Simple Raw and Natural

I woke up with a headache.  I think it is because I have taken my diet to the Ninja level, so I could be detoxing.  I eliminated all the commercial products and the seeds and nuts. Look what is in one of our garden beds....just in time for St. Patrick's day.  It's a shamrock! Shamrock. We went to some garage sales and some estate sales today.  We didn't spend much money, but we got some stoneware plates and three beer bottles I think I can sell.  We bought an arbor at the estate sale for $2.00.  Travis had me hold it in the back of the Odyssey and then he slammed the trunk door down on my arm.  It hurt like the devil.  We both cried.  My arm hurt for a couple of hours, but now I think it is okay.  It doesn't seem to be broken.  I guess that's what comes from writing about broken bones on my blog a couple of days ago. Here is a link to the post.... Broken Bones . We put the arbor up in the garden right next to the grape arbor...

My  Lifestyle Consultants course I study with Dr. John Fielder had a  lesson today on the History of Nature Cure about Mohandas Gandhi.  Everyone knows about Gandhi's non-violent resistance to England's colonial rule of India and his passion for the sick and poor, but my lesson today was about his practice of Natural Hygiene and Nature Cure.  He was very much influenced by Nature Cure pioneers, Louis Kuhne and Adolf Just. Gandhi was a strict vegetarian who believed that observing the laws of nature would keep you healthy.  He established a Nature Cure center where the poor, who could not afford medicines,  could learn about health and hygiene. Gandhi did not have faith in modern medicine.  He was of the opinion that good health required only proper diet, fresh air, exercise, clean environment, and a pure heart.  Modern medicine tempts people to break the laws of health and then seek a cure through drugs.  Gandhi tried to learn how to over...

Our friend, Karl, called to tell us that his sprained ankle included a cracked femur.  He is walking on a walker, but according to the doctor, if it does not heal he will need surgery.  What does Natural Hygiene have to say about broken bones.  Well, surgery is not always the answer.  Natural Hygiene treats fractures very different from the modern methods.  There are three main differences: Instead of forcibly aligning the two ends of the broken bone in one manipulation under anesthesia, Natural Hygiene brings the ends together gradually without anesthesia. Instead of mobilizing the broken bone until it is firmly united, Natural Hygiene thinks immobilization is not necessary or desirable.  It uses splints to keep the bones from becoming displaced. Instead of immobilizing the joints above and below the fracture, Natural Hygiene allows for freedom of the joints and considers immobilization to be unnecessary and harmful.  Immobilization causes the m...

Switching to daylight savings time has left me sleep deprived.  No complaints, though, as daylight in the evenings is wonderful. Today was a fabulous sunny day with temperatures reaching into the 80's! Today was flute lesson day.  Harriet worked with me on the flute ensemble music this morning, and Jackie worked with me on my regular lesson this afternoon. Travis and I cleaned out some of the garage today.  We found another van load of items for Molly and the kids to sell at the garage sale on Friday.  They are making money for Orlando.  And I love having less clutter in the garage, although there is more work to be done there. Lunch today:  Green Smoothie (watermelon, banana, kiwi, apples, dates, water); Grapefruit with Honey; Honeydew; Mango; Goody Ball; and Pistachios. Lunch:  Green Smoothie, Mango, Honeydew, Grapefruit with Honey, and Goody Ball.  Pistachios not shown. At Kroger I bought organic baby carrots, cucumber, apples, ora...

The Annual Meeting at our church was good.  It was a lot of work, but worth it.  We had our meals at the church on Friday night, Saturday lunch, Saturday dinner, and Sunday lunch.  Over the course of the week-end, I took potato soup, green salads, crackers, salad dressings, trail mix, goody balls, raw milk cheese, cashew butter dip, melons, and fruit salad.  My sister brought my Mom to the meeting on Saturday.  We were happy to get to host the visiting preacher and his family in our home.   Mom having lunch at church. My plan was to work in the garden this morning, but I never got out to do it.  Instead, I had to package up a shipment for a watch case we sold on Ebay and a book we sold on Abe Books.  Once I got into that mind-set, I listed some china plates on Ebay and an old book on Abe Books.  Travis, in the mean time, put the minerals and fertilizer on garden bed #1.  The POA is selling off the lots that are in arrears in their...

Today I wore my t-shirt my nieces gave me at Christmas.  I love it.  It says "Eat More Kale". Here I am posing with the melons and papaya in my Eat More Kale t-shirt. I operated in slow gear all day today.  The coffee I drank last night kept me up until after 1:00 a.m. this morning.  It definitely operated as a stimulant.  I don't need to do that again. Lunch today was grapefruit with honey, avocado, and trail mix.  The trail mix is really good. Dinner was salad (romaine, mushrooms, sprouts, and tomatoes) dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, Bragg's seasoning and a tiny bit of sea salt; avocado, sauerkraut, banana chips, and trail mix. Tomorrow will be a busy day.  Our annual meeting starts at our church tomorrow evening and goes through Sunday.  We will be hosting people in our home and feeding the people that attend the meeting.  It will be a lovely week-end, I'm sure, even though it is raining. More from Quintessence about surg...

First job of the morning was to go to Walmart to stock up on food to take to our church meeting this week-end.  I bought salad fixings, lots of beautiful melons, papayas, organic potatoes for potato soup, organic crackers, butter, orange juice and grape juice for my company. Piel de Sapo melon from Costa Rico. Papaya We had our first raw foods meeting today here in Hot Springs Village.  I am excited about this group of ladies.  Cindy, Gabriel, Peg and me had a great time.  I made green smoothies in my Vita-Mix and Cindy made a smoothie with greens, apples, lemon, carrots, celery, and ginger in her Blend-Tec.  We had these for lunch along with papaya, watermelon, avocado, banana chips, goody balls, and an assortment of raw organic nuts that arrived today from Nuts.com.  We plan to meet on the third Wednesday of every month.   They all took flyers to help publicize Dr. Fielder's visit on May 16 and May 17.  I took some great pictures of the...

Today is the birthday for my favorite daughter-in-law, Amy Hopper.  Happy birthday, Amy.  The card is in the mail and we'll go shopping when I get to Philly.  I got to talk to her last night to wish her a happy birthday. Yesterday we had church at our little church in the country.  My sister came from Little Rock and brought my Mom.  Our pastor preached about how important it is to be grateful for what we have.  We had lunch at church.  I took some of the raw soup I just learned to make, some goody balls, raw cauliflower popcorn, steamed broccoli, and honeydew.  After church we cleaned the kitchen and got everything ready for our annual meeting coming up next week-end. Mom at church yesterday. This morning we finished putting compost and mulch on bed #3.  We weeded bed #1.  I harvested all the kale out of bed #1 and pulled up the plants.  We are going to plant kale in bed #3 this year.  The transplanted strawberries look...

 It was chilly this morning, but I got out and worked a bit in the garden bed that had the strawberries moved out yesterday.  I fed it with the mineral supplement and fertilizer.  I started putting on compost, but ran out of time before I finished.  We are going to plant some kale in this bed. Bed #3 weeded, minerals added, fertilized, and partly composted. Travis and I went to an estate sale today.  First thing we saw was a garden shredder.  We bought it for $60.00 and brought it home.  There are lots of leaves in my yard that could be shredded. Our new used Alko shredder...made in Germany.    For dinner tonight I made a soup.  The inspiration came from Dara Dubinet on her You-tube video, but mine was different because I used what we had. My vegetable soup recipe:  Juice a beet, 6 carrots, 3 broccoli stalks, and a sweet potato.  Then heat a pot of water on the stove, but do not boil.  In the Vita-Mix, put 3 med...

 It was chilly this morning, but I got out and worked a bit in the garden bed that had the strawberries moved out yesterday.  I fed it with the mineral supplement and fertilizer.  I started putting on compost, but ran out of time before I finished.  We are going to plant some kale in this bed. Bed #3 weeded, minerals added, fertilized, and partly composted. Travis and I went to an estate sale today.  First thing we saw was a garden shredder.  We bought it for $60.00 and brought it home.  There are lots of leaves in my yard that could be shredded. Our new used Alco shredder...made in Germany.    For dinner tonight I made a soup.  The inspiration came from Dara Dubinet on her You-tube video, but mine was different because I used what we had. My vegetable soup recipe:  Juice a beet, 6 carrots, 3 broccoli stalks, and a sweet potato.  Then heat a pot of water on the stove, but do not boil.  In the Vita-Mix, put 3 med...

Hot Springs is famous for its water.  Yesterday, I went downtown and filled up my water bottles at the Happy Hollow Springs.  The water that comes from this spring is not hot, but it is our favorite.  It is free to anyone that brings their bottles.  It is always fascinating to see the people there getting water.   It's quite international.  People from all over the world show up there to get the water. Getting water at Happy Hollow Springs.  My water bottles are in the foreground..all filled up. We have a vegan restaurant in Hot Springs now, Garden Secret.  I met Travis and Karl there for lunch yesterday.  The food was amazing.  We met the owners, Clarence and Deborah Reddick.  I hope people will go there and help them make this into a big success.  We need them to be here. Lentil Soup- beautifully presented. Garden Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing Lasagna - The daily special. Here I am with Karl and one...