Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Newsletter - 12/1/11


Hello Dear Friends!

Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving holiday with lots of extra rest and recreation.  We had a grand day with our neighbors.  The entire weekend was beautiful.  We've been amazed that we've had such great weather here in central Virginia.  On Monday it was 78 degrees.

We've had a morning of rain Tuesday, but we're still looking at flower blooms and green bushes.  I'm loving it!  I keep saying, "Maybe we won't have a winter this year during the daytime."  Only at night, ya know!  We've not had an official freeze yet so the birds are super happy also.

I put out the heated birdbath on our front porch and added the heater gadget to the deck birdbath, but they've not been needed.  I keep wondering if we'll see frogs again with all the daytime warmer weather, but once they go to sleep for the winter, they don't wake up till Spring is what I've read.

There's been a cute little opossum visiting our wildlife area regularly and for some reason it enjoys climbing a cut-off tree right by the fruit and veggie scraps.  She perches on the top and stares at me so I got a few photos one evening.  Night photography is obviously not my expertise.

Backyard Opossum in Tree Watching Me on Deck
I like opossums.  They present a far lower health risk to humans than even dogs and cats! They have a high level of immunity to most diseases. For example, opossums are more resistant to rabies than any mammal. They are distant cousins to the kangaroo. They eat just about anything but seem to especially love when I've put out some of Squeek's leftover pet food.

Amazingly opossums give birth only 13 days after mating and the babies are smaller than a honeybee at less than a half inch length. You could hold the whole litter in the palm of your hand.  When these blind and naked babies are born, they crawl into the pouch on the mama's belly and attach themselves to a "feeding station." After a couple of months, they come out of the pouch for extended periods and generally ride on the mama's back. Talk about backpacking a load! At four months they're ready to go on their own and mama can begin the process all over again.

My friend, Rainbow, in Massachusetts has been caring for an abandoned opossum. She's made a comfortable home for it to bury into and puts food out and last report it's been returning and enjoying the luxurious B&B accommodations. Opossums are nocturnal animals, so Rainbow's way of checking on the wee little thing is to look for some fur or tail sticking out of the leaves in its "den" she provided for it.

Winter Conversion of Breakfast Area
In the last newsletter I had a photograph of our breakfast area and mentioned I'd be converting it for the winter by placing our porch chaise chairs in that area.  It's done as you can see and I certainly don't like the lop-sided look of it, but it will be a joy when the weather turns colder.

In the summer with sweating, my skin seems to show less wrinkles, but when the heat is on in the house, I like to nourish my facial skin with my homemade natural moisturizer. Not a long list of ingredients that I can't read or know nothing about (and don't want to know), just cold-pressed olive oil and essential oils that are known to be beneficial for dry or aging skin. Not familiar with essential oils?

Here's my moisturizer recipe that I put in a small glass bottle with a pump to make it easy to dispense. My friend likes to put it in a flip-top kind of bottle so she can use it in greater quantity on her arms and legs too.

4 oz. cold-pressed olive oil
15 drops frankincense essential oil
15 drops sandalwood essential oil
10 drops patchouli essential oil

You can use 40 drops of any one of these alone, I just like the combination of the three since they are favorites of mine.

If you have oily skin, you can use essential oils that will tone and reduce oiliness. Putting them in a base of aloe vera gel will also tone and moisturize your skin without an oily feel. The best essential oils for oily skin are bergamot, lavender, lemon and peppermint. Although peppermint has a "wake up" factor to it with the natural menthol found in the plant. Great for opening clogged sinuses.

Thank you to all those who have inquired about Squeek and for your prayers.  She's doing great!  Moving about as usual, eating like she's making up for the lost meals, and sleeping with me in bed.  We continue to thank God for healing her, but we know the devil loves to kill, steal and destroy, so we are now more diligent about how we pray.

I learned a lot from the book, God Wants You Well, that I received for my birthday in September and we've been learning more from the video teaching by Andrew Wommack (also available in audio).  Writing down information is nothing compared to seeing things work in real life, so we're excited.

Of course, I've got plenty of things to practice on with my own health problems.  I have a lot of wrong teaching in the area of healing to overwrite in my brain.  It's not that we need more faith, but that we must overcome the unbelief that's been written on our minds.  God is spirit and operates in the spirit, so things are done in the spirit when we ask, but faith is the bridge that goes from the answered prayer to seeing it in the physical realm.  The many teaching series at Andrew Wommack's website have been a real blessing to us.

December is a time of frenzy for many people and the extra stress weakens the body making it more susceptible to all the bugs and viruses that are spread about.  Since sugar weakens the immune system, that's a double hit with all the holiday goodies being consumed.

Be wise, support your immune system during this month and into the next month.  One of my favorites is Elderberry D3fense.  It's a wonderful formula of vitamin D3, elderberry fruit extract, Echinacea purpurea, willow bark extract, olive leaf extract and royal jelly.

Randal found a visitor on the baseboard in his office last week and as always, he calls out, "Get your camera, there's a bug in here."  I love thinking about that because at one time I was petrified of bugs.  I would jump up on furniture with my mom and scream till my dad captured or killed a bug either of us had seen.

At age 40, we built a home on a piece of wooded property and I fell head-over-heels in love with God's Creation.  The fact that I was terrified of such tiny creatures got me to pray heavily against that phobia.  God gently introduced me to some unique bugs that intrigued me enough to open a window a crack to allow me to see the beauty of His Creation in the bugs.

Bristletail (Silverfish family)
Well, this visitor looked like a silverfish which I have found in the bathtub a few times.  The only problem is that it wasn't silver.  When I took photos I realized how amazingly detailed the smallest of bugs are.  God didn't consider it a waste to add some color and flair to every one of His creations.  With the help of BugGuide.net, I confirmed it was of the silverfish family and it's actually called a Bristletail.

If you've not taken a stroll about our yard for awhile, visit the Bluebird Cove Garden Album for some Autumn photos.  To catch a glimpse of any critters that have been out and about, visit the Bluebird Cove Critters Album.

May you have a blessed holiday while keeping Christmas simple.  It's not about buying and spending and gifts to those who have no need of anything.  It's about love being born into our lives, so share yourself this Christmas.  What could you do to serve another family member or friend?  Make a "gift card" that someone can "redeem" for a massage, house cleaning, snow shoveling, a loaf of bread, etc.  Avoid the Christmas Holiday Hussle.

If you enjoy this newsletter ... share the website with somebody else.  Maybe you know of somebody who needs something in this issue.  There's a "Share This" option on the right side.  Thanks!

Love and Hugs,
Donna



View Posts By Topic

Posts Since Last Newsletter


Previous Posts You May Have Missed











Sponsored by The Herbs Place - Wholesale Prices Always
On Sale Now • Online Catalog • Women • Men • Children • Essential Oils

The photo(s) and article are copyrighted. You may use either of them if you include the following credit and active link back to this website: © 2011 Donna L. Watkins - This article was reprinted with permission from TheNatureInUs.com. The link to use is: www.TheNatureInUs.com.

No comments:

Share This Post