Waste not, Want not

Waste not, want not.  Not a bad adage to live by . . . after all, if you don't waste things, you are less likely to end up lacking them.

One of the things we are easily able to save and reprocess into a useable product is soap scraps.   We save the little bits of bar soap can’t really used for bathing and washing up.  We keep a small cup in the bathroom and when a bar of soap has outlived its current usefulness we put the fragment in it.  When the cup is full I can repurpose the bits into something more useful.

It’s really quite easy and takes almost no time at all.

I put the left-over soap pieces in a microwaveable bowl and melt them  on a low setting . . . like the melt butter or soften ice cream setting.  

It doesn't take long . . . less than a minute . . . for the soap to become softened and pliable.  I don't melt it to a liquid state . . . just smooshy like soft cream cheese.  

I take a nylon stocking . . . I keep a supply of ankle highs in the kitchen for a multitude of purposes . . . and wrap it around a jar so that the foot part is inside the jar.

Stir the softened soap and then scoop it into the well created by the stocking in the jar. 

And, then lift the stocking out and twist it until the soap is in the shape of a ball.  Then tie off the stocking.

This is great to hang by the garden hose or by a utility sink to wash up with.  The nylon acts as a built in wash cloth and helps to remove dirt and debris from your skin.

Pretty cool, huh?

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!

Remember Chia Pets?  The little clay animal bodies that you could grown "fur" on?  As a kid, I totally wanted one!  I never got one.  So sad.  


The Chia Pet's torso portion is covered in small grooves in which moistened chia seeds are positioned. The moistened chia seeds produce a thick, gel-like paste which binds the seeds to the clay surface.  When the seeds sprout your clay creature grows "fur".  


Chia seed are popular in South America as a healthy food source.  The  sprouts are used in a similar manner as alfalfa sprouts in salad.They can be eaten raw as a whole seed or ground up and mixed in with flour and used in baked goods including breads, cakes and biscuits.  The soaked seeds are gelatinous in texture and are used in gruels, porridges and puddings. Chia seeds are a good source of  protein, fats and fiber.


I was at a local shop picking up some thing-a-ma-jiggers, doo-dads and whoosie-what-sis-es when I spied this little box of fun.


It was just a dollar so I picked it up for my son.  Never let it be said that I deprived my child of a Chia Pet-like thing-a-bob.   


When I got it home I looked at it closer and I was like . . . I can make this!  Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

How my garden grows - Natural abilities are like natural plants; they need pruning by study

Generally speaking, when it comes to our vegetable garden I prefer to let Mother Nature take her course.  After all, she’s been growing plants a lot longer than I have.  The exception being that we put up a trellis for our pea plants to climb and put in cages to support our tomato plants.  Of course, I weed and water and fertilize regularly to help ol’ Mom out.

However, when our tomato plants started to blossom while also looking a bit spindly and straggly, we decided to take a more hands-on approach.

Many of the “experts” advice that I’ve read say that if a healthy plant is between 1.5 and 2 feet tall that you should let the plants flower and begin to set fruit.  They say that the first fruit to form is always the largest and earliest. And that your yield will be better if you let them produce.

Our plants fit right into the 1.5 and 2 feet tall category except that they’re not looking all that happy.   

Experts also say that sickly plants should be given the opportunity to get healthy before allowing them to begin the sexual cycle.  This can be done by pinching off the first blossoms to allow all the nutrients to flow into the growth of the plant.  Obviously, we don't want our plant’s energy going into making fruit before energy has been devoted solely to forming strong stems and healthy foliage.  In my opinion, a larger more robust plant can better support the fruits to come.

All of our plants had one tier of flowers . . . one even had a tiny green tomato . . .  so I pinched off the blossoms on each of them.  By doing this, all the nutrients that would have been directed to the production of tomatoes will go back into the plant and help it to grow big and strong. 

Some other worthwhile advice is to prune the lowest leaves off the plant . . . those that are touching the ground or within a few inches of the ground.  This will prevent them from touching the ground and coming in contact with pests and diseases that may infect the plant.

I also gently move growing stems up and out of the cage to maximize sunlight exposure, air circulation and  provide maximum support for the growing plant

At least I'm going into the job with clean hands

I once worked with a guy who was an obsessive compulsive germaphobe.  For the purposes of this story I'll call him Deric.    He cleaned his desk every day and everything on his desk had to be positioned in just the right way.  Seriously, if you moved his mouse a fraction of an inch or touched his keyboard he’d know.  I don’t know how he knew but he did.  He would have to completely disinfect his desk if even thought someone had touched it.  In stark contrast was my desk . . . papers strewn everywhere, computer parts all over the place . . . maybe it’s because I actually did work, I don’t know.   Either that or I'm a slob.  Or both.   Anyhoo . . . literally, every hour on the hour I would catch a whiff of hand sanitizer wafting over the top of my cubicle.  It smelled nice and all that, but really.  Like mama used to say, I little dirt never hurt.

When I was a kid, I ate dirt and played in the toilet . . . and look at me now, I’m alright!  Okay . . . bad example . . . don’t look at me. 

The point is . . . well there isn’t really a point . . . I just think that Deric’s neat-nick-i-ness was hysterical and I loved to torture him.

I’m such a dirty girl.

So, this one's for Deric.   Peace, man!

__________________________

Homemade Hand Sanitizer

1/3 cup of aloe Vera gel

2/3 cup rubbing alcohol

8-10 drops of essential oil

Pour the mixed ingredients into the pump bottle . . . now you're ready to battle those germs with your own fragrant hand sanitizer!  :)

 

Those curious locks so aptly twin'd, Whose every hair a soul doth bind.

I'm always interested in finding alternative ways of doing things.  For the purposes of this blog, I try stuff out so that I can offer first hand information on my experience .  .  . you know, so that I actually have some sort of clue as to what I'm talking about.

I decided that I wanted to find a natural approach to coloring my hair.  I only have a few grays, so the only reason I typically color my hair is to cover them . . . yanking them out hurts!  So, after some research I opted to try henna.  

Henna . . . true henna is red and red only.  I don't want red hair.  I simply want to cover those silly strands of elderly hairs and maintain a brownish hue.  So, why did I pick henna?  Because, there are other color options for 'henna' hair dyes but they are not . . . uh . . . henna.  Let me explain.

There are three different plant types that are used for hair coloring because of the natural dyes they contain.  They all come as green powders but each has a distinctively different resulting color.

Neutral henna, is not exactly neutral and it is not henna.  It is Cassia obovata has a golden dye molecule that will stain dull blonde and gray hair yellow.  It will help damaged hair, make hair full, glossy, healthy.

 

Red henna, true henna, is Lawsonia inermis, commonly known as henna.  The leaves of the henna plant have a red-orange dye molecule.  Like I said before, henna will stain your hair red-orange; but the stain is translucent and will combine with your natural color.  Henna will make your hair heavy, thick and silky.

Black henna is neither black nor henna. It is indigo, Indigofera tinctoria.  And, obviously, it will color your hair black.

Like most gentlemen . . . and I use that term loosely . . . my husband prefers blonds.  Needless to say he was not thrilled with my choice of dye hair dye.  He’s not a fan of red heads. 

Henna will not . . . I repeat . . . NOT lighten your hair.  It only stains your hair.  It is also not truly a permanent color.  Shampooing, the environment and the chlorine in water all will degrade the color to some degree.  And, because henna is a single-compound natural dye it is far less likely to go brassy or bronze like synthetic dyes.

So, here’s where you get to benefit from my experience. 

I choose neutral henna because I wanted to minimize the red factor.  This is irrelevant to the outcome but neutral henna is supposes to smell like fresh mowed grass.  I like that smell . . . it’s so summery.  Except that *I* happen to think it smells like spinach . . . good to eat but not so nice on my head. 

I followed the package instructions for preparing the dye and applied to my hair as per the directions.  Henna is messy, messy, messy.  I used to be a hairdresser and I’ve been coloring my own hair for years.  Henna is, by far, the sloppiest, goopiest gunk I’ve ever used. 

That being said, you don’t need to be a hair dresser to apply the stuff.  You basically section off your hair and slap it on.  You just need to make sure that you cover your entire head.  And use a drop cloth or towel and, for the love of God, use gloves!

Henna is safe for your hair.  It doesn’t damage your hair, so you can leave it on for minutes or hours.  The depth and intensity of color depends on how long you decide to keep it on. 

Since this was my first try I decided to let it stay in my hair for 30 – 45 minutes.  After my time was up, I hopped in the shower to rinse it out.  And, I can tell you, it doesn’t rinse out easily.  Despite the fact that you where a plastic cap while it sets it still gets kind of stiff and dries out a bit.  So, you need to rinse and rinse and rinse. 

You can shampoo and condition as you normally would.  Now, I mentioned that neutral henna smells like spinach, right?  Well, I’ve been no-pooing for over a month . . . that is I’ve been using baking soda to wash and apple cider vinegar to rinse.  My experience has been that the baking soda wipes out even the strongest odors  . . . including cigar and cigarette smoke.  It didn’t touch the spinach smell.  Thank goodness my hair didn’t smell that way after it was dry.

As I dried my hair I was very surprised at how well it covered up the gray hairs.  None was to be seen.  Very cool!  

It was brownish with red highlights.  It's very pretty . . . but hubby is not thrilled even with the little bit of red.  He'll get over it.

Taken inside

My overall experience was good.  My hair is definitely shiny and thick and has lots of body.  It looks remarkably healthy and lustrous.

I'm a happy girl!

Taken in the sun

Ok, that's it. Talking poo is where I draw the line

Day 1 no-pooing - clean and shiny

I embarked on an epic adventure.  I am experimenting with something shocking and controversial.

No . . . not heroine or meth . . . no-poo.  That is . . . no shampoo.

I was out with a girlfriend and the topic turned to hair care.  She told me she doesn’t wash her hair everyday . . . and I have to say I’ve never seen her hair looking gross or dingy.  She told me about no-poo-ing.  I’d never heard of such a thing, but I found it intriguing and decided to do some research.  What I found convinced me to give it a go.  So I took some baking soda and apple cider vinegar with me into the shower and I’m off to become a new no-poo me.  

The idea of not lathering up your hair with perfumed detergent . . . that IS what shampoo is . . . will make most people cringe.   IMy husband is not so keen on the the idea and, honestly, I was skeptical.  I know what my hair is like if I skip even one day of shampooing . . . yuck. 

But shampooing hair every day is actually fairly recent.  It only became a popular thing in the 1970’s.  Now it’s so common that people think it’s gross not to wash your hair every single day.  

Modern shampoo has been around since the 1930s . . . but even then they only shampooed their hair once a month.  Look at photos of women from that era.  Their hair is thick, shiny and beautiful.  It wasn't shampoo and conditioner making their hair so hot!

It wasn’t until the 1950’s that women began shampooing their hair more regularly . . . once a week . . . hence the statement, ‘”I can't go out tonight. I have to wash my hair.”

But as formulas got gentler in the 70s and 80s, daily shampooing became the norm.  Why?  Not because women had greasy, stinky hair but because of commercialism.  We’re constantly inundated with advertisements that say we can’t be beautiful unless we by this product or that. 

Many of the ingredients found in shampoo aren’t particularly healthy for you or your hair.   They are drying and irritating and actually strip your hair and skin of their natural oils.   Which is why you have to use goopy conditioners to make your hair feel soft and smooth.

Day 2 no-pooing

Isnt the purpose of shampooing hair to remove dirt and oil from your hair?  That’s why you wash it every day, right?  If you don’t you end up with a nasty, greasy looking mess, yes?

True, but everyday cleansing may in fact trigger a vicious cycle.  By stripping hair of its natural and necessary oils it causes the scalp to produce more oil in response; which is what makes it nearly impossible for some people to go without shampooing for even one day.

Day 3  no-pooing

The scalp must learn to scale back production of those oils.  The more the natural oils are stripped away, the more oils our bodies will make. So if you stop using detergents, your body will still be overproducing oil.  It may take a few days or even a few weeks until your body reaches a balance again.  Once it does, though, your hair will begin to have more body and shine than it probably ever had.

Some no-pooers use only hot water to wash their hair.  Maybe I will get to that point but right now that seems a bit too much . . . or too little . . . for me.  Maybe once I get past my dependency on shampoo I’ll be able to do that, but I suspect that may be a ways down the road.

For now I’m using the baking soda / apple cider method.

Baking soda is gentle on your hair.  It is the weakest alkaline, and it very gently clarifies hair from chemical buildup. 

Apple cider vinegar is a mild acidic, which counteracts the drying effects of baking soda.  It detangles the hair follicles, seals the cuticle, and balances the hair’s pH balance.

To wash – add 1 to 2 tablespoons of baking soda into a 16oz cup. Once in the shower, fill the rest of the cup with water and stir until the baking soda is dissolved. It will be cloudy but not gritty, if the mixture feels gritty or pasty, either add more water or use less baking soda. Now apply the mixture to your hair, starting at the roots and then working it through the rest of your hair with your fingers.  It won't lather like shampoo.   Let it sit for a couple of minutes and then rinse.  You also won’t get that squeaky clean feel  but it does give your hair a distinct "smooth" feeling.   It feels nice. 

To condition - add 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to 1 cup of water. When you've mixed up your conditioner, pour it on and work it in just like you did the baking soda.  You can rinse it if you want to, or you can leave it in.  Belive it or not, your hair won’t smell like vinegar. 

This is not a perfect formula for every person.  It depends on how oily or dry your hair and scalp tend to be.  You may have to tweak it. 

If your hair feels too dry, use less baking soda.   If you find that your hair is too oily try using less vinegar or none at all.  You can also use lemon or tea as a clarifier.  You can even use honey as a conditioner!

Day 4 no-pooing

In the early days of my no-poo experiment I was working as a bartender in a private club . . . which in Connecticut means that smoking is allowed.  I don't smoke, but I appreciate that they have freedom to do so.  That day was a particularly smoky day at the club . . . cigar and cigarette smoke was heavy despite the air cleaner.  

Day 5 no-pooing

When I got home from work, the first thing I wanted to do was take a shower.  I had an internal debate as to whether or not to no-poo because my hair was really stinky.  I decided to continue with my planned course of action.  I washed with baking soda/water and rinsed with the apple cider rinse.  I was truly surprised.  My hair was clean and smelled fresh . . . not a hint of smoke.  


By day four I thought I would have had some issues with oiliness in response to not having used commercial shampoo.  Another surprise . . . my hair was only slightly . . . very slightly, oilier than usual.   

Day 10 no-pooing

Into the second week of no-pooing I am pleased with the way my hair looks and feels.  It's healthy, feels good and it's manageable.  My hair smells clean, too!  Although, I can't say "Gee, my hair smells terrific!" but that's because I'm not dousing it with perfumes.  

Day 20 no-pooing

Day 30 no-pooing

More than 30 days have passed since I last shampooed my hair.  There is no doubt in my mind that I can go the rest of my lifetime without using the stuff.  I am very satisfied with my hair using the baking soda wash / apple cider vinegar rinse method.  My hair is clean and fresh.  It's full, soft and healthy.  It feels good, it looks good.  What you see is what you get . . . decide for yourself.  

 

How my garden grows - A weed is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.

Do it yourself Newspaper Seed Pots

Okay, this a quick and easy gardening project.  It’s easy, it’s practical, and it saves money.  What’s better than that??

What you'll need - newspaper and a can.  A standard size can for the larger seed pot and a pill bottle for the smaller seed pots.  

This is an awesome way to start your spring seeds indoors. The individual containers are the perfect size for a sprout, and come garden time, there’s no stressful transplanting.  When the seedling is ready for the outside, simply open up the bottom of the newspaper pot and drop the entire thing into the ground.  There are no plastic containers involved, the newspaper will biodegrade in your garden, and your baby plant will never be uprooted. 

Spread out a full sheet of newspaper and then carefully split it in half, along the crease.

Take one of the halves and carefully split it in half again, along the other crease. You will end up with one quarter of a whole newspaper sheet.  Orient your sheet so that it is taller than it is wide, and then fold the bottom edge up to the top.

 Your sheet has now been folded in half to make a rectangle. Press along the bottom to make a tight crease.  Along the bottom of the rectangle, fold the creased edge over about an inch to make a small flap. Press along the edge to make it nice and tight.

Turn the paper so that it is now facing you lengthwise. Lay your can on the newspaper so that it hangs over the edge of the folded side (over the flap). Wrap the newspaper around the can until it overlaps itself.   Keeping your fingers on the seam to prevent it unwrapping, turn the can on it’s end.

 Continuing to hold the seam with one hand, begin folding down the excess newspaper to create a bottom. I usually fold it down in four flaps.  It may take a few tries to master this part, but eventually you will be able to get a flat, solid bottom.

Flip the can over and carefully wiggle it out of the newspaper pot. Don’t forget to keep holding that seam!

Now, where the newspaper overlaps itself, one end will be on the ‘outside’ and one end will be on the ‘inside’. On the ‘outside’ piece, gently lift that one-inch flap up.  Fold the ‘inside’ end under the flap, and tighten up that seam.

 That, my friends, is a seed pot!

That’s all there is to it!   Just start your seeds as normal in their individual pots. Don’t forget to label them , and make sure to open up the bottoms before you put them in the ground, to allow their roots to extend.

 I also made a half size pot . . . just as easy but smaller.