I LUV My Neti Do YOU???

Does this picture make you yearn for spring?

How about this second picture? Does it make you salivate for summer?

Doesn't this dog look like he is having a great time??? Don't you want to join him in that lovely field of flowers???

Or do these pictures make you want to run for cover and wear a mask?

Do your sinuses ache and make you run for your tissues, inhalers and pills?

All my life, with the changing of the seasons, specifically spring & fall, I had sinus problems.

When the pollen flies and the mold grows, my life becomes miserable. Post nasal drip causes a hacking cough which worsens and makes people around me back away quickly.

My mom accused me of smoking when I was in school during these times because my cough sounded like a hacking smoker's cough.

BTW, I didn't smoke--never have--don't intend to begin now! I can't even begin to imagine how bad my sinus problems would have been if I had started smoking!!!!! Yikes!

In the past I have used antihistamines which made me sleepy, allergy medicines which alternately made me sleepy or jumpy, newer allergy meds like Claritin D and Flonase which helped a lot--for a time.

Like all medications, it seems that these meds had a tendency to be less effective as time went by.

I also had misgivings about taking steroids over long periods of time.

However, without these meds, I hacked so badly that I eventually had to go to the Doctor to get either antibiotics, cough syrup with codeine or both after secondary infections took over. Sleep was elusive as everytime I lay my weary head down, I ended up racked with coughing spasms.

In spring, 2009 while in Florida, NY I met a guy named Mark. It was our turn to run the audio and visual equipment that day at the Warwick Valley Church of the Nazarene where we were attending while in the area.

After hacking for weeks upon weeks, I was sucking down cough drops like candy and trying not to hack on poor Mark. As I always tell people, I told Mark not to worry, it is allergies.

Mark shared with me how he has allergies and was miserable. He tried many medications and all eventually let him down. Then he found a Neti Pot.

He said that once he found that, he was able to discontinue the use of all of his allergy meds except for very rare occasions.

Tell me more!!!!

He said that he uses his Neti Pot daily and after he has been in dusty places or right after mowing the grass when he jumps in the shower. He uses his Neti even in the shower!

Okay, so I had to learn more about this miracle! I went online and googled neti pot. I found everything from pots for sale to videos of people using the pots. Looked harmless enough.

I went and found a Neti Pot at the local CVS pharmacy. It looks like this one. Kind of like a little aladin's lamp. Though no jeannie jumps out of this one--it sure did grant my wish!

They come in many shapes and types. They can be made out of everything from plastic to china and stainless steel to copper. The designs can be varied, but they all work the same way.

Put warm saline in the pot, put it in one nostril and let it run out the other nostril.

Sounds creepy huh?

Actually, it is so soothing when you are finished that you just can't wait until you can neti again! My sinuses felt so fresh and clean and I could BREATHE!!!!

My Neti came with little packets to mix with warm water (NOT TAP and definitely NOT WELL water!!!!) If I still lived in a house on city water, I would use a water filter on my tap and just use that water.

However, I live in a 5th wheel, so I am usually on well water. Not wishing to start a flora factory in my sinuses, I just use drinking water that I get in gallon jugs from Wal-Mart.

My little pot holds about 1 cup of water, so I fill my 2 cup measuring cup with bottled water, pop it in the microwave for about 55 seconds and check it to be sure it isn't hot--you just want body temp. If the water is too cold, it will feel like when you get water up your nose when swimming.

I started by mixing 1 packet of powder into the 2 cups of water. You can go up to 1 packet per cup of water but all of the sites that I read said to start with half a packet per cup to let your delicate tissues in the sinuses get accustomed to the saline solution.

You can also mix up your own saline solution using 8 oz warm water and 1/4 tsp non-iodized salt. Mix until the salt is dissolved and go for it!

I put one pot through each nostril and then snort like a bull!

I couldn't believe it, but by using my neti I sleep better because I can actually breathe through my nose! I can smell better and because of that, food tastes better! Okay, maybe there ARE some downsides--like to my diet!!!! ;-D

Soon after I began using the neti, my cough resolved itself. No hacking, no cough drops, no cough medicine needed! Yeah!!!!

Once the spring season was over in New York, there are really very few allergens, so I eased off of my flonase first and then the Claritin-D. All was good!

Then, we moved the camper to Missouri about 45 miles east of Columbia Missouri. There are PLENTY of allergens in Missouri! But, with my neti pot, I sailed right through the summer and fall--even my winter allergies didn't become an issue once we closed up the 5th wheel windows and buttoned in for the winter!

I mean this thing is a miracle.

My friend Kathy owns the Kan-Do Kampground in which we are living. She was sharing how her allergies were making her miserable and I shared my info on the Neti Pot.

She said to me "you too???" I apparently was not the first to utter those words in her ears. Finally, after she was miserable enough and heard me say the words enough, she broke down and said, "okay, get one! I am so miserable I will try ANYTHING!!!!"

She didn't have to say it twice. I went to Walgreens at the first opportunity and found the little pot version like this one. Isn't it cute????

She is now a convert and loves her neti--she even uses hers in the back yard!!!! I confess that I have never tried mine in the great out of doors, but what the heck! I just might!

She was able to cut down on her allergy meds and even her inhalers for asthma.

She then passed the neti info to her daughter whose son inherited grandma's allergies and asthma.

Her daughter purchased one and used it on Gavin who is 6 years old. She was amazed at what came out of the little guy's sinuses! Since then, Gavin is also breathing easier and able to cut back on his meds!!!! They also used it on him when he got upper respiratory infection--what I like to call the creeping crud--and he didn't even miss a day of school!!!!

One day while on the phone with her daughter, Kathy reported that Gavin quickly said hi to grandma, but had to go because mommy had a cold and he "was making mommy a neti!"

One of Kathy's other children asked what in the world will you be doing next--candleing your ears???? Their kids missed a week of school with the creeping crud...

Oh and yeah--we actually have decided to try the ear candles. When we get to Weavers--an Amish store just west of Jefferson City where we can buy them. After the snow melts--if it ever does!!!

Snowmageddon Twenty Eleven

Here in the Snow-me State, we got Snowmageddon twenty eleven.

It was certainly broadcast well in advance and we were quite prepared--well kind of. I mean how many times have the forecasters said it was going to be a huge snow only to have just a dusting.

Of course, there are the times they say it will be a flurry and we get a foot!!!! I have always laughingly said that I worry most about the times that the weatherperson says flurries.

This time, the weatherpeople had it right--nearly to the minute!

I had my water, I had my propane all filled. I filled up my Durango and backed it up to my 5th wheel so I could hook up to it to run the heater fans if the electricity went out for more than 3 days. I had candles, batteries, flashlights--my phone was charged, my MP3 player was charged and filled with books to which I could listen. I had my blankets ready and I had my 3 dogs and one cat to keep me warm. Okay mother nature--do it if you must!!!

And she did! It made me feel like I was in the old Parkay commercial where Mother Nature raises her arms and yells "It's not NICE to fool Mother Nature" and lightning strikes and winds howl...

It started off fairly slowly, but soon, the flakes began to get larger and larger.

In short order, the wind decided to get in on the act and we had white out conditions!

The ring around the tree is my little flower garden. It is about 10 inches high. It gives a good guage of how things went.

It affected many states. It affected many families.

My sister-in-law works in a hospital ICU. She was forced to spend the night at work. Nothing like staying in a hospital!

Through this tree limb, you should be able to see the large sign for Kan-Do Kampground. Uh-no said Mother Nature!

My niece works in another hospital down in St. Louis (a good 50-60 miles one way from here). She also had to stay at work--2 nights before she could get home and her relief workers could get in to work.

My nephew works at yet another hospital in Jefferson City--He was also caught.

This picture shows the view towards the lake and service road--which could not be seen during the snow.

My brother has a trucking company. No loads all week! First the weather was so bad that he could not be on the roads and then the warehouse lot had so much snow that it could not be cleared out.

What a time! The newscasters couldn't go anywhere and being near a major university (Mizzou) with a major publications program, the young broadcasters had some fun and did a special video to Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice.

You can see that my garden disappeared.

We had a little over 20 inches on top of our previous several inches.

I-70 was closed from KC to St. Louis. The first time EVER that it was closed all the way across the state!!!!

The picnic table had a nice layer on it too!

The Durango was getting buried and was a joy to get out when I went to pick up Jim a few days later!

Tank is a really good snow plow for the little dogs though!

Even so, poor little Tango didn't realize the last step was not the ground and went face first into the snow!!!!

Oh, and the weatherman says this is an El Nino year, which is typically mild. Also typical, the 2-3 years AFTER an El Nino year are WORSE!!!!

Thank goodness for Global Warming!!!!

Cabin Fever!!!

In speaking on the phone with mom yesterday in the midst of Snowmageddon, I mentioned to her that I had cabin fever. She seemed surprised and expressed that she is just fine staying inside. I too, can come up with a lot of things to do inside. I am currently working on a quilt made from t-shirts. These reminders of places lived, places visited and other life milestones of our lives make me smile as I cut out the logos while saving them for the time when I have enough to make a king sized quilt. Of course, the t-shirts that I have yet to cut are in a bag under the camper--currently under much snow. I also enjoy scrapbooking and have recently embarked on computer scrapbooking. This combines all of the cute embellishments of paper scrapbooking with the convenience of the computer. Items are layered and stacked while adding shadows for the 3-D effect of paper, but without the need to take up valuable real estate in the camper to store the supplies needed. The page is then printed onto acid free paper or just kept in a "virtual scrapbook", but to me it gives the same feeling of accomplishment. Does this mean that I will scrap the scrapbooking supplies that I currently own? NO WAY!!!!!!! Nothing says you have to do one or the other. I intend to use the supplies that I have, but use them sparingly along with the computer imaging. I have also found that I really enjoy making my own embellishments. This is accomplished with my Paint Shop Pro X3. Just scan an item and remove the background, saving as a .png file and you have future embellishments. And that brings me to another great part of computer scrapbooking--you can use the design over and over again. It isn't used up and you don't have to find a place to keep 10 of one item. I LOVE that in the camper!!!! Any space saving device is really wonderful!!!! Aside from that I have the dogs, the TV with 250 channels (amazing that with that many channels it can often be difficult to find something to watch!!!!), the computer with wi-fi connecting me to friends far and near, a Durango that will go through this snow like butter if last year's 42 inches was any indication, several books waiting for me to crack them open, my camera to take pictures and enjoy them. Heck, I could even break down and clean! I could go on and on. What I really meant by Cabin Fever was not the lack of ability to leave my "cabin" but the lack of ability to ENJOY leaving my nest in frigid, windy sub-zero temps! I get the same way when it is 100 degrees in the summer--even though I enjoy swimming. Getting to the pool when it is hot and humid is just no fun, so I feel cooped up then as well! Nothing is keeping me indoors except the ability to enjoy the freedom of nature when she is a lovely friendly 50 at night and 70-80 in the day. Those halcyon days when one can throw open the curtains, rip off the insulating plastic over the windows, take the dogs for a walk and then sit outside enjoying my morning cup of coffee and lay in the hammock in the evening enjoying the twitter of birds and the scurrying of little animals going about their missions. Thankfully, our favorite prognosticator of spring, Punxsutawney Phil, did not see his shadow this morning--so no new groundhog fur coat this year!!! Spring is on it's way!!! Phil said so...

Nesting...

So, Christmas is over and Missouri is being revolting--at least the weather is. Today for instance, it is freezing with an inch of freezing rain and 12 inches of snow coming on top of that within the next couple of days. This is on top of the several inches that have yet to melt off from the other million snows this year. Will we ever see the ground again????

With snow and ice covering the ground and cabin fever setting in in a big way, I have been anxious for a change of scenery. This happens most years about this time. Everything outside is cold and inside is just the same old thing.

For some time now, I have been trying to decide what I can do with my coffee cups. They currently reside on the lazy susan in the corner above the sink. It is a stretch for me to reach them each morning and besides, I have no decor on the backsplash above the cabinet.

While baking cookies with my friend Kathy, who owns the campground, I noticed her mug rack. You can see it in this picture to her left. (Just ignore her cute dogs trying to get her to share our baking with them!)

Her Mug Rack is made from a piece of fencing board painted black and fitted with mug hooks. Very simple and it works well for her.

This gave me the idea for a mug rack of my own. I thought a piece of ceiling tile with wood behind it would be a good choice for me. Just add hooks and Voila!

We headed out to some of the second hand shops around--and let me tell you there are a LOT for such a small town!

Kathy has an eagle eye and kept pointing out tin tiles. Each one was just a little off for my taste.

In one shop, I found a bunch of metal signs. They were not old and they were not expensive. There was the Wizard of Oz (appropriate for Kansas), Route 66 (why not since we are in a camper), various coca-cola signs etc.

Then, while shopping at the local Alco, I found a wooden folk art flag made of wooden strips. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was just what I needed.

I brought it home and screwed in cup hooks, hung it on the backsplash and I had a really cool mug rack that fit me perfectly!

I remembered that I had some of the metal barn stars that had hooks on them as well, so I hung those by the flag.

This made me smile every morning when I came out to make my coffee.

You can see the mug on the left from OCC (Orange County Choppers) and the two black and green mugs have 88 on them for Dale Jr. (we kind of follow him in NASCAR--hehe) and my white mugs trimmed in red that go with my set.

I am sure that as we travel, we will add more mugs.

Then, I started thinking about the rustic flag and stars and contrasting those with the traditional wall border. This border is in shades of hunter and seafoam green, burgundy and desert rose on an ivory background. While it doesn't make me go ick, it doesn't really endear itself to me either.

The other day, Kathy and I escaped to Columbia, MO and the Menard's store. She to find campground supplies and me to find a border that I thought I remembered seeing.

Sure enough, I found the border that just made it all complete.

Last night I had the pleasure of removing border that was adhered well. I don't know what Nu-Mar uses to adhere the border, but it is sure not meant to come back off!

Lacking a paper tiger, I tried scraping the paper off. I tried peeling, I tried adhesive remover, I tried hot water--it was really slow going!

I scratched the paper and recalling that vinegar takes off wallpaper, I sprayed it with Windex Vinegar glass cleaner to loosen the paper. It took 3 layers of scrubbing and scraping to get it all off, but it was finally off.

Now the new paper is up and I think it is really me. What do you think?

ICE ICE BABY--TOO COLD!!!!

I woke up the other morning when Tank, my 160 lb mastiff mix was trying to snuggle under the covers of the bed.

Now, it isn't unusual for the pugs to snuggle under the covers--nor is it unusual for Tank to sleep on the bed. It IS unusual for Tank to try to snuggle or get under the covers.

I quickly noticed that it really seemed cold in the 5th wheel. I like a cold room of 60-62 degrees--even 50 degrees is okay--for sleeping, but this was really COLD!

I hopped out of bed and headed for the living/kitchen where I noted that only cold air was coming out of the vents--EEEEEEKKKKK!!!!!! And, the air temp was a crisp 44 degrees! I thought, well darn, the heater must have malfunctioned. It doesn't happen often, but sometimes when the propane switches from the empty tank to a full tank, there is air in the lines and the furnace doesn't fire.

I threw on some warmer clothing and headed out of the coach to check the propane--EMPTY!!! BOTH of my 100lb tanks were empty! I have two so that when one is empty I have time to get it filled and back online before the second one is empty. Well Old Timers must have gotten to me because they were both definitely empty.

Being quite early, Drew (or He Who fills the propane at the campground) was still asleep and I am not one to interrupt someone's beauty sleep unless absolutely necessary, so I grabbed my wrench and unscrewed a 100 lb tank and connected one of my 40 lb onboard tanks to get some heat going.

I ran back into the coach to feel blessed heat coming out of the vents. Rubbing my hands and blowing to warm them, I also turned on the electric space heater. I rarely use the electric space heater as we get our electric included in our lot rent and I hate to run the bill up for the owners as that cost will surely be passed along to everyone camping here at some point as the owners are not running a non-profit campground (or in this case Kampground) for their utter amusement and enjoyment. This is how they eat and they must make a profit. All they ask is that we utilize the resources here as we would if it was our own home.

I quickly decided that were this my own home, the space heater would most assuredly be in use!

Soon, I was shedding heavy clothing as the coach warmed up to a toasty, normal 65 degrees and all was well. He who fills the propane filled the two 100 lb tanks and one of my 40 lb onboard tanks and returned them to me. All was well.

All the while, the Vanilla Ice song was running through my mind. Why? Am I a hip-hopper all of a sudden? Am I going through some sort of a second teenagehood--in the hood?

No--I was recently cruising through the channels and came upon the DIY program Vanilla Ice Project. What the heck, I thought, why not give it a try. I like programs about flipping houses and such and what is better than watching a burned out rapper/hip hopper flop--uh--flip?

I began watching and realized that this guy actually knew what he was doing! I also thought I saw something else that intrigued me...

I made Jim watch the beginning video of the show (he really HATES DIY shows, shows that are centered around tools, anything about fixing homes, cars or anything else!). He asked why I was torturing him and I just said watch!

He started getting really into the video and then said what I had been thinking--that looks like James! Our son! I didn't give him a hint of what I was seeing, I just wanted to see if I was crazy because Jim and I often see people very differently. Not this time! We both saw our James--uh sans the body art which thankfully James has not delved into! Now everytime Jim sees me watching Vanilla Ice Project, he just says--You're just watching because you miss James! Yep--probably. But, the show is okay too.

So, those of you who know James, have a look at these photos (of course Rob Van Winkle, AKA Vanilla Ice is 42 and James is 28) and see what you think!

There's No Place Like Home For The Holidays...

For those of you who don't know where we are--since I haven't kept up with my blog of late--we are in Missouri at Kan-Do Kampground in Danville, MO. We have been here since late June of 2010.

We came through on our way to Kansas from Florida, NY for Dr appointments and to see the family over the Memorial Day weekend in May.

Dad had an accident on Memorial Day about 9 miles from home. As it turned out, he had fallen asleep twice and on the third time (in just 9 miles!) he went off of highway 70 crossing an entrance ramp in the process. It was not the first of the incidents he had in the past few years in his vehicle, but it was the last. It was time to take care of dad and mom and all the other drivers on the road and be thankful that he was not seriously injured and neither was anyone else.

Tom and Nina live next door to mom and dad and had been helping them as they needed it, but now, with Dr appointments and other needs and no car, their needs were more than Tom and Nina could handle.

In the big picture of life, some things become clear over time and this was one of those times. Having sold our house and living in our 5th wheel, it allowed Jim and myself to make the decision to move the camper to Missouri so mom and dad would have someone to drive them where they needed to go. If we weren't living in the camper, we would not have been free to move to MO so quickly.

So, arrangements made, we pulled in and here we are--back where we started from in 2009 at Kan-Do Kampground!

During the summer, Kathy was working on updates around the campground. They have worked on infrastructure since purchasing the campground and 2010 was the year to concentrate on the "pretty" stuff. Among that was frogs--everywhere! Kathy loves the frogs--"it's all about the frog" is her mantra. It started in her gardens, was added to the entrance sign, appeared on the Site of the Month sign, morphed into a birthday frog who shows up at sites of birthday folks for a party, became numbers for all of the sites and even came to the doors of the bathrooms! This frog really gets around! (more on the frogs later--really!)

So, in mid summer, the campground sign got a facelift to Kiwi (frog green) with black lettering. Man can you see the sign now! GREAT JOB Kathy and Drew! Wait! Where is Drew? THERE he is--on the other side of the sign talking to Dane and Dave (two of the long-term campers!) Don't you just LOVE the color????

So, why all this background talk of frogs, you ask? Well, as with last year, Jim and I decided that we would get an ornament that speaks to where we are each Christmas.

Not wanting to be "normal", we wanted to find things that meant something to us.

Last year (in New York) was the Dunkin Donuts Snowman because there is a Dunkin Donuts on every block in New York! (and I found I really LOVE their coffee!!!!) It was a close race between the Swaravsky crystal ornament that looks like the one on the top of the tree in Rockefeller Center and the snowman. The snowman won because he was a part of our daily lives.

THIS YEAR, being near St. Louis, you might think I would choose the Arch--but, the frog is a part of our daily lives here, so I went in search of a frog ornament. I looked high and low. I even checked out the Bass Pro Shops website for a frog fishing lure!

I watched the campground for Drew and Kathy while they visited their kids and grandkids in Minnesota for Thanksgiving and when they returned, Kathy had my birthday present!

Yep--a frog ornament!

She found it in Minnesota while shopping with her daughter! Isn't he a cutie???? So happy and ready for a Christmas party!

He is front and center on the Christmas tree this year--and to his right is the snowman.

You can barely see on the right side of the picture behind the bone with Frank the Pug's picture is our TSO ornament. We went to TransSyberian Orchestra concert in 2006 in Wichita, KS with Tom, Nina and their kids. It was an awesome show and if you get the chance--definitely worth the price of admission!

Each and every one of the ornaments on the tree have special meaning to us, from the snowflake crocheted by my mom to the red bird from Jim's mom to the NASCAR #88 ornaments and the dog bones with the pictures of our 3 dogs.

Above the tree are some snowmen. I sure hope that these are the only snowmen we see or have the "snow" for this year!

On the other side of the coach is the slide. I used the opening for a wooden cranberry string along with rusted metal star garland.

In the middle is a larger rusted metal star ornament and a woodland sign that welcomes and invites all to rest their Christmas Hearts here!

Anchoring the left side of the garland are the dog's Christmas stockings.

We have our black lab (originally for Bo, but now Tank claims it) and the Fawn Pug for Frank. I have not found a black pug stocking for Tango, so he has to share with his pug brother. He says he doesn't care as along as Santa Paws knows to leave two of everything in that stocking!

At the top of the stockings is a tiny #88 stocking. It isn't really for anyone, but just our love of NASCAR. :) Love us, love our driver!

On the right side is a Christmas stocking that I made years ago. It is made from some of the ribbons taken from the floral arrangements of my Grandpa Long. Pop Pop (As he was called) used to give me Kennedy half dollars for Christmas. I still have them!

My Grandma Long (Dad's mom) saved the ribbons from the arrangements in a shoebox with a label stating where the ribbon originated. It seemed a shame to keep the beautiful satin hidden, so I asked for and received some gold and red ribbon which I made into a patchwork pattern, stitched with green thread. Green Crochet stitching holds the stocking together and makes the little loop to hang it. Yes, I did the Crochet as well. Some of you have seen and even own some of my crochet projects--some of you will find this surprising. Well, SURPRISE! hehe!

So at this time of Christ's birth, I wish you a warm Christmas with many happy times that you can look back on and smile! Merry Christmas from our home to yours!