I keep forgetting to blog about my titres. My tetanus titres, that is. I had an appointment with my GP ages ago, during which he brought up the fact that I have not had a tetanus booster shot. My GP knows that we do not give our kids any vaccines. So he tells me I’m “due for a booster” and asks if I’m interested. Despite the fact that I already know the answer is no*, I ask him to test my titres and see if my immunity had waned before considering the booster cutting a cheque to a pharmaceutical company out of the goodness of my heart. He tells me he has never tested anyone’s titres before. (And this man is at the finishing end of his medical career). He doesn’t even know how to request it, just scrawls “tetanus titre” on my requisition and says he’s “interested to see how it goes.”
WELL, it went great! A smidge of blood and a week later and I find out I am still considered to be immune to tetanus. I like to imagine that my GP has a new outlook on boosters and is checking titres before cramming vaxes into bodies that (even in the eyes of Western medicine) don’t need them. I’d guess that’s quite unlikely. So I’m just putting it out there to any reader who vaccinates, that before you sign up for your next booster, request to have your titres to said VPD checked. Easy as pie.
I updated the BabyWearing page here to include my new Didymos baby wrap but I don’t think I’ve mentioned it in blog form. The Didymos? It’s about 12 shades of awesome. It has been woven from awesome fibres, dipped in awesome sauce. I had no interest in the woven wraps. I thought they looked hot and a little fugly. The Didymos is neither. It is just awesome. Comfortable as a carrier can get and really pretty in a plain way. (At least the one I have is, I think they make some fancier fabrics). Here is a LINK to a demo video of the rucksack style carry Meeps is in. Rucksack with a twist.
I made strawberry jam the other day. I was feeling pretty good about myself after I got the first batch done. I had done pretty much every step with Maggie attached to me and I felt all SUPERMAMA. As I cast my eyes over the mess in my wake, I saw my box of Certo. UNOPENED. Yeah. Oops. Nothing like making the same batch of jam TWICE while wearing your baby scarf to take you down a few pegs.
Pictures of delicious organic berries and the scumlins. (The frothy sugary goo scraped off the top of the cooked jam). I tried using alternative non-Certo type pectins to make jam, and making them without sugar. But they just weren’t as good. We don’t eat a lot of jam and when we want to eat it, we want it JAMMY. So I am back to Certo and (organic cane) sugar.
Missing Daddy today. It’s his walk-in day at the shop (Fridays all summer long). They’re great, they bring in a lot of people. But they blow because there’s no Daddy all day. He leaves before the kids are up and doesn’t get home until after midnight. I’m about to go do chicken/goat chores and take a cup of caffienated tea up to bed in hopes of seeing him again tonight.
Yesterday Meeps did not do stairs. She wouldn’t even do ONE stair. The single step down from our house to our front porch completely impeded her explorative ways. She wouldn’t leave the house, she wouldn’t try to get off the bed, she wouldn’t get down from our bed to Bobs bed (which is a mattress right beside ours).
Last night she figured out how to lower herself down onto Bob’s bed. MUCH to his horror. While I was making dinner, she decided to climb our slippery and rail-less stair case. MUCH to my horror. I’ve barricaded the stairs at the bottom (there’s already a child gate at the top). But I can tell she’s plotting.
A while back I blogged about getting several hundred pictures of Mags printed. Well, I may have printed them all, but only a handful have made it into albums. And it turns out they didn’t come in chronological order from the printer. And I have a few hundred more yet to prep and print. Anyone interested in helping me out with this project will be generously rewarded with cheese….. YARG.
*Why is the answer no? In brief: tetanus, even in the pre-vaccine era was very rare; the conditions that allow tetanus to develop are very rare as tetanus can only grow in an oxygen free environment. If a wound is exposed to air or any blood at all there is no chance of the tetanus spores (which are everywhere) developing into the tetanus bacteria.**
**Said information has been gleaned not from a sourceless website or baseless rumor, but from the CDC.
As a fellow “jammer” I LOVE LOVE LOVE and always use certo these days…it NEVER fails for the tough jams like chokecherry, and I’ve had it fail numerous times with other pectins.
I think you and the family need to come down to So. Dak for a visit…you can teach me to make cheese and I’ll teach you how to process deer
Not to mention the hubbys can go and target shoot. And Lilly will fawn all over Bob and Maggie – not that Bella won’t but Lil is older 
Dude I would be there in a minute. When day dreaming about commune life, you’re #1 on my list.
Thanks hon…it’s nice to be noticed every now and then
Not to mention..I’m in neighbor hell..Well a person from down the street thinks Vincent is the antichrist because he’s not inside playing nothing but video games. And he has the nerve to have an opinion. If you had a commune I’d sooooo be moving the family to it!
Try Pomona’s Universal Pectin. It uses calcium for gelling rather than sugar, and I’ve made some good low-sugar strawberry jam with it.
have you seen this scary piece of news? http://www.cnsnews.com/Public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=51115
HOME VISTIS???? wtf????
Rebecca – They are fucking loutish criminals.
Elaine – I’ve used Pomona, didn’t quite suit me. I really WANTED to like it!
Jaime – That sucks. Your neighbour and my shitty neighbour should start their OWN commune.
:P:P
Let’s shoot em to the moon!
Hmmmm…jam. I havent ventured into jam yet at all, though i do consider myself the queen of apple and pumpkin butters. I wanted to make gooseberry jam, but all the wild gooseberry bushes we knew about are either cut down or have not produced any fruit this year, sniff sniff sniff. I need to figure a way to link you to my pictures of my almost 7 year old wearing two year old Freya in my ball baby overall girasol wrap conversion carrier-she wore her for two hours at the zoo!
tetanus shots hurt too! good to know i can ask my doctor about my titer level from now on.
I gave a big fat pass on my booster recently, great that you gave your doc food for thought. Our practice are obsessed with vaccinations, especially since my sister (age 15) hasn’t had a single one, oh the pressure.
When you say YARG I doubt you’re talking about http://www.thecheeseshed.com/cornish-yarg-11-p.asp BUT OMG this the most awesome cheese ever. When I lived in the city, miles from Yarg production I used to catch about 4 buses just to get to the one deli that stocked it.
if your interested in commune life shoot me an email. i’ll quickly quit my job, grab my boyfriend, pack our stuff and head on up.
If you ever start shipping your cheese or soaps, I would love to try them!!
Here’s a joke for you.
“I got an ant farm. Them fellas didnt grow shit!”…. =P
Love swoon xo
awesome awesome awesome- blackberry jam in process of making RIGHT NOW…
as for the flyers- the cursive font is a bit of a strain on the eyes…
What a beautiful life you have.
Knowing there are folks like you out there, I’m almost rooting for the decline-and-fall thingy.
I used to do titrations back in chem class in highschool! I didn’t realise they were so useful! Thanks for posting about that. Meeps is such a doll, look at that grin. Your kids make me so clucky. Its ridiculous.
thanks for the titre news. i didn’t even know one could do that! i don’t know why docs don’t put this stuff out there. the medical profession seems so secretive in this country.
i actually learned something new today! thanks =)
I think you just inspired me to make jam this weekend. We made dills last weekend and with our stupefying bumper crop of cukes I think I’ll be making more before the week is out. Also while wearing a baby scarf. Although I suppose Finn is more like a toddler parka.
I’m making chokecherry jam this weekend!
What a beautiful kitty! My mom works at the Goderich shelter, and I used to volunteer there regularly! Thank you for your adoption, I know they appreciate it so much. So many cats all the time.
I hope your Meeps gets better, poor girl.
I’ve used Pomona – and what I thought was two separate packets of pectin, was actually a pack of calcium and a pack of pectin for mixing together… went to make my second jam batch and realized my mistake! AH! I hated Pomona till I realized I messed up – I need to try it again. I have never heard of the brand you mentioned.
beautiful new kitty and kiddos.
I found my pets on petfinder!
HI!
I was wondering what your take is on the (general) flu shot and this H1N1 shot that the government is so keen to purchase? There is so much media attention on getting the shot, when/how much of the H1N1 shot will the made available etc. Obviously one does not want to put children/yourself at risk (shot or no shot depending on perspective). A good immune system that kicks ass is ideal but not always guaranteed…. how does this fit into your immunization views?
Thanks for your thoughts!
Jules: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBeKB7aKzOs
We’re not immuno-comprimised so we’ve got no reason to consider vaccination.
Cool. Well, actually really alarming. But thank you for the link.
I am probably naive, as this question will demonstrate…. but do you really believe these viruses were purposely unleashed on populations (i.e. for “priming” purposes and profit realization)? That just seems so evil. I know money is a HUGE motivating force but I just can’t wrap my head around why someone/people etc. would do such a thing. It seems like something out of the movies, or Inspector Gadget with the “bad guy(s)” in a shadowy black layer and an evil cat plotting mass destruction.
Good to get this perspective though.
I think people would do lots of things for money. And it’s not like millions money, it’s billions and beyond. No shadowy blackness either, most of this stuff is pretty transparent – rushing FDA approvals, shelving of adverse reactions claims, lack of testing. The incriminating evidence is in plain sight if you choose to look.
I have no idea really if H1N1 was unleashed purposefully, but it certainly seems like a possibility.
Interesting, especially your choice of words. “If you choose to look” really drove it home. Thanks for your perspective, good food for thought.