For Our Health

We thought we would give you an update on some of the ways we have tried to improve our health in the last year or so. We have intentionally eliminated a number of things from our bodies and feel we are much healthier because of those choices.

In March, 2014, I decided to stop using commercial hair care products. I am happy to report that I am still very satisfied with my routine of baking soda and water for shampoo, with apple cider vinegar and water for a rinse and conditioner 17 months later. 

We still use baking soda for toothpaste, and make our own simple lotion and lip balm. By the way, that small batch of lip balm we made one year ago today is not gone yet. We would have used many tubes of commercial lip balm by this time. It truly is amazing.

Lip balm

I still use the same reusable food wraps and panty liners we wrote about last year. There are so many simple things we can make for ourselves that are less expensive, last longer and eliminate more chemicals from our bodies.

We told you about Frank's difficulty getting off of Zyrtec, and recently we weaned ourselves off of low dose aspirin as well. The more we learn about how synthetically made ingredients affect our bodies, the less likely we are to consume them.

 






We have added fermented vegetables like sauerkraut and peppers to our diet. We continue to make sourdough bread with our fresh ground whole wheat flour, but we have eliminated all white flour and sugar. Our diet consists of foods high in nutrients, low in carbohydrates along with quality protein and fats. We continue to

make and consume kefir everyday, even though Frank would tell you he could go the rest of his life without kefir. We feel the probiotics we get from the fermentation process in making sauerkraut, sourdough and kefir help our bodies absorb and use nutrients in a much more efficient and effective way.

A little over a year ago, Frank and I chose to change our lives by changing the way we eat. In doing so, we have now each lost over 50 pounds. We are definitely healthier and accomplish much more than we ever did while carrying around the equivalent of a sack of animal feed all the time.

Something we have not done yet, but will someday, hopefully soon, is make lye soap. We have everything we need, but have yet to carve out the time to do it. Our friend, Grace has made her first batch of soap, so now it is our turn.

The older we get, the more we learn about natural ways to care for our bodies. Our modern world has much to offer in the way of conveniences and comfort, but what it has to offer is not always the best thing for our health, in fact, some of what it has to offer is down right deadly. A new year has dawned, make the most of it. Take care of your health, for you will need it to be ready for what is coming.

Until next time - Fern

No Shampoo & Sauerkraut; An Update

Not long ago, a reader asked us for an update on my no shampoo experience and how our sauerkraut was doing. So, here it is.

I quit using shampoo in March, 2014. I posted updates on my progress at three months and six months. I have to tell you, after looking back at these articles, I think my hair looks better now than ever. 

Before I started, March 20, 2014

Comparing the first picture, March 20, 2014, and today, I can see where my hair is healthier and has a more natural shine. I have continued to use only baking soda and water for my 'shampoo', along with apple cider vinegar and water for my 'conditioner'. I still have the occasional itch on my scalp from psoriasis, but nothing compared to what it was when I used commercial products. I have not used any of the prescription medication I needed for decades to control the itch on my scalp. I couldn't be happier.
 

April 22, 2014

June 12, 2014

September 24, 2014

June 5, 2015

This was one of the many steps Frank and I have taken to decrease our chemical exposure and intake, in our effort to improve our overall health. Fermenting our own sauerkraut has been one of the most recent experiments I have conducted on Frank. At first we were both hesitant, but now we're not at all. We happily eat our kraut at least six days a week. Sometimes it just doesn't fit into the meal, and a few times, I just plain forgot to serve it.

The current batch we're eating now was a combination of        1 1/2 heads of cabbage and about 15 large carrots. This is okay, but the vegetables are softer and don't taste quite as good as the plain cabbage. It was something I wanted to try, but probably won't do this combination again.

I removed all of the carrot/cabbage kraut from the crock two days ago and stored it in the refrigerator. We got about four quarts this time. I don't pack it down solid, so it's not a full four quarts, but it is enough to last us quite a while. We eat about a 1/4 to a 1/3 of a cup per serving. 

 





Since the crock and fermentation process seem to be going well, this time I put    3 1/2 heads of cabbage in the crock, filling it pretty full. I continue to use some of the juice or liquid from the previous batch to inoculate, or speed up the fermenting process. I also drink some of it on occasion when we get to the bottom of a jar. It is pretty stout stuff, but it's good. We prefer the cabbage shredded, which I do with our KitchenAid. I have started using sea salt instead of regular table salt for the minerals it contains. I use it in all of my cooking as well as the kraut. 

I add a little vinegar in the moat to keep it from getting slimy.

This summer I hope to try fermenting some of our garden produce, like cucumbers, okra, turnips, peppers and beets. It would be nice to discover another vegetable, or combination of vegetables we enjoy as much as we do the cabbage.





I appreciate Deb's request for an update on these two topics. There isn't any reason for me to ever use commercial products on my hair again. What I am doing now is effective, keeps my hair and scalp healthier, my hair looks better and another added benefit is that it costs pennies on the dollar compared to commercial products. The sauerkraut experience has shown us another way to improve our health by making something for ourselves instead of depending on someone else to do it for us. It takes time, planning and effort on our part, but the health benefits of consuming fermented foods well outweigh the effort expended. It's a great life. One full of learning, work and progress. I am grateful.

Until next time - Fern
 

Effects of A1 vs. A2 Milk

This past winter we drank regular store bought, whole milk for about four or five months, because all of the goats were pregnant and not producing milk. After a few months, Frank and both started having more and more head congestion, drainage and ick in our throats. Frank also developed a mild, daily cough of sorts, especially in the mornings. I was constantly having to clear the mucous from my throat, worse in the mornings, but it lasted all day long.

After a few months I really began to wonder if we were developing some kind of allergy, but I couldn't figure out what it would be. Then one day I remembered that there are many people that react to milk with allergic type symptoms, and I began doing more research on A1 vs. A2 milk. I wrote an article explaining the A1 vs. A2 milk controversy a year ago. If you're not familiar with this information, I encourage you to stop here and read the old article to provide a knowledge base. This will help the rest of this article make more sense.

As I began researching more and more about A1, or most regular, store bought milk, I came to the conclusion that our consumption of this milk was probably the cause of our symptoms. This made me even more anxious for the goats to have their babies and start producing enough milk for us to drink. I want to stop here and share some of the information I read as part of my research. Each quote contains a link to the source I found. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 I used to think I digested A1 milk as well as the A2 milk, but I have been rethinking this recently. In just the past couple of weeks we switched from milking our A1/A2 Blossom (who is my favorite cow) to our A2/A2 Emma Lou. I have noticed two things:

1. My lower back has not been as stiff in the mornings.
2. I used to avoid drinking milk in the evenings because it would make my legs jerky. I have consumed A2/A2 milk in the evening several times and that has not happened. The other night I had symptoms again and thought that maybe it is not the A1 after all. Then I remembered that I had feta cheese on my salad that was made from A1 milk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The inflammation from A1 casein causes lymphatic congestion, metabolic suppression, and weight gain. A1 milk can worsen acne, eczema, upper respiratory infections, asthma and allergies.
It causes digestive problems, and not because of the lactose. Because of the massive histamine release from casomorphin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My family and I all took cautious sips and waited. [of A2 milk] Amazingly, no symptoms! No mucous or congestion for my husband. No lactose intolerance for my daughter, who couldn’t have even one tablespoon of regular milk. My son, whom we used to tease if he ate dairy today he went to work with his dad tomorrow (as he would become very much like a bear, and not a fuzzy sweet one), did not react to the raw milk at all.
Not only did we not react adversely, but we felt so much better and more satisfied once we started consuming raw milk on a regular basis. My daughter, who in spite of almost no sugar and frequent brushing could not get her cavities under control, has not had one new cavity in the eight years she’s been drinking raw milk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When my in-laws moved from India to the United States some 35 years ago, they couldn't believe the low cost and abundance of our milk—until they developed digestive problems. They'll now tell you the same thing I've heard a lot of immigrants say: American milk will make you sick.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Milks containing mostly A2 proteins are often said to be better for ‘allergies’ (such as gut, skin rashes, hayfever, cough). There is also research to suggest that A1 beta casein may be associated with serious health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes type 1 and autism.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Although it may be inconclusive as to the exact dangers of A1 milk and the resulting BCM7, we feel the precautionary principle should be invoked. Humans have been consuming cow milk for 10,000 years, but A1 milk and the BMC7 that comes with it are a relatively recent development. Only in very modern times with the supremacy of the Holstein breed in US Dairy (accounting for more than 90% of all dairy cows today) has so much A1 milk been consumed. Realistically fluid milk is a minor concern compared to A1 cheese where the lactose carbohydrate and whey protein components have been removed and the casein proteins are further concentrated. Imagine how this has become even worse in our ‘fat is bad’ culture where even the fat is also removed in low and no-fat cheeses leaving only the casein. For example 2 slices of fat-free American singles made from A1 dominant Holstein milk would likely have nearly 3g of A1 beta casein or more than 2.5 times the amount found in a cup of our raw milk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have been dairy free for several months, but decided to give the raw A2 milk a try.  I have been drinking it daily for two weeks now and have actually noticed some improvements in my autoimmune symptoms.  This gives me a lot of hope.  I still consider myself dairy free when we are out and about and I’m not eating cheese or anything pasteurized, but so far the raw A2 milk has done me a body of good (literally!). 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Interesting, huh? Now that Frank and I have been drinking our raw, fresh, A2 goat milk for around two months, our symptoms are gone. Frank no longer coughs at all. I still get a little drainage sometimes, but it comes when there is a change in the weather. We have also had a tremendous amount of rain this year with constant standing puddles everywhere. 

Can I say conclusively that our symptoms were caused by consuming A1 milk? No. Can I say conclusively that no longer consuming A1 milk alleviated our symptoms? No. I do not have any specific testing or scientific proof, so keep that in mind. But what I can tell you, is that we feel much better and our symptoms are gone. I find this to be unscientifically conclusive based on personal experience. That doesn't mean everyone will react the same, or react at all. The articles and experiences of the people I quoted above are very good examples of that. If you find this interesting, I would encourage you to read the original article, it has more links that help explain what A1 and A2 milks are, and the differences.

There are so many things that we consume or are exposed to everyday that man has altered or created for ease and profit, that we have no idea of the impact upon our bodies. If you have read here for very long, you know we are trying to eliminate as many chemicals from our bodies as possible, whether ingested or topical. I have no doubt that everything we need to be healthy human beings was created and place here for our use, we just need to figure out how to use them wisely. 

I find this information to be just fascinating. Now, I wonder what we will discover next? There are times we discover new information that makes us wonder why we didn't see/learn/discover it sooner. There just aren't enough hours in the day or years of my life to learn everything I would like to learn. I truly hope I am able to continue to learn everyday that I am given. Now, on to the next great adventure.

Until next time - Fern

Our Daily Herbal Tea

For a few months now, we have each been drinking two cups of herbal tea a day. At this time, we are buying the herbs that we are using in our tea. We feel like this is a healthy addition to our diet. Here's why.

I start off with:

3 tbsp. dried dandelion root simmered in 2 quarts of water for 20 minutes. I start this time when the water is still cold. This makes a decoction.



The benefits of dandelion root include:

• liver detoxification/tonic
  
• promotes good digestion
• good for indigestion
• good for arthritis
• regular use helps reduce cholesterol
• gentle laxative
• good for psoriasis

After the roots have simmered, I turn off the fire and add:

1 tsp. celery seed & 1 tbsp. meadowsweet, which sits and steeps for 10 minutes. Seeds, leaves and flower parts are used to make an infusion, which is the steeping process. Since the roots of the dandelion are much harder and thicker, they need to simmer to release the desired properties.

The benefits of celery seed include:

• helps reduce high blood pressure
  
• good digestive; reduces muscle spasms in the muscles of the intestinal tract
• purifies the blood
• helps treat arthritis
• has anti-inflammatory properties
• stimulates thyroid & pituitary
• clears uric acid from painful joints
• acts on kidneys & is a mild diuretic

The benefits of meadowsweet include:

• antacid properties
• astringent
  
• anti-inflammatory
• contains salicylates like aspirin
• diuretic 
• calming for overactive digestive system
• helps acid stomach, heartburn, ulcers, hiatus hernia
• helpful for rheumatism & arthritis
• clears sandy deposits in urine

This information has been compiled from several of my herbal books. Not everyone agrees with the effectiveness of herbs upon the body. You will have to do your own research and decide for yourself what is right for you.

Last year we began harvesting and replanting dandelion seed in the herb bed, just for this tea. I know many people see them as the bane of a beautiful lawn. Every time I see them I think of the benefits they are providing our bodies. We will continue to harvest the seeds and spread them all over the herb bed. They are already up and blooming this year, so it won't be long before the seeds are ready. Now I need to learn how to harvest and dry the roots for our tea, as well as start incorporating some of the greens in our diet.

May 2014

I have one meadowsweet plant established (I think, I haven't seen it yet this spring) and need to add many more to provide the amount we are currently using. 

October 2014, over wintered and is coming back out now

Celery seed may be a whole new challenge. I think I will do some more research and see if I can dry the leaves and/or stalks to use in the tea. It would be much easier for us to produce the plants than the seeds. My other research will include celeriac to see if it contains the same beneficial constituents as celery.

The lemon balm is just starting to come out now.

June 2014

We have some other things growing in the herb bed that I will be adding to a tea blend of our own. These ingredients will be chosen for the beneficial characteristics they have, as well as compatibility with other herbs. Lemon balm and peppermint are on the list for now. If I can get a good crop of chamomile and echinacea, I will add them as well. We're trying to cut down on the amount of herbs we buy, because we would rather consume those we can grow and harvest 

Peppermint, May 2014

ourselves. I still have a lot of learning to do when it comes to growing herbs, harvesting them at the appropriate time, dehydrating to retain the most benefit, and usage. This is another dream come true. I have wanted to be able to grow and use herbs for many, many years. Now I am starting down that path, and it's wonderful.

This is just one more way Frank and I are trying to reclaim our bodies from the effects of the chemicals we are bombarded with everyday. I am grateful we still have the peace and freedom to do so. The more I can learn now, the better off we will be if it ever comes down to having to make do with what we know, have and can do. I pray it doesn't reach that point, but it sure looks that way more and more every day. Learn something important this week that will benefit your family should times get hard. It's critical.

Until next time - Fern

Our Journey to Better Health

Hi Ladies and Gentlemen. Frank and I have been trying to put together some thoughts lately. It's an odd topic, it goes back 20 to 30 years, and we're going to try to take you from there to where we are today. I'm going to share with you some of the changes we've made in our lives recently, and a little history about where these changes are coming from. We all have different learning levels, some are right in our face everyday, sometimes we ask ourselves, "Why didn't I see this years and years ago?" We're all human, or I believe we are all human anyway, we all make mistakes, and I believe what separates a lot of us is how we acknowledge and handle our mistakes. Here goes.

Back in the late 80's or early 90's, Frank had a persistent pain in his shoulder blade. He went to the doctor, and was given a prescription of Relafen for the pain, which he ended up taking for years. He would go back to the doctor with pain in his shoulder, and after awhile, he was

also getting an upset stomach. Finally, at one doctor visit, he asked if the upset stomach, pain in his shoulder, and the Relafen were somehow related. The doctor said yes. It turns out that the Relafen, though it worked on the pain, was causing the stomach upset, which can be manifested as a referred pain to the shoulder blade. So we asked, "Why didn't you tell us this years ago?" Frank had been taking a medication for a pain that had probably always come from his stomach, that made the problem worse in a vicious, Catch 22 cycle. Frank stopped taking the medication, took care of his stomach and miraculously the shoulder pain was cured. 

This was the beginning of our realization that most doctors are only able to see, or diagnose, or treat, what they have been taught to see, or diagnose, or treat. Very few of them are able to gather data, i.e. symptoms; synthesize that data; evaluate all aspects of treatment, i.e. something besides "Here. Take this pill."; and come up with an effective treatment plan that doesn't just mask the symptoms, but treats the underlying cause of the problem. 

Fast forward a few years, and now we live in Alaska. Frank starts having problems with his armpits being dry and chaffed. He goes to the doctor. They gave him this cream and that cream, none of them worked. They 

gave him a shot, they gave him some pills. None of them worked. He looked at the chemical composition of some different deodorants, and he changed what he was using. The problem still persisted. Alaska is notorious for low humidity, sinus problems are prevalent. Somebody mentioned to him it may be dry skin, try some lotion. Wa-la! Put lotion on, wait a little while, put on deodorant, and the medical mystery was solved. Dry skin. Makes you wonder why the doctors didn't tell him that since they see the effects of dryness everyday. A couple of squirts of Vaseline Intensive Care, problem solved.

Fast forward to about four or five years ago. After we moved to our homestead from Alaska, we began an earnest effort to eliminate much of the chemicalized food, chemicalized toiletries, chemicalized gardening techniques and feeding our animals chemicalized products. We haven't been able to totally eliminate them, but here are some of the things we have done.

Frank went first in the no deodorant at all arena. I followed a few years later. Now, neither one of us apply anything at all to our armpits. Nothing. If we work real hard, there may be an odor of sorts temporarily, but we don't go around stinking all the time. It took a few weeks for our armpits to 'withdraw' from the chemicals we were applying daily. They felt a little funny for a bit, but now, I don't notice them at all.

Next we quit using toothpaste. This time I went first. I have had a problem with bad breath at times for years and years, especially if I was taking any medications. But, we'll get back to medications in a minute. I really

thought I would have even more problems with my breath when I quit toothpaste, but you know what? My mouth felt cleaner that it ever had. I was totally amazed. It was then I realized all that taste good, fluoridated, poison stuff I brushed my teeth with every day was leaving a coating in my mouth that lead to bad breath. Amazing! Actually, my reaction was more like, "You've got to be kidding!" Not long afterwards, Frank stopped using toothpaste as well. Now we use plain baking soda. I've looked at many sites that make their own toothpaste with essential oils and other stuff, but I like plain, simple baking soda. It works great.

We've already written about our lip balm and lotion recently, so I don't need to explain that again. I also stopped using any shampoo and conditioner about a year ago, along with commercial panty liners. All of these steps have helped to eliminate more and more commercially made products and chemicals that our bodies were absorbing every single day. 

Now back to some more medications. Over the last couple of decades, Frank and I started having some reflux problems, so we went to the doctor. I think this started sometime shortly after 2000 when we were in Alaska. They put us on Protonix and Nexium which we took for years. Years.

No one told us that these types of medications were initially produced for people to take no longer than six weeks at a time without causing side effects and problems. It was only a few years ago we found out, through our own research, what a huge impact proton pump inhibitors can have, not only on the production of acid and the whole digestive system, but on your entire body at the cellular level. It changes the chemical composition of your body and how it reacts to acid. That's part of the reason it is so difficult to get off of this drug, or it was in our case. We just followed doctor's recommendations and continued to "take this pill." Once we found out just how much damage long term use of these pills could have on our bodies, we decided to wean them down and quit. The only problem is, that once your body has adjusted to having these drugs for a long period of time, it goes through a major increase of acid production trying to compensate for the lack of medication. Most people cannot tolerate the withdrawal symptoms of intense heartburn and stomach pain, so guess what? They go back on the medication thinking there is something wrong. We did. More than once. I even ended up with

ulcers in my esophagus accompanied by serious chest pains (they even did an entire heart work up in the hospital and found nothing), gastritis and h-pylori. Then I did some very serious research on Nexium and found out one of the complications of long term use is ulcers in the esophagus. I was angry. Very angry that I had been allowed, even encouraged to take this medication for years! When I was sick with the esophageal ulcers they had me double the medication. We have now successfully quit these medications and have no reflux, no stomach pain, and don't need to take any over-the-counter antacids. I feel like we have finally been able to heal our bodies from the damage these medications did.

Some time when we were living in Alaska, one of the doctors recommended Frank take a blood pressure medication since his readings were just borderline high. He didn't take anything for years, but started taking one off and on after we moved here. But his blood pressure was

never really high. So, we bought a little blood pressure machine. Well, a number of months back Frank's blood pressure was what we thought was really high. We have a couple of nurses in the family, Frank called and we went to visit one of them. To her, his blood pressure was no big deal. She's an active, participating, veteran nurse. We all have stressful days, and Frank had a major surgery recently, and before that was in a tremendous amount of pain. But the words of our in-law nurse, "That's not bad." So, Frank quit his blood pressure medication. Nothing happened, and his blood pressure went down. The next time we visited the doctor he wanted Frank to take a beta blocker along with his blood pressure medication, and we said no. He has since quit taking the blood pressure medication altogether.  His blood pressure is now fine.

I haven't mentioned it, but Frank and I have our blood work done twice a year. Each time we have it done, our doctor wants to put us on medication to lower our cholesterol. Frank has a long term running joke. "If you want me to lower my cholesterol, just give me a pencil with an eraser." He has found that, believe it or not, what you have to eat the day before affects everything that is tested in your blood work, especially the biggies, like cholesterol and sugar. But the medical folks will tell you that your diet the day before doesn't make any difference. Hogwash! If he has a bowl of ice cream before he goes to bed the night before his blood test, the next day his sugar is elevated. We keep all of our old blood test records. Frank started experimenting to see if what he ate the night before affected the tests and it does. So, what you're told and what is reality, don't always fit together.

There seems to be a pattern. I have a headache, take this. What you're taking for the headache upsets your stomach, so take this. What you're taking for your stomach causes your blood pressure to rise, take this. And then take this. And then you don't know why you're taking anything. It's a difficult thing to see and figure out.

We have all been taught to do what our doctor tells us to do and we want to believe that the medical profession has our best interest at heart. Speaking of heart. A number of years ago, back in Alaska, Frank had a stress test done on his heart. Everything was great, except for one spot they couldn't see and it was a dark spot, or sometimes called an artifact. This lady doctor was going to schedule surgery, Frank told her no, and she was appalled that someone would question her. Follow me here. A couple of years ago, Frank had another stress test here in Oklahoma. His heart is just fine, except there is another dark spot, or artifact, in a different location, and the doctor wants to schedule surgery. Now isn't this ironic? That there is a dark spot, or artifact, a place they cant' see in two different parts of his heart on two separate tests. I don't want to think that this is some kind of high level con game, but if you can't see it, then I guess you've got to go in and look, don't you? Makes you wonder. So, does the medical profession have your best interest at heart? Makes you wonder. By the way, Frank never had any surgery. The answer was still no.

Moving on. When Frank went back for his five month check up after having back surgery, we had a pleasant conversation with the surgeon. Earlier on, Frank had asked him if weight was a factor, related to his surgery, and the doctor's response was, weight is always a factor. Now, Frank and I are both big people, and we're also overweight big people, which boils down to we're both fat. You know, corn fed. And we've both been told for years by

assorted doctors that we needed to lose weight. We've done the token diet thing a time or two, but something was different that day with the back surgeon. He introduced us to a program where you cut carbohydrates sharply. We talked about it in his office some and when we left that day at around 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon, we walked out to the truck, and sat there for a minute. We both agreed it is time, and that we can do this. That was December 2, 2014. I cannot tell you what is different. There was no strike of lightening or epiphany, but we both knew it, and we both felt it, and we both agreed that the time is now. So, like we do most things, we came home, got on the internet, looked up the books,

downloaded the ebook version, and the next day we started our diet. And I'm reluctant to call it a diet, we just changed the way we eat. If you eat food in any form or fashion, you're on some kind of diet. We just changed the way we eat. This is the way we plan to eat from now on. It's not a starvation diet, I eat more and bigger plates of food than we ever have. Frank the carnivore has learned to like the color green better. In 10 weeks now, it has made some dramatic effects upon our lives. You know that humble turnip we have talked about for months? That accidental, experimental animal feed project? It has been a major part of our diet. I can't help but believe in my mind that this is all part of some master plan. But that's kind of getting out there, I guess. But for those of you that feel and see that way, then you know what I'm talking about.

A long time ago, seven or eight years back, we came to the realization that things are changing profoundly in our world. This could be one of those times where we wonder why it took us so long to see it, or we can be thankful that we saw it a number of years ago. But the deal is, we did see it, and there are changes happening. On the chemical issue, I'd rather

get off the chemicals on my schedule, than get off chemicals on somebody else's schedule. Withdrawal is not always a pretty thing when you don't have access to what you're used to, whether it be illegal drugs or legal prescription drugs. And then there are the chemicals that we are just exposed to daily, whether we eat them, drink them, breathe them or absorb them through our skin, if we have to have them, then when the time comes that we don't, things may not be pleasant at all. If you have things in your life that you've been wanting to change, I hope you find the inspiration and the motivation to do so. Even if it's not a chemical, or a pharmaceutical, what about behavioral things that we have become addicted to? Picture television. The winds are changing, and the winds may change at your house soon. It might be time for you to give thought to change also. 

We've taken the time to share these personal notes, and some of them are very personal, in the hope that they will help someone in some small way. If you can find any motivation or inspiration in some of our trials, please use them. We hope these stories and views will give you something to think about.

Frank & Fern