Monday, April 13, 2015

Meow Monday: Daisy's Story


Daisy's story is a story of learning to trust humans and feel safe and secure around them.  We adopted Daisy in January, 2012 from a local rescue group.  She had been found as a stray in a nearby county and found herself in their high-kill animal shelter.  You can read about her coming home and initial adjustment in our home here. It's been 3 years since Daisy entered our lives and she has come so far!

For the first week, Daisy tried to escape out the windows by pawing and scratching her way out.  I have no doubt that she was abandoned in a house and this was how she found freedom.  Every morning when I woke up, I'd find the blinds in the bedroom bent.  I finally pulled the blinds up about 6" so she could get under them and see out the windows.

As she graduated to full freedom in the house, we rarely saw her.  She'd come to the area near the kitchen for feeding time, then she'd disappear into either the living room or the front bedroom, which was her "safe place".  Every time I went looking for her, she'd startle and get the "fight or flight" look in her eyes.  She never growled, hissed, or swiped at us, but she'd dart behind the couch or under the bed.  If she was sleeping, she'd immediately wake up and pop her head up as if she had to flee.  During thunderstorms, she ran and hid under the telephone table, which has a narrow opening.

Over the months, she gradually started exploring the rest of the house.  I remember when she'd eat her breakfast or dinner and immediately head into the darkened living room by herself.  She wanted to trust us, but at the same time, she was afraid to trust us too much.  She gradually started coming into the den in the evenings with us.  Then, she started spending time with us in the kitchen.  Finally, she ventured down the hallway to the master bedroom and discovered the great view of the backyard from the bedroom window!

When I left for work, she'd ignore me when I got home.  I think she has some degree of separation anxiety.  I would work all week, come home and be ignored for a whole day before she decided to have anything to do with me.

Fast forward to today.  Daisy continues to come out of her shell and trust us more and more.  On days that I'm home, she is ON me.  Not near me. On me!  She loves to snuggle up on my chest and chill out.  Sometimes, she jumps up on the back of the couch and snoozes behind me while I watch TV.  She still likes to hang out in the front room, but only because she can watch the world outside, not to hide.  She eats and stays in the room with us.  She doesn't hide during thunderstorms and she sleeps soundly, even when we walk into a room.  She is in the kitchen with us constantly, often standing between my legs while I cook or prepare their food.  Of course, she's hoping for a handout, but she's still there.  She absolutely loves to play with Tumbles and Emie and she's even been seen trying to get Hannah to play. 

Torties are notorious for bonding with one human.  I'm happy she's chosen to bond with me.



Monday, March 16, 2015

Allergy & Sinus Relief



About a week or so ago, the left side of my head became congested.  My ear and my nose.  The right side was perfectly fine.  Go figure!  I wasn't running a fever, but I had a lot of congestion and knew this was a recipe for one humdinger of a sinus infection.  Rather than take an antibiotic as I've done for the past many years, I decided to suffer through it try a more natural way of curing myself.  Also, because I was dealing with the yeast infection from Hades (which I'm still dealing with, by the way), I didn't want to feed the yeast by adding an antibiotic to the mix.

Neti Pot, essential oil diffuser, and Nasonex to the rescue!

I used my Neti Pot daily, once in the morning and once in the evening.  If you've never used a Neti Pot, I highly recommend it.  It looks gross, but it really cleans our your nose like a charm.  It also flushes out all the allergens that have gotten lodged in the cilia in your nose.  (Cilia = nose hairs)  My eye doctor even recommends washing your eyebrows and eyelashes with Johnson's Baby Shampoo each day when you get home from work or doing any work outside to cut down on eye allergy problems.  I digress.

I used my little essential oil diffuser (pictured above) every night when I went to bed.  I set it on my nightstand and diffused the following blend in distilled water:

6 drops Rosemary
2 drops Eucalyptus
2 drops Tea Tree Oil
2 drops Lemon
2 drops Lavender
2 drops Peppermint

This has a very pleasant, relaxing smell. Diffusing this blend really helped me sleep well.  A couple of times I even put this blend in my Neti Pot with a salt packet and used it in my nose. Boy howdy does that clear you out and help you breathe!  Eucalyptus and peppermint are excellent decongestants on their own and combined they really pack a punch.  Lemon, Lavender, and Peppermint are a great combination for warding off allergies, too, by the way.  Two drops of each rubbed into the bottom of your feet twice a day helps decrease allergy symptoms.  You can apply them "neat", which means not diluted in a carrier oil. 

After using the Neti Pot, diffuser, and Nasonex trifecta for about 3 days, I was 90% better.  I was able to breathe and sleep throughout the night and wasn't blowing my nose non-stop at work during the day.  

Meow Monday

Tumbles looking dapper while basking in the sun.
Daisy getting ready to supurrvise the restocking of the cat food shelf.

Emmie being, well...Emmie.

Hannah

Sunday, March 08, 2015

Let's Talk Yeast {Strictly Female Post}

 

And I'm not talking about the yeast used in baking bread.  I'm talking about the kind that lives in your body and every female has known and hated.  The dreaded yeast infection.  Crazy thing is not only do I have the regular female yeast infection, I also have a yeast infection on my lips, as in on my face!  I had no idea you could get a yeast infection on your lips!! 

About 10 days ago, I felt the beginning itchies of a yeast infection, down there.  UGH!  I've only ever had one other yeast infection in my entire life, but I knew what it was.  Headed to the store to get something to help with the itch.  If you've been there, you know the "my privates are on fire and I want to rub them with a bottle brush to relieve the urge to itch" feeling.  The ointment helped tame the itch monster some and thank goodness I already had an appointment with my doctor this past Monday to reassess the problem with my lips...on my face.  I got fixed up with 2 different medications, Nystatin for my facial lips and Fluconazole pills for the other yeast infection because guess what?  They're caused by 2 different strains of candida!  Joy!

Took my first pill Monday, to be repeated 3 days later.  By Wednesday, I wasn't any better.  My crotch was still on fire, I was uncomfortable, and I was desperate for relief.  I mean, I'd have walked around with an ice pack on my lady parts if I could have!  After perusing Pinterest, I came across this easy remedy.  (Click the linky thing.) And guess what??  I had everything on hand!  I made the suppositories and started using them a couple of hours later.  OH. MY. G!!!  Heavenly relief.  God bless that woman for sharing her remedy!  I did use these as suppositories for two days, but now I'm just using them like a salve to help control the itching on the exterior portions of my body.  Warning, they are messy, but sooooo worth it if you're desperate for relief.

When I was in my mid-20s, I had my first and only other yeast infection.  I went to my OB/GYN, who was as old as the hills (to me).  I mean, she had to have been in her 60s.  I loved her!  She was so down to earth and practical.  And she helped out the young girls in the small town who couldn't afford healthcare for their pregnancies.  She gave me some invaluable tips for preventing yeast infections which I still use to this day.  Obviously, I'd not been following them as religiously as I should've been the past few weeks, though.  Yeast thrives in warm, moist environments in your body. 

To help prevent a yeast infection, follow these easy tips.
  • Wear cotton panties.  I know, granny panties are not the rage, but really whatever you wear should be cotton and not just a cotton insert.  Your body needs to breathe.  And for the love, please wear undies!
  • Wear loose fitting pants. Again, I know that yoga pants and second skin pants are popular nowadays, but be kind to your body and wear something that breathes.  Your lady parts will thank you.
  • Allow yourself to thoroughly dry after bathing. Have a few dedicated (dry) towels on which to sit after you get out of the shower or bath.  Spread 'em and sit for a few minutes. Hand towels work great for this.
  • Sleep without undies.  For some of you that may seem undoable, but again, it helps keep you dry.
  • Wash up before bedtime. You don't have to take a bath, but you should clean up prior to bed.  Also, if you're sexually active, you should clean up after to help prevent an infection.
  • Cut the whites...white flour and white sugar. Yeast feeds on sugar.  White flour converts to sugar in your body (think carbs), and gives the yeast food to feast on. 
  • Cut the refined sugar and processed food. See above comment on the whites.
Now if I can just get the infection on my lips cleared up, I'll be set!  I'm tired of swollen, red, chapped lips that hurt when I open my mouth too wide.  The medication I was prescribed has helped, but I'm thinking of using the suppository recipe and adding some beeswax pellets and making some homemade lip balm.  Coconut oil has healing properties.  I also most likely have a systemic yeast infection that needs to be addressed.  The joys of getting older.

Now that we've covered that tough topic, head on over to my food blog for my Cold Weather Chili Recipe!  

Thursday, March 05, 2015

Snow Day!


When I went to bed last night, it was very, very windy and sleeting.  Sometime during the night, the sleet turned to 4" of snow.  Thankfully, the gray skies that we've had for the past two weeks moved out and Mr. Sunshine arrived.  Roads were slippery and my commute to work is a 26 mile trek, so I opted to stay home today.  It was a nice way to break up my week. 
 The big oak tree in our front yard makes pretty shadows on the snow.  This was fairly early as the street hasn't been driven on much yet.  It soon turned slushy and the sun even dried out parts of the street as the day wore on.

My Savannah Holly tree always looks nice in the snow.  The red berries are nice and bright and provide food for the birds during the cool months.  This tree is also sturdy and tolerates the extremes Texas weather provides.
The sun and rising temperatures helped melt some of the snow and ice off the holly bush.  It was still cold enough to form pretty icicles, though.
The irises are certainly ready for the snow to melt so they can put on their Spring show.  These poor things have taken a beating the past couple of weeks.  We've had ice, snow, ice, sleet, and snow all in the last 2 weeks.

All I can say is I'm ready for Spring!

Monday, February 23, 2015

Messy Meow Monday

North Texas is covered in one big sheet of ice.  On Sunday, we picked up about 3/4" of rain, which was great.  Overnight into Monday morning, we picked up about 1/2" of sleet, which is not so nice.  All the roads are frozen solid, even though the Texas Department of Transportation pre-treated the roads with a brine mixture and have been applying sand.  Today's temperatures are not expected to get out of the 20s.  I know for many of you, this might be considered warm, but for us, this is COLD!!  Also, driving on ice is impossible while driving on snow is manageable.  Truth be told, I'd rather it had snowed.

Enough of the "messy" part. Onto the "meow" part.  The kitties are taking the cold weather in stride.

Emmie's enjoying life on the top of the cat tree...in the path of the heating vent.
Daisy wonders what all that white stuff is on the roads.
Hannah's snug in her bed.
Tumbles found the pet bed warmer in the comforter and is snoozing the day away.

Have a terrific Monday wherever you are!  Head on over to my food blog for a new recipe! 

Monday, February 16, 2015

Meow Monday

Hannah

Tumbles

Daisy

Emmie    
And because he's riding out the rain and cold weather in our sunroom, Mew.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

There's a New Bug on the Block



Meet Emmie, the newest bug in our cat clan.  Technically, I think a group of cats is called a clowder, but that just sounds weird.  We now have the Fab 4 made up of Hannah, Tumbles, Daisy, and now Emmie. Emmie showed up in our yard in early November, 2014.  She was starving and almost emaciated.  I don't know how long she'd been living in our yard as the day she showed up was the first time I'd seen her.  After capturing her, which wasn't difficult considering I was bribing her with baked chicken that she was taking from my hand, we brought her inside and set her up in our spare bedroom.  We have a large dog crate that we use for new kitties and post-op kitties, so in she went until we figure out what to do with her.  Our initial intent was not to keep her, but to find her a loving home.  Who knew that the loving home would be ours??

 Surprisingly, she was a lovebug, so she'd obviously had some positive human interaction.  We looked for her owners to no avail.  I contacted a rescue group about fostering her until she was ready for adoption, but that didn't go as planned.  Hubby took her to the vet to have her tested for the nasties and to be dewormed.  Two weeks later, we'd decided to keep her and started her on her kitten shots.  At her final shot appointment in early December when she also got her rabies shot, we set up her spay appointment.  After going through a heat cycle with her because she went into heat about 2 or so weeks prior to her spay, that spay date couldn't come soon enough!  She's now spayed and microchipped and doing great with the other kitties.  She even gets Hannah to play with her sometimes!
 We estimate she was 6-7 months old when she arrived as she already had her adult canines and some tartar build up on her teeth.  She's an absolute delight and full of kitten energy!  She's definitely brightened up our home.  Her favorite activities are running through the house like a crazy kitty and jumping up on the cat tree and then quickly jumping off again, playing with her purple floofy, playing with the kitchen rugs, playing with the sheers on the front window, pestering Tumbles and playing with him, playing with the sheets on the bed, and chattering at the birds outside the window.  She loves sunny windowsills and sleeping on her fleece blankie in the warm afternoon sunshine on our bed.  She loves to snuggle on my chest in the morning while I'm sitting on the potty, and she loves laying in Mark's lap in the evenings.  At night, she likes to snuggle with us on the bed.  She's usually on top of me or on top of the pillows I sleep with between my legs (to help my back).  Everything's a toy and she's loving life. 


Tuesday, February 10, 2015

What to Do? What to Do?

As you can see, I took a break from blogging.  There are many reasons, the main one being that I started this blog to showcase my stitching, but I've not picked up my needle or crochet hook in almost a year.  Almost 10 months later, I still find myself in a quandry.  I'm still not stitching.  Still haven't really done any crochet recently.  However, I don't want to give up blogging.  So, I've decided to just write about life and see what happens.  We'll talk about thyroid health, adrenal health, gardening, kitties, LIFE, food, crochet, cross stitching (hopefully one day!) and God, not necessarily in that order.

One big thing going on in my life right now is my health.  I know I've written about his previously, but it's time to get serious about it.  I'm tired of feeling tired all the time and I'm tired of feeling like I'm 100 years old when I'm not even 50.  I was diagnosed at age 16 with hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) and now, more than 30 years later, I'm starting to see some of the negative side effects of thyroid problems.  I'm also of the age where mentalpause menopause is setting in and  my hormones seem to have disappeared .  Since the thyroid controls all the hormones in your body, it's a double whammy for me.  Additionally, I have been tentatively been diagnosed with Sjogren's Syndrome (by my eye doctor no less!) which is a chronic autoimmune disease in which a person’s white blood cells attack their moisture-producing glands.  As a result, I have dry skin, dry eyes, and dry mouth, along with a few other dry places.  Thyroid patients suffer from many auto-immune problems since the auto-immune system is controlled by the thyroid.  (Go figure!)  My life is not all doom and gloom.  I have been referred to a new doctor who works with thyroid patients to get them optimal in all levels and get them back on track with life.  I should be on a new path to health by the end of March.  Yippee skippy!

If you're one of the millions that suffer from hypothyroidism, I highly suggest checking out the Stop the Thyroid Madness page.  There's a TON of excellent information on that page.  If you're on Facebook, there are several Stop the Thyroid Madness pages and groups. I encourage you to check it out and get serious about getting your thyroid optimal. 

So! There it is in a nutshell.  I'm glad to be back and I hope you stay along for the journey.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Viva Fiesta!





In my hometown of San Antonio, each April brings Fiesta season.  When I was a girl, it was only a week-long celebration held sometime around San Jacinto Day (April 21st).  The week was capped off by 2 parades, the Battle of Flowers parade held on Friday afternoon and the Fiesta Flambeau parade held Saturday evening.  (We used to call them the day parade and the night parade.)  Fiesta not only celebrates Texas heritage, it celebrates San Antonio's deep Hispanic and Mexican roots.  There's lots of bright colors and rich traditions.  Last weekend was the close of Fiesta, and I was inspired to crochet these colorful dishcloths.  Unfortunately, I didn't have any bright pink or yellow, or those colors would've been included. 


These are made using Neatly Tangled's Just Right & Big Time Dishcloth pattern.  Since I have smaller hands and my husband prefers a smaller kitchen dishcloth, I started off using the Just Right pattern.  However, I found that was a bit too large for me, so I started with a chain of 25, chained loosely, and it made a dishcloth approximately 7.5" square.  I absolutely LOVE this pattern!  It's quick and easy and produces a great looking dishcloth.