Spring Fever

I really have spring fever and wish this cool weather would end and it would warm up!!I want to start my garden and get out of this house.



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Natural Insect Repellents

It is getting to be that time of year again. Here is a list of some natural repellents. If you have any other tips for insect repellents post in the comments form.

The best oil for repelling insects is Lavender. Variations can be Citronella and Virginian Cedarwood.

Or you could always resort to the very first herbal repellent, chewed TOBACCO!!

Dissolve 1/2 c. or more of baking soda in bath water to soothe skin irritations from sunburn, insect bites, poison ivy, and itchy rashes such as chicken pox or hives.

Make a paste with water and baking soda and rub insect bites to relieve itchiness.

As soon as possible after being bitten, moisten your skin and rub an aspirin tablet right over the bite. This helps control inflammation.

To prevent insect bites and actually repel them, take oral tablets of Thiamine Chloride. This B vitamin repels insects by being excreted through the skin.

To prevent bites, bathe in a very diluted solution of chlorine bleach before going out. Mix two capfuls of bleach in a tub of warm water. Soak in it for 15 minutes. This repellent should last several hours.

Certain bath oils, such as Alpha-Keri and Avon's Skin So Soft have a repellent effect as well.

Soothe insect bites by covering the area immediately with salt.

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Atlas Cedar repells insects.

Camphor White can be used as an insect repellent.

Cedarwood Virginia can be used in the wardrobe to repel moths.

Citronella is useful as an insect and cat repellent.

Clove could be an effective mosquito repellent.

Geranium repels insects.

Lavender repels insects.

Thyme can ward off rodents and get rid of fleas.

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Become Self Sufficient ~~ Start A Home Based Business!

There are tons of ways to make money at home. I used to make money by making and selling cloth diapers, I have done ebay, I make money writing, Blogging, and with other things online. It is not hard. Some of the stuff online is even free to start! Which is a real winner.

I have a blog where I post work at home ideas. There are a ton of them over on Work at Home Mom Blog. I have had that blog for about 4 years so if you look back through the archives you will find a ton of info. I have been looking back over it myself and am surprised at some of the great money making ideas.

I think that even if you have a "real" job, it is a good idea to have a back up plan for something else so that you will always have money coming in. With this bad economy , I would not start something that is too risky or has a huge start up cost.

Just check out some things and use skills that you already have. If you can sew - try something using that, can you knit, bake, make candles, chop wood, etc etc!!
Use your skills and you should do great!








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Keep FREE Antenna TV

I just seen a tv commercial on my free antenna tv about a Special Interest group that want to stop free antenna tv all together. I cannot believe this. We cut our cable off a few months ago and have been using the new free digital antenna tv and it is working great for us. We get to keep up on our local news, weather, sports, etc. Why in the world would someone want to cut that off??

I found an online petition ,Keep Antenna TV, that we all need to sign. I signed it already and hope that you pass it a long.

USEFUL LINK:

35 Ways to Watch TV without cable

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Back Online

I have been out of the loop for the last few months. I am now back online. It has been a hard few months and hopefully it will get better. All of the holidays and then bad winter weather has kept my hubby's truck driving down to the bare minimum. I cut out all of our bills that were things that we did not really need , like internet, and now things are starting to pick up a bit. I will be writing on this blog again. Download our free toolbar

Fuel for Emergencies....

Different types of fuels are very important when an emergency pops up. You need fuel for cooking, lighting, vehicles. Just make sure to store them all away from children and food.

A gallon of Coleman fuel should last about 40 hours. This is great for lighting.

Kerosene gas for lighting is easy to store and use.

Flashlights are a great light source too, but then you have to worry about batteries. That is why I have a solar powered battery charger and a few hand crank flashlights .

Candles are another great light source and should be stored up for emergency. I have also even learned to make my own candles.

A 2 burner gas camp stove is a great addition for cooking.

Learn how to make an emergecny tin (coffee) can stove. Use parriffin wax soaked tightly wound newspaper for the fuel.

I also have some charcoal stored up and a grill to use for cooking if I need to use it. You can make a lot of stuff on a grill - even bake bread.

Learn how to make newspaper logs for heat. They can replace wood if you need them to in your wood burning stove in an emergecny.

Make Oatmeal Milk

I love oatmeal! It is so cheap and filling. I always buy tons of it and do a lot of baking with it and eating it. My whole family loves it. So when I got my new issue of Country side magazine the other day in the mail , I just freaked when I seen a thing written about how to make milk out of oatmeal. So I decided to try it out. I love soy milk , since I am allergic to milk, so this seemed great for me. I made some oatmeal milk!! Put a cup of oatmeal in a blender, add water to within an inch of top and blend for a minute, then put through a sieve. Great -- taste like soy milk. you can add flavor to it too, like vanilla. Great for baking and since milk can be expensive and I always have oatmeal on hand. This is perfect.
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Get In Shape + Back Up Energy Source?

I went to a few yard sales this past weekend. I did not really find anything , except an exercise bike. It is a pretty good one. I want to get into shape! But, my son was riding it last night during the football game and he all of a sudden stopped and said , " Hey this is so cool, if you needed to , you could use this make power!" I do not know why I never even thought of that. So , not only will we all be in great shape , but we might have a power source if we need it. I am going to study this and see how it would work and how it would need to be done. I know on The Colony reality show they made a washing machine out of a bike.

Here is some info on Google

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How To Survive The End Of The World

I am currently waiting on this book to arrive. I am always on the lookout for books to add to my collection and How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Timesseemed like it would be a great read. Especially since we are living in the most uncertain times ever. Everything just seems to be going down hill fast. It seems like we are never going to get back up. I am trying to get my home and family prepared for anything. It is hard work and a lot of work. But, with God's help , we can manage.


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A Second Car!

We are slowly getting our second car up and running. We bought a 2001 Chevy Lumina for just $600.00 - we knew for that price that it would need some work. So far we thought that it needed a new alternator , but after putting in a new one and the car still not holding a charge we tried a new battery , but that still was not. Guess what we found out -- It is just a switch in the lights that has a short so when you turn the lights off and think they are off , they are really on and running the battery down!! OMG. We are going to fix that this upcoming weekend and then we will have a great "new" car for backup. Plus for our 16 year old son to drive. His driver's test is in October.
It is always a good idea to have 2 vehicles. Download our free toolbar