Natural pesticide for your plants

This is a very simple recipe I found a few days ago, a solution that protects plants from pests with a quick preparation time.

The usual pesticides smell awful, not to mention all the harming (for us humans) chemicals they contain! So why not do yourself a favor too and try this safe recipe?

Pesticide for plants

approx. 3.5 liter water
2 tablespoons of Neem oil
1 / 2 teaspoon Rosemary essential oil
1 / 2 teaspoon Lavender essential oil
(optional 2 tablespoons organic liquid dish detergent)

Mix all of these and store in a spray container. If you only have smaller vessels, decrease amounts of the recipe. Spray the entire plant with this solution, agitating from time to time so the oil and water will not separate.

Use about twice a month if you have pests on your plants, or once per month if there aren’t, but just to make sure they’re keep away from your lovelies.

Keep your plants happy

 

Homemade Fruit and Vegetables Disinfectant

Fruits and vegetables are part of our daily food. Whether we buy them from a supermarket or the farmer’s market, they contain traces of soil, chemical fertilizers and bacteria such as Salmonella and E. coli that can cause death.

From wanting to disinfect as far as it is possible bio or organic solutions containing natural substances appeared on the market which eliminate most of the impurities found in plant fibers. But of course, these solutions are not found in stores that will offer them at low cost.

So I wanted to take this opportunity and share two very simple disinfectant solutions to home make, with few ingredients which are on hand to everyone.

Disinfectant solution for fruits and vegetables

- 1 cup water
- 1 cup white wine vinegar
- 1 table spoon baking soda
- 1 / 2 teaspoon lemon juice

Or another mix is

- 1 cup water
- 1 cup white wine vinegar
- Juice of one lemon
- A few drops of tea tree essential oil (tea tree)

Prepare either one by mixing ingredients thoroughly in a glass and then putting the end result in a spray bottle. Shake before using.
Spray the solution on fruits and vegetables, and rub gently in your hands for 10-15 seconds.
Rinse with water.

Stay healthy everyone

Natural Headache Remedy

Headaches and migraines seem to be going around in this changing Spring(?) weather and I myself have been suffering a lot during the past few weeks due to pressure headaches. The fact that I’m not allowed to take any medicine doesn’t help. Bummer…

This situation got me thinking though and I decided to make a list of what homemade and natural remedies helped me in pain relief, and I’ll share some websites with great information too.

We all respond differently to the different cures and since all these homemade and natural headache remedies are safe and have no side effects (absolutely perfect for someone with peptic ulcer (any form of it) as they won’t disturb your stomach), you can try out more than just one and see what works best for you

• Scalp massage and you can apply a drop of Lavender essential oil to the temples.
• Take a warm bath – using these bath salts might help to further relax.
• Chamomile and Mint tea relax muscles and sooth tension (sweeten with honey instead of sugar).
• Honey mixed in a glassful of lime juice is also one of the most effective homemade headache remedies.
• Calcium and Magnesium are minerals that help to alleviate muscular tension.
• Ginkgo Biloba extract improves circulation to the brain, and may be helpful for certain types of headache.
• Try to have a regular balanced diet and keep your body hydrated. Reduce the intake of caffeine, salt and chocolate.
• Light exercises like stretching, and you can also practice yoga and meditation regularly.
• Apply an icepack on the affected areas (neck, upper back, temples of the head and forehead). Apply the icepack for at least 5 to 10 minutes and it will reduce the temperature of the head while preventing severe pain.
• Get plenty of fresh air, a 5 minute walk can work wonders.
• Sleep.

A few useful websites I found on this topic:

Home remedies for you

Homemade Medicine

Ezine Articles

Almost forgot: if you know any natural ways and homemade remedies that worked for you and are not listed here, please share your wisdom with us!

Stay healthy everyone

War plan against the sniffles

We all try to avoid it as much as possible, but the sniffles (with all it’s bacteria and stuff) has it’s own special plans and catching people off-guard is one of it’s best features.

So, aside from avoiding confrontation, we should develop some war plans for when we’re already attacked.

Here are some mostly natural home remedies against the common cold (absolutely perfect for someone with peptic ulcer (any form of it) as they won’t disturb your stomach).

As I’ve read, common colds need common sense, and even though you don’t need to use every single point from this list when you get a cold, there’s still no need to fill your body with anti-biotics when you can cure your cold in a natural way:

• Vitamin C can make the cold symptoms less severe or can shorten the length of a cold from seven days to two or three days with less coughing, sneezing, and other symptoms.
  In fact, overall, Vitamin C works as a scavenger in our body throwing out all toxins, that’s why all doctors urge people to eat fruits and vegetables every day.
  (for example: Orange, Lemon, Kiwi, Broccoli, Cauliflower, etc. you can find a detailed list here)
• In case you don’t have these, you can buy Vitamin C (or Vitamin C with Propolis is even better) from the pharmacy, and since it depends on the mg., take as many as the instructions or your doctor tells you, while you’re healing.
• Take one piece of Propolis, or add 20 drops of Propolis tincture to 1 cube sugar and let it melt in your mouth.
  Propolis is a natural resinous mixture bees make, and it relieves numerous health conditions as it strengthens the immune system.
• Zinc is another wonder thing for cold that can cut colds short. So when you first feel that you may be getting a cold, start eating Zinc rich foods.
  (for example: eggs, various cereal and wheat, fish, yogurt, etc. you can find a detailed list here)
• Eat garlic (as a bonus: this also helps in keeping those pesky vampires away)
• Take a bath with a few drops of cinnamon and/or lavender in the bath water as this can relieve congestion, head aches while it relaxes you.
• Get plenty of rest because that way your immune system is boosted up and it quickens the process of getting better.
• Eat chicken soup. It’s no wonder grandmothers used to make this for us when we were little, it is quite effective in relieving cold symptoms.
• Drink tea 2-3 times a day:
  - Elderberry tea is the best (or at least for me it is).
  - Ginger, Eucalyptus, Chamomile, Echinacea and Peppermint are also very good for colds.
  - A tea from the combination of one teaspoon of Plantain (Plantago Lanceolata), Heartsease (Viola Tricolor) and Thyme (Thymus) each  to 1 liter of water is amazing for any type of cough or irritated throat
• Eat honey. Add a teaspoon of honey to your tea.
• One spoonful of Pine (Bud Cone) Syrup swallowed slowly eases an irritated throat and helps with reducing coughing. Don’t eat anything after this for at least an hour so it will act as is stays on your throat.
• For a dry irritated throat mix: a few teaspoons of honey with some lemon juice (if you add 20-30 drops of Propolis too it’s even better) and slowly let it melt in your mouth. Don’t eat anything after this for at least an hour so it will act as is stays on your throat.  
• Add 5-10 drops of Eucalyptus or Peppermint, Pine, Lavender, Thyme, Tea Tree oil to a bowl of steaming water.
  Place your nose over the vapors and inhale, covering yourself with a towel and inhale deeply. This will cure your blocked or running nose or will loosen thick mucus.
• Apply VapoRub on your chest or throat right before going to sleep.
• Make a tea by boiling 2 teaspoons of Astragalus root in 1 cup water for 15 minutes and drink. This tea enhances your immunity.
• Nasal drops for dry and stuffy nose can be homemade by adding: 1/4 teaspoon of table salt to about 5 ml lukewarm water.
  Use this solution as a nasal drop, 1 to 2 drops in each nostril about 3 to 4 times daily.
  (You can keep this nasal drop in refrigerator for 2-3 days.)
• In case you’re sensitive to nose drops (shouldn’t use this without prescription as too much of it may cause chemical rhinitis) you can buy nasal gel from your local pharmacy (if you find a herbal based one, even better).
• Fill a glass with warm water and mix in 1 tsp of table salt and gargle several times a day to cure throat soreness.
• Make some Homemade Vapor Rub
• Make some Homemade Cough Syrups 

If you follow this war plan against the sniffles, you won’t have to wave the white flag and immediately take medicine.
My motto is this: if you can avoid getting many toxins and chemicals into your body, why not?

Stay healthy everyone!

I should listen to my better judgment

It’s been cold for over a week now, and I just hate it!

Yes, the leaves now have amazing colors and everything, but I hate the rain, and especially the cold, in case you hadn’t noticed by now.

My better judgment advised me 2 days ago not to go out in the rain.
In fact it advised me to stay inside and in bed for the whole day, possibly until March at least, but stubborn as I am, I didn’t listen.

After walking around downtown for a whole afternoon in pouring rain it wasn’t even an issue to go around all the puddles (way too many/too big to avoid and my shoes were soaking wet after the first 15 minutes anyway).

I didn’t worry too much about catching a cold, but it looks like I definitely have a talent for it.

Right now I’m trying to figure out how to type, sneeze and cough at the same time.
Oh darn, my nose is running, I better go catch it…

If there was anything you wanted to say, leave a message after the sneeze and I’ll get back to you in a few days

 

Healthy tips

A healthy body can’t be maintained with no effort on your behalf.  Here are a few tips for you to ponder about and start if you didn’t already know and made a habit of them.

• Have breakfast –> Don’t skip breakfast! Even if you’re almost late, there’s always time to mix some cereals with milk and eat them while dressing for example.
• Drink natural juices –> Replace artificial drinks fresh, natural juices. They’re ready in 5 minutes, always taste better and are actually good for your health being rich in vitamins, regulating your cholesterol level and toughening your immunity.
• Stop chaotic meal times –> Eating at regular hours helps you avoid digestive problems. Try building up a schedule you’ll follow, don’t eat too many things and types of food at once.
• Go to the doctor –> At least once a year, have a full checkup done. It helps you detect any disease early and you’ll be more relaxed in case your head ache turns out to be only a sign of aging.
• Forget the elevator –> It’s commonly known how exercise keeps you healthier and filed with energy. So walk up and down the stairs instead of using the elevator, walk or bike instead of driving or taking the bus to work, take up jogging, yoga, sports, etc.  and you’ll keep many affections at distance.
• Music for your soul –> Your soul’s health is also important for your overall health and spiritual well being. Music will make you relax, detach from your stressful surroundings and fill you up with optimism and energy.
• Sleep –> Sleep depravation works miracles in wrecking you immune system and making you more vulnerable to disease and stress, you get easily irritated and won’t be able to concentrate. All very good reasons to value your resting period and sleep those 8 hours doctors urge you to take into consideration.

Stay healthy everyone!

Moving on…

A year ago today something happened that changed my life forever… The stress I’ve been under caught up with me, my health, as I wrote in the Doctors: nice or fake? and Stress posts last year.

The scare when I fainted from the pain (twice), the cab-ride to the hospital, the needles, tests, and the unfortunate sentence: "If we don’t operate NOW you’ll die!" (which I’ve successfully blocked out then, and only remembered it a few days ago). It was all terrible, scary and the feelings of deceit and sadness didn’t help either. I hated everything about it, the time spent in the hospital, the months off-work… Even I don’t know how I managed to live through it all. And the person who put me in that position, in the hospital, between life and death… is very well off, and exactly the same as before.
A lot of "baggage" that surgery had created, 5 visible scares and a lot more than that as some scares aren’t visible! More stress and feelings of depression, and a lot more that I can’t deal with even after a year, but at least it’s somewhat in the past now.

I believe it’s time for me to move on, and I’ll write down here what I want to say, hoping it will help somehow…

I will be tough. I will not be bitter. I will not stoop low and say things I will regret. I’ll be a much happier person if I let things slide, even if it’s as hard as it is. I will prove him wrong, that it is possible to not hate him even if he gives me all the reasons to. Because the opposite of kindness, friendship, and even love is indifference, not hate.
I won’t seek revenge and I won’t wish bad things upon him. I only wish him everything he ever wished for me. I won’t overstep my boundaries, I will mind my own business. And I’ll prove him, that we don’t need for him to help out my Sweetheart and I, I will do that myself! He has not only lost a friend who could’ve come in handy most of the times, he also lost his brother. Because his brother will never look at him the same way he did before all of this, before everything he has done to us over the years.
On Judgment day, I want to look back on this and not feel ashamed for the way I acted afterwards.
Let him be the one who has to live with his behavior, I don’t need that kind of guilt laying on my shoulders. I have quite enough on my plate because of him as-is.

I will respect myself! I will move on, as much as I can…