Splattered across the printed cotton flannelette top was evidence
of a blueberry dance that occurred, earlier that morning, without my
knowledge. ... I had been making a bit of jam to catch the berries
before they spoiled. Now, the anticipation of homemade blueberry jam
was marred by the sad reality of its new application, called a stain,
upon a favourite top. ... How could I have been so careless!
These blueberry crystals were not part of the garment's original
design or colour swath. ... Following my own dictum of doing nothing
or choosing the path of least resistance when confronted with a
difficult problem, I took the top to the sink and wet the tiny blue
stains, hoping some incredible thought would enter my mind to fix the
mess I had created. (Letting a stain dry or using the dryer before
removing stains sets the stains forever.)
I went about the rest of my
day. Even 'old' ladies have important things to do. In my world they
are called Mr. Wiggles, Miss S, Tiggy our sick little kitty cat and
sometimes visiting dognitaries, cousins, Mall Cop and Miss E, his
younger sister. ...The afternoon wore on, as afternoons generally do.
Each time I passed the sink, I dampened the areas adorned with those
dainty bluish dots. ... After several hours, I was left wondering,
“Where are those dots?” By the next day, they were gone! The stains I had worried about had simply
disappeared. Water's application and patience worked their magic,
incredibly and unknowingly. ...It was an absolutely thrilling resolution to a seeming hopeless dilemma created by me. ...
It was a family gathering when my new discovery was verified once
again. ... Sliced watermelon was now being passed around the dinner
table, a fitting end to a delicious meal. Suddenly, drops of this
juicy fruit's nectar began to fall onto his shirt. Without missing a
beat, I motioned him quickly into the 'room' to help save his
much-prized garment. Another amazing disappearing act was in the
process of unfolding. With a few drops of water placed on the
characteristic red drops, the random stains began to fade. (“It was
important to keep the stain damp”, I cautioned him). Disbelief
enveloped us. He left with renewed optimism that his shirt would see
another day. ....
We had met at the fair, for a brief moment. His wife
and I had been talking before he sat down to eat. His corned beef
sandwich covered in mustard; French fries, with ketchup, were the
star attractions when the unthinkable happened. ... Down his crisp
white t-shirt went the familiar yellow, red trail. His reaction to
this newly worn, now stained, white t-shirt told the painful story.
“Keep it wet until you get home” I cautioned him as he tried to
wipe the condiment rainbow off his shirt. The familiar colourful line
slowly began to fade before we left the picnic table. The
t-shirt would see another day and water had made its mark, yet again.
Water is a universal liquid. It keeps all of nature and all of
mankind alive. It is critical to our survival! It was now being used
in a simple and strategic way to address a universal problem facing
all of us: stain removal. We were using a gift from mother nature to
solve a problem from mother nature's garden. How cool was that! I
was not using chemicals, soaps or other reagents, things that can
harm us, our children, our pets, our clothing or create allergic
reactions. I was simply using water to fix a common clothing problem
we all face.
It was late Thursday evening when my husband noticed the
wound on the neck of our one-year-old yellow retriever, Mr. Wiggles,
as he slept on the carpet nearby. It must have been there for a
while. The reddened skin had not been punctured, oozing only
slightly, as I attempted to gingerly separate the sticky strands of the matted darkened
fur above it. The wound was a mystery to us. How and where had it
happened? His playground was a contained, safe wonder world for
creatures large and small. In an instant I thought of the
remarkable 'antibiotic' I had nearby, a wonder solution, called
Silver hydrosol, in its small spray bottle. (This natural
'antibiotic', a natural cleansing agent/antiseptic lotion, has been
around, in a manner of speaking, since 400 B.C). Its application this
night, was quick, easy, painless, and so readily available and
affordable. An appt. was made, the next day, in conjunction with one
already on the books for Tiggy, our sick little kitty cat, for Monday morning,
a three-day gap in time. In the meantime, I would apply the silver
hydrosol solution, steadily, over the weekend and see its wondrous effects on
the wound. By the end of the weekend, the wound, its telltale scab
gone, seemed to be on its way to healing. Even its location on Mr. Wiggle's neck
was hard to find. A medical mystery was now underway, an
anecdote in our family's pet history. ...
In the final analysis,
keeping an open mind always keeps all manner of information flowing
and the wonders of simple, accessible, time-honoured strategies close
at hand for all emergencies, large, small or not at all!
