The Anti-Mosquito Post

YAY!!!  It's finally warming up.   We have been getting the garden and yard ready. While we have been spending more time outside we saw our first mosquito of the year.   Pesty little things.     Do they even have a purpose?   Anyway, I thought it's the perfect time to write a post about what you can do to keep the skeeters away.


We have developed a wonderful line of all natural products made with Neem Oil and extract along with essential oils that have been used through time to keep the buggers away.   We also have an oil that can be rolled on bites when they do get to you.     You can find our products here. 






There's other great things you can do though besides bug salves and sprays.

-Run a fan in the area you a sitting.  The mosquitoes can fly in the wind so they don't come around.

-Make a mosquito trap. You can find the directions here.

-Plant plants that deter mosquitoes.   Citronella and lemongrass are nice big plants that are actually grasses.   They a beautiful and should come back each year.  Ageratum is a lovely low lying plant with pretty purple flowers.  They look nice in pots.  Marigold and Catnip are other plants that repel mosquitoes. 

 
-Build and hang a bat house!   Bats eat mosquitoes. 

For 3 days only 1 oz Rash Salve is $3

We have an overstock of our 1 oz rash salve so we are going to lower the price to $3 for 3 days!! This special price will end on Tuesday 4/23 at 10 am. The pricing on this is the lowest it will ever be and is below wholesale pricing. It will not be this price ever again. To make this even more fun join our Facebook page because if all 50 rash salves sell we will have a giveaway on our Facebook page for a $20 gift certificate. If we sell between 25-49 I will give away 3 oz rash salve on our Facebook page.  Click the picture to go to the sale. 

Pineapple Protein Blizzard Smoothie

It's getting warmer out so I celebrated with this summery smoothie this morning.    It's so yummy that I want to share it with you!

This is what you will need:

1 TBSP Honey
1 CUP Coconut Milk
1 CUP Pineapple
1 whole Banana
Ice (to your liking)
Protein Mix ( This is my favorite protein mix.  It tastes good. It's not gritty.  It's full of good stuff and lacking the bad stuff)

Blend and enjoy!!!   It's so yummy!

Hyssop

A couple of days ago my Bible verse of the day was Psalm 51:7, 10-12   "Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean.  Wash me and I will be whiter than snow.  Create in me a clean heart, O God.  Renew a right spirit within me.  Don't throw me from your presence  and don't take your holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of your salvation.  Uphold me with a willing spirit."

It reminded me how much I love reading about the essential oils and herbs used in the Bible and that I have been slacking big time in blogging.   So here's to a new strat!

Today I'm going to blog about Hyssop. 

It's official name is Hyssopus officinalis. 


It is an evergreen, bushy herb, growing 1 to 2 feet high, with square stem, linear leaves and flowers in whorls, six- to fifteen-flowered.   The flowers are cultivated for use as an expectorant, diaphoretic, stimulant, pectoral,  and carminative.

Historically it was used to disinfect and purify.

Making a tea with the fresh green tops can be beneficial for asthma and rheumatism.

Benefits of the essential oil:
bruises, colds, cough, fatigue, fevers, flatulence, indigestion, inflammation, loss of appetite, nervous tension, sore throat, stress related conditions, wounds

Not to be used when pregnant or if you have epilepsy. 

Fresh batch of Diaper Rash Salve

This week I made a batch of Rash Salve.   Gosh, so I love making that.   It smells so good and my hands looks so smooth and young after. 

This last batch is a winner.   They all are good but I have mentioned before sometimes I will have an oil that's been sitting around a little bit longer making it a little bit more special.

                      Look how beautiful that oil is!!!

Some of the finished salve.   Smells good.  Works great.
This golden greenish salve is perfect for  diaper rashes and works great for cloth diapers.

Not only is this salve perfect for baby rashes but it works on many other aliments like: eczema, dry skin, cuts, burns, cuticles and my favorite dry elbows.

Wonderful Vitamin C

Let's face it, nobody wants to be a Scurvy Pirate. Arrrrr.   Luckily we have plenty of Vitamin C in our diets to keep the scurvy at bay but do we have enough to help our bodies with other ailments.

I personally have seen what Vitamin C can do for anxiety.   After the birth of my last child, I suffered with postpartum anxiety.   I used my placenta and that worked wonderful until it was gone.    When I ran out of my placenta pills it was also the dead of winter.   I typically get some seasonal depression so being postpartum in the winter and then my husband's hours were cut....not a good mix.       I did what I do and researched and researched.      What did I learn?   That when you have inflammation in your body not only can that cause disease and illness but also anxiety and depression.  What is a great anti-inflammatory?    Vitamin C    So I started taking high doses of vitamin C.   I started at 500 mg and upped it until it caused digestive issues (if ya know what I mean) and then back down 500mg.  I ended up taking 5 g of Vitamin C and I was feeling better within in a week.  I wasn't 100% but my life was now manageable and I could move on with exercise and mindfulness to get the rest of the way out.     Now the whole family takes Vitamin C regularly for general health and to help my second son with his allergies and asthma.     Allergies are caused by inflammation in your body.  My hope is to get rid of the inflammation and then he no longer will suffer from the allergies and asthma.  (I feel I need to add that we do give him alopathic meds when needed because his asthma has been severe.)   I no longer take those high doses but a lower maintenance dose.     All of us from ages 3 to 37 take 1000mg a day.  

Not all Vitamin C is equal either.  Some of it contains Sodium Benzoate which is a known carcinogen.  I take Camu Camu.   It's said to be the most absorbed form of vitamin c and it's food based.  The kids take Dynamic Health Liquid Vitamin C.  They like to mix it in plain seltzer water and make "soda" 

Benefits of Vitamin C may be:
anti-oxidant
reduces inflammation
anti-aging
cold fighting
raise sperm count
may prevent premature rupture of membranes (pregnancy)
and more!!

Lice Prevention

Lice.....ugh it makes me shiver just thinking of it.   The picture I'm posting is enough to give anyone the hee-bee-gee-bees.  

Nobody wants lice but it happens.    I remember growing up people associated lice with the kids that weren't so clean, but those kids were actually on to something.   Lice are attracted to clean, shiny hair!      Another tip is they do not like the scents of mango, rosemary and tea tree.

This is what we do in our house.   I buy an unscented all natural shampoo and add 1 drop of tea tree essential oil per every ounce of shampoo.   We only wash our hair three times a week.    So far so good on the lice front. 

Let me know if you use this tip and your thoughts!