Home Remedies to Heal the Sick

I have several home remedies that are my "go tos" when the children get sick. Now, I know that there are going to be folks thinking it so let me dispel any wrong ideas....These are my first line of attack on illness...if there are worsening symptoms or we don't start to see improvement we head to the doctor to get things checked out. However, 99% of the time these things work well for me and have been known to shorten the duration and intensity of a cold.

General All Around remedy
1 tbls. raw honey
1 tbls. raw garlic minced
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

Take a tsp. every hour. We have never had the cayenne pepper burn. Even my little one takes this with no trouble. Raw honey and raw garlic are both antiviral/antibacterial and the cayenne pepper helps loosen congestion along with numbing a sore throat.

To Loosen up Sinus Congestion:

1 pot of steaming water
3 drops oregano oil

Add the drops of oregano oil to the steaming water and lean over the pot with a towel over your head. Make sure that you close your eyes as the steaming oregano oil can burn them. This might not be for real little ones as sometimes it can burn, but it will really open up sinuses. Oregano oil is powerful stuff and will burn so please don't think that you need to add a whole bunch of it. 3 drops is usually good for a couple quarts of water.

Sore throat remedy:
raw honey
coconut oil
cayenne pepper

Mix equal amounts of raw honey and coconut oil, then add a dash or two of cayenne pepper. Warm slightly, then take a tsp or two. Not only do the honey and coconut oil coat and soothe a raw throat but the cayenne pepper numbs it.

Colloidal silver
I use this in a nasal atomizer along with a throat atomizer and typically use with the above remedies.

The key with any of these remedies is to catch the illness at the very first sign and to use often. By often I typically mean every hour for the first day or two then you can back off. Often, if the children get sick and I know that usually I catch what they will I will start the General remedy while they are taking it and I never really get more than a few sneezes. Sure beats fever, chills, sneezing and coughing.

Good luck this winter and keep those hands clean! Blessings from the farm, Kat

***Disclaimer-I am not a doctor, just a mom. This is not meant to be a substitute for medical treatment when needed.

Garden Now for Springtime Ease

I am closing up the garden for the winter. I chose not to garden this fall with my thyroid issues, but I am making sure that spring will be as easy to get started as possible. So here is my list of things to accomplish so that this spring/late winter I am ready to go.

1. pull all old plants and weeds in beds.

2. Add some dried leaves and compost to the beds and mix well.

3. Cover the beds. I use whatever is handy, old plastic tablecloth material, tarps, feed bags and even a thick layer of pinestraw or leaves. This will keep those weeds from coming up before you get in there to plant.

4. Clean, oil, and put away garden tools.

5. Empty all old dirt out of any pots, wash them out, and then stack them up.

6. Since we all rotate things around the garden (hint, hint), go ahead and move trellises to where you will need them next year.

7. Add another layer of mulch to the pathways, or wherever else you might use mulch.

8. Disconnect and drain hoses, then roll them and hang them near the faucet.

9. Make any fence repairs that need repairing.

10.Clean up any trash (you know the pile of plastic nursery starter pots that the squash plants came in).

In the spring all you will need to do is push away the mulch/covers, plant, hook up the hoses and water. Easy peasy spring planting. Blessings from the farm, Kat

A Must Read Blog Post

June over at A Wise Woman Builds Her Home has a beautiful post from this past week about many different ways to disciple to your children. Her blog has always been an inspiration to me. I hope you enjoy her post as much as I did. Blessings from the farm, Kat

Read June's Post here

October 2014 Update

Well, October is here and we are finally beginning to feel like it is fall. I just hope it stays fall for a little while and we don't just hop right into winter. Healthwise, I am about the same. So I won't go deeply into that subject. I feel like I have complained enough already. The good news is that most of the wood to get us through the winter is put up and ready to go. We probably need another half cord put in to make sure we get through and then we will be putting up next year's wood. We were very fortunate to lose two very large oak trees last year and they will last us quite some time for firewood. We are very happy about having the wood almost finished since it is usually the thing that we are really behind on and wind up having to split more wood in January to finish out the winter. Splitting wood when you can't feel your hands is really no fun. On a sad note we have decided that it is time to put our old stallion down. He is 29, almost 30 and he just won't keep weight on anymore. He also has developed episodes of diarrhea for no reason. He is parasite free and no changes in feed have been made. His body is just shutting down and putting him through another winter would be cruel. No matter what he eats or how much he loses weight. He won't be able to stay warm enough. We are very sad about it since we have had him almost 20 years now. It has been an especially hard thing for my husband to wrap his mind around even though we knew this day was coming. He and that old stallion have a special bond. Thunder can be really opinionated about things, but my husband could "talk" him into cooperating when no one else could.

We made a huge freebie score this week, and I love freebies. A friend of ours had a trailer that she rented out. Well, she decided she didn't want to fool with tenants anymore and the last one really trashed the trailer. So she sold the trailer. She told me that the guy who bought it didn't want anything in it so we got a propane wall heater (we really needed another one for the back of the house), and loads of books! I couldn't believe all the books in that place and I had a field day collecting books while my poor hubby was stuck removing the heater. The books are outside on the porch right now because I need to figure out how to disinfect them. Yes, the inside of that trailer was that bad. I also need to go through some of our books and get rid of them. We read a lot of books, so people give us books, and we wind up with loads of "read once" kind of books. I have decided to sell some of them on amazon. Usually we don't get much trade in on them at the trading bookstore and we don't know anyone who reads as much as we do. I have tried to give them to other people and they might take 1 out of a whole box. We could use the money even if it is only a little. I am also back working on writing my books. I am almost finished with a book about colony raising rabbits. These are books that will be published as e-books on amazon. I am excited about it.

Our biggest focus around here has been schoolwork. Petunia is a junior and we are working on scholarships and colleges/photography schools for her along with finishing up her coursework. our little one is a little behind with her reading skills, but she is improving and we are really seeing progress now. I am really excited about that. Reading has been a really BIG struggle for her and now she is seeing her progress and getting excited about reading. She told me the other day that she wants to read Black Beauty all by herself. So that is our goal. Not an immediate goal...Frog and Toad are what we can handle at this moment...but a goal. 6 months ago she was ready to give up, so for her to have a goal to keep reading is amazing!

Fall chores are a little behind around here, but I guess not of them are really that pressing. We will get them done in due time and what doesn't get done before it is too cold to work outside will just have to wait until spring. We don't have too many big projects to do anymore since we are pretty set where we want to be. We do have some fence work to do, especially around the garden. Our pallet fence has lasted for about 3-4 years. Much longer than we expected. So, it is a little worn and we really should replace it. I think that will definitely be a spring project. I am trying to keep going with things around here, but I am slow. Things that would have taken me a couple of days to complete might take me a week or a little more now. It is what it is and I just have to take it slow for now. I am still holding out hope that life will get better for me and I will feel better at some point.

Well that is about it for now. Have a great October and I will be back soon. Blessings from the farm, Kat