Stevia notes

Wow Friday all ready, and I haven't posted since Wednesday! Shame on me the days are getting away from me.
I have been so physically exhausted this week, and I really do not know why. Well maybe it was getting the load of hay the other day, or planting and planting in the garden. But really just feeling more tired than I know I should be.
You know that feeling like each leg weighs 150 lbs?
I have about as much grace and reaction speed today as a turtle would on a brisk cold day, in the shade.
Not sure if I mentioned it previously, but about 4 years ago or so I planted a patch of Stevia.I thought the Stevia plants would be a nice addition in my tea mixes (I was right by the way, a touch of sweetness without adding sugar). I like to try perennials that have medicinal qualities, and if they do well ... let them grow. Mints, lemon balm, honeysuckle, roses, and soon Stevia, abound. All excellent ingredients for making tea. Rose hips for example are an excellent source of high levels of vitamin C.
That is why I am so happy to report that, even though last year I did not get the opportunity to "put my garden to bed" for the season, because of the October cancer diagnosis, the Stevia, and numerous newly formed off shoots, have made it back for 2010 quite robustly.
This is an exceptionally good sign that it will handle the southern climate here. I was a bit concerned last year, because in high summer heat I did end up making a little tent, so that the hottest part of the day the patch was shaded. They would wilt around 2-3 o'clock each day, then bounce back after the sun passed.
Stevia you may have noticed is big in current television commercials. Of course processed no doubt as has been done with regular sugar.
Stevia is a natural sweetener that originated from South America. The Guarani Indians of Paraguay have used it for hundreds of years, and like many other things we can grow and use in its natural state, stevia will go the patent and pill form route of many other good natural mother earth plants.
Make the Mighty dollar right Monsanto?
Well signing off for now, but will try to check in later:)

Natural Herbal Teas

Que Pasa all! Still been busy, had to go pick up a load of hay yesterday. I realized as we worked to load I am pathetically weak and out of shape. Can't wait until I am superwoman again lol.
Looking forward to sticking with the gardens today.
Speaking of garden, I am considering trying to go whole hog into marketing my natural herbal tea. I have large beds of mint, lemon balm, and stevia, as well as massive rose bushes, all of which are contributors to making my tea.
As a cancer survivor I can't say my tea saved me, of course the doctors had a lot to do with that...
but I can't help but wonder if my tea, and some of the other herbal concoctions helped my body make it through, as well as still helping me in my recovery stage.
Why do some people make it through cancer and some do not? Why do some respond quickly to treatments and others slowly or not at all?
I think eating well and choosing healthy foods has a lot to do with it. As you go through chemo and radiation like I did there are point where you want nothing to eat or drink, but whether you want to or not, you must.
Teas are very easy on the constitution, and can be a source of important hydration and vitamins. For example A lot of people do not know that ounce for ounce rose hips pack more of a vitamin C punch than an orange.
My Better Body blend forms its base around mint, which is known to be beneficial for calming your stomach and aiding digestion, and lemon balm. The two combining to create a nice lemony mint flavor. Then I add Stevia, a sweet leaf plant, very heavily pushed in the media today, that I began growing about 4 years ago. The Stevia truly is sweet enough that there is no need to add sugar at all. SO the tea is also calorie free, as well as caffeine free. For me now, post radiation treatments, the biggest bonus of the Stevia is that, even though my taste buds are not working, I can taste the Stevia sweetness. Next I add honeysuckle, both the blooms for incomparable sweetness and aroma as well as equal parts of the Jin Yin Hua, the unopened blooms prized in ancient Chinese medicine for the ability to reduce toxins in the body. Next are white clover blooms, which like honeysuckle are believed to help the body rid itself of toxins. White clover is claimed by many researchers to contain anti cancer agents as well. That is why I call this one Better Body Blend, because it helps your body cleanse itself of impurities. In the age we live in, a time when everything is processed, preserved and genetically modified, this may prove to be a very important aspect of health maintenance.
Well getting late, must get outside, if anyone out there has any recommendations on how to market my tea as a loose leaf product let me know:)

Been In The Garden Again

Wow!
Been so busy past two days I guess I wore myself out, I didn't realize I had not posted here since Friday.
I have all of my Harper and Marlee cucumbers planted outside. Fingers crossed, hoping they do well. There is only one small section of the garden left to clear that I plan to use, and one corner that is going to be staying fallow this year, and serving as my close compost pile for the season as well. Next project will be to get out the eggplants, squash and cantaloupes. The peppers and tomatoes are still far too small, and I believe I will try keeping my mescaline salad lettuce mix in the greenhouse this year and see how it does.
It is about noon, just came in so I am going to take a minute to relax, and go find something to eat.

Getting The Pool Ready : Tip for the Day

Hey it is almost the end of April, and here down south we are getting ready to open the pool soon. Anyone with a pool knows the work you have to put in, before you get in. Our pool is an in ground gunite pool, and we have been very satisfied with the quality and durability.
Tip today for all of you in ground pool folks to save filter cartridges, prolong lifetime and get a cleaner pool too.
At your overflow where the water flows in at the skimmer, most set ups will have a basket right there for catching larger stuff before it goes to the filter. Buy knee high pantyhose, in a size to fit snugly around your basket lip, and push the excess stocking down into basket. You would not believe how much more waste is caught here, we're talking grains of sand. My husband especially likes to have one in there when he is vacuuming, it catches all that bottom stuff without putting a strain on the motor with clogged filters.
So how did I come up with this brain storm idea? Well one year, as an experiment, masses of sterilized gnats were released; they were supposed to cut down on the gnat population the following year. Well I think most of them landed in my pool. Seriously for two days straight they came in black waves, and settled on the top of the water. The fiter catridges were needing cleaning every couple hours. I thought of it as a way to catch the bugs before the filter, and we have been using them ever since.
If you buy a box of 10 pairs of Leggs knee high panty hose you will be set for the season. They hold up rather well, better than you might think against the pool chemicals, and usually withstand at least 3-4 rinsings at filter cleaning times.
Spent the morning working on my permanent personal perennial tea beds. I Have Mint, Lemon balm, St. Johns Wort and Stevia, as well as an abundance of honeysuckle flowers. I am a bit pooped but perhaps I will get back on later.
Okay logging off for now.

What's Up Today

Well the day is pretty much shot now, so I probably will not get much done outside today.
I just got home a short time ago from the orthopedic doctor that I have to see because of radiation treatment effects to my neck. Really not as bad as it could have been from the way docs were talking, just a few bulging discs. I have to start physical therapy next week, for 4 weeks, and then another MRI to check and see where I'm at.
I have a choice of finding a facility closer to home to do the therapy, so I will probably be looking in Lagrange, that will be so much better than the almost 2 hour daily drive we have been making to Atlanta for treatments.
I will say this though; the doctors, the care I received at Winship Cancer Center, and the results that we achieved as a team were priceless, and worth every single mile we traveled. The Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University is Georgia's first and only cancer center designated by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). I would recommend everyone do your research, and get a second opinion.
When I was first diagnosed with cancer, by the local ENT, and still trying to absorb the information that I had cancer, I did not like the idea that without even an oncologists opinion my primary Dr. and the ENT had set me up for radiation treatments, and decided that would be all I would need.
After speaking with a number of facilities, such as Cancer Treatment Centers of America, we chose Winship.
Further exploratory surgery and additional scans by the oncologist at Emory Winship University revealed the cancer to actually be stage IV B, Not the stage 2 initially diagnosed.
The tumor had a tail that traveled down and around my windpipe, and crossed into various layers of tissue and muscle, as well as lymph nodes in my neck. This was why I had to do chemo and radiation at the same time.
But here I am alive and kicking so stage IV is NOT a death sentence. The photo to the left is a PET scan image of my throat, (The two things on the sides are my armpits) the glowing orange area was the cancer.

Getting the Garden Ready-Tip Today

Whew! I have just come in from working in the garden. It's good to get out and get exercise no matter how tired, sore or crabby you may be when you are regaining your health, just don't overdue. The picture is one I sent to my granddaughters. It is me with the cucumbers grown from the seeds my granddaughters and I started in the green house when they visited last:) Soon they will go outside with most everything else.
I set myself a goal for getting the garden ready this year. Each day, when the weather is cooperative (And there are no doctor appointments in Atlanta, like there is tomorrow) I determined that I would clear and ready one 4 x 6 square at a time. It started out slow at first, and seemed like I was never going to feel like I accomplished anything, but little by little I am winning.

The main garden area, which is approximately a half acre plot is now 3/4 of the way done. Hurray!
Anyone who gardens knows that wildlife, namely deer can decimate your dreams of fresh fruits and veggies overnight. It took a variety of attempts without going electric, or 8 feet high with the fence,to effectively barricade against the deer where I live here in the boonies.
An old man in his 90's told me a deer will only jump what it can touch with it's nose. So I put up a double fence. The first perimeter fence is made up of standard 5 foot h. x 16 ft. L. round pen rails; set in approximately 3 feet from that is regular garden variety green square wire fence, 4 ft. tall. The deer cannot touch the inner fence with their nose, ergo the man must have been right, they have left my patch alone for years now. I wish I could say the same for my apple and pear trees scattered across the property.
I have a couple of other smaller raised garden beds as well, I plant various squash varieties in these, mainly yellow. I have found that the deer do not bother with the squash, the leaves and vines are too prickly.
Okay, logging off for now:)

I Am Not Defined by My Cancer

Many experts state that a blog is supposed to have a focus, a sharing of specific knowledge.
I am a cancer survivor, and like many others I know deep in my inner recesses, where I hide it away, that I will always have the shadow of cancer returning at any time looming over me. This is an aspect of my life that I would like to share experiences about. What did it feel like when I heard the news I had cancer? What was it like going through chemotherapy and radiation treatments? What was the hardest? What helped me through it that might help someone else? I am working on a book right now detailing these issues, it is called You Can is Part of Your Cancer Diagnosis. So yes cancer related issues will be a popular topic here.
All of my life I have had difficulties fitting into prepared boxes, so my blog should be true to me, and reflect this. While I would like to share tips and inspire other cancer patients, I would not want my life to be defined by this one aspect.
Every day is a new day, and one never knows what I may feel like relaying on any given day.
In the course of recovery I have ups an downs, good and bad days so my mood will no doubt play a role in the daily tone. Did I over due it in the garden today, and I regret it now? Am I frustrated because I have not had enough energy to go riding on my fireball quarter horse Jake yet? Am I satisfied because the plants are doing well going from the greenhouse to the outside garden? Did I stop and smell the roses (Currently the lilacs and wisteria are in bloom here, I LOVE lilacs)? I may write on any of these topics. I may reflect on something as simple, yet as beautiful as a spider web strung with jewels made of morning dew. I may be irritated, infuriated, saddened or elated by transpiring current events or trends. I may get good or bad news at any time during my follow up care appointments. I may even wax poetic occasionally. So you see the focus, if there must be one, is broad; the focus is life.
While I am limited physically in what I am able to do, and accomplish, and working from home as a research writer, I therefore am not getting out in the world much, except for doctors appointments, it would be nice to be able to interact with others.

So anyway as I was saying yesterday I am recovering from cancer,
and for anyone else out there engaged in this ultimate battle for survival I hope that I am able at some point in my postings to inform, bring a smile to your face, or offer a ray of hope... Some of us do make it through to the other side.
For me it was a long road just getting to diagnosis. Anyone else out there ever feel like doctors today just don't listen?
They want to fit you into a box so they can offer you the latest wonder drug they're still testing. Three years of being treated like a hypochondriac and offered enough antidepressants over that time period to fill at least three large medicine chest to overflowing. All of which I insisted I did not need, as I was not depressed, I liked my life and myself. The medications in many ways made me feel worse, prompted additional symptoms, and had nothing to do with treating my medical condition. After all that it was simply losing my voice for two weeks that led to the discovery of the cancer, which was by this time at stage IV.
I intend to create future posts, as the mood hits, me regarding topics close to my heart, or discovered tid bits I come across worth sharing. As a research writer for a major freelance company I often read very interesting information.
I am interested in nature, natural major events, and the taboo topic of weather control and chemtrails. I am an avid anti GMO, old school gardener with multiple beds and a greenhouse, and I raise chickens, ducks, horses, dogs, pigs (in the freezer now) etc... so sustainability, and general interest small hobby farm rantings may randomly pop in here as well.
I am for the Underdog, equality and harmony.

After Cancer Treatment; PEG Tube Removal

So besides starting my first blog I had another first today: I had my PEG Tube, which is AKA as A percutaneous endoscopic gastronomy tube, removed from where it has been implanted in my belly since November last year.
I am recovering from throat cancer, and I definitely used the thing, but it's about summer and I was ready for it to be gone.
The Dr. didn't agree it should come out yet, and said the nurse never should have made the appointment without checking with him first. I'll tell you what after waiting over two hours to be seen, after looking forward to losing this PEG tube as a high point for the past week, I was not leaving with it still in. Long story short, he wanted me to sign an agreement that taking it out was against medical advice release, and I got what I wanted. OUCH, Hurray, OUCH, or as Charlie Sheen would say "Holy Mother of God!!!".
I researched getting it out, and it seemed like it would be no big deal. The majority of the sites explained it was just a matter of deflating the little balloon situated inside my belly, and the tube will pull right out. I did wonder why a couple of the sites that showed up in the google search mentioned IV sedation for pain management though. No Problem.
Yes well Problem, Mine did not have a deflatable balloon, only a solid collar the Dr. said. He also said it was going to hurt real bad. He was right! He held one hand against my abdomen, and with the other YANKED a golf ball size piece of rubber out through a hole in my belly smaller than a pencil. Ouch.Ouch. Ouch is all I can say. It was like being shot in the stomach from the inside out.
All taped up now, not supposed to open it to look till tomorrow when I am to change the bandage.

LOL my husband reminded me, I forgot to mention that when I was insisting to the Doctor that I wanted it out, I was also looking around the room for a pair of scissors, I said I was going to cut the end off, and then he would have to take it out.

First Ever Blog

I am a down to earth, everyday Joe sort of person. I am a mother of four, as well as a grandmother now. Hard to believe my oldest in his thirties now. Seems like just yesterday I was impressed that they had aged to double digits. LOL the grandchildren are nearing the decade mark now.
On my little hobby farm here, where I garden and care for my Horses Jake and Earnie, and the chickens and my hubby I am in the process of recovering from cancer. Last week I had my first clean PET scan. Yipy ki yi a!
I love writing, I know I have a couple of bestsellers in me, and someday I am going to break through the media lockdown that has such a tight grip on every corner of every market and get some of my work really published.
As far as social utilities, no I do not tweet; I do have a Myspace, and Facebook accounts, but I have never blogged before. This is my first post, more to follow tomorrow:)