Wednesday, April 29, 2009

A poor mans medicinals






Okay so I was wondering what it was that I did today when my husband came home for lunch and asked. When he left I thought about it and realized today I was the family doctor. Besides the normal things I do, such as Homeschooling, making meals from scratch, taking care of all our animals. There are 7 big chickens in the coop, 5 baby chicks that need special care also one rabbit and one cat, also tending to my garden and doing all the other things that I do. So I decided I would like to share with you how to make some basic medicines cheaply. The children caught a cold. They all have runny noses and so the first recipe is for a basic cough medicine.

Basic cough medicine:
Take one whole onion and chop it as fine as you can. Then pour in just enough honey to cover the onion. You need to let the mixture sit for a good 12 hrs for it to work well. Then take about a teaspoon, 3 times a day. More or less is fine.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Remember babies under 1 should not have honey, so this is not for small babies. It is however, very easy to make and use. I wish I had thought about blogging it as I made it, so I could have taken step by step pictures. We didn't have a lot growing up and my Mom used what she could. This is what she made for us.
My personal ear infection mix:
My next problem came about as a result of the cold. My youngest woke up with an ear ache pulling at his ear, so I went out to the garden, got some oregano, came back in got a clove of garlic and olive oil to make the next medicinal for an earache.
Cut the oregano in strips. Cut the garlic in slices. Put in enough olive oil to cover both and warm just a bit warmer than room temperature. This is going in the ear and should just be comfortably warm. If it is a nice day you may even want to let the sun warm it for you. This mixture works so well and is my own compilation. The first ingredient is warm olive oil. My Grandmother Rose told me this is what they used when she was young. Next my friend Maribel who is of Nicaraguan decent told me they use fresh oregano. Finally my friend Renada who is from Chekslovakia told me they use a clove of garlic. When my precious 6 1/2yr. old son had an ear infection about 1 1/2 yrs ago I didn't want to take any chances and mixed all three with immediate results. However, if you only have one item, use that. You are only going to be putting clear oil into the ear with a dropper, not any of the pieces of herbs. That is why it is not necessary to cut them too small. If you do not have the oil, warm what you have in a small amount of water, again remembering you don't want to put any pieces in the ear. Just drop the mixture in the ear and don't worry if it comes back out. I couldn't find the dropper and had to use a Q-tip. A dropper is much better!!!

My final medicinal for ring worm:
For ring worm by the eye: My daughter got ring worm right by her eye around the tear duct. Going to the doctor without insurance is expensive and I hate to say it, but where I am we lack a really good doctor and we've never obtained much help when we've gone. So I set about trying to study what to use that would be safe for her by the eye. Now I know most of you will not have neem available to you but I am blessed with a neem tree in our back yard. I would be willing to sell it to you in small quantities if you are interested, available in dry powder or leaf form. I'm not looking to start a business but would appreciate compensation for my time and effort.
I studied and found a few things that seem to be listed often for treating ring worm. The first item was sea salt which is readily available at the grocery store. The idea is that it helps dry out the ring worm which is a fungus and must stay damp to live. The second item I chose to incorporate was apple cider vinegar. I knew that my mother used it VERY deluded as an eye rinse for pink eye, so I thought this would be a good option. Lastly, the neem is known for many things, one of them being it is anti fungal. Neem is safe for all ages internally so I figured it was safe externally also. I mixed the three ingredients with water to dilute the vinegar. (9 parts water to 1 part vinegar) Then I smashed in dried neem leaves. I took the mixture and set it out to sun. I began to use this on my daughter and it is working beautifully. It does not work as quickly as many things mind you, it is slow. The ring worm is now barely visible. At one point it looked dark and scary because of it's location. My mother cautioned me to continue use even after the ring worm is no longer visible. It is a condition that penetrates down a few layers and may still be there lingering out of sight. You must not wash ring worm. It needs to dry out and wetting it restrengthens it. I made more today because I ran out. If the ring worm is anywhere else you may simply coat it with clear fingernail polish. Apply a fresh coat daily over the old coat. This will suffocate it. This is what I did with my medicine cabinet today. Perhaps you found something useful!

Monday, April 27, 2009

How to cloth diaper using receiving blankets

This post is to teach you how to cloth diaper using rags and receiving blankets. It is so very frugal and easy once you get the hang of it! Happy,simple,and affordable cloth diapering!!!



1. first lay out receiving blanket pattern side down unlike picture which is face up.

2. fold blanket in half and flatten

3. Fold in half again and flatten

4. Take only the top layer of fabric and begin to pull up and to the side.


5.straighten the diapers and corners. Then while holding both sides of the top flip the whole diaper over.
6.Next for extra absorbency add a soaker layer, or rag. I used cut up old towels. I think it is important to have the soaker layers all be the same size, but it is only to make folding easier, and not important. Try to fold so that the soaker is the same length as the diaper up and down. It is best to fold until the fold ends in the middle weather it takes two or three folds to get there is not important.



7. Next fold in the soaker layer. Two folds works well for me.

Now it is ready to either put on baby or fold to use when needed.


I find it important to keep my hand tucked in the diaper while pinning to protect my little one. I haven't jabbed myself yet but I could.

Last but not least if you would like to keep your blankets unstained and make clean up easier. You can fold a regular cloth diaper in half the long way twice w/ the open side crease down and centered in the middle of the diaper both horizontally and vertically. this enables you to be able to take that part out should there be a poopoo diaper and just holding both ends swirl it in the toilet to clean. No hands on scrubbing for this girl.(-= These diapers wash very well and don't smell at all!!! They also line dry well because they are made from such thin materials when unfolded. I love them and love diapering this way!!!