Flu Update

We are on our 6th day of type A flu. Everyone had high fevers, but Ravi and Priya have started to feel better, and even eat, while Lakshmi didn't make it out of the 24 hour period between yesterday and today without developing a new high fever. She was by far the worst hit. I also started with the flu yesterday. I could feel it coming on so I started fortifying myself with water and some light food to try and keep up my energy. So far it has worked, but I believe I have a milder form of the flu. I had to give Lakshmi some more fever reducer a few minutes ago as her fever hasn't come down like it should. I'm going to keep a log of her liquid and food intake tomarrow, in addition to her fever/meds that I have already kept. Hoping she shows a marked difference today/Tuesday.

Jyotsna

Sisters...

Update on the flu:

Everyone is slightly better. Yea! Ravi and Priya both ate/drank some soup that I made, and a few peices of toast. Lakshmi ate a cracker and drank some of the soup stock. She didn't want to eat, even though she first told me she did. I offered her a popsicle and she didn't want that either.

I just visited the blog of a woman who is married to an Indian. They had twin boys, and these boys are so cute. It reminded me of when the girls were little, and I felt like posting some photos of them. I remember Lakshmi's infancy and both the girls toddler-hood, and I really miss it at times. But I am having alot of fun with them at this age too, and so who can make time stand still??? Not me, but I wish it sometimes.

Sustainable Gardening, In Your Backyard!

Sustainable gardening, in your backyard.

I thoroughly enjoyed this video of a woman who decided she was going to see how much food she could produce in her back yard, having never really done anything like that. She attended a workshop hosted by Northwestern University. As a result,
she helped create a series of workshops of the likes of:

Voluntary Simplicity
Choices for Sustainable Living
Prosepctives on the Global Economy
and many more.

This personal challenge had to do with seeing how much food she could grow
in her backyard, and how the food could help her neighbors. She has a beautiful garden, chickens, a very cool rainwater catchment system and worms. Yes, worms.

I have to say that this really inspired me, just has she had planned to do!

Jyotsna

The Flu at our house....

The above image is what the influenza type A cells look like. That is what's attacking my children right now. I hate those cells.

The Flu (or influenza) is running it's course in our house. Lakshmi woke up Wednesday night with a high fever (103.4 I think) and feeling very bad. She came to my room and slept with me for the rest of the night.

Thursday she had a fever on and off all day, but she played inside quietly, slept on her bed sometimes and nibbled on food. Last night (Thursday night) she woke up in the middle of the night crying and disoriented, and I checked her fever. It was 104.2 and rising. I had just given her Tylenol about 3 1/2 hours before, and she was already having another high fever. I called my mom and woke her up at 3:15am and asked her what I should do, and we talked about the fact that her fever was coming up before her meds had worn off, and then Lakshmi cryed again and said she had a headache. I decided that we needed to get some help.

I took her to the ER where they got her fever down a bit. They also tested her for the flu and strep, since she had both symptoms. The test came back positive for type A flu. There is nothing that can be done for type A flu, but to keep her fever down, and keep her hydrated. The strep came back negative fortunately.

She has thrown up several times through this, and I feel so very bad for her. She completely soiled her sheets and blankets this evening, while throwing up her medicine. I used a small amount of ice in a soak, at her forehead, neck and her wrist, and I got her fever down to 103, but she still refused to take more fever reducer. She slept for 2 hours, fitfully, and finally woke up. She was thirsty and I gave her some gatoraid mix with water, which she drank. Then I explained to her gently if she couldn't keep her medicine down, I'd have to try suppositories. She was like, "Absolutely not!". LOL She sat up and took her medicine without crying, and I was relieved. I hated to gently threaten her, but I care more about her fever and health right now, than her wishes. I have spent several hours today wiping her forehead and neck with a wash cloth as I remember how good that felt to me as a child, whenever I was sick.

She is sleeping now. Ravi and Priya both have high fevers too, but they are (thankfully) not throwing up. The house is unusally quiet and I am very very tired from two nights of missing my sleep. I layed down for 5 minutes today just before Lakshmi threw up. I hope that everyone is asleep for the night, but I will sleep with one eye open.

Knowing how very sick I get whenever I get a virus, Priya asked me if I would get it too, and if I got it, would I be too sick to take care of them. Poor baby. I've been holding kids all day, and my muscles ache. I was looking forward to a long hot soak in the tub this weekend, and now I need it even more, but it doesn't look like I will get that. This is the weekend that Ravi and Lakshmi are supposed to go to their dads, but with the flu, he really didn't want them to come. LOL

The doctor says the flu could last for 7 - 10 days. Their dad tried the "Let's Make a Deal" game with me, to see if he didn't get them this weekend, that he could have them next weekend. He manipulated me heavily over the phone. I don't plan to make "deals" with him, over sick kids! Please.

Jyotsna

Three Month Evaluation of Food Storage

Everyone who reads my blog knows I have been working on food storage since January.
For those who don't know, I took Sharon Astyk's "Food Storage Class" in January, a class that lasted one month. Sharon provided resources for everyone in the class so that we could assess our current food situation and look at our needs. She also asked us questions and gave us answers to our questions. It was a great opportunity to take the class and come closer to understanding food storage as a means to preparing for any type of emergency, from local weather issues which could last for 3 or more weeks, to something referred to as the "Long Emergency", which refers to the economic downswing that our country and whole world is experiencing right now.

During the class I was able to identify a few goals, and work towards them.


Literally cleared out my pantry and got rid of anything that was not good (looked at dates on food).

Organized current food in pantry.

Made room in my house for more food storage (gave away items I didn't need, and organized my possessions a bit better (looking at my kitchen right now, one would never believe that!).

Decided what was my goal for food storage. I set out to have 3 months of food in my pantry. It looked impossible, but I did settle on that goal, with plans to increase the amount of food to 6 months and eventually to 1 year.

Searched for food storage sources in my area. Looked for canning supplies and scored 126 canning jars on Freecycle in my area.

Learn to make from scratch a few items that are important to me. I found a new recipe for bread which is working out nicely, and I learned to make yogurt and became sucessful at it.

Sharon gave information for talking to friends, family and neighbors, to help get them involved in food storage as well. I've talked to alot of people about food storage, but I'm not going to push it, however if someone else talks about lack of food or has an interest in food storage, then I will offer what I have learned.

Took my first shopping trip in January, to start thinking about how I would be able to go about food storage. It was hughly overwhelming, and I ended up crying just a little bit while at the store, because I realized that I didn't really have a good plan for HOW to save food. That helped me realize that I needed to buy one major item per month, and allow for other items which may be on sale, or that I was out of at the time. This has worked out well for me, instead of rushing in and buying a bunch of food. Just like learning how to walk, food storage has a learning curve. : )

I'm at the three month point (in a few days) and I am proud to say that I have surpassed my goals and I currently have a 5 month preserve of food. I do have some gaping holes in things that I both want and need, and this fourth month will be spent filling in the holes. We could survive as is. But I don't think we want to JUST survive. We want to enjoy life, and food is part of that enjoyment, especially healthy food.

As I push off from the first three months, I have new goals. I want to find local foods, from dairy to vegetables. I'm growing a garden again this year, but this year it will be a bit larger. I'm not planning to invest in the stock market, but in a diverse garden. From tomatoes to cucumbers to eggplants and much more, I hope to have a variety of vegetables from our garden this year, which we will preserve by canning and drying.

In the past, families always had extra food that they withheld from their everyday meals. They always had something they saved for hard times. These are hard times, and I hope to save something extra, besides what we will be eating all summer and winter. What I don't grow, I hope to buy at the farmers market. However it happens, I'll be prepared for any type of food emergency that might happen this year.

Food storage is only part of the picture, and so I am working on a plan for adapting in place. See Sharon's blog for more infomation adapting in place. She makes alot of wonderful points for staying where you are, and she also wrote about leaving if the place you live is not going to sustain you through the "long emergency".

Just in case you don't have the link to her blog, here it is again:

Sharon Astyk's Blog: Depletion and Abundance: http://sharonastyk.com/

Jyotsna

Earthworms mean the soil is good...another great homeschooling moment!

Look what we found! This has got to be the largest earthworm we have ever seen. I measured it and it is about 7 inches long. It was longer than Priya's whole hand! It would lift up it's head like a snake, so the girls were screaming and laughing. Finally Priya told Lakshmi to be quiet because she was scaring the worm! LOL


This is the beauty of homeschooling. We can discover the joys of outdoor life on any day!

Hindu Holiday, Holi.