The Common Tea Bag and Its Uncommon Usefulness in First Aid

What the...? Have you stumbled upon the wrong blog?

Same blog, more change-ups. For the Blog Improvement Project, Kim suggested mixing up our usual fare. One of the things on the list was a How-To post.

Today I had the incredible pleasure of having an earned day off from work. How I love that concept. For just an extra half hour of work per day, you get an entire day off, every three weeks. Love it.

I got a good writing day in, which included some internet research on methods to treat cuts that my little laundry maid Helen would use in 1840's Van Diemen's Land. I settled upon tea, as it fit seamlessly with the preceding scene where three characters have a rather surreal tea party.

And I realized all the information I just gathered would make a fabulous post for my Blog Improvement Project. Et voila!

The Common Tea Bag and Its Uncommon Usefulness in First Aid















For the purposes of first aid, tea refers to black tea. This is the tea made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis. This includes:

Orange pekoe
Earl Grey
English breakfast
Irish breakfast
Darjeeling
Ceylon
Assam

Other teas will not work for the purposes of first aid. Teas that will not work include herbal teas and African red bush tea. The tea must be from the tea plant (Camellia sinensis.)












Black tea contains tannin, which acts as an anti-inflammatory agent. It encourages constriction of blood vessels and shrinks swollen tissue.



When my husband had two teeth out this past summer, the bleeding wouldn't stop well past the time described on the sheet with which he was sent home. A call to the dentist had us reaching for a wet tea bag, which he used as a compress. The bleeding finally stopped.



Tea bags are light and flat, very easy to pack into a first aid kit or backpack. In the wild, it can be used dry if necessary but wet is preferred. The blood itself will wet the tea bag, ultimately. Hot water will be impossible in an emergency - cold will work perfectly.

If your dog or cat is bleeding, the tea bag compress is a godsend. It's hard to get an animal to lay quietly when its instinct is to lick the bleeding spot. The tea bag will speed the process of stopping the bleeding.

For swollen, itchy, puffy eyes, place a wet tea bag over each eye for several minutes. This will reduce inflammation, pain and itching.

Wet tea bag compresses are good for bruising and swelling.

Thursday Thirteen - 96 - 13 Random Shots From My Collection

- 1

One happy me at Toronto's Union Station













- 2











Two shutterbugs at my parents-in-law's 50th wedding anniversary, Oct. 2007

My sister-in-law Violetta and my husband's cousin Sheila


- 3










Three high school choir friends, 20 years and counting on a Girls' Overnight in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia

Maureen, Dawn and me


- 4









Three uncles and a niece

My mom's brothers: Uncle Warren, me, Uncle Charlie and Uncle Louie


- 5











Five cousins at the November family dinner, 2007

Myself and fellow blogger Heather, my cousin's wife

My cousin Julianne, her daughter Laura, my sister Michelle


- 6











Six members of my parents-in-law's bridal party:

Groom's sister Pat, groom's best friend Dalton, bride's sister Ruthie, couple's friend Barry, bride Joan and groom David


- 7










Seven Christmas partiers from my old office, Land Registration:

A fellow from another county (in the city for the party,) then my Legendary Scan Team of Yore - Mike H.; Mike J. - the King of Supervisors, me, Ning, my late friend and Eco-Hero of the mega-watt smile Pam Langille, and Chris


- 8












Eight members of my great-grandparents' family:

Isabel, Adelta, my great-grandfather Eugene, Danny, my great-grandmother Emilie, baby Olivette, eldest child Angeline, and my late grandmother Juliette at far right.

There would be four more children before their family was complete.


- 9











Nine writers at the White Point Beach summer retreat:

Elaine, Annette, Pam, Nikki, John, Heidi, Christine, Renee and me


- 10

Ten members of the Dartmouth Choral Society in concert (I'm in there somewhere)



- 11











Eleven old friends sharing stories at my parents-in-law's 50th wedding anniversary, Oct. 2007

Clockwise from left, my father-in-law is 2nd and my mother-in-law is 4th


- 12











Twelve diners at O'Carroll's Restaurant in Halifax when my writers' group took visiting Tor editor Heather Osborn out to dinner.

Clockwise from center: Julianne, Heidi, Pat, Cathryn Fox, two anonymous diners in the back corner, visiting editor Heather Osborn, Annette, Renee, Tammy and Anne


- 13











Thirteen Pension Agency team members who manned the stations for our Amazing Race last summer:

Stephen, me, the CEO, Laura, Karen, Bev, JR, Denise, Jim, Kathy, a member of the White Team, Tracy, and the dance instructor who taught us Irish step dancing

I'm blogging at Popculturedivas - Scroll down for Wordless Wednesday

I'm blogging at Popculturedivas today - a review of Baz Lurhmann's Australia. Just the thing for a wintery wake-up.

Wordless Wednesday - 89

2009 Blog Improvement Project - 5 - Exploring Social Media - Scroll down for my review of Hugh Jackman in Australia

Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness is showcasing the social networking aspect of the internet and how bloggers can tap into this source to increase readership.

"Because I love alliteration, March is going to be Social Media Month for the Blog Improvement Project. For the next 31 days, we’ll be focusing on using social media to improve your blog.

I’m no expert in social media, and there are a lot of social media options to think about. There’s Digg, StumbleUpon, Technorati, Twitter, Facebook, Delicious, Ning, and about a million other options I don’t even know about. In that spirit, Social Media Month is going to be about educating each other about social media. Our first project is the much-anticipated Social Media Carnival!" - Kim

The only social networking space I inhabit is Facebook. I don't have a cellphone, so Twitter is out. At least - that's how I've been feeling. I can't see myself Twittering much on my computer, but maybe it's worth joining as a what-the-heck thing. Technorati I joined last year and promptly forgot my password. But now Kim is giving me the carrot to look into that again.

The others are foreign moonscapes to me. But that's why I joined the Blog Improvement Project. I shall suit up and bounce the floaty space-walk into new territory.

Through the Opera Glasses - 6 - Australia Releases on DVD Tuesday

Brad and I watched Baz Luhrmann's Australia on Sunday. My husband works at Blockbuster and brings home the new releases a week early. A big perk for us!


Both of us loved Australia. Baz Lurhmann is a favorite director of ours, even though he's only done four films so far: Strictly Ballroom (1992), Romeo + Juliet (1996), Moulin Rouge! (2001) and Australia (2008.)





David Gulpilil as King George













Young Brandon Walters is the film's heart as Nullah, a half-aboriginal, half-white boy trying to keep one step ahead of authorities trying to ship him off to the Mission School. He lives on the cattle station known as Faraway Downs.













Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) travels from England to Australia to sell her late husband's property. When she arrives Down Under, she discovers the neighboring cattleman, King Carney plans to absorb her station into his own. King Carney is played by one of my absolute favorite Australian actors, Bryan Brown.













The film is gorgeously shot by Mandy Walker. Look at this movie-star entrance into the film for Hugh Jackman.













Nicole Kidman gets to show some grit during a cattle drive, where Lady Ashley comes face to face with the lengths King Carney will go to maintain his cattle monopoly.

















But Australia really shines when The Drover strides onscreen. Hugh Jackman's rugged cattleman activates every feminine cell in a woman's body.


















I really enjoyed the magical realism of the boy's storyline, whose affinity for the land and its secrets is woven strongly throughout the film.


And the romance - did I mention the romance?



























How about the chaos of Japanese attacks on Australia in this WWII setting? Isn't it hard enough to realize how one feels about a love interest? Bombing raids out of nowhere really throw a wrench into the works.











Another favorite Australian actor, David Wenham plays an ambitious man who works for King Carney.

Here's the trailer for Australia. Enjoy!

Poetry Train Monday - 90 - Take One More With Him

Welcome to the Poetry Train and to my March exhibit for my Sidebar Art Gallery. This month I'm featuring the works of:



Charles Burton Barber
Alex Colville
Frank Dicksee
Hokusai
Edward Robert Hughes
Michelangelo
Alphonse Mucha
Briton Riviere
Frederick Judd Waugh

For today's Poetry Train, I'm continuing my found poetry series, and returning to the character I introduced last week. We find Jock MacKeigan fighting in the Battle of Culloden, near Inverness in Scotland, April, 1746:








Take One More With Him


The horse and rider
Bore down on Jock like phantoms
THROUGH CHOKE OF POWDER
Bore down on Jock like phantoms
The horse and rider

Sword over head, swung
Down in a murderous arc
HIS BLADE SLICED SWIFTLY
Down in a murderous arc
Sword over head, swung

His blade sliced the arm
The dragoon's arm so swiftly
HAND STILL CLUTCHED SABRE
The dragoon's arm so swiftly
His blade sliced the arm

Clutching the sabre
The arm fell on battlefield
JOCK PANTED FOR AIR
The arm fell on battlefield
Clutching the sabre

Blinking back the sweat
How long, in the thick of it?
BLUE SMOKE ARTILLERY
How long, in the thick of it?
Blinking back the sweat

He felt the killing
Frenzy begin to lift off
FOCUS GOT HIM THROUGH
Frenzy begin to lift off
He felt the killing

Blocked out everything
All but weapons aimed at him
GOT HIM THROUGH IT ALL
All but weapons aimed at him
Blocked out everything

He heard it now - groans
Shouts. Rasp of steel. Musket fire.
NOW THE PAIN SET IN
Shouts. Rasp of steel. Musket fire.
He heard it now - groans

Always - frenzy's lift
Meant the danger was past. But -
NOT THIS EXHAUSTED
Meant the danger was past. But -
Always - frenzy's lift

Movement caught his eye
He turned. But it was too late.
BOUNCING FOUR-POUND SHOT
He turned. But it was too late.
Movement caught his eye

Hit a clump of grass
And veered up into the air
STRIKING JOCK'S ANKLE
And veered up into the air
Hit a clump of grass

He lay and writhed there
Screams all knotted up inside
SCREAMS FOUGHT PAST HIS LIPS
Screams all knotted up inside
He lay and writhed there

The sky above him
Was hazy with cloud and smoke
CHORUS OF WOUNDED
Was hazy with cloud and smoke
The sky above him

Heard tramping of feet
Cries of men rose up in pitch
ENGLISH STABBED SURVIVORS
Cries of men rose up in pitch
Heard tramping of feet

Bayonets would take
What foot and horse left behind
SCREAMS WERE GETTING CLOSE
What foot and horse left behind
Bayonets would take

It was clear to Jock
Before he took leave of life
TAKE ONE MORE WITH HIM
Before he took leave of life
It was clear to Jock

His fingers wrapped round
Handle of the dirk. No fear.
SOLDIER ENTERED SIGHTS
Handle of the dirk. No fear.
His fingers wrapped round

Sat up. Grabbed handful
Scarlet coat. Held fast. Thrust hard.
HIS CRY NO DIFFERENT
Scarlet coat. Held fast. Thrust hard.
Sat up. Grabbed handful

Jock's head rocked forward
Hit from behind. Took more blows.
NO STRENGTH LEFT. LAY STILL.
Hit from behind. Took more blows.
Jock's head rocked forward

This was it. Eyes shut
Prayed. Lord, I commend to you -
"GO TO BLOODY HELL!"
Prayed. Lord, I commend to you -
This was it. Eyes shut

- Julia Smith - 2009


I did The Naisaiku Challenge for this poem. Check it out!