Please don't waste your Tuesday!

Let's set the mood first...

Okay... for those of you who don't know, I am a conservative Christian.  I have mixed feelings about the Republicans and have generally (in the last 10 years or so) lost faith in them... but I'll give them one more try and here's why:

http://www.awakeamericaonline.org/2016-party-comparison.html

Please take 5 minutes to look at the comparison between the Republican party platform and the Democratic platform...

THIS IS THE MOST CONSERVATIVE PARTY PLATFORM SINCE THE INCEPTION OF OUR NATION!

 Trump is a gross, disgusting and perverted man... but he has surrounded himself with greatness and the platform reflects it! 

So I ask that you consider what you will do come Tuesday... my future and the future of my children depend on it!
-Clinton

"Mommy, I don't want plantain, I want comfrey"

Today I got a call from my wife around lunch time, which isn't unusual.  But the story she told me sure was! 

For those of you who are not aware, a great deal of our medicines from from plants... or at least they started out that way before we figured out how to make the chemicals ourselves (i.e. Ibuprofen used to come from willow bark - or something like that).  Two of the many different weeds you will find growing on our property are comfrey and plantain.  These two plants have similar actions, but they would probably be better used in slightly different applications... but before we get into it, the story!

The story

Upon looking out the window to see what the kids were up to (or if they were even still on our property), my wife noticed my eldest scooting across the backyard on his third point of contact... okay, boys do weird things, but this was strange, even for him!  Upon investigation she learned that he had somehow cut his foot on something (yes, we let our kids play barefoot outside).  To remedy the problem he had found some plantain leaves, chewed them up and applied them to his wound.  Unfortunately the cut was on the bottom of his foot and if he stood up and walked, the poultice would fall off... so he was scooting along up to the house to get a bandage...

Next thing my wife knows, my other son announces he cut his foot, but insisted "Mommy, I don't want plantain, I want comfrey."

<Instructions to the reader: insert mental image of proud father here!>

So which child was right?  Is it plantain or is it comfrey?

In the past, when I got stung by a bee, I have chewed up the plantain and put it where I got stung.  Within a half hour (or faster) it didn't hurt a bit!  A few days later it did swell up, which was a problem... a problem I'm still trying to find a natural solution for.  But needless to say, plantain works wonders on bee stings!

Plantago lanceolata - This is the first type of plantain I have in the yard...

Plantago major - The other kind of plantain...

Comfrey on the other hand is a great healing herb.  I've been told that it is extremely important that you clean out any wounds before you put a pultice from these leaves on a cut, as otherwise the wound will rapidly heal over and entrap any dirt or bacteria that got into the cut in the cut... and that's not a good thing!  You can also make a tea out of it and drink it, although the government prohibits it's sale for internal consumption based on a study where they force fed it to rats and they got cancer... to put the study in perspective, you'd have to eat like 30lbs a day of this stuff to get the equivalent body weight percentage of it into your body each day... good luck with that and don't take the government's warning too seriously...

A comfrey plant.

The answer...

Well I have to be honest, I think they were both spot on.  If my eldest put the plantain on his wound because it hurt, great job!  If the other wanted comfrey because he wanted it to heal quickly, great job!  If they wanted to use those plants because they've seen daddy do it, well... how many times did you really need triple antibiotic ointment and a band-aid on all the cuts you've gotten? 

Livestock Fencing: Hack #1

Well it seems all the rage these days to talk about hacking things... things ranging from Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server down to a cigarette lighter!  Well I don't know how to hack a computer and all I do with a lighter is adjust the flame and get rid of those child proof things... or harvest the flit for my zippo!

A zippo lighter...

Well instead of talking about Hillary Clinton or lighters, I wanted to do a quick post on another work around that I have come up with.  So let's get to it and I'll do my best to make it quick and informative!

If you mosy on down to the premeir1supplies web site, you can find a product called the PowerLink 4.0.  Now I have had good success with these guys and am happy with everything they have sent me.  That said, this PowerLink 4.0 costs $4.50 (plus shipping if you don't spend over $100).  Now I have one and it works great, but now that I need another one, I'm not dropping that kind of money when I can do it myself!

These things are basically alligator clips with a wire connecting them.  The plastic handle is such that it should keep you from getting zapped if you grap them, carefully, while they are energized by the fence... but in reality, I won't touch them without turning off the fence charger (you can call me a wimp, that doesn't bother me).

Step 1 - Get some gator clips!

Gardner Bender 2" clips

Here's the box of the ones I got... they look like the ones above.

Any old clips should work as long as the wire you have will fit inside them!  These clips came with a screw terminals, which was quite helpful!

Step 2 - Wire

For the wire I used about a 2ft strand of wire I got from extension cord I got from somebodies trash can a few years back!  It had some issues, but I threw on some ends and I still use part of it for different jobs around the house today... this scrap was just right and didn't cost me a thing!

Step 3 - Connectors

For this job, as mentioned above, I crimped on some connectors and screwed them to the terminals on the clips AFTER I put the dust covers over the wire!  I didn't do this at first and later had to cut off a connector and crimp a new one on to get the dust covers on... for connectors I used one of these... and for $12 it is completely worth it!  I should get another one...

This basic kit can allow you to fix so many things!  (Get one!)

Seriously, I've used it to fix my circular saw, make these clips, fix a ladies laundry dryer... these things are really useful!

Step 4 - Put it together

Again, put the dust covers on, crimp on the connectors (I used the red ring connector) and screw the ring connectors to the gator clips... slip the dust covers on and you are done!

Cost

Gator Clips - $1.35
Wire - Free
Connector - $0.05?  It was cheap enough that I don't really care what the cost was!

Price from Premier 1 Supplies - - $4.50

Total Savings: $3.15 and I have it now, not in a few days!


Hope this was helpful to somebody!  Please ask any questions and share any comments.
-Clinton