Broken glass

We've got a strange tradition here according to some friends, but last week I saw one of them using the trick my gram taught me to take up broken glass.

Take a slice of white bread and make it into a ball.
You can take the broken glass up with it without hurting yourself.

When as much glass is in it, slice it off and you have a clean patch to take up the rest.

Shoebags

Shoebags are perfect oprganisers all over the house.

In the kitchen: for kitchen utensils that don't fity in the drawer.
In the bathroom: for underwear, towels, etc etc.

I can go on, but you'll get the idea.

Weed killer

It gives life to your laundry and home, and it takes life on your gardenpath.

Yep, it's vinegar.

Use it pure on weeds and you'll see that they can't cope with the acid.

That's another clean gardenpath.

Mildew

Best is to prevent mildew, but when you've got it you need to get rid of it.
You can do so with vinegar.

When the mildew is very bad, use plain white vinegar, otherwise use vinegar and water.


Do you know you can use vinegar too when you want to get rid of the black stains in aluminium?

Birthday presents and visitors

In the past I've been invited for coffee and it turned out I was at a birthday.
It was an awful experience to be without a gift. I really didn't know the hostess would be celebrating her birthday.

Since then I keep in the hall a few packages with a towel, washingcloth and soap.
In case someone lands in the middle of a birthday celebration I slip the package in their bag, explain the situation in a few words and the visitor won't feel embarrassed at all.

Don't be a jojo

Some women keep going up and down to fetch things.

Why not keep certain things upstairs ànd downstairs?
Cleaning cloths, cleaner and some othet much used household items can be found upstairs and downstairs in our house since I got this wise advice from the mother of a friend.
It has saved me a lot of time and energy when the children were small.

Pineapples

We've been dealing with painful lips and a swollen mouth due to eating pineapples until
we were told not to use the knife that's used for peeling the pineapple anymore.
One should use a new knife for slicing the pineapple, because the ill effects are caused by an acid in the peel.

In case your mouth hurts or is swollen because of a pineapple, use salt.

Remove chocolate stains

Removing chocolate or cocoa stains shouldn't be a problem.
When it's a large stain why not try the old fashioned way by using borax and water?

You can also use borax to make linnen white.

Jeans softener

New jeans and other new cotton fabrics can be unkind to the skin.

When you wash them add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of salt to the detergent.
It will soften the fabric.

It might sound old fashioned, but it helps.

Grease in carpets

Grease shouldn't be in carpets. I bet you know that.
But one can't always prevent spots of grease in a carpet.

As soon as grease flalls on the floor, cover it with fine flour and leave it there.
After a while the grease is in the flower and you can brusgh it away.
Repeat this as often as needed.

Steel knives

Steel knives need special care before you put them away for a long time.
To prevent them from rusting you need to make a strong solution of soda (1 part water and 4 parts soda) and put them in there for a moment. Then dry them carefully and put them in a dry place rolled in flannel.

Cleaning sponges

First decide if you want to clean the sponge or throw it away.

When your choice for throwing away is made easily why not cut a new sponge in two, so you'll be kinder to your wallet and the environment.

When cleaning a sponge use an anti bacterial washing soap for hands.
Use clean water to rinse it out.
Then take a fresh lemon and have the juice go well into the sponge.
Rinse it well with lukewarm water.

Cleaning glass

When you wash glasses you need to wash them seperate from the dishes.
Adding a bit of ammonia in the dishwater will make is shine like it's new.

Don't use too much ammonia and use a clean, non dusty, t-towel to clean the glass or let it dry in the air.

Knee pain

There are so many creams that promis magical healing that you'd better take a native medicine remedy.

Boil some garlic pods in mustard oil.
Soak a cloth in it and press excess moist out of it and apply the cloth to the knee.

It's worth a try and some people love the smell of the boiling garlic and mustard too.

Good health!

Swollen hands and feet

A friend from India is the daughter of a doctor.
She has helped many women here with advice for common diseases.

When you experience swollen hands and/or feet you can drink barley water.
Use that instead of normal water and you probably feel OK.

You can help yourself by putting the hands or feet up.

When the swelling persists, see a doctor.

Earache

Earache is one of the worst pains and especially for young children it can cause fear too.

Warm a bit of garlic or sesame oil just lukewarm and drop 3 drops in the ear.
With the right temperature the child won't feel a thing. Don't forget the tell before that the hearing might be weird or gone for a while.
Recurrent earaches and earaches after an illness should be presented to a doctor.

Bleeding

Today I got a call from a friend who was clearly in panick.
Her son had hurt his leg and it was bleeding profusely.

I asked her some questions and it didn't sound as an arterial bleed.
So I told her to get a bandage or an ironed t-towel and pul the wound closed from behind the leg to the front, carefully observing not to tie the knot on the wound.
Then I had her made an ice compress by putting ice in a clean and ironed washcloth and put it on the material that covered the wound.
She could holt it in place with another clean and ironed t-towel.

She was lucky to be one of the few who love to iron things, so she had it all available.
But you can prepare yourself by taking a plastic box, clean it with dettol or something else anti-bacterial, and put ironed stuff in there and close the lid well.
Refresh every month.

After covering the wound that way she went with her son to hospital where they found that the bleeding had stopped.

She got a compliment for treating the wound so well and after some stitches they were allowed to go home.

Beer is healthy?

Today the newspapers reported the researchoutcomes of a study of the results of drinking beer.

It turned out that using one, for women, and two, for men, glasses of beer reduce the chance of getting diabetes.

Personally I don't feel like drinking beer, not even after this news, because others report an increase of breastcancer risk after drinking beer.

The scientist who reported the research results has some ideas why beer might prevent the occurence of diabetes, but none of his ideas where based on facts.

Unhealthy meds

Some people think that everything made of plants that is sold as a healthy potion or pill is safe.

It's not.

Over the counter plant medication can be dangerous too, even when used in recommended dosage.

So be careful not to cause premature labour, a miscarriage, or a child to be even sicker than he was before.

Medical use of the potato

Haha! You didn't know a potato can help you fight disease?
It can.

The medicinal part, functioning as analgesic and antispasmodic is its swollen underground stem called “tuber”.

It's good against gastric ulcers and duodenal ulcers.
Wash the potatoes well get rid of the sprouts and grate them into a cheesecloth.
Press the juice out.
Half a cup of it before every meal is enough.

Because potatoes also contain atropine itll also handle your gastrointestinal pain.

Topical burns can be treated by a combination of the juice and the peels.

Medical use of the eggplant

I've never used eggplant much.
I don't like it.
But now I know it's so healthy, I have to change my mind.

The medicinal parts are its calyx, leaves, and the fruit.

Take 2 to 3 grams of dried calyx of the eggplant and make an extract. It's one of the best ways to combat food poisoning, I've been told.

When you want to get rid of a wart, just cut a slice of the eggplant and make it a little bit larger than the warth. Secure it with tape. Refresh the treatment every day and after a week you'll see result.

You can use the eggplant also against breast inflammation, boils, chapped skin and frostbite.

Wow!

Medical use of green onion

The stem of the green union, also called spring onion is very healthy.

Chop it very fine and use it in salads, on bread, rolled in a slice of cheese, etc etc.
The white stem contains a lot of glucose and allyl sulfides.

You can use it against colds, headaches, chills to the stomach, indigestion, and insomnia.
It's antipyretic, expectorant, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal.

Spring onion should grow in every windowsill, that's clear!

Yoghurt with

Children sometimes refuse to eat.
I've discovered many ways to fool my children so they would get enough nourishment to stay healthy.

I never told them yoghurt is healthy, or is a desert.
Yoghurt is a treat.

And I make it even better when there's a reason to do so, and I don't like sugar to play much of a role in it.

I use a smoothy to improve the taste of yoghurt when I have no fruit available.

Pour the fruit in the yohurt and mix it in a blender until it's foam.

Kids, and grown ups, love it!

Report health effects

It's amazing how many people suffer health effects after a fire, for instance.
Authorities get every chance to ignore the health effects of a disaster, because people solve the problems themselves.

Even when you don't want a medical specialist to look at you, you can report the health effect and how you dealt with it to your own family docotr with the request to report it to the authorities.

Cleaning coffee machine

When you're cleaning your coffee machine don't forget to clear the place under the cup.

When you have cleaned the small tray that is supposed to collect a few drops, put some desinfectant gel in it. This prevents fungi to grow and also gives a nice smell.

And it's not so dirty to clean the thing.

Baked apple

Take a goldreinette (apple which is quite firm and stays rather firm when heated).

Peel it and make slices of one to 2 cm.

Take the middle hard part out with a knife.

Heat a teflon pan with a bit of butter.

High fire.

Put the apple slices in and keep moving the pan.

Throw cinnamon on the apple.

Turn the slices,

go on baking and moving and throw cinnamon on.

Throw snowsugar on it and turn the slices.

Bake for 30 seconds and throw snowsugar on the slices and turn.

Repeat snowsugar and turning.

Keep a close watch on the bottom of the pan, because the sugar shouldn't go black but golden brown.

When you like the smell well enough,
pur the whole lot on a plate and either serve them slice by slice with some honey and cinnamon icecream, for instance. Or on a piece of cake.
Or just the way they are.

Yummy!!

Handles

When i entered the kitchen I saw that a repeat of a traditional warning was in place.

Turn the handles of pots and pans to the wall.

OK, it's a bit easier to grasp a pot when the handle is towards you.
But it's also a danger.

Just one uncontroled movement and all the boiling content is spiling right over you, causing serious burns.

be aware of that.
If there chidlren around or not, make it a habit.

Need fancy clothes?

Do you need nice clothes?
This week is the best week to shop for them, because many shopowners put the christmaswear in the sales.

Also consider the services that provide clothes for parties. You know the rental ones.

Often these clothes are still good, but need a chemical clean.

When you need a scottish outfit, try the online rental services.

Good luck!

Resolutions

Many people make resolutions for the new year.
It's a great idea to face up to your weak characteristics and work on them, but when one of those characteristics is to make it easy for yourself you'd better hide until the next new year.

Ofcourse you can help yourself realise your plans.

• Don't make them too difficult,
• cut them into easy reachable small parts,
• work together with other people
• change your life in such a way that you can deal with your plans without missing something else
• create benefits to each goal
• be realistic
  

And...do you have resolutions?
Can we help you?

New calendar

Buy a new calendar for the new year and put all the birthdays, anniversaries and special events on it.
Don't forget the regular appointments, the times you have to order your medicines and other regular occurances.

Put the calendar at a place where you will see it each day, and at such a place where you are bound to look at it.
Like beside the coffee machine.