Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, February 29, 2020

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Mountain View News Saturday, February 29, 2020 

CAT OF THE WEEK


Still Looking For Love!

Valentine’s Day has come 
and gone, but these 2 
lovebirds are still with us. 
BLINKY & RAVEN, age 4 
years, are two inseparable 
little loves that will surely 
sweeten up someone’s 
life! Blinky is the cuddly 
and petite female, while 
Raven is her playful BFF. They may be a little shy in a 
new home at first, but it’s worth the wait, just watching them interact. They are both madly in 
love with each other, having grown up as babies. They have all black, silky fur coats and beautiful 
golden eyes. They will come fully vetted, chipped, and neutered. Call 626-676-9505. See more 
pictures, videos, adoption information and application on our website at the Adult Cats page.

Pet of the Week

 
Miles is the best multitasker. He loves chewing on tennis balls 
and getting belly rubs. Why choose between two of your favorite 
things when you can have them both at the same time? When 
ten-year-old Miles isn’t multitasking like a boss, he’s probably 
chowing down on some crunchy treats or splashing in one of the 
kiddie pools in the play yard. But let’s face it, all he wants is to sit 
in your lap and be pet all over. Now where’s that tennis ball?

 The adoption fee for dogs is $140. All dogs are spayed or neutered, 
microchipped, and vaccinated before going to their new home. 

 New adopters will receive a complimentary health-and-wellness 
exam from VCA Animal Hospitals, as well as a goody bag filled 
with information about how to care for your pet. View photos 
of adoptable pets at pasadenahumane.org. Adoption hours are 11 
a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 
and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

 Pets may not be available for adoption and cannot be held for potential adopters by phone calls 
or email.

LOOKING FOR A 
BEST FRIEND?


Riley is a stunning grey 5-year-old girl with 
cute white mustache and chin facial markings 
and long white whiskers. Her sea foam 
green eyes look at the world with curiosity 
and intelligence. Riley’s demure personality 
responds best to slow approaches that 
respect her space. Then she is open for head 
massages and will often melt into petting 
hands and softly purr. Riley is initially cautious, 
but given time to get comfortable, Riley 
relaxes and stretches out for soft strokes 
of her silky coat. One of her favorite things 
is long naps in the sunshine. For play time, 
Riley likes to observe and study the situation 
before responding to laser dots, dangly 
strings and catnip marinated toys. She can be part of a multi cat home, or happy to be the only feline 
resident. Her adoption fee is $99, which includes spay surgery, microchip, first vaccinations and a 
free wellness check-up at a participating veterinarian.


VINEGAR OF FOUR THIEVES

CHRISTOPHER Nyerges


[Nyerges is the author of “How to Survive Anywhere,” “Extreme Simplicity,” and 
other books. To learn more about his books and workshops, he can be reached at 
www.SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com]

 

We’re very advanced here in the U.S., and there’s no reason we should ever 
be concerned about any-thing as drastic as bubonic plagues, right? Oh, so 
wrong! Plague is spread by fleas, on the rats, which are common when the 
level of general hygiene drops. Now that the Corona virus (Covid-19) is 
on the news everyday, it might be a good time to revisit the possibility of a 
deadly pandemic. Though we ha-ven’t seen anything like this (yet) in the U.S., look at how four 
thieves managed to deal with plague con-ditions during the Middle Ages.

 

During an outbreak of bubonic plague in France several centuries ago, four thieves managed 
to loot the empty plague-ridden homes without contracting the dreaded plague. After all, they 
figured, what did it matter? Nearly everyone was dead. Some Middle Ages accounts tell us that 
during some of the worst plague outbreaks, the dead outnumbered the living, and the dead 
could not be buried fast enough. 

 

These four thieves were arrested by policemen for looting, and were brought before the French 
judge in Marseilles. Wondering aloud, the judge asked how it was that these four thieves managed 
to resist the plague, especially since they had been in and out of so many plague-infested 
homes.

 

“We drink and wash with this vinegar preparation every few hours,” they answered. The judge 
made a shrewd bargain. The thieves would be given their freedom in exchange for their ”anti-
plague recipe.”

This recipe is recorded in Dian Buchman’s Herbal Medicine book. Buchman writes, “this recipe 
has been used for centuries, but legend has it that it was discovered during a devastating bubonic 
plague.” 

 

Here’s the recipe:

VINEGAR OF FOUR THIEVES:

2 quarts (half gallon) apple cider vinegar.

2 T lavender.

2 T rosemary.

2 T sage. 

2 T wormwood.

2 T rue . 

2 T mint.

 

Combine the herbs and steep in vinegar in the sun for two weeks. Strain. Add 2 T. of garlic buds 
and steep for several days. Remove. To preserve, add 4 oz. of glycerin.

 

Karin James, the editor of the Forest Voice, adds that the vinegar recipe can be used for wash-
ing floors, walls, windows, and will offset smells in the home. It helps to deter bugs if you rinse 
your hiking gear in it. She also saves the herbs when she strains them out of the vinegar, and 
places them where ants come into the kitchen. “It works,” she states. “No more ants!” 

 

We posted this recipe on our web site and got many responses from readers. One suggested 
that it is the vinegar which is the primary reason that this recipe worked. We have used raw 
apple cider vinegar (in our drinking water, in ratio of about 2 teaspoons per quart) and have 
found that it keeps the mosquitoes from biting us, and helps reduce heat stress when working 
out in the sun. Whole books have been written about the health benefits of vinegar. We 
strongly suggest you always use only the raw apple cider vinegar.

 

While we certainly hope that we’re never going to have to worry about outbreaks of bubonic 
plague, health authorities point out that the plague has never entirely disappeared. In fact, it is 
still found in the fleas of squirrels living in the nearby mountains. Conditions of poor hygiene 
are the breeding ground for rats, and plague. 

 

Ubiquitous homeless camps, with no running water, toilets, or hygiene conditions, provide a 
conducive condition for plague to spread again. While we certainly hope that efforts to assist 
homeless are more and more successful, it’s nevertheless valuable to look to the past for one 
solution to this problem.

The Vinegar of 4 Thieves is a low-cost easy-to-make formula, and is clearly a low-tech approach 
to the problem. When I have soaked a kerchief in the solution that I made, wore it to cover my 
mouth and nose, the odor of the vinegar was potent, and it kept people from wanting to be close 
to me – which might have been a contributing factor in its effectiveness!


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com