OOPS!!! Missed my turn! !#{/?X#?!!//!!!

    I missed my turn on the way to check out a friend’s new restaurant a few days ago.

    Could’ve simply turned around and gone back, but the closest turnaround just happened to be the entrance to a preserve I’d been hoping to check out for months. Not in a hurry, I decided to take advantage of my ‘mistake’ and walk the small preserve, Audubon-Newhall, here on Hilton Head Island.
    Here’s what I discovered:
    Easy trails through a forest of long-needle pines, live oaks, saw palmettos and ferns are lined with a plethora of indigenous plants, shrubs and trees with well-placed placards identifying each: Witch Hazel, Red Buckeye, Sweetgrass, Chickasaw Plum, Coral Bean (Cherokee Bean), Inkberry, Narrow-leaf Silkgrass, Bald Cypress, Southern Red Cedar, French Mulberry, Fetterbush, Dog Fennel, Elephant’s Foot, Rusty Lyonia (a critically imperiled plant according to the sign), Wax Myrtle, Savannah Holly and on and on and on. How wonderful!!!

                                                         CYPRESS KNEES
    I was delighted!
    For more than 50 years I lived in the Appalachian Mountains and am familiar with the wide-range of plants found throughout her peaks and valleys. The mountains are part of my heart (you can take the girl out of the mountains but you can’t take the mountains out of the girl!), but when my youngest daughter asked me to come live in Hilton Head last year, I took the opportunity to be closer to her and explore a new land(sea)scape.
    But after getting settled, I was shocked to discover how little I knew about the local flora. In one way or another, plants have been a constant in my life. Being surrounded with plants I couldn’t call by name was more startling and uncomfortable for me than being around the many strangers that come by the thousands to discover the charm of Hilton Head. So I was definitely overjoyed with all the signs and explanations along the trails at the preserve…the chance to learn my surroundings…a living classroom…yippee-Yay!!

    In the middle of Audubon-Newhall Preserve (www.hiltonheadaudubon.org) is a small pond,

one of the preserves’ three distinct wetlands. The pond is absolutely exploding with life - lily pads, reeds and grasses intermingling with the trees and shrubs lining the shore…frogs, bees, dragonflies, turtles and toads filling every nook and cranny…a veritable nursery for aquatic insects, fish and reptiles.

    After walking some of the trails and around the pond for a while - taking pictures of plants and anything that moved - I finally put the camera down and sat on the wooden deck overlooking the pond, settling into the rhythm of this oasis. The richly-scented air…red cedar and pine combined with the amazing smell of Georgia Mint…cleansed me with every breath I inhaled. I was complete; thinking of nothing, longing for nothing, aware only of the air and water, the warmth of the sun on my face and feet…lost somewhere wonderful, outside my never-ending stream of thoughts and feelings.
   I was filled with awe at my newly discovered treasure and gratitude for all creation, all of life, and thankful for Caroline Newhall (and those like her) who had the foresight 45 years ago to preserve these 50 acres so I could be here this minute, in the bosom of creation.

    Just as I had thoughts of leaving, a baby gator (more of a toddler perhaps) came around the shrubs drooping in the pond, swimming right in front of me. At first, I thought he might eat the fish I’d been watching, but by their actions it was obvious that neither the turtle in front of him, nor the fish underneath and around him, felt threatened…perhaps they knew he wasn’t hungry…???

      In Native American tradition, this ancient creature represents primal energies, the forces of creation and destruction rolled into one, which can only happen with utmost balance. In the eco-system at Audubon Newhall, one can experience this alpha and omega firsthand. Even after such a brief visit, I felt calm, refreshed and (well, yes) balanced – as I do every time I allow myself to get lost in the natural world.
    This is what it’s all about (for me) – enjoying and preserving the Earth and all her vast array of life forms…balancing the human presence here with respect and consideration for all life - living in peace and harmony. I can’t imagine the loss of even one of the species of creation I saw this day…not one. 
    I made it to my friend’s restaurant, a lot more at peace and a little later than planned – which turned out to be perfect timing (imagine that!). I ate an awesome fried green tomato sandwich and reconnected with good friends. It was an excellent afternoon, made all the better because I missed my turn.
   In gratitude…Peggy

A lesson in friendship, taught by a fly.

Every year, summer and fall, for the past several years I've been visited almost daily by some very friendly critters, a.k.a., the 'Good News Bee'. Sometimes the whole GNB family comes over and hangs out. We sit in the sun, chat, drink sweet tea, watch Junior practice his hovering technique, and have a great time. 

I remember the first time I met one of these handsome fellows. It scared the beejeebees out of me. He was big, buzzing like a chain saw, and was intent on getting up close and into my personal space. Now, y'all, I'm a believer in co-existing with other critters. They have as much right to be here as I do. I just don't like 'em to get all up in my face. Keep your distance and it's all good. This particular guy obviously was not aware of the personal space rule.

I was sitting on my back steps, soaking up some sunshine, just chillin'. This ginormous bee came flying out of nowhere, made a crazy fly-by pass, zoomed around the end of the house, braked hard, and then zoomed back toward me again. Like I was some unexpected curiosity who had mysteriously appeared and needed to be investigated. He buzzed right up to me, maybe 10 inches from my face, and hovered. Eye ball to eye ball. 

My instinctual reaction was to swat him away. Then I thought that that might not be such a good idea. He was, after all, a really big bee. I know all too well that swattin' a bee can make them rather cranky. I figured from the size of him that he'd have an attitude to match, with a stinger at least twice that big. So I leaned back and told him to get out of my face. 

He backed up.

I'm positive the look on my face was priceless. I'm also positive he laughed at me.

But, I think his curiosity was four times his size. As if he couldn't control himself, he buzzed a few inches forward in my direction again. He did this crazy side-to-side, up-and-down hover trick, moving somewhat like a hummingbird. I repeated, "Get out of my face, mister." Again, he moved backward. I said, "Oh, funny man, aren't ya'?" Buzz. Up. Down. Left. Right. Then he flew off, zoomed around the car, checked out a tail light, and zoomed back at me, circling my head several times. He ended this demonstration of superior flight skills with another up-down-left-right finale in front of my face.

I told him, "Buster, if you're gonna' hang with me you gotta' stop this gettin' in my face thing. You're freakin' me out." I pointed to the step and said, "Sit down."

He did.

I was flabbergasted.

He sat there, preening. I sat there, stunned, watching him. 

After a few seconds he turns in my direction, levitates about half an inch, then sat back down. I swear to God it looked like he cocked his head up at me with a "Well, what now?" look. "Um, hello. I'm Carol. What's you're name?", I asked. Okay, odd, talking to a bee. I didn't know what else to do. He didn't move. "It's some foreign thing I can't pronounce, isn't it?" He levitated. "I'll just call you Bob. Is that okay?" He walked a little closer. "You live around here?" He lifted off and flew around the house. I guessed my conversation skills weren't inadequate.

For about a week this social bee-man would come buzz, hover, zig-zag a bit, and sit with me on the steps if I was outside. I named him Bob. We discovered we communicated better if I didn't ask questions. Instead, I just told him stuff. I told him about the book I was reading - he seemed to enjoy sitting on the pages. I told him about the painting I was working on, and how frustrated I was that I couldn't get a particular color right. I told him I was behind on my housework because all I wanted to do was stay in my studio and work. I told him about good things going on, some bad things going on, and that I wished I had the space to plant a garden. I told him all kinds of stuff. He just buzzed, hovered, sat and listened.

One Saturday afternoon, my husband was home off of a road trip and he and I were outside. I was watching him wash the car. Bob showed up. Naturally, I said, "Hi, Bob!" The husband gave me a look over the hood of the car. "Bob? Who's Bob?" I pointed at Bob, who was hovering all around me. "Him," I said, "That's Bob. We're friends. He sits with me on the steps and we talk." 

"He's been buzzing all around me while I've been washing the car." the husband said. "Yeah," I replied, "He's a curious sort. He's just checking you out, trying to see if you're friendly." Bob seemed to be excited that day. Zooming around, flying to the end of the house and back again. Hovering back and forth between me sitting on the steps and my husband beside the car.

"He sits down when I tell him to." I said. "No way!" the husband exclaimed. "Uh huh." I say back at him. I watched as the husband dropped his sponge back into the wash bucket and rinsed off the suds. When he finished rinsing he came and sat beside me on the step. Bob was doing his up-down-left-right thing all around us. Of course, Bob also had to investigate the husband's personal space boundaries.

"Okay, Bob, that's enough. You need to sit." He did. "Now say a proper 'hello' to my husband." Bob levitated, hovered around for a second or two, then landed on my husband's outstretched hand. The husband was speechless. Bob even sat perfectly still and patiently allowed my husband to pet him a couple of times. Then, he sort of wiggled his butt, lifted himself up and zoomed off. The husband was impressed. Really impressed. "Told ya' so." I smirked. "Bob's my bee friend."

The husband asked me what kind of bee Bob was and I told him that Bob is commonly called a "Good News Bee". Some time later we Goggled the 'good news bee' and discovered that they are actually a bee mimic. They are referred to as 'good news bees' because of the habit of hovering in front of a person and 'giving  them the news'. It is said to be good luck to get one to land on your finger. In Latin, it is Milesia viriniensis. In layman's lingo, it's a Yellowjacket Hover Fly. They look like a yellowjacket on steroids, but they don't sting. They feed on nectar and pollen from plants like Queen Anne's Lace.

I consider myself fortunate to have lots of Queen Anne's Lace around my house! I also consider myself pretty fortunate to have met Bob, a most interesting creature, that summer. He taught me the importance of not passing judgment on another creature or person before I know all the facts. He taught me it's important to be patient and listen, even when what the other person is saying sounds like a lot of gibberish to me. He taught me that it's okay if sometimes a friend flies off on another path for awhile - that it is more important to enjoy the time you are together because those moments, even if they are short, are truly precious. And Bob taught me that although somethings makes you happy, sometimes sharing that thing or experience with someone you care about is even better. Thanks, Bob.

Namaste, y'all ...

Carol

Great balls of sunshine, polished chrome, and buckets of lemonade, too!

To be such a small thing, the humble lemon is a powerhouse. I must confess that one of my favorite things about lemons is their beautiful color. Artist = Color = Love. A bowl of lemons on my kitchen counter is like sunshine, even in the coldest days of winter. Second on list of reasons to like lemons is their ability to multi-task. They may have actually invented the word.

Sure, most people think of lemons as the main ingredient in lemonade. Nothing wrong with a tall, cold glass of sweet-sour deliciousness. I make it for my husband all the time. He thinks I’m being a nice wife, slicing lemons and stirring up a pitcher full for his drinking pleasure. What he doesn’t know, and I don’t bother to tell him, is I have ulterior motives. Lemonade is good for him.

The husband is a truck driver. This means, for two weeks at a time he’s out there on the road, cruising the interstate highways in a big ol’ truck. To look at him, you wouldn’t guess he’s a truck driver. He’s skinny. No truck-driver belly on my guy. He’s got a physique better suited to rodeo riding than truck driving. (And he’s from Texas!) Despite his small frame, he’s in that truck, sitting on his small butt, 14 hours a day. It’s hard on a body, even a small one. He’s 48 years old and has had kidney stones four times. Not a good thing.

Of course, it didn’t help that the husband was a Coke-aholic when I got him back in January 2000. Used to be a iced tea-aholic but his doctor made him stop drinking it because of the urinary tract problems it caused him. As if Coke was any better! I used to be a Coke-aholic, too. So I knew the dangers hidden in those bottles of fizz. Most of the tales about Coke dissolving nails and distributors of Coke using it to clean engines is urban legend. (Check out Snopes.com when you hear stuff like that.) Although, Coke will put a serious shine on an old penny.

Now, what I’m talking about is the fact there is nothing, absolutely nothing, nutritious about Coke. Published versions say it contains sugar, caramel color, caffeine, phosphoric acid, high fructose corn syrup, cocoa extract, lime extract, vanilla and glycerin. The original version had a higher content of cocaine from the cocoa leaves than today’s current version. Not only is it nutritionally useless, it swells your stomach, giving you the sensation of being full. This kills your appetite, as well as fills you up with more soda than food when you do eat a meal. Hard on your system.

I will never forget the day I told the husband he needed to stop drinking all that Coke and drink water. His words,  “No way! I ain’t drinkin’ no stinkin’ buncha’ water!” Today, nearly 10 years later, the husband usually only drinks Coke with a meal, and then only about a ½ cup full. He takes cases of water on the road with him. At home, he likes lemonade and I am more than happy to fix it for him.

Lemons are effective diuretics which help the body eliminate excess fluids. Beside cleansing the body of toxins and bad bacteria, the natural diuretics in the juice of lemons help prevent a host of problems associated with water retention, such as glaucoma, edema (swelling), high blood pressure and bloating. They are also effective in combating urinary tract infections and bladder disorders, as well as conditions associated with a high uric acid concentration, such as arthritis and rheumatism.

Wait, there’s more.

Although the lemon is often thought of as acidic, it is very effective in curing many digestion problems when mixed with hot water, including biliousness, nausea, heartburn, disorders of the lower intestines like constipation and worm infestations. It is even known to relieve hiccups. Lemon juice, when taken regularly in the morning, acts as a tonic to the liver and stimulates it to produce bile making it ready to digest the day's food. It is also thought to help dissolve gallstones. Because of its high vitamin C content, it is thought to help prevent and treat many infections, hasten wound healing and temper down high fever. Lemon juice also relieves symptoms of asthma, tonsillitis and sore throat. When lemon is mixed with coffee, it is thought to help treat malaria. This concoction is also effective for headaches.

Lemons help remove warts, relieve rough hands and sore feet, soothe poison ivy, disinfect cuts and scrapes, soften dry elbows, treats dandruff, freshens your breath, treats acne, cleans and whitens your nails, lighten age spots, highlights your hair, calms your nerves or gives you a pick-me-up when you need it.

That’s just a few health benefits. This is where a lemons’ multi-tasking comes in.

Around the house, lemons can be used for removing stains, neutralize cat box odors, clean tarnished brass and polish chrome, brighten dull aluminum, freshen the fridge, sanitize and deodorize cutting boards, keep insects out of the house, clean your microwave, deodorize your garbage disposal, bleach delicate fabrics and whiten whites, boost laundry detergent, rid clothes of mildew, used in dishwashing they are a mild de-greaser, get rid of rust, get rid of hard water spots, clean your drain – especially if you have a septic system, and a lot more.

What about with food? 

Oh yes, lemons keep potatoes and other fruits and vegetables from turning brown, keeps rice from sticking,  make soggy lettuce crisp and …

There is lemon sorbet, lemon pound cake, lemon icing, lemon- thyme asparagus, sautéed green beans with lemon, lemon butter, lemon anise bread, lemon salsa, lemon wild rice risotto, lemon vinaigrette, lemon gum drops, lemon tarts, lemon cookies, lemon sour cream sauce, mushrooms with lemon sauce, lemon drop martini, lemon chicken, lemon-dill grilled fish, lemon-garlic potatoes, lemon-poppy seed muffins, lemon-pepper chicken or fish, lemon-blueberry-walnut bread, lemon-berry trifle, lemon basmati rice, chocolate-lemon cream bars, lemon-zucchini bread, raspberry-lemon smoothie, lemon-shrimp linguini, lemon-dill cucumber salad, almond-lemon cake, baked lemon-basil pasta, lemon meringue pie, and of course, lemonade. Hundreds of ways to eat (or drink) a lovely, sunny yellow lemon.

Impressive for something that fits in the palm of your hand, isn’t it?

Namaste, y’all …

Carol

I would not eat my cats.

Nor use their body parts for clothing, medicine, or hair care products.

 This is Zipper. He's a little different.

 This is Tuck. He just wants to be kissed on the head.

I love my cats. In fact, I love animals of all kinds. Okay, yeah, spiders and snakes creep me out. I might not like them as much as my cats, but I still wouldn’t eat them. I respect their place and honor their purpose in the scheme of things.

Truth is, I probably like animals better than I like people. They are what they are. Not a game-playin’ bone in their bodies – even the ones that don’t have bones. They do their thing, live their lives, and balance out our world on more levels than you can shake a stick at. Even a tiny little phytoplankton is worthy of immense respect.

When I think back to my many years as a meat-eater, I am deeply ashamed. True, I was taught, as millions of others are taught, meat eating was a vital part of a humans’ diet. Must have protein from meat to grow big and strong. What I wasn’t taught, again, as millions of others aren’t taught, what the true impact of that belief system really is.

It all started back on March 19, 2004 with an article about a cow. A ‘downed’ cow. I stumbled across it online. Don’t remember how I got to it. Doesn’t even matter. What I do remember, with gut wrenching clarity, was the effect reading that article had on me. I was barely half-way through reading when I had to stop. Not because it wasn’t interesting, it was. Not because it was poorly written, it was eloquent. I stopped because I simply couldn’t see the computer screen anymore. My eyes were so full of tears, pouring out and down my face like an eyeball-sized version of Niagara Falls.

The article was entitled, “This Story Will Change Your Life”. It did. It changed my life. That is the day I became a vegetarian. I printed that story out and put it on my refrigerator. It is still there. Every time I look at the picture of that cow, I still have a strong urge to sit right down in the middle of my kitchen floor and cry. To think I played any part, no matter how misguided and ignorantly done, in the suffering of that cow – or others like it – breaks my heart. It is even difficult to write this and not stop, hang my head, and shed a bucket full of tears. It is deep, deep sorrow and regret.

As difficult as it was to research and educate myself on the realities behind the meat industry I still did it. I had read some of the most horrifying, brutal, and inhuman stories and facts about how that seemingly innocent cheeseburger or crispy fried chicken leg ends up on a plate. I have lost loved ones, lived through mental and physical abuse, have suffered depression to the point of attempting suicide. None of those things has been as torturous to my soul as learning about the cruelty we humans inflict on the creatures of this earth – all in the name of a great pair of shoes, soft skin, or laundry detergent. We are monsters, and sad to say, most people don’t even realize it. What could be worse? Those who know it and don’t care. I will never understand them. Not even if I live a thousand lifetimes.

Becoming vegetarian wasn’t too difficult. I thought, okay, I’ll just stop eating meat. Ta-Da! Problem solved. Unfortunately, it turn out not to be so simple. Sure, lots of stuff out there for vegetarians to eat. Way more than lettuce and carrot sticks. It was discovering the choice to not eat meat did not stop other kinds of animal cruelty. Far from it.

If you’ve read my previous posts, you’re bound to be aware by now I’m all about research. The more you know, the more thoroughly informed you are, the more able you are to make intelligent decisions about yourself, your life and how you choose to live. Learning about vegetarianism led me on a direct path to veganism. The two are very, very different. There’s a dozen and ten different types of vegetarians. Some still eat dairy products. Some eat fish but no red meat. Some eat eggs but won’t eat the chicken. Some just eat fruit. On and on. Vegan, by definition, is No Animal Products. None. And it’s not limited to just your food. It’s everything. Every.Single.Thing.

Out there in the world, every single day, animals are beaten, abused, kept in cages or chained. We call it the Circus. They are force fed hormones, suffer mutilations, contained in such small places they can’t even move, often for their entire lives. We use them for food. They are tortured, burned, blinded with chemicals, dissected alive for medical experimentation and so-called science. In my eyes, the abuse they suffer, just so someone can label a bottle of shampoo or dish detergent as “Safe For Human Use”, is an act against nature and all that is holy.

Veganism is also about saying No, I won’t be a party to such atrocities against animals. They have as much right to a life well lived as I do. I won’t spend my dollars for creature comforts at the expense of another creatures’ life. Sadly, it’s not always easy to do. We have been so blinded to what goes on behind a company’s doors. We no longer question how all those products get on the shelves at the store, we just demand they be there, for our instant gratification and convenience. Products which seem so far removed from even the remote possibility of any form of animal cruelty will surprise you. Someone, please tell me why white sugar refineries use animal charcoal filters?

Here’s a website, SourceWatch. Look it up for yourselves. If it doesn’t make you sick, you don’t have a heart.

Yes, I’ve also heard and read the arguments for the use of animals, whether for testing or human consumption. 99% of my own friends eat meat. My husband eats meat. And they all use products which contain animal ingredients or were (and still are) developed through animal testing. My friends are still my friends. My husband is still my husband – and I have to make him cheeseburgers and buy his brand of shampoo for him when I go shopping. As I said, it isn’t easy begin vegan in a non-vegan world.

But it’s the choice I have made.

I pray, some day, a lot of other people will make the same choice as well.

Namaste, y'all ...

Carol

Yes, I am a bag lady ... and proud of it!

I love bags. Tote bags, that is. One of the things I've learned in being a 'greenie' is that those oh-so-convenient plastic bags every store on the planet stuffs your stuff in at the check-out counter are really about as convenient as a case of poison ivy on your butt. You might laugh at that, but let me give you a few statistics to put in your poke ...

• Plastic bags cause over 100,000 sea turtle and other marine animal deaths every year when animals mistaken them for food
• The manufacture of plastic bags add tonnes of carbon emissions into the air annually
• In the UK, banning plastic bags would be the equivalent of taking 18,000 cars off the roads each year
• Between 500 billion and 1 trillion plastic bags are used worldwide each year
• Approximately 60 - 100 million barrels of oil are required to make the world’s plastic bags each year
• Most plastic bags take over 400 years to biodegrade. Some figures indicate that plastic bags could take over 1000 years to break down. (I guess nobody will live long enough to find out!). This means not one plastic bag has ever naturally biodegraded.
• China uses around 3 billion plastic bags each day!
• In the UK, each person uses around 220 plastic bags each year
• Around 500,000 plastic bags are collected during Clean Up Australia Day each year. Clean Up Australia Day is a nationwide initiative to get as many members of the public to get out and pick up litter from their local areas. Unfortunately, each year in Australia approximately 50 million plastic bags end up as litter.

The above info was snitched from Natural-Environment.com. 

Think about it.

Now think about how simple it is to not use those plastic bags of woe. My personal choice is canvas bags. They are sturdy. They are washable. They last for years. They are easy to take with you, whether it's for buying groceries, getting books from the library, or even to haul your stuff out to the park for a picnic! They are easy to store when not in use. They can be decorated a million different ways - which appeals to the artist in me. They multi-task - which appeals to the 'greenie' in me.

I love my skinfood tote bag. You can get one at our CafePress Store. They are really nice, heavy weight cotton duck canvas. Roomy sized to hold lots of stuff. I have lots of other tote bags, too. Big ones. Small ones. Plain ones. Decorated ones. I use them all the time for all kinds things.

But, if you find yourself stuck with the plastic bags of woe and want to get rid of them, what do you do?

A lot of grocery stores have a big bin for collecting bags for recycling. Some of your 'convenience centers' (where you haul your trash off) also have plastic bag collections. And then, I've read about some creative folks who use them for creative things.

I've seen them woven into rugs at Homestead Weaver.com

I've seen them knitted or crocheted into tote bags at My Recycled Bags.com

I've seen them crocheted into sandals at Craftsters.org

I've seen them made into wallets, dish cloths and scrubbies, hats, raincoats, jewelry ... an incredible array of crafts all from plastic bags! I, for one, am truly impressed with these people and their efforts to make something good out of something bad.

Namaste, y'all ...
Carol

A lovely Autumn breeze and a clean smellin' house.

It's Autumn here in the mountains of western North Carolina. My favorite season of the year. The only downside is what comes after - nasty cold winter, but I try not to dwell on that part. Instead, I turn my focus to how nice it is to open my windows to the fresh air after a hot and humid summer, and the dreaded air conditioning - which my husband loves so much. I love seeing the leaves change colors from their coats of bright greens to all the fall colors of rust, orange, gold, yellow, red, ocher, sienna, toasty browns and ... well, what can I say, I'm an artist and it just thrills me.

I get to pull out my sweaters and scarves and wear them. (I'm cold-natured and love sweaters and scarves!) And don't get me started on thick, fuzzy socks! I get to drink cups and cups lovely flavors of hot tea. My cats get all snugly and sleep, like little furry heating pads, on my feet at night. The air is crisp and clear, the sky is a stunning shade of, well, Carolina blue. Squirrels run around my property collecting acorns and building their nests in the oak trees. I start thinking of pumpkins and wood fires burning and cinnamon and apple cobblers hot out of the oven. Yes, I love Autumn.

One of the other things that comes with the onset of Autumn is a thorough house cleaning. Yeah, I don't exactly consider it a 'joy' as I do watching leaves change colors. It's house work, after all. Dusting, vacuuming and scrubbin' toilets ain't a party. The upside to the grunge work is what I use to clean. Now, that IS a party - a party for my nose!

Part of 'living green' is cleaning up your act with your cleaning products. Last post I got on my soap box about the dangers of shampoo. Today, it's a little rant about, you guessed it, cleaning products! Thing is, most of that stuff on the market really should come in the same containers they put hazardous materials in. Big ol' HAZ-MAT stickers slapped all over them. Warning! Use At Your Own Risk! Kills You, Kills The Environment! 

In a perfect world, they wouldn't even have the stuff available for sale. But it ain't a perfect world. Unless we change our habits, it isn't likely to even be habitable in the not so distant future. Scary thought, that.

Before I became a 'greenie', I was just like every other typical house-keeping woman out there. I thought the smell of Pine-Sol and Lysol and 409 meant I had a clean house. I had done a good deed. I followed the directions, wore my fancy yellow Playtex gloves, and scrubbed and cleaned and wiped and disinfected. I was a warrior. I was winning the battle against all those nasty germs that crawled, unseen but dangerous, on all the surfaces in my house.

But there was one small fight I had over and over, and over again. I always came out the loser. Beaten by a tea cup. Go figure.

Anyone who drinks coffee or tea knows about the inevitable stain that develops in a cup used repeatedly for that coffee addiction. Oh sure, if it's a dark cup you don't see it so much. My cup, on the other hand, was white. At least, it was for awhile. Then, after a few months of use it was still a lovely white on the outside; ugly, dingy brown on the inside. I tried bleach. I tried several other tricks. No go. The dingy brown mocked me.

One day, just for kicks, I decided to try an old method I remembered my mother told me about. (She's a big hot tea and coffee drinker, too.) Baking soda. Straight up. Mixed with just enough water to make a paste. Rub all over the inside of the cup. Rinse out. No gloves needed. Guess what. That's right. Freakin' cup looked brand-spakin'-new. It was so white it sparkled. I marveled.

Then I got busy researching that most humble powders' cleaning power. Did you know there is a book entitled, "Baking Soda: over 500 fabulous, fun and frugal uses you've probably never thought of" by Vicki Lansky? I bought it. I read it. I was impressed. I highly recommend it.

While studying up on the wonders of baking soda I discovered the horrors of all my other, traditional cleaning products. Yikes! Wicked bad mojo in those bottles. Scared the beejeebees out of me. No wonder they tell you to wear gloves! Do the research, find out for yourselves. Find out not only what that bottle of 409 is made of, what harm it can do to you, what harm it does by leaching into the groundwater - not to mention the business practices of the company. Gives me chills to even say the words ... animal testing. (I'm going to save that particular rant for another day.)

I immediately bagged all that stuff up and hauled it to a hazardous materials recycling center. Wasn't about to keep using it. Nor was I going to dump it down the drain either. No way. This was one of those 'smack you in the face' kinds of wake-up calls to becoming a 'greenie'. The more I learned, the more determined I became to change my lifestyle right along with my cleaning practices. As I said in another post about becoming green, it was pretty overwhelming. So, I took it a step at a time. Cleaning the house safely, naturally, and as an added bonus, frugally. Can't argue with saving money!

Yet now I'm faced with coming up with an alternative. Still have to clean the house. Still have to do laundry. Wash dishes. Scrub toilets. Ya' can't not clean your house. What to do? Well, I had my first ingredient - sodium bicarbonate, a.k.a. baking soda. But it needed some 'umph'. It has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and disinfectant properties, but it needed to smell good, too. Inexpensive came with it automatically. More research, more reading.

I read that white vinegar is another 'magic' cleaner like baking soda is. Met my checklist of requirements; safe, natural, disinfects, frugal. Sadly, it bombed on the smell-good part. Bombed in a big way. I was not to be deterred. The smell of vinegar is a bit of an olfactory offense, but the smell also dissipates fairly rapidly. You also get the quick thrill of a fourth grade science experience when you mix it with baking soda. Scrubbing Bubbles can't compete to the volcanic foaming action of baking soda and vinegar! You'll want to mix those two in a nice, big bucket. Trust me on that one. Anyway, while my new brew cleaned impressively, it didn't give me that "Oh my house smells so clean!" experience. 

There's about a billion and one recipes out there in information land for natural cleaning. I think I read them all. Buy yourself some essential oils to fancy up your baking soda and vinegar and you have an unlimited cornucopia of flavors you can concoct in your very own kitchen. I tried more than a few. Funny thing, a nose. What is true about one man's trash being one man's treasure is also true about scents. One recipe said oils of rosemary and thyme would provide a heavenly scent of clean. Uh, not true to my nose. Another said rose and basil would be just the ticket. My nose requested a refund.

Of course, I have to consider not only my own nose with respect to smell-good stuff around the house, I have a husband who has his own opinions about smell-good stuff, too. I am inclined toward earthy, spicy kinds of smells, but clean smells as well. The husband, on the other hand, likes clean smells, yet also rather flowery kinds of smells. The art of compromise jumped into the mix.

During one afternoon of experimental cleaning, I knew I had hit on a winner when I got a visit from the UPS man. I had just finished cleaning the kitchen with my new test formula when he knocked on the back door. This stranger, in brown uniform and box in hand, quite literally, followed his nose into the house when I opened the door. He was sniffing like a dog. I had to take a couple of steps back and over to block him from coming on into the house. My "Excuse me!" got his attention. Poor guy looked completely surprised to realize he was IN my house instead of on the porch where he was supposed to be. He kind of shook himself, handed me the package and asked what it was that "smelled so good in there." I told him I was just cleaning the kitchen with a home-brew.

That really got his attention. A homemade cleaner? Smelling that good?. His words, and I quote, "You gotta' be kiddin'. I want that for my wife!" Oh yes, I found that really funny. To use or to wear, Mr. UPS Man? I got pen and paper and wrote down the mix. Made him a really happy guy.

So now I'll share that recipe with you ...

1 gallon hot water

1 cup white vinegar (cheap store brand)

1 tbs. baking soda

1/2 cup lemon juice (cheap store brand)

10 drops lavender essential oil (therapeutic grade, not fragrance grade)

5 drops sage essential oil (therapeutic grade, not fragrance grade)

I mix up a fresh batch each time, and I use it for cleaning pretty much everything. Put some in a spray bottle to clean counter tops and other surfaces. Mop water for floors. Take a 1/4 cup and mix with enough baking soda to make a paste to scrub the shower and sinks. Use a half mix - half white vinegar for windows. Use the same paste mix to scrub the toilets - but still use gloves for that bit of cleaning! *Note - I purchased the essential oils from Camden Grey.

Not only have I saved lots of money over the last several years (I make this for pennies compared to the price of a few ounces of brand-name cleaners!), it's perfectly safe health-wise, perfectly safe environment-wise,  won't hurt my cats, cleanse better than anything I've ever used, and it smells pretty awesome. The husband loves the smell, too. Have to admit though, the cats aren't crazy about the smell.

If you are thinking of making a change to greener cleaning products, give this a try. I can't say you will think the smell is all that and a bag of chips, but that's the way noses work. You gotta' experiment. If you do give it a go, let me know what you think about it.

Namaste, y'all ...

Carol

I washed my hair today.

Yes, yes. I know y'all are thinking, "Well, Carol, I wash my hair every day!" Thing is, I don't. Now, before you get all grossed out, allow me to explain ...

In my earlier post about living green, I talked about how skinfood helped me eliminate a lot of harmful products from my health/beauty repertoire. Something in all that mix I had not eliminated was my shampoo and conditioner. Yeah, I had switched to something organic, but I was still tied into the belief I had to wash and condition my hair every single morning like clockwork or some obscure beauty care rule would be irrevocably broken and bad things might happen.

Like a bazillion other women on this planet, I was as faithful to the never ending search for healthy, soft, shiny, manageable, lovely locks as a dog to its master. Oh, to think of the hundreds of shampoos and conditioners I tried over the past 40+ years! And, sometimes I achieved success ... and sometimes I had hair resembling last years' birds' nest. A roller coaster ride of hair care. I'm sure y'all know just what I'm talking about.

About three years ago I started reading a lot about homemade beauty products. I had decided it was time to begin my process from being vegetarian to being full-fledged vegan. (notice I said 'begin my process', but more about that later!) I wanted to get rid of as many 'artificial' and/or 'animal based' products as I could. I wanted to get rid of even more chemicals, toxins, and basically nasty stuff from my little corner of the world. In all this research, and I don't even remember where now, I read about 'no poo'. To break it down simple: baking soda to wash, apple cider vinegar to condition. If you have really curly hair, you wash with just conditioner, no baking soda.

Shampooing, as we know it today, didn't come about until the 1930's when Dr. John H. Breck, Sr. founded Breck Shampoo. Remember the Breck Girls advertisements? Lovely ladies with silky soft hair. Kim Basinger and Brooke Shields were Breck Girls. Before then, people often used some form of soap made from animal fats and wood or plants ashes containing potassium carbonate. Think of lye soap - which is dangerous to make and pretty darn irritating to the skin for lots of people. It wasn't a great success on hair either.

Over the decades shampoo has gone through untold changes and modifications in formula, has been made by a staggering number of companies. Thousands of flavors for every hair type on the planet. The list of ingredients on a bottle of shampoo reads like a crazy science experiment ... a scary combination of hazardous chemicals stirred up together, with a little good smelling stuff tossed in to mask the danger. Something that smells so nice can't be bad, now can it?

Oh yes, my dears, it's not only just bad, it can kill you.

No, it won't have you curled up on the floor of your shower, writhing and foaming at the mouth like the death scene from a movie where an unsuspecting husband drinks the rat poison cocktail his smiling wife just made for him. Nope, it's actually a lot worse. 

What you eat goes into your body, it gets digested, and the nutrients (and everything else in that food) gets absorbed into your system. That hamburger you ate for lunch? Eventually it will make its way into your blood stream, into your muscles, into your internal organs, etc. The process is the same with anything you put ON your body. Your skin is your largest organ, and it absorbs like a sponge. Think about that. The lotion you put on your hands soaks right in, gets into your blood stream, moves right into your organs and other tissues.

First time I really thought about it, well, it kinda' freaked me out. Particularly after I understood just what was in that hand lotion. Shampoo? Yep. You call it your scalp, but guess what, it's still just more skin, and it soaks up whatever is in your shampoo just like lotion on your hands. But you rinse it out! Hey, you put the stuff in your hair and massage it all over your scalp for a few minutes to get your head clean, right? It only takes a minute ... and your in the shower, where it's warm and your pores have opened up, too. 

So what's so bad in that sweet smelling shampoo you spend ridiculous amounts of money on?  (One time I actually spent $15 dollars on just one bottle of shampoo.) One of them is a detergent called ammonium lauryl sulfate, sodium lauryl sulfate, and/or sodium lauryl ether sulfate. Makes your shampoo foam up 'cause shampoo has to be all foamy and bubbly to work, right? Well, no, but everybody thinks it does. 

The Journal of the American College of Toxicology says that sodium lauryl sulfate is a know skin irritant. It can also blind you if you do not irrigate the eyes immediately if you get it in there. Studies have indicated that sodium lauryl sulfate enters and maintains residual levels in the heart, liver, lungs and brain from skin contact. Still other research indicates it may be damaging to the immune system, especially within the skin.

Now, tell me why it is necessary to put something in my shampoo that is irritating to the very thing I'm trying to clean - my scalp. Why does something I use so close to my eyes have the potential to blind me? Why does washing my hair need to be a hazard to my heart, liver, brain, or my immune system? I'm just trying to have pretty hair.

That is just one ingredient. 

Suave Naturals Lavender Shampoo with Lavender Extracts and Vitamin B5 is a 7 on the Skin Deep website for it's ingredients. It's natural. Has lavender in it. A nice B vitamin, too. Yeah ... and it is swimming in ingredients that are linked to cancer, immunotoxicity, neurotoxicity, organ system toxicity. Shampoo to clean my hair plus give me cancer, destroy my immune system, destroy my nervous system, and my reproductive system. Sounds like a sudsy, fragrant and vitamin filled way to a slow, unpleasant death to me.

So back to 'no poo' ...

I started my new hair care routine in January 2008. Seemed like an appropriate time to me. New year, new hair. Armed with a bag of this ...

and a bottle of this ...

I hopped in the shower and 'no pooed' my head. The formula: 1 tbs baking soda dissolved into 10 ounces of warm water. Pour it on dry hair, concentrating it on the scalp. Massage scalp with finger tips just like regular shampooing. Rinse. Pour another 10 ounces of warm water mixed with 1 tbs. apple cider vinegar over hair, again concentrating on getting it all over scalp. A little more scalp massage. Rinse with cool water.

Honestly, I didn't know for sure what to expect. I had read blogs written by other women who had done the 'no poo' thing. Some loved it. Some hated it. I knew I was pretty much a good candidate for the process because I have thick, naturally wavy hair which tends to get coarse, dry and slightly frizzy if I don't keep it well conditioned.

I wanted to give 'no poo' every chance to prove whether it would work or not. I gave myself three months before I passed judgment. I was prepared to start wearing hats for a month, or two. I'm a knitter, so I was kind of psyched  over the prospect that I might have the opportunity (or excuse!) to knit up some spiffy hats to sport around in. Alas, by the end of the third week I knew I was forever done with traditional shampoo. I was a 'no poo' convert.

The first week I 'no pooed' three times. The second only twice. The third week I went six days before I pooed my hair. *Note - I can't stand to let my hair dry naturally because it's thick - takes forever to dry, not to mention it's too flippin' cold in January to venture outside with a wet head unless you live in a tropical paradise. Thus, I did use my hair dryer, but only to dry the roots. Oh, my hair is long. It was about down to my bra strap at that time - even longer now.

Look up the word 'flabbergasted' in the dictionary and you will see my picture. My hair felt soft. It actually had some shine again. I could comb it and not have to fight with tangles. It was like little kid hair. Wow.

For the remaining nine weeks I 'no pooed' every Monday morning. If at any time I got sweaty from exercise, I'd do a quick 'no poo' that day as well, but basically kept it to once a week. For the first time in several years I had strangers tell me they thought I had pretty hair. One guy in line behind me at the post office even reached out to touch it - and got all embarrassed when I caught him. He said, "I sure wish my wife had hair like yours." While a little strange, I still thought it was a nice compliment. And, a testament to the 'no poo' method of shampooing my hair.

Now, it hasn't been 100% effective in giving me fabulous hair. As I said, my hair is naturally thick and has a history of being temperamental, coarse, and often dry. Diet, climate and stress levels also play an important factor in the condition of a person's hair. I've had my ups and downs with those, too. But in all this time the only extra step I've added to 'no pooing' is a deep conditioning treatment once or twice a month on the ends. For this I use plain ol' olive oil.

Without doubt, 'no poo' isn't for everyone. I've asked my husband to try it because he's got a life-long battle raging with the dreaded dandruff beast. I've explained to him that the vinegar will actually re-balance the ph level of his scalp and most likely eliminate the dandruff problem. He doesn't like the smell. I said, okay, then use orange juice - it's the acidity you're after anyway. He said orange juice was for breakfast, not bathing. He's a grown man, he can do what he wants. I've got friends and family members who love their shampoo routine just too much to give it up. I've also got another friend who swears she can't do it because her hair is too oily and the 'no poo' made it worse. Yeah, it will for some, for about a month or so, until the scalp/sebaceous glands can regroup and get their proper function going on again. She doesn't have patience, and won't wear a hat. Again, it's her choice and I respect that.

But for me, it's more about making a better choice for my health, both now and long term ...  clean, pretty hair is a bonus.

Namaste, y'all ...

Carol

Their name is mud.

This past Saturday the ladies of skinfood attended the 27th annual Mountain Glory Festival in Marion, NC. While, for us, the festival was pretty darn great, it was our neighboring booth that I do believe was a huge succeess ... and as far as I'm concerned, it was well deserved! I can't remember the last time I came across something so incredibly original, creative, and all around impressively ingenious! I just had to tell y'all about it.

May I present to you ... Authentic North Carolina Red Dirt Shirt.

What an absolutely fun idea! These folks are what being original is all about. Was no way I wasn't going to buy one of my very own! Long sleeve, perfect for the fall weather happening here in NC now.

If you have ever dealt with red clay dirt, you know what this stuff is like. Gets on everything. Stains like a demon. And 99.999999% of the people who know it hate it with an unequaled passion. It is the bane of every woman with kids, or a husband who works construction, and has to do their laundry. 

When my husband and I built our house ten years ago he didn't believe me when I told him the sooner we got that red clay covered up the better off we would be. Nope, man from Texas just had no clue. He kept putting off covering it up, being indecisive about landscaping options. We wanted to keep the property as natural as possible, no grass to mow, and low maintenance as a general rule. After a few months of waiting for him to decide, I put my foot down, ordered gravel, and had it put all around the house. I covered the front and back banks with mulch and planted English ivy and Periwinkle as ground covers.

During the time he had delayed doing anything, our dog and cat had tracked that red clay into the house onto our nice, new, sage green carpet. The cat also liked to lay on the back of the living room chairs - which were upholstered in a cream colored fabric - and I had to keep towels across the backs to prevent staining them. We had tracked it in on our shoes. Rain splashed it up on the house, staining the foundation and siding. Ruined a couple of pairs of his jeans from digging holes to plant some azaleas down the drive. Basically, it made a mess. The husband didn't realize how bad the carpet looked because he's red-green color blind and he, figuratively and literally, just couldn't see why I was making such a fuss.

It wasn't until I decided to redecorate the living room a couple of years ago that the husband got a really good look at the carpet. I'd attempted four times to clean the carpet over the years, but I could never get it back to the pretty silvery-green again. It had a faint rusty red haze all over the main walking areas. 

I'd had a large area rug centered in the living room, and in changing colors, it had to go. When I rolled it up the husband was stunned to see the difference between the carpet that had been covered up by the rug and the rest of the floor space. I will never forget the look on his face! I confess, I took advantage of the opportunity to say, "I told you so, husband dear!"

It bothered him so bad we ended up getting new carpet.

But I digress from the beginning subject!

Authentic NC Dirt Shirts!

Talk about a creative method to being green with dying fabric! The shirts are 100% cotton, and since they are dyed with real NC dirt, the color coming from iron oxide found naturally in the red clay, it's chemical free. Pretty darn cool. I would love to see jeans, skirts, curtains, or whatever! dyed like these shirts. And there are so many other types of plants and minerals in our own back yards which can dye things beautiful colors ... yet not be harmful to the environment! If you don't believe me, check out this website: Pioneer Thinking. They list a huge number of plants which can be used for dying, separated into the colors they produce. I might just have to give those Pokeweed berries a shot and make myself a purple shirt!

Namaste, y'all ...

Carol

Green is not only a beautiful color, I think it's a beautiful way to live.

One of the numerous reasons I became involved with skinfood was how it helped take me yet another deeply satisfying step in living 'green'. When I began the journey to green back in the early 90's, it was pretty overwhelming. The more I read, the more I researched, the more freaked out I got. It seemed everything around me - car, house, clothing, food, health care and beauty products were all toxic. My world seemed to be made up of nothing but harmful chemicals and totally non-eco-friendly things; frightening amounts of earth and health destroying stuff. I thought, "How do I do this?" It seemed as difficult as climbing Mt. Everest in a sundress and flip-flops.

I spent a lot of time beating myself up for all the 'bad' choices I had made. Beat myself up some more for living pretty obliviously to the impact I was making through those choices. And I beat myself up for not being able to completely change my life all in one felled swoop. Okay, kinda' ridiculous and self-defeating. I had to change that attitude and start patting myself on the back for opening my eyes to the problem, and for making that first single step forward in the right direction ... awareness.

To make what seemed like an insurmountable task to accomplish something I could do without breaking down and hiding in a dark closet, I took it apart, breaking it into bite-sized pieces. Sort of like a 12-Step program for a recovering drug addict. I was hooked on things that were bad for me, bad for the environment. I had to shift a lifetime of non-eco-friendly living into living the 'green' life.

My second step was figuring out what was the easiest to change. It wasn't like I could just sell my car, throw out all my clothes, dump all my cleaning and/or beauty products in the trash, and run off to live in a yurt in a commune. I started with the practice of replacing whatever I ran out of with something eco-friendly. Out of toothpaste? Made homemade with baking soda, sea salt and peppermint oil. Out of Mr. Clean? Made homemade cleaner with white vinegar, oils of sage, lemon and lavender. Need another pair of jeans or another sweater? Shop second-hand stores. You get the picture.

One very important part of this process was giving myself the freedom to make changes at a pace that was comfortable. Rome, after all, wasn't built in a day. As time rolled on, it got easier and I made bigger changes. I canceled my cable service (saving myself $70 bucks a month in the process!) and found I had more time to paint, to read, to just go for a walk. I stopped buying new books and made use of my library card. I stopped buying all that pre-packaged, processed, imitation food at the grocery store and started cooking again. Saved myself a lot more money there, too!

During all this time I never stopped learning more and more about what it means to truly live green. I found hundreds of websites with huge amounts of information, great ideas and suggestions, and realized how deeply committed I felt about changing my life and improving my eco-foot print. I realized simply changing me and my lifestyle automatically changed the effect I had on the planet ... even if seemed like a tiny drop in the bucket toward building a greener world for everyone to live in.

Then, several years ago, I discovered my friend Peggy made something called skinfood. Hmmm. Got a little sample of it and Hole-E-Smokes! I couldn't believe how incredibly the stuff worked! Cleared up my chapped lips, which I used to battle with constantly, in just a couple of days. Healed a nasty cut I got from slicing tomatoes in about three days - and no scar! Which was truly impressive because I tend to scar very easily. Immediately stopped the bleeding on a shaving cut on my ankle - and again, completely healed it in about two days. Got a little crazy and started using it as a hand moisturizer after doing dishes and low-and-behold, no more dry, itchy hands! My hang-nail problem went away, as well as my fingernails stopped splitting in layers just like Hungary Jack biscuits - a life-long problem! I was amazed, impressed, and completely hooked!

After using it for a while I had an epiphany ... all those other products I had used - Chap Stick, Neosporin, hand lotions, nail creams, styptic stick for razor cuts ....... I wasn't using them anymore! All those products I knew were full of toxins, and run by companies with horrifying business practices, had been totally and completely replaced. And it went even further. It became my new facial moisturizer that also cleared up those occasional break-outs! It softened up the heels on my feet! I used it after shaving and no more dry, itchy legs! If I got a little too much on my hands, no problem! I just rubbed into the ends of my hair and it conditioned those crazy, dry ends!

I figured it up one day and discovered that in about two months time, with one single product, I had replaced ten other products. And the product that replaced them was, without doubt, safe, effective, and eco-friendly. Wow. Just ... Wow!

For me, skinfood is a product I can trust. I can feel good about recommending it to others. It helped make a tremendous difference in not only a long list of personal health/beauty care concerns, but personal concerns about impacting my little place in the delicate eco-system that is our world. I'd say that's more than a small step in living green ... it's an awesomely big leap!

Now you tell me, how could I NOT be on board with a product like that?

Namaste, y'all ...

Carol

A five foot frog, a festival, and lots of fun!

On Saturday, October 9th, downtown Marion, NC will be hosting it's 27th annual Mountain Glory Festival ... and Skinfood Works will be there! 

Not only will we have lots of freshly made skinfood for sale, we're bringing our buddy, Fredrico, the five foot (from the tip his nose to the tip of his toes!) red eyed tree frog! He's going to be hanging around the booth, chatting with customers, and waiting impatiently for the end of the day when he finds out who his new family will be. That's right ... just enter our raffle and some lucky winner is going to get Fredrico delivered right to their door! Sure wish it could be me 'cause I just love this big ol' hug-able frog!

This guy is beautifully detailed and so incredibly soft! He likes sleep all day, sing and dance all night, and eat crickets, moths and grasshoppers, too! His family lives in the rain forests of Central America. 

Sadly, Fredrico's family habitat is shrinking at an alarming rate due to rapid deforestation. We, the ladies of Skinfood Works, both practice and support recycling on all levels to help save Fredrico and his family's home!

So don't forget to come by our booth at the Mountain Glory Festival and show your support for saving our world, too!

Namaste, y'all ...
Carol
... and Fredrico