Wabi Sabi

What is Wabi Sabi?

Google the term and you will find many different ideals to the meaning.  Basically it is a Japanese way of life. It is not easy to translate. Finding so many different thoughts to the term! I love the quote from Wikipedia:


"[Wabi-sabi] nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect."

Lately I have been seeing Wabi Sabi in the finding love context. But I have looking for info  that states the meaning is to find beauty in imperfection.  A few sites are the monks tea party type, that are teaching the simple way of life.  Slow down and enjoy: ″wisdom in natural simplicity". Or for art the idea of beauty in natural flaws.  To the idea of living a simple zen life.

A zen life? Isn't that a song? Sounds like it doesn't it? But I hear that and thing yea that would be nice in this day and age living a zen life would be a welcome change...  Not having deadlines, snow storms, or fanatic calls from family and friends dealing with crisis. maybe I am zen, talking to the person to help them find the answer, or just to have a ear to say OMG that sucks... and having someone say I am sorry to hear you are having a crappy week...

Wabi Sabi Love... I have told the girls to not try to find Mr. Perfect or Mr. Right, find Mr. I can live with the flaws..... You can't change him just as he can't change you.  Find  We are ourselves together and we work.

“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be,” Lao-Tzu.

But I find the art to find beauty in imperfection.  Cracked vases are as beautiful as new.  That broken candle holder that I got from the Salvation Army store is beautiful even without the chain that the previous owner  might have hung it.  Even keeping the two links add more interest to the piece that sits on the end table I have been looking for something interesting to place there for months....

My favorite incense burner is a old sugar dish that I love the shape of but has a crack.  Even after the creamer broke I couldn't throw it away.  I turned the crack to the wall. I took a picture of it and the crack wasn't even noticeable on the picture! So it took a picture of my wizard.  Poor man was knocked over lost his point of his cap and got a couple chips of his base but I love this piece too much to throw away.

Or finding beauty in nature like the zen gardens. I love drift wood.  Don't know why.  Just do. It's beauty and the way the water made the marks maybe. I think there is power in the beauty of driftwood and have a few pieces in my house as decoration.  Plus of course plants are natural beauty to bring in the home, right now in the middle of winter my plants have died.  I not sure that buying more would be a good idea.  The shock of taking them into 20 degree weather would kill them anyway, so I will wait til spring........

Guess I am (was) wabi sabi before it was cool...

Good for your hair recipes

Rinses

Lemon juice
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup of water
Makes hair shine

Beer
For body and softness - doesn't matter if it is stale!

Rum
Light conditioning.


Cider Vinegar
1/2 cup vinegar 2 cups of water
For shine and bounce

Tomato Juice
1 cup tomato juice
Removes odors

Baking Soda
1 Tablespoon
1 cup of water
Removes the sprays and gels.



Highlighting Rinse
2 cups water
Chamomile tea
Steep Chamomile tea and cool

Darken Hair Rinse
5 cinnamon sticks
2 cups of water
Put broken sticks into boiling water.
Steep until cool
Strain before using.

Deep Conditioning
Dry Hair
Coconut oil, banana, avocado, Mayonnaise

Normal Hair
Mayonnaise, egg, olive oil, Plain yogurt

Oily Hair
Mayonnaise with lemon juice added,
Plain yogurt with lemon juice added,
mashed Cantaloupe

Beauty From the Kitchen

Non-Petroleum Jelly
1¼ oz. grated beeswax
3/4 cup sweet almond oil (or olive oil)

Place in a microwave proof container and heat till the wax is almost melted about 1 minute. Mix until wax is melted and pour into containers

I love this stuff. You can had herbs or flower petals to the oil and let steep for a day or two if you want a nice smell or the healing properties of the herbs and flowers. Plus you can always add vitamin E for open sores and healing... Pour oil with herbs or petal threw a cheesecloth before heating with the bee wax.



My Make-up Remover
1 tablespoon Castor oil
1 tablespoon light olive oil
1 teaspoons almond oil
Add together in a glass bottle. Mix together.
Some times I have used vitamin E oil and once I got for a good price some Jojoba oil (very good for dry skin I used it in the winter time) and did 1 tablespoon and 1 tablespoon of almond and the rest of the oils 2 tablespoons.

My Face Scrub
2 part ground oatmeal
1 part wheat germ
1 part corn meal

Ground to a fine powder. I use the blender. I have sensitive skin so I use more oatmeal then the recipe calls for just to be safe.

Things I use for a all body scrub:
Sugar
Brown Sugar
Ground oatmeal (great for sensitive skin)
Coffee grounds (used coffee grounds will work)

Honey Mask

Honey
Apply honey to face
Pat face gently until tacky
Rinse with warm water

Fruit Masks
And some vegetables and others......
Add fruit mashed up directly to face.

Dry to Normal
Apple, Grapes, Oranges, Honeydew, Pears, Watermelon, Nectarine, Avocado

Normal
Tangerine, Banana , Peppermint , Cantaloupe Citrus, Carrot, Peach, Zucchini

Oily
Banana, Cherry, Lemons , Grapefruit, Strawberry, Avocado, Tomato, Peppermint

All skin Type
Yogurt, Cucumber, mayonnaise , eggs

Carrot Yogurt Acme Mask

2 tablespoons carrots
2 tablespoon yogurt

Slightly cook carrots
Mash with yogurt

(Can also grade carrots into yogurt Blend in blender until smooth)
Apply to face Rinse with tepid water
Tepid= kinda like room temperature

      

Real Beauty.........

The model Isabella Caro dies at the age of 28.  She was the model for the ad in the No Anorexia campaign, showing her skeleton shaped body for all of Paris to see.  She also wrote a book to help with insight to her eating  disease.  
 It was titled _The Little Girl that didn't want to get Fat_  I believe is the title...
With more and more people mostly women being treated for eating disorders it seems that we should be doing something more!  Please the youngest girl to be treated for anorexia on record is 4! 4 Years old and she is worried about her weight........... this subject makes me crazy.... that the fact that many beauitful people don't see the beauty in themselves and find the need to hurt themselves........






But can we blame the fashion industry?  Marketing companies?

Just thinking out loud...

DO I smell?

Ah my adventures with deodorants and antiperspirants.

The way  antiperspirant work is by blocking up the pores in the underarm area.  Deodorant kills the odor causing bacteria. Ok maybe it's not proven but it is thought that many of the chemicals in these product can cause cancer. Specially breast cancer. Seeing how there are glands close to your pits. PS some of the ingredients are know to cause problems with hormones. Not a good thing so close to a hormone driven gland!!   

I am trying to find a eco-friendly deodorant and or antiperspirant.  Non-toxic formulas.  This winter I used baking soda with lavender EO essential oil.


Here is some other EOs that have antibacterial qualities:

lavender
lemongrass
Eucalyptus
cinnamon bark
tea tree

But this summer it isn't doing it job. so I try to find something that will help my sweaty pits.
First I try a liquid crystal..I left my pits feeling sticky ... then after I shaved after using it for 3 days I had a rash on my pits that burned like they where on fire.....Was it the deodorant, the shaver or a combination of both??   what can I use now? I looked on line and found suggestions for natural (eco-friendly) deodorants.  Baking soda on a rash... no I don't think so. Witch hazel? Lemon juice? Ouch!! Green tea? Maybe I will try it but then I had to make the tea wait til it cooled and wait for it to dry on my underarms. Yea I went a couple days without deodorant.

Then I read that the liquid crystal is a product that you must use lightly or it can cause irritation. Now you tell me. Maybe I will give it another try but I am kinda scared....  I got another deodorant from the store and it smells ok but it leaves my pits feeling sticky again...  So I add a light coating of the baking soda after I apply the deodorant.  A friend told me "not baking soda try corn starch like we use that for babies bottoms and to help with diaper rash, maybe that will help you and your pits...."  hummm

Wild Gray Woman

I hate having my picture taken. i really do. It always looks so horrible that it realy doesn't look like me.  I know it sounds crazy.  but I do hate my picture taken!

Worst then that I am thinking of doing something radical. I want to stop dying my hair. Yes I want to stop using toxic hair dye knowing that most hair dyes are made with petroleum byproducts and cause damage to the environment .  Being a environmentalist, I should have  know better.  I found out this info and now I must do something about it.  Or not do something because of it.

Not to mention all the chemicals and irritates that the hair dye has. I laugh when people tell me that they have to dye their hair because that is the only way they can deep condition their hair. Because the truth is it weakens your hair. You are striping the outer part of your hair to let color sink it.  You can get the same thing with a deep conditioner or leaving it on your hair for a half an hour....  Then I found out that smell that we get is a chemical reaction of sulfur from our damaged hair.  hummm I am having a heck of a time with the frizzy ends....

Plus all the chemicals!
Hair stylist have a higher chance of getting bladder cancer or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. So do women that routinely dye their hair. Not something I want to  do just to up my chances at finding out.........

You know ignorance  is bliss   Doing the right thing isn't always easy......
But I know I will have a growing out period that might not be easy...... I won't look like me. I might start to look (gasp) old....

But will it really be that hard to do? I mean the time we have to take to put that smelly stuff all over our heads and wait 20-30 minutes, Oh if you are really late at the coloring, you have to dye your roots first.  You have to just do the roots then after 10 or so minutes dye the rest of our hair to even it out...... Or just do the roots with the new product to try to keep your roots from giving away you have got some gray up there.

What do you think? Gray hair equal old lady? Or freedom from chemicals? 
Would you stop dying your hair?  Do you even dye your hair?

The girls are betting how long it is till I go and buy a box of some  hair dye.  I told them ha ha it would have to be a natural hair dye like from the health food store.  No more petroleum byproduct. Miss Animal Rights found a gray hair and tells me it my fault, I told it was pay back for my gray hair are her fault.... teasingly. Smiley on the other hand is freaking out, she dyes her hair more than I did. She was upset to hear that it was a petroleum byproduct. And with the Gulf Oil Spill  you know that prices will go upon gas and petroleum products . She is upset the price of dye may go up....

But most of the time when I dye my hair it turns red. Yep a reddish tint. I get deep brown or sunshine blond, my hair turns shades or tints of a auburn reddish color.  I might be able to get away with henna.......... But my favorite thing is cold coffee, it suppose to help natural pigments........ I use a vinegar rinse  with sage and rosemary that is suppose to help gray hair........
I can't wait to hear what my beautician friends are going to say! LOL specially one- he likes to tell me Looks it's time to color again. Yea he likes to tease me that I don't kill (dye) my hair I color it....  

On with the experiment.. 

Leftover Beer?

So did everyone enjoy the fireworks? Well we found that the canine was ok as long as he was busy. He didn't hear the fireworks when the ball is being thrown. Miss Animal rights and I got a workout. PLUS he made friends with my dad. (the dog hasn't been to sure about my dad, but he loved having his ball thrown by a fresh arm!! A male arm that could throw hard and further!)

Well the only thing missing was the left over beer.  I thought about the this morning.

 I am use to finding beer cans and bottles half empty all around the porch and house. Strange thing is I have been here for about 5 years but  I use to live close to downtown. A place where  friends and neighbors would have a few beers before walking to the park to watch the fireworks. Cause parking was easier and we were closer to the interstate.  I would use the beer I found to good use.

I would use the stale beer to trap the bugs in the garden. Most of the time it was a few tomato plants and strawberry patch.  Just pour a little beer into a pie pan and watch the slug and bug party begin.  I used to tease the guys the bugs where as bad as them. They drink too much and drown!

Later that night I would use the beer found inside to rinse my hair.  Beer has vitamin B and natural sugars that  add body and shine. You could use as a setting lotion.  A ex-boyfriend use to tease me I had the right "perfume"  after I would rinse my hair in beer.  It doesn't smell like beer afterward cause you rinse the beer out with cooler water. But the bathroom does smell like beer when you are using it....

So I am excited to hear from a friend that beer can also take out stains in your carpet. OK. Cool I have a stain that I have tried to get out for a while now.  But no stale beer... so I guess I will have to wait, til Jan. 2? LOL You use the stale beer like you do spot remover that you buy at the store. You dampen a clean cloth with beer and pat the stain up with a dry clean cloth. 

I knew I should have made beer can chicken... I might have some beer left over... Well the drinkers where hung over I don't think they would have opened any in the first place......

Fragrances

Fragrances are made of petroleum products and ......synthetic materials. They are blamed for many allergies and allergic reactions in many health and beauty products. Things like asthma, wheezing, headache and contact dermatitis. PLUS there are hormone disruptors  that can hurt unborn children and even cause health problems. Because many ingredients have been found and proven to cause cancer and other health problems  But the theory is it can be tolerated in small amounts. That would be ok if most of the products we used have fragrance or that one fragrance could have over 400 ingredients to produce that smell.....     

So what a green eco-friendly girl to do??? Make her own that is.

H2O based perfume

1-1 1/2 cups of flower petals
2 cups of distilled water

Collect flower petals and wash thoroughly removing dirt and pollen.
Fill aluminum pot with 2 cups of water. Add petals. Simmer but do not boil water. Simmer for 2 hours and don't let the water boil away, you can more distilled water if needed.
Turn off heat and let cool
Strain the water into a bottle or jar.
Nice spray for your linen.

Vodka based cologne

bottle of vodka or ever-clear
Flower petals

Collect flower petals and wash thoroughly removing dirt and pollen.
Fill a jar with the petals. Pour alcohol over petals just to cover the top of the petals.
Let sit for one day Strain and add more petals but not alcohol.
Repeat the straining of petals and adding new petal to you get the desired strength.

Cream Perfume

Olive Oil, EVOO, Almond Oil
Beeswax
Essential Oils
small  glass  jar
Small container to pour finished perfume into


 Add one tablespoon of olive oil and about 3/4 tablespoon beeswax to your glass jar
Microwave for 10 seconds until melted, might need to ass 10 seconds. Add your essential oils. Between 5 and 15 drops of  your essential oil(s)
Stir the essential oil
Let it sit and harden for at least 30 minutes. 

Ahhh Spring!

I was playing ball with the dog and noticed something fluttering around my raspberry bush. I am very impatience with waiting for the berries!!! But I see this beautiful butterfly. The wings look so brighter in the sun but this picture didn't do it justice!

It fluttered around and even was still there after I ran in to get ny camera.  The dog was so good when I told him to sit while I waited for the butterfly to land. He got a treat for that....  

So the berries are many but still white and small.  Can't wait for the red berries...  told I was very impatient 
!

Spring cleaning

I do spring cleaning by getting rid of clutter. Cleaning out closets and cupboards.  I have 3 boxes already of stuff in my mud room waiting on going to Goodwill. Stuff that has been connecting dust in my kitchen was the first to go.

I had a couple days off and just got bored with the TV and the net. Restless I guess. I was going crazy with the things  I use being too high to comfortably reach.  With my new found love of baking and cooking from scratch, my mixer being on the top shelf wasn't  working for me.  Seeing how I only stand about 5 feet tall... it was getting to be a chore to get what I needed out.  So I rearranged the cup boards finding things I forgot I had and really never used....  Into the boxes things went. Really don't need a blooming onion plastic thing. A ugly punch bowl hand me down, that I used to hold smaller stuff I never use, but did find my potato masher in there. I have been looking for that for months!! LOL

I have room at the top of my cupboards now for storage of things that I get in bulk. Carry and go things.  And those egg holder thing that I only use for Spring holidays...  Plus my storage containers are neatly stacked.. Yea if you ever saw that commercial of the plastic containers flying out and knocking down that woman I felt like my containers could do that at any minute... I have a few left from before I said I would cut down plastic (why not use them but replace them if damaged with glass when I need to). Plus they are a recycle code 5 meaning no BPA and light weight for lunch bags. So they stay. Better in my kitchen then the land fill. 

I found this beautiful stainless steel platter awhile ago and when I found it in my cupboard I noticed 2 small rust stains.. OH NO!! I really don't want to get rid of it... I put it on the table thinking I could maybe cover the platter with a tea towel  or something  when serving from the platter.  It kinda bummed me out.  It has these very delicate designs around the edge.

So when I moved to my bedroom to clean up clutter I noticed my dresser with many things just thrown on there and it hit me! I could use that beautiful  platter on my dresser.  I could use finger nail polish for the rust spots.  Maybe if I can find some... I really can't stand the smell and it is full of toxin ingredients..  But the simplest thing I did was place the candle holder and the black goodie case over the spots.  You can't see them, but you can see the designs in the platter.  Plus I love the look with my wrought iron candle holder.   I give to goodwill but I also shop there! I know I feel kinda classy with my beautiful dresser now... Plus I got to keep my platter that I really like and keep stuff out of the landfill
Not bad for being bored one afternoon!!

You are Beautiful.

National Eating Disorder Awareness Week is February 21 to February 27.  When the Dove commercials first came out I cried at the beautiful little girls with the sad "thoughts".  Little girls who didn't know they where beautiful.  When working with children and dealing with people I knew that had this disorder I learned some very scary things.  Things that made me think, that told me I  need to change the way I thought.  End the fat talk the negative self talk.  That 58% of men and women think they would look more beautiful if they lost weight.  The youngest person on record with a eating disorder was 5. Five years old.  She saw mommy purging. So when she decided she was too fat; she began to purge.  Little girls wanting to go on diets.  Grown women that would give up years off their live to be or stay thin....  Makes me wanna cry.

Tonight I found  Operation Beautiful It's basically a grassroots campaign that leave positive messages in public places for other women to find. Using sticky notes.



Simple beautiful way for us to support each other. Because beauty is in the fact we don't all look the same. Beauty is our difference. Our humanity.

YOU Are SO Beautiful......... Show the world your beauty.

I think I have a sticky note saying there... What do you think?

September is National Honey Month

Wow where has time gone? It is almost the end of September and I find out it is Nation Honey Month.. Oh honey it great for beauty product and can be used to help heal you.

Honey for your skin. Honey can be used to help soften your skin. Just take some honey and pat it on your face. You might add some warm water if too thick, but most times I just pat it on my face. you really can't rub or smoothly put it on that why I say pat on your face... LOL really I have forgotten and it is quite funny. I feel like the kid from Home Alone. Rinse well with tempt water. Your face will feel so soft after-wards. Add some to your bath with powdered milk. It just like the honey and milk bath you can get at the store but without all the extra skin drying ingredients. hummm it is cool here to day sounds so good..

Honey for your hair. You can mix a teaspoon or more with your hair conditioner before adding to your head. Or you can coat your hair with honey out of the jar or bottle again adding a little warm water if you want a smoother product. I have heard that adding cinnamon to the honey help grow your hair longer but not sure if this is true. It will leave it shinny. I have left the honey on my head for over a hour however most times it was only 30 minutes. It is also been said that tit will lighten your hair. Basically honey has natural hydrogen peroxide.

1/2 cup of natural uncooked honey
1 1/2 cups of distilled water
1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon or cardamom

Leave out for a hour for the honey to release the peroxide. Add to hair as you would any type of dye. Cinnamon might sting your head a little but will go away after a minute or so. After you have coated your hair wrap your head with plastic wrap or swimming cap. Leave in as long as you can stand. For a hour or overnight if possible. The longer in your hair the lighter if will make it. It's not like a drug store dye, but it did make it lighter. Lemon juice in the sun is faster if you are blond.. but I use it more for a deep conditioner than to lighten my hair, with out the cinnamon or olive oil. I do this before I wash my hair to get everything out. It is great for damage from the sun and harsh weather.

Honey for wounds. Yes I have put honey on wounds. Those stinging bleeding wounds. It helps keep out infection, remember from he hair lightening it is a natural hydrogen peroxide and has natural antibacterial properties. It's great for canker sores that you get in the mouth and sometimes your teeth rubbing on them can make your mouth scream with pain. It doesn't taste too bad not like the over the counter canker sore stuff. The kids looked at me like- what honey??? I can have honey???

Honey for sore throats and coughs. Many times I had a sore throat my grandmother had me take a tablespoon of honey. The key she said was to slowly take the honey as to let the honey coat the throat. It does feel like it was coating the throat! I just thought yea! honey! and got to take a spoon of honey and little by little lick the spoon clean and my throat felt better.... PS that little guy to the right of this.... after you use the honey out of him; he can become a special drink bottle. The straw will fit in the top if you cut it down to the part that has the lines............

Honey for energy. Ahhh honeymoon. We call it the time after a couple gets married; the honeymoon. This is after a Native practice that would feed the couple honey for potency to procreate. Energy and stamina...... Well I really can't tell you if this works or not I didn't try for my children right after getting married we waited.... It is a simple sugar and sugar does give you a boost of energy. Well I guess if anyone wants to try this they can let me know...

Honey Mead. Ok I do know honey mead can help with stamina or maybe that was just help with the seduction.... But honey mead is a alcoholic drink. Much like wine for it is not high in alcohol content but smooth like wine. It is Irish in nature. Apple cider mead was very delicious.... ok so it not really good for the skin or healing,,,, wait it is good for stress! Yea that it, mead is good to de-stress. Of course used in moderation.

Well Honey's I hope you enjoy this salute to honey!! Warm apple cider honey mead is calling my name..