The Little Things

It's odd how things work. Last week I was struck with a pretty bad cold. I compromised with myself and pleaded not to be sick because Halloween was coming up! "Don't be sick for Halloween!" I pleaded.  And then Sterling had 4 days off from work, and I would have hated to be sick during that, so I pleaded not to be sick for a 4 more days... And so of course, today I woke up really sick. Luckily last week when I was sick, I went out and bought sick items. Like soup, tissues, and crackers, but wasn't sick long enough to use them. Today I actually got to use them. I felt prepared. And I'm thanking my past self for getting my future self tea and tissues. Interesting....
But it get's better!

Because I really didn't know I would be sick today. But yesterday I felt compelled to finish all open orders in the shop. Seriously. over 20 orders went out yesterday. I only have one more order left to send. I worked like crazy yesterday, and when I woke up at 5:30 this morning because I felt sick, I smiled as I thought... I have no work to do! I'm all caught up! I could stay in my pajamas all day and drink tea in my purple sweat pants and Sterling's Hoodie. Which is what I'm doing in this very moment. (Though, I did just get a shipment of clothes to model and photograph... so I might attempt to look cute later.) So once again, I had planned for something to happen without knowing it would. And I'm very thankful for my past self for preparing for the future.



And it really does keep getting better. The way the universe works that is... For example, you all know my heating problem. One meter on this house, but two units. And I'm the one who is supposed to pay... even though it IS illegal. Then my house sold, and the new owners think it's okay to raise the rent on top of all that... This entire thing freaked me out a bunch! Should I move? Should I stay? Should I fight it? I know I could.. So, I fought it. I told the new Rental Agency it was illegal to raise our rent, and it is illegal to have me pay for the gas meter. Of course she said it was in MY contract to do so.... And then I mentioned well, if she is going to follow that contract, she will need to follow it to the word. Because my contract says rent can't be raised for a year.  Bam. I won. Well sort of. She called back a few days later and said they were willing to negotiate the contract and the gas bill and all that. And they were trying to make the house better for me... and for now I can stick to the old contract, and they want to figure something out in the future, but we can negotiate things. I felt better.

Because my biggest problem was that I was paying for the downstairs neighbors showers, laundry and heating. SO not fair. And I can't believe the original owner slipped that into my contract and didn't tell me about it. (I have the legal documents showing it's illegal, think I can still fight it?) Anyways.. that's my biggest problem is that the downstairs neighbors get a free ride this winter. Last winter the bill was over 200.00! There is NO insulation in the attic, and they think they can raise rent if they put insulation in.... It's pretty interesting stuff. Anyways, I would feel better if I wasn't paying for the neighbor's heat. Then something miraculous happened. They moved out! They mysteriously packed up and moved out. I don't think they told the rental agency about it... They didn't even clean it. Or lock it for that matter... Because I'm pretty sure a homeless guy snuck in and slept in there. Pretty unnerving to be honest. But it's amazing that I'm no longer paying for their heat! Exactly what I wanted. They only lived in the basement for 2 months. Long enough to get Meko, decide we was an untrained puppy, get frustrated and give him to me! Then, they moved out without notice! Funny thing with Meko, I got him about a month after I had to give the little white puppy up... But, if I didn't have her, I wouldn't have been prepared for Meko. I already had the things I needed, and the things he needed. The gates, the sprays, and the knowledge of how to puppy proof this house.
See? Interesting.. I wish you could hear my voice as I said interesting.. cause it's kind of like a whisper, where I hold out the inggg part. I wonder if it's from a movie or something. But in my head it sounds real cute. I should do more videos for this blog.

 I've been meaning to, but my computer seriously can't handle such a task right now.
I'll get a new one soon.. after I buy a new printer. Maybe I'll get myself an ipad. But for now, I've got to wait and see how much that heating bill will cost me. It's been getting real cold out lately. It's even snowed a little bit! I don't want to use the heater, but I kind of have to. I've got 3 little animals that need to be warm. So, I have it set to low, and we snuggle under a heated blanket when we can. I know I'll look back on this little bit of my life and laugh.
I'll laugh because right now it seems like a disaster. But, everything I've mentioned in this post is about preparing for the future some how, without even meaning to. Everything does happen for a reason. I know that right now, during this cold bit in my life, I'm learning things and preparing for future events. The future is so liquid, that we really can't get too good of a grasp on things. It's full of surprises. Sometimes it's dogs, sometimes it's stocking up on warm clothes and heated blankets. The little things we do today have a huge impact on our future... so it's important to listen to our intuition. If you get the feeling to go out and get a heated blanket just in case the winter is cold. Do it. Because that  is your future self, thanking your past self.. And you being the past self, (and the future self) you already know yourself so well... you can already feel it.

And now I may have confused you. Sorry.




















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Herbal Remedies

Today, I'm sharing with you,

the perfect remedy for a sore throat and a stuffy nose.

I woke up on Christmas morning with my cold back in full force.
I went about my day trying to make the best of it,
but my brother in law showed me the herb comfrey,
that would help me lots and lots.
So, I went home and tried it myself adding a few things for even more benefit.

I've always loved herbs.
I have a silver box full of herbs for teas, skin care, and other little remedies.
And I always love learning about new ones.

Comfrey and Chamomile

Comfrey is a sweet, cooling herb with expectorant, astringent, soothing and healing effects. It reduces inflammation and controls bleeding.It contains allantoin as well as high amounts of mucilage and also contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids and their N-oxides (intermedine, symphytine and echimidine), as well as tannins, triterpenes and organic acids (including rosmarinic acid).

In other words.. it helps your nose be much less stuffy. 

Chamomile is one of the most widely used herbs. It is a carminative, remedial tonic, which also has anti-inflammatory properties and is used to encourage digestion and boost the immune system.

In other words.. it is very calming, and boosts your immune system.

Next, get a pretty little tea cup like mine. 

Mine has a removable strainer, and a little lit to help it steep.

You could also use:

A tea strainer

A bamboo strainer 

A bombilla (like the ones used for Mate)

Or a tea bag.

Anything to strain the herbs, so you get mostly tea.

Next, heat your water up. 

Don't bring it to a boil, or let the tea pot whistle. 

This will make your tea bitter.

Instead wait until you can hear small bubbles forming, right before it starts to boil.

While your water is getting nice and hot fill up your strainer with the herbs.

I used equal parts of Comfrey and Chamomile.

Add your water.

This part is optional. 

You can either leave it to steep and get nice and strong, like I did with the lid..

Or 

You can hold the cup under your nose so you breath in the steam.

That is good when you have a really bad stuffy nose.

Let the tea seep for about 3-5 minutes,

or until it starts to cool off enough for you to drink it.

Remove the strainer, or tea bag or whatever you choose to use.

Add a spoon full or two of honey, and stir.

 Then drink it!

Be careful.. it will be hot.

If it's not sweet enough, add more honey. 

The honey will help your throat.

And if you choose to use a cup like mine, 

don't be surprised to see a lot of the herbs at the bottom..

Learn to read tea leaves! 

(That's next on my list.)

 And when you are done, 

wait a few minutes then blow your nose. 

The comfrey will make all that stuffiness in your nose want to come out. 

All at once.


Gross, but at least you will be able to breath.