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Choose Love

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Choose Love

Choose Love

This theme has been taking over my night time dreams for the past several weeks. This alone has made me think it’s an important thing to pass along.

The words “choose love” echoes in a cavernous area, resounding all around me. So visceral, I feel the vibration of the sound bouncing off my body before I hear its fading into the distance.

The words “choose love” sound in my head as I see an angry faced, teenage bully step up to a little 9 year old boy pulling his 6 year old sister in a wagon tied behind his bike. “Choose love” I whisper anticipating something different than the obvious.

The words “choose love” flash across the television screen that shows me the state of the world news…bombs, crashes, shootings, ice caps melting, a trash corral in the ocean, bunches of dead fish on a beach and dead birds on a suburban street.

The words “choose love” slip out of my own mouth as I see further into these scenarios, the strings of possibilities. Most are bad on the surface but when you look deeper, further along the string the possibilities split and morph. There is good there, somewhere, there is good.

Most people stay on the surface and react to all the surface crap, some even refusing to see there are always more points of view than the one they see. Choose love, please. A kinder and gentler way of opening oneself up to the extended possibilities.

Because the way we see and react to the world at large from our neighborhoods to the news we see online or on television affects us first. Secondly our reactions reflect how we wish to treat the world we live in and in an echo, how our world reacts to our thoughts and actions.

What affects you in your everyday life and how you live it? Choose love first. Whether you ‘feel’ it or not. React through that choice next and forward from there. This can lead to a whole different life for yourself.

Leave ego and judgement out of your reaction and it’s easy….to choose love.

The Subtleties of Aromatherapy

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essential oil blends

Aromatherapy VS Fragrance

 

Awhile back I was hawking my personal aromatherapy wares at a local show and found a fascinating disconnect in the way people view aromatherapy. The disconnect happens when it comes to realizing the benefits of aromatherapy are not part and parcel of the automatic link plenty of people have with simple aromas. Many seem to pair the idea of a floral or botanical fragrance permeating a single room or perhaps their entire home as aromatherapy. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

Fragrance

It can be a benefit on an emotional level, for sure. Various scents can bring on joyful feelings, or a sense of cleanliness. Some scents can even be an aphrodisiac in a person’s senses. This is the reason for the booming cologne, perfume, candle and room spray market. Mass market cleaning products like rug powders or kitchen and bathroom cleansers also have many fragrance links too.

The way people react to fragrance is as individual as each one of us are to one another but overall, this is not aromatherapy. This is not to say there is a complete separation between scents and fragrances used in commercially available products and the essential oils that are used in aromatherapy. The disconnect is in peoples perception of what aromatherapy actually is and how it works when they are trying to align it with the plug-ins they have used, the room sprays they have or even the lavender fabric softener they use for their laundry.

Aromatherapy

Exactly as it sounds is a therapy using aroma. However, that beneficial aroma stems from essential oils which are extracted from flowers and botanical’s including roots, stems, bark and leaves of certain plants that elicit a reaction by the body on more than just an emotional level. These are not “medicines” but natures botanicals have numerous benefits which you can find out about by doing some homework.

The biggest realization to make is that it is not perfumery, although some essential oils can smell utterly divine and indeed are used in modern perfumery. The therapeutic origins of plant botanicals has a long history and includes extracts, flower essences, hydrosols, tinctures as well as essential oils. A great place to start exploring the benefits of aromatherapy for yourself would be with our line of essential oil blends which are available in our shop.

 

 

The Workshop – So Close and Yet So Far!

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This past week has certainly been a labor intensive week in the workshop. The drywall hung, taped and textured then painting was completed thanks to they guys over at Sweet Home Services in Keller, TX. Next job is to hang the beautiful Spoonflower wallpaper and install the flooring before the final move in. Now for some pictures of the transition from “Then” to “Now”.

 

These photos taken after the paint job was completed.  Of course, some fabrics have already found their way to the built in shelving. I couldn’t help but move something out there today.

 

 

Work on the workshop continues

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The guys who built the workshop were very sweet and made a step to make it easier for me to get in (LOL) because I’m a shorty.  It looks awesome so far! A couple of paint colors had been chosen for the outside of the building. One is a version of spring green for the main part and a butter yellow for the window and door frames. This idea has changed of course, which happened through sheer amount of time that has passed. Add that we are doing the painting ourselves and a better idea occurred to me that may be put into place once the workshop is actually *in* the building. So the idea right now, is let’s just get in there…no fuss! The details can come later.

tiles with pictures
The wallpaper for the feature wall.

The sample of wallpaper in my hands as of last October. It’s *sooooooo* pretty!! This only makes me more eager to get things rolling. The order for the paper was placed last spring and what a joy filled day it was when it arrived.

Shortly after getting the electricity set up, two pallets of insulation gets delivered. We went with this super cool and easy to install non-fiberglass option called Roxul. Since it was only able to be delivered to the driveway, we had to figure out a way to get it down to the workshop. That ended up being one by one on a hand truck, so count that as 12 trips down and back up the hill.

No one told me that getting this place was going to be so much exercise! Now that we have the insulation, next thing on the long list of things to do is to install it and pick up the drywall we need. If it would only stop raining enough to dry up the back access so we can get a truck to haul it in.  I’m not complaining at this point although I am certainly counting my blessings and am ever so grateful that we are exactly where we are.

Our Thoughts and Good Vibes to our Coastal TX and LA neighbors

Speaking of rain, prayers are being sent daily to those affected by hurricane Harvey along the Texas coastline and into Louisiana. The loving and caring response to the devastation and for people in the area really fills one with validation that compassion is still a major part of humanity.

delivery to the driveway
insulation on a pallet jack

 

We’ve been bringing home eight super heavy 18″ pavers at a time in the trunk of the Challenger to put as an edge around the workshop and we’re getting ready to get the third load. At this rate it will take about five or six, eh – maybe more loads to finish all the way around the building.  Whew talk about labor intensive. We’ve been shoveling out dirt, leveling and putting the pavers down. In a way, I’m glad for having had enough rain this summer to keep the ground rather moist and easy to dig into. To have done this last year would have been back breaking.

Here’s to rainy weather in North Texas. Even though it causes delays, it has been making what we do get done easier to handle.

Until next time, may your days be filled with wonder and awe between all the hard work that gets done!

Getting ready to go into high gear

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Tino and Zena
two spoiled dogs

It’s been quite the summer as we head into Labor Day weekend where so many express the last hurrahs of summer I’m thinking about what this summer held for the shop as well as for the family. First off since my immediate family is myself, Dell and two very important “children” our lovely dogs Tino and Zena, here is something they would like you to know about and after reading this article, I agree wholeheartedly. We support pet adoption and this group of articles was well researched and has great information for you when you are ready to get your own pet.

 

The back yard
The location is between the trees.

Next thing to mention is the workshop in progress. After several years of using the guest bedroom as my work room it has finally come time to get my own workshop and free up the bedroom to actually host guests.

As we all know location, location, location! It’s a great advantage to have this location be in the back yard…close to home and family and yet still be able to be in work mode. After choosing the location under the trees, we got a contractor for the building. I’m so excited and this was just the beginning!

Building in progress
Then this happened

 

This picture was taken last August and the building started going up a year ago this week. It’s been slow going but we had no idea what we were in for.  Notice this work crew had a huge outdoor fan going to help cool down a very warm August. Glad to say we are much greener this year. They did a bang up job.

We reached out for estimates on electric and plumbing after the building was done. Duh! Who does this except someone who’s a total noob to getting things built. The estimates came in way out of our price range. Come to find out, it’s a big deal getting exit sewage from the back forty uphill to street level where the city sewer lines are and would take two pump stations. That’s what ten feet lower elevation can do! Ur-mah-gurrr!

 

Ready for insulation
Electricity is now in.

This meant we needed time to save up some funds. So we were static on the workshop through the winter. Come spring we started shopping the electric around again and got a great electrician to get the shop set up with all the electrical bells and whistles. Now we’re ready to do the insulation and get the drywall in. I’ve already got the flooring, paint color, and wallpaper chosen as this eventuality becomes more real and closer to happening.

Until next time, Adios amigos!

 

Talking About the “Ewwwww” Factor

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In the course of conducting business over the past couple of years I’ve advertised in many different places, online and offline. One of the online places that I have found to be fairly interesting gives people an avenue to share their thoughts about a given post, picture, product, what have you… something that has piqued their interest enough to comment – good, bad or neutral doesn’t matter, but they can pass it on to their group of friends and have a dialogue with no holds barred. I truly appreciate the ones who have an honest interaction among friends. This gives me food for thought as well as fodder for blog. Today, I’d like to thank the contrarian voice and opinion.

On a recent advertised image of a newly listed item on A Hippie Adventure’s Etsy shop, there were several “shares” with interesting conversation. I can infer my own thoughts behind the “shares” because I don’t really know, but I’m going to guess they were by people who had already hear of washable menstrual pads, may not be an actual user of them but perhaps had considered the possibility of someone, even if not herself, using them. Comments ranged from “ewww!” to “How unsanitary!”, “There are just some things you don’t reuse.”, and my favorite one of all “Why would any woman do this ever? I’d rather eat my own toenails.”

Ha! That’s some real disgust with the thought of anyone using a reusable cloth pad. Granted, the lifestyle involved with using cloth pads is not for everyone, but I truly feel that eating toenails is not a preferable choice to make.

I go into several reasons why a woman would subject herself to the lifestyle in the first place in the description of each of the LePads listings in the shop. Briefly, it’s a long lasting purchase with an average 5-8 year lifetime thus promoting a great eco alternative to thousands of pounds of mass produced store bought pads and tampons in our landfills. It is estimated that a woman will use approximately 15,000 pounds of disposable feminine products during her lifetime.

These same store bought pads also bring the toxic chemicals they are made with right next to your most private and highly sensitive parts. Some folks never give a thought to the rashes and itchiness, let alone the discomfort, level of cramps and headaches they may experience during menses as being the result of the chemical interaction of the moist pads next to this sensitive skin. Yet once you stop using these types of mass produced, chemically laden products, you find that many of the symptoms that were thought to be part and parcel of having a period will ease up or just won’t happen.  This alone begins to make you think, seriously think – What have I been subjecting myself to by using these products?

These same products cause people to think that they are sanitary and safe because of corporate packaging and marketing. However, they don’t have to tell you what they’re made of. Have you ever seen a product panel on a box of sanitary pads or tampons? There is a woman from Texas who made the news when she reported about her interaction with a major tampon company upon discovering mold on a tampon. MOLD! On a tampon straight out of the “sterile” plastic packaging…and we’re shoving this inside ourselves without EVER looking at them? We are assuming they are safe. Meh! Give me the washable cloth pads. I can make sure they are as clean and disinfected as I want them to be. Yeah, it’s a little more detailed in how I need to care about the whole process, but I certainly am willing to go through the joy of knowing what I’m putting on and in my body during this time of month. Menses has turned from taboo to something normal and natural.

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