Fruit and Vegetable Facelift - Keeping Them Fresh - Crisp - and Plump

First, I just want to point out the cute apron Princess Four is wearing in this picture of her washing the comfrey for me. I made each of the girls an apron from overalls a few years ago. It is nice that they actually use them. Here is the link to  post 1 and here is the link to post 2 on the aprons.

The other day, I made hamburgers for dinner and pulled out some grapes that Princess Four brought home with her from college. She emptied out her fridge and make my fridge rather full so they got forgotten in the back. During that time, they shriveled and got wrinkled. 

When I pulled them out, the girls wouldn't eat them because they looked old. I told them they were still sweet and all they needed was a little soak in cold water. They gave me blank looks and so, I shared how to refresh grapes and leafy vegetables. I guess I had never shared that with them. 
 
Also, my girls are really spread out from the oldest to the youngest so in my mind, I already told "the girls" this or that or shared this or that or have taken them here and there. Later, I find that I did all that with my older girls but hadn't done it with the younger girls so I don't always remember who knows what and who has been where. It makes for confusing conversations at times.

So, I soaked the grapes in cold water in the fridge overnight and guess what, the grapes were firm, round, healthy looking and great tasting except for the few sticking out of the water! The ones that were soaked were perfect. 
 
I figured, perhaps if my girls hadn't learned that elsewhere, then maybe other people didn't know that information as well so I thought I would do a quick video and blog about it. It is a simple fix to old fruit and veggies! Make sure before you soak the fruit or vegetable, that you remove any old, mildewy or moldy ones so they don't contaminate the others you are soaking. 
 
The same can be done with leafy vegetables. Lettuce, spinach, kale, parsley, comfrey, collard leaves, chard etc. If your lettuce is getting limp and old looking, you can soak it in cool water for a few hours.

If you are planning on taking a trip or a picnic, you can dampen some paper towels with cool water and place the lettuce leaves in between the towels and they will crisp up or remain more crisp as long as you keep them cool. I will put them in the ziploc bags between damp paper towels and put it in the fridge overnight for a picnic the next day and keeping it in the cooler before use that day keeps it nice and fresh for your salad or sandwiches.    


If you are planning on leaving things for more than a day, don't leave them soaking as they will get overly wet and may burst. Things like celery can get slimy if you don't change the water frequently. So, leave them in just long enough to get re-hydrated but not over hydrated! 

I have used this method for years and have only had great results. The other thing I mention on my video is about presentation. When the grapes get down to "sticks" with a few grapes, people don't want to eat them. Pull them off the vine and put them in a bowl and they will be eaten. 

I mention how when I have parties, people don't want to eat anything at the bottom of the bowl so when chips, popcorn etc, gets down to the bottom, I usually pour them into a bowl that just fits them so it is full! 

People will magically start eating them again. When that bowl gets down to the bottom, I pour them into a smaller bowl still making the bowl "full" and this always works. For some reason, people don't like to eat the bottom of the bowl so I do this with all the bags of chips in the cupboard. If they are almost empty, no one will eat them. I pour them into a bowl on the counter, they are gone by days end. Funny how that is a common human behavior. 

I have done this to my kids for years and they never figure it out. I pull out whatever I want them to eat and leave it on the counter and within a day or two, it is gone. Just this week, I had two or three bags of instant oatmeal, some ramen soup cups and a few other things that Princess four brought home from college. Rather than putting them in the cupboard, I just left them on the end of the counter and yes, they did eat them. :-)

Just some tips from the single mom who hates to see anything go to waste and has learned how to stretch everything into lasting longer or transforming it into something usable from something not wanted. 

Curing Toenail Fungus the Quick and Easy Way - Seconds a Day

I shared in December a post and video about curing toenail fungus. Because of the parasites, I did the soaks on my hands and feet for awhile trying to kill some of them off but it was quite painful so I stopped as well as not having the time. 

In January, I did an "update" to the blog post, both of which you can see on here along with my original video showing how I do the foot soaks. 
A nice side effect of doing the foot soaks for parasites, is that it started to cure my fungal infection under my big toenail. 

I was thrilled my nail was getting better and looking better. You can see this picture is of my toenail in December. You can see it is nearly down to the white portion of the "moon" on the nail. That was better due to soaks than it was when I started a few months before. It was getting better but I was only doing soaks on and off and not regularly. 

This next picture is in January shortly after my mother came to live with me, I had done two soaks since she arrived and don't think I did any after as she was so much work and I was exhausted. 

It got worse after that as I had her, then her death, then cleaning her estate, then two graduations, two pageants, elections and end of year stuff, Funeral, estate clean out for my mother, Princess One had her baby and Princess Five rolled her car and has some major health issues, Princess Four moved home and has her papers in to serve as a missionary and we should find out any day where she will be going. 

I am exhausted most of the time and don't have time to soak my feet. So, the toe started to regress and I was upset as I didn't want to lose what I had already gained so I pondered on what to do and as you know about me, prayer and pondering usually bring about some amazing results so this solution presented itself and I have been doing this for the past two months or so depending on the craziness of the day. 


IF YOU ARE A DIABETIC -DO NOT DIG UNDER YOUR NAIL! You don't want to get an infection in your toe! STICK WITH THE SOAKS and put oil on the toe nightly!!!

When you start this, begin with soaking your feet in 3% hydrogen peroxide. You need to clean out all the gunk under the nail so you can get the oils into the area. So, after soaking, use the pointed nail file to clean out the area and get any and all gunk out you can without digging into healthy skin. It may take a few days of putting the peroxide in and then the oils in before you kill off enough to get deep under the nail. Don't worry, just go as far as you can without digging into any healthy tissue. You should just be able to dig out white gunk without any pain. If you feel pain, stop!

It seriously takes me about ten seconds a night to do this after the first night and you can do the same thing in the morning but I don't always get to that but I do it most evenings and am thrilled with the results. As you can see, the fungus under the nail is dead and gone but to make sure, I just put some 3% hydrogen peroxide from Walmart in a spray bottle. I spray some under my big toenail before blogging. After about 20 minutes, I use a nail file to scrape out under the nail and remove anything that is loose. DON'T DIG INTO HEALTHY SKIN! 

Also, clean the nail file each night with alcohol and peroxide to make sure you don't reinfect yourself! Just keep a small container and put the file in it and then let it air-dry each night after doing this.

After I have cleaned out under the nail, I put 1 drop of "Thieves" oil from "Young Living" under my toenail. It shouldn't burn but if it does, you can put a drop of olive oil under there as well. IF YOU HAVE AN ALLERGY TO: cinnamon, clove, eucalyptus, rosemary or lemon, don't use this! 

Also, Don't use this oils straight on children as the cinnamon can burn their skin. Always dilute essential oils on kids. I use one drop of Thieves to a tsp of olive oil on children. If you have sensitive skin, you may want to diluted it for yourself as well. However, the spot where the fungus is, is probably dead so it shouldn't hurt unless you dug into your healthy tissue. 

The yellow color will go away as you finish using the oils. If you are going out somewhere in a shoe where your toe is going to be seen, you can just paint that area with a flesh tone polish but remove it after to allow the nail and toe to "breath" and it is a reminder to continue treatment. 

If you don't want the yellow color under the nail, you can just do the peroxide but I think it will take longer as it dries quickly where as the oil continues working all night. The soaks are your best bet if you don't like the yellow color but I just put some peroxide on it and scrap it out if I am going somewhere or I take a bath and scrap it clean and don't reaply oils until after the "event" so I figured some work arounds to the color issue. 

You can see that it is working and it only takes me seconds to scrape it out and put a drop of oil in it. 

I will post when it is completely grown out which I hope will be in a few months. There is a little damage on the  toenail just below the fungus and on a few other toenails as when we hiked in the river in mid June, I got pebbles in my shoe and the uneven rock bottom and water in it caused some bruising and damage to three toenails so that will grow out. Click here to see the post about the hike. 

Here is some information on "thieves" oil: Thieves oil is a blend essential oil mixture that contains; lemon, rosemary, eucalyptus, cinnamon, and clove oils. Many companies make similar blends. I have tried at least four different blends that are similar and have even tried to make my own but have never had the same results as I get with the "thieves" blend from "young living" oils. I have been using the product for nearly 20 years and carry it in my purse. Since we started using it for different things, we rarely get sick. 

For the toe, I don't think it has to be that company blend as the oils included in most blends would be similar but I personally only use their "thieves" oil as I love it. 

"Thieves oil" gets it's name and the recipe from robbers that went into homes of plague victims to rob them and when they were caught, the judge said he would be lenient with their sentence if they told how they didn't get sick. They were spice traders and would rub these oils in a vinegar base on themselves before entering the homes. Thus the name "Thieves" oil. 

I have shared the oil with friends that would get sick all winter and they no longer get sick. I diffuse it in my house, my car and we take it by using a drop in the mouth and swishing it around with spit and then swallowing it if we feel something coming on. Truly, it is something I would NEVER be without. I make my own mix to diffuse as it is cheaper but when it comes to putting it on the body, I only use the young living brand

Best of luck and feel free to ask questions. Here is a link to where I describe how we use "thieves" oil normally. Here is one where I used it to heal my mother in ICU.

 

Making Fast and Easy Comfrey Poultice and Freezing Them For Later

Ok, I have to say that God is VERY amazing at times. After our first poultice experience the way my friend suggested, she only lasted 2 hours and her skin was irritated. I KNOW that God gives me different experiences so I can learn new things. I was talking to a nurse friend of mine the other day when she called and asked how Princess Five is doing. 

I shared that if I had known what I know now, I probably wouldn't have become a nurse. God has put me through so many times when medical science couldn't help my family members that I think I wouldn't have taken the time to go to school knowing how much we don't know about the world and health problems.

There is so much to learn but sometimes I wish he wouldn't give me these "opportunities" to learn new things. ;-) 

With that, I pondered and prayed about the poultice thing. I did research looking at how others made their poultices and found that I didn't want to deal with fabrics. I didn't want to deal with irritating the skin in any way. I saw others use wheat to thicken theirs but so many people have issues with wheat that I didn't think it the best method.  
 
I knew from crushing them in the first poultice that the mucosy stuff was in the stems and know from drying veggies for years that stems don't dehydrate well anyway so I figured that drying the leaves and flowers and then using the petals and stems for the frozen poultices would be the way to go. 

So, I dehydrated the leaves which I showed in yesterdays post here.  After which, I put the stems in a vase with water to keep them fresh until I made the poultice. 

Once I was ready to make the poultice, I decided that paper towel would be the best idea to keep the poultice off the skin which is messy but thin enough that the comfrey and tobacco can come through healing the skin. 
 
The first night, I wrapped the entire thing in plastic wrap and then in an ace but it leaked onto the ace and her pillows so I put down a scrap fleece blanket to keep her sheets and pillows clean but things worked out much better the second time as it was frozen to start with so not as "liquid" to start.  

I cut the stems and leaves I chose to use into small lengths so they didn't become ropy in the blender like celery tends to do. About two inch lengths using kitchen sheers. You need to put a little water in to blend it and I just blended it into a paste. 
 
I would use as little water as possible so that you don't have to add much diatomaceous earth to thicken it. I pondered on what to use to thicken it and remembered that diatomaceous earth is calcium which would be great for her bone mending so I used that as the thickening agent. Make it into a paste. You can watch my video on how I did it here and if you have any questions about how I did anything, feel free to ask here or on my youtube channel: thesecretisgratitude. 
 
I didn't show how I made the poultices to freeze completely on the video so I will show them here. 

I laid out some wax paper, then put on plastic wrap. I then put down paper towels and spread the paste onto the paper towel. I then put on some tobacco to help pull out the bruising as it has been nearly a month and she still has arm, elbow and under the arm bruises.  
 
You can see how quickly, the paste comes through the towel and will be able to contact the skin but not be so messy to take off and put on. The paper towel worked WONDERFULLY and was easy to throw away in the morning and doesn't waste fabric or leave anything to "clean up." Also, not many people have issues with paper as far as allergies so it is a wonderful way to apply it. 
 
After pulling some out of the freezer to use, I am going to put TWO layers of waxed paper between each saran / paper towel poultice as it wasn't quick to pull them apart. It wasn't horrible maybe 40 seconds but if you know me, anything that can be made to be faster or done more quickly, I will figure it out! 
 
So, Start with TWO pieces of wax paper, put down plastic wrap, paper towel, paste, (tobacco if you want), fold over the paper towel, and then put down TWO pieces of waxed paper so that when you pull the stack of poultices out of the freezer, you can quickly just pull apart the two pieces of waxed paper and get to your pliable poultice in seconds!  
 
Repeat this process until you have used up all your paste of comfrey. Once you have the entire stack done, I wrapped the entire thing in waxed paper, put an elastic around them to keep them in the wrap and if you have the larger zip bags about 2 gallon size, you could put them in there or it would fit nicely in the small casserole Tupperware containers to freeze.  

I was able to make about 6 or 7 poultices with about 7 stems and some leaves. I truly LOVE this method and so after the 2 hours of irritation the first night and then, it was a bit messy the second night, she wasn't really thrilled for me to put them on again. 

I told her we needed to do what we could so I pulled the frozen one's out of the freezer and pulled them apart and I LOVED that they were thin enough to wrap around her shoulder but the were stiff enough it wasn't oozing and drippy. It was cold at first so I stuck 2 paper towels under the poultice to keep the cold directly off the skin but it was it's own cool pack and she was grumpy at first due to the whole idea of another poultice but after a few minutes she said, "This feels good."  
 
So, YAHOO for inspiration, prayer, divine help, whatever you choose to call it, I am SO grateful for it. Very easy to put on and take off, cool so it feels good. You can make these in little squares for little "owies" or "boo boo's" on little one's and it is cold and molds to the spot as it is thin enough to bend. Once I wrapped the area with plastic wrap to hold it on, you really don't need the ace if you aren't moving but she was sleeping with it on so the ace held it in place better. 
 
The shoulder is a hard space to wrap and keep it secure so the tank helps secure the ace around the shoulder rather than having to wrap her all the way around to keep the ace on her shoulder.

These would be great for sprains, knees, ankles, arm, elbow even neck. Basically, it would wrap around just about any sprain, break, bruise, strain, muscle, tear, injury or trauma the body gets. I SO wish I had known about this when my kids were little. Just having these in little folded paper towel squares to put on after a fall is much better than the bag of peas we usually pulled out! 

Feel free to ask any questions you may have but I am thrilled with the outcome! She said today that she is feeling so much better and that she could move so much more today without pain and that her second day of physical therapy was great and today was her best day yet since the accident. I truly think she may end up not needing surgery if she can keep up on all the stuff we are doing as she seems to be making a much quicker recovery since we started this in the past week than she did in the first few weeks. Granted, she had lots of trauma to overcome but I personally see much more improvement on the days we do everything verses the days we have missed things.

God is good!  

Dehydrating Comfrey For Later Use in Poultices

Princess Five has a bone bruise that is so significant that medical science can't do anything for her for the next six months. 

Her shoulder was hurt in a roll over car accident. I could put some links here to the accident, the MRI and x-rays etc but there are too many to do that with so I will just suggest that if you want to see the car, accident, injuries etc, that you search at the bottom of the home page and type in "Princess Five accident" and you will get to view those posts. 
 
Since science has no options for her treatment for six months, I have been forced to turn to non-western treatments and herbs as there are no "pill" fixes to bone bruises! 

I share in the video below how I dehydrated the comfrey but also making poultices which I will post about tomorrow but since it has been a VERY long migraine and feet swelling day, I opted for the short of the two posts. 

I will include the video in tomorrows post as well as it covers both days posts but basically, to dehydrate comfrey, I just washed the leaves, cut off any stems that were not on the leaves themselves. Save those for other purposes or cut them into very small pieces to dehydrate as you don't want long hard stems.

Lay the clean leaves onto your trays and dehydrate at 100 degrees or less as herbs lose potency with heat. They will dry quickly overnight and if there are any "wet" or pliable spots, continue to dry those and break off the dry leaves for further processing.  

Put the leaves into a vitamix or other "dry mixer" or coffee grinder and blend into a fine powder and store in an airtight tupperware until you need it. This works for poultices that are needed in the winter if you don't have a plant in the house or a greenhouse. 
 
Just add water until you have a thick paste and watch tomorrows post or the video to see how I make poultices to freeze for later use. We used the frozen ones tonight and Princess said it made her arm "feel better" tonight. More tomorrow.... I need to thank Sunny here for her donation of the comfrey used on Princess Five's injuries and for dehydrating for later use!

Stay Calm and Carry On - Mom and Grandmother Send Their Love

One of my ancestors was a poetess. She wrote many poems and songs. She lived to be over 100 years old and did many great things in her life. Many times in my life when I have been struggling, one of the songs she wrote tends to come to mind or I will hear it in a church meeting as it is included in our congregational hymn book.
I am always grateful for that when it happens to play on the radio, my playlist or just comes to mind when I am having a hard day. The title of the song is "Carry On" and I am sure I have included in a blog post before as it is one of the many little tender mercies of my life when I am stressed, similar to the blessings of finding a penny or seeing 111 somewhere just when I need it.

As you can imagine, over the past few months, I have had some cause to feel overwhelmed or stressed. There have been lots of things going on that could, and normally would, overwhelm me but I am doing my best to take each day one at a time and just do what I can do.

I can say that my sleep has not been what it should. My health is suffering as I haven't had the time to focus on healing the parasites and doing what I need to for my health and the stress of not sleeping and worry over finances, a car, sending a daughter out into the world as a missionary, my mothers estate and other things keep me up as much as I am tired and try to sleep.

I can see God's little mercies in my life by seeing 111 often and finding coins but lately, the mercies have been different and I think it is my mother and my grandmother trying to tell me everything is going to be "OK" but that I just need to "Stay calm and carry on!"

I have never seen a sign like the one at the top in my life but the other day as I struggled last week with two very hard days being so exhausted I could barely get out of bed, I was at a second hand store looking for parts for one of the ceiling fans in our house that needs more lights.

I was looking and I found this wall hanging that said, "Stay Calm and Carry On." at the top of the picture was a crown. My mother was a national beauty queen and quite famous in her day and seeing the crown which has always reminded me of my mother, and seeing the "Carry on" which always reminds me of my great grandmother, I took it as a sign to do my best to remain calm through all of this and just "carry on" as best I can.

That same week, I was driving up to get Princess Five from her conference and I was SO tired but the cd player didn't work and I couldn't listen to audio books which I usually listen to when I drive so I listened to the radio which I rarely ever do anymore.

A song came on and I immediately thought of my grandmothers song as it was "Kansas" singing "Carry on" and the words were:

"Carry On Wayward Son"

 

"I hear the voices when I'm dreaming,
I can hear them say

Carry on my wayward son,
There'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more

On a stormy sea of moving emotion
Tossed about, I'm like a ship on the ocean
I set a course for winds of fortune,
But I hear the voices say

Carry on my wayward son
There'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more no!

Carry on,
You will always remember
Carry on,
Nothing equals the splendor
Now your life's no longer empty
Surely heaven waits for you"
After that song, I was contemplating and soon after in the three hour drive, the song "Carry On" by Fun which I haven't heard much before came on and I cried being so tired and wishing I could "lay my weary head to rest." 

 

Here are the words in that song:

"You swore and said we are not
We are not shining stars
This I know
I never said we are
Though I've never been through hell like that
I've closed enough windows to know you can never look back

If you're lost and alone
Or you're sinking like a stone
Carry on
May your past be the sound of your feet upon the ground
Carry on
Carry on, carry on

No one's ever gonna stop us now
'Cause we are
We are shining stars
We are invincible
We are who we are
On our darkest day
When we're miles away
So we'll come, we will find our way home"

One talks of heaven, the other talks of finding our way home. Both had me knowing that my family is trying to support me as they can from the other side..... 

I was at Walmart the other day and felt like I should go look at an end cap that had jewelry on it but two men were standing in front of it so I went and got the last thing on my list. They were still standing there when I passed to check out and I forgot about it. 

Today, when I was at Walmart, I felt again that I should go look at the end cap. I don't purchase jewelry at Walmart so I wasn't sure what I should see there but I went over and once again, I found a name card holder that had the exact pattern of "Stay Calm and Carry On" on it with crown at the top. I couldn't believe it. I took a picture but didn't check it before heading out and I guess on the other side, it said "Stay calm, I'm a nurse" on it and didn't notice that I took a picture of the wrong side until I started blogging but you can see the "carry on" on the strap and in the background of the picture. 

It was so funny but I guess that sign is my mom and grandma's way of letting me know they are around. It was sweet as I "felt" like I should look at the end cap and why would I even look at the name / card holder as I don't work as a nurse so I wouldn't even look at those normally.  

The last video is a wonderful rendition of my great grandmothers song "Carry On" by a mens chorus. I wanted to share it with you as I enjoyed it. 

 I thought this would be a quick post but it didn't end up being quick but it is a reminder that I do have angels watching over me! I will try to do as my grandmother song suggests and "CARRY ON!"

You Spin Me Round - Grand-Prince One Turns a Month Old

Princess One had a baby last month and it seems like a year since we got to see this cute little man! Can you believe how much he looks like his mom as a baby and his sister as a baby in this picture below?

We were supposed to head up the morning after Princess Five's accident but for obvious reasons, we didn't go. My life has been non stop this summer and it doesn't look like it is going to slow at all. 

I have piles of papers on my table for calls that need to be made about insurance issues and back to school registration stuff etc.

We have a different appointment every day and sometimes two. Today, it was the orthodontist as her teeth have moved and not from the accident so he glued her retainer and said it would be good to check her teeth after the accident with an x-ray at the dentist to make sure that there isn't some hidden issues with the hard blow she took to the jaw when she hit on the drivers side when rolling the car. 

We also started with the physical therapist which was good. He reaffirmed my stance on her wearing her sling to school as she really doesn't want to wear it when she leaves the house but people hug and bump her and she can't move her arm much and the head of the humerus is still hanging out of place so it was good for him to go over it as she didn't wear it to church and as she walked in, someone put their arm around her and squeezed right where she hit the door on her left arm and it is still bumped and bruised and numb. I went home and got the sling.... 

I miss the grand kids and wish I were closer so I could enjoy them more but I will take what I can get. I asked Princess One to send me some pictures and these were the photos she sent and they were all in different angles so I left them upside down and sideways as they are cute at any angle. 

I can't believe how long his cute little feet are! I placed an "order" for a little foot print as I want to compare it to my kids. They are just so flipping cute!!!! Do you just want to run your fingers through his soft hair? I am so excited that we get to see him in a few weeks but I have LOTS going on before then to get done so I am hoping I can check lots off the list before going so we can really enjoy the time with them. I have some friends coming in from New Zealand right after that and my house is a nightmare as you can imagine so wish me luck on getting what I need to done so I can enjoy both visits! 

He looks like a boxer in the picture above! Does it look a little like he is trying to punch his sister in the last picture? ha ha.
She is being so great with him! Yea for grandkids. Best part of my world along with my kids of course!

Making a Comfrey Poultice Using Fresh Plant Leaves

I talked in my post on Friday about how the Surgeon and Medical Science can't help Princess Five at the moment. There is NOTHING that they can do for bone bruising and can't do surgery for at least six months because of  the massive bruising she has on her humerus head. 

This left us frustrated that she couldn't move her arm away from her body after three weeks and her healing was stalled waiting for the MRI, the results, appointments with the Dr. and then scheduling the physical therapy etc. We are over three weeks out now and she has had no help medically at all other than a sling and that was because I forced the issue upon discharge. She starts therapy tomorrow!

Where does one turn when medical science can't help? In my life, God has put me in several situation over the years where medical science can't help me. Even though I am a nurse, I know what we can do and can't do for certain illnesses and I get frustrated with medicine when we stop looking for a "fix" because someone told us there is nothing we can do!  

When someone you love is in pain and science can't help them, it is heart breaking. It is at these times, I have turned to God. One such time was when my oldest had strep and was allergic to the antibiotic. It was then that I learned about colloidal silver and she was better quickly. It was another such time I learned about grapefruit seed extract. To this day, I carry both those items and "theives" oil in my purse at all times as they are so useful for so many things working together as a natural antibiotic. They helped cure my mother in ICU when the Dr's said there was nothing else they could do to cure her sepsis and brain infection. Yet, she was cured and released soon after that day. 

Once again, medical science has let me down. This has happened so many times and it was today in a friends garden that I had a glimpse into God's hand in my life where he gave me the background of being a nurse which gave me the understanding of the limits of science and the knowledge of what science would do for each situation. 

God then gave me sick kids. Gave me a mother almost dying. Gave me a parasite that before this isn't known to inhabit humans. Gave me a daughter who should be dead or seriously injured and wounded the least intrusive spot on her body (she is right handed and it is her left arm) to teach me about another wonderful healing herb.  

Since my post on Friday, two more people not related brought up using comfrey on their own talking about how their mother used comfrey poultices and perhaps that would help her!~ 

I couldn't deny that I should listen to those suggestions as we prayed for help since the Dr's couldn't do anything for at least six months, we thought we had better take all the advise we can and with that, I asked at church if anyone had any comfrey plants in their yard and a friend shared that her mother in law did and I happen to know her so it was wonderful. 

Later, I went to her yard and she shared how she used it over the years for her kids and how she just crushes the plant and wraps it around the wound. She said that the boys on her kids football teams would come over for the "green weed" when they would get a sprained ankle as it would help them feel better so much quicker. She told me story after story how they used it over the years on her 11 children! 

I later learned that the common name for comfrey is "bone knit" as it helps broken bones heal so quickly. It amazes me how we have lost so much information on the old healing ways over the years. Obviously, this has a history and I have to share that we were using the salve for the past three days now as I purchased it on Friday. Today is the first day that Princess Five has been able to move her left arm on it's own and is able to lift it forward and extend it away from her body about 6-8 inches! In three weeks, she hasn't been able to move it an inch! 

The only thing we added was the vitamin C and Dr. Christopher's complex and salve until last night. Last night, I purchased some MSM and she started taking that. It may be the combination of the two but whatever it is, she is ecstatic as she doesn't want to miss the dance competitions this year which are in January but they are trying out for the routines in the next week. 

My neighbor and a few others suggested the MSM as they have had similar injuries and the MSM helped them. This neighbor had a huge bruise on his hip bone which resulted in a bone graft. He was told that he would never have any cartilage in that hip after the surgery. He started taking the MSM and has never had another problem with it and when they did an x-ray years later, they said his cartilage looked great! It had grown back. When I went to purchase the MSM, they told me that they have an 80 year old who swears by it and when she takes it, she has no arthritis so she keeps taking it. 

  
Hopefully, Princess Five will be diligent on taking what she needs to heal and I can learn what I need to learn about this amazing herb. I am going to go over and get a start for my garden. Obviously it is a great healing herb for burns, skin, and tissue damage. 

I asked how she prepared her poultice and she said she just crushes the plant enough to release the liquid in the stem and leaves and then puts it on the skin.


I laid out plastic wrap and then washed and placed leaves and stem over the wrap then used a rounded crystal pressure point tool to crush it but I don't think it matters what you use to crush it. I then coated her skin with some oil and ointment so that the little hairs on the plant wouldn't irritate her. I wrapped the plastic wrap around her shoulder and we watched a few shows while it was on. It was interesting to me that her arm under the wrap got very hot and created condensation on the plastic and some areas were really hot and others were cold so I think it pulled out heat from the worse damaged areas. 

The other weird side effect was that she was freezing! I was hot, we had the swamp cooler off and the dehydrator was pumping out warm air and she was wrapped in a blanket cold! I think by pulling out the heat in her wounds, it cooled her off or something. It was really interesting to see.  

When we took it off, I just wiped down the area and applied the lavender, frankincense oils and the comfrey salve and she went to bed. 

I think I am going to try different ways to make the poultice as there are many different ways posted online so since this one is a bit pokey, I may try one that is more a pulp and can be spread on and then wrapped. There are so many things to learn but I do want to find the way that will work best for her and is the least irritating so she will be willing to do it. 

I think I also may try leaving it on all night and see how it feels in the morning and to do that, I can't have the plastic wrap as it won't hold so I will experiment and let you know what works best for the shoulder as she needs to find a cure so she can be cured enough to dance in the next few months instead of waiting for surgery in six months and then another year to heal. Tell me what teen would be that patient and OK being immobile for that long! 

God is so good and people are so good to listen to what he has for them to share with us. They just come out and tell us about the comfrey without me asking and sharing about the MSM. Princess One was so good to mention Dr. Christopher's blend so we are blessed to be surrounded by inspired people! 

You should have seen the happy smile on Princess Five's face when she came up and said, "Look what I can do mom!" As she has tried over and over to move it with no results for weeks! 

Keep her in your prayers and we will keep you informed as to how she is doing and what works and doesn't work so that if you know of anyone with a similar injury, it may help them. I myself fell a year ago and tore my rotator cuff and it was healing until I pick up my grandchild with my right arm as I forget and then it takes months to heal and I rip it out again! I think I may try this stuff on myself as it has been really sore since I stayed with Princess One for the baby last month. Wouldn't it be great if we could both be pain free and mobile!