Mojo Saves The Willows

We moved in to The Willows in March 2008. Sometimes you never know how ghetto a place can be until you live there. A dear friend of mine lost her house to a kitchen fire that started from hot wings in the wok. This got me thinking. I searched my apartment only to find there is no fire extinguisher anywhere. Not only is there no fire extinguisher in my apartment but there aren’t any mounted in the breezeways or corridors, anywhere. When I confronted the management office it went something like this:

Me: There is no fire extinguisher in my apartment.

Lady: Oh, well, this complex is older and we’ve been grandfather clocked in so the law doesn’t apply to us.

Me: Well, I don’t think that because this complex is old means that it’s at any less of a risk for catching on fire.

Lady: Well, I think it may also be in part due to how close we are to the fire department.

I left there feeling completely unsatisfied with her answers. I moved to Alabama from Florida so I was unaware of the laws with regards to extinguishers, rental properties, etc. So I phoned the Fire Marshall. I filed a complaint and asked that he look into it. He called me back within 3 hours and told me that he came to inspect the property. The complex is in violation of the fire prevention safety regulations. The law as of 2005, states that all residential (R2, I believe is what he called it) buildings (new or existing) must have fire extinguishers within at least 75 feet. Seeing as how there are none, within any amount of feet they are clearly in violation.

So the verdict is that he ordered the complex to purchase 170 fire extinguishers by no later than Thursday, June 19th and that the installation begin ASAP. Every unit will have a 2 1/2lb fire extinguisher installed under their kitchen sink!

I am honestly baffled that I am the first tenant to ever question this or call to complain. Seriously, am I the only one who realizes that fire is dangerous? And as far as the responses I received from the lady in the office – I can’t believe she thought being in close proximity to the fire department was reason enough to overlook a life saving, required by law measure for the tenants here. But she say they were “grandfather clocked in.” That one had me LOL

You’re gonna eat what!?

Placenta Dehydration/Encapsulation

So this is what I did today. My sweet sister had a baby just last week and decided she wanted to reap the many benefits of eating her placenta. Neither the pot roast or smoothie recipes were appetizing so we decided to go this route. It was actually not near as gross as I had anticipated. The whole prep process took maybe 15 minutes. While dehydrating on my kitchen counter it was virtually odorless. The encapsulation process was also quite easy after grinding the dehydrated placenta as you can see below.

PHASE ONE

It begins:

Removing the sac:

Closer examination:

Into the blender:

Placenta smoothie anyone?

Onto the tray:

All done with phase one!!

PHASE TWO

For the next set of business I dehydrated the placenta until there was no moisture left at all. That was approximately 7 1/2 hours. The placenta was very thin after, but still tough (not like jerky, but tough and flaky). I cut it into bits with scissors and put it in a food processor. All of the recipes I have read said to blend the dehydrated placenta again but I prematurely returned the blender to my sister, not thinking. So at that point the best blades in my kitchen were in a food processor. I do have to warn you about the odor. The placenta never smelled bad, until I opened the dehydrator once it was done. At that point I still wasn’t gagging because the odor was foul, but not pungent. It was tolerable but I would have benefited from wearing a simple mask. Then I just disassembled one gel cap at a time, filling it with powdered placenta. I also recommend wearing gloves for Phase Two. I washed my hands a few times and finally ended up satisfied with the smell of my hands after a shower and some scrubbing. The placenta has yielded 100 gel caps so far. I ran out and I am guesstimating that I will fill another 100 gel caps easily with what’s remaining.

It’s done:

I accidentally started cutting then I remembered to take pictures, so that is what the missing chunk is all about.

Here you can see how thin it was:

Into the food processor:

Powdered Placenta:

Now the fun part:

Over all this was a fairly simple to do and similar to things you would normally do with food.  Nothing was incredibly difficult or disgusting.  I would absolutely do this again.  It’s well worth the benefit.

The known ingredients that give the placenta healing properties are:

Gonadotrophin: the precursor to estrogen, progesterone and testosterone

Prolactin: main hormone to produce milk

Oxytocin: helps with pain and bonding; produced during breastfeeding to facilitate bonding of mother and infant

Thyroid stimulating hormone: boosts energy and helps recovery from stressful events

Cortisone: combats stress and unlocks energy stores

Interferon: stimulates the immune system to protect against infections

Prostaglandins: anti-inflammatory

Hemoglobin: replenishes iron deficiency and anemia

Urokinase inhibiting factor and factor XIII: stops bleeding and enhances wound healing

Gammaglobulin: immune booster that helps protect against postpartum infections

For Mothers

I recently had a conversation with a dear friend regarding her attempted VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean). My dear friend was left mourning after the delivery ended in another Cesarean. While drug-free, vaginal deliveries are the safest and most responsible way to deliver in the majority of cases, there are unfortunately times when this does not happen. There are also times when babies are born still, lifeless and again mothers are left mourning. There are babies who never make it past the first trimester and mothers mourn their miscarrages. Pregnancy and childbirth are a very intimate and delicate process involving all types of emotions. After speaking with my friend, I was inspired to compose the following for her and every mother out there who feels a sense of sadness or loss regarding their exerience.

You are the power that brings forth life

Without you, humanity would end

You are the womb, the nourishment the love

You are where life begins

With God’s sweet grace

And your selfless loving ways

You are the reason for every season

The light in every day

God has a hand in everything

Every death and every birth

Always know that you are special

And regarded for all your worth

As you bring forth life

Hold in your heart this truth

It makes no difference in how they arrive

Only that they are a gift to you

For mothers mourning

For mothers who rejoice

For every single mother

Sharing their own mothers voice

Believe in yourself

And the beauty you hold

Enjoy each moment

Nourish your soul

Remember that circumstance

Is simply just that

Once a mother, always a mother

You are a miracle to marvel at