Favorite Poem

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I've tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.



Robert Frost

Natural Disinfectant

Along with finding the DIY Natural Beauty Tip I also found these natural house cleaning solutions.

Disinfectant

Instead of bleach mix 2 cups of water, 3tsp of liquid soap and put 20-30 drops of tea tree oil. Put it in a spray bottle with label of ingredients.

Hard Wood Floors

1/4 cup white vinegar to 30 ounces of warm water. Spray on floor and wipe up with cotton rag or towel.

To Clean Oven

Make a paste with baking soda and water. Coat the inside of the oven. Let it sit over night and then scour off grime. Make spotless with moist cloth.

Clogged Drains

Pour 1/2cup of baking soda into problem drain. Followed by 2cups of boiling water. If that doesn't work follow baking soda with 1/2cup vinegar and COVER TIGHTLY. Allowing the vigorous fizzing of the chemical reaction to break up the gunk. Then flush that with one gallon of boiling water.

Cleaning Stainless Steal Cookware

Use a baking soda paste to get off hard cooked food or just to make shine like new. You can also use a little bit of vinegar. It will foam and have a reaction, but not too much unless you use too much vinegar to the baking soda. Follow with liquid dish soap to clean.

Cleaning Soap Scum

Make baking soda paste and use scrub brush. Comes right off and removes stains.

Natuarl Beauty Tips

I was searching through the Internet and found some of these Natural Beauty Tips. If you try any let me know how they work because I have not had the time to try them all. Please know that I am not a dermatologist so I am not sure if your skin will react to anything of these in a bad way and I am not sure of the lifespan or how to store all of these, so please use caution when trying anything new.


Dry Skin Treatment
(makes 1 application)

2TBS Real Mayo
1Tsp Baby Oil or Safflower Oil

Combine both ingredients. Smooth onto face, neck, rough elbows, knees or anywhere you have dry skin. Leave on for 20 min. Rinse thoroughly with temp id water.

Invigorating + Revitalizing Avocado Hair Treatment
(makes 1 application)

1 Med. Avocado (peeled and stoned)
2TBS Honey

Mash together the ingredients in a small bowl. Massage into hair. Leave for 20 to 30 min. Wash hair as usual.

Tightening / Toning Lemon Egg White Mask
(makes 1 application)

Juice from 1/2 a lemon, strained.
1 egg white

Beat together egg white and lemon juice for 3 min. Apply directly to face, avoiding eyes. Leave for 30 min. Rinse off with warm water.

Nail Strengthening Solution
(makes 20-30 applications)

2tsp Castor oil
2tsp salt
1tsp wheat germ oil

Pour all ingredients into a seal able bottle. Before each use shake well. Rub small amount of mixture onto your nails. Leave on 3-5 minutes. Wipe off with cotton pad.

Honey Lip Balm

2Tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp honey
3/4tsp beeswax grated
1/2tsp pure cocoa butter
Flavored oil of your choice
1 vitamin E capsule

In a small saucepan heat oil, honey, wax & butter over low heat until just melted. Remove from heat & allow to cool for 2-3 minutest. Stir in flavor & contents of the vitamin E capsule. Pour into container of your choice.

Ultimate Body Scrub

1cup coarse sea salt
1/2cup safflower oil

Stir ingredients together. Put in screw top jar. Leave for 24 hours. Apply mixture to anywhere on body you wish to exfoliate. Massage into skin. Leave for a few minutes and then rinse off with warm water.

Revitalizing Mask
(makes 1 application)

1/2cup chopped cucumber
1/2cup avocado
1 egg white
2tsp powdered milk

Combine all ingredients in a blender until they form a paste. Apply to your face and neck using circular upward movements. Leave on for 30 minutes or until dry. Rinse your face and neck with warm water and then finish with cold water.
*The mask will keep for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.*

Immediate Luxurious Hand Softening & Conditioning Treatment
(makes 1 application)

1/4cup course brown sugar
Safflower oil to make into paste

Mix together. Using a hand washing motion apply mixture to hands. Continue washing motion for 1 minute. Then rinse off with warm water and pat dry.

Spa Pea Firming Mask

1 ripe peach peeled and stoned
1 egg white

Whip peach & egg white together in blender until smooth. Gently pat mixture over face. Leave on for 30 minutes. Rinse off with cool water.

Happy Yule!!

Here is the Yule Log I made. I had the witches over and we all made ours together and had our Yule ritual. I do not have the picture of the candles with the log, but what I do is use tea lights and I put 12 of them in front of the Yule Log and I light one every hour to symbolize the 12 hours of dark and 12 hours of light for the equinox. I also leave my tree lights, other holiday lights that are inside and my outdoor holiday lights on all night. I do love this time of year.

Happy Yule!!

Halo around the Moon

For the first time in my life I say the Halo around the moon. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life. It was early in the morning 2 weeks ago on Monday. It was around 6am and I was outside with my dog. It was cool morning and the sky was totally covered in clouds except for a huge circle around the moon. That was totally clear. I called my mom and she went outside to see it too. I couldn't stop staring at it. I tried to take a picture, but it didn't turn out. Here is one above from the internet.

I looked it up and this is what I found... The ring around the Moon is caused by the refraction of Moonlight (which of course is reflected sunlight) from ice crystals in the upper atmosphere. The shape of the ice crystals results in a focusing of the light into a ring. Since the ice crystals typically have the same shape, namely a hexagonal shape, the Moon ring is almost always the same size. Less typical are the halos that may be produced by different angles in the crystals. They can create halos with an angle of 46 degrees.

The Folklore says that a ring around the moon signifies bad weather is coming, and in many cases this may be true. So how can rings around the moon be a predictor of weather to come? The ice crystals that cover the halo signify high altitude, thin cirrus clouds that normally precede a warm front by one or two days. Typically, a warm front will be associated with a low pressure system which is commonly referred to as a storm.

It is believed that the number of stars within a moon halo indicate the number days before bad weather will arrive. I don't remember how many stars I saw, but I know that Jupiter was right on the ring. We have some cold weather coming next week, so we will see.

I also try to keep a watch on the skies and trees, but another good indicator is the animals. I watch the birds, my horses and closest to me are my cats. My one cat would go into the bathroom when a storm was coming. If it was going to be real bad she would get into the bathtub. I never really thought anything of it, but I really pay attention now. I only wish she was still here in her cat form with me now. I do miss her and all of my animals that have passed on. My horses point there butts in the direction of the eye of the storm. The birds either don't fly at all or fly very high.

This Halo was a beautiful sight and I would love to see it again. Keep an eye out early in the mornings because you wouldn't want to miss this.

Fall Trip

We went to Sleepy Hollow, NY to see the Headless Horsemen. We went to the Jack O'Lantern Blaze. That was amazing. All the hand carved pumpkins and funkins. The Headless Horsemen and his horse looked great. It was so much fun.

This is the sign saying Welcome to Sleepy Hollow.

This is Ichabod Crane being chased by the Headless Horsemen.

This is one of the many many crypts that are in the Sleep Hollow Cemetery. This cemetery is so big. I have never see so many crypts in one place before. They were amazing. We saw the sight of were the original bridge was from the story. The cemetery added another bridge that sounds like horse hoofs are chasing you. Be sure to put your window down and drive slow so you get to hear it.

The Headless Horsemen and his Horse. It was so cool he would make the horse rear up and he would come up out of the dark. All you could see is the pumpkin glowing. I would go back anytime to see this again.

After spending the weekend in Sleep Hollow, NY we headed to Salem, MA. I was there 10 years ago and I loved it and wanted to go back every Halloween since. This year, however was a little different. I am not sure if people think Halloween is Gothic or what, but we did not have a great time. Some of the stores we went into were great while others gave us the creeps. Whenever I am around bad energy it is like walking through glue. A lot of heavy metal rock in some of the store and others just seemed like they were there to cash in on Halloween. Almost like no one had the true meaning of Halloween.

This is the Primitive Village located about 10 minutes outside of Salem. Hocus Pocus was filmed here for the beginning of the movie.

After that we traveled south to VA. We visited family and had a great time shopping at our favorite little area. We met up with my Aunt and had a wonderful time. I would highly recommend going to Sleepy Hollow, NY for some good Fall fun.

Natural Pest Control

Here are a few ideas for keeping unpleasant insects away:

Bird vs. bug:
Besides being beautiful to look at and listen to, birds will keep insects at bay, so why not put up a birdhouse, birdbath, or bird feeder?

Many birds (such as chickadees, house wrens, gray catbirds, bluebirds, warblers, orioles, some sparrows, and more) control bugs like mosquitoes and wasps by turning them into snacks.

Birds won’t eat enough solve your problem completely, but having a bird-friendly yard will surely create a dent in your airborne pest numbers.

Bat them off:
A lot of people are spooked by bats. So are mosquitoes, and for good reason. Bats are nature’s mosquito chowing machines. Some bats can eat up to 1000 mosquitoes per hour.

Installing a bat house will attract bats to your property and keep the mosquito population down. Put it somewhere nearby—it doesn’t have to be right next to your house. Bats come out after sunset and naturally try to avoid humans while hunting bugs.

Not all bats live in caves, and they love having a cool, dark place to “hang” out. Learn all about bat houses and how you can get one from Bat Conservation International.

Praying for prey:
Praying mantises are hungry, carnivorous creatures that will rapidly and ravenously eat ticks, mosquitoes, flies, beetles, and other insect pests.

You can purchase praying mantis pods that birth up to 300 for about $3-$9.00 per pod from online sources or garden shops. Just 3 pods planted in your yard will protect up to 5,000 sq feet.

This bug-on-bug defense might just be the answer to your prayers.

Water solutions:
If you are lucky enough to have a pond or marsh on your property, consider planting cattails or bulrushes to attract dragonflies, which also eat mosquitoes (and are usually killed by the same chemicals used to attack mosquitoes).

Certain fish, including one called the mosquitofish (no brainer), love to munch on mosquitoes.

Introduce these and guppies to your pond and let them feast on up to 168 mosquito larvae every eight hours.

There’s something beautiful about all this. Biological pest control is a holistic way of fighting insects through an understanding of the innate interactions of the many organisms that inhabit our yards and gardens.

Insect control is complex and no one method is sure to be effective, but these all-natural and educational techniques are certainly worth a shot. By taking full advantage of the natural processes in our local ecosystems, we can create much more comfortable summer surroundings that will let spend as many hours outside as possible.