Cooling Mints & Mint Lemonade

Peppermint and Spearmint are both well known herbs. They have been both cultivated for a very long time and have started out in Europe, then spreading to many regions. This is also the pattern for how the herb itself grows. If you want to plant either one, the best thing is to grow it in a container as they are very invasive and will overrun any garden. Just a word of caution.

Peppermint leaves when dried make a fine tea that is very good for a troubled stomach and digestion. European medical research studies have shown that Peppermint Oil has been useful  in treating Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Peppermint Oil has been used as a flavoring from everything from confections to gum to mouthwash for bad breath to helping teeth and gums deal with germs. Peppermint Essential Oil has been used to treat headaches ( applying several drops diluted essential oil onto the forehead- NEVER use any essential oil directly onto the skin), nausea, toothache and respiratory problems.

The essential oil has a high amount of menthol, which gives the essential its stimulating aroma when used in a spray to help one feel refreshed and more awake. This also helps when one is suffering from anxiety and stress.This same menthol has also been found to have a cooling effect on the skin by stimulating the cold-sensitive receptors in the skin. Another good reason to spray yourself with a peppermint spray or to use a peppermint soap in the bath or shower in the summertime.

Spearmint has also been used as a flavoring in a wide variety of items from gum to confections and its leaves are also great in a tea that helps with digestion. Spearmint Essential Oil is different from Peppermint in that rather being a stimulating oil, it is more relaxing and calming. Just a delightful fragrant oil. It does not have the high cooling sensation as Peppermint and it helps to calm the Peppermint down abit.

OK I went to youtube and was looking around for anything about mint- found 2 videos about making mint lemonade and loved this one because of the great music!  Enjoy!

Have you ever tried mint soaps in the summer ? They do have a great cooling effect and are a great way to wake up in the morning- particularly on Mondays!  Starting tomorrow the mint soaps ( Good Morning - Vanilla Mint- Rosemary Mint- Mojito) will be on sale for $4.75 each starting tomorrow till August 15th or stock runs out. Try one and keep cool!

What are you favorite mints and how do you like them - cakes- Mojitos ?

 

Nuturing Creativity & Artists.....

I came across this talk by Elizabeth Gilbert who wrote the fantastic book "Eat, Pray, Love" and I think it ties in very well with Julia Cameron's book "The Artist's Way". She talks about how the idea of artist's "being" genius has hurt us rather than the idea of "having" genius as in having a muse. She comments on showing up as her doing her part and the muse/genius showing up and doing their part. A really great talk and a look into the person of Elizabeth and writers.

How do you nurture your creativity and show up to work at creating ?

Did you know your body is 90% water ?

 

In the movie "What the Bleep do we know?" there is a scene where the main character comes upon an exhibition on the Mystery of Water and Masaru Emoto's work on water. Mr. Emoto did research on how our thoughts can influence water through showing what shape its crystals can take when frozen. Water that has thoughts of love directed at it are beautiful crystals while the hate thoughts show water crystals that are distorted. This research is similar to what some have discovered with plants when some are talked to and loved and seem to flourish while some are yelled at or threatened and are stunted and wilted. Its amazing how things that we take for granted are influenced by our thoughts and feelings.

What amazes me about water in particular is the comment that we are 90% water and if our thoughts can influence water what does this say about the effect our positive or negative thoughts have on our bodies as well as our emotions and our mind and soul ? I feel and believe that how we perceive and how we self-talk ourselves has far reaching affects not only in our bodies but also in our health and in so many ways affects how we walk along life's path. I think it is allot to really think about and to dwell on. I for sure do not have very many of the answers. only what feels right to me. But I have seen what being focused on something you want to bring into your life can do and I know that we can manifest opportunities that appear in our lives with faith- will- or whatever your want to call it.

I like the part in " What the Bleep.." where the main character is bathing and writing on herself with an eye shadow pencil with symbols and positive affirmations that set her down a new path rather than hating herself. I have wanted to do that as I feel that is a great form of self love and caring for your Self.

What are your thoughts for this mystery of water and how you affect it and it affects you ?

What's in a name.......

and the name is Ritual Waters. I have had people remark about my choice for this my business name and also this blog's name. I like to add that it is Ritual Waters where " all things wild and waterfilled are good for the soul".That part of my name came to me when I was watching the James Herriot series on public television. The series of "All creatures great and small, all thing... and I forget how it goes but the verbiage came to me and just seemed to fit like a key into a lock. So this has stuck very well with me.

Now, where Ritual Waters came from needs abit of background. When I first was thinking about a name for my soap business, I was thinking of all these nature and Goddess names but nothing seemed to fit. I had a list going but kept crossing them off. Started thinking about what I wanted to be my mission for this soap business and what got me interested in it in the first place. Baths - large baths with soothing bath salts- sweet smelling soap- candles- music playing - me time - relaxation - unwinding etc etc. I love making baths a ritual and using that as part of a meditation to recharge my spirit. And Ritual Waters was born and became a reality! Daily water rituals for soothing the soul and  spirit.

The picture I took while in Bath, UK and it was a fantastic tour. I wish to go again soon some day! Now those Romans took the bath to a new level! 

What is your bath ritual ? How do you unwind ?

Ultimate Blog Challenge strikes again!

You may be wondering why there has been such an influx of blog posts this past week as the crickets have been the only noise on my blog since the last challenge in April. That has not been a good sign as I have been a slacker and am now off the couch and at the computer. I joined another blog challenge as is gets me onto my computer and onto the pages of my blog and posting. I am intending to keep psoting after the blog challenge is over and not let the crickets take over again. Sorry to have done that as I really do like writing when I am in the middle of a challenge and get to meet allot of great bloggers and read allot of great posts. So, if you also are a blogger I encourage you to check out the challenge as its free and you get to join a great group and gets daily blogging ideas to help you meet the challenge.

I have also started re-reading The Artist's Way book by Julia Cameron which is a 12 week course on recovering your creativity. Its a great souce for re-connecting back with your artistic self whether its writing-painting-dancing -whatever you do or have done that fills you up. One of the tools is the morning pages that consist of writing 3 pages in longhand every morning -at least to aim for that. So I am busy busy writing writing this month especially and it is a great experience!  Both have been overlapping each other and both are affecting the other- the morning pages and blogging and I think this will be a powerful month for me!

So, are you up for a blog challenge ?

Want to know how I unmolded that beer shampoo soap ?

I thought I had a great plan and it worked! After 48 hours I put the soap in the freezer overnight. And the next day I removed the plastic from the bottom of the PVC pipe. I still have my Mom's old wooden potato masher (I think it must be about 70 years old!) and pushed it through that end to pop out the soap. Since these are 12"long lengths it did not quite push the soap out all the way. So I got my handy StarBucks travel mug and set the masher on top of that with the pushed out mold/soap and shoved it down over the mug and it popped out the soap all the way!  Yeah!  I then cut the soap into bars with my soap cutter so they are all lined up on my soap rack to cure for 3 weeks! And the scent is great!

Some of you may be wondering about a soap shampoo bar and how does that work? To shampoo your hair really wet down your hair, wet the bar and then rub the bar on your head to work up a lather. Wash hair as you normally do and rinse. I use coconut oil and castor oil and you will get lots of creamy lather- I think more than liquid shampoo and with none of those harsh ingredients like SLS -sodium lauryl sulfate and such. I also rinse my hair periodically with an apple cider vinegar rinse- 1 part cider vinegar to 3 parts warm water. Do not use distilled vinegar. After you shampoo use the vinegar rinse and this helps with the tangles. I don't use it every time I shampoo but as needed. The cider vinegar rinse will also restore your hair's natural ph balance which helps to make it more smooth and silky. Try it for yourself.

As I said in my previous post this is a new shampoo recipe with the beer added and I was wanting to ask for some volunteers to try out a sample bar and comment on it for me.

Let me know below if you are interested as the bars will be ready week of 7/22!

What have you got to lose and  your hair may love you for it! 

My Artist Date

Yes its a hodgepodge of things, went shopping. I hit the Farmer's Market about 10AM as well as many other's in the hot sun. Lots of veggies and fruit to tempt my eye and nose. And yes there was a woman you was selling cupcakes, I bought 2 of them and as you can see only one left. :o)  Orange Crush and Strawberry- Yum! The baker is Easey Peasy which I thought was cute name. Bought corn, tomatoes and other things. What was so great was talking to people and laughing and just being out.

I also bought a blue soap dish and Good Luck Oogles. They are cute and I figured I would give one to my granddaughter when she goes away to college the end of the summer. She can use all the good luck she can get with all the changes that will be going on once she leaves home. And also one for my daughter as she will need all good luck with her empty nest. Mine is just for the heck of it!  :o) Artist is Back Porch Pottery- you can email her at hendersongail4@yahoo.com 

There was another soaper at the market selling her soaps- I always go check out other soapers and what they are doing and yes I buy other people's soaps- this is where my addiction comes in to scents.

OK and lastly I went to several fabric/quilt stores searching for that button to no avail. And yes I did buy some fabric- there is really a saying, "she who has the most fabric wins" and I believe I will be in the running for that title. I did not find the pink button I was looking for but I found some pink glass beads that I will make into a button somehow - so that will work I think. But I did have allot of fun and even signed up for a quilt class. I love the camaraderie of being in a class.

Driving back to the house after my adventure I felt really good and motivated to accomplish some things today including writing this blog. I feel like I played and met several interesting people and just had fun and enjoyed myself.

What fun things do yo have planned for this weekend? I know you have a to do list but what about a play list or an artist date list? 

Post July 4th Story

OK I admit not the picture you were thinking of when you saw the headline but I had to share. This wonderful little dog is all mine and her name is Tinkerbell. Last night when I opened the door for her last time to go out which she loves to do as I have a fenced in backyard she was ready to come right back in. I could not figure it out. I was going to make her go back outside but she flipped herself on her back to plead with me not to go back out. Then I heard the boom boom of the fireworks and then got it. To her it sounded like thunder and she was not going out in with that rumbling going on. FYI if any of you own pets they do advise to keep them in doors if they are scared of loud noises. I was not thinking about the fire works up until that point.

But that whole scenario got me thinking about July 4th which I had not done all day- too many chores I needed to get done on my to do list. So me and Tinkerbell spent some quiet time on the couch and I was remembering past July 4th's. I had always tried to catch the rerun of Yankee Doodle Dandy with James Cagney if it was playing. And there was the barbeque or cookout depending on where you live. And of course the local fireworks display. Great day to relax. But thinking back to what our country went through in 1776 to gain our independence and all the wars and fighting since to stay independent, it gives one allot to think about. We are very lucky to live in such a free country and I hope we all keep this dream alive and appreciate what we have. There are many in this world who are not so lucky.

I hope you all had a great Independence Day and celebrate what a great country we live in!

What July 4th traditions did you grow up with?

OK one more, this was in the 80's when I visited my brother in his family in Staten Island, was driving home with my Mom and my kids on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway and  was passing NYC. It was so awesome as the fireworks were going off between the buildings that I guess people were shooting off- I was such a really wonderful beautiful site. Such a celebration!

A Creative Path

This week has been a quiet one which for me has been a long time. My daughter and granddaughter are away and I am spending some needed time with myself. I decided I needed to jump start my creativity and have started to re-read the book The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. In case you have not heard it is a twelve week program to recover your creativity. I need to get back on the path to my
artistic self. The picture above is the path I want to walk down again as I have been running down the work-stress- drama one and need to break free and go in a different direction. 

One tool she recommends is a weekly artist date. This is for your inner artist child and this is something I think I have been needing for awhile. I am so excited about this! I already have the next 4 weeks planned and I feel like a kid in a candy store giving myself permission to taste and try the things on the glass shelves!

I am going to go to the Farmer's Market this weekend which I have been making excuses that I have this or that to do that is way more important and anyway I can get veggies from the local grocery store. Have you ever told yourself these things and missed out on doing something fun and playful for yourself? I know I have been for awhile. And I am also going on a button hunt- I want to make my granddaughter a purse but need a pink button to complete it so I will visit some fabric and quilt stores to find a match!

I want to follow this in the following weeks with a trip to the mountains, some quilt stores that are a distance away and who knows what else ?

What secret adventures has your artist child wanted to get into and check out? What is your favorite candy from the candy store?

Beer is more than for drinking!

Yes that is beer in the pan in preparation to making a batch of shampoo bar soaps ! I selected a bottle of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale from the local grocery store as the bottle appealed to me. From what I have read, I first needed to flatten the beer to get rid of the bubbles as lye and carbonation do not play well together. I added a tablespoon of salt which seemed to help get that process going. After I left it sit out I then boiled out the alcohol so that those sugars would not cause the soap to setup so fast. I decided to go back to an old mold idea for round bars. I have not made these in years and thought they would be a more handy way to use the soaps in the shower! So I went to Home Depot and had a nice gentleman cut in half 2 - 24" lengths of 3" diam. PVC pipe for my molds.

I used duct tape to attach plastic to the end of each length and my molds were made. I could not take more pictures of making the soap as it setup up very very fast. I ended up glopping ( a very technical soapmaking term) it into each of the three molds and pounding the mold on the counter to make sure the soap made its way down to the bottom. One tube  I think I pounded abit too hard as a hole developed in the plastic!  :o(  But I got all them babies filled mostly and put to bed- meaning I wrapped an old towel around them to insulate the batch. Tomorrow I get to uncover the soaps and see how they fared- the scent blend is Rosemary-Lavender-Lemongrass-Patchouli and smells wonderful. The next challenge will be getting the soaps pushed out of the molds and yes I have a plan for that.



I have wanted to try a beer soap as I had heard many good things about using the beer. What I have learned is that since beer is mainly hops, many of this herb's properties and benefits add some good skin cleansing qualities that are also good for your scalp.  Also the old wives tale about washing your hair is beer also pushed me to want to try this. I have been washing my hair with only my shampoo bars for the past 10 years and you will not find a softer head of hair if I do say so myself.

If you are interested in trying a sample of this beer shampoo bar I will be needing some testers and all it would cost would be your time and comments. Always looking for people to try something new. This batch would be ready in about 3 weeks.

SO let me know and and leave a comment below and please share! 



Writing should be as easy as.....

Just saw the new Nicholas Sparks movie and as I was driving home my thoughts were rambling here and there. It was a great movie and yes it was my romance fix for the month but I describe this movie as not just a silly romantic movie as for me it had heart if that makes sense. But back to the topic of writing and specifically about writing this blog entry tonight. For me this sort of writing is hard and I was thinking, I wish that writing for a blog, for something that I am publishing freezes me up. I would like this sort of writing to be as easy as talking with my friends where I feel I can say anything that pops into my head and not worry about what they will think. Because if they look at me a little weird at what I say, we all just laugh about it. Here on this page I feel I need to be more buttoned up and not just write about any old thing that pops into my head as there may be many people that will be reading it and who know what they may think?

And then I thought to myself why not just write like that? All who read my words are family and friends and those who I hope will be friends. And those who think I am weird, well maybe they are right!  :o)   But I am me for better or worse and as long as my hand moves across the page and spills out my words and thoughts and feelings, it is all good!

So here are some meanderings as I was driving home from a great movie. Its about 7PM and most people have eaten dinner and are getting out as it is a warm spring dusk after a week of chilly cold weather. I drove past a Father and daughter walking their bikes after what I assume was a great bike ride. Passed a local park where people were doing laps around a trail. A Mom was sitting on a park bench watching kids plays on a junglejim. A couple were walking their dog. A great time to be outside when things are settling down for the evening, people are relaxing after a long work week. Just a nice time.

I hope your evening passes as easily and lazily and you all have a fantastic weekend!

Being Fine .............

Let me preface this video that it is not the F -bomb in the talk but the word Fine.
I love TED and the great speakers that show up at their conferences. Mel Robbins gives a wonderful talk about getting what you want - what it takes to be more than just "fine".  I know I have said that way more than once in my life to explain how I am feeling when I am not fine. I agree that this is a much over used word that smooths over how we feel about ourselves- our jobs- our relationships- our lives- the world. It is like how the frosting on a cake is used to cover over the cracks and imperfections. It just smooths things over so it looks all uniform and hides the things that are wrong!
I know that I want to be more than just fine in my life- I want it to be great and awesome and fantastic! I want to jump out of bed every morning and be ready for anything that comes up! But first I need to be ready and get up and not push that snooze alarm and go back to sleep. I have found that I push that snooze alarm way too many times as getting up into a cold room and starting another day can be uncomfortable. Like afew posts ago when I wrote about our fears, not of not being good enough but of being awesome and powerful. Those seem to be the places that scare us so we go back and hide under the covers. Feeling that we are more powerful beyond words is scary as then we have no excuses to hide behind and have a great responsibility to live up to our success.

I want to have an influence in this world and make a difference in people's lives. I have this business called Ritual Waters and I want this to be my contribution to the world. I want it to be more than just soap and bath products although they are great if I do say so myself- tooting my own horn I know. :o)  For me they are healthy for your body but also I want them to help the body and spirit calm down when used in the bath for  relaxing. I want people to use them to feed the outside of their body and for my customers to also be selfish by feeding their souls in creating rituals for de-stressing. As one lathers on the soap- you are caring for your body and caring for your self and your spirit. I want them to stop and smell the soaps as one is to stop and smell the roses- stop and take some time out of your quick paced life to just stop and be still. Take some time out of the craziness of their life before it slips away. I want to spread these ideas around and for others to share how they calm down and listen to that still small voice inside that knows what they want and how to get it.

What do you really want ?



Beautiful Gratitude....

I found this beautiful video on youtube by Louie Schwartzberg. I found his work very wondrous and his talk very inspirational. May it lift your heart and your day!

Productive Day

Saturday was a busy day besides being a weekend day and not a day job day!  I made soap in the morning as you can see here. The one on the left is Chamomile Soap with olive oil infused with Chamomile Flowers and swirled with the herbal powder also. I decided to add some of the flowers on the top of the soap and I think it came out pretty well. There is not any essential oil added as it is one of my unscented soaps but after awhile you can smell the appley scent of the Chamomile herb in the soap. The other batch is Rosemary Lemongrass which really fills your senses with a herbal lemongrass scent. I do love making soap and I know that is is great for the skin because of the moisturizing oils that make up the soap recipe.

I choose to use a formula that is heavy on olive oil that is so wonderful for the skin, Shea butter which moisturizes, cocoa butter which is soothing to the skin, avocado oil that is a nutrient for dry skin and coconut oil for its wonderful lather. All these are blended together into a moisture rich bar with pure essential oils for an aromatic way to cleanse your skin.  All good reasons to use handmade soap as opposed to commercial soaps.

I know you have all heard that your skin is the biggest organ of your body and you need to be careful what you put on it as well as what you put in your body. You want to use things that protect it and take care of it and not harsh ingredients that dry it out and irritate it. One more note of information is that in commercial soap, the manufacturers skim off the soap's natural glycerin which is one of the main moisturizing components of the soap process as it draws moisture from the air and onto your skin. This glycerin is then re-sold to cosmetic manufacturers for a profit leaving commercial soaps not as moisturizing and can be and usually are dring to the skin. Handmade soaps have this wonderful ingredient in each bar and on your skin when you use it.

OK getting off my soap box for now. 

Scents are one of my passions as well as taking baths rather than showers.  So, making soap seemed like a natural way for combining these two into a business as well as the art and science that also go hand in hand with the making of soap.

Just wanted to share abit about me and Ritual Waters.....



Our Fears

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”   Marianne Williamson

If someone were to ask me what is one of my favorite quotes- the one above from Marianne Williamson would be at the top! Many of us go through periods where we feel we are not good enough for this or that and look to perfectionism as a standard to judge ourselves.Most always for ourselves as we tend to look more kindly on other people and give them more of a break. We seem to be fearful in this regard and worry about measuring up.

But, I agree that our fear is more from the fact that we are most powerful and that holy cow, now what do we do? If we are really powerful beyond words then we would have to know things and be responsible and actually do something with our lives. We would have to get out of our mess and stand there shivering in a new light.We would be uncomfortable in this new situation because we cannot whine and cry about how bad things are and how bad we are beause we are not. That is the light that frightens us. The fact that we are "brillant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous" can be really hard to accept. It is easier to accept that  we are not.

We need to play ourselves as big as we are- we need to fill our bodies and reach out to the tips of our fingers and toes and to the top of our head and not make ourselves smaller but reach to the sky!  We are meant to shine in all we do and we need to spread the word that we are all most powerful!

Filling your Gas Tank

I came across this interesting article about  filling your gas tank and thought I would pass it along. Sort of the same ideas as far as taking time for yourself to recognize when you are running on empty and some suggestions on what to do to fill yourself up. The best are the notes to self to not feel guilty for taking care of your Self and to not feel selfish but self fulfilling. You cannot be there for others if you are not there for yourself!

Fill Your Gas Tank

By Betsy McGuire

 

I've been pretty burned out lately; not unlike many of you. My husband has been working long hours, the kids activities are in high gear, work is busy - you know the story. I've noticed I've been pretty low on energy, patience, and love. When I'm burned out, I find it difficult to do everything from keeping the house clean to paying attention to the kids to writing entries for this blog.
So, I got sick of feeling this way and realized what I already knew; if I don't fill up my personal gas tank on a regular basis, I am not much good to anyone else. I hadn't filled up in a while; a little here and there, but certainly not enough. How do we know when were running on empty? Here's the great thing: we have a built in gas gauge if we'd just look at it once in a while. Our gas gauge is how you feel. Are you energized, patient, and filled with love and inspiration? That's a great indication that your tank is full. If you're worn out, tired all the time, uninspired - you probably need some gas.
So, if you need to take an afternoon off and watch 4 hours of a guilty pleasure TV show or read a book, you've gotta do it! If you need to feed your family frozen waffles and fast food for dinner for a couple of nights in a row because you just can't face cooking for a little while - do it. One week will not create a lifetime of bad eating habits. If you need to hire a babysitter and just go veg on a park bench for an hour - do it. If you need to let your house go for a while, it will still be there when you're feeling better. You know yourself. You know what will help you fill your tank. Just do it!! For me, I had to take some time and watch some inspirational TV. I have a little stash of programming that I keep to inspire me and lift me up. Needless to say, I hadn't watched any for some time. I'm getting caught up now and feeling much better.
People may get angry with you or disappointed if your behavior does not match their expectations of what you should be doing. Somehow you need to find the strength to say - that's ok. It's ok if people have the perception I'm selfish or lazy. I know the truth. I know that my actions are meant to fill me up with positive energy, patience, and kindness so that I can serve others and be the person I'm meant to be.
Our greatness cannot shine through if our spirits are depleted. Our spirits hold all the resources we need for love. It is our responsibility to protect, feed, and nurture our spirits.

Betsy McGuire invites you to visit http://www.chickpeawellness.com/ and sign up to receive her mind, body, and spirit blog the day entries are made. You can also "like" Chickpea Wellness on Facebook and receive new articles on your wall.
Copyright 2012 Chickpea Wellness, LLC

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Betsy_McGuire

Filling the Well....



Filling the well is a term Julia Cameron uses in her book, The Artist's Way. The well is your pool of creativity, your dreams, ideas, inspirations, images and so forth. As your creative juices flow with tasks, projects, ideas you deep into that well or pool and start emptying it out. One must refill this pool otherwise you will be empty. I have been feeling like that lately with all the blogging activity I have been engaged in since I committed to the Ultimate Bog Challenge- 30 blogs in 30 days. I also find myself working on empty when my day job ramps up gets busy beyond belief and I need to come home and work on Ritual Waters - my real creative passion. So here I am in front on the computer and wondering what to write as I feel I am on empty and the bottom of the well is feeling abit crusty and damp instead of overflowing with cool water.

So one thing I did tonight to help settle my "monkey mind" that keeps interrupting me was to take a nice long hot bath with just a candle for company. This seemed to help me slow down somewhat and settle. Another thing I could have added about 10 drops of Lavender or Chamomile to the water which I thought about now instead of when I was in the water.  LOL

I also need to take the time to start writing morning pages again and dumping all the stuff on the page so I can get down to the good stuff. Like clearing out the mud and silt so what water there is will clear up.

One last thing I need to do for myself is to go on an artist's date and do something fun for myself- been way too serious lately. I need a play date with myself.  Maybe go to a nursery and get some flowers or herbs for the flower beds and be outside in the sun to plant them! That sounds like a great weekend project!

What do you do to fill your well to be creative ?

Creativity and education....

I wanted to share with you all a fantastic talk about creativity and how schools are killing that creativity by requiring that we color inside the lines. I have seen where budget cuts are happening all over and the programs that seem to be cut first are almost always the arts and music. The school system seems overly focused on educating the students to pass the tests as that is what provides government funding and are now also the standard for how teachers are being evaluated for their job performance. I feel that the children are so getting lost in this shuffle of grades as being the measuring stick for education. All that seems to matter is that one side of the brain and not the whole child as being important. My granddaughter is graduating from High School this year and wants to become a teacher.Here's hoping things change for the better when she gets into the school system or maybe she can help change it.

I have added a link to a another TED talk given by Sir Ken Robinson and I believe you will enjoy it as he is a great speaker. Please enjoy!

 

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com

http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_sa...

TED Talks Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

Toward the end of his talk he speaks about a conversation he had with Gillian Lynne who when she grew up was in the Royal Ballet. She also worked with Andrew Lloyd Weber to choreograph Cats and Phantom of the Opera. I think you will find this video fascinating. Thank you for letting me share it with you.

OK someone told me that.......

people like to read about recipes on blogs so here is my offering. I am not that great a cook and my recipes are limited but I want to share a fantastic blog started by a good friend of mine. She calls herself The Mom Chef and her blog is Taking On Magazines One Recipe at a Time. Her name is Christane and what started her on this trek was having many times used recipes from magazines that never came out quite right,the way they were supposed to come out. As if the recipes were made in the perfect kitchen without husbands, kids and various pets underfoot.  What she does is to choose chooses recipes from various magazines, prepare them, comment on the process, pronounce a verdict and what she would change the next time. This is her process which is very methodical BUT she writes with such humor, has such mouthwatering photographs that it is a joy to read. She invites all her readers into her kitchen and household so that you really get to know her.

I urge you all to visit her blog and see for yourself. She has very successfully combined her love of writing and cooking into a wonderful fun blog.

The dish pictured above is  Avocado Chicken Salad and looks delicious.

Roman Chamomile...

Chamomile

I started an herbal infusion this morning with this lovely little flower Chamomile. I use this herbal infusion in my Chamomile Soap and also use it in my salve that I make. How I make this infusion is in my crock pot. I put down a thick layer of the dried organic Chamomile flowers and cover it with enough olive oil so that the oil just covers the flowers. I set the crock pot on warm and leave it for about two hours and turn it off. I just let the mixture sit for a week so it deepens in strength. I use several layers of cheesecloth sitting in a large measuring cup to filter out the flowers and squeeze out the wonderful oil. The infused oil has that appley scent so characteristic of Roman Chamomile. I purchase the dried organic flowers from Mountain Rose Herbs a great place for all things herbal including great teas in bulk.

This great herb has many wonderful qualities smelling wonderful- I love taking a deep sniff of the open bag of flowers- yes I know many people tell me I am abit strange at times - me and my 3 cats and small dog!  LOL  The flowers also make a great tea and with honey to sweeten the cup, very very relaxing moment to be enjoyed by all.

OK back to what Chamomile can do...
This wonderful herb is known to be a soothing herb that can help relieve anxiety and insomnia ( why I have a spray with Lavender and Chamomile). Chamomile can also help relieve digestive disorders and menstrual cramps which I read on Benefits of Chamomile . Chamomile is anti-inflammatory and can soothe inside and outside the body meaning rashes , etc. It is also anti-spasmodic by being a muscle and nerve relaxer.

What a great herb for relaxing the spirit and encouraging stillness and calmness into your life. What a great tea to accompany a relaxing bath!

Enjoy your day!

I love hearing the birds in the morning.....

I usually awake early every morning, about 5am during the week and about 6am on the weekends. 7am is late for me on the weekends.  LOL The wonderful thing about waking up that early is hearing what I name as "the birds calling up the morning". I love listening to them which I did this lovely morning. I was hoping to find an audio of this wonderful sound and was very happy when I did. So, just in case you are not early risers please enjoy!

I also find that the best time to journal is in the wee hours of the morning and the birds singing up the morning is such a great accompaniment. I term this writing my morning pages and started doing them after reading Julia Cameron's book  The Artists Way . This is a wonderful book that is a 12 week program to awaken one's creativity and one of the techniques is to do morning pages every day. You write 3 pages in longhand and not on the computer. You need to get that flow of "your hand simply moving across the page." This physical act puts you in touch with yourself that typing on a keyboard does not- at least for me. As Julia has written there is no right way or wrong way to do them, simply keep your hand moving across the page.

I hope you will check out her book as I have read and re-read that book and I think I need to read it again. I picked it up when I was living in NY a long time ago in 1998 and joined a group of women who were reading it. When I moved down to NC in 1999 I was thinking I needed to re-read it again and low and behold I saw an ad for a group at the local art school. How serendipitous was that ? I met a wonderful group of fellow artists and from that group 2 members started working and leading other groups and it spread!

So what's holding back your creativity? Come and fill your well of creativity !

Guess what I found.......

I feel excited about sharing this discovery. I went over to youtube to see if there were any videos about growing Lavender and of course, silly me , yes there are lots. There are videos about planting Lavender, propagating Lavender from cuttings, making Lavender wreaths. So please go check them out and I attached one on the many varieties of Lavender.

Enjoy and Happy Saturday!

More about Lavender

Lavender and Lavender Essentail Oil (EO) has so many therapeutic qualities and also many emotional/spiritual qualities that it should be part of everyone's household. From something as simple Lavender sachets added to scent linens or in a eye pillow to ease headaches and help one relax to sleep. We also have a Lavender Farm in Eastern North Carolina that I visited several years back that grow several different varieties of Lavender at their harvest festival. You can visit them at

www.sunshinelavenderfarm.com/    While there we had Chocolate Lavender ice cream plus they had several Lavender crafts they were demonstating. Their site also has information on planting and also recipes for using the herb Lavender. 

Now Lavender Essential Oil is what I use most. I use it in several of the soaps I make - Lavender, Lavender Orange Oats, Lavender Rosemary, and Walk in the Woods Soaps. Lavender is a versatile oil that blends with many other scents from the citrus scents like Orange and Grapefruit, to the mints and to the really earthy oils of Patouchli and Oakmoss. I also use Lavender in my Soaking Salts as the EO has the therapeutic properties to be sedative, antidepressant and analgesic which is great after a stessful day at work! If you are adding jus the EO to your bath , only add about 5-6 drops to you bathwater as you will be inhaling the scent through you nose and into you skin. EO's are very concentrated and as the saying goes "less is more".

Please note these are properties not prescribed by medical field but from aromatherpy and anecdotal only. I also use Lavender in my lotion bars as much for the scent as for its know skin heaing properties. I have also applied a few drop for insect bites to ease itching on my grandaughter's bug bites.

A wonderful book by Valerie Ann Worwood titled The Fragrant Heavens  talks about the spiritual dimension of fragrances and she writes about Lavender being " caring, cherishing, and nurturing " and an oil that uplifts the spirit. Lavender is a physically and emotionally healing oil and I hope you will welcome it into you daily life.

One place I highly reccomend to purchase wonderful therapeutic grade essential oils is http://www.lovingscents.com/   They have a wonderful newsletter and allot of information on their oils.

5 Things You Can do to Touch Your Soul and Regain a Positive Attitude - Guest Blog Post

When we get down, sometimes it’s hard to find a way back to happiness. There are some little things we can do though, that can make a big difference in how we feel on a regular basis. These little things will increase your positivity and create more happiness.

1. A hot bath on a cold day – or for that matter, a hot bath on a stressful day will work too!

2. Our favorite scent – There’s a lot of evidence that suggests emotions are linked to smells. When I smell cut grass, it immediately takes me back to when I was growing up. Sunday afternoons spent in the yard were always happy so the smell of cut grass always puts a smile on my face.

3. Good food- Now this can be both a good thing and a bad thing. You’ve probably heard of comfort food, that food that you want to eat most when you aren’t feeling at your best just to hopefully make you feel a little better. However, the best food to eat to make you get back on the right track to a more positive attitude is healthy good food. Learn some great recipes that combine really great tastes with health. Then make those your go to recipes.

4. Massage – If you have a loved one, getting them to give you a massage with a great lotion can be just what you need to reverse a negative attitude! Just remember to return the favor.

5.  A walk in nature – whether it’s snowing outside or the flowers are in full bloom, getting out and back in touch with nature and stopping to smell the (literal and figurative) roses will allow you to take pause and rethink some of what is bringing you down.

We can’t control everything that happens to us in our lives but we can control our reactions to those events. Having a little box of positive attitude tricks can help you out in a pinch when you really need to overcome some negativity.

What is your favorite little thing to do to make you feel more positive?

Nicole Bandes is the bestselling author of Positivity on Purpose: Intentionally Create More Abundance, Wealth and Happiness. Go from negative, unhappy and miserable to positive, excited and extraordinary in just 30 days with her Positivity on Purpose Transformational Challenge beginning  April 23^rd. Learn more and register at http://goldeneaglescoaching.com/poptc/.  You can also read more articles by Nicole at http://goldeneaglescoaching.com/blog/.

Lavender

I have had a Lavender plant for the past several years that grew quite big but finally died this past season. It was not as lush as the picture here but I usually was able to harvest a bunch of  Lavender that I could enjoy every year. I will miss that plant but will be picking up some new ones at the local Farmer's Market this year. People have asked if I grow my own herbs for my soaps or make my own oils, unfortunately the amount of Lavender Essential Oil I use requires allot more than one plant and I do not have as green a thumb as my Mother had. Lavender Essential Oil is steam distilled from the flowering tops only so it takes many flower stalks to make the oil. One of my dream vacations is to go to Provence, France during the Lavender harvest on an aromatherapy tour. A field of Lavender - what a wondrous site that would be to behold and to smell ! I think my senses would be overwhelmed but very very happy!

Lavender is an oil that has had a long tradition. The person who first coined the term aromatherapy was Rene-Maurice Gattefosse was working in a perfumier business and when he got a sever burn , he stuck his hand in a vat of Lavender oil and as a result was able to heal his hand quite rapidly and the oil helped to prevent scarring. So Lavender was there at the start of modern day aromatherapy. Lavender is one of the few oils that is said can be applied directly to the skin.

The scent of Lavender is usually familiar to everyone with its fresh herbaceous, floral aroma. This little oil has over 100 constituents including linalyl acetate, linalol, labeandulol, etc. Its amazing to me that how these different components are broken out depends on how the Lavender smells and what its characteristics are. For example there is Lavender grown in France and there is also High-Altitude Lavender- both the same species but depending on where it grows affects the chemical makeup of the plant and the final scent of the flowers and this affects the therapeutic properties of the essential oil.

More tomorrow on the qualities of Lavender Essential Oil.

Bathing Rituals- Kumbh Festival

I wanted to share this video as it pictures how  people in India use the symbol of water and bathing as part of their religious beliefs. The Kumbh Mela is a major festival of the Hindus where many make a pilgrimage for the purpose of bathing in the Ganges River as a way to cleanse away all their sins. This act is seen as a way to break the cycle of reincarnation and attain enlightenment for those with firm belief in this ritual. Many millions make this journey and endure hardships from travelling great distances. The images of joy and feelings of spirit being expressed are moving to watch.

This belief in the power of water and bathing to cleanse the spirit is also seen in the Christian faith in the Baptism of young children and adults. Ritual bathing and cleansing whether it is the washing of hands or full immersion has touched all religions throughout the world.

Bathing and water and creating a space for washing away the worries of your day so you relax and be at peace is something we can do in our homes and in out Ritual Spaces. This is where we can create a sanctuary of peace in our very busy lives and renew our spirits.

A stroke of insight

I wanted to share with you a brillant story of one woman's dealing with a stroke. Jill Bolte Taylor is a brain scientist who had a stroke when a blood vessel exploded in her brain. She talks about what it was like and what she learned about herself and the world as a result. She was forced to look at the world not with the left side of her brain but  had to look at the world from the right side of her brain. It is abit of a time commitment as the video is about 19 minutes long but well worth it. It would be wonderful if we could all view the world from the right side of our brains without the divisions that keep us all apart in our separate boxes. 

Jill Bolte Taylor's stroke of insight | Video on TED.com

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/lang/en//id/229 TED Talks Jill Bolte Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions -- motion, speech, self-awareness -- shut down one by one. An astonishing story.

Explore more interesting speakers on TED Talks- many things to pique your insterest and many things out of the ordinary that you will not hear anywhere else!

No more coloring Easter eggs for awhile.....

Well, this is the first year in a very long time that no Easter eggs were colored the night before or hidden around the house. Yes I am being nostalgic but that's OK. I uploaded a scan of Easter through 3 generations.In the upper picture I am the one on the far left with my brother Eddie, Walter and our dog Minnie. The house was built by my Dad. Minnie was the dog who when we left our dozen plus Easter eggs  on the dining room table while we went to church ( BIG mistake! ) ate all the Easter eggs.  :o)
The beautiful girls down below are my daughter on the left and my granddaughter who is now 17 on the right. I have memories of hiding the eggs and the race of the kids to find them all. The questions asking is this all of them and the yeah or the nay and getting hot or cold in getting that last egg. Of course one year the last one did not get found and of course we did not realize it. But that last egg was found a few months later- big yuck. I will have to wait for my great-grandchildren to be coloring more Easter eggs or I could color them for myself which is always fun. I love the colors the shells turn.

 I do love Easter and the celebration of Spring. This is the time for renewal of the cycles of life on this beautiful Earth, with new life being born and the flowers blooming and the end of Winter's hibernation. This is the time of new beginnings where the earth's energy starts flowing upwards and blossoming. I plan on making this Spring and this year to be full of growth for myself and for Ritual Waters and to make 2012 memorable.

What are your plans for this season and this year? Where will you be when June 21st comes with the onset of the Summer season. Will you be reaping the rewards of all you began and planted in the Spring, carefully tended and grown?