Aches and Pains

I don't know what I did. Playing Working at the computer too long, perhaps the chair, table height is not good. Maybe a delayed reaction to hauling the very heavy recliner from the sun room to the street. (I was hoping someone would take a free chair) and then dragging the extremely weighty recliner from the curb to the garage. (everyone probably saw The Big Bang Theory episode where Penny got a free chair that was left at the curb in front of her apartment building)

Though I'm small, maybe I'm not as mighty as I think. Or once was. Maybe I'm just at that age where you wake up and things just hurt. Who knows?

A friend gave Himself a sample of Arnica CBD salve. He swears by it. The friend, not Himself. I had taken some Ibuprofen in the hopes of better living through chemistry, but I wasn't finding much relief. I decided with some trepidation to give the salve a try. After all, what did I have to lose except the pain in my shoulder.

I opened the little container and cautiously took a sniff. If this smelled like Old Man salve I wasn't going to use it. There was a very, very faint wintergreen smell. Not bad at all.

I'm not going to claim it's a miracle salve, but my shoulder feels better. Maybe the Ibuprofen worked, or the heating pad I applied. Or maybe a good night's sleep.

What do you use for aches and pains?

Of All The Places

to get bit by a mosquito, on the ring finger of my left hand (dominant) underneath my rings! To help with the crazy itching, I used a roller bottle of palmarosa essential oil in a carrier of refractionated coconut oil. Ah, relief!

T Stands For - Too Much Fun

Warning: Picture heavy.

Tuesday last, my friend, A. came for a visit. A and I live half a state away so we don't get to visit very often though we do try to have art dates over Skype at least once a month and occasionally a field trip if the weather and schedules cooperate.

I met A. about 20 years ago at a Masscribes guild workshop. We were the new kids in the guild like being the new kids at school. We found beyond a love for calligraphy, we also had other things in common. We were both Southpaws. Our children were about the same ages, so we gravitated towards each other.

A. made exceptional time coming from the North of Boston to the wilds of central Massachusetts. She had lots of surprises for me. She brought me flowers.

I was working on a project and needed 2 bright, green buttons. She brought her button jar. No green buttons the right shade or size, but she had some cute heart shaped buttons and gave me a bunch.

She also had an extra punch for a fancy border.

She had some healthy snacks, chocolate covered almonds, granola bars, cookies, and small ziplock snack bags with portion marks on them. She spoils me!

After a short visit, we decided to go to lunch. We were going to go to Panera. See, A. watches what she eats and I figured she could get a healthy lunch. When we got to the mall, I mentioned the other eateries besides Panera: Uno's (Chicago style, deep dish pizza), Red Robin (hamburgers), Longhorn Steakhouse. She asked if we could go to Uno's as she hadn't been there in a long time. So Uno's it was. It was Tuesday so we had the Tuesday lunch special. A Chicago Classic (individual deep dish pizza with tomato and sausage) and a salad. I had a house salad and A. had a Caesar. Unsweetened ice tea for me and water with lemon for A.

After a nice lunch and catching up, we went back to the house because there was so much to do. First, we played with essential oils. A. sniffed the oils and decided she would like bergamot and eucalyptus to make a hand-sanitizer. I also had crocheted a small bag filled with lip balm, sugar scrub, lotion bar, a wellness roller, and a sample of my favorite, Thieves cleaner for her to try.

Then it was time for tea and cookies.

Then we looked at the notes and some of the homework I've done from the year-long class I'm taking.

And then all too soon it was time for A. to go home with promises to come back again.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

The Friday Five Good Things

Five good things that happened this week.

1. Himself discovered a new channel to watch. Heroes and Icons, WSBK 38.2 This is the call signal and station number for the free airwave. Have no idea if cable companies carry this channel. As we don't have cable on the television in the bedroom. All the old shows. All the Star Trek, Star Trek NG, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise. Every night. Saturday is Comic Book day with Greatest American Hero.

2. Had a delicious, lazy Sunday. Played potions with essential oils, played on the computer, and crocheted.

3. Himself had Monday as a holiday. The Young One didn't so after dropping her off at the train station, Himself and I went out to breakfast.

4. Enjoyed play date with my friend, Teague. Hadn't seen her in quite some time. We went out to lunch at 5 Guys and then I showed her how to bake bread.

5. Organized the supplies I need for 26 Seeds: A Year to Grow. A year long calligraphy class I'm taking which starts in one week.

How was your week?

The Friday Five Good Things

Taken through the dining room window, the squirrel
perches on the ladder to wait his turn at the feeder.
The male cardinal was there.

Five good things that happened this week.

1. The Eldest was able to make it home through the snow without getting stuck in the dead of night.

2. Had The Brother and his family over for lunch. While we were eating, The Nephew noticed the male cardinal sitting on the trellis. Just Dad stopping by. He loved it when we all got together. After lunch, we spent the afternoon playing with essential oils.

3.  Another snow storm. Happily, it was The Eldest's day off so she didn't have to go into work. The Brother had told me no matter how old the kids get, a parent still worries even when the chicks have flown the nest.

4. Himself's school cancelled classes for Monday. The Young One was supposed to start her first day of work, but she received an email telling her to stay home. A snow day for her, too. No worries and the storm for us wasn't as bad as predicted.

5. For Valentine's Day, The Eldest gave me three new essential oils. A blend called Love, and two single oils Cumin and Cardamom. She enjoys playing with the essential oils, too, so now we have 80.

How was your week?

Ditty Bags

Saturday, my Sister-in-Law and newlywed Niece-in-Law along with their menfolk came over for lunch and an afternoon learning and playing with essential oils.

I had some things I made, some lip balm and some sugar scrubs, and I planned on a make and take project, hand sanitizer/room spray, but didn't have any gift bags so they could take the goodies home. The first thought was to run out and buy a couple of gift bags, but remember my word for the year, Frugal? No buying things unless absolutely needed. What did I have that could be made into a little goodie bag?

I had white yarn and crochet thread. Perfect, I could make a couple of ditty bags. I found an easy crochet pattern here and since it was so close to Valentine's Day, an easy crochet heart for a decoration. I decided to use the crochet thread for a more delicate little bag.The ditty bag is 4 or 5 inches tall and just the perfect size for filling with small things. Is cute, no?

Cold Comfort

A change of seasons and weather had me sniffling like a presidential candidate at a debate. What to do to feel better? I have a favorite oil for that.

Besides smelling great, many essential oils also support body systems. Enter Young Living's Thieves essential oil. Thieves is a blend of clove, lemon, eucalyptus radiata, cinnamon, and rosemary. This blend of oils helps support the immune system and the perfect addition to a homemade cough drop recipe. The recipe uses 3 simple ingredients: honey, coconut oil, and cinnamon. All three of these ingredients help boost the immune system.

I used 5 drops of Thieves essential oil instead of the cinnamon. Not to sound too much like a commercial, but Young Living essential oils are the only oils I would consider ingesting. Young Living offers a seed to seal guarantee. Their oils are never diluted or adulterated. They own farms around the world where the plants are grown so they keep an eye on quality control at every step of the process. Not all essential oils can be ingested, and Young Living offers a Vitality line of oils..

Also some oils like Thieves are considered "hot" oils. You must use a carrier like an oil or honey in order to consume the essential oil or the oil could burn skin or mucous membranes. Before ingesting essential oils, make sure the oils are 100% pure essential oils and talk to your doctor or holisitic medical practitioner.

You can plop a half teaspoon of the mixture onto waxed paper or parchment paper, but it's easier to use a candy mold.  After the drops are hardened in the freezer, you can wrap the drops in waxed paper and store them in a container in the refrigerator. Coconut oil will turn to liquid if the temperature is over 76 oF so storing in the fridge is a must. As an extra step, to keep the drops from sticking, I dusted them with a little confectioner's sugar before wrapping them.

Besides being a cold comfort, a drop is also delcious in a cup of tea.

DIY Lip Balm

The cooler weather is reminding me I need to amass a supply of lip balm. The DIYer in me is happy to make up a batch. I also like knowing what's actually in the stuff I use.

I made some last year which lasted me all through the cold weather months. I didn't have lip balm tubes, but used small, plastic pots. They worked fine until I had to put a sausage finger in to get out the last bit. The recipe, from Instructables Honey Lip Balm, used honey both as a flavoring and as a humectant (retains moisture). The only thing I didn't like about the recipe was the honey came out of suspension.

The Home-Made Lip Chap recipe from Wellness Mama takes 4 simple ingredients: beeswax, coconut oil, shea, or cocoa, or mango butter, and optionally, essential oil for flavoring.

I had shea butter, coconut oil, and a brick of beeswax on hand. The beeswax brick takes decades to grate a small amount. Since I was going to order lip balm tubes, I decided to splurge and order some beeswax pellets.

For flavoring, I used Young Living's Stress Away essential oil. It's one of my favorite oil blends. Smells like vanilla and lime.

So all set. Sort of. Someone didn't read all the way through the recipe to see how many tubes of lip balm would be made and didn't have enough tubes ready. No worries. Poured the excess into the silicon mold and can remelt when the tubes have been sterilized.

The Friday Five Good Things

Five good things that happened this week.

1. A good time was had by all at Himself's birthday celebration. Fun movie, dinner at Longhorn using a gift card, His birthday dessert request, blondies, wasn't festive enough for me so I added a scoop of Sea Salt Caramel gelato. Mmmmm.

2. More essential oils arrived. Several blends to support respiratory functions during allergy season.

3. We purchased a whole-house water filtration system which will be installed next week.

4. During the toilet bucket brigade, the toilet lid crashed to the floor and shattered. Placed a call to F.W. Webb where we purchased the toilet 7 years ago. They were able to find a replacement lid for very short money without having to buy a whole new toilet.

5. Happiness is a toilet that flushes. Himself replaced the flush valve. No more filling up buckets. No more Mary on the Prairie. Thank Gawd, Himself is so handy. Yup, he's a keeper.

How was your week?

The Friday Five Good Things

Five good things that happened this week.

1. Playing around with the bells and whistles in my car. Used the GPS. Happily, this GPS has a warning ding-ding so you know where to make the turn. It also tells you which side of the road your deistination is on. The GPS in my other car didn't have these features.

2. A rainy, raw Saturday gave me the excuse to try the heated car seats. Mmmm, heavenly.

3. For Mother's Day, I got to indulge with Five Guys Little Bacon Cheeseburgers, coconut gelato, and chocolate dipped strawberries. No, I'm not spoiled (much) goodies just fit for a Little Princess

4. I got word that I'm enrolled in Reggie Ezell's year long calligraphy class 26 Seeds. Class starts March 2017. Can't wait.

5. New essential oil arrived. En-R-Gee.  Love the oily goodness.

How was your week?

The Friday Five Good Things

Five good things that happened this week

1. I won a 20 drop sample of an essential oil playing a game with an essential oil group I belong to on Facebook. I got to pick the oil I would like to try so chose Ylang Ylang

2. The Eldest doesn't like Italian sausage, but the rest of us do. Since she was going out with friends, I made sausage and gravy (pasta sauce for you non-Italians), rigatoni, and I baked Italian bread. A heavenly meal.

3. I took a play day and went to vist my friend, Teague. We went out to lunch and since the day was nice, we took a very long walk through Hopedale Parklands. Then we treated ourselves to a chocolate cake roll because we deserved it.

4. Wednesday we broke weather records as temps soared to 70 oF. I hope this means sun room season will be starting earlier this year.

5. Warm temps have made the crocus pop a month early. I found a clump on the edge of the driveway where I never planted crocus bulbs.

 How was your week?

The Friday Five Good Things

Five good things that happened this week.

1. The Young One and I rented Tim Burton's 9 from YouTube, of all places. Did you know you can pay per view movies from YouTube for $4?

2. Classes were cancelled the night before the storm. Unheard of to cancel that early, but no complaints from me. Everyone was safe at home.

3. Ordered two (new to me) essential oils. They arrived earlier than expected. Ordered Young Living's Dragon Time and SclarEssence.

4. I drove through the snow. Ok, predicted snow squalls turned out to be flurries, but I still drove through them.

5. Predicted squalls didn't appear the day I had planned to have lunch and spend the afternoon with my friend, Teague. Usually, when we try to get together, there's a blizzard, or plague, or some other disaster. Not this time. Cold, but sunny.

How was your week?

Essential Oil Storage Dividers

I keep my essential oils in a Sterilite Stack and Carry 3 Layer. I only use one box without the lid, though if I need to travel and take all my oils with me (not likely), the lid does fit.

The problem is without some sort of a grid or holder, the bottles shift around. I was looking at wooden storage boxes, but they can be expensive. On a search, another user found foam inserts, but the shipping cost was almost as much as the foam. Also, the company either went out of business or changed their domain name as the page is no longer found.

Last week, my essential oil order arrived. There was a sleeve around the box to keep the box from opening. The sleeve length was the perfect size for the Sterilite case. The stock was stiff. Not as heavy as corrugated cardboard, but a bit heavier than cardstock. Perfect.

Using a paper cutter, I cut the sleeve into 1 inch strips to fit inside the box horizontaly and vertically. With a pair of scissors, I partially cut each strip at 1 inch intervals. The strips were notched together to form a grid. which can hold 48 bottles. Ta-da! The oil bottles fit neatly inside. Won't rock and roll when the case is removed from its hutch. I can also alphabetize the bottles so oils are more easily found. Maybe not the prettiest of solutions, but it works for me.

How do you store your essential oils?

Dryer Sheets

A couple of months ago, I extolled the virtues of felted dryer balls to replace dryer sheets in the dryer. The benefits are they are reusable and have no toxic chemicals on or in them. They did work great up until now.  Clothes in the dryer, especially mixed loads of natural and synthetic fibers, come out with lots of static cling. I suspect low humidity due to the dry Winter weather.

I really wanted a more natural way of drying clothes. Yes, hanging clothes on a clothesline would eliminate static, but a clothesline isn't practical during a typical New England Winter. Looking around the natural cleaning products aisle in Target, I came across Mrs. Meyers Clean Day Dryer Sheets scented with Lemon Verbena. There was a Lavender flavor, but I'm sure Himself wouldn't want a floral scent to his clothes. The sheets are made from a paper, coated with "a vegetable-derived softening agent" and essential oils. After it is used, the dryer sheet can be recycled. Very green.

The dryer sheets work surprisingly well. There are 80 perforated sheets in a box. So you use half a sheet. My only comlaint is you have to tear the sheets in half yourself. They are a dollar or so more expensive than the national brands. However, they are toxin free and can be recycled so in my mind, that offsets the expense.

The Friday Five Good Things

Five good things that happened this week.

1. Continued watching the anime, Blue Exorcist, with The Eldest. Interesting story. Can the Rin,the son of Satan, prove he's not evil. Entertaining teen angst. 

2. Picked the Young One up from the airport after a weekend trip to Ohio to visit a friend. Flight delayed only a half an hour due to weather. Himself even found a spot in a free cellphone lot where he could wait.

3. Had the hardware installed for the first part of my bionic tooth. All went well. Very little swelling, little discomfort, no pain, and no reaction to the antibiotic. Have to wait 6 mos for part 2.

4. The new diffuser for the essential oils arrived. This one is beautiful as well as functional. It's also larger so will cover almost half of the first floor, and was on sale.

5. I didn't win the lottery, but had a dream about my dad. That was my prize. In the dream, Dad was standing outside the BMW of Natick car dealership and was in a television commercial. The interview was a kind of man on the street. Dad must have been on his way to Donlan's grocery store when he was stopped for the interview. Dad was wearing his favorite, ratty, long sleeve, blue sweater/shirt and a baseball cap. Dad never left the house without a hat.

Himself and I were watching television when the commercial came on. I was excited and yelled, "That's Dad! I have to text The Brother."

How was your week?

The Friday Five Good Things

Five good things that happened this week

1. The turkeys came to call on Ink. He was very happy and excited to see the herd.

2. Grandmaster E. sent a box of her delicious Italian cookies.

3. Being sick a couple of days put me behind schedule, but I finished the Christmas gifts I was making.

4. Himself took my car to be washed and then removed some scratches from the hood and trunk. Himself is a keeper.

5. It was so warm Christmas Eve, we had to sleep with the window open. I love it!

How was your week?

Diffusing Christmas Morning: Idaho Blue Spruce, Thieves, Orange, Peppermint

Throwback Thursday

It's 64 oF at 3 PM. It's so warm outside. I'm loving it. It reminds me of Christmas 1965 (I was 10 yrs old), when I got a bicycle for Christmas. I don't remember how warm it was, but there was no snow or ice on the ground. I was able to ride my beautiful, new bike outside.

It looked like this Lincoln green one. I associated the Lincoln green with Robin Hood and it was my second color choice. Mine was a blue beauty with handbrakes. A couple of years later, I would be allowed to turn the corner and could ride across town to my friend's house.

When we were 15 years old, we were allowed to ride to downtown Wellesley (next town over) to shop. Our favorite hangout was the Hathaway Book Store across the street from Wellesley College. A house had been converted into the shop and every room was crammed with books. After browsing the book store, we would go next door to Bailey's Ice Cream. It was an old-fashioned ice cream parlor. They served ice cream in silver ice cream dishes. The hot fudge sauce cascaded onto a silver charger. There was also an odd looking water cooler where we could get endlessly, free paper cups of water.

Essential oil blend, Away in a Manager, Frankincense and Grounding

Wordless Wednesday

Today's diffusing blend, Ghost of Christmas Past: Christmas Spirit and Thieves

New Phone - Part 2

We got to the Verizon store about a half an hour after it opened. A salesperson took my name and added me to the queue. I was next in line. We wandered around looking at the tech toys. About 20 minutes later, my name was called.

I told the salesperson I hated the Droid Turbo 2, wanted to return it, and to buy the iPhone 6S. He said I had to wait for the original salesman who was busy with another couple, but "he'd be finished in a few minutes."

Cue clock and music from High Noon. The couple were purchasing two iphone 6 whatevers, and the salesperson was taking decades with them. All other customers in the store bought there purchases and happily left to continue their day.

I went to talk to the salesperson on door duty, but he said he couldn't help me because he was on door duty. No other salesperson was around. He did cheerfully tell me, I would be next.

"Considering I'm the only customer here at this time, I should hope so."

Cue the clock and music again. I'm fuming and muttering. 45 minutes has now gone by. I'm tempted to go across the street to the AT&T store and switch my service. I think I might have said this aloud. Somewhere in time, we asked to see the store manager, but he was on a conference call.

Shortly after, the salesperson who told me I would have to wait, decided since the original salesperson was still dealing with the iPhone couple, he would help me.

There were some pressure tactic when I told him I hated the Turbo 2 and wanted to return it. It's the best phone on the market. The iPhone 6S is thin and bends easily.

I heard about that. I'm a grown up and am careful with my things. I don't put my phone in my trouser pocket and then sit down. More blah, blah, blah, Even the most careful person...

At this point, Himself who is usually very patient, snapped just give her the iPhone she wants. And we want to talk to the manager.

Phone returned, $35 re-stocking fee charged (though for having to wait so long, that should have been waived. New iPhone 6S, and a lightweight case (similar to the one I had on the 5C) was brought out. Contacts ported over. Since the Turbo 2 didn't work when I left the store and had to spend 2 1/2 hours with tech support, I had the salesperson place a call to the new phone. It worked. I even got to keep the Bose portable speaker from the Turbo 2 package.

The manager came out to see us. I told him his policy of having to wait for the original salesperson was assinine. What happened if the salesperson had the day off? Would I have to come back during his next shift? No, of course not. He admitted they made a bad call. Didn't realize the couple was going to take several months of time with the salesman. I said there should be a way of having the office fix commission info.

I left with my purchase. Not bad for an hour and a half.

Lesson learned, maybe don't buy a new phone the week before Christmas. Though I'm not sure with having to go back to the original salesperson would make a difference at any other time of the year.

Diffusing Young Living's Christmas Spirit, again. Really like the combination of cinnamon, orange, and spruce

New Phone, Part 1

My iPhone 5C battery wasn't holding a charge so time to get a new phone. Was thinking about the new iPhone 6. Went to the Verizon store. I was stunned to find the cell phones are now huge! Seems to be a cross between a phone and a tablet. Though, I have to admit a larger screen is helpful for old eyes.

Verizon was running a deal. Trade the iPhone for a Motorola Droid Turbo 2. The Turbo 2 has a shatterproof screen, a nice feature. As part of the package get a phone charger, Otterbox hard shell case, and a choice of a portable Bose Speaker or a Fitbit. The Turbo had 32G storage compared to the 16G on my iPhone. Sweet.

The salesman ported my info over, and then realized he had pulled the wrong phone. Don't know what happened as it wasn't particularly busy. There were people in the store, but it wasn't packed and everyone was being helped. He talked to his manager. There would be a restock charge and then that cancelled out on the bill. He got the correct phone, ported the info, and I left the store. Riding home, playing with the phone, something was wrong. Seems the salesman mixed up my phone with Himself's phone. (Himself was not getting a new phone). The new phone had all my information, but Himself's phone number. Himself's phone had been disabled and the new phone was not connected. OY!

Returned to the Verizon store to find the store closed at 8 PM. Seriously?! The week before Christmas and the store closed at 8 PM? What now?

Fortunately, most of the companies are on Social Media. I found the Verizon Support Page and opened a chat with tech, Monique. Explained my tale of woe. She said she could straighten things out and I wouldn't have to return to the store. Great! Except it took her 2 1/2 hours to reprogram both phones. I didn't have to do anything except play on Facebook, occasionally read her IMEI numbers or turn the phone off and on. Monique was very nice and got the phones up and running. I went to bed.

Spent the next few days getting used to the new phone. It's big. Feels clumsy and is heavy. Though I suspect that's due to the Otterbox case. The case is hard to take off, and there's no easy access door to the SD card. The phone can't be connected to the computer because the cord can't be connected from the power plug like the iPhone lightning connector.  I could customize the ring tones, but had to download an app to do it. Was an extra step compared to the iPhone.

While downloading apps I was horrified to find the Android operating system requires an all or none app permissions. And the permissions are insidious and not necessary for the app to run. Things like:

Some apps can directly call phone numbers (perhaps costing money), read the phone status and identity, take pictures, use the microphone, take video, read contacts, add or modify calendar events, send email to guests witout owner's knowledge, modify or delete  the contents of the SD card. And the list goes on and on. There's no way you can deny app permissions on an individual basis like you can on an iPhone.

So guess what? I hate this phone. The Turbo 2 is going back. I'll grudgingly pay the restock charge, and will stick with Apple. At least, I'll be able to control the permissions from the various apps.

Diffusing Christmas Woods: Idaho Blue Spruce, Cedarwood.