Life is short and getting more out of it. Everyone buzzes about quality of life.

The definition of what is best is up for debate. Some of it is country mouse vs city rodent thinking. A bit of the problem is not being equipped with life skills to not just get through life. But to enjoy it.

Life coaches, to pay for advice and guidance. Because life does not come with an instruction manual or You Tube video. Or as some of my customers call it a Yoo Hoo video.

When in Maine growing up we got the navigation help shelling peas with grandmother on the open front porch swing. Or from Uncle Bob, Grandpa, your neighbor down the back road or two streets over in a small Maine town. Shingling a garage roof.

Fixing a pick up truck stuck brake shoe. Or stacking home heating firewood  retrieved from a Maine woodlot. Maybe hands on practical know how passed on from working on a Maine farm chain gang crew of field laborers.

All the village helping us in some way to tackle some roadblock in life. To insert the key, open the door, lift a window and let us proceed armed with knowledge to the next hurdle.

We ate locally sourced food that we grew. Watched grow. And just knew where it came from without empty calories, or lacking nutrition.

Slow food carefully prepared vs something shoved out a drive through, NASCAR quick window.

So home remedies the last blog post for 2015 as we wish all our faithful readers a very Happy New Year.

My mom administered the health cures for what ailed her four boys with brown eyes from a short list of remedies.

Cod liver oil was used liberally. Orally by a teaspoon with sugar. Warmed up and rubbed on our chest during times of cold, the flue. When we were horizontal instead of vertical.

What are the benefits of cod liver oil used to nurse anyone in our Maine farm household?

I don’t know them all but can still vividly see the amber bottle of cod liver oil. With the yellowish label and remembering it was oily on the outside too. After that first use. Human penetrating oil, a WD 40 or Pam of sorts without the aerosol bursts.

Other home remedies applied Maine country living style?

Coke syrup. Not the nose candy white kind movie stars snort on mirrored coffee tables before hitting the clubs dressed scantily to freeze their clavicle as my Mom would say.

But dark slow moving coke syrup. A flat can of Coke could be a poor but adequate if all you have on hand. To settle the stomach. Queasy tummies that sound like someone was bowling, hitting lots of strikes and spares. When the beeline to the bathroom better be a short, obstacle free high speed highway.

The benefits of coke syrup to take care of clogs like a natural drano. To calm the rolling stomach and quiet the noises. For younguns under the weather, lacking warp drive to tackle at light speed the daily Maine farm chore load.

Burnt toast also used to settle a stomach.

Eating a nibble or two of saltine crackers with the all important ginger ale sips.

To hopefully keep down a little something before rolling in the cart with chicken noodle soup or egg on toast with visible steam heading skyward.

Injected slowly in the pie hole. Wile parked on the couch under an afghan plaid red, green plaid blanket with the fringes.

Witch hazel applied with a pair of Mom’s loving hands. With generous doses oozing out of a tall blue green bottle. Used to ease the aches and pains laying parked. Witch hazel has oral application value but Mom always opted for cod liver oil to work on the insides plus the double duty outside.

My secretary is 100 percent Canadian red maple leaf waver.

God save the king and queen. She remembers gripe water used to fix gas, constipation, teething, upset stomachs colic ridden babies. Used for over a hundred years according to the research I found online for gripe water. and soothing a crying baby.

Here are other means to calm the little pink or blue bundle of joy. Soothing sounds help along with other tricks to help the parents, baby get through the night. Massage, a gentle touch combine with the Maine home remedies to break the cycle of feeling out of sorts.

Woodstock New Brunswick Canada is just an easy ten minute hop, skip, jump over the International Border from where I hunt and peck in Houlton Maine.

No, it is not dangerous being this close to Canada, a FAQ we field in our day job peddling properties in Maine.

Other home remedies using basic ingredients and nothing exotic in small rural town Maine growing up?

Dad would take a tablespoon of vinegar on a regular basis. Besides the drink of it from the splash the cucumbers took when they hopped in for a bath straight out of the garden. He preached the benefits of simple vinegar for better health.

From hygiene to a heartburn cure, baking soda works well in so many ways too. And my favorite salt added to warm water for a quick method to reduce or eliminate a sore throat. Gargle, reduce swelling. Okay, you can rinse. Salt water for a sore throat works wonders. Has other value too!

The best home remedy living in Maine?

Is the day to day simple approach to living in Maine. Freeing a person up to breathe easy, to enjoy clean air and pure water. The all natural ingredients of unspoiled, under populated drop dead gorgeous Maine. We did not get sick much growing up and it was because of that healthy outdoor living. Instead of being cooped up with toxins lingering inside a too tight, cramped space that suffocates.

I’m REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton Maine 04730