Fall Is On The Way

It is Fall already here in upstate New York. We have been feeling it in the air for a couple of weeks already. Our Robins are gone. The only birds I hear now are the Blue Jays and Woodpeckers. I miss the Robins singing while I work out in my garden. Every year, that is what I look forward to - seeing my first Robin. Now, it's time to stock up on bird food, especially for the chickadees. They come right up to me and demand to be fed, all winter long.

I canned more green beans today. And made some banana bread. So I wasn't on my computer this morning. Some days, I just have to get my household chores done. Neither one of those chores are really chores to me. I love to can food! I buy it in the grocery store on sale and bring it home to can. Once I mastered using my pressure canners, I became the canning queen! My father taught me to can, and what he showed me how to make was grape jelly. As he grows lots of grapes. Now I usually can it as juice, and if I need jelly or jam, I can can that. Last year, I canned lots of Elderberry Jelly, so this year, I plan on canning the Elderberry Juice. As it is good to have around, as a preventive measure for catching the flu - even the bird flu!

My husband knows how to can food too. Our first year that we had a garden, he canned 40 quarts of corn, 49 quarts of green beans, over 50 of pickles and I canned 48 quarts of pumpkin. I was working at that time, and he was home, so he was left to do most of the gardening and canning. And we have never used a gasoline rototiller to do our gardens. My husband has one of those wheel hoes, that he plows our gardens with. Both houses we had gardens at had never had a garden before. So he had a lot of hard work to get it in. But he doesn't like the fumes in our garden area. Last year, he started building beds for our garden, and we both like them so much better. I built some stone beds too. And we plan on adding more of those. Our plan is to grow as much as our food as possible.

My tomatoes are still green as I got them in late, due to heavy rains we had here earlier in the spring. So if they don't turn red, I will bring them in and wrap them in paper and turn them red inside like that. Or I will, slice them and fry up some good ole fried green tomatoes, which is something we love! A couple of years ago, Jackie Clay (my favorite author, who writes at Backwoods Home Magazine) said that you could put them in a pie, and tell everyone it was a apple pie and nobody would know the difference. Well, I did that. My husband knew immediately that it was not a apple pie! He ate it, as he will not waste food (unless you give him onions or mushrooms!), but he was not crazy about it. Sorry, Jackie.

My brother, Mickey Dran, better known as "The Marshall", puts on a wild west show called "The Spirit of The Old West", and he has been doing this for a number of years now. Tomorrow his show will be robbing the Cooperstown Railroad in Cooperstown, New York. His show uses black powder guns, and the kids usually love it. They dress in period clothes, and he is a stickler for detail. So it should be a fun time for all!

Well, I'll try to be back tomorrow. Have a great week end!

Sick Of Fighting!

Yesterday, I left my favorite forum, disappointed in what it has become. There are some good people on there, but too many others make it uncomfortable for other people to talk to each other about subjects they are interested in. I have a feeling that these forums have become nothing more than a place for people to try to force their opinions on others. If you discuss religion, politics or now, herbal medicines, there will always be a big fight. I cannot understand why it is allowed. But I for one, do not have to subject myself to the stress of some obnoxious know it all!

This guy, Big BobK thinks he is the authority on herbal medicines. It would be one thing if he knew what he was talking about! I have the feeling this guy is lonely and has nothing better to do, except to annoy anyone who would like to discuss this particular subject. I do not rely on Allopath Medicines. I have seen what they do. But I also realize there is a time and place for it. There are certain things it is needed for, but not all. He is a all or nothing kind of guy. When someone is discussing a medical treatment, even if I would never use it or think it is a worthwhile, if someone was posting about it, I would not argue or say they are wrong. I probably would not even go to that posting at all. Not Big Bobk!!! Oh no! I think he has a watch on his profile, so if a certain subject is being discussed, he can post on it immediately.

But I have also seen the surprising results of what herbal medicines do. And the fact that it appears like there is no research to substantiate the claims, well in our country, yes, that is correct. Our country for example does not want you to discover a cure for the diseases that they make big money off. Such as Hepatitis C, Cancer, Parkinson's Disease and MS, just to name a few. What do you think would happen if they discovered that drinking a simple tea that you could mix up in your kitchen could prevent or cure your cancer? Then wouldn't everybody want to take it? What would happen to all the cancer research centers? The Cancer Society? You are talking about big money here. For example, look at all the people working in these places. Then there is all the money paid for treatments, medications, insurance and just all the money it generates when you have to travel to a cancer center and your family has to stay in hotels and eat in restaurants. Big money. And lots of tax dollars!

So if you have anything wrong with you and you just follow along with the medical professionals' instructions, you are just as guilty as they are. I would never do that. I believe you have to research your illness first, then find out what you can. I myself, trust the Chinese treatments first. They have been doing these things for centuries. They treat you for the disease, not the just the symptoms. Herbal and Chinese remedies have been around alot longer than our medical community even existed. They were not making big money on these things. Now health care is really racking up the money and don't forget about those tax dollars either! Even Japan now says that Essiac Tea is the cure for Cancer.

I posted links to Dr. Weil, but of course Big BobK ignored that, because Dr. Weil is of course, well known and respected. And he tried to make it seem like milk thistle was useless for Hepatitis C, which it's not. And Dr. Weil says right on his site, "I’ve known a number of patients who have reversed hepatitis C using milk thistle in conjunction with another natural remedy, Schizandra (Schisandra chinensis), the fruit of a Chinese plant. Schizandra berries, like milk thistle, are nontoxic and support healthy liver function." Dr. Weil also recommends people seeing or contacting Dr. Qingcai Zhang. Here is some background information on him:

Graduated from Shanghai Second Medical University in 1962, trained in both Western and Chinese medicine.

Associate Professor of Medicine at Shanghai's Second Medical University

World Health Organization Scholarship awarded to fund two-year Fellowship from Harvard Medical School at Massachusetts General Hospital

Visiting Professor at University of California at Davis.

Principal Investigator of Oriental Healing Arts Institute. Long Beach, California.

Research Fellow of Wakai Pain Clinic of Nagoya, Japan.

Over 36 years of clinical, teaching, and research experience in hospitals, universities, and research institutes.

Invited by Mt. Sinai Medical University's Hepatology and Gastroenternology Department to speak on alternative treatments for Hepatitis C

Invited by the Center for the Study of Hepatitis C, Cornell University and Rockefeller University, to speak on various topics relating to alternative herbal treatments for Hepatitis C

Recently invited by John Hopkins Medical University, School of Hygiene and Public Health, Department of International Health, to speak on topics relating to treating Hepatitis C, Lyme Disease and Malaria using Traditional Chinese Medicine

ZHANG CLINIC is highly recommended by Dr. Andrew Weil. (Many patients are direct referrals from Dr. Weil.)

Dr.Zhang is a member of Dr.Weil's science advisory board.

Sounds like he knows a little bit more than Big BobK! And people listen to him too! They pay him big bucks for his advice. Not BobK. But he'd probably argue about that if he got the chance.

The thing is, that drugs are toxic to your system, and your body fights the drugs. So that is what causes your side effects, your body is trying to fix it. But herbal remedies are food, and your body is nourished with them. It just makes sense. So think for yourself and what kind of life you want. Maybe, you should start a alternative health program now, to prevent having to use extreme measures later.

Spending Money On The Little Things

People from other countries have the misconception that all of us Americans are very successful and rolling in money. That is so far from the truth. Most of us are surviving paycheck to paycheck, and that is with not paying all your bills due on time. You just can't. Our government may help other countries (but always with a reason to benefit themself) when in need, but not our own people. Actually, I believe it our government workers job to keep us all poor. They make money off the poor, always has and always will.

So if you are living in our country, trying to make it is not easy, unless you have a really good job, such as being a professional person. Believe me, there are alot more people living in poverty in the United States than most people would believe. So how do you manage to get by? By doing what you have to do. And that is that most people cut the grocery budget first. Most of them just can not do without their televisions. Just can't even imagine it! Or their fast foods. So what does that leave them? Not much.

My husband and I have been driving every Sunday to the nursing home to visit his mother, who had recently had her legs amputated. On the way home, as our treat to ourselves, we have been buying 2 large milkshakes at McDonalds. $6.03. Yesterday, he said to me, "for less than that, we could buy a whole half gallon of ice cream. We are paying that much for not much of anything." (Except that we look forward to it, and makes our ride home more enjoyable.) So I though about it even more. And for $24.12 a month, which is what our two milkshakes are costing us, we could go out to a nice restaurant once a month. Or we could buy a couple of steaks to grill at home. But look at it even closer, at the end of the year, it comes to $289.44, a year's worth of McDonald's milkshakes! And this was a luxury for us. We don't usually do things like this. But what about the family who gets take out several times a week? Add it up and see what it comes to.

On a popular forum that I frequent, the members have a challenge going to see if they could stick to not buying anything for a year. Could you? It doesn't include food and necessities. But extras, like clothing that is something you just want, not something you desperately need, books, magazines, housewares that are not something you really need, you know what I mean. Some of the people are doing it to try to save some money for something special. It's a good exercise in self control. People spend way too much money on silly things anyway. I can say that, as I do not spend money on anything except things I need to live. My books come from my paperbackswap club. I am going to do it too, but have decided what I intend to do is to try to add something to my income during this time. That's what I need to work on. If you have any ideas for me, please go to my website and contact me at www.larrylupole.com and you'll see my name right on there.