06

I was given a rabbit last night, a very nice, sweet-natured lop-eared by the name of "Ash". This morning I transferred Ash to an outside cage, put another cage on top so that no cats could get to her, and had the cage itself resting on concrete, rabbits being notorious diggers. I came home tonight and Ash is missing. I am hoping she is safe in the cypress hedge, but I don't like my chances. Now I have to tell the previous owner. Oh, dear.

Phew! Rabbit, after some prayer, turned up on the back doorstep this morning, and, after more prayer, and a deal of running around like a hairy goat, caught and put back in the overgrown birdcage in which she was originally housed.

The calf is a bit of a financial loss, the rabbit, a personal one.

Amongst the deaths this past week was one of the pigeon hatchlings. Perhaps it was the cold, we had a sudden cold snap. I'm still shivering in reminiscence.

Alice is slowly getting better, and certainly her cough is nowhere near as bad nor as frequent, thankyou to all who prayed for her. You are such blessings to us.

We are still awaiting Bess to see if she is ready to deliver. And we are still awaiting guinea piglets.

The April/May 2004 edition of Grass Roots magazine has some fascinating advice in it:

Apparently there has been a recent English magazine publication that dealt restless legs syndrome. The article within the magazine cautions that there could be underlying causes such as anaemia, nutritional deficiencies, varicose veins, pregnancy, smoking, dibaetes, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, or lung disease. Prescription drugs taken for other conditions can also be implicated in restless legs syndrome.

Massage of the limbs, either before going to bed, or during the night when symptoms arise, is often helpful. Vitamin E supplements, magnesium and iron can also be beneficial. Some people, strangely, can be helped by standing on a stone or timber floor in bare feet. Just remember, if the symptoms persist, go and pay your doctor a visit.

Further on in the Grass Roots article is a method for removing warts that has an 85% success rate - duct tape! Cover the wart with the duct tape to around the same size, and leave it on for six days. Replace the tape if it falls off. Soak the wart in water at the end of the six days, and soak the wart in water and rub it with an emery board or pumice stone. Apply again the next day and continue the cycle. This statistically speaking, works better than liquid nitrogen.

Bananas cure headaches! A poultice of ripe banana can be applied to the forehead and back of the neck to relieve excruciating migraines. Be sure the banana peels are secured very snugly and the white mushy stuff on the inside of the peel is next to the skin, apparently it is effective 85% of the time.

Peel also makes great shoe polish for scuff marks. Cut up the peel and bury it around your rose bushes for an excellent organic fertiliser. The inner surface of the banana can be applied directly to burns, rashes and boils for healing relief. And you can, in extremis, eat the fruit.

24 Hours

Is it yesterday already?

Have I left another day behind

never to return?

I watch the moon wax and wane

and another bit of lunacy is behind me

What things might I have accomplished in that month?

What wondrous thoughts dreamed and built?

Could I have helped save another from their inquity?

Could I have made a difference?

Or have I already and do not know?