Confessions Of A Hand Sanitzer Junkie

WASH YOUR HANDS!

When my husband and I were on our Eastern Caribbean Cruise just before Christmas I was very pleased that people were directed to sinks with running water, soap and paper towels before they were  allowed in the buffet and that about every ten or twenty feet there was a hand sanitizer stand.   For you see, I often say the ten most common causes of communicable disease are the ten fingers.  This time of year  many people normally have colds and flu, but this year every one is more concerned than usual because of the emergence Corona Virus being in the news.  Which makes it a great time to review the importance of hand washing and using a hand sanitizer!   The CDC recommends hand washing with soap and water over using hand sanitizer.  You can read their position on the matter HERE.  But as we all know, soap and water isn't always realistic.  So for those times you can't get to the sink and running water I am all about hand sanitizer.   I use Thieves hand sanitizer by Young Living because I find it does not dry my hands out like some hand sanitizers do and I love the fragrance of the essential oils used.  The list of ingredients in Thieves hand sanitizer can be found HERE and I have found it to be very effective.  Please enjoy this video of a science experience showing the effectiveness of Thieves hand sanitizer verses two other brands.  

Excuse me while I go clean my steering wheel.   That growth from hers in the video was impressive wasn't it!  I keep hand sanitizer in my car.  After I have been to the store and checked out using the debit card machine which was just used by someone else,  and after the clerk hands me the the receipt and bag after she has handled it - I get in my car and use my hand sanitizer.   I use my hand sanitizer after I handle the menu in a restaurant and before I eat.  Do they ever wipe those menus down?  But what exactly is in the hand sanitizer that I am so quick to slather on my hands?  As I mentioned, I use Young Living Thieves hand sanitizer but that is not what is in the hand sanitizer stands that are out in the community.  These stands can find found in health care facility doorways and other places. I rarely pass one without getting a squirt.  To read about common ingredients and which brands are recommended and which brands to avoid click HERE.   Also watch this video about what is in hand sanitizers and how to make your own.  

Since the home made hand sanitizer in the video could not be  successfully thickened it can be easily put in a spray bottle.  If adding essential oils you would not want to use a plastic bottle.  Small glass spray bottles are sold on Amazon such as can be found HERE.   Hand sanitizer is sold out in a lot of places right now.  Even YL is out of thieves today.  But hopefully they will get restocked soon.

Even though we wash our hands and we use our hand sanitizer it is still a good idea to avoid touching our mouth, nose or eyes as we go about our day.  It is important that we wear gloves or mittens in cold weather to prevent our hands from chapping.   And use a hand lotion or cream to keep the skin intact on our hands.   To obtain the Thieves hand sanitizer that I prefer please use this LINK and check back often to catch it when it is back in stock.

WASH YOUR HANDS!

Nutmeg

Nutmeg Essential Oil

One of the essential oils I use on a regular basis is nutmeg.  One of the vitality oils, which are safe for consumption, it is one of a group of  oils I rotate as an addition to my herbal bedtime tea.  I drink a senna tea at bedtime into which I add four drops of vitality lavender.  I then add one drop of one of several choices which I rotate by the week.  For example, one week I will add a drop of nutmeg, the next week a drop of cinnamon, the next week a drop of ginger and the next week a drop of rosemary, etc.   This is a routine I feel helps me with inflammation and arthritis type symptoms and enables me to rest well at night.  Some people use nutmeg to sooth their tummy, others to help them rest.  There are many things people use nutmeg for.  I am sure we are all familiar with sprinkling the powdered nutmeg spice on the top of our eggnog.   To read a scientific paper on nutmeg click HERE and to read an article in every day language about the benefits of nutmeg click HERE.  Also enjoy the following short video about nutmeg.  

To obtain your nutmeg essential oil click HERE.  

Orphan #8 by Kim van Alkemade

Orphan #8

by

Kim van Alkemade

     My local library daytime book group has selected Orphan #8 for their February book to read.  I listened to it on audio.  It is a fiction story based on factual events.  A young girl named Rachel,  and her brother Sam, are placed in the NYC orphanage system about 1920.  Experimental X-rays are done on Rachel causing her to lose her hair and her eyebrows etc.  She suffers a childhood of being ridiculed.  Then as an adult nurse Rachel suddenly finds herself face to face with the doctor who did the experiments.  The doctor is dying and the doctor is a patient on Rachel's unit.  This historical fiction novel deals with a lot of issues.  It will be a good book to discuss at book club this month.  The history of medical experiments on children is very real.  Please read THIS article.  This book does have some graphic homosexual love scenes in its pages. It also raises ethical issues regarding not only medical experimentation but also questions about euthanasia. There will be no shortage of directions the discussion at book group can go this month!   Please click on the book title and author's name above to follow the links to learn more.  And for those who are wanting even more background information, the lengthy lecture on the video that follows is a tragic picture of how institutionalized children been been used, over and over, as subjects in medical experiments.  

Cinnamon

     As a child growing up, my great grandmother would spend Christmas Eve night at our house.  On Christmas morning we would wake up to the smell of what we called "sticky buns" baking.  They were pecan rolls and they contained cinnamon.  The smell of cinnamon is one that has holiday memories for many of us.  But did you know that cinnamon has many medicinal purposes as well?  It should not be a surprise that many of our spices are also distilled as oils and used not only in their powder form for culinary uses but also for medical reasons in their oil form.  I have cinnamon bark essential oil  at times in my diffuser and I use it in a form called vitality that is ingestible.  It is one that I rotate through, using a drop in my bedtime tea for a week and then rotating to another one of several for another week.  To name a few of many, Cinnamon Bark Essential Oil is used by those that believe it helps them as a   anti-microbial,   an anti-inflammatory,  for blood sugar stabilizing and for weight loss.  I am interested in its use as an anti-inflammatory.  Read more about the medicinal uses of cinnamon HERE in everyday language and for a more scientific article read THIS.  Be aware that cheaper fragrant oils that are sold are not the same as the essential oils which cost more.  Fragrant oils  smell just as nice but are synthetically created and do not have the same plant medicinal value.  I use Young Living essential oils because I am comfortable with the product being a high quality oil due to their seed to seal guarantee.  

     Please follow the links in the above paragraphs to learn more about the uses of cinnamon.  And enjoy the informative video that follows.  If you are ready to obtain the essential oils that I use please click HERE.  

My Best Ten Reads of 2019

  I read less than usual this year, completing only twenty-five books.  When I compiled my favorites list I found it to include fifteen titles. So in trimming it down to ten it was necessary to leave out some good ones.  And the task of putting the list of ten into best to least best was futile.  If you threw these titles up in the air they would all land at the same time.  But here is the order of the top ten that I settled on.  

10) The Hidden Life Of Trees by Peter Wohlleben  

9)  The Pioneers by David McCollough

8)  The Woman In The Photo by Mary Hogan 

7)  It Takes A Village by Hillary Rodham Clinton 

6)  Becoming by Michelle Obama

5)  Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens 

4)  March by Geraldine Brooks 

3) Radium Girls by Kate Moore 

2) American Eden by Victoria Johnson 

1) Year Of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks 

American Eden by Victoria Johnson

American Eden

by

Victorian Johnson

      Originally, I checked out this book on my kindle app from the State Library of Ohio.  But I did not get it completed by the time it returned and there was a waiting list before I could get it again.  I was enjoying the book so much that I bought it.  I rarely purchase books anymore as normally I can get through them in the allowed time from the library.  But I have had a busy month or so.  I finished the book this past week and found it to be a fascinating story about very interesting subjects.  It is a biography of David Hosack, who was a botanist and a physician early in the 1800s.  He wanted to discover and utilize the many plants here in the United States that were yet to be discovered and he wanted to do so to further the field of medicine  and save lives.  He also wanted to bring to the United States the medicinal plants from other countries so that medicine did not have to be imported.  He was poorly supported by others and used much of his own money to work toward his goals.  His perseverance in spite of serious set backs was very admirable.  He also rubbed shoulders with many much more famous men such as Hamilton, Jefferson, Burr and others.  He was, in fact, the physician of both the Hamilton family and the Burr family.   And not only did he work tirelessly on his medicinal plant goals,  he kept up a medical practice,  he taught medical students, he founded places like almshouses and hospitals, and he was a founding member at organizations such as historical societies.   I enjoyed this non fiction book very much and highly recommend it.  It is one of my favorite books that I have read this year.  Please click on the author's name and book title above to follow the links for more information and enjoy the video that follows.  

Becoming by Michelle Obama

Becoming

by

Michelle Obama

     The December reading selection for my local library book group  was Becoming by Michelle Obama.  This book is an autobiographical work.  I listened to it on audio and the author narrates the book herself.  It was wonderful to hear Michelle tell her story in her own words.  As a democrat,  I miss the Obamas being in the Whitehouse and the message of this book was one of hope.  There were many things that could be meaningfully quoted from the book but two statements that jumped out at me where 1) "Bullies are scared people on the inside and scary people on the outside."  and 2) "It was possible, I knew, to live on two planes at once.  To have ones feet planted in reality but pointed in the direction of progress.".   I hope everyone reads this book.  It is impossible for me to explain everything that  Michelle explains so one needs to experience the book  for themself.  This non fiction work  is extremely inspirational and entertaining at the same time. I enjoyed it very much! Please click on the book title and author's name above and follow the links to more information.  And watch the video that follows.