While strolling through some of my favorite blogs a few days ago I happened upon an easy homemade toothpaste that can essentially take the place of oil pulling. Oil pulling is swishing around in your mouth a carrier oil and essential oil for up to 20 minutes. It is very beneficial for our bodies in many ways. My sister has been oil pulling for a couple years and has had a cavity that lost a filling heal! I don't even think she uses an essential oil. My pastor was needing to have surgery for his gums. He began oil pulling with myrrh and he no longer needs surgery and his gums have healed! I decided to make my own toothpaste using peppermint to begin with. It is wonderful!! Next time I will use more peppermint. And the fact that we grew up using baking soda to brush our teeth might also have helped me like this. But I like the way my teeth feel after I am done with this homemade toothpaste. I am going to get myrrh and make some for Craig as he seems to have ongoing gum problems. I am also going to get cilantro and add that to my toothpaste as that was one of the first essential oils I was told I needed for various ailments I have. So the little jar there is the finished product. I scoop it out with a spoon and put it on the toothbrush. An additional bonus is my right hand (the one I brush with) is less dry because of the oil:) The reason I like the toothpaste idea is because I just can not oil pull. I tried. Truly I did. But the build up of my own saliva in my mouth just grosses me out. No other way to explain it. I am such a germophobe I can't even stomach my own germs!!
Here was our corned beef dinner. This year I got it from Costco. The meat was a little more expensive but I sure could tell it in the taste and texture! It was yummy...and it gave us two more meals of leftovers. Liam ate all of his also! I am the only cooked cabbage lover in this house...but Liam was a trooper.
Here is the homemade chicken soup with dumplings that I talked about in the last post. These were Light as a Feather Dumplings. We do not like our dumplings light as a feather. But the soup was really good. Next time our dumplings will be hard as a rock!
I just had to share a picture of my 40 year old Christmas cactus. Remember the story about how it never has bloomed and then this winter I put it in a room that is only lit during the day? And within a week or two it had started to bud and then bloomed so beautifully? Well...here it is again...last week....it is now in full bloom...again! Not only that but the one in Craig's bathroom is blooming again and the one in the laundry room that was so full of blooms at Christmas is once again blooming! That has never happened before in my lifetime! I have been really lucky to get any to bloom and now to have all three blooming for the second time in nearly as many months!!! Wow!
This begonia is also blooming. Spring must be in the air!
There will not be a truck post. It is just to discouraging to turn into a whole post. We found out that Craig's friend put the transmission in wrong. And in a trip around the block it was shredded. So, the perfectly working transmission is now going to cost us $3300 to rebuild. That still is not solving the engine problems that popped up after everything was put back together. I guess you can imagine that we will not have friends come over to help work on vehicles ever again...and the mechanic will be our first choice no matter how much money we might save doing it ourselves. Something that might have cost us $1500 - $2000 at the mechanic has turned into (so far) $4500. Sure has taken the wind out of my sails in saving. That was to be extra money...toward a trip to visit Liam's sister in CA in May. Or a new garage door opener, or toward replacing any appliances that might be nearing the end of their life span since they are all turning 8 in May and the average is 7 years for todays appliances. Anyway....it is discouraging and a big set back. But we will manage.
And on a lighter note...I will leave you with a Liamism: This is something he did more than what he said. I had put some Melaluca oil on the bridge of my nose, up to my forehead and behind my ears to try to open up my sinus's. The vapors started to sting my eyes and it got so bad that I couldn't open them to see. We are talking really burning bad. I told Craig that I couldn't see and that it was burning. Liam took my hand and said "come with me mommy, I will fix this for you" as he led me into the bathroom. 'Okay, bend down mommy" and I heard the water running. Next thing I know he is pouring water over my eye as best he can at the angle he was. "does that feel better mommy, is it helping?" And believe it or not, even though these oils are not water soluble, it did help. It soothed the burn and within a minute or two I was able to open my eyes. He felt so good about having helped and we really praised him! Maybe we have a budding doctor!?
There will not be a truck post. It is just to discouraging to turn into a whole post. We found out that Craig's friend put the transmission in wrong. And in a trip around the block it was shredded. So, the perfectly working transmission is now going to cost us $3300 to rebuild. That still is not solving the engine problems that popped up after everything was put back together. I guess you can imagine that we will not have friends come over to help work on vehicles ever again...and the mechanic will be our first choice no matter how much money we might save doing it ourselves. Something that might have cost us $1500 - $2000 at the mechanic has turned into (so far) $4500. Sure has taken the wind out of my sails in saving. That was to be extra money...toward a trip to visit Liam's sister in CA in May. Or a new garage door opener, or toward replacing any appliances that might be nearing the end of their life span since they are all turning 8 in May and the average is 7 years for todays appliances. Anyway....it is discouraging and a big set back. But we will manage.
And on a lighter note...I will leave you with a Liamism: This is something he did more than what he said. I had put some Melaluca oil on the bridge of my nose, up to my forehead and behind my ears to try to open up my sinus's. The vapors started to sting my eyes and it got so bad that I couldn't open them to see. We are talking really burning bad. I told Craig that I couldn't see and that it was burning. Liam took my hand and said "come with me mommy, I will fix this for you" as he led me into the bathroom. 'Okay, bend down mommy" and I heard the water running. Next thing I know he is pouring water over my eye as best he can at the angle he was. "does that feel better mommy, is it helping?" And believe it or not, even though these oils are not water soluble, it did help. It soothed the burn and within a minute or two I was able to open my eyes. He felt so good about having helped and we really praised him! Maybe we have a budding doctor!?