Tips For Homemakers

I am not a doctor or nurse.  But I know my body and at 61, it has definitely slowed down.  I am not as active and I have never been a person who eats all the things on that food pyramid.

I have had pain in my lower abdomen for years on and off.  I have been to my doctors office many times with no solution.  I knew I was often constipated and figured that had to be part of the tummy problems.

My niece, Kathi, had given her son  probiotics (7 years old, with loose stools) for his stomach problems and kept telling me what a difference it has made for him.  Then I heard a doctor on PBS talking about probiotics and the benefits.

Well, I am one of those people that believes nothing is a coincidence.   So I listened carefully as she explained how our bodies stop producing as much “friendly bacteria” as we get past 50 years of age.  Also, antibiotics that kill off the bad bacteria also kill off the friendly bacteria (at any age).   She said a lot more but I don’t want to misquote her or try to explain things I am not qualified to explain.  I wish I could remember her name.

Anyway, this doctor said get a probiotic that has at least 10 strains of bacteria, the ones that start with B’s and L’s.  She also said it should have at least 15 billion cells and be enteric (means it won’t be destroyed in the stomach by the acids but will actually get to the gut to do it’s job).

I went online and bought a 16 strain, 32 billion cell, vegetarian enteric probiotic and started taking two a day.  It has been well over month, more like six weeks, and my stomach problems no longer exist and I have not been constipated one time.  In fact, my digestive tract is working so well that I seldom ever miss a day.

I know that is rather personal information but gosh, getting older is tough.  The aches and pains, the medical problems that creep up on you (I will be having a hip replacement in the near future), and just not feeling the strength to do all that you want to do.   I just wanted to share with anyone that wants to listen, probiotics has made my life better.  I actually think I have more energy.

This is my testimony and I am not a doctor.  I did not see anywhere any precautions or warnings about taking probiotics.  I saw no side effects written anywhere either.   I hate taking pills and I have never been good at making myself even take vitamins.  But, I NEVER forget to take the probiotics because it has made a dramatic change in my life.  One less pain in my life…it rocks.

I wash and reuse my peanut butter jars and mayo jars that are plastic.  I put them in my husband’s work area in the shed.  They hold nails and screws and other loose small items.

Instead of just sitting the jar on a shelf in his work area, I cut some 2×4s that fit between the studs in the shed.  Before attaching the boards to the studs, I attached the lids to the bottom of the 2×4s.   I put a screw in the middle of the lid (on the inside of the lid).  Once I put two or three on the board, I then screwed/nailed the 2×4 between the studs.  So you are basically creating shelves but the jars hang from the bottom of the shelves.    Leave enough space between the shelves so you can screw and unscrew the bottom part of the jar.

Also, the mayo jars are great for storing food that you might want to refrigerate or even take to someone’s house or for packing in your lunch.   I save leftover soups and chili in the containers.

Picture this.  A large dog food bowl sitting inside a larger bowl–actually, the larger bowl is an aluminum turkey pan.  The water is put into the aluminum turkey pan about two inches deep.

I told you previously how I made a moat around my dog’s food dish and put dish detergent in the water of the outer bowl to keep the ants out of the food.  Well, the problem with that was the dish detergent was slippery and the dish kept moving to the side of the outer pan and then the ants could crawl into the dog food.  I tried adding glass cleaner to the water instead.  I have done this now for over a week and no ants and no sliding bowls.

I am forever getting ant bites.  On two acres, it would be difficult and costly to kill all the ants.  I have found Amdro works great for the ant piles.

I was lying in bed the other night and I had one ant bite on my thumb knuckle that was hurting/stinging.  I wasn’t even sure it was an ant bite but it was bothering me so much, I couldn’t fall asleep.

I went to the medicine cabinet and saw some pain relief, anesthetic gel and I figured if it can numb a tooth ache, it was worth a try.  I applied a small film on the knuckle and it only took a few minutes and it felt better.  I don’t know if it actually numbs it, but I did fall asleep right away.

Now I am not a doctor and I am not recommending doing this for everything but it did work for me.  There was no open wound.  And if you can put it in your mouth, it seemed safe enough.   I guess when you are desperate, you seek out unconventional ways to relieve your pain.  I just try to be resourceful of the things I have in my house.

I managed a coffee shop for awhile and we had a drink there called Javachino.  I fell in love with it.  The shop closed and I can’t get the exact ingredients but I made a drink that is almost as good.  Use a blender and put:

1 cup of cold milk (2 %)

1/4 cup of ice cream

8 to 10 ice cubes (mine are those skinny half circle cubes)

2 tablespoons of Folgers Cappuccino french vanilla (or other flavor)

I blend it until the cubes are crushed thoroughly.  The drink should be icy.  It is delicious.  It is a great afternoon treat.  When my niece comes over or my girlfriend, we always enjoy one.  But keep in mind, it is fattening with the ice cream so I wouldn’t suggest drinking one every day.

We live in Florida where there is a lot of lightning striking the trees.  We have actually lost 5 trees in 13 years on our two acres.  We had over 300 trees but we cut them down and only left about 12 scattered on our property grouped in threes.

I buy bark chips for my flower beds.  So when the last tree was hit, we did not immediately cut it down.  The bark started falling off in big chunks.  I collected it and broke into smaller pieces for my beds.

Another benefit of leaving the tree up, the wood peckers love to peck on the dead trees so we enjoyed more birds in our yard.

I mentioned before my neighbor, Gail gives me her horse manure over the fence….into a wheel barrow/wagon.   I found another purpose for the manure.  She has two large horses now so there is an abundance of manure being thrown over the fence.  lol

We live on two acres that use to have over three hundred pine trees planted on it.  We had the trees cut down and were paid for the timber which was great.  Unfortunately, the roots are composting/rotting away under the soil.  Thus, we have low spots in our yard.

We started filling the holes with the horse manure and now after more than a year, we have great grass growing in those low spots.   The horse manure Gail gives to me has a lot of wood chips and straw in it from the barn area.

The reason it makes my life easier is I can now walk outside and not fall into low spots in my yard and it sure makes it easier to mow the lawn when the yard is level.

We still have a lot of low spots to fill but Gail assures me that as long as she keeps feeding those horses, the manure will continue.

I only see my grand daughter two or three times a year.  She is now 7 years old.

This year when I went to my son’s house for Thanksgiving I took a few craft items to share with Madison.   We had so much fun.  It also helped me to stay focused on her.  Making memories !!!!!

I bought a artificial wreath to decorate.  We went to the park and collected tiny pine cones and some of the Sycamore balls.  We painted them with glitter paint and let them dry.   We attached them with green pipe cleaners.    I also bought some very small red jingle bells that I attached together in bundles of three with the green pipe cleaners and attached to the wreath.  Then we added some candy canes for some extra color.

I also bought a pottery kit which was $20 on sale.  It was great.   We made one large and two small bowls…cups???  They air dry and then you paint them.  Great for sitting on your dresser and putting hair accessories or change, etc.   My daughter had taken a pottery class so she was a lot of help and enjoyed the time with her niece also.  Now I am thinking I want my own real pottery wheel.   Retirement is right around the corner…plenty of time for that stuff.

I also bought a few of the foam Christmas ornaments to put together, with glue.   Also, we painted some sun catchers.

My grand daughter cried when I left and it broke my heart.   It also made me feel good that she didn’t want us to leave.   I am looking forward to retiring and being able to go visit more often.

I love you, Madison.   I am very blessed to have such an intelligent, beautiful grand daughter and three great kids and an exceptional daughter-in-law and son-in-law.

Just a reminder to get your tax deductible items to the Goodwill and Salvation Army.

If you need to do any repair jobs or additions to rental properties, you can purchase the items before the end of the year and do the work in 2009.

It’s a good idea to get medical receipts and charity receipts together now, too.  I can’t tell you how many times I find receipts after I do my taxes.

I am looking forward to a NICE tax refund.  Woo Hoo

I read in my Mother Earth News magazine that you can take diluted or full strength vinegar and pour on the weeds growing in cracks in your cement driveway or between your bricks or stepping stones. Boy, that has to be cheaper than the weed killers you buy in the store. I haven’t tried it yet since I do not have a sidewalk or concrete driveway out in the country. lol