Marching into Spring

Cincinnati didn’t have much winter weather this year!   Here, in mid-March, we are having record-breaking high temperatures in the 80s.  Unbelievable!  The Bradford Pear trees on my boulevard are blossoming.  The bushes and trees that border my back yard are leafing out, once again giving the impression that I am alone in the “woods”, as they block out the view of any houses beyond the trees (see the photo below).  The Forsythia bushes around my deck are blooming, and the bright yellow blossoms are a welcome sight and good eye candy.  Squirrels scamper along the cables beyond the deck, performing on the high wire.

Today, there was someone mowing across the street from me, but my grass isn’t long enough to mow yet.  The weather has been dry, and I lost 2 majestic pine trees in the last two years.  The lovely Dogwood tree in my front yard died the first winter I was here, and I haven’t replaced it yet.  I would love to put in some fruit trees… dark cherry and peach… but I am sure the squirrels and birds would eat the fruit before it ripens enough for me to pick.  It wasn’t warm enough in northern Minnesota to plant any fruit trees other than apple, and I had three varieties of apple trees in my back yard there. There are berry trees edging my back yard here, and we’ve only tasted the berries a time or two… otherwise, the birds and animals pick them clean. 

My children were all here this past weekend, and it was so hot we turned the air conditioner on.  By Monday, it had stopped cooling and I had to call a repairman (thank goodness for home warranty insurance!).  He "hotwired" it to work, but had to order a new circuit board.  Without the air conditioning, our allergies were having a hay-day!  Now, it's nice and cool again, and the air is allergen-free.   

This is the season for allergies and colds to flare up.  I have atomizers in my bathrooms, and fill them with Thieve’s Blend Essential Oil, especially when I have company coming.  If I feel a scratchy throat heralding a cold, I tuck a tissue with a few drops of the oil into my shirt, so I am inhaling it all day, and it usually wards off the cold.  Herbal legend tells us that robbers looted homes during the Black Plague, and the blend of essential oils prevented them from contracting the disease, hence the name “Thieve’s Blend”. Here is the “recipe” I use.  I use the dropper in the oil to measure each one.  I don’t count out drops, but fill the dropper about ¾ full, so the balance between all oils is roughly accurate.

Thieve’s Blend Essential Oil: 

18 droppers Clove essential oil
9 droppers Lemon essential oil

9 droppers Cinnamon Leaf essential oil

5 droppers Eucalyptus essential oil

5 droppers Rosemary essential oil

Combine in 1 oz. bottle. NOTE: NEVER use the essential oils directly on your skin.

Another natural remedy that is available to everyone is Garlic.  We use fresh minced Garlic on our salads daily, as well as in many of our foods. We love the flavor fresh Garlic adds, so it's easy for us to include in our daily diet.  Garlic supplements are available over-the-counter, if you prefer to take it in that form.  My younger sister told me that people mentioned to her that she smells like Garlic, and offered her breath mints!  She looked at the bottle of Garlic supplements that she was taking, and it was not odor-free, as she had thought.  So be aware that is available in odorless or regular form.  

I looked for a photo of some of the herbs in my garden in Minnesota, but didn't find any of the plants in this essential oil blend.  I did find a picture of the prettiest flower in my garden... granddaughter Madelyn, who loved to sit on the terrace and smell the flowers.  Now that lovely flower is blossoming into womanhood at 13, but I think she would still enjoy smelling the flowers.