Lazy Saturday and Natural home medicine

I am still not firing on all pistons and today is a quiet day by design here at my home.  We have had one or two flutters of snow but it is not settling and is fey and just disappearing and is cold, but then I really do feel the cold compared to everyone else.  Fortunately I am snug in the house and for once enjoying being at home where I am quietly trying to tidy and sort the front room out.  I haven't been shopping either trying to make the most of what I actually have in the house and only just popping out for necessities like milk and eggs if required.  The washing machine is on whirring away and shortly the tumble drier will go on  (it is a condenser type tumbler and I recycle the water for feeding plants etc)- I use this a lot during the winter months as we do not have a fire source in this house or a drying area so needs must; and with the damp air jiggering me up I am not going to introduce too much moisture into the atmosphere although I do on occasion hang things up on coathangers to dry and then get into trouble with the OH because he has to duck and dive the drying garments.

With the medical conditions I have it has been affecting my skin quite badly  and it has been a lot drier than I am used to so in an effort to do something about this and improve the condition of my skin I have taken to adding a little almond oil (if you cannot tolerate nuts use baby oil) to the bath or when I hand wash (we do not have a shower) which seems to be working as the condition of my skin seems to be improving and more supple.  Almond oil is one of the more gentler oils and has always been advocated for rubbing into babies scalps if the suffer from an over dry skin.  Fortunately I have a ready supply of almond oil from my local Asian food shop where it does not cost an arm and a leg and also coconut oil..  Both are very good for the skin and rather than pay through the nose for beauty products I would rather use something that is already in the house such as olive oil, coconut oil or almond oil (all can be used in cooking).  To make them smell nicer you can always add a few drops of essential oil of your choice (which I also tend to keep in).  I think there is a "Hedge Witch" in there somewhere trying to escape as come autumn I really do haunt the hedgerows and I really am interested in alternative medicines and forms of healing.

I am also trying to improve the condition of my nails; last year one of my finger nails became discoloured and seemed to have an infection (I am not sure how) where the nail was uneven and kept weeping I tried all the usual methods to no avail and in the end I slapped on a honey bandage.  Result the infection cleared  and dried and the nail has healed.  I am a great believer in keeping honey in the kitchen cupboard also as it is a very good natural expectorant (helps bring things up) if you have a chest infection and good for cuts it helps seal a cut and minimise scarring.  Honey is naturally antibiotic and if you have a cut with muck/infection  in it if you pop on a honey plaster or bandage it will get rid of the nasties. It has taken me a whole year to get the quality back in the nail without any ridges and uneven bits so I am now going to start doing a regular manicure to help strengthen my nails and make them more nicely presented.  I have in the past used a cube of jelly a day and it does help increase the strength of my nails.  I also rub in a little neat oil with some cotton wool into the nails once a week as well.  Will have to see how things go.

Right am going to potter on hopefully will be able to pop back later on.

Hope you are all okay

Pattypan

x

Comments

  1. So sorry to read you still aren't recovered :o( this bug certainly hangs one once it's got you.
    I don't think you can beat honey either.
    Take it easy whilst you can Trishia.
    Rose H
    xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Rose,

    This infection has had its jackboots on and I don't think it has helped that OH has had it as well. But am for a change just taking it steady for a change; am hoping that we get some better weather soon as that usually makes all the difference especially to get out in the fresh air.

    Hope you are okay too - hugs

    Pattypan

    xx

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sorry you're still feeling rough. I've had the same bug and it's been awful! You might want to grow some caledula flowers this summer and infuse them into your almond oil to make a really good skin salve with some grated beeswax. You can find how to do it from my blog http://kitchenherbwife.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/revising-basics-infused-oils.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Sarah so much. The tutorial is just what I need. I have marigold on the list to grow myself this year have never grown it before so that is going to be a learning curve in itself. What sort of bottles do you store your oils and salves in and where would I be able to obtain such bottles. Take care and thank you for popping by.

      Pattypan

      x

      Delete
  4. I store all my infused oils in recycled jam or other one pint jars depending how much oil I have made. I find that if I put the oil into bottles, the oil in the bottle neck goes rancid before the rest of the oil and spoils it sooner than when I store in a wide-mouthed jar. I never buy jars, I use what I've washed from other things and people who come to my workshops bring their recycled jars to share. For salves, I use recycled small jam jars which hold about 1 fluid oz of oil and wax. In the past I've obtained these from hotels at breakfast, but a good source (now we don't stay in hotels) are National Trust cafes. You just have to get used to going up to complete strangers and asking if you can have their empty jam or honey jars. If you smile and tell them what you're going to use them for, there's never a problem. The NT will only recycle them anyway, so you might as well have the benefit. Ask friends and family to save jars of particular sizes for you. Pot marigolds are really easy to grow and they will usually self seed if you don't get around to picking all the flower heads off. You'll have to drop by my Sanctuary one summer and see my caledula beds in flower - they're a beautiful sight!

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