I have come up with a wonderful cure for cats with ringworm (and I'm sure it's safe for kitties too). First, let me give you a back story or scroll down to read what I have been doing to get rid of ringworm on my cat. I noticed the first lesion about 3 weeks ago. I was unaware it was ringworm at the time. It looked similar to what could have been a bite from another animal. She is an indoor cat BUT we do have a pesky little mouse so that was just my first thought. About a week later she had another lesion on her back and I noticed her first lesion was expanding and very red. The new lesion was red and shiny. That's when I did my research and figured out it was most likely ringworm. I kind of wanted to just ignore the whole situation because it made me uncomfortable. I went into denial and told myself it would just go away. I was wrong. I ended up finding a small spot on my stomach a few days later. This really put me in a panic and that's when I decided I had to treat this WITHOUT going to the vet. Vets can be very beneficial for many things, but not for ringworm . Ringworm is completely treatable and is not as serious as it may sound. It does not harm your cat or make your cat sick. It is more of just a pain in the ass. Your vet will most likely charge you over 200 for a diagnosis and "testing", and another 200 for medication and follow-ups. Who even knows, but that vet bill will come out to be over $400 for something that is completely treatable at home. So as of today, my cat is healing. The lesions are turning into a pale grey, the color of her fur, which I am assuming is the natural color of her skin. The lesions are not spreading or growing. We sprayed the house down with bleach and washed our cloths in apple cider vinegar and/or aloe vera. (Both can be found at walmart...ACV= $2. Aloe=$8. ) CURE RINGWORM ON YOUR KITTY FOR LESS THAN $10 !!! CLEAN THE &*#T OUT OF YOUR HOUSE. SERIOUSLY.....EVERYTHING. Spray furniture with apple cider vinegar mixed with aloe vera. Doesn't smell and it won't ruin anything. 1. apply aloe vera to kittys lesions 5-6 times a day. Hold kitty or distract them before they can start licking. Let it soak in for 1-2 minutes before you let them start licking. 2. Give them a bath at some point. Mix over the counter cat shampoo with aloe vera. Use lots and lots of aloe vera, and just a little shampoo. 3. Spray a mixture of aloe vera/apple cider vinegar/water on your cats lesions and under their nails. Spray it in their ears...on their butt...everywhere...6-10 times a day. And use this spray on your furniture and clothing. Use it everywhere. Hope that helps. I didn't see results for about a week with my cat. She is doing a lot better but we still don't let her in our room or on the bed. And we still are cleaning and bleaching consistantly. Oh yeah and for my ringworm..... had to put bleach on it. I don't recommend this but nothing else worked. It was my last resort but it does work. Also, I have been washing my hair and body in aloe vera. All seems to be helping. My boyfriend has not gotten a single lesion and mine has not spread anywhere else. make sure you still treat your kittys ringworm even after weeks that it has completely healed. I will be doing the same routine to my cat for about 2 months after her ringworm goes away. I'll do baths every 2 weeks.

I would prefer not to live my life without having an Aloe Vera plant in my garden. It is SO useful - it's fantastic on minor burns, on insect bites, as a moisturiser, in fact on just about any of life's little scratches and scrapes. It's other name is First Aid Plant. Lemon Balm is excellent rubbed on as an insect repellent, but will ease the pain of insect bites very quickly. Lavender tea or the essential oil is very good for burns, and if bathed in or dabbed onto the forehead, will ease a headache. A leaf of yarrow is the best styptic ever - it stops bleeding. Wonderful if you've been too enthusiastic when shaving! Comfrey leaves make an excellent poultice for sprains and bruises and muscular soreness. Very soothing for tendonitis, too. Soapwort and chickweed are two of the best treatments for a range of skin problems, including eczema and psoriasis. Then there are the antifungal herbs like thyme or tea-tree and many others which are used externally to treat thrush and tinea and ringworm. There are many herbs used externally for things like cold sores - St. John's Wort, Hyssop, Myrrh, Peppermint, to name a very few. You could even say that herbs used in sleep pillows are used externally for medicinal purposes. Lavender, Hops, Roses and many others all have relaxant properties when used in this way. Of course 'external use' must include cosmetics like face and handcreams, shampoos etc. The list of herbs used in such products is endless, but you must include lavender and roses in the list of popular ones. Rosemary and sage are frequently used in hair rinses etc. In one way or another, cosmetic herbs have 'medicinal' uses - adjusts oiliness or dryness of the skin, treats dandruff etc. Here's a short list of vulnerary herbs - all used externally on wounds as a sort of 'first aid', in washes or as poultices: Aloe Vera, Agrimony, Arnica, Bistort, Burdock, Calendula, Chickweed, Cleavers, Comfrey, Elder, Elecampane, Fenugreek, Flaxseed, Garlic, Gentian, Goldenseal, Horsetail, Hyssop, Liquorice, Lungwort, Marshmallow, Mullein, Plantain, Poke Root, Rosemary, ShepherdÂs Purse, Slippery Elm, St. JohnÂs Wort, Thyme, Turmeric, Witch Hazel, Wood Betony, Yarrow. These are just a few examples of herbs used externally - there are thousands of remedies using thousands more.

I have always tilled, but this year I am going to try a garden without tilling. However, it has taken me several years to get to this point and I still don't know if my ground is ready for this, but it has been covered with leaves all winter. I don't mean a few, and although it has packed down some, they went on at least 6-8 inches thick. Some were mulched very fine and some not so much. I also plan to add compost to the surface. I had some areas near the fence that had lots of roots and not very good soil. I grew cherry tomatoes there this year and had cardboard mulch around them. I put bricks on the cardboard as I was placing it, then put on tomato cages and anchored them down. I ran out of mulch before I got some of the cardboard covered and since my neighbors would have to be standing at the fence to see it, I didn't worry too much about it. Once the cardboard got wet it stayed on the ground and wasn't slick, but it still lasted through the season and stopped the weeds and grass from coming through. The year before, I used cardboard with hay over it and all of my squash got vine borers. It worked fine for the tomatoes and peppers, but not the squash, so I know I can't do that again. Of course, I live in a wet climate unlike many of you. I think last year by the first of June I had already gotten about 26 inches of rain. If it looks like that is going to happen this year, then I will be setting out a lot more transplants rather than planting seeds. Some years I get things planted later than I would like because it is hard to find time to till and plant because the ground is too wet. Not having to till should help with that. I noticed with my broccoli last year, the size of the heads was directly proportional to the amount of sunlight it got. I planted it in a new place and it got sun from noon until sunset, but one end got a little more. In the Summer that would have been lots of sun, but in the Spring it wasn't enough. The end of the bed that got sunshine first did much better. Cardboard is almost a miracle for the garden. It not only works as mulch to hold moisture, it suppresses weeds and more importantly shades out grass, and the worms love it. It must create perfect conditions for them. On the other hand, it is ugly and needs to be covered. I hate to use dangerous chemicals in the garden and most years I don't even think about them. Last year my DH burned out a few things with a torch, but if I didn't have such a wet spring, I might not feel that was safe to do. We have been trying to remove some growth from the chain link fence and that just seemed to be something else to try. I try to be very careful what I use in the garden, but as I was enlarging the garden, I did use Round-up to kill the grass. Then after I planted in it I used cardboard. I have grown Spring crops with and without mulch and I am just as happy without it. I plant them pretty close and they shade the ground around them. I usually start mulching when the tomatoes and peppers go into the ground. I have to do it when I plant them because very soon they are so crowded that I can barely walk through to harvest and I wouldn't have room to mulch then. I have bought several types of landscape fabric and none were worth bring home. LOL I guess there are some good ones out there, but I never find them. I eventual use the mistakes tho, because I usually just stretch some out on top of the grass and put the containers on top of it to keep the grass from coming up through the holes. Most years (not last year) I have about 20 containers in my side yard which is one of the few places I have full sun. That is my garden overflow. I have a walkway through my garden which is made of brick size concrete pavers. It took some time to put down but can be moved if I need to move it. After I fell on my face one winter, I decided it was necessary. The ground had been frozen and the sun came out and thawed about the top half inch. I darted around the end of a cattle panel and went down, and I had mud from my forehead to my toes. That Spring I built a walkway. Chandra, I think your garden is lovely, and you had more weather issues than any of us last year and you still had a harvest. I would not want to fight the grass and in your case, I think I would use a chemical to kill the grass. Then I would try to find the 'good' landscape fabric like Dawn uses and put it between the paths. I would then order a load of sand and put on top of it. That would be a lot better for the kids to be on than gravel. You wouldn't have to worry about getting rocks in your lawn and if you ever had to sell your home, you could just spread it out if your buyer wanted turf again instead of garden beds.....and the rest of us could be there to steal the beds. LOL

I sliced my foot open a while back and I found using just plain old vegetable oil and then using a gallon zip bag. You have to first understand that your feet have NO oiling mechanism like the rest of your body.......they simply depend on sweat to moisturize. The worst thing you can do is go barefoot and take super hot showers!! I learned quite a bit about feet as we have had so many family members with diabetes and foot issues that coincide. Now I soak my feet in lemon juice and water for half an hour-warm water, then apply a coat of Flexitol Foot Balm, and I use the zip bags because you can zip it but it isn't strangling the leg and blood supply but it's enough to create plenty of moisture. This method has worked very well for me.