Cool Breastfeeding Ticker

It needs a cool tagline...I saw one that says "Old enough to ask for it...young enough to need it!"

Eczema Remedies

Home Remedies for Eczema

1. 1. Add 1 teaspoon camphor to 1 teaspoon sandalwood paste and apply on the affected areas.
2. Rub a nutmeg (hard aromatic seed of an East Indian tree) against a smooth stone slab with a little water and make a paste. Apply to affected area.
3. Coconut oil may be applied to the portions with eczema. Carrot juice and spinach juice in combination is highly beneficial for eczema. Drink plenty of water and take fruit juices like orange.
4. Ingredients:Instant Tea (however strong you like it)1 Tbsp. Vinegar1 Tbsp. Honey (made in your area is best) Mix together with water and drink all at once.
5. Its been reported that drinking tomato juice (not the cocktail) clears up the eczema in a matter of days. If you need to, add some pepper or your favorite spice to give the juice flavor.
6. Deficiency of vitamin B6 may also cause eczema. So increase your intake of vitamin B6.
7. Evening primrose oil can also help. It contains gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), which is what eczema sufferers need. Try skincare products with evening primrose oil, or get GLA through your diet by eating salmon two or three times a week or by eating flaxseeds (or taking flax oil capsules), which you can buy at the health food store. In a blender or clean coffee grinder, grind enough for two tablespoons a day and sprinkle on foods like cereal or potatoes. Both salmon and flaxseeds provide omega-3 fatty acids.
8. A serving of watercress every day is said to keep eczema at bay, along with a daily drink of parsley, spinach, celery, and wheat grass.
9. Go to your local herb shop and buy some pine tar soap. Its really great for eczema.
   

Folk Remedies

Neem oil Neem (Azadirachta indica) is valued in Ayurvedic medicine for its varied healing properties due to its anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-viral capabilities. A cousin of mahogany, neem is a tropical evergreen tree native to India and Myanmar. Over 60 medicinal uses have been documented for neem so far - such as acne, eczema, psoriasis, cold sores, dandruff, athlete's foot, ulcers, ringworm, and gingivitis, to name a few. For eczema, apply a 2% neem oil-based cream to the affected area and take 2 neem leaf capsules daily to speed the healing. Caution: Pregnant women or those trying to conceive should not ingest any neem product.

Red clover has traditionally been one of the standard remedies for eczema, as well as removing toxins from the body, and treating psoriasis, gout, and hot flashes. Studies have shown that red clover may thin the blood, so it should not be used by patients who are also taking an anticoagulant medication. While red clover is high in isoflavones, the reason it is helpful in treating eczema has not been studied.

Witch hazel Native Americans used witch hazel for inflammatory skin conditions. Dab some on the afflicted area several times daily with a cotton ball. Witch hazel will reduce the inflammation and promote healing. This is a good alternative to steroid creams.

Homeopathic Remedies for Eczema
Eczema is an irritating skin condition, characterized by itching and flaking inside the bends of joints and along the edge of any hairline. Whereas psoriasis tends to be a problem of dryness, eczema tends to be associated with wetness, with affected areas that are moist, oozing, and itching. The following homeopathic remedies may bring a measure of relief, but individuals should not hesitate to consult a homeopath if the condition persists. Individuals should also consider that dietary factors play a significant role (at least with children) in the cause and treatment of this condition.

Graphites 6c: People needing this remedy will often have tough, sometimes leathery skin, along with a history of skin disorders. Their hands are often the most affected areas, and where the skin is split, a honeylike discharge is common. Children are often affected by eczema behind the ears, and again, a honeylike, thick ooze can be present. Graphites 6c can be taken three times daily for three days, then just once daily for the next ten days.

Hepar sulph 6c: This remedy may prove useful in very irritable and chilly people whose eczema is painfully sore to any touch and whose skin is deeply cracked, especially on the hands and feet. Their skin is generally unhealthy, and even the slightest wound becomes septic easily. Those who may benefit from this remedy tend to be very sensitive people, both emotionally and physically. Hepar sulph 6c can be taken once daily for three days, then once a week for three weeks.

Sulphur 6c: People needing this remedy will have hot, burning eczema with intense itching. The affected areas will have scaling or crusted skin and will tend to be dry rather than wet. The condition is aggravated greatly by heat and contact with water. Sulphur 6c can be taken three times daily for two to three days, then once daily until improvement is seen.

Petroleum 6c: This remedy is good for seasonal eczema, which affects individuals only during the cold winter months. Skin will tend to be tough and leathery, with cracks in the fingertips. Symptoms are always worse at night. Petroleum 6c can be taken three times daily for two to three days, then once daily until improvement is noted.

Mabon Ideas

Pagan Parenting Corner
Mabon
By Michele Sinclair

• Have your children draw a horn of plentiful with foods, and what they feel they have harvested this year.
• Your children can help decorate for the feast by collecting leaves to use at the table arranged in a bowl. Try to have several colors of leaves for a nice mix of color.
• Collect pine cones with your children, and have them tie harvest colored yarn at the top, and hang them from the ceiling, away from the dining table,around the edges of the room.
• You can have your children help you collect pine cones, colorful dried leaves, wheat, acorns, and fallen pine branches, to arrange in a basket to set next to your door.
• Buy some Indian corn, and hang the dried ears of corn on the front door, or door posts.
• Take your children for a nature walk and gather dried plants for use as altar decorations.
• If you are really ambitious, try making bread, muffins, or scones with your children.

Autumn Equinox Music
Equinox Chant

Onward we go round the spiral

Touching darkness, touching light

Twice each turn we rest in balance

Make choices on this night Make choices on this night

Burn Fire
Deirdre Pulgram Arthen

Burn fire, burn bright

Pure vision come to me

Guide my path tonight

With your strength and light

Sparks
J. Robin Gall

We are sparks from the hearth

Of the queen of death and life

We swarm through the dark

And dance through the night

Mabon kids books

*The pomegranate seeds : a classic Greek myth by Geringer, Laura J398.21 GER

*Persephone by Hutton, Warwick J398.21 HUT

*Song to Demeter by Birrer, Cynthia J292.13 BIR

Demeter and Persephone, the seasons of time Richardson, I. M. J292 RIC

Mabon for Kids

I'm charged with organizing a Pagan Kids ritual for Mabon (fall equinox) and I thought I'd post the tidbits I find.

In Ireland, the Fall Equinox is the time of the goose harvest, and there is a very old custom of giving gifts of newly-butchered goose and mutton to the poor. This tradition translates readily into a modern one of observing the season by contributing to food pantries or to organizations which serve the homeless.

SUGGESTED HARVEST MENU:
Vegetables in season
Roast goose or mutton
Cider, beer or ale
Fall fruits, especially apples and pomegranates
Grains harvested in the fall

Apple Seed Fortune Telling
Give each person in the group an apple.
Cut the apples and carefully remove the seeds.
Count the seeds.
Use the following list to tell your fortune:
1=A surprise in the near future
2=Good luck
3=Bad luck
4=Wealth
5=An early marriage
6=Fame
7=Travel
If you get more than 7 seeds you should think about going into the apple business!


Picking Apples Activity Poem
Here's a little apple tree.
Hold up arms as branches
I look up and I can see,
Shade eyes and pretend to search
Big red apples, ripe and sweet,
Cup hands as though holding a very large apple.
Big red apples, good to eat.
Rub tummy--yum, yum!
Shake the little apple tree.
Put arms up for branches and sway back and forth.
See the apples fall on me.
Bring hands down as though they were falling.
Heres a basket, big and round.
Form circle with arms in front of body.
Pick the apples from the ground.
Bend and pretend to pick up apples.
Here's an apple I can see,
Hold out hand as though holding apple
Waiting there just for me
Point to chest.
It's ripe and sweet.
That's the apple I will eat.
Rub tummy--yum, yum!

Testing site meter

Just checking to see if it works.

The Moon shines tonight

The waning full moon is almost bright enough to write by, even though it is behind a cloud. The fickle street light seems dim in comparison to her gleaming beauty. Its bleak yellow rays form a weak triangle barely reaching the dark pavement below, leaving me to wonder what exactly its purpose is. During the new moon it stands alone in an ocean of black and I have to blink my eyes at strange noises in the dark.

But when the moon is full everything is lit up with an iridescence glow. The shadows of trees tower above me almost eerie and wise in their stillness. The wind is quiet tonight but the constant drone of the night insects is nearly deafening.

I saw Andie MacDowell today!

I kept hearing that she lives here in Asheville, one of my friends even had a playdate at her house but I really lost hope after over a year living here that I'd ever see her.
Suddenly there she was, sauntering into Starbucks. I've always loved her, especially because of her curly hair. It's so gorgeous and I love that she's one of the few Hollywood stars who usually wears it curly. Even in person it was absolutely incredible, exactly the right color and sheen and amount of curl. I looked at my disasterous head of frizz and wished I could ask her where she gets her hair done (not that I could afford to go there)!

So that was my brush with a star today!

P.S. If anyone can tell me why all my pics look like crap, I'd appreciate the help!

Eliza Dushku for Wonder Woman

Just had to put in my plug, I've heard she's only 5'5" but she has the presence of someone who is 7 feet tall. She's got it all in my book! Did you see her as Faith in Buffy the Vampire Slayer?? I have more to say on this but the kids are squalling for attention as is my sink full of dishes.

My Inspiration

I am currently reading Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer and it is so damn good it inspired me to write more. Everywhere I turn I'm hearing about blogging so here I am! I found a super cool list of How to blog on Tony Pierce's blog which farther inspired me to GO FOR IT!

All of my favorite authors seem to have one thing in common, they use what Anne Lamott calls in Bird by Bird the one inch picture frame. An example Lamott gives in the book is of the school lunchroom. She gives an eloquently detailed description of the meaning of what was in your lunch box.

Another author I love who seems to use this technique is Barbara Kingsolver. In the beginning of Animal Dreams she gives an incredible paragraph to the description of a mannequin in a window display that knocked my socks off. Every time I pick up one of her books, everything else goes away until I can finish it. I just bought a copy of The Poisonwood Bible from a used book store and I'm afraid to start it because I just have too much to do nowadays. Of course I'm also quivering with anticipation to read it as well.