Fall...healing salve....and other ponderings!

Finally, cool weather! I didn't think it would ever come. We had a cold snap in September and I thought perhaps fall was early but it quickly turned hot again. Now we are having days in the 60's and nights in the 30's. I love it! This is my favorite time of year. The holidays are quickly approaching, which I am really looking forward to....so much family time and a bit of a break from homeschooling!

My Mom, who has a home here on the farm, had a desire to decorate this year. She purchased the materials and we supplied all of the labor....oh what a blessing to have 3 young men living at home! This is a picture of the gate at the entrance of our farm.



And here is the front door...



The leaves are beginning to turn...brown mostly. Our area has been in drought conditions for 8 years and this last summer has been the worst. It has kept things so dry that colors just aren't very vibrant this year. We had almost no spring rain, I think we had two brief showers during the summer and one day of rain this fall. Hay is scarce and people are trucking it in from other states. Some are pricing fair but some are really gouging people....such a sad state.

Julie just recently told me that arsonists are burning barns (full of hay!) out in their area. This is devastating...and dangerous with the conditions as dry as they have been. We have not been able to enjoy our normal fall marshmallow roasts because there is a burn ban in effect. If you haven't stopped by her blog recently, check out the cute little pigs that have been added to their farmstead.

Each fall it seems that my boys spend a lot of time on their bikes. We spend a lot of time outside during the fall. Of course, the injuries increase during this time. Recently, Elijah was riding on the back of Josiah's bike and took a tumble...but he didn't fall clear of the rear wheel. Unfortunately, I didn't get told about this until the next day...*sigh*....boys! This is what happened...truly a "manly wound" as we call them in our house.



This is just one of the millions, thousands, many reasons I make Healing Salve. It seems that we use it every day around here either on people or on animals. We have used it to heal wounds on chickens, goats, roosters, horses, cows, cats, dogs, and of course lots of boys.....and often their friends. A little Healing Salve to take care of any infection on the areas where the skin was broken and then I slathered my Arnica Salve on the areas that were swollen and bruised. Arnica is a topical anti-inflammatory and is wonderful on sore muscles, aches, sprains, bumps and bruises. If *someone* had told me of this when it happened then the Arnica would have helped a lot with the bruising.....however....when *someone* neglects to tell Mom about their tumbles then the Arnica doesn't help much....sitting in the jar....in the drawer....*ahem*!

Along with the arrival of fall, we picked up a nasty little virus. Pounding head, queasy tummy, sore throat and a wiped out feeling. It slowly made its way through all of us and we are just now getting back on our feet. We battled this with lots of pro-biotics, red clover tincture (make some this spring!!) and my Immune Support Tea. I think the tea helped the most. I hope this helps to explain my lack of blogging recently...I was either caring for the sick or being sick myself.

However, I have several new things I want to share with you...some new soaps!! ....a cute new Christmas gift idea!!... and.....something new that the boys and I have been involved in for several weeks now....you won't believe what we have been doing and learning....

As they say...stay tuned!