Get them while you can, I may not be making more for a while. These Goat’s Milk Soaps are not available in the shop at this time, only through this post.

Goat’s Milk and Lavender - 4oz. bars of creamy goat’s milk soap, scented with organic lavender oil. This pretty bar contains a layer of organic lavender buds. Goat’s milk is a wonderful moisturiser and emollient. Lavender has long been used for it’s cleansing and healing properties. One legend says that Our Blessed Mother laid the Infant’s swaddling clothes on a lavender bush to dry, which imparted their sacred scent to the plant. $5/bar (11 bars left)

Goat’s Milk and Oatmeal Soap - 4 oz. bars of creamy goat’s milk soap with oatmeal, honey and almond. This sweet-smelling bar is a treat for the skin. It’s ideal for winter dryness. I developed this bar for my littlest one, Louis, who suffers from psoriasis. Goat’s milk lends its emmolience, while oatmeal helps to exfoliate the dry skin and add a layer of moisture. Honey is known for its antiseptic and antibacterial properties, it also contains the B vitamins neccessary for healing. It is said that Cleopatra suffered from psoriasis and used milk and honey baths to soothe her skin when she wasn’t able to visit the dead sea. $5/bar (5 bars left)

SOLD OUT:: Goat’s Milk and Damask Rose 4 oz. bars of creamy goat’s milk soap scented with ultra feminine damask rose from bulgaria (organic). With just a touch of honey, this soap wonderfully luxurious! This soap is a favourite! Look for this one next time around.

That’s all I have for this week. Can ship tomorrow - I accept PayPal to nissaATgadboisfamilyDOTcom. Shipping is $4.95 for up to 3 bars - so go ahead and stock up!

I am, thankfully, not prone to these as many women are. I do, however, get them on rare occasions. I have learned that when I feel one coming on, this home remedy knocks it right out before it takes hold:

1 T. Fresh grated ginger root
1/2 c. Knudsen “Just Cranberry”
1 qt. water (steam distilled is EXCELLENT!)
Honey to taste (about 1/4 c. for me)

Heat water to boiling and pour over grated ginger. Let steep for 15 minutes. Strain, reheat. Add honey, stirring until dissolved. Pour in cranberry juice. Drink warm or at room temperature throughout the day. Ginger is a powerful anti-inflammatory and cranberry is a natural anti-biotic. Cranberry is more gentle than prescription anti-biotics and should not require the attending pro-biotic treatment to re-balance natural flora.

A soak in an epsom salt bath is also useful.

Be well!

I wanted to post this sooner, but as you know, our server was down all weekend.

Sophie has pneumonia. Fortunately, I caught it early enough that it’s treatable at home. We’ve had nasty colds on and off over the last few weeks - with a little tummy bug thrown in for good measure. Sophie seemed to be getting better and then she went down hard.

Saturday she was looking very bad - almost dusky. I panicked and went immediately to pick up some home remedy supplies. I put her in an Epsom salt bath and started making some cough syrup. She improved a bit, so we just watched her. Saturday night, we went up to bed - thank goodness we room in with the littles until they’re out of a crib! Her breathing was very fast and heavy. I rang the Ped on call and she agreed that I should bring her in.

We were there for over 5 hours. Her pulse-ox was in the low nineties on room air. Once things quieted down around us, I began to pray a rosary. She put her sweet baby hands over mine and blessed herself at the Glory Bes. I happened to look up at the pulse-ox and noticed that she was up to 99! Her oxygen stayed up in the high nineties throughout the rosary and fell back to the mid-nineties when we stopped.

I know I shouldn’t be amazed, but I was all the same. They eventually did a chest xray which showed a small partial collapse. Simce she was fairly stable, they decided to let me care for her at home. She’s on amoxicillan (blehk!) and homemade cough syrup which keeps the fluids loose and moveable. She’s still a little clingier than normal, but otherwise doind fine.

Would you all offer a prayer for her continued recovery? Pneumonia can turn on a dime from what I understand. We’re keeping her outside exposure to a minimum at the moment - no Mass or anything I’m also worried that the others might develop it as well. It’s beena very chesty type of cold.

Finally, the ped thinks that she may have asthma. Not really a surprise since two of my others and I have it. I always hope that the children won’t get it.

Thank you all so very much.

1/4 c. olive oil
2 drops lavender essential oil (or comfrey or calendula)

Warm the oil, add the EO. Stir well and apply to baby’s scalp. You may need to do this for several nights in a row to get all the accumulation off, but it works better than anything else I’ve used over the years.

In the morning, use a baby comb or brush to remove the flakes.

This oil also works beautifully as a night-time infant (or anyone) massage.

Olive oil is a beautiful gift from nature. It absorbs so readily into the skin and doesn’t leave a greasy feeling. You can also infuse it with healing herbs to use on the skin!

If you, like me, love the smell of a newly baptised babe, you can use essence of chrism in your olive oil. Please don’t worry, it’s not been consecrated, so it’s OK for laypersons to use. But you’ll get that Heavenly scent, which will serve the dual purpose of reminding us of our obligations as Christians. If you’d like a phial of essence of chrism, you can email me. I get it in large quantities from the monks at St. Joseph’s Abbey, which is extremely expensive for most families and lasts far too long. But I’m happy to divide it up in smaller containers. 4 dram (1/2 oz.) phial would cost $5, plus shipping.

Earlier this week, I was comforting my cold with a mug of very hot cocoa. I spilled it right down my front and was burned, complete with blisters. It’s healing nicely now, but I can tell you that it was terribly uncomfortable.

Home Remedy for Burns: Diaper Rash Ointment

I thank God above, all the angels and Saints, that I didn’t spill on one of the children.

I took my first injection yesterday and started counting down two weeks until I start to see the beginnings of improvement, namely an increase in energy. This morning I woke after the first truly good sleep I’ve had in months. I strode across the room with greater ease than I have since Louis was about 2 months old and snuggled his wee body for a nursing. Lying there I realized that my hip and shoulder weren’t bothering me. That accounts for the good sleep.

I’m certainly a bit more spry today. And while my husband was teasing me about speeding around the house, I noticed that the plaques on my skin were not swollen - not even a little bit. Amazing.

I’m still stiff, still effused in some joints - my elbow looks and feels normal, still slower than normal folk, but feeling as though I’m on the mend. A little headache briefly this morning, which is not unusual with the treatment.

Thank you to poor little Saint Martin whose cells were used to help me feel better. Bless his soul.

Stand down. This alert has been cancelled! The oncologist gave me an all clear after an exam. She feels that there was actually trapped milk in the tail end of the breast. Nothing to worry about. She did recommend eating my veggies, exercising 3 hours a week, and taking the towels off of the treadmill… Too bad, it makes a marvelous rack…

Thank you all SO very much for your powerful prayers!

So I’m off to the breast surgeon tomorrow afternoon. That’s what I call service! It usually takes WEEKS to get appointments with specialists. Not sure what they’re doing with me tomorrow, but I’ll post an update.

But I found a small, sore lump under my right arm last week. I have an appointment on Tuesday to have it checked. I’m not really nervous, but would appreciate any prayers that this is nothing…

Just a brief update on my health. I am beginning to feel a bit better. I have gotten around without the chair for the past few days, with the nice weather. High pressure really does make a significant difference. I have been through all the treatment options, other than naturopathic (which I will continue regardless of anything else). I have exchanged several emails with Ted from the National Catholic Bioethics Center about the use of Enbrel, it’s manufacture, and my duties should I decide to use it again.

Several important points bear mentioning:

1. Enbrel is allowable (for Catholics) as a medication of last resort
2. There is no evidence that any of the genetic material from the little boy from which the cells were taken even survived the cloning, usage, and “washing” procedures
3. There is no evidence that it did not.
4. Enbrel is made from MRC5 - the same cells used to make our childrens’ vaccinations. Those cells were derived from a 14 weeks gestation boy in England in the 70s. He was aborted by his mother for “mental health reasons”.
5. Culpability is at the lowest degree.
6. If a Catholic must take such a medication, he or she takes on the reponsibility to do whatever he or she can (letter writing, lobbying, educating others, etc.) to change the way the drug is made, or push for drugs made from different material such as cord blood cells. This is extremely important.

I was very hopeful that Kineret would be an alternative. I’m not sure I properly understand its manufacturing process. Alas, it is not an option. It has disappointed rheumatologists everywhere, failing to live up to their hopes.

I have been struggling to get better over the last few months, have spent a great deal of time in prayer - as have my family and friends, have seen the blackness of depression rush up at me several times. We have decided that my mission on Earth would be better served by receiving a treatment that allows me to carry out the duties that God has laid before me.

I beg daily forgiveness and prayers of the little boy, whom I call Martin, whose life was taken from him and whose body was broken. He did not choose to die that I - and countless others might live healthy lives. I beg you all to help me in urging Amgen and other pharmaceutical companies to switch to using adult cells such as cord blood cells for the host medium in their drugs and vaccinations.

I realise that I did not have to share what is a very personal decision. But I feel an obligation to be honest about it because I have been so vocal about how I feel about conventional medicine in general, and this class of treatments in particular. I realise it may seem to some hypocritical of me. I can only say that circumstances often cause us to review previous opinions. We can decide that we were right and carry on, modify our opinions based on the information we currently have, or reject our previously held opinions in their entirety. I have chosen, with the help of my family, the middle way. I hope that the information that I share and my honesty will help another person who may be in this awful position.

My treatment begins later this week. I beg your prayers for me.