If I had an ailment, all I had to do was mention it to grammy and she would sort through her mind for the perfect solution to my ailment.
The one "tonic" she had for a cold was a Hot Toddy. That hot toddy would kill you or cure you. First of all she would say.....now you have to make this at home because I know your dad has some whiskey. She would tell me she didn't keep whiskey in the house because she was afraid gramps would drink it. Her recipe for the Hot Toddy was one shot of whiskey in a tea cup, then squeeze the juice of one lemon in the cup and add one tablespoon of sugar and fill with hot water. I'd make that Toddy and start sweating profusely. I guess that was the purpose....sweat out the cold. I would go to bed that night still sweating, but awake in the morning feeling much better....thanks for grammy and her Hot Toddy remedy.
The "B" in Basil is for blood is what grammy always told me. She said to go out and get some basil leaves and put it on your food so your blood flowed freely.
have on the pantry shelf. She said it could be used to settle an upset tummy, as an antihistimine, for arthritis, to thin your blood, and a sore throat. She always said to make a cup of tea and put ginger and sugar in it so it tasted good.
Although I never had it before she told me her cure for ringworm.....put a penny in vinegar and let it sit until the penny is green. Wash the ringworm with this vinegar penny water 2 or 3 times a day.
She told me that fig syrup was a very good laxative. She said that many years ago you could buy fig syrup laxative but she always made hers by boiling the figs and adding sugar. I know I have that recipe and will locate it.
One time I got a cut on my arm when I was out in the barnyard. She said to wash the cut with soap and water and to put honey on the cut. She said the honey would kill the germs and would help heal the cut and would prevent a scar. She was right....it did all of those things. From personal experience I know that 1 tablespoon of honey mixed with one tablespoon of cider vinegar is the best thing for a sore throat.....take it several times a day....if you can get by the taste of vinegar that is.
Grammy didn't tell me but a dear friend of mine told me a home cure for hemorrhoids....she said to use Vicks Vapor Rub on the hemorrhoids....it worked!!! I've told many people this and they have tried it and were totally surprised that it worked....then I told my daughter who is a medical practitioner....she told a person (she didn't perscribe it, just told them) who was having trouble and couldn't find a thing that worked......Vick's Vapor Rub worked for that person......it might sting for a moment then total relief.
Grammy also told me some funny medicine related things. One day she said, do you know what "benign" is.....I said I think so....she said that is what you be after you be eight. I laughed and laughed. She said she went to a garden club meeting and they passed out a list with medical terms on it. Here's some other of her medicine term funnies (you can see my grammy had a good sense of humor - like me):
**barium = what they do after doctor's patients die
**fibula = just a small lie
**nitrates = cheaper than day rates
**medical staff = a doctor's cane
**morbid = an offer more than I bid**urine = opposite of you're out
Old Folks had their way of curing all kinds of things out on the farm. Grammy knew so many things, but she probably had lots of experience being a farmer's wife with three kids to raise back when modern day cures didn't exist.
I'll keep on using old wife's cures.....maybe they help and maybe not, but it gives me peace of mind that I tried to do it as grammy said. Come back again ya'll. She's got more hints to share.
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