Monday, December 31, 2007

Why It Can Be Hard To Be Positive.

Negativity is the enemy of positive thinking and can defeat us before we even notice it. Sadly,we are accustomed to it as it is the norm in our society. Most of us have to deal with many negative people on a daily basis, perhaps even at home, and very likely at work. Well meaning friends and neighbors unknowingly beam their negative energy at us when they are having a bad day.

Thoughts are energy, and when spoken they are shared energy. People around us complaining can drain our positive feelings very quickly.

Energy is contagious! Good or bad, it has a strong effect on us.

Think of the last time you were with someone in a bad mood. If you were feeling good, happy, positive, I'll bet it didn't last. Negative emotions are like a black cloud that can smother our positive emotions.

How can we deal with this?

Begin every day with the intention of being happy and having your day go well.

Reinforce this constantly throughout the day.

When possible, avoid people that are always negative.

A great method of protection against the negative energy of others is to use shields, mentally constructed bubbles of protection that surround us. You will still notice and identify all the negativity around you but it won't leave you feeling drained. Most of it will just slide off your bubble. The more you use this the better it will work for you.
it's best to be as positive as possible when you do these exercises. You don't want to close your own negative feelings into your bubble.

Grounding yourself also helps to keep you centered in your own energy when you encounter any negativity. Just close your eyes, take a few deep breaths and imagine you have strong roots coming from the bottom of your feet going deep into the earth and closing firmly around a giant rock.


Sunday, December 30, 2007

The Magic of A New Year's Wish List

I don't make New Year's Resolutions. It's a nice idea but it hardly ever works does it? I prefer to make wish lists. Why? Because they really do get results. I can't remember where or when I first learned about this but it is amazingly easy to do and the results are equally amazing.
Actually, you can start this anytime, but ending or beginning the year with this seems ideal.

On New Year's Eve or New Year's Day get a little notebook and put the date at the top and make a list of things you want. There is no set number - if you come up with nine or fourteen that's fine. Do whatever feels right .

What kind of wishes are appropriate? It can be things you want to happen or things you want to own. It can even be things you want to understand or feel differently about. Anything that is important to you. Small wishes or large, even improbable ones go on your list. I have put things on my lists that seemed impossible, even ridiculous, yet they came true. Some quickly, some not so quickly, and some did take quite a while.

Next step is to forget about it for one month. No peeking at your list, or wondering when it is coming true. No obsessing about it because that cancels it out. If you find yourself thinking about it just shrug it off and think about other things. Seriously, you must have the discipline to leave it alone for the rest of the month or you might as well not bother to do it.

When the month is over, read your list, cross out the wishes that came true, and make another page for the next month carrying over the things that you are still wishing for and adding any new ones. Continue this every month for the next year and next New Year's you will enjoy browsing through your notebook and seeing how many wishes came true for you.
Blessings, Gilly

P.S. Please let me know your results. A happiness shared is doubled.

Friday, December 28, 2007

Help The Enviroronment and Yourself With Gift Bags

This Holiday season I was really busier than usual and as a result had less time and energy for my usual gift wrapping extravaganza. I resorted to gift bags, feeling guilty, but not letting that stop me.
The twenty something bags under the tree did not look as pretty as my usual carefully wrapped and bowed packages but time had run out. I did add little ornaments with candy inside them that I picked up for a dollar each at Wal Mart but the dazzle factor was definitely gone.
The other thing I noticed was that I spent a lot more on bags than I would have on wrapping paper. That , however, was worth it to me as I considered it a gift of time and less stress for myself.
So, Christmas came and I was hoping no one would be disappointed or wonder why I had changed my long standing tradition of making each present look fantastic.
No one noticed! No one commented! No one cared!
The presents given and received were enjoyed as usual. The really important things were still there: love, sharing, caring, laughter, and being together.
The next day my youngest son mentioned that it was a lot easier to clean up without all that darn wrapping paper! Duh! I hadn't even thought of or noticed that but he was right. It is a lot of work to gather all those gift boxes and tons of torn up paper,hoping that no small gifts accidentally get thrown out. It does make one heck of a mess. We had always filled two large trash bags with all that Christmas paper, etc.
It dawned on me at last that all of that discarded wrapping paper is not good for the environment! I can't even imagine how many tons of extra garbage we, as a society, generate each holiday season. For me it has always been such an ingrained part of the holidays that the downside of using all that paper was just invisible.
Will I ever again wrap, coordinate colors, make fantastic bows, use colored lace, ribbon, flowers and so on to give a gift? Well, I have finally learned that men don't care a bit about such things though most women do. I will definitely restrict my fancy presents for women only. My new guilt over our stressed environment will keep me from being a major wrapping paper maniac.
Oh, and those gift bags? More paper. I am saving them to use again next year.
So, this effort to help my overwhelmed, stressed out self has expanded to also caring more about the needs of our planet.
I would love to hear about your efforts to lessen your stress and/or ideas that are good for our environment.
Blessings, Gilly







Help For Putting Away Christmas

Last year my daughter in law found a great product called SNAPWARE. She was so excited about it I figured it had to be good and it is.
Basically it is three plastic boxes that snap together - on top of each other - building a small tower. Then the top box has a top with a handle. Each box has dividers so you can tuck away each treasure separately, but also has the option of not using them in order to enable you to pack away larger items. Except for the top the whole unit is see -through which makes it easy to see/find what you have.
Last year after Christmas I packed away my tree ornaments in the first SnapWare and was pleased at the ease of putting it away. When it was time to trim the tree this year I was more than pleased. No carrying a huge, awkward box up the stairs and finding everything jumbled together! Lightweight, carry it by the handle, and easy to find which box I want.
Another feature I really love is that you can add on extra boxes from another unit, enabling you to keep all related items conveniently together.
During this past year I have found these units perfect for storing my spools of ribbon, craft pieces for my floral hobby, ( all those little birds, hearts, wire, picks, etc. etc.) my collection of lace, sequins, and so on for my clothing embellishment hobby, and last but not least for storing my collection of vintage doilies and dresser scarves. (minus the dividers)
The convenience of being able to quickly find what I want and the absolute relief of being able to store a great deal of 'stuff ' in a small amount of space makes the price of these well worth it.
(You can stack these units as high as you like )
The price is - on sale - about $10 and this is the time of year they are usually on sale. Linen n' Things and Target carry them.
What other creative uses for them can you find?

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Alternative for Expensive Christmas Ornaments

I have a lot of interests and hobbies so there are a lot of things I spend money on. This could become expensive if I wasn't thrifty, so finding bargains has become another hobby. One that has turned out to be fun and gives me a sense of triumph when I succeed.
If you have ever admired Christmas trees lavish with beautiful hand painted, blown glass ornaments and thought you would enjoy collecting them but can't afford it here's an alternative.
Several years ago I started collecting those adorable glass angels, Santa's, penguins, rocking horses, etc. when I noticed them in the Dollar Store. Every year I have the fun of finding new ones and adding to my collection. Those beautiful, vivid colors are, according to the box, hand painted on hand blown glass. There is a huge variety, with lots of new ones every year.
My daughter in law, who has long been a collector of those expensive, big name, ornaments examined my dollar ones and was surprised at the quality. These are beautifully made, perfectly painted, etc. Later she checked her far more expensive ones and was surprised to find hers were made in China. Just like mine. LOL
Here's to enjoying life while being thrifty.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Gratitude Can Improve Your Life And Hopefully Mine

You can read about my being challenged to be grateful further down in this post. But first:
Gratitude is a wonderful tool that really can improve our lives if we use it on a daily basis. First, while we are thinking about what we are grateful for we will feel good. Seriously, it puts us into a good mood.
The best part though is being grateful actually brings more things for us to be grateful for. This works quickly too. My favorite method is to write down 10 things that happened during the day that I am grateful for. This might seem difficult at first, especially if you had a bad day. That's when we really need to think about the good things we have in our lives. Friends, family, a job, an income, a place to live. There's five and here's five more. A favorite program, the music you love, a good movie, that great cup of coffee after dinner, a good meal.
If you don't have some of those things then think about what you do have.
Think about those little things that happen during the day, someone smiling at you, holding a door, giving you a compliment.

If you want more good things to happen in your life - the secret is to appreciate everything.



I had planned yesterday to write about gratitude today but I admit I wasn't feeling very grateful this morning. Our mailbox was destroyed by the plows yesterday - no big deal; we've lived here for over 30 years and this is the first time it happened. My son has had it happen twice in less than a year so I guess I'm grateful it hasn't happened before. Then last night I found our basement flooded! Ack! It seems there is a block in the pipe to our septic system. OK, this a tough one and it did slow me up but I know I cannot afford to give in to self pity, the why me?, why right before the holiday when I have a lot to do and a lot of people coming?

Thoughts like that will only make me feel worse and attract more negative events into my life.

Why make a bad situation worse? So, I am grateful that my son is working on the problem, and I know that sooner or later it will be fixed. (Sooner I hope!) I am grateful for my son being willing to deal with it and knowing how. I am grateful he could take the time off work to do this and I am VERY grateful I am a woman and don't have to do it. LOL

In the meantime if anyone wants to send me some positive energy I will be very GRATEFUL!

Blessings, Gilly
PS Thinking about all I have to be grateful for has honestly made me feel better.

EMail

Just to let you know - you can e-mail me at: DiscoveryDiva@gmail.com

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Gratitude! Thank You Everybody

Today I am grateful for BlogCatalog approving me, All Women Blogging Carnival accepting my submission, and Blog Carnivals featuring my blog on their website.
Since I am new to blogging and wasn't sure anyone was even reading my blog, or liking it if they did, I am ecstatically happy to have acceptance from my peers. I am also encouraged to continue writing. So, a big Thank You to everyone.
Please leave comments, it makes my day, and I would like to know what you think, if you have anything to add to what I have written, if it is helpful to you in any way.
Blessings, Gilly

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Christmas Spirit

I love Christmas even though it gets more commercial every year. It's a shame that all the required gift giving and shopping has turned it into a stressful season for so many people because it is supposed to be about spirituality. Whether or not you are religious it is a time to be heart centered. Love, kindness, caring, giving, and sharing are what the Christmas spirit is meant to be.

Giving is a wonderful thing; I enjoy it, and I hope all those harried shoppers do too. It is sad, though, to think of so many people spending money they don't have, getting into debt for gifts that will be forgotten before they are paid for.

Christmas should come from the heart, not the wallet. It should also be fun, not exhausting and stressful. How can we give without draining our spirit and our credit cards? I think by changing our attitudes. We don't have to give to impress. We don't have to give and do more than we can comfortably manage. The Christmas machine is out of control and only we can fix it, one person at a time, each in our own way.

Some of the ways I have tamed the commercial aspects of Christmas giving:

I realized that giving a fancy gift that was basically useless was downright crazy. I now take the time to find out what people really need or enjoy. Much better to give a gift that will be used even if it seems somewhat dull. If we don't know people well enough to know what they like and need maybe we shouldn't be exchanging gifts with them. A gift certificate to their favorite restaurant might be unimaginative, not visually as exciting as a big, colorfully wrapped present but it won't clutter their home or go unused. It is also easier to give and no wrapping time involved.

If I notice a family member hasn't replaced their ragged, falling apart wallet that's one gift I will be giving to them. Not an unusual gift but they will appreciate it.

We make a habit of giving a donation to the Humane Society every Christmas, a $50 donation entitles us to the Family Plan and we receive a newsletter that keeps us up to date on what's going on.

That is one of our yearly gifts and we enjoy it all year round.

I save change all year and then empty the whole thing into a Salvation Army kettle. This will help someone that really needs it rather than spending it on a frivoulous, expensive gift that someone probably doesn't even want.

Putting the emphasis on giving is wonderful but it doesn't have to be something we buy. Making sure that people you care about are not alone during the holiday is a nice family tradition. One I always keep.

Giving your talent and caring won't cost much. Giving a Reiki treatment to someone who is going through a bad time is a lovely present . Doing a bit of research on your computer for someone who hasn't the time will be appreciated. Visiting a shut in with a gift of a book, or some little fun holiday decoration that you can make together will have more value than an expensive doo dad.

Gifting from the heart is what Christmas should be, and it just takes a bit of thinking. I hope I have inspired you to add more enjoyment and ease to your holidays and those of all your loved ones.
Blessings, Gilly

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Who Took The Pink Out Of Christmas?

I'm a pink person, always have been. As a child my father always painted my room pink, as a bride my new husband painted our first kitchen pink. Through the years he refused to sleep in a pink bedroom but kept on painting each new kitchen pink while I continued to wear pink, and plant pink roses, and be attracted to most things pink.

Pink was considered a color for little girls for the most part, and not truly acceptable for the home. I was pushing it with my pink kitchen but treasured every bit of pink I could manage to sneak into my life. For decades I had to make do with pink in my kitchen and garden; it was out of favor and almost impossible to find even knick knacks in my favorite color.

Then along came Shabby Chic! Quickly followed by Romantic Homes! I was in Pink Heaven. Suddenly I was able to find the things I had always longed for, slipcovers and comforters bloomed with pink roses, pink lace trimmed pillows were everywhere, along with little pink lamps, dishes, and anything else I could think of.

Christmas came and I was delighted to find a vast variety of pink holiday decorations. After all, they were perfect for my pink littered living room. Since I love crafts and do a fair amount of them, every year I bought pink silk poinsettias which I used lavishly. I put them on my tree and garlands and made floral arrangements and had a happy pink Christmas.

A few weeks ago I went shopping for this years pink poinsettias with wonderful plans and ideas for a lovely arrangement in a large shabby chic pressed tin cone. Ack! None in the dollar store! None in the craft stores, or Wal Marts or Rite Aid. We tried one last craft store, a very large one, and here was purple, lavender, blue, gold, copper, peach, red, white, but NO PINK! I knew I was in trouble. As I stood there helpless and hopeless, I watched my daughter in law buying some white poinsettias and FLASH! I remembered that I had a can of floral spray. PINK floral spray that I had never used. I quickly grabbed bunches of white poinsettias and with renewed hope for a pink Christmas headed home.

The next day I spread out plastic garbage bags on a table in my back room and started spraying my flowers. It worked, those white poinsettias turned pink. Sort of a pink miracle happening right in front of me. The only downside was that the paint smelled HORRIBLE! And though I had closed the door to the rest of the house that smell traveled everywhere, all through the downstairs, upstairs, and even the basement reeked. I found my husband watching the news with a handkerchief over his nose and mouth and he wanted to know " what did you do?" Fortunately, the smell dissipated in about 20 minutes. A LONG twenty minutes. And the flowers look lovely. And my big beautiful pressed tin cone has a gorgeous PINK Poinsettia floral arrangement. But, what will I do next year?

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Christmas Gifts For Senior Parents

Ever ask your over 60 parents what they want for Christmas? Chances are they will tell you they don't want anything, leaving you feeling frustrated or annoyed. Why is it so hard to think of great presents for our senior parents? Why do they say they don't want anything? Because they probably already have everything they want and a lot they don't want. By the time we reach 60 most of us have far too much 'stuff' and have lost interest in acquiring any more of it. The more we have, the more we have to take care of. All those lovely presents need to be dusted, cleaned, or worse yet, we have to figure out how to use the darn things. Also they take up room, which some seniors may not have to spare.
Being over 60 myself, I know what I , and most other seniors, really feel about Christmas gifts. It's not that we don't want anything! We just want more practical things. We seldom want clothing, jewelry, gadgets, more appliances, or decorative items. We certainly don't want anything that requires maintenance. One thing most of us do want is Help!
Most of us would be very grateful to have some of the burden of maintaining our homes lifted. Find out what is most difficult for them, is it snow removal, washing windows, does their house need to be painted? Is something just becoming an eyesore? Or crying out for repairs? I can promise you that they will appreciate your help where it is really needed, whether you do it yourself or hire someone to do it.
Are your parents still healthy and active and easily managing their home but retired? Then they probably have a lot more time and a lot less money. This means that they might be bored . Here is a list of things that your parents might enjoy receiving as gifts:
NetFlix
Dinner Certificate
Gas Cards
Local Coupon Books ******
The Coupon Books are my favorite! This is a gift that keeps giving all year. Your parents can go out to lunch or dinner as often as they wish, and the variety of restaurants offering buy one /get one free is amazing. All price ranges are covered, starting with Burger King and going up to moderate priced to higher priced. Most coupon books also offer bargains on car washes, doughnuts, (get half dozen free when buying half dozen) ice cream places, (they'll enjoy going out for ice cream next summer) and much, much more. These usually cost about $20 - $25.
If you usually spend more for their gifts then get NetFlix too.
OK, I know you probably aren't comfortable handing your parents a small book or envelope with a certificate. Just doesn't seem like a gift. So, get creative. Your parents love movies, so you decided to get them NetFlix. Get a basket and fill it with popcorn or snacks you know they like to go with those movies. Pop the NetFlix certificate in that basket. Note: This is only for parents that have a computer.
Coupon Book - Wrap it attractively - put it in a gift bag along with an inexpensive, disposable camera and new photo album, ready for those pictures they will take while visiting the places in the coupon book. If you still feel the presentation of your gift isn't up to par keep adding things. Framed snapshots of your family, chocolates, fancy cookies, a toy or two for their pets. Most of these things are available at the dollar store so you can probably afford to easily stuff their gift bag to bursting. They will think it's fun and appreciate it if they are on a budget.
Think about what they really need and like. Listen to what they say and you will find yourself giving from the heart not the ego and that will ensure your parents the very best present possible.
Blessings, Gilly

Tips for Bargain Holiday Crafting/Decorating

An easy, inexpensive way to make decorations for the holidays is to use what you already have! You might be surprised at what treasures you can find in your own closets.
Most of us tend to pick up bargains at sales during the year with the intention of making things - then life happens, we are busy with one thing and another and forget what we planned to make and what we have. And let's not forget those little impulse buys, those little things we just can't resist that are so darned cheap we don't see why we should even try.
I recently bought an adorable, nice sized flannel snowman at the dollar store and a package of cute little drums on impulse. I was supposed to be buying cards and gift bags but - well - you know - it's fun to browse around and that's when we make a few impulse buys. So, big deal, I spent two dollars on something I didn't really need or have any use for.
However, those two little impulse buys inspired me!
The next day as I was finishing a floral arrangement of Poinsettias I noticed my little impulses
sitting nearby and thought that snowman would be cute as a centerpiece for a wreath. I was sure that I must have one I could use in the house, at least a used one I could recycle. I rummaged around in a closet and voila! - a brand new pocket wall basket totally forgotten! I thought the snowman was perfect for the centerpiece in this. Then I needed greenery, so I looked through my floral supplies but didn't find anything suitable. I wanted something Christmasy so went into my Christmas decorations from previous years and finally found a pine garland that was never used. I simply twisted it into loops that looked like branches and stuffed it into the basket, then added Mr. Snowman. Browsing through the floral supplies again, I spotted a small bunch of leftover red Poinsettias, a couple of branches of Statice, and one long spray of red berries! Further browsing provided a couple of small pieces of Statice, several small bunches of red berries, and plenty of leftover red and green plaid ribbon.
I couldn't have made a cuter arrangement if I had deliberately planned and bought everything.
And those little impulsively bought drums were such a nice finishing touch that my son even remarked that they were cute. Amazing! The male population in this household doesn't normally notice my decorating efforts. If you live with men you probably know what I mean.
Discover what treasure you already have tucked away and save money while having fun.
Blessings, Gilly

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Crafty? Gifty? Thrifty?

If you're feeling the need to be thrifty with your gift giving and crafting for this Christmas season go to the Dollar Store. It amazes me how many people never think of using the local Dollar Store for gifts or craft projects when money is in short supply.
Last Christmas I made lovely gift baskets for several women on my 'must give a present to' list and they were a big hit. My theme was simple and practical , pamper yourself and relax with a lovely bubble bath. One thing most women need, especially during and after the holidays, is to escape from stress.
A lovely bubble bath with candles, soap, body lotion, and bath powder, all Lavender scented, with a bath pillow for comfort would make any women feel pampered. There are various other scents available, such as Vanilla, Lime, Raspberry; but Lavender has the bonus of being very relaxing and a wonderful sleep aid. ( see my archives for articles on all that Lavender can do for you.)
Yes, the baskets, colorful tissue paper, special bags to put the basket full of goodies into, and Christmas ribbon to finish it all off with a lovely big bow are all available at the Dollar Store and shouldn't cost more than seven to ten dollars per gift. If you are doing more than one it will be even less as the tissue paper ( a filler for the bottom which makes it look nicer too, and ribbon will be enough to share for two or three gifts. Thrifty? Yes! But also thoughtful, useful, and a very pretty gift.
For those crafty urges, how about a nice little set of pine window wreaths, decorated with red silk poinsettias and a red bow?Or little Santa's and a bow? (Can you tell I like bows?) Depending on your choices of ornaments, and there are many; this will probably only cost you around five dollars and would make a nice gift, especially for someone having their first Christmas in their own apartment.
Very thrifty. But something that would be appreciated. And used.
Discover the Dollar Store!

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Help For Colds and Flu

This seems an appropriate time to share with you my favorite remedies for colds and flu as it is December and everyone, including myself, seems to be suffering with colds or the flu.
A year and a half ago, on a summer day I was wandering around a health food store when I spotted a little box that said - quite simply - FLU. It was made by Hyland's and I had had excellent results with their products so I decided to buy it so I would be prepared whenever any of the family had the flu.
Fast forward to Thanksgiving! You guessed it; I woke up sick; company was coming for a dinner I was supposed to cook and I didn't know what to do. Rummaging in my remedies cupboard I spotted the little FLU box and took the required 3 pills, laid down for an hour and happily realized I felt about 80% better. You are supposed to take it every 4 hours and shortly after my second dose the flu just seemed to disappear! Didn't reappear either.
I've used it ever since and it always works quickly, not just on myself but on husband, sons, and friends.
I also use Lemon Essential Oil for colds and flu. This kills germs , which means the rest of the family doesn't catch that miserable cold, and , whoever is sick gets well faster. I use the lemon oil in a potpourri burner, the electric kind, as it's the most convenient for me, but you can use the oil in a vaporizer, aroma lamp, or the potpourri burners that use the little candles.
I read somewhere that Lemon Oil is used in hospitals in England to kill germs. With very good results.
Blessings, Gilly

Monday, November 26, 2007

Lavender & Arnica For Healing Burns

I have a smooth top stove and one Sunday morning last summer, while making brunch for a family gathering I absent mindedly put my hand on a still HOT burner and burned my hand badly enough that I wanted to scream from the sudden, intense pain.
I immediately put ice on it and this helped the pain but as the ice quickly melted the pain immediately became unbearable again. Remembering that Lavender is said to be a wonderful healing agent for burns, I put some Lavender Essential Oil on my hand and waited hopefully to see what happened but as the oil dried into my skin the intense pain didn't let up at all.
Desperate to relieve the pain, I turned to Arnica, a homeopathic remedy that I had used many times for a variety of painful conditions with great success. (The Arnica that I used was a salve although it comes in other forms.) I slathered it all over my hand and the pain was better in a few minutes and disappeared entirely in a very short time. Of course I was glad, but also surprised, as Arnica has never - to my knowledge - been mentioned as useful for painful burns.
I kept a thick coating of the Arnica salve on my hand until the next day although the pain did not return and I was able to use my hand as I normally would. I will be writing more about Arnica in the future but for now let's get back to the results of the Lavender.
The next day when I washed the last of the Arnica off I was amazed that there was no sign of my hand having been burned. Incredibly, my skin looked completely normal! No blisters, no redness, no hint of the burn that had been bad enough to hurt very badly!
Lavender heals burns; Arnica vanishes pain. What a great combination.
Love that Lavender. Love that Arnica.
Blessings, Gilly

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! I'll be back after the holiday with an interesting Lavender experience that just might help you as much as it helped me.
Blessings, Gilly

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Lavender For Wrinkles and Dry Skin

Yes, really, it works great! I have been plagued with extremely dry skin all summer and was trying all kinds of products with little success. My hands were so dry that they had big, deep, wrinkles and looked and felt horrible. I had a tube of Lavender cream and finally started trying that and was amazed at the results. The wrinkles were better from the first application and just continued to improve every day. My hands now feel soft and look so much better it is hard to believe.
When I realized how great it was doing on my hands I started using it on my face and I am very pleased with my diminishing wrinkles, the skin tone, softness, and healthy glow. I can't say that it will make all of your wrinkles disappear - it depends on the amount of wrinkling, your age, etc. but you will definitely see improvements. I did and I am 64.
The funny thing is I have tried a lot of different skin care creams over the years , some quite expensive, and the results with this inexpensive tube of Lavender cream are the best I have experienced. I wish I had found this 20 years ago.
I would appreciate comments and am open to questions.
Blessings, Gilly

Lavender For Bad Hair Days

Sometimes a bit of a disaster turns into a great new discovery. Recently I had a bad hair day and I mean A BAD HAIR DAY! I washed my hair and for some reason my hair just decided it was going to give me a hard time. Actually it's been doing a lot of that lately. I have fine, totally straight hair and on that particular day it was dry, dull,unmanageable, fly away, and completely flat with no life to it at all. I also looked like I had a head full of split ends that had just appeared out of nowhere. I was going out that day and since I didn't want to scare people I started feeling a bit frantic . So I tried some mousse, brushing, hair spray etc. etc. and nothing helped.By now I was running late and getting desperate and had no clue what the heck to do with my hair disaster when my eyes fell on my tube of Lavender cream. Since at that point I had nothing to lose I put a small amount on my palm, rubbed my hands together and ran them over my hair. Instant Miracle!My hair was shining, the split ends were invisible, it had bounce, life, volume and was totally manageable! I was amazed and grateful and even more pleased that it stayed that way all day.
Just make sure you only use a little bit as too much will make your hair greasy. You can always add more but the only way too deal with too much is to wash it out.
Blessings, Gilly

Saturday, November 17, 2007

I'm Back!

Hi, it's been a long month full of family disasters, illness, hospitals etc. for me but things are - finally - looking up. I can return to my blog and I am more excited about Lavender than ever as I discovered a couple of new and wonderful ways to use it. I will be putting this information in a separate post just to make it more convenient for you.
Blessings, Gilly

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Apology

For anyone reading this blog, I am sorry I've been unable to post as often as I intended. A family crisis has been keeping me too busy and too tired to even think. I will continue the lavender info as soon as I possibly can.
Blessings, Gilly

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Lavender Treatment For Bee & Wasp Stings

Years ago my son stepped on a ground nest of bees while mowing the lawn, something we had never even heard of, so we were completely unprepared to deal with this. The angry bees attacked my son and repeatedly stung him, even managing to get under his shirt & pant legs. Since he had numerous stings all over there was quite a bit of pain and he was also feeling shocked and nervous. None of the things we tried seemed to help so eventually we took him to the emergency room at our nearest hospital.
That was not one of the best experiences we ever had! First there was a fairly long drive to the hospital, then we had to wait for quite a while for someone to see us. Not fun for someone who was in pain, and , by then, in a state of panic. After all this all they only spent a few minutes with him and gave him a pill to calm him down and help him sleep.
HOW I WISH I HAD KNOWN ABOUT LAVENDER THEN. Putting some Lavender Essential Oil directly on the stings would have not only calmed him down quickly, but soothed the pain away while actually healing the stings. AND there would not have been the time wasted driving to a hospital or waiting for someone to treat him. Although in my opinion there wasn't much treatment involved. There was however quite a large bill. It would have been so much cheaper to have bought a bottle of the essential oil if only I had known.
Now, of course, I always keep a bottle of it in the house for emergencies, and every so often I, or someone in my family has one of those emergencies ( don't we all?) and am grateful that I have my helpful little bottle of Lavender oil. My next post will be about an emergency where I DID have the Lavender oil and how it helped.
Blessings, Gilly

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Let Lavender Help - an introduction to The Lavender Series

Lavender is a wonderful herb with an incredible ability to help in an emergency, such as a serious burn, or with just the aggravations of everyday life such as mosquito bites, headaches, or sinus problems as well as a huge variety of other problems. It can save you a trip to the Emergency Room in some situations, or just help you to relax.
Lavender is also inexpensive, works quickly, and has a wonderful scent. This truly diverse, wonderful herb is available in many easy to use products such as us:
Lavender Soap
Lavender Creams
Lavender Lotions
Lavender Essential Oil
Lavender Dried Herbs.
What could be easier than using soap? Or a cream or lotion? That's how easy it can be to get started using lavender. It's also very easy to find these Lavender based products; most of them are probably in the stores you already shop at. Supermarkets, drug stores, department stores, discount stores, and even your local dollar store will usually have at least one of these lavender based products. What you can't find locally will be easily found online.
My Lavender Series will be covering some of the many ways that lavender can help you and your family to make life easier and more pleasant in simple, inexpensive ways.
Most of the series will be based on my own personal experiences and discoveries of what works for me and what didn't.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Relief For Mouth Pain After Dental Work

Years ago I had a lot of dental work done and was told by my dentist , who was a very kind, down to earth man, to use a tea bag for pain relief when the novocaine wore off.
At home a few hours later, the pain became intense, motivating me to try it. It worked, and quickly, and though it wasn't fun to stuff a tea bag into my mouth - well, the pain was even less fun, so the tea bag won.
Here's what to do : make a cup of tea, let it steep till it looks strong enough, then let it cool, you don't want to burn your mouth; if you are doing this you already have enough pain. Put the tea bag into your mouth in the area where the pain is.
Since it tended to gag me I also tried sloshing sips of the tea on the sore side of my mouth and
holding it as long as I could. This also helped but not as much as the whole tea bag.
That's it. Short and simple.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Dealing With Restless Leg Syndrome

This is an awful thing to have , of course if you have it you already know this. There are just such unbearable, weird feelings in your legs (and possibly your feet) that are indescribable. It is impossible to relax, let alone sleep, and there is an uncontrollable, constant urge to keep moving your legs.
When you have to suffer through this night after night you begin to dread bedtime because it signals the beginning of your nightly torture and it seems that nothing helps. A warm bath, massaging your legs, aromatherapy lotions that are supposed to relax you; I tried them all and found little, if any, relief. The next logical step is a visit to your doctor. There must be some cure for this, right? Well, there is a drug routinely prescribed for this but it has some side effects. If you think the symptoms in your legs are weird just imagine what living with the "possible" side effects of this drug would be like. Are you ready for this? Uncontrollable sexual urges which may lead to sexual promiscuity, and /or an uncontrollable urge to gamble among other things. I'm not making this up. A commercial for this drug, which, for obvious reasons, I won't name, is aired regularly on TV. I personally find it incredible that a drug like this is allowed on the market and that they actually expect to sell it to people. It has been my experience that when any particular drug is said to have specific "possible" side effects you can probably count on experiencing one or more of them. Do we really want to chance taking taking this? Not me.
Fortunately, I heard about using Ivory soap. You are supposed to put a bar of Ivory in your sheets. Many people have found this worked for them. Naturally I immediately tried it. It didn't work. I don't know why it does for some people but didn't for me. I thought maybe it takes time, tried it again the next night, and the next. A week later , desperate for relief it occurred to me to rub the soap directly onto my skin.I grabbed the Ivory and went over every inch of my legs, feet,and toes. Back, front, sides. I didn't miss an inch. Miracle! The unbearable discomfort was gone and didn't return all night. I was able to relax and sleep.
The next night it all returned, but a few minutes with my new best friend, ( Ivory soap) again brought instant relief. It became a part of my nightly routine and never failed me. OK, it doesn't seem to be a cure, at least nor for me, but it does quickly, easily, safely, and inexpensively bring relief every night. With NO SIDE EFFECTS!
Later on I found that taking a bath before bedtime with Ivory Soap had the same results. I know some women have the symptoms in the daytime, I never did, but I assume the Ivory would work for this too. We're all different so I can't guarantee that my method will work for you if you have this problem but I think it is worth a try.
Thanks To:
E3 Success Blog » Blog Archive » E-3 Carnival of Health and Wellness - January 11, 2008
for including this article in their Carnival.
AND :http://www.allforwomen.com.au/women-blogging/
Blessings, Gilly