Still not a homesteader!
If you find something that works embrace it!
Don't misunderstand me, I love modern medicine. I love dental, optical, general, and specialized medicine. I adore the chemical solutions to some of my more memorable migraines. I’ve found however that a home off the beaten path sometimes leads to minor injuries (we won’t count that ax incident) that need a small, quick fix. Enter grandma’s old folk remedies!
Consider that there is a fireplace, stove, and oven which has generated a few minor burns, then there are blackberry bushes which have backward thorns - you have to move into the plant before it will release you (and then you’re in the middle of the plant… Hmmm, that worked well!), then the insect bites! Arrrgh! The insect bites!
The generally well-known first aid medicines work for about 5 minutes after they were applied but then I was in agony again. I began to reconsider the old-style poultice idea that grandpa swore by. I started with the old soap and sugar drawing salve (recipe here: http://www.homeherbals.com/soap--sugar-poultice.html). Despite having such a wonderful recipe (being the modern, non-homesteading type) I went online and bought the commercial equivalent.
It wasn’t at all impressive on insect bites or the evil blackberry splinters which always get infected, but the Curet works very well on minor burns - the kind you get when you accidentally bump a hot pan or bush against the woodstove door then which turn red or get a water blister. Monster relief! It stops the burning feeling nearly immediately!
The spikes on the blackberry brambles never stood a chance against my favorite (commercial) baking soda-powered product…
It pulled up both the splinter and the imminent infection all at the same time!
Of course now there’s the bug bites… 15 years living here and all I have come up with is to wear mosquito repellent and stay away from bugs.
30 minutes is closer than alot of major cities!
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Agreed! Thanks for the note :-)
I think in retrospect that maybe the time should be less of a consideration than the effort of driving the golf cart down from the house to the cablecar, crossing the river to get to the car, and then a winding drive to get to the main road. When it's a nice day and I'm not sick or incapacitated it's a relaxing and kinda zen-like trip. It adds a lot of frustration when I realize that I've gotten as far as starting the car but I've forgotten something at home. If I try to go back it adds another 20 miniutes to the trip - unless I'm absolutely desperate to take it with me I leave without it. Bad weather and illness makes it a more worthwhile plan to just bleed out at home than plan the trip properly!
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We also live 30 minutes on a good traffic day from medical care during the week. On weekends or in severe emergencies we are two and a half hours by car. We have learned to keep an emergency kit that would rival a small clinic. And to extra care in not getting hurt! LOL
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Isn't that the truth! We have a full cabinet full of medical supplies - mostly for people but some for the dogs!
I use the axe and chainsaw but I hate using the chainsaw when I'm the only one home! We've had the fire department out to our house so they know that if we call they should send a helicopter instead of using the normal protocol - coming out to check it out, calling the paramedics, not being able to cross the river to get to the house to do either...
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