Britesea - Living the good life in rural Oregon

[sumi]

There is a supplement I know off that helps relieve pain in arthritic joints, but it seems to only be available in S.A. It's called Vascafem. It may be worth looking into and seeing if you can get hold of some, Britesea? I was at work one day when I got chatting with a male customer and he mentioned having a hard time with arthritis and I recommended it (though it's supposed to be for woman, men can use it too). Told him it may take a few days to work, but he came back to my work place specially two days later to thank me for the tip. He was feeling better already!

 

[Britesea]

@sumi I looked around and it doesn't seem to be available in the US.

the Orthopod (DH's little joke) is ordering orthotics for me as it seems my feet want to turn down on the insides, which puts yet more strain on my poor knees and hips. She is also ordering some braces especially for walking on uneven ground, like most of my property, lol. She gave me a cortisone shot, and has put in an order for PT at a local place close to me instead of having to travel 75 miles one way to the main VA vlinic. But mainly, she says I'm already doing the best things I can for arthritis-- losing weight and excercising. So I guess what we are doing is giving me pain relief until the weight comes off and the legs get stronger. She had not heard of using Castor oil for relief and was glad to add another tool to her arsenal; and she recommended CBD oil, as well as topical capsaicin, and diclofenac gel, etc. None of them work for everyone, but she suggested I try them all to see which works best for me.

@frustratedearthmother I do have a pillow I put under my knees but since I normally sleep on my side it only works so-so, but thanks for the suggestion.

 

[sumi]

That's a pity! If I were in S.A. still, I'd have sent you some to try. It sounds like you have a really good doc looking after you. Most of the ones I spoke to before were not keen on any treatments that didn't come from a drug company (like castor oil)

 

[Britesea]

We lost our first 2 chickens today and of course, one of them had to be my favorite- Spot. I think she was mixed breed; she looked like an extra meaty leghorn, but with blond lace on the back, and she laid large dark brown eggs- the same color as our RIR. She was very sweet and friendly, but had started wandering further afield- leaving our yard to go across the street where the woman who lives there feeds the deer every day. The other casualty was a Spotted Sussex hen in our yard. We didn't find any bodies, and couldn't discern any footprints; just found a mass of feathers at each site. We also found one of our roosters with almost no tailfeathers and a few bare spots on his back, but otherwise unhurt- he was hiding on the front porch.

No telling what the predator was- we've seen fox, the neighbor has seen a raccoon, and I know we also have hawks and bald eagles in the area; and of course it might have been a stray dog too. We were not at home, and our LGD was locked in the house because she will break the chain she's on and go walkabout if we leave her outside (besides, it is snowing today). I told DH that from now on, if we have both will be gone, the chickens will be kept in their fenced yard attached to the coop. It won't stop a flying predator or a raccoon, but it should stop a dog and it might stop a fox.

 

[sumi]

I'm so sorry

 

[frustratedearthmother]

That's awful - so sorry!

 

[Britesea]

Lots been going on. No more problems with the chickens since we started locking them into the small yard when we leave.
I continue to learn what works well with my freeze dryer... more on that in the freeze drying thread

I spent most of yesterday going through my canning jars. I had been saving some boxes for the ones I got as gifts and yard sale finds (those never have good boxes). Now I have my boxes stacked on some shelving in the shed- the boxes stay in place on the shelves, so there's less chance of breakage in a moderate earthquake, and I can actually see part of the floor in the shed! Even though I am doing mostly freeze dried foods now, I can still use the jars to hold them. I put thick elastic bands around each filled jar before I put them back in a box; the elastic helps to cushion each jar if they get jostled against each other.

I made gumbo for dinner last night. I didn't have any file powder, so I used some of my freeze-dried okra to thicken it; it worked beautifully. Even my son, who claims to not like okra, thought the gumbo was delicious; he took a pint of it back to the house he's sitting for leftovers. He also took my wet sheets to dry in the dryer there, so I don't have to dry them on the line in cold weather! I just have to drop by after Tai Chi tomorrow to pick them up. What a sweetie!

Tonight, I'm trying to decide whether to make Chicken Cacciatore, or Chicken Paprikash for dinner. They are both good.

 

[sumi]

I think a pint of gumbo is a fair trade for dry sheets!

 

[Britesea]

Spent the day getting everything ready for cooking tomorrow. I have a chocolate cheesecake, fried walnuts, and rolls to make tomorrow for Christmas Day dinner (all low carb). Then on Christmas day it's an entire ham (22lbs!) and a Mock Sweet Potato casserole (it's actually a mixture of pureed cauliflower and pumpkin-- lower carbs but tastes almost the same) and a green salad. I also need to make some Deviled Eggs or all my menfolk will pout, and some sort of dip to go with the chicharrones. I also have a few presents still to wrap.

Went over the mountain to the main VA clinic with my CPAP so they could download the data for my doctor's appt next week. I was also able to get in to see the audiologist, who fixed the problem with my hearing aid-- hooray for being able to hear clearly again! It's a 1 1/2 hour trip one way, the roads were icy and it was slow going, but we got there and home again safely.

 

[sumi]

I'm so glad we don't have to cook tomorrow. We're going to dinner at a friend's house, so I'm just taking a gift and some wine over.

Great that you got your hearing aid sorted in time for Xmas! I know that feeling, being able to hear properly is a blessing we realise when we lose it temporarily. I ruptured my eardrum 2 years ago and needed to have my ear syringed twice to clean it out afterwards. So in-between treatments I was half deaf. About an hour after the successful second treatment, I "celebrated" my newly restored hearing by accidentally driving over DS's football!