These collages are my attempt to communicate with my readers from the inside of the chrysalis I am in. You can make a collage to represent who you are and where you are at. And I have been dealing with a personal situation that is blocking me from blogging. Though I have not been publishing I am using collage in art therapy to explore concepts, emotions, and possibilities for changes in direction.
Monthly Archives: June 2011
A World Without Bees
Can you imagine a world without bees? Entomologists are studying the reasons behind an enormous bee die off. They call it Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), and if they cannot find a solution the 80% of fruits and vegetables that require pollination may not make it to market. Places bees can forage for pollen without being poisoned by pesticides have dramatically declined, and the cause of CCD appears to be related to diseases from pesticides, but no one is certain.
Essential Oils: All Purpose Citrus Cleaner
The blogger at everydayinthegarden is a Permaculture Design Consultant reaching out to fellow gardeners, who might enjoy her observations, how to guides, and recipes. We connected and I discovered she is into aromatherapy too. She cleans her house with various natural recipes including essential oils and she shared this recipe for an Essential Oils All Purpose Cleaner with me that can be used for almost all household cleaning. I tried it and it works very well.
Essential Oils All Purpose Cleaner
Ingredients
- 2 cups hot water
- 1 cup white vinegar (cheap vinegar is fine but, be careful with the really cheap stuff as they do water it down)
- 1 tablespoon of liquid soap ( biodegradable – sulphate-free dishwashing liquid )
- 5 drops of orange oil
- 5 drops of bergamot oil
- 5 drops of lime oil
Instructions
- Put all ingredients into a small tub and mix really well.
- If you have an oil solubiliser you can combine the oils first and add 1 drop of solubiliser for every drop of oil (15 in this case). Solubiliser is used to help carry the oils into the water-based product.
- Then slowly add the water, vinegar and liquid soap.
- The method is to use the Essential Oils All Purpose Citrus Cleaner mix in one tub, and another tub with just clean hot water. Wet a clean cloth in the cleaning mix, and when the cloth needs rinsing use the hot water tub so that only the plain water gets soiled.
Substitutions
Any citrus oil can be substituted with another. For example 5 drops of mandarin oil, 5 drops of bergamot oil, 2 drops of lemon oil and 3 drops of grapefruit oil.
Orange essential oil comes from an evergreen tree native to China, but now cultivated extensively in America. Orange essential oil has antiseptic properties.
Bergamot is a tree is native to South East Asia, introduced to Europe, and particularly Italy, and also found in the Ivory Coast, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. The name bergamot is derived from the city Bergamo in Lombardy where the oil was first sold.
Lime essential oil comes from the fruit of the common citrus tree, and along other citrus oils lime is known for its cleansing properties.
I have been using essential oils and other non-toxic products to do my cleaning with for several years now. From time to time I will share the recipes for the cleaners I use in this blog.
I would also like to invite my readers to share their non-toxic cleaner recipes as well by emailing thistimethisspace [at] yahoo [dot] ca and I will be delighted to publish them in a guest post and backlink to the reader’s blog. image credit
Seed Thoughts From the Garden
Gardeners are perennial optimists. In the cold of winter they pour over seed catalogs making plans for a new beginning in spring. Come spring they plant their seeds — seeds that are symbols of potential, each one carefully sown by a hopeful gardener who intends to care for them throughout their life cycle. When planted in the correct soil, at the correct depth, at the correct time, and watered the seeds become sprouts that break through the sun-warmed earth and reach for the sky. Continue reading
Do You Grow Your Greens?
Germaine Greer once said: A garden is the best alternative therapy. A garden is a friend you can visit any time. I heartily agree. Humans have a deep need to connect with nature. Gardening is a close to nature activity that many studies have shown offers health related benefits. The benefits include improved nutrition, exercise, and a simple and inexpensive way to unwind and relax. Continue reading
