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  • Amazing Cucumber Cures And Tricks

    FACTS OF THE DAY ….
    Cucumbers… I didn’t know this… and to think all these years I’ve only been making salads with the cucumbers…

    1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.
    2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.
    3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.
    4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.
    5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!!
    6. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!
    7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explores for quick meals to thwart off starvation.
    8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don’t have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.
    9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!
    10. Stressed out and don’t have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber will react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown the reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.
    11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don’t have gum or mints? Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemicals will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.
    12. Looking for a ‘green’ way to clean your taps, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the
      shine, but is won’t leave streaks and won’t harm you fingers or fingernails while you clean.
    13. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!

    Pass this along to everybody you know who is looking for better and safer ways to solve life’s everyday problems.

  • How To Fight Covid At Home

    Bl**dy useful post…

    This was shared on a Covid survivor group…have heard many of these before but it seems helpful:

    HOW TO FIGHT COVID AT HOME

    No one ever talks about how to fight Covid at home. I came down with Covid in November. I went to the hospital, running a fever of 103, a rapid heart beat, and other common symptoms that come with Covid. While I was there they treated me for the high fever, dehydration and pneumonia.
    The doctor sent me home to fight Covid with two prescriptions – Azithromycin 250mg & Dexamethason 6mg. When the nurse came in to discharge me, I asked her, “What can I do to help fight this at home?” She said, “Sleep on your stomach at all times with Covid. If you can’t sleep on your stomach because of heath issues sleep on your side. Do not lay on your back no matter what because it smashes your lungs and that will allow fluid to set in.
    Set your clock every two hours while sleeping on your stomach, then get out of bed and walk for 15-30 min, no matter how tired or weak that you are. Also move your arms around frequently, it helps to open your lungs. Breathe in thru your nose, and out thru your mouth. This will help build up your lungs, plus help get rid of the Pneumonia or other fluid you may have.
    When sitting in a recliner, sit up straight – do not lay back in the recliner, again this will smash your lungs. While watching TV – get up and walk during every commercial.
    Eat at least 1 – 2 eggs a day, plus bananas, avocado and asparagus.These are good for Potassium. Drink Pedialyte, Lucozade Zero, Powerade Zero & Water with Electrolytes to prevent you from becoming dehydrated. Do not drink anything cold – have it at room temperature or warm it up. Water with lemon, and little honey, peppermint tea, apple cider are good suggestions for getting in fluids. No milk products, or pork. Vitamin’s D3, C, B, Zinc, Probiotic One-Day are good ideas. Tylenol for fever. Mucinex, or Mucinex DM for drainage, plus helps the cough. Pepcid helps for cramps in your legs. One baby aspirin everyday can help prevent getting a blood clot, which can occur from low activity. “

    Drink a smoothie of blueberries, strawberries, bananas, honey, tea and a spoon or two of peanut butter.

    We always hear of how Covid takes lives, but there isn’t a lot of information out there regarding how to fight Covid. I hope this helps you or someone you know, just as it has helped me.

    Please share

  • Boris Speech Explained

    Don’t understand the confusion people seem to be having regarding the recent announcement…no wonder people were doing the fudging conga to Vera Lynn with the neighbours after a few pimms on VE Day…I think a fair proportion of the population lack common sense…

    It’s pretty simple…for now the only changes are;

    ▪️Work from home if you can. Construction workers can return to work if they’re able to adhere to social distancing while there. Avoid public transport to get there where at all possible.

    ▪️Stay at home apart from exercise (which is no longer restricted to 1 hour, once a day. It can now be done in parks and sports can be played with the family you live with) whilst observing social distancing rules.

    ▪️Depending on the response to these measures we may see more shops and businesses & primary schools opening from the start of June…all dependant on the figures.

    ▪️Potentially seeing hospitality begin to open at the start of July…all depandant on the figures.

    It’s not rocket science!

    Don’t twist words & overcomplicate the simple to hear what you want to hear…

    STAY AT HOME unless you need to go out.

    Only go to work if you can get there safely & CANNOT WORK FROM HOME & you are able to practice social distancing at work.

    Exercising is unlimited WITH MEMBERS OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD.

  • Dear Parents In The Uk

    Dear parents in the U.K.,

    Today marks six full weeks since our country went into lockdown.

    You have had your children home for the same time now that you would if they were on summer holidays. People will say ‘but they are your responsibility’ and whilst that is true, no-one could be expected to have imagined this period before they chose to conceive.

    You have protected, nourished, educated, supported and entertained your children during a period of national and international uncertainty and fear. You have experienced emotions for yourself and your family that you never knew existed, never mind experienced before.

    Six weeks is a long time.

    Think about how you feel at the end of the summer holidays, how ready you are for routine, how badly your house needs cleaned from children home, how much work you are ready to catch up on. Remember that exhausting feeling of having so little sleep, much less money and hearing ‘mummy/daddy’ every time you happen to sit down.

    And you wonder why you are exhausted after six weeks of lockdown?

    You are amazing! You have achieved something no other parent ever has during our time. You have faced six weeks unable to take your child or children anywhere, six weeks of no parks, holidays to break up the boredom, no day trips, no family to help. On top of that you have juggled work demands, loneliness on a level never experienced before, information overload from the internet and emotional turmoil of not being able to see people you hold dear. Even getting food to eat has been a major drama!

    So it’s ok to feel drained. It’s ok to feel like you would sell your soul right now for five minutes alone. It’s ok to feel uninspired about another day of homeschooling, another day of never ending laundry and cooking.

    It’s ok to be so very tired.

    Six weeks is a long time.

    But you have made it.

    Be proud of yourself. Stand tall.

    History will show you for your courage, your children will remember this period as a time knowing they were safe and loved and teachers everywhere are deeply grateful that you are there for your children when they should be but can’t be.

    In short: you are awesome!

    And so are your children.

  • What If Kids Are Learning More At Home

    If they cancel the rest of the school year, students would miss approx 6 months of education. Many people are concerned about students falling behind because of this. Yes, they may fall behind when it comes to classroom education…

    BUT WHAT IF ….

    What if instead of falling “behind”, this group of kids are ADVANCED because of this? Hear me out.

    What if they have more empathy, they enjoy family connection, they can be more creative and entertain themselves, they love to read, they love to express themselves in writing.

    What if they enjoy the simple things, like their own backyard and sitting near a window in the quiet.

    What if they notice the birds and the dates the different flowers emerge, and the calming renewal of a gentle rain shower?

    What if this generation are the ones to learn to cook, organize their space, do their laundry, and keep a well run home?

    What if they learn to stretch a dollar and to live with less?

    What if they learn to plan shopping trips and meals at home.

    What if they learn the value of eating together as a family and finding the good to share in the small delights of the everyday?

    What if they are the ones to place great value on our teachers and educational professionals, librarians, public servants and the previously invisible essential support workers like truck drivers, grocers, cashiers, custodians, logistics, and health care workers and their supporting staff, just to name a few of the millions taking care of us right now while we are sheltered in place?

    What if among these children, a great leader emerges who had the benefit of a slower pace and a simpler life to truly learn what really matters in this life?

    What if they are AHEAD? 🙏🏼🏡♥️🏫
    (Share!)

  • Sorry I’m Just Tapped Out

    “Sorry, I’m just tapped out.”

    I said this to one of my kids’ teachers this morning as she requested a private zoom with my child and I.

    At the same time as this, I had two other kids hopping on their google meets, I had to pull my oldest from her work to hold the baby, the kids’ Dad had a call just starting, and as I struggled with my laptop to even find which Godforsaken link I needed to even click, I was ready to crumble.

    The laptop wouldn’t connect to the internet. The baby was fussing. My oldest was frustrated I had to pull her from what she was in the middle of. I had noise coming from each room with all the kids trying to, you know, “school”, and it took every fiber of my being not to throw the laptop off the table.

    I’m one person trying to juggle the schedule for 5 kids and everyday I fluctuate between moments of having it together and seriously, well … losing it.

    This isn’t normal.

    Any of it.

    Trying to function in the “unfunctionable.”

    That’s the best way to explain all of this: trying to function in the unfunctionable.

    As the teacher immediately noticed my temperament and disposition, she was kind and started by sympathizing to all I’m attempting to run here. When she asked about a couple lower scores on my daughter’s reading comprehension quizzes, whom by the way throughout the score year has had all high marks, I immediately let go.

    “This is not an environment conducive for learning. It’s just not. My children have a loving and safe home, but no, it’s not a school. To be honest, most days it’s a shit show. There isn’t much peace and quiet through the day, and when one is trying to focus on some level of the house or in a certain room, you can hear another zoom call or herd of cattle coming through in another. So no, she’s not getting to concentrate nor having things able to completely sink in.”

    And you know what? It felt so good to say that.

    I wanted to scream it.
    I wanted to cry while sharing that.
    I wanted to pound my fists on the table after I got it all out.

    But I found some last ounce of strength to hold some amount of composure conveying my exhausting frustration.

    This all will be over soon. Right?

    Or at least I keep telling myself.

    This just isn’t normal.

    Any of it.

    We’re not supposed to be able to turn to our manuals of “living through a global pandemic and total, utter chaos” and just snap our fingers and handle this all with grace.

    It’s impossible.

    So for those who are looking for their white flags to raise and shake ferociously high in the air, you’re not alone.

    It’s okay to not love this time and feel okay or good about it in every hour of every day.

    I can’t think about tomorrow or the next day or how I’m going to get through next week. I’m literally taking it one day at a time and focusing on surviving the next hour.

    That’s IT.

    This is no longer survival of the fittest.

    It’s survival of those willing to adapt to the most abnormal time of our lives.

    If you’re reading this and asking yourself how you can do it, well … good news is, you already are.

    It may not always be pretty, but you’re doing it.

    It’s suffice to say that my little breakdown to one of my kids’ teachers this morning was so well received and so appreciated on her end.

    Here’s to getting one more hour in the books, my Friends.

    There’s crumbs on my counter.
    The dishes need done.
    The laundry needs switched.
    The dog needs to go out.
    The baby needs fed.
    A kid needs help on their work.
    There’s massive bags under my eyes as I haven’t slept in 12 years.
    I wore this outfit yesterday and to bed and today which is now tomorrow.

    Here we go.

    We’re freaking rockstars … every single one of us.

    Credit https://www.facebook.com/StuckAt5CM/

  • Please Stay Home And Protect The NHS

    PLEASE SHARE!! so going back 6 weeks the week before lock down Freddie became not himself. He had a high fever and a rash all over him so I took him to the doctors and it was suspected scarlet fever.

    He was given some meds which I found extremely hard to give him. He wasn’t eating, wasn’t drinking, drowsy and just completely not with it at all. Anyone that knows freddie knows how extremely hyper and loud he is. I took him to the doctors the Thursday and he went to his dads that night.

    The next day Friday we took him to the sick kids as he really just wasn’t himself and they told us it’s just a bad case of scarlet fever he would be on the mend in a few days. Then Sunday came and it sounds so horrible to say but he just looked like a zombie.

    His nose was bleeding out of no where and he was completely out of it. The whites of his eyes were bright red, it just seemed like there was no life to him. So I took him back to sick kids and the lady I seen told me again it was a bad case of scarlet fever. She couldn’t see a problem with him as he was responding to her when she asked him questions (when you’re a mum you know your child and know when there’s something not right at all). At this point though

    Freddie was point blank refusing to take the medication at all so they changed the dose down to a smaller dose. I tried everything possible to give him these meds but he just wouldn’t take them. Monday came and he still just looked horrendous. The rash that he had started to spread all over his face. So again took him back to the sick where we actually got kept in this time as he was refusing the meds completely.

    We got put into a room for isolation as we were still under the assumption it was scarlet fever. Freddie was kept in hospital Monday to Friday. On the Wednesday we got moved to a ward as they no longer thought it was scarlet fever and they thought he actually had Kawasaki disease. Kawasaki disease is a disease that only affects 8 in 100000 children in the uk. He wasn’t actually tested for it but he did have a heart scan which confirmed the the valves to his heart had swollen.

    They also found a heart murmur that had never been picked up before but this could’ve just been because of how unwell he was. Freddie is fully on the mend now. The week after Freddie was in hospital I was really unwell had lost all sense of taste and smell and had a bad cough with sweats. I didn’t think much of it because it wasn’t much worse than the general cold.

    I’m writing this post to raise awareness over this severity of this illness and to urge you to stay home. This was the worst week of my life. Freddie has had his fair share of hospital visits but this was nothing like this week we had. Please stay home, save lives and protect the NHS.

    EDIT – although Freddie is completely back to him self hes been on Asprin since being home. He’s not been able to hold his pee, Freddie was potty trained well over a year ago and never had a problem never had accidents never wet the bed. Since having Kawasaki he struggles to hold his pee at any time and we are dealing with a lot of accidents, he also has a continuous rash that looks like eczema on his stomach and back which he didn’t have before Kawasaki either.

    Credit https://www.facebook.com/chloe.knight.75

  • Brilliant Words From A School Principal

    Brilliant words from a School Principal I can’t love it enough.

    COVID-19 Kids – what if?
    When people say kids are going to be ‘behind’ I say, behind what?? Not each other- they’re all in the same boat. Only ‘behind’ the age expectations of a curriculum that currently has limited context due to these extraordinary circumstances. In front on so many other more important fronts I say.

    What if instead of “behind” this group of kids is advanced because of this.
    What if they have more empathy, they enjoy family connection, they can be more creative and entertain themselves, they love to read, they love to express themselves in writing.

    What if they enjoy the simple things, like their own backyard and sitting near a window in the quiet?
    What if they notice the birds and the dates the different flowers emerge, and the calming renewal of a gentle rain shower?

    What if this generation is the one to learn to cook, organize their space, do their laundry, and keep a well-run home?
    What if they learn to stretch a dollar and to live with less?
    What if they learn to plan shopping trips and meals at home?
    What if they learn the value of eating together as a family and finding the good to share in the small delights of the everyday?

    What if they are the ones to place great value on our teachers and educational professionals, librarians, public servants and the previously invisible essential support workers like truck drivers, grocers, cashiers, custodians, logistics, and health care workers and their supporting staff, just to name a few of the millions taking care of us right now while we are sheltered in place?

    What if among these children, a great leader emerges who had the benefit of a slower pace and a simpler life, who has a fine sense of empathy and care and concern for fellow humans.

    What if he or she truly learns what really matters in all this…

  • All My Wife Has To Do Is Look After The Baby

    I came home yesterday evening after working 12 hours. I went into the bathroom to get cleaned up and ready for dinner. I noticed my daughters bassinet in the bathroom…

    I asked my wife if she had put her in there, and how she did in it. She said that she put her in it as she had showered during the day. We continued to talk about how good she had been and how much she’s growing up and so forth…

    This morning I came home from the gym, turned the shower on, to get cleaned up for work. I turned to the door, and saw where my wife wiped away the steam from the glass, so that she could see our baby girl in the bassinet….

    I literally just sat there and stared at the glass and smiled. I could see it, I imagined it, it was like I was there in the room with them. I could see Heather just looking through the glass and making faces at Lottie as she smiled and played in her bassinet! I just melted!!!

    It’s so crazy to me, how the smallest things can make me so appreciative of my wife. It’s the little sacrifices my wife makes for this family, that would normally go unnoticed. From caring for our daughter 24/7, to caring for me, cooking, cleaning, taking care of the animals, and taking care of herself (yeah right, there’s no time for that)…

    It just makes me stop and think…. I work hard… I work long 10-12 hours days… I get tired… I have stressful days… that’s my right, as the working member in the house hold right… to be catered to hand and foot when I get off?!?

    All she does is have to take care of a baby….

    So it should be that she cooks, and keeps the house clean, dishes washed, laundry clean and put up, animals tended to…. and I’m a man, have I mentioned my needs yet ?!?

    I mean seriously, she’s at home all day after all!

    Mannnnn…. I can’t tell you how much this fogged up glass means to me !

    The fact that my wife can’t even shower without caring for someone else…. tending to someone else’s needs…. get a second to herself to relax

    My wife doesn’t get to clock out, my wife doesn’t get the satisfaction of seeing a check deposited in the bank in return of her hard work, my wife doesn’t get to eat lunch with co workers, my wife doesn’t get to just walk outside and just take a deep breath….

    This may be just a fogged up piece of glass to some, but to me it means so much more. It’s the little things like this that don’t go un noticed…. it’s the little things like this that constantly remind me how badass she is…. it’s the little things like this that make me fall in love with her all over again, Heather Williams!

    Thank you for being the amazing woman you are… it doesn’t go unnoticed!

    👑 I love you My Queen 👑

    Credit: Six Shots with Zack and Heather

  • Everyone Thinks Being A Stay At Home Mum Is Easy

    ☝️ everyone thinks being a stay at home mom full time is easy.

    — that we are lucky to be able to not have to work.

    — that we are lazy.

    — that it’s not “real” work so we have nothing to complain about.

    👉 but the truth is…it’s fucking lonely and overwhelming

    You can’t do anything by yourself; go to the bathroom, enjoy a cup of coffee, read, hell you can’t even scrub the shit out of pants for the 3rd time in a day without someone crying or screaming at your leg.

    You don’t get breaks unless they are sleeping; which even then you use that time to clean up

    You struggle to come up with ways to entertain someone for literally 12 hours a day every day.

    You wear the same clothes that smell like sweat and tears for days at a time because it’s already stained and no use in ruining more clothes.

    You forget what it means or feels like to be an individual; because your entire existence now revolves around that child.

    You look at working moms and get jealous because you wish you could have an excuse to have an adult conversation without being interrupted.

    You lock yourself in the bathroom and scream into a towel while crying because you need a second to breathe; all while a child is banging on the door to get in…

    ☝️ let that sink in, most of us don’t even have the luxury to cry and be frustrated in peace..and when we do break down people question it; “like what do you have to cry about you get to sit home all day.”

    I was one of those people who judged SAHM’s. But I get it now. The people who said they’d be there to help have all but disappeared, and you’re left with this overwhelming sense of failure.

    My house isn’t clean, I’m not clean, the dishes aren’t done, I have screamed already today, I have cried, and I have felt so damn guilty that my child was here to witness it.

    But I am alone….and I am lonely

    👉👉 check in on your SAHM friends….we are NOT okay

    Credit https://www.facebook.com/bridgetteanne94