I'm an author!!

At last, I have finished my Home Made Beauty Products ebook.
It is now available to buy for Kindle from Amazon (links below).
If you don't have a Kindle, you can still download and enjoy Kindle books by downloading the free Kindle apps for Windows, Mac, iPad or iPhone.

I have tried to include lots of information about the ingredients so that the more adventurous can enjoy formulating their own personalised recipes according to their skin type, as well as recipes for face masks, cleansers, toners, scrubs, moisturisers, body butters and also the recipe for my popular insect repellent.
 I have also included a section for essential oils and their uses and some recipes for cleaning your home.

I hope you enjoy experimenting and making your own products which will be healthier for your skin, the environment and will save you money!

The link to buy from the UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007PBT9OK
The link to buy from the USA: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007PBT9OK
The link to buy from Spain: http://www.amazon.es/dp/B007PBT9OK  

It is also available on all other Amazon sites, simply add the ASIN no: B007PBT9OK in the web address or do a search.

Many thanks in advance to all who buy and I would appreciate any reviews.

Here kitty, kitty!

Three weeks ago, this year’s abandoned kitten was unceremoniously dumped on me by one of the local children, wrapped in paper as it was hissing and spitting like a little fireball.  He was about 2-3 weeks old and had obviously not been handled by humans much.  Poor kitty had apparently been thrown into a garden by a man, not an unnusual occurrance here unfortunately.  I summised by it’s lack of fleas and clean fur that he had probably been indoors in somebody’s shed or garage and that their pet cat was his mother.  When the owners decided they’d had enough they had dumped whatever kittens she’d had.

As I am a complete soft touch and can’t let an animal suffer, I put him in a box in my en-suite bathroom (which doubles as a kitten nursery) until I could get something for him to eat.  As it was a Sunday and he was too young to eat the food that last year’s abandoned kitty (now a strapping big shiny boy) eats, I had to make something for him.  I did some googling and found a recipe for kitten glop.  I will share it for you here as it worked very well and he thrived on it.  It’s also cheaper than buying kitten formula from the vet and he seemed to prefer it as he wouldn’t drink the vet’s formula when I bought some the next day.

Kitten glop recipe:

1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon mayonnaisse
1 tablespoon plain live yoghurt
1⁄2 teaspoon vegetable (olive or sunflower oil is fine)
1⁄2 cup evaporated milk (NOT condensed milk)
1⁄2 cup boiled or bottled water.

I found that by mixing the yolk, mayonaisse, yoghurt and oil together first and then adding the evaporated milk and water that it made a lump free glop.
Store in the fridge and warm small amounts to body temperature before feeding.

I had to be careful whilst feeding him for a couple of days as he was pretty wild but within a few days he settled down.




Here is a photo of when he first arrived:
We named him Nero because of his fighting spirit!

And here he is now, 3 weeks later sitting with my youngest son

 
And sleeping with his adopted big brother!

He's not quite used to Reggie, our monster dog but I'm sure that will only be a matter of time!!

Save herbal medicine in the EU!!

The EU Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive (THMPD) is now in force, effectively banning herbal remedies which have not been in use within the EU for 30 years.  This includes Chinese, Ayurvedic and African medicines.  Many other herbal remedies will not have been licenced due to the prohibitive cost (£50,000-£120,000) and therefore small manufacturers will also go out of business.  The full effect of this ban will probably not be realised for a few months yet as existing products are allowed to be sold until their expiry date, but after this date many will find that the product they have been using to keep healthy is no longer available.

One of our European Human Rights is to be able to choose which form of medicine that we wish to use.  This is now being taken away from us, meaning that many will turn to pharmaceutical products which have more side effects and are not necessarily safer or more rigorously tested.

My fear is that this ban opens the gateway for organic produce to be removed from sale to be replaced by GM foods.  Next we will be unable to grow our own produce meaning that there will be as high a price to pay for growing mint & rosemary in the garden as marijuana.

Please sign the petition to protect our right to choose here:
Avaaz petition

Homeopathy works for me

Anyone who knows me or has been reading this blog, will know that I am passionate about homeopathy.  It changed my life and my health 11 years ago and I take any opportunity to let people know how wonderful it has been for my mine and my family's health, which is why I was excited to hear about the 'Homeopathy works for me' campaign.  In the run up to World Homeopathy Awareness Week (WHAS) we are posting up our own personal testimonial videos on YouTube explaining how homeopathy has worked for us.  Please have a look at some of the videos linked below or go to YouTube and put 'homeopathy works for me' in the search box.

If you have had a positive experience with homeopathy, please have a go at making your own video to upload to show your support for homeopathy.  Make sure that you use 'homeopathy works for me' as the title.

Sciatica and children's ailments:

A case of baby colic:

 A case of tonsilitis:

 

IBS and ulcerative colitis:

Hope you enjoyed these personal testimonials.  I will link to some more tomorrow but, head over to YouTube if you can't wait until then!

Natural solutions for Hayfever

I don’t know about anywhere else but, here in Spain spring is definitely on it’s way.  We’ve had a week of beautiful sunny days with a slight nip in the air and confused bees  wandering onto my balcony in search of elusive flowers that have not yet bloomed!

It’s also coming up to the time when I will start being asked for hay fever remedies especially as here on the coast, we have different pollens blowing in

Natural treatment of winter infections

I seem to be surrounded by people coughing, sneezing and spluttering at the moment.  Coughs, colds and viral infections are an unfortunate fact of life during winter, particularly if you have school aged children.  Over the counter cough and cold remedies are not only ineffective but, they can also be dangerous.  The medicines aimed at children contain high levels of artificial sweeteners, colours, syrups and some dangerous chemicals.  These medicines are usually labeled for use in children over the age of 6 years

Childless and irresponsible

I hope you all had a very happy, merry Christmas!! 
My Christmas morning went off as usual with little fingers prodding me and whispering “Santa’s been, can we open the presents?” so, I got them to practice their new skill of making Mummy a cup of coffee before getting them to drag all the presents onto my bed.  They didn’t get as much as usual (I explained a while back that even Father Christmas has had to make cut backs and there have been a few Elf redundancies...) but, they seemed very pleased with what they did get.  Their Dad had managed to get a second hand Wii (I may have to get the controller surgically removed from my youngest's hand) before he went back to the UK and my eldest got a mobile, something he’s been going on and on about for the last couple of years.  I’ve finally given in as he’s becoming more independent and keeps wandering off and I'm so fed up of screaming his name out of the window like a Burberry clad chav, I caved!  It’s not an iPhone 4 but I’m assured that “it’ll do - for now”!

Having seen the boys off at the airport to spend some time in the UK with their Dad and other family, I find myself alone and able to do whatever I want for the first time in over 10 years!!  For the first couple of nights I’ve acted like a naughty teenager, lying in bed watching rubbish on TV until 5am and falling asleep with my glasses on then, only getting up in the morning to make a cup of coffee and then crawling back under my cosy duvet to slob out until late afternoon.  Today I’ve been a little more productive.  I’ve done some laundry, cleaned the kitchen, swept and dusted.  I miss my noisy little monkeys and even miss the constant arguing and shouting but, not as much as I thought I would.  We’ve spoken on the phone a couple of times every day and it’s lovely to have some time to myself.  Being an only child, I’ve always been used to my own company and have missed it.

So now it’s the eve of New Year’s Eve and I’m planning my first childless, irresponsible festivities in a long time.  Shall I go to a bar that I’ve been invited to and get drunk and disorderly and dance the night away?  No, I shall be spending it with a good friend playing Trivial Persuit and sipping a few Baileys on the rocks...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!