybe a bit wider than the cross sashing in the block’s middle.  It will be one fabric, not scrappy.  That will make these little blocks pop out nicely.

I AM PUTTING THE BINDING ON “ALLIETORE,” and it’s glorious.  Bonnie hit this one right out of the ball park.

 

Interesting Information: Blood Pressure Meds: Yes or No?

Interesting Information:  February 24, 2016

Blood Pressure Meds:   Yes or No?

In the past few weeks, I’ve run across a handful of friends who have mentioned that they are taking meds to lower their blood pressure.

I love it when the universe begins to send me information regarding something about which I have questions.

I’m reading the winter issue of WISE TRADITIONS, the Weston A. Price journal.  Inside there is a review of an audio CD by Dr. Donald K. Weber, DC called HEALTH 101 SIMPLIFIED, page 80.  (This issue is not yet online but will be eventually.)

Here’s a quote written by the reviewer:

Dr. Weber’s views on blood pressure are a little different from those of most other doctors.  He believes that your blood pressure is what it is supposed to be.  In other words, artificially adjusting it with drugs is not “correcting” anything.  Blood pressure is controlled by oxygen levels in the brain.  If the brain is not getting enough oxygen it raises the blood pressure until it does get enough oxygen.  Normal blood pressure is considered to be around 120 over 80, although the pharmaceutical companies would like to lower those figures so that they can make a whole lot more money selling their drugs to a lot more people.

The ratio of 120 over 80 is 3:2.  If your pressure is higher but is the same ratio (150 over 100, for example), then you are dehydrated, according to Dr. Weber.  I’m pretty sure there is not a drug in the world that cures dehyderation, but I’m not a doctor.  Weber also mentions that chemicals from things like processed lunch meat can raise blood pressure.

Many doctors seem to prefer prescribing expensive drugs to lower blood pressure.  Do they work?  Well, they lower pressure but they do that by weakening the heart.…The result is insufficient oxygen to the brain resulting in dizziness, light-headedness or even blackouts.  That is a known side-effect of blood pressure medication.  Over the long run, brain cells start dying when they don’t get enough oxygen.

My other go-to person with heart and other issues is Dr. Sherry A. Rogers.  She’s a big believer in the notion that we are all low in magnesium–which cause all sorts of heart problems and high blood pressure.  (She backs up everything she says with citations from leading studies and journals.)  She recommends an easy to find magnesium product, Natural Calm, taken twice a day.  She has a book on blood pressure, THE HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE HOAX, but here’s a quote from IS YOUR CADIOLOGIST KILLING YOU?

There are so many ways to lower and permanently CURE high blood pressure that it boggles the mind why we insist on merely bludgeoning it for the rest of our lives with drugs.  Especially drugs that guarantee you will require more drugs, while bringing on an avalanche of more side effects, symptoms and diseases (15).

Remember that docs do not get any nutritional training.  Most don’t begin to know how to use foods to CURE problems.  (Rogers says eating four stalks of celery a day will magically lower blood pressure.)  Docs are practitioners, not scientists or nutritionists.  They only know what those pesky drug companies are telling them about health problems.  They’ve lost the whole vocabulary of “CURE.”  They are now just managing illness–and contributing to it far to often.  AND, they have become “workers in the system,” in that if they do not follow the “standards of care,” they are driven out.  That’s how a strong market works to increase its market share.

So….

Before you buy into thinking you even have high blood pressure, get one of those inexpensive cuffs from the drug store and take your blood pressure over the course of a few days at different times over each day. Figure the ratio.  If it’s “high” or not 3:2, drink water and test again.

My late husband’s blood pressure zoomed so high in ANY doctor’s office that they would threaten to hospitalize him on the spot.  At home it was just fine.

I hope this little post gives you some information on this very serious subject and that you will investigate more before taking any medication.