Food Nazis

The bad guys are at it again. Please take a moment to educate yourself about bill S.510.
It would greatly restrict our rights to grow and eat our own food, and also to buy vitamins.
Please visit Health Freedom USA for more information and to contact your Senators to place a hold on the bill.
I added this to the form letter provided by the Health Freedom people:


I am a small farmer in Bergen, NY. I am raising my family on a ten acre farm complete with garden, milk cow, pigs, laying hens, and meat chickens. We strive to maintain and protect heirloom vegetables and animals breeds. They are important to us. We work hard to give our kids wholesome foods to eat that have not been genetically modified or grown using pesticides, herbicides, or antibiotics. When I say we work hard, I mean we get up early and stay up late to milk the cow, work in the garden, feed the pigs, gather eggs, can the tomatoes, etc. Please support our way of life by placing a hold on this bill. Thank you.
 
Honest to goodness, it is very easy to go send a letter.
And very necessary. If you like to save seeds, take vitamin C in doses higher than 25 mg, or just have the freedom to buy non genetically modified vegetables at the store, go to the website, read about it, and send a letter.
 
Thanks. I thank you and your children will thank you. Or grandchildren, or nieces and nephews, or whomever you love who is younger than you.
 
Go! Go do it.
 
Stop reading this and go.
 
Thank you.
 
Blessings,
Jocelyn

I like lard

Joe slaughtered one of the pigs yesterday. I took the hams and bacons down to Warsaw Meat Packing this morning to get them smoked and packed.
And now, I am rendering lard.
Last year I did it on top of the stove and got a good result. However, I think I have found an easier (more efficient) way to do it.
I read a book about pigs this year, and I was talking to Charleen and Joe, and both recommend rendering in the oven. And Charleen also gave me the idea of freezing the fat before putting it through the grinder. Joe did it this afternoon, and it worked great.
So, I have heard the temperature should be 350, 225, and 170. I have it at 170 at the moment. We'll see how it goes. If it seems like that temp won't do the trick, I will be up-ing the temp by 10 degrees until it works.
I plan to leave it overnight, and then finish up with the cracklings, straining, and putting in jars tomorrow morning.
I think this site has a decent set of instructions.

On another note, I went on a date with Cade today. First we took Sabrina to her first day of work at the pet store, had breakfast at McDonald's, took the hams  and bacons to the smoking place (there was a sign in there that said "No Smoking" LOL, went to WalMart for freezer bags, and then to Lantz's. At the meat packing place, the Butterfly Man gave Cade a monarch to release. That was cool. And, at Lantz's, Cade and I shared a Sarsaparilla Soda. That was yummy.

Well, I need to get back to checking things off my list.

Blessings,
Joce

Zzzzzzz.....huh?

Oh. Hi.
Sorry, I, uh, fell asleep there. Really. I am very tired. But happy.
I have been working hard here. Tomatoes are relentless.
Apples are gearing up to tag team the tomatoes.
So.
My pantry is filling up and I am falling asleep.
Also- painting the barn, building a lean to for the horse, getting ready for our first official school year, heading to Virginia for a few days, etc.
Anyway, it is a beautiful day and I think I will go out and play.
I just wanted to check in and say hi.
Blessings to you,
Joce

Essential Oils are a gift from God

Okay.
MASTITIS:
Mastitis is an infection of the breast tissue that results in breast pain, swelling, warmth and redness of the breast. If you have mastitis, you might also experience fever and chills. Mastitis most commonly affects women who are breast-feeding (lactation mastitis), although in rare circumstances this condition can occur outside of lactation.
In most cases, lactation mastitis occurs within the first three months after giving birth (postpartum), but it can happen later during breast-feeding. The condition can leave you feeling exhausted and rundown, making it difficult to care for your baby.
Sometimes mastitis leads a mother mistakenly to wean her baby before she intends to. But you can continue breast-feeding while you have mastitis.
Symptoms
*With mastitis, signs and symptoms can appear suddenly and may include:
*Breast tenderness or warmth to the touch
*General malaise or feeling ill
Swelling of the breast
*Pain or a burning sensation continuously or while breast-feeding
*Skin redness, often in a wedge-shaped pattern
Fever of 101 F (38.3 C) or greater

(*=yes, me)

Also, really really tired.

Really really really.

So. After Tina told me, duh, it's mastitis, I kicked into farmer/doctor mode.

Here's the list of treatments I used, and this is important mainly because- it worked!

1. Probiotics: yogurt, kefir, and kefir capsules.
2. Oregano oil capsules, 3 a day.
3. Multi as usual.
4. Fish oil as usual.
5. More water.
6. 1 Olive Leaf Extract capsule. (from a friend)
7. 1 packet of Emergen-C.
8. Tea tree oil and lavender oil, in almond oil, topically applied.
9. Lavender oil applied to breast pad.

And, that, my friends, saved me from the antibiotics.
I know some of you are like, dude, there comes a time when antibiotics are okay.
And, I agree. But today is not that day. Here's why I am so happy to have avoided them.
1. My own body system of friendly flora that I have been working on for years.
2. Jessup's body system of perfect friendly flora that is a gift from God through the wonderful thing that is breastfeeding.
I don't want to mess that up man. I can never ever get Jessup's perfect balance of bacteria in his body back for him once it has been annihilated by antibiotics.
So yay for Essential Oils that saved my boobies and Jessup's God-given protection from infection.

Amen.

XOXO
Joce

What's this? Pictures?

We went to Genesee Country Village with Hanna and fam a while back. Here are some pics that Hanna took.

Cade= the boy

Brilyn= the girl in green

Thanks for the pics Hanna!

XOXO

Joce