Gallbladder attack

So here I sit watching my husband rest in a hospital bed.   Could we have prevented this trip to the hospital on our vacation time?  Who knows but probably not that's just the way our luck runs.  His whole family has had some problem with this organ and he still had his until today.  So you ask what is the gallbladder and what does it do?  This is the skinny.

The gallbladder is an organ that is just behind the liver more toward the mid to right side of the body.  It stores bile from the liver.  Bile is an important substance that is made by the liver that is put into the small intestine through the cystic duct to break down and digest the food we eat. More importantly fatty foods.  If something blocks or stops the flow of this bile problems occur.

Symptoms of problems can be sever abdominal pain, pain when eating, heart burn, indigestion, vomiting, nausea, fever, jaundice and in some cases nothing at all. When it hits it can even be as scary as a heart attack because it can even cause chest pains.

The different symptoms may be caused by gallstones deep in the gallbladder, blocking the flow of bile from the cystic duct which is called choleltlithiasis.  Some people can have these stones for years and never know they are there if there is no blockage.

Biliary colic is what used to name severe bouts of pain that gallstones can cause.  Usually only lasting an hour or two.

Inflamed gallbladder or cholecystitis means that your gallbladder is inflamed which can be caused from gallstones, infection, excessive alcohol use or a tumor that causes a back up of bile.

When you have pains that are not normal always consult your doctor or if all else fails get to the hospital or call 911.  It is so scary when you are out-of-town but never take chances with your life.  For gallbladder problems can really only be detected by an ultrasound. 

There is no way to know when something will go wrong with your body but always check with your family for different traits they have.  Such as a family history of diabetes, do what you can to live to enable yourself to not get it or at least lessen your chance of getting it sooner than later. Lowering that risk as much as you can may be one of the ways that could work for you.  Maintain a healthy lifestyle and weight.  With my husband he did have a healthy weight but some of his food choices have been questionable.

Avoid rapid weight loss, or the yo-yo life of fat/thin, fat/thin routine. I do have done that.  I don't think my body knew what to do.   Slow and steady proves to be the best kind of weight loss. Once you lose it do what you can to maintain it.  Exercising with weight management could and many times works the best together.  Exercising can be as easy as a walk around the block, your house or just cleaning.  Do what you can to stay active.  

There is evidence that shows staying away from high saturated fats in foods that is found in fatty meats to be helpful for those that could have gallbladder problems in their family history.  Other items are butter and other animal products.  Add more fiber, fruits, veggies and nuts to your menu.  Cut down on those simple sugars and carbs. Always enjoy life with moderation.  Maybe we can all stay healthy for the year to come!

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" - Benjamin Franklin

WWW.everyday health.com/gallbladder

Special days - Nun Puffs for breakfast

The way I treat my kids for holidays is a simple breakfast treat, the quick and easy nun puff.  In the history of this delicious, delicate puffed goodness says that they we first called nuns farts.  They were dated back into the 15th century French cuisine.  There has been a few takes on this recipe from different places but I found it in my own Betty Crocker cook book.  From that of the Pioneer woman in 2007 and pass the pocky blog in 2009.  There is also variations that deep fry these tasty treats but my way seems to keep making them come back for more.

Here is how it goes:

Preheat oven 350 degrees

Bake time:  20-30 minutes depending on oven.

1/2 cup (stick) butter

1 cup milk

Pinch of salt

3/4 cup flour

4 eggs

Sugar to top

1.  Get out a 4 quart sauce pan add butter and milk.  Melt butter, pinch of salt with milk over medium heat until a slow boil.

2.  Add flour all at once and stir until it becomes a ball shape.   Remove from heat and set aside for 5 minutes.  

3.  Grease or "Pam" small muffin tin of 24 or muffin tin of 12 scup servings.

4.  Stir in each egg one at a time until all four are stored in to batter.

5. Use a table spoon to put the batter on each cup so they are all evenly filled.

6.  Sprinkle sugar on top of each one of the nun puffs.

7.  Bake for 20-30 minutes when sides and top are light brown and puffed up.

When done pull out and place warm puffs on cooling racks or plate.

Serve up something special for your family at special times to help make a tradition your own!

Food for Thought - POMEGRANATE

With this powerful little red seeds wrapped into a ball of  juicy deliciousness can inspire you to create.  

The pomegranate is actually a tree that is native to Iran.  The use of this little red seed has been used for centuries in different cultures for a variety of reasons.  It's written history of its curative qualities had been recorded back in 1500 BC for the treatment of tapeworm and other parasites. They are now cultivated in the Mediterranean areas, parts of the United States, Russia, Afghanistan, India, China, Japan, (WebMD)The shape of some fruits was thought of by the ancients to have symbolic meanings.  With the pomegranate, is round or womb-like and that was to help bring fertility to Turkish brides and they carried it for that reasons (Telesco, 2001).  The ancient Greeks stated that Aphrodite was credited with planting the first Pomegranate tree since some myths that the pomegranate is an aphrodisiac (Avey, 2014).  

The overall functional and medicinal effects of the pomegranate can include improved skin health, improved oral health, improved cardiovascular health, antitumoral, anti-inflammatory properties, antimicrobial properties, antioxidants and antidiabetic properties.  Take a read look at the comprehensive review from the Institute of Food technologist article I have found on this awesome fruit.

We all can have issues with the lack of sunlight so it is easy to get pretty down.  I love to plant in my garden, write, walk the dogs, exercise and just enjoy life but this darkness thing really gets to me.  I went to the grocery store the other day and saw one of my favorite foods, beautiful red pomegranate!  Our warehouse Club has them four to a box as well as the local supermarket had them 2 for $4.  Of course, I picked them up!   They are said to help creativity, which is a great blessing for me.  You can put them in salads, Jell-O, or just eat them plain.  The seeds are so packed with juicy nutrients they are a blast of flavor in your mouth.

There had been much folklore about what this little seed can help with in a person's life such as the relief of a sore throat (page 147 Jude’s herbal home remedies), canker shores & cold sores (page 209 Jude’s).  Keep the folklore alive and check with your family to see if you have any different ways to use products that are a natural high. 

This is the way the fruit stacks up!


48% Vitamin C (common cold, immune system, your eyes cardiovascular disease & skin wrinkling)
58% Vitamin K (helps blood clotting)
27% Folate (B vitamin that is essential for cell growth & metabolism)
22% Copper (good to keep anemia away)

18 Total Carbs (11 grams dietary fiber or 45% dietary fiber (we all need to stay regular) 39 grams sugar)

5 grams of Protein
There is more in them but this is the areas there was the most to see.

My thought is when your body tells you that a food is need it listen.  Need creativity try a pom!  It can help it did for me it may for you!

Avery, Tori. "Learn Why These 10 Foods Are Edible Aphrodisiacs." PBS. PBS, 10 Feb. 2014. Web. 06 Dec. 2015.

"Nutrition Facts." And Analysis for Pomegranates, Raw. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2015.
 http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/2038/2 

Telesco, Patricia. Bubble, Bubble, Toil, & Trouble: Mystical Munchies, Enchanted Edibles, and Other Culinary Wizardry. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2002. Print.  

Viuda-Martos, M., J. Fernandez-Lopez, and J. A. Perez-Alvarez. "Pomegranate and Its Many Functional Components as Related to Human Health: A Review." - Viuda-Martos. Institute of Food Technologists, 2010. Web. 06 Dec. 2015.

WebMD Find a Vitamin or Supplement POMEGRANATE http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-392-POMEGRANATE.aspx?activeIngredientId=392&activeIngredientName=POMEGRANATE

Williams, Jude C., M.H. 1st ed. St. Paul: Llewellyn Publications, 1992. Print. 3rd Printing.

Disclaimer:  As with anything always consult your family doctor when trying a new food, especially if you are on any types of medications.  There can be interactions that can happen.  Over use of any product or the use of a product not for its intended purposes.  I am not a medical doctor and have tried to use reputable websites and books.  This is written to information from the information that I have read and is available.

the glance

Walking tall amid the flames,
passion burns within the vanes.
Whispers to me, 
in the depths of a dream.
Engulfing my soul, 
as it would seems.

Enduring straight forward,
hands of tenderness.
Arranged together by chance
intermingled by the way
that luxuria glance.
Couldn't have imagined 
over sedation that took place,
with such a venomous combination.

Thirsty essences has drawn us near,
soul searching evidence,
has made it clear.
Closer to one another fantasies,
held close to ones core.
Wanting to be part of reality
needing the love, evermore.

Whole temptress plight *******from notes dating 11-3-02********

Whole within my heart

Pieces have fallen into the abyss of black

Feeling as if I can't go back 

Fixing what has been, done in the past

The future should be different

Special circumstances, other people, similar loves, 

Unspeakable evils,  those taken away in the night.

Forbidden as known to those who pray.

Liqueur induced, despise & deduced that

Thoughts of suicide always penetrate this life.

Pieces are missing, inside myself

Still same results, desire that derail into the inferno blaze

 Happy to unhappy trails lingering in the down of the buzz.

Other side of the tracks caused life with all that has been held back 

Til I write in a matter of gray and black

Always assuming the worse, holding growth seemingly forever back.

Don't know where all the roads go.

Looking for answers, none are the straight forward star of this show 

A beauty who's  friendless, the one is she, a threat of unendless hurt can it be

For you, it's she, in the mirror, its me, the soul that is burnt some days feeling beyond belief.

Too pretty or that attitude prevail all the while 

The fun those made, so alone and hurt, could have made her fail

As a friend, or a lover, a good person or that other

The one threat is the one inside 

Shiny the hair, sparkle of the eyes, the never ending tears

Holding on to the hope, dreams of the stars seen in the sky

Through the day and the night of one grief stricken plight.

Negative blessed temptress, blacked heart, exposed 

A whole ripped everyday apart, by the demons of the flesh and soul.

self inside fire

Self destruction

in masses

in corruption

tune in 

not letting out

internal fire 

raging higher

consuming any hope

left within the soul

head is throbbing

Satan's robbing

happiness that may

appear to give hope

1917 fireplace in a basement

What do you do with this
it is a fire place in the basement of a 1917 house.
It is so beautiful but it is not functional
The home now has a furnace in it
I would love to give it some new life
to make the basement beautiful and cozy again
I love the brick work
I love to have this old home become a new gem

Really grandma

Too many pictures for her today I guess.

Artwork by Paulie June 1, 2012

Art work by Paulie April 30, 2012

can you feel it, too

I hate the feeling in my stomachs

The problems I feel in my gut

Something big is going to happen

Traumatic caterpillars twisted and turned

started before Paris erupted.

 I felt it, the ripple                            It was prominent!

I couldn't prevent what happened

Black veil of malevolent turmoils 

I feel far beyond where                          I exist.

Can't find quiet

Can't find peace

Only chaos                                   within my being

The screams, the yells,
the panic, the mayhem.

Every word

spoken or                                         thought

Every letter 

Texted or typed

Wondering                                         of . . .

Second guess                              every move

Every time                           walking in those shoes

Which way to think                       which way 

Do I need to go?                        who will lose?

Where hope . . .many not

Life support                              only waiting

the other shoe to fall

                                                 eventually

D
    r
         o
              p

The name

My name  Silver wine                    

The name Silver wine was developed by my brother, St. Nic of Detroit, aka Nicodemus, Chongo, James Chongo Houvener (among other name).

I asked for help from him and he gave it to me freely.  I never had anyone critique my writing because I was scared of others making fun of it or worse yet all the personal hurts that I experienced would then be exposed.  Kinda like standing in the middle of town with no cloths on feeling.  I was lost in my life, at that time, when he decided to help me develop my writing.  I could not trust anyone, at least looking at my writing, and in many areas of my life I found out later.

Stepping back a few, prior to the name inception, I was a house wife with two children.  I had always written poems, stories, plays, essays and different types of material for emotional outlet and release.  I had books and journals always scattered around where ever I was.  My best friends in my times of great sorrow and disparity were dictionaries and a thesaurus.  I met St. Nic at a graduation party in 1984 at that time his brother was was my boyfriend of about 1 month.  St. Nic was always really mysterious but most of all he was an artist.  He wrote music, played in his own band, and was very colorful in nature.  The tattoos were amazing and his music somewhat psychedelic but moving.  I was sort of a wild spirit and he warned his brother that I could be a handful.  His insight was always spot on!  Later on in his life he developed inoperable brain cancer.  

His battles with cancer were always one step into the grave while still trying to be a loving husband and father as well as a musician and artist.  We were never really too close in the beginning because our contact had been few and far between events. About 7 years passed and there I sat in marriage with two children.  I was in a mode because our household because my husband worked quite a bit and I did not have a job outside the home.  I found myself trying to find purpose again as a person.   Not remembering how we actually started talking again, I think it was just after Christmas dinner at the in-laws.  

I decided to help out my brother because it seemed like something I could do to make a difference.  My husband would go to work in Detroit. After I would drop him off I would drive to St. Nics home with the kids.  Sometimes I would take him to doctors, the pharmacy, the store or some days back to my house just to get him out of his because his days became so long.  I would basically share what my family had because that was what you did, help family, right? After a while I felt comfortable letting him see my work.  He put together a mixture of my poems, edited them and critiqued them.  He looked over their format and content of what many I had written. After some time, he told me to get it published by what ever means I could and get my work out there at different venues.  

Life then got very complicated because I went in too many directions. So that is for another time.  As for the name here is what he stated about why he felt silver wine was a good pen name for me.

Silver is a precious metal I was precious to him and his family because I was there helping and enjoying life with them.

Silver has malleable qualities and with my writing he found that I was quickly learning from the tips he had given me.

Silver has the highest know electrical and thermal conductivity of all the metals - he told me that I was a very loving person who gave warmth to all that knew me. 

Silver has reflective qualities and he felt my work always reflected the real me.

As for wine when it ages and is better with time.  He looked over much of my writing and from what I had produced in the 80's compared to what I was writing in the 90's he felt just kept getting better.

So as of now, I am working on my self again.  The writing does not flow like it did but I do have a book of poems to finish.  I had it on a word processer back then now I have to start over once more putting them in a system to print.  Maybe before was not my time.  St. Nic has now passed away from his cancer but I still have the book of poems in the same setup that he sent it to me in, literally the same mailing envelope.  I have intermittently started and stopped this poem book and will finish it with his name on it as intended.  

So that is what is all about the name Silver wine.  Thank you Nicodemus, Spidy & Blu for welcoming me into your family!

• http://facebook.com/stnicofdetroit

Check out - It's Just another day - The Webcomic
Bringing you closer to a man and his son of vision

IV in your hand

IV's are terrible when they are done by people who think they know what they are doing.

I hate bruise on my hand

I hate the pain of the needle going into other areas they are not suppose to be. In those spots have no veins or

When they move it around to find the right spot.  

The bruising and the pain do not go away for weeks.  

My hands are my source of feeling.

  The touch of warmth.  

I need my hands to write 

I need my hands to sew

I need my hands to read books

Warm soothing water

 a good soak

Any other suggestions?

The Lady of the Lake by Sir Walter Scott

Did you ever wonder why some books are just sitting around waiting for someone to read?  I love book and even though we have the ability to read them on our tablet, computer, phone or some other electronic devise, pages turned by my finger always seems more fun.   I have a book that I bought at a second hand store in 2013 by Walter Scott called The Lady of the Lake.   It is pretty cool that we have a drawn figure on the book.  Keeping books in good shape can be difficult with children but it does give more character to the surface.

His name has a Sir in front of it so now he is called Sir Walter Scott from Edinburgh, Scottland.  Born August 15th 1771 and died in Roxburgh, Scottland, September, 21st, 1832. (1)

Canto Second

The Island

XXXI

There are who have, at midnight hour,
In slumber scaled a dizzy tower, 
And, on the verge that beetled o'er
The ocean Tide's incessant roar            695
Dreamed calmly out their dangerous dream,
Till wakened by the morning beam;
When, dazzled by the eastern glow,
Such startler cast his glance below,
And saw unmeasured depth around,      700
And heard unintermitted sound,
And thoughtthe battled fence so frail,
It waved like cobweb in the gale;
Admid his senses' giddy wheel,
Did he not desperate impulse feel,         705
Headlong to plunge himself below,
And meet the worst his fears foreshow?
Thus Ellen, dizzy and astound,
As sudden ruin yawned around,
By crossing terrors wildly tossed,          710
Still for the Douglas fearing most,
Could scarce the desperate thought withstand,
To buy his safety with her hand.

Sir Walter began writing this in August 1809 while on holiday with his family.  He was in Trossachs by the shores and islands of Loch Katrine. (2)

The poem was the struggles between King James V and the powerful Douglas clan.  This struggle began because of the banishment from his realm they received from the King.  

My thoughts on this part of the poem talks about the love affair between the James of Douglas's daughter Ellen and Malcolm Graeme.  In the full canto of the island you can see the blossoming of their love.    For Ellen is in the Dru castle tower.  Malcolm thinks of her while she sleeps and all the misery on the outside yet calmly she sleeps until the morning eastern glow.  She would only hear small sounds of him with the thought that he must go.  He feels like he went into her heart, as she did in his, too fast and their fears of having problems with the clan chief Rodrick Dru.  Still he had faith that their love will see them through.  No matter how desperate the situation was, he felt fortunate knowing that when they are hand in hand he felt safe.

This is totally different from what many think it is.  This is not part of the King Aurther Ledgend.  Nevertheless it still is beautiful and powerful to read.

1. Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Sir-Walter-Scott-1st-Baronet
2. Walter Scott 

walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk

Nature

Wild Sunflower

Full Moon to eclipse 2015

Shell Creek Falls, Wyoming       

Fall 2015

Ava Looking at fall

Fall Open Road 2015

Fall Tree colors

Momma & Daddy together 

Sweet williams