Have you ever been attacked by a cold sore? How about a gang of cold sores?

I get them about once a year, and usually in groups; that is when one is gone, another shows up.

Do you find Abreva too expensive to maintain as an arsenal against yearly attacks? I do, especially since, the first one I bought, I lost after using it only two times. In my quest to find something more affordable I found:

HL30 by Herpecin L

It's actually a cold sore lip balm stick with lip protectant & sunscreen.

On the tube it says, "Real Relief from Real Medicine." It's true. It works as well as the others I've tried. And, it doesn't dry your lips out.

I start applying at the first sign and within two days the sore is just about gone.

Does it work better than Abreva or similar expensive cold sore medicines? I haven't done a comparison, but for the money (less than $5 at Walmart) I like it just fine.

If you give it a try, let me know what you think.

Raw Sugar

Raw sugar is unprocessed (or less processed) cane sugar. It is dark in color and the flavor is more like molasses. There are several brands available; the one I like is Turbinado from the tropics.

One thing I learned when using Sugar in the Raw, is that it tends to get sweeter as it sits. I'd suggest adding less-than your normal helping until you've discovered your sweet level.

Side note: I did not like the Stevia blend. 

The Beginning

I've started this blog to pass along information about products and other things as they come to mind.

For example: When using a Mini Keurig coffee maker, it is best to do so in the following steps:

Turn power on
Open top on the water reservoir
Pour in water to the desired level (it has three selections). Pour in until you see water just appear in the middle hole (keep open at this time so you can see when water is completely drained).
Lift lid where K-cup goes, allow water to drain thoroughly (when you no longer see water, close lid), then insert K-cup, and close lid. 
Hit the brew button. Flashing blue light will change to red while water heats.
Coffee will brew in a minute or two. Machine will turn itself off, unless you brew another cup immediately.

The Mini brews one cup at a time; there is no place to hold additional water. Use the drip tray - if you overfill the reservoir, water will run out at the bottom. For tall mugs, you may have to remove the silver cover from drip tray.