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Thursday, June 16, 2022

What's That In Your Hands? 6/16/22

I took a nasty tumble yesterday and when I was able to get myself up off the floor I started checking for bodily damage. I was bleeding and different parts of my body were sending out various forms of pain that had me moving slowly, but I was still moving and thankful to be so.  Today, I am moving even slower, the blood has been cleared away, the scraps have been doctored, the bruises are still appearing, the soreness has set in and the swelling is still there, but I’m okay.  Nothing is broken, torn or needs medical attention that I can't do at home, but once again I am being forced to slow down!  (I'm so thankful for herbal remedies and common sense ... all though one might wonder about the common sense part since it was my fault that I fell!  I got my foot tangled up in a cord that I had placed where it should not have been!  The cause of this tumble was my own fault and I learned a valuable and yes, painful lesson ... don't put cords where they don't belong no matter how careful you think you will be!)

(Picture:  the bruise and scrap on my jaw yesterday.  It's all sorts of additional vivid colors today.  I have two more bruises on that side of my body that match it!)

At a time when garden harvesting is in full swing, garden planting is still going on, food preservation is in full motion and a list of things to get done yesterday continually stare me in the face, I didn’t need another setback, but that is what I got.

I told someone at our vacation Bible school last night (yes, we’ve been having VBS this week as well) that turning ‘retirement age’ a couple of weeks ago has been rough on me (1) I came down with “IT” for over a week and (2) now this fall.  Let’s hope this is not a harbinger of things to come!!!

When life gives you lemons you do the best you can to make lemonade and that’s what I’m doing.

In my hands this morning was cabbage that I had chopped up yesterday in preparation for dehydrating.  This morning I managed to get it in the dehydrator despite having to be careful with my injured arm and limping on an injured knee.  The dehydrator is humming away and I’m feeling like I just climbed Mt. Everest!  Small victories can be quite tantalizing when you have to climb over obstacles to achieve them!!!

In my hands last night was given a bag of fresh from the garden squash from a lady at VBS, it’s enough for a couple of meals.  We were thankful to receive it as our squash hasn’t done well this year and hubby loves fried squash!

In my hands right now and for the next couple of days, if the Lord wills it, is more time to think and plan and pray.  This newly assigned down time is also opportunity to continue my ongoing home-education and to do more writing.

Here’s what my ongoing home-education looked like prior to my tumble …

I watched this video on foot oiling.  I don’t know why I’ve never thought of this before, but this short video has piqued my interest and I’m going to research it more.  This is another tool that I can add to my herbal remedy tool chest.

I also watched this one on staying cool during power outages.  I don't even want to think about power outages in our area.  With all the heat and humidity that we have, being without power is very dangerous.  However, regardless of what I don't want to think about, they are a reality for our area during hurricane season so I'm always up for learning ways to survive them!

After my recovery from “IT” and before my tumble, we finished harvesting our potatoes.  Due to the drought, our area has been experiencing this spring, they weren’t as big as they’ve been in past years, but they are still a good size and will preserve up beautifully.  We are so thankful!  What’s that in your hand … small potatoes … preserve them anyway!

I did the same thing with our onions.  Again, they were not huge, but they will still preserve!  What’s that in your hand … small onions … preserve them anyway!

Since hubby and I have put ourselves in 'survival mode' status due to having to compensate for the high price of fuel, we're really looking at what's in our hands even more.   Sometimes, the 'what's in your hand' thing is nothing more than the willingness to work with what you have instead of what you wish you had!  That's what we really focus on when we're in 'survival mode!'

That’s all for this week, what have you done with what’s in your hands?

Until the next post,

Patsi

 A Working Pantry

 She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27

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32 comments:

  1. Oh My - I'm glad you were not hurt worse in that tumble! We had a bounty of squash a couple years ago and I sliced, sealed and froze it. I used the last pack a couple weeks ago. It doesn't fry up well once it's frozen, but I mixed it with some stewed tomatoes, onions, etc and my husband really likes it that way. I wish I could grow potatoes - never had luck with them. Probably too hot here in SE Texas

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    1. Kathy, we have very hot and humid weather here all summer, that's why we get our potatoes planted the first part of February. We can usually get them harvested before the really bad heat and humidity sets in.

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    2. I have not tried this method but I trust this blogger's advise so I am sure it would work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSK6fVeOdk0&list=UUIRgOsvVoHaojo2_J79JNRQ

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    3. Lana, that's interesting, I'm going to try it when I have enough. Thank you for sharing!

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  2. Thank goodness that your fall didn't cause more serious injury. Watch for swelling that stays and any soreness that either gets worse or doesn't go away after a couple of days. I misstepped last winter and went down on an icy patch that was under a fresh dusting of snow. When the swelling didn't go away and movement became more painful, I saw the doctor and there was a fracture near the outside wrist joint. Right wrist, I'm right handed. What did I do since I couldn't keep a pen in that hand? I learned that I could hold a mouse and my fingers still worked to click it, so I learned to pay my bills online -- something I'd been avoiding after having a small identify theft issue a few years back. But with additional banking authentication available, and now that I've started using that technology, there's no going back. And, I'm always reminded by a saying my daughter often uses: When life gives you lemons, make grape juice and let the world wonder how you did it. Heal quickly!

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    1. Lori, I'll keep an eye out for those things! Thank you!

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  3. Poor soul! I hope you recover well and do take it a little bit easy. I worked for an Orthopedic doctor and one thing he drove home to me was that pain is the body's signal to SLOW DOWN. He disliked prescribing pain relievers because he said that it masked pain so well that people often overdid it instead of resting so their body could heal.

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    1. Terri, I've spent most of the day resting and plan to do the same tomorrow. Thank you!

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  4. That tumble must have been really scary for you. I am so thankful there were no broken bones. You are in our prayers for a speedy healing. We are in survival mode as well . This week we defrosted one freezer and took inventory of what was in there.we made a written list. Since we had an abundance of blueberries from last year I made gluten free blueberry muffins. I tried recipes new to me and made homemade Rice a Roni. We harvested lettuce and radishes and basil. From the basil pesto was made and the leftover stems are now being rooted and will be planted. I planted more sweet potatoes and Easter egg radishes.

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    1. Cookie, the fall was scary! As I was falling, I remember thinking that this could be bad! Where did you find the homemade rice a roni recipe? I never thought about rooting basil stems after the leaves had been removed ... brilliant!

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  5. Patsy - I am praying for your recovery and praising God you were not more seriously ‘slowed’! What you have in your hand, I hope, is ice and patience! Conni

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    1. Conni, I love your comment ... 'what you have in your hand, I hope, is ice and patience.' So appropriate ... LOL ... I love it! Thank you!

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  6. I am so sorry you fell! At our age this is a life event! We keep Christopher's Complete Tissue and Bone capsules and for any injury such as a fall we take two of the capsules immediately and it really reduces the soreness and level of injury. We take 2 capsules 3x a day for two days and it really helps. I am praying for quick healing for you.

    I am not sure I quite understood the oily feet video. How does she choose which oil she uses and why? No one should keep a basket of oils on their nightstand because then you are getting the frequency of them all night. Now, I do a form of this every night with just washing the feet and applying Hopewell's Peppermint lotion because I have crazy itchy feet at night because of my EDS. I have recommended it to some of my friends too because it really helps them sleep. Maybe it would be better understood if one were to take her course?

    I think you need a birthday do over!! No matter the size I am sure those potatoes will be delicious! I am going to be thankful for every bit we can harvest this year more than ever. I did do some rebel canning this week and dry canned potatoes. They look great right now. This is a total experiment because we do not like the ones canned in water. I would not do this if I could not use kinesiology to test for them being safe to eat. I am also looking for how they keep.

    When we were first married we did not have A/C in Florida. It was miserable. We had a mall nearby with an ice rink and we would go there and sit and watch the skaters and get cooled off. I am more concerned about lack of power then anything else this summer. We do have a rechargeable fan but the humidity is what really gets to us the worst.

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    1. Lana, hmmm, you've got me thinking about the foot oiling video. I need to rewatch it as I don't remember what she said or if she said what each oil was for. I knew that one shouldn't sleep with a mix of essential oils on their nightstand but didn't realize that extended to homemade massage type herbal oils as well. (I think she makes her own.) Thank you for that info!

      The humidity here is unbelievable too and yes, I'm concerned about loss of power this summer and especially when hurricanes start moving in. The humidity right after a hurricane is even worse.

      By dry canning potatoes, do you mean that you canned them without any liquid in the jar with the potatoes?

      I'm going to look for Christopher's Complete Tissue and Bone capsules, I have a feeling that's something that would be beneficial to keep on hand!!!

      Thanks for the great info!

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    2. Well now you have me questioning the oiling video. It just not make sense to me especially since she put it on top of her feet and up her ankles. The body would only absorb and take to the cells what goes on the bottom of the feet.

      I did can the potatoes without liquid. I watched a number of YouTube videos on it and kind of combined the information I cubed the potatoes and then soaked them for 10 minutes in salt water. I processed pints for 35 minutes. They look like jars of roasted potatoes. I will open one soon and give them a try. I am hopeful.

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    3. Lana, please let me know how your potatoes do when you try them. I'm very interested in your experiment.

      I'm going to rewatch the oiling video as I have questions now that I'll be looking for answers too. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, it is always so helpful and I'm eager to learn all I can!

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  7. So sorry to hear about your fall - I am amazed at what you still manage to accomplish even when ill or injured!
    No gardening for this big city girl but every store I go to I check for any specials and stock up where I can. Prices are rising but there are still bargains to be found and we are lucky that our stores continue to be very well stocked so I put away what I can.

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    1. Margie, gardening is just one way to keep a pantry stocked, doing what you're doing is another! So thankful that there are several ways to keep the pantry stocked and that we can utilize the way or ways that fit the season of life we're in.

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  8. Patsy, I got the recipe at plainchicken.com/ chicken-rice-roni recipe. Instead of the bullion it calls I used bone broth. It was delicious.

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  9. Patsy, So sorry you fell. I worked with/for Senior Citizens for 12 years and attended that many years worth of "continuing education" regarding how to help them live their best lives. (State mandated 12 hours a year, minimum) The very first thing we did when we walked into a home was remove or fasten down all scatter rugs.

    But the biggest hint I have learned over the years is SLOW DOWN. Almost every single fall I have even been part of has been caused by someone trying to do something a little faster than their body could actually move. In your case, you moved faster than your brain could get your foot high enough to clear the cord (regardless of it's right or wrong position) If you slow down just half a beat when transitioning from here to there, down to up, etc you will cut down on 3/4 of the accidents in your home. And when you think about the 1/4 that still happen you will probably come to the conclusion that if you had slowed down, it wouldn't have happened. LOL My body is 65, my brain is 30. My body is going to take a beating if my brain doesn't slow down a bit. Try it...be a tad slower and more deliberate in all your motions and see if that helps keep you on your feet and off the floor.

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    1. Cass, you are exactly right, that is the root cause for the reason I fell. Thank you for the timely reminder! I don't have scatter rugs in my home for that very reason, now I need to be mindful of slowing down! Thank you again!

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  10. Oh Patsy sorry to hear about your fall and we have a saying in our home that "we don't bounce as well as we used to " LOL. If those bumps don't have skin broken you can use arnica cream to bring out the bruising and reduce some of the swelling too and I take Ibuprofen or panadol if needed for pain.

    I think sometimes these setbacks make us stronger and teach us to learn to do things in a different and sometimes better way.

    We have not had IT yet thank goodness. I am a carer to my husband who was in a military accident some years ago so we too have had a few setbacks since 2019 where DH was diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome. In 2020 husband went in for radio frequency ablation operation on his lower back and later in that year we found out that my husband had two brain aneurysms and had to have those operated on too (not a great time due to Covid outbreak) . He told me had pressure behind his eyes and I as a nurse instantly thought brain aneurysms as he had a family history of them and went and had them dealt with and my hunch was right.

    Then last year near Christmas I noticed that my husband was not looking at all well even though I knew he was having a bout of Q Fever and under treatment for that it didn't add up as he said he was having chest pains as well and was looking so pale and couldn't get his breath. Straight to the doctor we go and he was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy where one side of his heart was much bigger than it should be and his heart was operating at 25% instead of the usual 50 -60%. He is under the care of a top cardiologist now and with medication is doing much better but still struggling some days.

    The reason why I am telling you this is that it caused us both to reassess the way we do things and pace ourselves. We do things according to how DH feels and consult each morning on what we will do given the energy and pain levels DH is in. Strangely we find we get more done pacing ourselves than going flat out and DH ending up in bed for days with back or chest pain issues. We have also mechanised a lot of our tasks to make things easier such as a ride on barrow cart to cart firewood etc up to the home. I pared back to just keeping the home operating during these times so just clean clothes, clean home, and good meals and if I had time for something else well and good I did small tasks.

    Like you we are picking any produce we have in the gardens we can to either chop and or blanch and freeze for the freezer. Growing our own produce certainly lowers the grocery bill substantially as fruit and veg costs are outrageous here.

    We are fortunate that with DH that most of our medical trips where we do our grocery shopping we get a fuel and meal allowance through DVA so that covers most of our fuel costs for our household. Rarely do we make extra trips for anything living so far from supermarkets here in the country and will do any errands when we have paid gardening jobs to do or for medical trips. Our gardening work also pays for the fuel to go to those jobs too.

    Fuel costs are still scary though I have to admit along with the fact that electricity costs are set to double here in Australia and the grocery price rises are rising rapidly so these are the two things that are most concerning us being on pensions along with the interest rate rises on the mortgage we are paying.

    Have a great week ahead.


    Lorna

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    1. Lorna, there is so much wisdom in your comment! Thank you for sharing! Hubby and are at that point in life where how we feel in the mornings dictate what we do that day, and it's okay. Pacing ourselves is something we are learning although sometimes the urgency of a situation over rules that pacing.

      We are combing trips and looking at every way we can to save on fuel too, we're all facing lots of challenges right now and it helps so much when we each share the things we do to help meet those challenges. Thank you again for your comment!

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  11. That looks like a nasty fall! Well, glad you did not hurt yourself worse. Falling is something I am good at doing.

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    1. Practical Parsimony, this is the first time I've fallen in many years but let me tell you it was a doozy!!!

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  12. Ouchies Patsi! I hope that recover quickly and the soreness goes away. I have not long harvested a 5kg(just over 11lbs)haul of ginger. I have minced, dehydrated and powdered some of it. More is steeping in vodka for a ginger tincture. A good amount will go in the freezer and some will be replanted.

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    1. Jane, Thank you! I saw the picture of your ginger, it looks good! In addition to the ways you preserved it, I also make ginger cubes to go in iced drinks. It's one of my favorite ways to preserve it!

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  13. Ooo, that looks sore! A little slow- down and good rest will go a long way. Thankyou for the potato info. Hope to have a ample supply, and to can some, D.

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    1. D, I hope you have an ample supply of potatoes too!

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  14. Patsy you have reminded me to be careful about cords and trip hazards. I hope you are feeling much better. I love the idea of working with what is in our hands. And also of staying diligent as in your last post. Ok what is in my hands? Right now I have the last of the apples and they are just starting to go soft. I made a big pot of apple sauce... I probably have about 60 apples left. I need to deal with all of them within the week. Also I have abundant celery! I have been picking a bunch per week. This week I traded a bunch for some Comfrey. I need to cut another bunch and dehydrate it. I might chop and freeze some as well for chicken soup. The high price of fuel is hitting hard here. Everything needs to be reconsidered. I go go go during the week then I feel I need to consider and re plan on the weekends. Like to THINK. Patsy if you could possibly get battery operated fans and a small room plug in air conditioner if the power goes out a generator will run a small single room air con... and give you some relief. With love Annabel.xxx

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    1. Annabel, as soon as I'm recovered enough I'm going through our house with an eye to identify trip hazards as I do not want this to happen again. It could have been so much worse and I am blessed that it wasn't.

      I'm glad you were able to get some comfrey, it is a staple in my herb garden and I am working on spreading it into lots of different areas on our property.

      I like the way you barter and swap with others, it really is a great way to help others and be helped at the same time.

      With hurricane season starting in little more than a week, we are looking at several back-up options should the power go down. The ones you mentioned are good ones!

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