Maintaining a clean home is crucial for creating a healthy living environment. While regular cleaning helps keep surfaces and floors tidy, it’s important to pay special attention to certain parts of your home that need a deeper cleaning than normal. When you know which parts of your home are easier to overlook, you can give them the attention and cleaning they need so that your home can become the clean paradise you’ve always wanted.

Bathroom, Bathroom, Bathroom

Bathrooms are full of moisture, and that moisture makes these rooms highly susceptible to mold, mildew, and harmful bacterial growth. To maintain a safe and hygienic environment, you must thoroughly clean and disinfect all surfaces, including shower curtains and bathmats. With the right sanitation practices, such as using effective cleaning agents in the right way, you can prevent potential health hazards and maintain a germ-free bathroom.

Pools and Hot Tubs

If you’re a pool owner, it’s important you do everything in your power to clean and maintain your pool, preventing algae and bacteria growth. If you want to properly clean your pool, you must regularly remove debris and brush the sides of your pool. Additionally, consider working with professionals to get your pool the chemical treatment it needs to maintain optimal water quality. Regularly checking and adjusting the pH and chlorine levels and conducting routine filter maintenance are vital for keeping your pool water safe.

Kitchen Appliances

Kitchen appliances, from your refrigerator to your oven, can accumulate food residue over time. This residue affects their efficiency and becomes a breeding ground for bacteria and pests. Regularly cleaning and degreasing your appliances is crucial to maintain optimal functionality and prevent these unwanted visitors in your kitchen. You can use either commercial degreasers or natural cleaning solutions, such as a mixture of vinegar and water, to effectively remove stubborn grease and grime. With the right vigilance and care, you can keep your kitchen clean and healthy for years.

Your Mattress

You spend a significant amount of time in your bed, which makes it crucial to prioritize its cleanliness. A mattress can become a prime breeding ground for dust mites and bacteria, posing potential health risks.

In addition to routine vacuuming, you should also use an upholstery cleaner specifically designed for mattresses. These cleaners can effectively remove any buildup. By proactively keeping your mattress clean, you’re enhancing its longevity and creating a healthier sleeping environment for yourself.

It’s crucial to pay extra attention to certain parts of your home that require a deeper cleaning than normal. Cleaning like this will help keep your home hygienic and safe. By being diligent, you’ll effectively eliminate harmful contaminants and create a healthier living space. Don’t overlook these areas during your cleaning routine, and enjoy the peace of mind that comes with a cleaner and healthier home.

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Your home is where you seek comfort and peace after a long day. However, unpleasant odors can easily interrupt that peace. Here are tips on how to keep your home smelling fresh for years.

Refresh Your Rugs and Carpets

Vacuuming your carpets and rugs removes dust, debris, pollutant buildup, and even odors in your flooring. However, you can also do carpet shampooing for stubborn odors left behind by food, paint, pets, and children. You might have to clean them several times until your water comes out clear.

Change Your AC Air Filters

One of the main functions of an air conditioner is to filter out air pollutants and particles in your home to deliver cool, fresh air throughout your ventilation system. However, a big sign that you need to improve your air quality and replace your air filters is persistent unpleasant odors. The dirtier your air filters are, the harder your AC unit works. Changing your air filters preserves AC unit functionality while maintaining pleasant smells in your home.

Open Your Windows

After spending many months with your windows and doors closed, it’s no surprise that your home can accumulate unpleasant odors. You can make your home feel less stuffy by opening your windows and letting fresh air in. It’s the easiest way to help your home smell fresh and eliminate lingering odors from cooking, home projects, and more.

Opening a single window can do wonders for lingering, persistent odors in your home. You can also open multiple windows on various sides of your home to create a cross breeze that carries fresh air in and push unpleasant odors out. Even in colder temperatures, opening a window with a crack can make a significant difference.

Invest in Houseplants and Flowers

One tip for a long-lasting, fresh-smelling home is to liven it up with houseplants and flowers. Sturdy houseplants look beautiful in your home and provide air-filtering properties that keep your home fresh and odor-free. You can also invest in houseplants that give off subtle scents and place them near unpleasant areas in your home.

You can also purchase beautiful flower bouquets that improve your home’s overall smell and add visual interest. Choose fresh, pleasant-smelling flowers, such as peonies, sweet peas, freesia, lilacs, lavender, jasmine, and roses. Consider which rooms have the strongest odors and how your arrangements will make the room feel cozy and inviting. These are natural smells, and should not bother anyone with allergies or other sensitivities.

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What an Unspeakable Disease is not

If a friend complains of a headache, I suggest a Tylenol. If the headache is very serious, or if there is severe back pain, I prescribe my Dad’s non-opiate recipe he got from his pain doctor: Two extra-strength Tylenol capsules and two 200 mg Motrin tablets, taken at the same time. They work on different neural pathways. It has become my standby for nagging pain. But these ailments  are not unspeakable diseases.

Cancer can be a little more difficult, but is certainly shareable. My sister had breast cancer and a double mastectomy in lieu of chemo and radiation. She had no difficulty sharing the news with family and friends and received lots of love and support from all. Again, there was lots of advice about diet and how cancer loves sugar and hates healthy anti-cancer salads. This was not an unspeakable disease, either. We all felt free to share advice, prayers and the latest research. 

We humans are sympathetic to disease. If it is something difficult to share–perhaps terminal cancer–it is something we can discuss, perhaps with tears in our eyes. It’s very hard, but these are peripheral diseases, not ones that affect us as a person or who we are.

The Unspeakable Disease

This one hits home. I don’t know what to do–and never have. My own mother developed vascular dementia later in life as a result of congestive heart disease. She was under the opinion that everything was normal, except for the help who kept stealing her handkerchiefs, single earrings and sometimes her lipstick. She could laugh at the same jokes repeatedly , yet could still play ferocious games of competitive bridge against my mother-in-law. Only once did I ever mention the memory issue to Mom one night over dinner, and she tearfully suggested to my dad that they should leave. Fortunately, she soon forgot my indiscretion–and I never mentioned it to her again.

 A company owner I know well hired a beautiful woman as office manager a few years ago. She seemed to write well, and claimed extensive knowledge of accounting software. Everything started off fine. She was organized and seemed to catch on quickly to things that needed to be done. Within a couple of months though, she seemed to forget whom she had spoken to or emailed earlier in the day. And then unusual hostility set in. The memory issue, though, was affecting day to day business.

Was it menopausal brain fog–or something more serious?

She was ultimately let go.  He hired another rather older woman, past menopause,  who seemed sharp and had been an accountant at her last job, where she was charged with closing the company down. She has a good sense of humor and is pleasant, but struggles with learning new tasks and completing them as well. There is a mental block of some sort, but openly discussing the root  problem is really difficult.

I’m a researcher, always looking for solutions to health problems. In 2003-2005 I spent much time looking for anything that could help my mother. In those days, Aricept was the drug most advised for Alzheimers, which seemed to be a catchall term for all forms of dementia. Perhaps I was looking in all the wrong places in those days, but it wasn’t until some time after her death in early 2006 that I began to find more extensive research into memory loss and supplements that can help.

Today, I might mention that Lion’s Mane mushroom capsules, Phosphatidylserine,  Huperzine or any number of other nootropics might help with memory issues and perhaps help prevent further decline. It should be as easy to mention these supplements as it would be to suggest a Tylenol. 

But it’s not.

I asked my PhD physiologist husband Steve why that might be. Why can’t we openly discuss memory disorders–and suggest possible solutions as we might for other maladies? It seems headaches, cancer, sciatica and high blood pressure are all “peripheral” type disorders that don’t ultimately change our ability to think and remember. Our brain, its memory or lack of it are part of our motherboard, he said–and who we ARE. These peripheral diseases/disorders happen to us, rather than define our being.

And soon we will meet with another friend who is gallantly struggling with memory loss of some sort. I so want to pull her aside and discuss some things that might help–or we both search for a physician or clinic that might reverse or stop the progression of this horrid disease. But it’s something I can’t and probably won’t do. 

Is it better I pretend nothing is wrong and just love her as she is–and perhaps be even more demonstrative? That is my instinct. But it really bothers me that this is such a difficult subject to directly broach with our afflicted family and friends. Perhaps we try to deny the mainframe breakdown as much as they and quietly pray that the deterioration will progress to further.

And perhaps, because there is no sure cure or known way to prevent dementia, it is a disease that we fear, and fear mentioning. 

(Postscript: Steve briefly suggested I shouldn’t be advising supplements as I am not a physician–and then quickly recanted. We both agree that the pharmaceutical companies hold a tight rein on hospitals, the many physicians who need these hospital affiliations, the media and the rhetoric. And until the Covid debacle, I would have agreed with his initial reaction. Instead, we have both come to distrust big Pharma. Ivermectin, hydroxychloroquin and massive vitamin  C infusions could have saved so many lives. Unfortunately, there is no money to be made with these common and safe solutions. Hence, I encourage all to do their own research. Regrettably, it may be difficult to share your findings with those afflicted with emerging or esconced memory issues.)

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I was widowed New Year’s Day, 2019. Mike’s death was sudden, but not unexpected. I had been grieving for years over the inevitable–and spent the first two months of this year in a fog which eventually lifted. But the uncertainty did not. And that is because of this liminal stage or space. I know a chapter in my book ended with Mike’s death and that he will never appear in subsequent ones. But I am in that space between that prior chapter, and am early into the next one.  I feel like a chrysalis in that metamorphic stage of life.

And it helps to understand butterflies and their liminal space.

I have raised and nurtured Monarch butterflies for several years. I love watching Monarchs land on milkweed, lay eggs, and soon after see tiny caterpillars crawling over the milkweed leaves. They grow quickly and have voracious appetites. And like little kids, some immature ones wander off the nourishing milkweed plant and get lost on the saltillo tiles below. I’ve learned to rescue the ones I can and gently place them back onto the leaves where they belong–where they will soon grow into big, fat caterpillars.

When the big guys leave the milkweed, they are searching for a safe place to attach themselves with special caterpillar “glue.” There they hang upside down and over a few hours, will shimmy themselves into a little chrysalis that looks like a tiny, gold-rimmed Japanese lantern. The liquidy goo they morph into inside the chrysalis puts them into a liminal space. They will never again be the caterpillar they once were–and as we all know, if they emerge safely, that a beautiful Monarch butterfly will break free and emerge some weeks later.

The butterfly lifespan is short but instructive.

I am a widow with a much, much longer lifespan than a Monarch’s. But I do understand the state of being a chrysalis–and also know that we as humans might undergo that liminal space at several points in our lifetimes. It happens to a lesser degree when we enter college or change jobs, knowing we’ll not be going back to the one we just left and not knowing how the new job or school will turn out. A  stronger liminal stage would occur with the birth of a child, a marriage– and certainly divorce. My sister and I, though over a thousand miles apart and going through very different events in our lives–we are both floating in potent liminal space. She has moved out and is going through a divorce. Gayle is in a good place, but knows she is not going back–and still does not now what life has in store for her. I am a widow in similar circumstances. My challenge is also moving on–but not sure where I will land.

And I could choose to meet that challenge with either dread or excitement. But life is short and meant for learning. So think I will choose excitement instead.

—Roberta Murphy

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Years ago, our oldest son Scott and I attended a long weekend with the Landmark Education Forum. I was challenged to take up a personal issue that I was willing to share with a thousand or so people the next day. I couldn’t help but consider Alzheimer’s, the disease that had rocked our family.

I went home that night and wrote a letter to my mother, Edith Michelson. It was a letter I would share with the large group–and perhaps my dad at a later time. I would not share it with her. I could not. Alzheimer’s disease had stolen so much of her past and life baggage. I share the letter below, written I believe, in 2004.

Dear Mom,

I am writing a letter you will probably never see, so in many ways what I write is self-serving. Still, I will try to share its essence with you this next week when we see you and Dad for dinner.

As you may remember, Scott and I are attending the Landmark Education Forum this weekend and I had come with the vague intent of coalescing courage to make a critical business move. That turned out to be what we might call an “inauthentic” motive–or perhaps was just an excuse to buy the enrollment ticket for something more needed.

As it turns out, much more is at stake.

You see, I have thought little of business the last two days and have thought much about you and how your past is irrecoverably peeling away. I am pained to see the bright, smart and witty woman I have called “Mother” lost so much of her past and life baggage. I can handle you losing your way, your purse, your keys, your jewelry, your ability to think or converse in an abstract way. It becomes a little more painful when you can no longer recall who is dead, who is alive–or even what you had for breakfast. It is tough,  especially for Dad, to handle your terror over people around whom you believe to be taking your possessions and rearranging your world.

Those are the hard times.

The good times are when I realize how you have mostly condensed your concerns into the need to know that your children and grandchildren are all right–and that you love us all so much.

Mom, I have so many questions and so many fears about Alzheimer’s and your disease. But I would like to invent a possibility for you: What if you just so tired in life, and so over-burdened with responsibility, that you designed a dis-ease that would allow or force others who love you to pick up the burdens and obligations you shouldered for so many years>

Is this your way of taking the past out of your present and future so you are only burdened with the NOW?

Is it you who is taking responsibility for your needs–or is it we who failed to see what needed to be done?

And finally, I’m not sure you are aware that I, your most astute student, have taken up your same racket and work hours. What I would like to invent, though, is a second possibility that I can take the past out of my present and future–but still retrieve it as needed or desired.  And I can’t help but wonder: Is it too late to extend that same wish for you. Probably so, at least in this lifetime.

Alzheimer’s is a thief–not only of memories, but dreams as well.

The post Alzheimer’s: Inventing a Possibility appeared first on Luxury Home Digest.

by Roberta Murphy

I have always felt such a sense of peace when I am in the garden fooling around with dirt and plants, but never gave it much thought until this morning.

I read an article today relating research that confirms my senses: Garden Dirt actually serves as an anti-depressant. And could take the place of Prozac.

I don’t suffer from depression and have never taken Prozac, but I do notice a difference in myself when I am in the garden, fooling with dirt, and daring to go barefoot (which has different research supporting the practice). I feel a delicious sense of peace and connection with the earth. It now turns out that beneficial microbes in the soil can enter the body through both breathing and our skin (Perhaps I should remove gloves more often?).

It appears that antidepressant microbes, specifically Mycobacterium vaccae, in the soil cause our cytokine levels to rise, resulting in the production of increased levels of serotonin. There may also be some evidence that the microbes help create an increase in cognitive ability and better concentration on tasks. These effects may be felt for up to 3 weeks, if current research with rats is any indication. According to the article in Gardening Know How.

“Mycobacterium antidepressant microbes in soil are also being investigated for improving cognitive function, Crohn’s disease and even rheumatoid arthritis.”

After reading this article, I can’t help but wonder how a garden might be helpful for memory care residents, or even those in assisted living of some sort. Not only would they get the gratification of growing flowers or vegetables, but it just might elevate spirits and cognition. I know a couple of elementary schools in Encinitas and Carlsbad have cultivated gardens as a learning experience for the children. Might the soil organisms also make them more attentive in class?

Makes you wonder.

I know that in an hour or so, I am going to go fool around in the garden, play in the dirt, and spread more worm castings while I’m at it. And this time,  I’m not wearing gloves!

 Want to know more?

Read more at Gardening Know How: Antidepressant Microbes In Soil: How Dirt Makes You Happy https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/antidepressant-microbes-soil.htm

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Nothing tastes as good as thin feels, have said Kate Moss, Tony Robbins and Stephen Covey. Some might also add that Nothing tastes as good as healthy feels.

Lately, I’ve been feeling pretty good. Weight loss shows me down 12 pounds after 13 days, following the HCG regimen as part of a 30-day program that limits me to 500 calories per day.

The following are some of the foods that are forbidden:

•  Sugar and most artificial sweeteners. Stevia only.
• Alcohol. No wine or beer (though clear and clean vodka and gin may be allowed)
• Grains (no breads, cereals, quinoa)
• Legumes and Beans.
• Fats (no bacon, no avocados, no olive oil, nuts, nada)
• Dairy (no cheese!) Like one teaspoon of milk in coffee and limited non-fat cottage cheese and no-fat feta.
• Mushrooms, bananas,
• Eggplant
• Egg yolks
• Salmon and tuna

I went to the doctor’s office in early April wanting to lose the proverbial 15 pounds–and thought/hoped there might be a magic pill.

It took some convincing, but she explained the benefits of the HCG diet, twice-weekly lipo shots and horror….daily shots of the HGC compound that I was supposed to inject into my tummy each morning. That nearly killed the deal for me (I remember being unable to give a penicillin shot to my ailing horse and had a friend come over to do it instead). The physician gave me an injection lesson, which turned out to be a painless and bloodless event.

Since that first appointment, I’ve become an expert at tummy injections, a master chef at making salads with lean protein and a happy camper each morning when I step on the scales. I feel wonderful, awake early each morning, and have loads of energy to get me thorough the day.

Foods allowed and encouraged include:

• Grapefruit, strawberries, blueberries, lemons
• Egg whites
• Lettuce, radishes, some tomatoes, onions, fennel, spinach (but no kale)
• 3.5-4 raw ounces lean filet mignon
• Shrimp, crab and other shell fish
• Ultra lean ground beef (3.5 to 4 ounces raw)
• Lean white fishes
• Chicken breast (same raw weight as above)
• Stevia as sweetener
• Coffee and Tea
• My personal favorite: Organic Lemon Love

The goal is a diet that is free as possible from sugars, fats, simple carbs, all gluten, and alcohol. I have found no prepared foods that will conform to the HCG diet. So everything we eat is whole and healthy. Additionally, heavy exercise is discouraged. Walking and stretching are fine. Not sure why, but I decided to cooperate and graduate!

With a specialization in endocrinology and dermatology, clinician Bahar Forousan, MPA, PAC, at Premier Medical Wellness in Solana Beach is also a strong proponent of bio-identical hormones and their health benefits. I’ll be exploring those when my 30 days is up. I believe the lipo shots contain necessary hormones as well.

I am almost a halfway point in this regimen and am amazed how simple the diet is to maintain at home–and how difficult it is when dining out. I’ve only done so twice, and both times felt like one of those fussy customers who annoyingly ask the waiter to remove such and such from the dish and add something else. Oh, and no dressing. Vinegar only. The fun is lost unless I’m with a fun and understanding friend.

This is just an update on my near-halfway mark into the HCG diet and so far, would say it is a resounding success. But the day and weekend continue and I am most impressed with my willpower to go through Costco and not taste a single sample.

More to follow if time (and success) allows! If not successful, will be feasting on crow.

—Roberta Murphy

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Since last June, I’ve been much pickier (than usual) about the foods I eat. Processed foods have pretty much gone by the wayside as I have migrated to a more Paleo diet with periodic dives into the Whole 30 venture (google for recipes!).

I’ve even been called a food snob on more than one occasion–and I take it with good cheer.

If not fixing a green smoothie or an egg for breakfast, I am always game for any salad remaining from the night before, dressed with Udo’s Oil, lemon juice and minced garlic–which is kept in a refrigerator jar.

Earlier today, I saw a terrific food article on buzzfeed that listed not only the graphic at left, but many others that help with healthy eating. Ever wonder what a service of fruit looks like, how to tell if an avocado is at peak of perfection or whether a certain food is paleo or not?

The article is well worth reading–and likely printing as well for future reference. In the meantime, as long as I’m not adhering to the Whole 30 plan, I do enjoy a lovely glass of wine with dinner which is a no-no on Paleo.

But life is no fun if it’s not without balance, yes?

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Last night, we returned from Anthony Robbins 4-day “Unleash the Power Within” event in Dallas. I had attended with two of my sons–Scott and Mark–and was open to whatever learning, changes and friendships I might absorb and make.

The event delivered on all fronts.

As we drove home from the San Diego airport hungry for dinner, we stopped off at Jimbo’s Market and picked up some organic lettuce, brocolli and a bottle of refrigerated Udo’s Oil. Normally, we would have grabbed a bag of fish tacos or some other fast food and vanquished hunger pangs quickly. This time, we concocted a crisp green lettuce, tomato, brocolli and black bean salad topped with Udo’s Oil blended with fresh garlic, lemon, a dash of Furikake, sea salt and pepper. Oh–and we added a little portion of smoked salmon.

I also drank about 64 ounces of water during the journey home. (Another unusual behavior).

I awoke early this morning, did some breathing exercises and decided it feels good to be in an alkaline state. My batteries feel charged and something feels different as I start this day.  It’s not yet 7 a.m. (I was up at 5) and I am going through notes from the UPW event. Here is a random assortment:

• Limited experiences create a limited life.
• Change the way you think and change your life in a snap.
• The only limits in life are those we impose on ourselves.
• Rejection breeds obsession.
• Quality of life is quality of emotions.
• The only thing keeping me from what I want is the story I keep telling myself about why I can’t have it. It’s the story that screws us up.
• Change is never a mattter of ability. It is always a matter of motivation.
• The past does not equal the future–unless you live there.
• It’s in your moments of decision that your destiny is determined.
• Life will always pay what you ask of it. ASK and you will receive.
• You are your rituals.
• Conditioning is how I get myself to follow through.
• Dance with your fears. Engage them.
• Change your state, change your life. Wherever focus goes, energy follows.
• Want to change your life? Change who you spend time with.
• Good is the enemy of great.
• Complexity is the enemy of execution.
• You can’t manage something you can’t measure (or as I’ve heard don’t expect what you can’t inspect).
• Demand more of yourself than anyone can possibly imagine. Compete with the best you can be.
• Think: “Victory is near!” anytime you are feeling down.
• Raise your standards, change your life.
• All beliefs carry with them consequences.
• Interrupt someone’s patterns and you change the person.
• You get what you tolerate.
• Does God grow? The start of the Bible is different from the end.
• Success leaves clues. Study the sucessful. Sow the same seeds, reap same rewards. (Maybe)

These are some note snippets taken during the four day event–which I would highly recommend to just aboout anyone. This morning, thanks to the experience, I have vowed to afford little time to those things that are beyond my control and contribution.

I can help feed the hungry, I can share kindness, I can write. I cannot change those bent on terrorism, the drug cartels–or someone who has no desire to change for the better. Henceforth, I’ll have less or time-limited focus on news (will still vote!), will avoid political/religious/social arguments with others, and will cease bitching about weather, traffic and the price of oil.

Thanks for the encouragement, Tim Hurja. You made a difference.

Life is good. I want to make it better. —Roberta Murphy

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I am personally not offended and have often suggested to sons and family that my eventual remains be fed to the tomato or kale plants in a garden somewhere. Or perhaps a tree.

This cremation idea from Urbanios has really caught my imagination, though–and just consider the possibilities of a lush green forest with monuments (perhaps) that tell a little about the tree and its benefactor:

“Here lies Roberta Murphy, who now feeds this perennial tree rather than the tomato plants she imagined. She loved her family, parrots, dogs, that alluring garden..and of course, her erratic writing habits.”

Apparently, one’s remains can be deposited into a biodegradable container which also contains a pine seed (or other tree seed). This container can then be planted, where the ashes will help nourish the seedling and eventual tree. Just imagine the possibilities and longevity if a redwood seed were included! That’s what I want.

I’m not totally sure why I am writing this, other than I intend to email this post to husband and sons so that they insure that my remains are nourishing something more substantial than a tomato plant. How about a redwood?

Care to join me in my forest?

by Roberta Murphy

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