For now I’ve put away all the ”doggie” things in the house, including the big crate in the kitchen. I’ve taken the old chewed dog beds to the dump. And the house seems so quiet, and there are now so suddenly so many empty spaces.
I am working hard to create new daily patterns.
Well, maybe they are the same, just without ”that dog!”
I’ve blown off and swept the back deck—so it is ready to be washed down for the summer season. I just want it to get warmer before I drag out the hose and go to scrubbing. It’s 50’s and 60’s here. And rainy off and on.
I’ve weed whacked, mowed, and done a little weeding OUTSIDE—which felt good.
And somewhere in the past few days I put the Churn Dash quilt on the longarm. And that was a mistake—because the backing wasn’t square and needed trimming. So AFTER I had basted it, I realized it just wasn’t right. So I took the quilt (as yet unnamed) off the long arm and took out all the basting and started over—which included putting on a leader at the top to give me more room at the bottom. Yesterday the quilt went back on, and everything looks good. I got the edge and one pass done before I quit late yesterday.
I finally settled on a medium grey for the quilting—as it worked best with the front AND the back. You can just see a little at the top of the quilt—as all is now set up for another pass.
I have enough of a cheerful Cotton+Steel red blender that I’ll use for the binding—as the goal here is to use up this part of my stash.
Yesterday I made a run to Belfast—and on the way replenished my Dark Harbor coffee at Green Tree in Lincolnville Beach. I needed raw butter blocks from the Co-op. And I got some yarn to make a new red wool scarf to replace the one I’ve had some time—which I washed in early spring, and it felted. You just never know with wool in a washing machine… But, that scarf was way too short anyway. And it curled at the edges. Live and learn…
So I went into Heavenly Yarns and got some very pretty red wool that is a Maine product: Quince & Company, Osprey.
I’m just going to do the same pattern I did with an aqua wool scarf I made because I like it so much. It has seed stitches at the edges so it won’t curl—and is just a simple basket weave pattern.
This improv ”thing” is going to grow into something—a rug maybe. Basically it is using up fabric selvages and cotton yarn I had from other projects. I’ll go around the center with the cotton yarn—and them I’ll start back in some way with fabric selvages. It’s an experiment. It’s funky. I don’t really care… It’s just…something.
That’s my Dew Drop cold diffuser next to the yarn. It could take ”doggie” smells out of the downstairs in nothing flat.
I knitted the center, as I’ve done with selvage placemats—but had to resort to crochet when the piece got bigger. Maybe it will wind up being one block that gets sewn to others. It takes a long time to make the selvage center as it requires…selvages. And I’ve been using up stash fabrics for months now.
Speaking of the Cotton+Steel stash project, I think the big Bear Paw blocks will use up the remaining 3-inch strips that I cut. And I have enough of the ”Dotty” neutral for the sashing.
Today is very foggy and cool.
I’ll get out for a walk—maybe with my ear phones and my Audible book.
OUTSIDE is good, you know.
And then I’ll grill a steak for lunch/dinner and work on the longarm.
Turkey Tracks and Interesting Information: February 22, 2022
My Supplements and Health Helpers
I hesitated to share the information in this post for some time, but I’m going to share it today.
I will be 77 in mid-March, and except for the mast cell disorder with its histamine intolerance reactions, over which I have likely had no control in terms of how it started, I am really healthy. I don’t take any Big Pharma medicines, I eat a very healthy and clean diet and cook for myself, and I’ve done a pretty good job of eliminating stress from my life. I am physically pretty active: I help clean my house, I do most of my own garden work and all the mowing on this challenging property I own, and in good weather, I do daily outdoor events with AC doggie.
So, I thought I’d share my health practices.
I currently take these supplements. Mercola’s products ARE more expensive, but they are clean (no magnesium sterate fillers which can eliminate one’s uptake of needed nutrients) and are made from clean ingredients found in nature and not chemical concoctions in labs. What is not pictured here is the melatonin I take at night—not so much to sleep, but because I’ve read numerous studies from mainstream medicine now that melatonin is a really good supplement to prevent and/or manage the covid virus.
Most of this collection of supplements is recommended to help prevent illnesses, including covid. Some are specific to me—see below.
Too many Americans are deficient in magnesium and vitamin D3. And, Zinc. So those three are important. I can’t take Zinc; it makes me throw up, and the Quercetin helps balance mast cell reactions to triggers and is a stand-in for Zinc. I added iodine recently because I was not sure, with my diet, that I was getting enough. I do have added energy these days, so adding iodine has been good I think. Vitamin C, especially in winter, is an important addition—and one that helps the immune system. I can’t eat citrus, so I take the C except for summer—though I read recently that red bell peppers have more vitamin C than some fruits. I eat a lot of salt combined with herbs as I can’t do most spices—and salt washes potassium out of one’s system, especially, apparently mine, as I’ve turned up deficient during one trip to the hospital when I passed out. If I have leg cramps, I now know that the balance between potassium and magnesium is ”off.” Usually adding potassium fixes that, but sometimes more magnesium is needed. Too much magnesium can cause diarrhea, so that can be a delicate balance. Human bodies are so much more complicated than many realize I think.
I have worked with a local homeopath for 15+ years now. She keeps me healthy and has corrected a lot of constitutional problems I have, like the poison ivy that would systemically go all over my body and would cause great weeping patches of oozing sores until stopped with a steroid. I don’t get poison ivy any more. And I have not had a cold in well over a decade now.
My homeopath has been using these plant-based tinctures for several years now—and she changes them up for me as needed. One takes just a few drops a day. During the past two covid years, this is what I have been taking: Blackthorn and Sea Buckthorn are the anti-virals, among other immune system boosters; Hazel helps the liver and lungs and resolves inflammation; olive helps the cardiovascular system and also helps with any inflammation.
Here’s a quote about these gemmotherapies: ”Vital Extract is the gemmotherapy line produced exclusively for Lauren Hubele, LLC by Plant Extrakt of Cluj, Romania, Europe’s leading production facility for homeopathy and gemmotherapy. Vital Extract Gemmotherapy is backed by the most extensive and most current research in Europe and offers the widest selection of products available in America.”
The back story is that Romania couldn’t afford a western-democracy style of medicine so developed these products for their citizens. And the claim is that they are working well.
My homeopath also uses traditional homopathic remedies. I have a medicine kit of these remedies, so if I have an issue after talking to my homeopath, they are immediately available to me. I also have many, many packets of remedies my homeopath has provided that are not in this kit. Some target the histamine issues I have.
If you buy remedies in a local store, you would look for the blue container shown at the bottom of the picture. Arnica Montana is a vital remedy to have on hand for any time you have an injury. It works wonders to prevent bleeding and bruising.
Here’s what the remedies look like—3 of them are a dose. Don’t touch then with your fingers as that can put skin oil on them that might slow them down. If there is an acute problem, like an injury, you would repeat doses in short intervals of something like 15 minutes. But, except for Arnica probably, here’s where you need help from a homeopath. And, if you live in a state that does not allow them, know that you can find a good homeopath and work with them via zoom meetings.
In recent years I have added Young Living Essential oil products—and I have a membership with them so I can order at reduced prices. I have gradually switched to their cleaning, hand soap, shampoo, and lipstick products as well. If you are interested, there will be someone near you who sells them. I am not interested in starting a business, but I will order products for my friends at the prices I get.
All this winter, I’ve kept this little bottle of oregano on my kitchen window sill. If I wake up feeling ”stuffy,” one sniff clears my entire head and throat in short order. Oregano is a ”hot” oil, so be careful and don’t sniff too hard or you’ll feel like your nose is burning. Go gently. Ditto the peppermint oil that I love so much. I read somewhere that Oregano oil can kill pathogens in your nose and throat. I don’t know. I just know when I use it, all stuffiness goes away immediately for the entire rest of the day.
Here’s a view of a cabinet in my kitchen. I keep lavender very nearby as if I burn myself, it can stop the burning pain immediately. Copaiba is also good for injuries. Longevity is for AC doggie—there are claims it keeps ticks and fleas away. I can’t eat citrus, but I can use the citrus oils sparingly to flavor foods without problems it seems. They are especially lovely, for me, added to olive oil for a salad and soups/stews. They carry a big punch of flavor. The Vitality line is meant to be orally used—like adding drops of lemon oil to water as a treat.
I also use a cold diffuser for these oils and now have one in the kitchen and one downstairs. They eliminate cooking and doggie and just stale-air odors all over the house. There are claims made that many of the oils are medicinal and cleansing as well. I don’t doubt it.
Here’s my desk cabinet with oils I particularly like in the upstairs diffuser. The downstairs one has different needs, but I have a cabinet of beloved oils down there too.
I do know that the tree oils ARE medicinal and have been used by native people for centuries as healing compounds. One can mix these oils in a diffuser, like using 3 of the tree oils. Or, something like lavender and lemon. The possibilities are endless.
I also use wool dryer balls in my clothes dryer, and I often sprinkle a favorite oil on a few of them to make my clothes smell extra special. Smelling oils also puts them into your body where they can do their good work.
This whole journey is definitely one sparked by living in (mostly) rural Maine—where I am close to the earth, small farms, clean food, the Maine forest, and people who are making this journey with me. I didn’t acquire all of these products overnight. It took two decades.
Louisa Enright's Blog 