Flu: Home-made Helps

From the kitchen, I can hear Violet "teaching" Levi and Lillie.

For someone who says she doesn't like school,
it is funny that she wants to play it with them.
It makes me feel just a wee bit of pride hearing her repeat things she's heard during school this week,
especially since I didn't realize she was listening quite so well.

She does a great job, too.

Every home-schooling mother should have a Violet in their home.
:)

From the other room, I can hear snoring

with an occasional cough.

 My hard-working farmer has succumbed to the sickness going around:

cough, chills, aches and headaches,

that nasty feeling in the sinuses running down into the chest.

It is pitiful to see him.
He rarely gets sick and I don't think I've ever seen him this bad.

I decided I'd better make up some natural medicines to help him.

The birds got to the elderberries this past season.

I saw they were just about ripe,

and then in just a day's neglect,

nearly 5/6 of the berries were gone.

Still, I managed to save about a cup's worth.

I cut the whole head off the elderberry bush,

stuff them into a plastic bag,

and then freeze them until I will need them.

 Once the need arises, I remove the whole thing from the freezer

and rub the berries off of the stems.

I try to pick as much of the stems off as possible,

and then pour them (one cups worth) into a pan with 2 cups of water,

5  or so whole cloves, 1 heaping Tbs. of  crushed fresh ginger, a stick or two of cinnamon.

The pan is set on a lower setting until it comes to a boil,

and is left to simmer for 45 minutes.

I set this batch on the woodstove,
and, oh, the aroma of the cloves and cinnamon made the house
a festive mixture of sweetness!

 Once the time is up,

the cooked berry juice is poured through a strainer,

and a cup of raw honey is added and stirred in.

This tasty brew is super high in vitamin C.

It has been shown in studies

that taking elderberry (cooked into a syrup as such

or even using the dried flowers in a tea),

helps to prevent the flu and even cut the effects of it down considerably.

A Tbs. or two is helpful, 

or even a bit in a small cup.

Another great sickness preventor and healer of the cough

is garlic.

I find it rather hard to ingest raw, so I love to buy pickled garlic.

 This variety is super potent because it is mixed with hot peppers,

but it is amazing how it loosens the frustrating phlegm in the throat.

(I usually eat a small piece of bread after eating about 5 cloves of this garlic,

just because it helps it not be too hard on my stomach.)

Elderberry syrup can be purchased at health food stores 

and online if you don't want to go through making your own "medicine".

The dried herbs can also be purchased

and used in tea.

 I make a tea with the elder flowers

as well as mullein leaf

which is supposed to help loosen phlegm.

Vitamins are a beneficial help to everyday living,

but these are some extra measures that can be taken to protect health.

I'm hoping my farmer is feeling a bit better soon.

It's never fun to see a man sick,

especially when it falls on a weekend.

You can purchase dried elderberries to use to make this syrup
from Mountain Rose Herbs
or from Bulk Herb Store
or your local health food store.

(If you cannot find elderberries,
I also use this product and find it very helpful).

 Amazon.com/Dr-Dunner-Sambu-Guard-6-Ounce/dp/B0017OAKUS

*(Please realize that I am NOT a doctor and I only share this information
as something that I find helpful for my family; some herbs need to be taken with caution,
such as garlic, because of the contradiction they can cause with other medications).*



Linking up to:
Gnowfglins.com

Simple Autumn Love: My Fall Mantel.

Can you believe it is fall already?

Where did the days of summer fly off to?

 I didn't climb up to the attic to fetch the fall decorations this year.

I just decided to use some natural decorations

 like the little gourds a friend gave my kids,

the hydrangeas that I dried a few weeks back,

a small fresh tansy bouquet in an old jar,

and some red maple leaves

(these are in the leaf-painted jar I experimented with last week).
The old farm lantern belonged to my husband's grandfather.

The huge picture on the mantel was a crazy yard sale purchase this summer.

I thought the print was pretty,

its fall simplicity and simple life drew me into it,

although the gold strip on bleached wooden frame made it look a bit too 60's,

so I painted the frame white.

The lady holding the yard sale was doing it as a help to her sister

 whose husband had just passed away.  She needed new tires,

and all the proceeds of the sale were going to it.

I found a few things I liked,

and the picture happened to make it into that list.

This old looking slat box was very inexpensive at the Charity Store

because it had another slat coming down that was hanging off.

I pulled it out and found this image at the Graphic Fairy

that I thought might fit well.

 After printing it on tan paper,

I inked the edges with a yellow stamp pad 

and then a brown stamp pad,

with the help of a soft sponge.

 I colored in the wording with a permanent gold marker I had

and then crumpled the whole thing up.

 I was trying to get the paper to have an aged look to it.

 I picked a bouquet of purple beauty berry bush for another old jar.

I have dried them before and although the leaves will wither,

the berries still hold their color for the season.

The decorative candles were a gift from my husband's aunt

and bring fond memories when I pull them out of my candle box.

 It is a simple fall mantel,

but I think simple was a nice change for me.

(If you'd care to join me,
I will be posting my favorite/family recipes for the month of October,
a new recipe every day.)

Linking up to:

Time-warp-wife.blogspot.com 
Theprairiehomestead.com
Betweennapsontheporch Graphicsfairy.blogspot.com 

Themodestmomblog.com 

Cozylittlehouse.com 

Abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com 

Centsationalgirl: fall mantels 

End of Summer Garden Specials: How to dry Hydrangeas and How to Make Peppermint Extract.

This is the garden I pass on my way to the clothes line every day.

The fragrance of mint is strong

and it is welcome,

even though it has clearly gained dominance in the flower bed.

If it were spring, 

I would tear into this patch with a vengeance to remove it's greedy presence,

but as almost everything else has had it's moment of glory,

I allow it to run wild

with the promise that I will gain from it.

This weekend, I decided to act on my threats.

Fist fulls of chocolate mint and peppermint were collected.

I also made time to gather up the hydrangea blooms to dry while I was out

since they were at the perfect stage for picking and drying.

I tried two methods of preparing my mints for their purpose

of becoming mint extract:

Pulling the leaves off the stems,

starting by snipping off the top most tender leaves,

and then grabbing the top of the stem...

 pulling the leaves from the top down.

They slide off rather easily this way

preventing the tedium of picking off each leaf.

 Any imperfect leaves were set aside from the good ones in the colander.

I then washed the separated leaves

with just a good spray of water,

and then set them out loosely on towels to dry.

 I also tried washing and then drying whole stems of the mint.

 (I found I preferred the first method

as the leaves were easier to pull from the stems before washing.)

These should then sit overnight,

so that they can dry out a bit.

The less water in them,

the stronger will be the extract.

Also, the leaves should only be left out for not more than a day

as all would be lost if the leaves start growing mold.

Once the mints were set out to dry,

I could turn my attention to preserving the hydrangea blooms.

I have found I prefer the "Sip of Water" drying method.

The blooms are stripped of all leavers,

and then the stems are placed in water.

The blooms by the time they are picked,

are slightly papery.  They are not soft.

 To pick them in this state is perfect because if a strong rain storm blows up while they are still on the bush,

it could damage the blooms.

They will drink of the water

until it is all evaporated,

and then the flowers will dry to a stronger dried bloom than if they were

air-dried upside down.

 Also,

one has the distinct advantage...

of enjoying the blooms while they dry.

The next day,

the mint leaves can be scrunched up

to damage the leaves and allow more of the oils to be released.

The leaves are then put into clean pint jars.

Once filled to about 1/2...

the leaves are completely covered in a bath of vodka.

These jars are then capped,

put into a cool, dark place,

and allowed to sit for about a month

when the lid can be removed

and the extract can see if it has strong enough flavor.

If so, strain out the leaves,

and use as an extract in baking.

Did you enjoyed any treasures from your gardens this weekend?

Linking up to:

Betweennapsontheporch
funkyjunkinteriors.net
momstheword
Keepingitsimplecrafts.com
frontierdreams
Homesteadrevival
Cornerstoneconfessions.com

When the Spider Bit my Hand

This is the mulch pile that,

as my Farmer said,

 

 "Needs to get used; 

the grass beneath it is dead!"

 This is the flower bed

where mulch was in need...

 to blanket the enlarged garden

and squelch out the weed.

This is the glove for my gardening work:

the garden and mulch pile,

I no longer could shirk.

This is the place where the spider's web was

unbeknownst to myself

he took up house in his fuzz.

This month old scar is what's left

from stinging pangs:

thinking mulch stuck my wrist

when I saw twas not, but his fangs.

Here grows the plantain that was picked and minced

then placed with a hot tea bag while in pain I winced.

This is the mailbox where the ER bill will come;...

but the plantain had removed the poison,

swelling gone,

problem done.

So if you are a'gardening and you come upon a fiend,

 remember good friend Plantain,

he's the best Dr. for your need.

Linking up to these great parties:

Shortcut Garden

Gardening is a balm to the gardeners soul;
I can see why God started man out in one.


As inviting as gardening is,
the fun is lost when you're digging in soil that is hard as rock.


There is an easier way though.

A couple months back,

I wanted to ad an herb garden for fresh herbs.

I chose this spot down by the yellow bush,

as it gets good sunlight here,

but shady toward the late afternoon;

it's close to the house as well.

Beside,

I already have a flower garden here,

and it seems to be easy to keep from becoming overcome with weeds.

(Have you ever noticed that certain parts of the yard

are less weedy than others?)

After I'd saved up a few expired

and

farmer-approved trashable 

Lancaster Farming Papers,

I set a layer on the ground,

3 - 4 pages thick.

Next is the most important part:

I use well rotted manure.

I have seen at stores you can buy manure in bags,

but if you know any horse farmers,

they're usually happy to give away manure.

Just be sure it is well-rotted.

People use well-rotted compost for this layer as well.

I used cardboard where I knew I'd be setting a stone pathway.

After the manure, I had a nice big bag of peat moss

that I put on.

I put mulch on the walkway.

My waiting herbs...

got set around on the "garden"

to decide where I wanted to plant everything.

Then I planted them in the thin layer I had on top of the paper,

and made sure I watered them every other day or so

for the first week or two.

On the right side,

I made my herb garden.

On the left side,

I put some perennials and some herbs.

Then I set rocks down for my stepping stones

and hostas that can tolerate sun around the edges

(they don't look too good this year because it was one big hosta 

that I divided into lots of little plants,

but I know they'll look great next year).

I had this metal hook a friend made me...

but didn't have anything to hang on it.

Then I found this wall hanging at a yard sale for $1.

It had little metal circular shelves attached to the front

to hold candles.

I broke them off and placed it on my hook.

A layer of mulch was added to finish the weed protection...

and completed the look to the back part of the garden as well.

Eventually, I'll probably ad rocks all around,

maybe a low rock wall.

The herbs have thrived in the garden.

I love the smell of this lemon basil...

and this cinnamon basil.

There's just something about a handful of fresh cooking herbs.

they smell as fantastic as they look.

(My fingers smelled of fresh dill all night.

Heavenly.)

And there's nothing like a good laugh as I admire my fresh herbs

and prepare to make some

avocado dip

(which I will post tomorrow).

(The above gardening ideas above are just from my own from experience;

there are multitudes of great ideas in gardening.

If you have some,

please, feel free to ad yours in the comments

or ad a link to something you may have posted about gardening.

Gardeners never tire of hearing about gardening,

and I'd love to hear what you do!)

Linking up to these fun parties:

 
Funky Junk Interiors



Motivate-me-Monday



Marvelously Messy




Mad in Crafts

Home Stories A to Z


Far Above Rubies


Hip Homeschool Moms


A Bowl Full of Lemons