Jess: Really like the links you gave on making baby-powder recipe. THANK YOU. I have Calendula flowers in my garden (it's a perennial): "1/2 cup arrowroot powder & 1 tsp chamomile or calendula flowers, powdered in the blender or food processor or a few drops of chamomile essential oil." Chronic sinus can also be from allergies to cat-dander. When I first met my husband, he had 4 cats, I constantly sneezed from the cat's hair. He gave away 3, and kept only one cat. I washed his cat weekly, to decrease the dander, so I won't sneeze so much. Now we have zero cat, bad-allergy. However, probiotics like L. Rhamnosus GG (in Culturelle and Solgar Advanced Multi-billion Dophilus) ... that strain of bacteria is proven to slash pneumonia in half, so it helps with membrane in sinus & lung. I gave my 13-year-old daughter Culturelle, Hyperbotics, Solgar, plus Kefir for that past 5 days. I meant to decrease her oily secretions so she has less facial pimples .. and that ended up lessened underarm odor. She's allergic to chemical deodorant, so she uses Milk-of-Magnesia ... magnesium hydroxide has a drying effect, but doesn't last long. Last night I sniffed her shirt before putting in laundry... Wow !! Barely noticable odor, same with my clothes, I can easily wear the same clothes & undies twice, since the probiotics suppress the bad-odor-causing bacteria. That's the logic for daily consumption of Kefir and pickled veggies: less body odor. There's studies that show babies born through C-section has more allergies than babies born through birth-canal. Below excerpt is written by a microbiologist: "For example, during pregnancy, the composition of bacteria in a woman’s vagina changes so that there is a higher concentration of Lactobacillus, a kind of bacteria that aids in the digestion of milk. While he or she might eventually get colonized, a baby born by cesarean section will miss out on immediately acquiring these beneficial bacteria. Dutch researchers recently published a study in the journal Pediatrics showing that infants with colic have more bacteria that are known to produce gas, whereas anti-inflammatory bacteria that live in the vaginal canal are more common in colic-free infants. Health problems that are more common in children born by C-section, such as obesity, asthma, allergies, type 1 diabetes, food allergies, eczema, and celiac disease. While there is still much we don’t know, alterations to the gut microbiome might connect these conditions to what some have dubbed the "cesarean epidemic" in our country and around the globe." http://www.thedailybeast.com/witw/articles/2013/06/02/babies-born-by-cesarean-section-may-not-gain-benefits-of-vaginal-microbiome.html

I never really thought about it, but quite possibly. Although women were really forced in during WWI (in Europe and somewhat in America) and WWII (Europe and America) and never chose to leave. Their choice, and if they didn't want to, I'm fine with that. Not that it wouldn't have happened anyway with the social trends in place, I'm thinking; both my grandmothers and all my great-aunts had at least a bachelor's-- a bit unusual for my generation. Nowadays it's much more normal. My mother didn't choose to stay home after my formative years and more power to her. As to why we're so resistant to stay-at-home fathers is another story. :-) On the other hand, I learned to cook (clean, wash, sew, and so on) at quite appropriate ages, and did so for the family as I grew. Simple meals aren't time-consuming and can be pre-prepared with some assistance. But we're really drifting off the base subject now. :-) I did see on the NYT that 1.3 million were receiving the vaccine daily: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html But those would be first doses.

Those that are immuno-suppressed such as those on chemo have been advised to wear masks in public for decades, nothing new about that. But to expect those that have been vaccinated to continue to wear masks tells people that the vaccines are ineffective. Israel has proven that they are effective, they have closed all their covid wards due to lack of patients. To continue punishing and inconveniencing those fully vaccinated with unnecessary requirements will reduce the rate of vaccination. We don't know what level of herd immunity is required to end new infections but we must be close due to the rapid drop in numbers. Funny, last year most posters here vehemently denied that herd immunity was a solution. The numbers from "experts" for achieving herd immunity are going to be overly cautious and much higher than necessary, the CYA mentality.

I had shingles when I was a kid. It was only one pin prick-sized dot, but lordy how it itched and hurt! My sis had had a bad case a few years before, early 70's (mother had never heard of shingles and thought it was poision ivt; was a wide ring almost around her body when mother finally took her to the doc); that's how my mother knew what I had. Back then, the only treatment was B6 shorts (or was it B12? not sure, but it was one or the other). My sis had to go every day for 2 weeks for a shot; I only had to have one. Got the Shingrix as soon as I could; had to wait because there was a shortage. A tip: don;t get it at the same time as a flu shot! Ugh, felt like crap the next day!