San Francisco dreaming

I was looking at photos of our trip to San Francisco in 2008. It's probably obvious that I love northern coastal cities! The architecture in San Francisco is so varied and gorgeous. I'm wishing I could go back there right now...

Birthday weekend

We celebrated another birthday this weekend! Craig doesn't like to be the center of attention but we don't let him get away with that! He asked for a special dinner (crab pasta) and time relaxing with the family. He also decided we'd watch the whole Matrix trilogy (one each night), ...so don't ask me about the Oscars... we were watching Neo save the world at that point! ;)

I made a flourless chocolate cake with real whipped cream (so much for giving up sugar for Lent!)... it was really good! (recipe here!)

Ellie loves helping open gifts...

One of his favorite gifts...

It was a good birthday. He's a great dad and a great husband. Here's to another 43!!!

New info on Gardisil vaccine

Disturbing article about vaccinations, but what really bothers me is the newest data on Gardisil HPV vaccine side effects and deaths. I just said "no" to having Nathaniel immunized for it. I'm so glad I did. Now they're finding it could increase risks of precancerous lesions.

LAB STUDIES NOW CONFIRM CANCER LINK TO A VACCINE YOU PROBABLY HAD AS A CHILD

Dr. Maurice Hilleman - the man responsible for cancer-causing vaccines

Source Article:
60 Lab Studies Now Confirm Cancer Link to a Vaccine You Probably Had as a Child
http://www.thelibertybeacon.com/2013/02/24/60-lab-studies-now-confirm-cancer-link-to-a-vaccine-you-probably-had-as-a-child/

"Dr. Maurice Hilleman made astounding revelations in an interview that was cut from The Health Century — the admission that Merck drug company vaccines had been injecting dangerous viruses into people worldwide. Bear in mind that Dr. Hilleman was the developer of Merck’s vaccine program. He developed over three dozen vaccines, more than any other scientist in history. He was a member of the U.S. National Academy of Science, the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. He received a special lifetime achievement award from the World Health Organization. Hilleman was one of the early vaccine pioneers to warn about the possibility that simian viruses might contaminate vaccines.

Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

I think it’s important to remember history when it comes to vaccines, especially in light of current developments.

For starters, the HPV vaccine Gardasil, which is being vigorously pushed on unsuspecting young girls and women to theoretically guard against cervical cancer still has never been proven to actually prevent cancer. On the contrary, evidence suggests that under certain circumstances the vaccine increases your risk of precancerous lesions by nearly 45 percent, and an ever increasing number of girls are being seriously injured by this unnecessary vaccine.

As of December 13, 2010, 20,915 adverse reactions had been reported in the United States alone, including 89 deaths, 297 miscarriages or stillbirths, and 370 reports of abnormal pap smears post vaccination.

All of this from a vaccine that has only been on the market for four years!

Making matters worse, as of 2009 the US FDA approved Gardasil for use on young boys as well, and the first male death has also been reported. In September of last year, a young boy died just eight days after being vaccinated with Gardasil.

So what’s going on here?

Is it possible that vaccines sold by drugmakers like Merck are causing lethal disease? Judging by history, the answer may be yes.

Contaminated Polio Vaccine Responsible for Human Cancer Cases

In 2002, the journal Lancet published compelling evidence that contaminated polio vaccine was responsible for up to half of the 55,000 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma cases that were occurring each year.

What was it contaminated with?

SV40, a cancer-causing monkey virus. The puzzle began in 1994, when Dr. Michele Carbone, a Loyola University researcher, found the virus SV40, which had never before been detected in humans, in half of the human lung tumors he was studying. Since then, 60 different lab studies have confirmed the results, and SV40 has been found in a variety of human cancers, including lung-, brain-, bone-, and lymphatic cancer.

At first no one could fathom how the virus had been transmitted into the human population.

But in the censored interview with Dr. Maurice Hilleman above, Hilleman admits Merck’s responsibility in unleashing this virus via their polio vaccine, as well as the likelihood that there was an importing and spreading the AIDS virus in the same manner.

Just Who is Dr. Maurice Hilleman?

Now, for those of you who may think Dr. Hilleman was just another crackpot (he passed away in 2005), think again. He was, and still is, the leading vaccine pioneer in the history of vaccines. He developed more than three dozen vaccines—more than any other scientist in history—and was the developer of Merck’s vaccine program.

He was a member of the U.S. National Academy of Science, the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society, and received a special lifetime achievement award from the World Health Organization.

When he was chief of the Department of Respiratory Diseases with what’s now the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, he discovered the genetic changes that occur when the influenza virusmutates, known as shift and drift. He was also one of the early vaccine pioneers to warn about the possibility that simian viruses might contaminate vaccines.So Dr. Hilleman knew what he was talking about. And in his own words, “vaccines have to be considered the bargain basement technology for the 20th Century.”

Vaccines Can Cause the Very Disease They’re Meant to Prevent, and Worse

For years, researchers suggested that millions of vials of polio vaccine, contaminated with SV40, infected individuals between 1953 and 1963 and caused human tumors, and by 1999, molecular evidence of SV40 infections were showing up in children born after 1982. Some experts now suggest the virus may have remained in the polio vaccine until as late as 1999.

Still, the FDA and health authorities turned a blind eye.

In addition, just like Gardasil may well increase your risk of cervical cancer rather than reduce it, the livepolio vaccine has also been found to cause polio. And, in rare instances the virus in the vaccine has even been known to mutate into a much deadlier version. As reported by MSN News in 2009, genetic analysis has proven such mutated viruses have caused at least seven separate outbreaks in Nigeria.

According to the CDC the last case of wild polio in the US—meaning polio caused naturally and not due to the live polio vaccine—occurred in 1979. From 1980 through 1999, there were NO wild polio cases in the US. Instead we had 144 cases of vaccine-associated paralytic polio (VAPP) caused by live oral polio vaccine.

Polio outbreaks in Haiti and the Dominican Republic in 2002 were also traced back to a strain of oral polio vaccine (OPV) that mutated back to virulence.

According to a report by Neil Z. Miller of the Global Vaccine Institute, the live polio virus from the vaccine can remain in your throat for one to two weeks and in your feces for up to two months. So not only is the vaccine recipient at risk, but he or she can potentially spread the disease to others.

In 1999, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended that the United States replace the live-virus vaccine with an inactivated “killed” virus vaccine, which is what remains in use today. However, the inactivated polio virus vaccine has not been without its share of serious side effects either.

Rotavirus Vaccine Contaminated with Pig Virus

Last year, the US FDA suspended the rotavirus vaccine Rotarix after an independent lab discovered it was contaminated with “a substantial amount” of DNA from the porcine circovirus. In pigs, this virus causes poor growth, weight loss, weakness, enlarged lymph nodes, skin rashes, difficulty breathing, jaundice, stomach ulcers, and sudden death.

As expected, both the FDA and GlaxoSmithKline spokespeople stated that the contaminated Rotarix vaccine carried no known human health risks. However, this is easy to say since there are no studies to confirm or deny a link between these viruses and human disease.

In the case of the polio vaccine, the link between the SV40 virus and human cancer wasn’t discovered until 40 years later! It is actually surprisingly common for vaccines to contain various animal matter, including foreign animal tissues containing genetic material (DNA/RNA).

Once the Rotarix contamination was discovered, new technology was used to test eight infectious attenuated viral vaccines, and in addition to Rotarix, two others contained “unexpected viral sequences”:

1. A measles vaccine was found to contain low levels of the retrovirus avian leukosis (AVL) virus—a virus known to cause cancer in chickens. This despite the fact that vaccine manufacturers have been required to use eggs from leucosis-free stocks for over 40 years.

2. Rotateq, Merck’s rotavirus vaccine, was found to contain a virus similar to simian (monkey) retrovirus—the SV40 virus previously linked to human cancer.

Are you willing to bet that they a) know what they’re talking about, and b) are telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth about the potential health dangers of all these vaccines?

HPV Vaccine Now Routine for Boys as Well…

So far, very few parents have voluntarily lined up their sons for the HPV vaccine, but that may soon change.As reported by Paging Dr. Gupta, the American Academy of Pediatrics’ 2011 schedule of recommended routine vaccines for children and teens now includes the HPV vaccine for boys aged 9-18 as well.

Folks, this is a disaster in the making. I shudder to think about the statistics we’ll see in a few years if parents fall for this nonsense.

I urge you to consider the risks already revealed in the four short years since Gardasil came on the market. Already, there are close to 21,000 reported incidents of adverse effects and death, despite the fact that only two out of every 10 women in the approved age group have gotten the vaccine so far.

Add to this the fact that an estimated 90 to 99 percent of all adverse effects are never reported, and the abnormally large risks of the HPV vaccine compared to other vaccines should give most people reason to pause.

Although the FDA ultimately dismisses all side effects, including deaths, as being within the norm, even they have stated that:

“In VAERS, a higher proportion of Gardasil reports were of syncope [fainting] and VTEs [venous thromboembolic events] compared with other vaccines.“

And according to the National Vaccine Information Center, the incidents of miscarriage and still birth events from Gardasil supersede the same event from all other vaccinations.

According to a recent Sane Vax press release on PR Log:

“There is no doubt the vaccine’s safety and efficacy has not been thoroughly investigated. And independent investigation on the safety and efficacy of the HPV vaccines, Gardasil and Cervarix must be conducted before there are more injuries and deaths.”

What’s most frustrating about this is that not a single one of these 21,000 children and young women needed to be harmed or die.

Why?

There are still outstanding questions about whether HPV is or is not the direct cause of cervical cancer. The FDA knows there are many other co-factors involved with the development of cervical cancer, and as of 2003acknowledged that “most infections (by HPV) are short-lived and not associated with cervical cancer.” The same news release also states that “with proper screening, cervical cancer is avoidable, and if caught early, curable.”

In essence, three years before the HPV vaccine came upon the scene, they knew that what was needed—if anything—was simply improved screening methods, such as regular pap smear testing for girls and women that are far less risky than getting an HPV shot.

Interestingly, and disturbingly, routine pap smears have DECLINED, coinciding neatly with the release of the HPV vaccine. Between 2007 and 2010, cervical cancer screening rates declined by nearly 7 percent, the New York Times reported in December of last year.

When you consider that the HPV vaccine increases your risk of cancer if you’re already infected with certain types of HPV, this is a double-whammy of bad news since rarely, if ever, are girls and women given HPV pap screening before they get an HPV shot.

It’s all madness! Not only is the HPV vaccine is one of the most unnecessary vaccines on the market, it is also the most dangerous! And now they want to unleash it on young boys, and they’re trying to get it approved for older women as well.

Weighing Benefits versus Risks

Even without a potential contamination scare, there are serious risks to every vaccine. The HPV vaccine is a perfect example. So before vaccinating you really need to be certain that the benefits will outweigh those risks.

In the case of Rotarix, along with RotaTeq (a similar vaccine made by Merck), the benefits are very questionable, especially if you live in the United States or another developed country. Typically, when a child in the United States contracts rotavirus, and most do in infancy and early childhood, all that is required is lots of rest, good nutrition and plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration from diarrhea. This infection also provides natural immunity that will protect your child for life.

Along with showing little benefit for a disease that is typically entirely treatable with fluids and rest, a recent drug review by the FDA found that Rotarix is associated with an increase in pneumonia-related deaths in children, compared to a placebo.

So with this particular vaccine, children living in developed countries like the US are potentially taking on serious risks with what appears to be very little benefit — and that was before the contamination was uncovered.

In the case of the HPV vaccine (Gardasil and Cervarix) the choice is clear. It has a high rate of risk and the potential benefits are unproven:

In more than 70 percent of cases, HPV clears up on its own within a few weeks or months. In over 90 percent of cases, it’s gone within two years, causing no symptoms or disease.

Only about 26 percent of girls and women ages 14 to 59 have been exposed to any HPV strain at all; and

Only 2 percent have been exposed to strains 16 or 18 – the two that Gardasil and Cervarix protect against – meaning this vaccine is completely unnecessary because HPV infection very rarely leads to cancer.

Women whose partners wore condoms during vaginal intercourse are 70 percent less likely to become infected with HPV. That’s a FAR greater level of protection than you can get from this vaccine!

For more in-depth information about the HPV vaccine along with the top 10 reasons why you don’t need it, please see this previous article.

The moral of the story?

Do your homework before subjecting your children to any vaccine. A great way to get started is to simply use the Search Feature at the top of each of my Web pages and search my site as it contains a litany of research on vaccine safety, and the lack thereof. The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) also provides well-referenced information on vaccines and diseases, such as HPV, rotavirus and polio.


See original here:http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/02/18/leading-vaccine-doctor-states-cancer-linked-to-polio-vaccine.aspx"

add one more thing

Waiting for the plumber... I was just down in my studio and looked up-- GIANT LEAK right over my desk and computer!!!!!!! From the kitchen sink, with plumbing just installed two weeks ago. Can this week get any worse?!!!!!!!!  (Thanks Joe the Plumber... don't use them!)  Joe the Plumber came out and checked and found that it was a Martin's Water Conditioning Problem. Now waiting for them to get here. It probably happened during the installation of the new plumbing but the plastic piece that's leaking shouldn't have leaked. UGGGGHHHH. When it rains, it pours. Literally.

prayers

:: for comfort for my friend Caroline and her family. She just lost her mom on Tuesday night. It is breaking my heart. Caroline is like a sister to me.

:: for a full recovery for my sister-in-law Janelle. She was admitted to the hospital yesterday with a pulmonary embolism. She is turning 35 on Friday. Way too young for this.

:: for my Mom to sell her house. There are two possible buyers-- let's hope her home is an answer to one of their prayers!

:: for me. This has been a hard week. And a hard life. Not going into it but just to say that some things can not be swept under the rug. No one has a perfect life. Never assume anything, ever. But things can get better.

Immune boosting Smoothie!

You might think smoothies are just for warm weather, but I wanted to share my secret weapon against colds and flu that I've been using with my kids, almost every day this past month! They think it's a special treat when they get home from school. It's my way of sneaking in good probiotics for a healthy gut and lots of good vitamin D and C which helps their immune system fight colds! It also tastes just like the expensive smoothies I used to buy occasionally at Central Market, but now I just make at home:

Fruit Smoothie
Makes 2

In a blender, combine:

2 huge serving spoon size dollops of Plain natural live yogurt (this is the real stuff with Acidophilus & Bifidus probiotics)
(OR:  substitute Plain Kefir, which is a yogurt drink) This usually is about 4-6 oz. in the blender.

About 5-10 oz of frozen mango (or any frozen fruit of choice...my favorite is blueberries!)

1 banana  (this really gives it the sweetness kids love plus it's very high in potassium)

About 3 oz of orange juice (I just eye this)... more good vitamin C! Make sure yours has no sugar added.

Blend until really smooth and stick a straw in it. My kids LOVE this. They never guessed that I don't add sugar. Sugar actually is an immune-weakener. It promotes inflammation. But fruit sugar from whole fruit causes a lower glucose response (just make sure there's not too much orange juice... I suppose real orange slices would be better!). Did you know that berries cause the lowest glucose/insulin response of all fruits? And blueberries, raspberries and blackberries are high in antioxidants-- those great molecules that fight free radicals which damage the life-giving cells in your body. I know-- too much science when you just wanted to enjoy something delicious!
So, I hope you try our secret weapon to avoiding colds and flu this winter season!
♥ Beth

Wisdom teeth

Poor Nathaniel had all of his wisdom teeth pulled today! I would never have done this except that the dentist said that they were growing into his other teeth and we didn't want him to lose those. This is when I wish I had known about the Weston A. Price diet while I was pregnant-- he could have been born with plenty of mouth space for all his teeth! (One of my favorite parts of the WAPF magazine "Wise Traditions" is the section where parents send in their photos of their healthy babies and toddlers. They all have nice straight teeth with broad smiles!).

So, I've been his nurse today and I started him yesterday on a dose in the morning and the evening of Arnica 200c to help with the pain, swelling and bruising that goes along with this kind of surgery. I was going to give him some right before his surgery but I forgot to bring it (and I forgot my phone!) so he went in without it. I was pretty nervous and tired... I should have looked up a remedy for myself! He went through it fine and had minimal bleeding. He was okay when we got home, so I gave him Arnica 200c again, waited for 10 minutes and then gave him Hypericum 30c for nerve pain. Unfortunately I didn't have Hypericum 200c because that is better for this kind of pain and my pharmacy was out of it. This is why you should always have remedies on hand! Ugh. I will next time. I also rubbed some Arnica gel around his mouth and jaw to help with the bruising. So far, there is no apparent swelling or bruising! Yay!  His pain meds wore off though, and like I said, the Hypericum 30c didn't do the trick. I ended up giving him his Vicadin which I didn't want to do. It did help. Of course--it suppresses the symptoms. Hopefully I didn't just cause something worse. When symptoms are suppressed, the law of cure says that they are driven inward to a deeper form of disease. Again, being prepared is so important!

So, that's our weekend!  Not much fun for Nathaniel but we learned something from it all. And Caroline will probably be next.

*************************************************************

UPDATE:  The patient is doing really well! He ate some chicken noodle soup earlier and he's been conversing through his computer with his friends. He has soreness but the Arnica has kept the swelling and bruising away! This is why I love homeopathy... it works!!! :D

***************************************************************
2nd UPDATE:  The patient, while not having bruising, did have swollen chipmunk cheeks for the next 3 days and still has very slight swelling. There might be a problem with the one extraction where the oral surgeon said the tooth broke as he was taking it out. (!) So we are hoping there's no infection but I'm not sure. He's still on soft foods. He was not feeling well from the anesthesia on Saturday so I gave him a dose of Phosphorus 30c and he immediately wanted to sleep, was out for 3 hours, and woke feeling much better. That's how you know a remedy is working. Remember that if you ever know someone who has had surgery and is feeling sort of nauseous afterwards with weakness in their arms and legs. I really don't want to put him on antibiotics, so I had him take doses of Silica all day long to see if we could clear anything up that way. He did go to school today. One day at a time. I'm very tired.

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is the Love Bug's Day!  Wishing you all a day when you remember that someone loves you! Especially to all of my blogging friends out there! (Becky, Di, Olivia, Clara, Linda, Mary, Debbie, Ruby, Amy, Terri, Alicia, Kellie, my Mom-in-law Linda, Jane, Mom... and the list goes on!) ♥♥♥

And Happy Valentine's Day to my sweeties at home! 

hedgehog love

A year or two ago, I was on a hunt for hedgehog things... I love these little guys. The Purl Bee has just posted a pattern to knit some and it's making me want to take up the needles again. I like the way the body is knitted in garter stitch and their little faces are cute. Here's the pattern: click here.

Here's another cute one (without ears but with feet) that was posted on Ravelry and the pattern is by Little Cotton Rabbits (another favorite pattern maker!): click here.

Everyone probably remembers Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle from Beatrix Potter. I sometimes think of her while I'm ironing, just because of this illustration!

NewtonAndNoss

Cath Schneider

It is unfortunate that these little creatures do not live here in the United States... I would love to have one take up residence in my garden!

Flower fairies

I'm not sure how I ended up falling in love with Cicely Mary Barker's (1895-1973) illustrations, but I can't get enough of them. She has numerous fairies for all different types of plants, flowers and trees. I realized that Caroline had one of her books when she was little, but I hadn't paid too close attention to her work. She is a little bit like Beatrix Potter, in that tiny details of nature don't go unnoticed, and they both lived in a world full of imagination and wonderful illustrations in the English countryside. Cicely was influenced by Kate Greenaway's work too which is evident.

I am playing around with the idea of doing illustrations for the homeopathic remedies with an influence of Cecily Mary Barker's work-- combining the plant picture with the remedy character. It would be a little different but I'm very excited about the idea. I got this and this to help steer me in the right direction. I find usually when I tell people I'm studying homeopathy, that they can't imagine how I could go from art to medicine. It's things like these illustrations that make the two go hand-in-hand. I have never loved anything so much as studying homeopathy! Maybe one day I'll have my own book too!

A link to more of her work on my Pinterest Board! :)

Ready for the Superbowl

We're all ready for this year's bowl, which means I got all the munchies today. I'm going to try to bake my own gluten-free buns for sliders and crescent rolls for pigs-in-a-blanket. Along side some chips and nachos, I might pull out my recipe for celeriac chips with Indian spices. I should post that recipe. I did Phase 1 of the Harcombe Diet and lost four pounds. I felt like I ate a lot and my cravings did disappear. I also felt a lot more clear-headed and alert. My energy came back and I didn't have those late afternoon crashes. I missed milk in my coffee though. I think Phase 2 is going to be a little tougher. I also started exercising every day-- well, that just started yesterday. I'm doing "10-minute Trainer" by Tony Horton because he took away my main excuse which is "I don't have time" (or more like, "I have a limited amount of attention span for exercising"!) I can do 10 minutes and let me tell you, it goes quick but it works you out!  As far as the Superbowl goes-- some of us will be watching the Puppy Bowl and others of us (me) will be watching the commercials. I guess we're routing for the 49er's because we don't like the Baltimore Ravens. I'm not sure why exactly it is that we don't like them, but that's what Craig says. He's the resident football expert and lifetime Steeler fan. I wanted to cheer for the Patriots but he informed me that they lost (oops!). I like Michael Ohr (LOVE "The Blind Side") so I'm not sure why I can't be for them. But I love San Francisco too. If I could live anywhere right now it would be 1. Maine and 2. Northern California. Anyways... Happy Superbowl watching and Happy February!!!

a short intro to homeopathy

If you happened to catch Dr. Oz's show on Monday (here in the States) then you saw his positive story about homeopathy and how his own family has used it for 3 generations. Dr. Lisa Samet was the homeopathic doctor and guest on the show, and she also did this short intro on homeopathy for NCH (National Center for Homeopathy). I thought it was a great little intro and wanted to share it with you!

Adorableness

I was searching for something else and found this photo-- the little girl is just too cute! I'm not sure where it comes from. I passed this one on to Caroline because I may have a granddaughter someday who might look just like this! ;)

p.s. Caroline informs me all the time that she's not interested in having children... I have my motives!

haberdashery

I've been eyeing the bow ties and pocket squares by Jess Decelle who owns "Fox & Brie" on etsy. I love gingham and any tweed type of material. Occasionally Craig wears bow ties and he's really into pocket squares lately (he'd fit into Mad Men perfectly!). I wish Nathaniel would try them too, but I think it's too much to ask from an almost 15-year-old! I do think they're really cute though! What do you think?