Friday Update

ELECTRICITY: It went up! UP!
What’s been going on:
1. I put material over the entry ways to keep the thermostat stable (theoretically) for the living room area. What has happened is it has kept the kitchen area very warm while the living room has been made colder. So those are coming down. We’ll readdress the issue come summer time.
2. The heater in the garage is still on and had been turned up a few times. The heater is going to stay on because Flora is days away from kidding and after last year, I don’t want to see a kid frozen to death.
3. The ceiling fan has been running to try to push the heat downstairs. And it has been working. But the fan sounds sick.
4. We’ve been running the solar panels and the ones that are above the master bedroom cycle very quickly. They run for a few minutes, the shut off then a minute later run again. The blower motor to push the heat through the vents does not work properly and I know that HAS to be draining electricity. The blowers for the solar panels are run on conventional electricity.
Anyway, without further ado, here are our readings:
63280 reading
1362 kwh
646% of the national average. Ouch!

IDC: We haven’t planted, preserved, or harvested anything, but I have been using my stores. Yesterday for lunch, I opened up a couple of jars of peaches that we canned last fall and I served them over toast. We had it for lunch and along with being cheap, easy, and healthy, the children had it half gone before grace was even said. I suppose if you want to add some protein, you could put cream cheese on the toast before pouring the peaches over it and breaking it up.Last night, I brought in a box of fruit that had been canned since I can’t seem to keep fresh fruit in the house. The jars are apples and peaches. And, they look good!

GARBAGE: The shredder is not working. I think I over worked it. It need to be looked at and hopefully fixed some how. I already miss it. I have a stack of papers waiting to be shred.We finally finished filling a very large trash bag and brought it in to town. We are down to our last trash bag and will be going back to using feed bags as trash bags.

GASOLINE: No gas was bought this week and the van is hovering around empty. With MIL being in the nursing home, I am not going into town every single day. Once we get money for gas (Wednesday) I will be going in every day again. She has a few weeks left at the most.

MONEY: We picked up butter, a couple of sodas, and a candy bar this week.

HOMESTEAD: Flora is days away from kidding. There are no roosters left except the ones we want to live to lead and protect the flock. The hens have been released and we will start looking for eggs next week. George is working on plans for a windmill that is highly efficient and portable. We will get any parts he needs for it on Wednesday.I have taken over animal care now that the chickens are either in the freezer or out in the yard. Checking on Flora several times a day will help her get used to me again when it comes time to start milking her.

HERBAL STUDY: I was going to do research on high fevers and I still want to, but got side tracked. What I do know (and has been confirmed by the doctor) is that the body has a safety mechanism in place to keep it from going over 105* barring outside forces. (Heat stroke, etc.) Brain damage does not occur until 107*. (This is in otherwise healthy children.)
Febrile seizures do not occur because of a high fever, but because of how fast the fever rises.
Drink fluids. Fevers can dehydrate the body.
COLD baths are a no-no. You can shock the system. Lukewarm baths are fine. For a small child (like Hannah) who is delusional due to the fever, wet a washcloth with rubbing alcohol and rub the legs and bottom of the feet. (Full immersion alcohol baths are dangerous.)

HOMESCHOOL: Charlie is currently working on his math. We’ve started reading “Captain Courageous” by Rudyard Kipling. (Published in 1897) I do some of the reading out loud, but am having Charlie do most of it. With the date it was published, some of the words are a bit long, but he is doing an amazing job of sounding them out. We read a few paragraphs, talk about what we read, then read a few more.

WEIGHT LOSS: I am 258 this week. This is the same as last week. I am maintaining which I guess is better than gaining. Once we get back into a rhythm, I should be better able to focus on this. Right now, I can’t even remember what day of the week it is (the children missed piano yesterday) much less focus on anything else. I did start doing sit-ups again last night and I did some crunches and push-ups this morning. If I can at least keep that going, I will be happy.

GOALS ACCOMPLISHED: Walk Away The Pounds. FAIL AGAIN! But I did do some sit-ups, crunches, and push-ups! It was only last night and this morning. But that counts, right? Right?
Herbal Study for fever. Somewhat. I already knew quite a bit all of which was confirmed by the doctor, but I never had a chance to study beyond that.
Mend Clothes: Nope. But I did find a skirt that I started last year and it just needs the elastic sewn in.

NEW GOALS:
Exercise
More sewing
Get my control journal on this laptop

HERBAL/ILLNESS STUDY OF THE WEEK: Diabetes. I want to study diabetes and see what herbs (besides fenugreek) help with maintaining a healthy glucose level.