Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Weather is all we talk about these days..........

Yup it is winter, even in the South.
Pipes wrapped up and water dripping so the pipes will not freeze.
Water feature frozen and the birds complaining to us this is their water hole.
Walks are terrifying at times (with B.) there comes a moment when I have to go searching for the new breath.
I am wrapped up in every wool item I own but still .........
In the heat I suffer and in the cold .......this is not pleasant.
This is called old age, I think.
Where can I buy better lungs?

Good news is that Gaston is doing well after the doctors told the kids to come and say goodbye to him.
After his fall and hip broken he had a heart attack , then blood cloths in the lungs etc....
that was almost a week ago, yesterday I got word that he is sitting up and learning to walk.
I miss his emails, he is my Belgian life line.

No news with the hearing aids , they annoy me, it is a lot of money and I can hear ok person to person but when I take them out, the plastic tip is stuck in my ear and then Bob needs to get out the flashlight and
the tweezers. What would it be if I was alone.
I am grateful for the hearing I have now but these  other problems are a bit annoying.

I have not been in a writing mood. You think the cold is freezing my brain?

Bob will have a visit to a general pract. doctor. He has high blood pressure.
Thin as a rail ,he is. We think it is from his many medicines which keep him going.
This visit will be his first as an adult.  He is crossing his fingers that he can do it.
I have my legs, arms and eyes crossed as well.

Tonight it will be 9 degrees with a much colder wind factor.
So I will get my orchids away from the windows and check everything out that I can.

Monday, January 13, 2014

For more information :

go to DIY Natural many other chemicals are mentioned there for beauty products

Sabrina's ordeal with formaldehyde

Sabrina was going to be a big help this past season and make blankets for children via some organization.
My grandson had just finished cancer treatments and when he was in the hospital he was given a nice blanket with hundreds of colors. It was soft and he loved it, he would wrap himself in it like a little baby yet he is 18 and giant size.
So, Brie decided to do the same for 20 kids.
She divide the preparation of the blankets into 2 week ends.
Then something happened which puzzled us all.
She started a rash, a rash with itching and heat.
She ran around scratching and when no one was home she'd be naked not being able to
stand anything on her skin.
This tale went on for MONTHS, she went to the ER twice, to a dermatologist twice....
had acapuncture, tried to sleep without results.
In all her years I had never seen her like this , she just could barely function.
We played detective to see what had been different in her life at the onset of this rash and all
I could think about was the blankets.
And at this point I have done research on the internet every minute I could.
There a ton of people out there with formaldehyde rashes, one I read took 1 year to leave her system and then she went to her dentist and it started all over again.
Doctors are not that sure of the poison in that product and are often misinformed.
My previous post also lets us know that in many countries the use of this chemical is banned, not in the USA.
The last 3 days, Sabrina is better, she still had the spots showing were she just scratched till she bled. She slept the other night for the first time in months without interruptions.
Be aware.

Formaldehyde should be banned in beauty products,it is in many countries


Formaldehyde

What is it?

A highly toxic impurity, formaldehyde is released by a number of preservatives used in cosmetics. The use of formaldehyde in personal products has been banned in many countries, but not in the US.

Why it’s dangerous

Formaldehyde has been classified as a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). It has also been identified as a substance that is “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen” by the US National Toxicology Program. Formaldehyde is also well known as a skin irritant. Yet, there is still no requirement for the amounts of formaldehyde to be tested in personal products here in the US. (Can anyone say “YIKES?”)

Where it’s found

Formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releasing preservatives can be found in some nail polishes, shampoos, liquid hand soaps, body washes, nail glues, toothpastes, hair gels, hair smoothing products, lotions, and more.
ON LABELS, LOOK FOR: DMDM hydantoin, diazolidinyl urea, imidazolidinyl urea, quaternium-15, 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol, and sodium hydroxylmethylglycinate.

The back nine, author unknown


Today at 2:19 AM
You know, time has a way of moving quickly and catching you unaware of the passing years. It seems just yesterday that I was young, just married and embarking on my new life with my mate. Yet in a way, it seems like eons ago, and I wonder where all the years went. I know that I lived them all. I have glimpses of how it was back then and of all my hopes and dreams.

But, here it is - the ' back nine' of my life and it catches me by surprise. How did I get here so fast ? Where did the years go and where did my youth go ? I remember vividly seeing older people through the years and thinking that those older people were years away from me and that ' I was only on the first hole' and the ' back nine' was so far off that I could not fathom it or imagine fully what it would be like.

But, here it is . . . my friends are retired and getting grey. They move slower and I see an older person now. Some are in better and some worse shape than me, but, I see the great change. Not like the ones that I remember who were young and vibrant . . . but like me, their age is beginning to show and we are now those older folks that we used to see and never thought we'd become. Each day now, I find that just getting a shower is a real target for the day ! And taking a nap is not a treat anymore .. . . it's mandatory ! Cause if I don't on my own free will, I just fall asleep where I sit !

And so, now I enter into this new season of my life unprepared for all the aches and pains and the loss of strength and ability to go and do things that I wish I had done but never did ! But, at least I know, that though I’m on the ' back nine', and I'm not sure how long it will last, this I know for sure, that when it's over on this earth . . . it's over. A new adventure will begin !

Yes, I have regrets. There are things I wish I hadn't done . . . things I should have done, but indeed, there are many things I'm happy to have done. It's all in a lifetime.

So, if you're not on the ' back nine' yet . . . let me remind you, that it will be here faster than you think. So, whatever you would like to accomplish in your life please do it quickly ! Don't put things off too long ! Life goes by quickly. So, do what you can today, as you can never be sure whether you’re on the ' back nine' or not ! You have no promise that you will see all the seasons of your life . . . so, live for today and say all the things that you want your loved ones to remember, and hope that they appreciate and love you for all the things that you have done for them in all the years past !

"Life" is a gift to you. The way you live your life is your gift to those who come after. Make it a fantastic one.

LIVE IT WELL !
ENJOY TODAY !
DO SOMETHING FUN !
BE HAPPY !
HAVE A GREAT DAY
Remember, "It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.

LIVE HAPPY LASTLY,CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING

~Your kids are becoming you . . . but your grandchildren are perfect
~Going out is good . . . Coming home is better !
~You forget names . . . But it's OK because other people forgot they even knew you !
~You realize you're never going to be really good at anything . . . especially golf
~The things you used to care to do, you no longer care to do, but you really do care that you don't care to do them anymore !
~You sleep better on a lounge chair with the TV blaring than in bed. It's called "pre-sleep".
~You miss the days when everything worked with just an "ON" and "OFF" switch..
~You tend to use more 4 letter words . . . "what ?" . . . "when ?". . . ” ???
~Now that you can afford expensive jewellery, it's not safe to wear it anywhere.
~You notice everything they sell in stores is "sleeveless" !
~What used to be freckles are now liver spots.
~Everybody whispers.
~You have 3 sizes of clothes in your closet . . . 2 of which you will never wear.

~~~But Old is good in some things ~~~ Old Songs, Old Movies, and best of all, OLD FRIENDS 

Stay well, "OLD FRIEND ! " Send this on to other "Old Friends!" and let them laugh in AGREEMENT 

It's Not What You Gather, But What You Scatter That Tells What Kind Of Life You Have Lived.
TODAY IS THE OLDEST YOU'VE EVER BEEN, YET THE YOUNGEST YOU'LL EVER BE, SO ENJOY THIS DAY WHILE IT LASTS.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

RIP

The year did not end well for me as my list of friends becomes shorter and shorter.

I met her when I was 14 and she was a neighbor
 a new bride she had married a bookkeeper who worked with my mother.
He was short and stocky, she was tall and natural blonde.
She never needed L'Oreal to keep her tone.
A blonde with blue eyes.
I remember the day she lost her first baby in a still birth.
Later she had a boy , the jewel in her life.

She passed o at the end of the year. She had started to forget a lot, dementia became her diagnosis but she did not have it until near her end.

She was 89.
I sat here wondering how she stayed so active for so long.
Did she eat "right"? No, she ate what she wanted and in a Belgian kitchen that is often with French fries.
Did she go to the gym? No
Did she walk miles every day? No

She did own a bar with her son , a very popular pub kind of place on the square of the village.
It was the kind of place you could get in at 7 and just get a cup of coffee and sit there as long as you liked.
It was the kind of place where she had been since 5 am and had washed all the tiles on the walls and the floors and polished the copper. If it needed it she would start again at noon.
She never stopped working , she would welcome every one with a smile.
Somewhere around her 85th year her son had a bad fall and injured his head.
They had to close up shop. She took care of him.

She had a bad marriage (the first) and then found the right man who adored her,
I remember while visiting my mom that we met her at a little restaurant across from the hospital, she was not eating. Clearly her eyes were swollen and red from a night of crying. The blond hair started to mix with some white but she still looked very young, even without make up. Just a very natural great woman.
She hugged us and said :"I cant be in that room all day and night, I had to come and have a "short one".
I do not know much about liquor but my Mom said that every day she would have a short one and sometimes a few more and no one ever saw her drunk. She could hold it. She said it calmed her down and was better than pills. That day we found out that her very nice husband was dying and she would probably need more than one "short one".

After her loss she and son opened the bar and both of them would work the place by themselves ,
we went often to say hello and I never saw the place empty.

A great lady in my books, would help every one around her and made an army of friends.
Down to earth nothing glamorous or pretending. If she did not like something she would tell you in your face and try to fix things. I never heard her tell a lie. She could make me laugh in a second.
Even with this distance and no chance for me to return any time soon I will think of her often
Rust nu maar het is tijd.