Maintaining Sanity; Backing Away from Facebook

 Hi, friends. Some of you are much wiser than I am and have long ago backed away from Facebook. Perhaps not deleting your account, but just backing away. I find myself so stressed out lately about conversations there of all types, most of them on other people's pages, not my own. Some about politics, but others about various cultural topics. After yesterday, I just can't take the anxiety load anymore.

Part of the damage is that my anxious mind has difficulty relaxing enough to do things that I really want to do, like reading your blogs! Your nice, peaceful, happy, creative, beautiful blogs -- just the kind of social media that brings peace! Why has it taken me so long to have the courage to back away from Facebook? Well, there are people who I only see there, dear friends, family. So I'll try to check in with them, hope they will private message me. I'll still put my blog posts and watercolors there. But I have to get away from the actual text posts that go off-the-rails so fast.

Granny Marigold mentioned a youtube lady whose channel is called The Last Homely House. She's utterly delightful and creative, and makes many of the same kinds of things I like to make! Go give her a look. This morning I enjoyed watching how to hand-sew small Coptic-stitched books.

Now for a few photos of what's been happening here.

Two new baby chicks, with Henny Penny as their mama.

Four more eggs are being sat upon, but I don't think they're going to produce chicks.

Yesterday I wrapped some cured soap, tea tree bars and lavender bars.

I'll put their stickers and price tags on soon. Planning to return to the farmer's market in September when it's cooler ... if the crowds are manageable.

I've been looking at last year's autumn "Victoria" magazine for pleasure and inspiration.

Adam's still cooking yummy, healthy stuff. He must change his diet for better nutrition for his Pemphigus Vulgaris - lots of leafy greens and vegetables. He made a delicious eggplant dish called Spetzofai, on his homemade bread.

Eggplant, onion, red bell peppers, tomatoes, garlic, balsamic vinegar, wine, a bit of sugar

Summer is coming to a close, and with the cooler mornings and evenings, Adam and I want to develop a habit of walking with the dogs. We drove to Oriental to one of our favorite old walks: looking at boats on the docks at a marina.

Below is the "Blue Bayou," which used to be a very fast racing boat. It's in a sad state now. I blogged about it a few years ago. We were amazed that it's still floating. Adam laughed and said he realized while walking past it that the name is a lovely word-play. As a winning racing boat, it could also be spelled, "Blew By You"!

What a sky!

The pair of catamarans below have been anchored out in the Neuse in front of Oriental for a few days. Just chillin'.

Still painting a little. For months I've tried to figure out how to add a watermark to my photos of my watercolors. Finally! -- I found I could do it on my phone! Nothing techy is ever easy for me!

I painted a few pugs. This one looks friendly!

Sunset last night:

That's it for today! I hope you all are well and safe from storms, fire, and pandemics. What a world we are in! And for Facebook friends ... I may return, probably after November, or in the New Year.

Staying Busy

Life is like a hurricane, and we're spinning in it. Sometimes we're calm in the eye, sometimes we're thrashed by high winds and nearly sick with the speed of it, and sometimes we're lolling around on the fringes of the tempest, thankful for a rest. These are days of being swirled around.

Henny Penny has five baby chicks so far! We're waiting to see how many more will hatch, if any. Some eggs are "duds," unfertilized.

That one there is not ill; he is a "Naked Neck" variety.

I made shampoo bars. I was down to my last bar at the market stall.

I'm weaving a scarf. Cool-weather items at the market will be needed soon.

Autumn is a busy, sometimes frantic, time of year. Because it's September I'm teaching a Bible study again, leading a handchime choir, and singing and accompanying in a local chorale. That last bit, "accompanying," sounds so little, but it takes a huge amount of practice time at home.

 The handchime choir (at church) is preparing just one song for our Christmas program in December, so that's not too hard. I want variety in that program so I decided to play a simple piece on the recorder also. Problem is ... I don't know how to play the recorder. How hard can it be, right?

 Adam bought this wooden recorder many years ago. I'm learning the tune to "Good King Wenceslaus."

I've knitted fingerless gloves until I'm sick of them. Here is the last pair.

 

 But this morning, rather than doing anything creative, I wore my body out! Before grandbaby Isaac comes to visit at Christmas, I wanted to paint the floor in the guest room. 

 It was under shag carpet when we bought the house, and has remained in this ugly state for 4 years. I covered it up with rugs.

 First I cleared off half of the front porch. (The other half is Adam's study area in the cool months.) I started early when it was relatively cool. All the items from the guest room will be shifted to the front porch during this project. I cannot stand to just empty a room into another room, thus making a small house like this nearly unlivable until the project is finished. I can't move this chair alone; it's too big for the door. It's a great chair. My mother gave it to us.

 See how empty the room is getting? Adam left for New Bern early this morning to finish his training to work for the U.S. Census this time around. So I'm doing all this with my own girl muscles!! The front porch thus far:

The porch is well-enclosed in plastic sheeting (which withstood Hurricane Dorian), so I think everything will be fine.

I've taken two Tylenol and will spend the rest of the day doing easier things like painting or weaving. Actually ... I'm feeling like a trip to the thrift store, which makes no sense since that guest room was chock full of lots of stuff I've been tucking under the bed out of sight. So Much Stuff. I am noticing items that really should go to the children now that they have homes of their own ....

Time to go check on Henny Penny again. So far she's being a pretty good mama.

Doings This Week

We remain busy. I told the Prayer Shawl ladies yesterday that I wish I could have some minor injury that would keep me in bed for a week, so I could stay in my pajamas, eat popcorn, and watch shows ... and slow down. One lady laughed and said, "One day would be enough. You'd be ready to be up again." She's right.

I made a (what do the British call it?) ... a pig's breakfast of this long scarf. I'll be messing with it for a while to make it work.

 But it's off the loom, that's what counts. 
Now I've moved on to a scarf weave with some pretty autumn colors. I love that Wool-Ease yarn. Such luscious colors. {{{Sigh}}} I love autumn. I know, I said that before, haha!

 I made a batch of soap: tea tree, vanilla, and warm cider scents.

 

And I've spent much time folding, stapling, signing, and mailing out "The Thanksgiving Mice" books. Quite fun! Thank you so much, all you readers out there! (Don't forget to send in your payment to get your book shipped to you!)

The dogs are snoozier and snoozier.

 Despite cute little mouse stories, we are at war with mice in this house, and we've pretty much won the war! We have safe poison traps scattered around, but Adam's carefully sealing up all their access points. Ha!

This little fellow died after nibbling one of my old Chopin albums.

Here's some of my homemade deodorant. I delivered it to a fellow who lives on a boat.

 I mentioned the storm damage to the Methodist church. Well, they threw a big fund-raising party on Wednesday, called a Mad Buffalo Party. It was delightful and so festive!

 A HUGE baked potato bar ~

 Hot chocolate with a stunning assortment of sprinkly things to add to your cup ~

 And fabulous desserts. I chose this one, a mixed apple pie baked in cast iron. Oh my ... so, so good.

 See the buffalo plaid? It was everywhere, a warm theme.
They set up a little Christmas Shop in a closet. It was so fun to finger ornaments, wreaths, Christmas nibbles in cellophane! And everything that wasn't nailed down was for sale.

 They even had a crackling fire on the screen overhead, plus cozy music playing.

I found some prizes at the thrift store this week. This skirt I wore to the Mad Buffalo Party.

 I found two panels of sheers that are a vast improvement over what I had (dark maroon).

 

Yesterday we had a sad loss; one of my chickens, Autumn, died. I didn't know she'd been ill -- some respiratory sickness. Bless her heart :(

I won't enlarge that photo, because who needs a bigger picture of a sick chicken? I'm now down to a rooster and five hens, and one of undetermined sex who I think will present himself as a rooster here soon. One doesn't need more than a single rooster, and sometimes even he is too much.

Today I'm weaving, knitting, writing and painting a bit, and preparing for the farmer's market tomorrow. I hope your Friday goes well and your weekend is lovely!

Creativity for Mental Health

I read recently (somewhere ... who knows where) that doing something creative helps one's mental health. I find that when my mind is less anxious, less stressed, I'm more able to do creative things. I'm feeling a bit better, and I returned to some of my old creative pursuits!

I painted. It's not finished, of course, but I love this quote that Susan Branch often puts on her blog.

I wove. This will be a shawl. Over half-way done.

I made a batch of lavender soap. I'm nearly out! Soap has been selling well at the market this month. I think people feel hot and sweaty and want a nice shower.

Yesterday I made a batch of insect-repellent lotion bars at the request of three customers who all report how well they work! That's encouraging.

I finished sewing two more flax seed-filled comfy pouches.

I also read an article saying that we are happier when we hug -- when we have loving physical contact with other humans (or, maybe a dog or cat would do in a pinch?). I sometimes feel badly for those who aren't often touched by someone else, the elderly or widowed, even just regular single people. People in nursing homes or hospitals too. They may be touched by medical personnel, but that's not quite the same. When you're given a long, loving hug, doesn't it make you feel better, body and soul? I've been trying to give more hugs since I read that article.

If I sold all those products I made in the photos above, it would bring in about $240. That's sales, not profits, of course. I sometimes contemplate whether it is worth all the work, and I do think it is because I also enjoy making these things. I get a bit weary of the soaps and lotions now because they're not as creative to me; they don't require any new ideas. I enjoy making new products.

I almost made a batch of cookies this afternoon, but didn't quite get around to it. That'll be on the agenda for tomorrow. Focus on your Happiness Health, friends! It's important. Go give somebody a nice hug!

Shampoo Bars and Flax Seed Pouches

Jody, from over at Gumbo Lily, asked what I thought of my shampoo bars. She also mentioned microwavable pouches, like the flax seed filled ones I've made. So ... here's a critique, haha! 
I like the shampoo bars. I did a bit of reading about soap vs. shampoo before I started, and here's my personal take on soap vs. shampoo:

The shampoo we buy from the store is a detergent (not a soap) like Dawn dish detergent or laundry detergent. It has one big goal: to remove oils from your hair. It removes dirt too, but that's not nearly so hard as removing oils. Most people want the oil removed from their hair, of course, so detergents serve a good purpose.

But we continue using detergents on our hair, sometimes every day and unnecessarily, well past the point when we need oils stripped from our hair -- i.e., when we're in our 50s, menopausal, and aren't producing much oil anymore. Another consideration is that your body produces oil (and other substances) based on how much it thinks you need it. So if you strip all the oil off your hair every day, your body will replace it at that rate. 

We're used to how detergent leaves our hair so devoid of oils that it's dry like straw -- it's "fluffy." We like that texture. To combat the straw-like feel, we sometimes add chemical moisturizers too.

A shampoo bar is a soap, and not as strong as detergent, so if you want something more gentle on your hair, it's a better choice. Since it's a soap, it removes grime and dirt, and it removes oils too. Just think about washing your body with a bar of soap -- what does it do? Does it get you clean? Does it remove oils on your skin? Of course. Does it strip all the oils off and leave your skin straw-like? No. 

I like my shampoo soap bar. I've been using it for 2 weeks. But our water is not hard, and my hair doesn't have a lot of oil now. It takes time for your hair to get used to the change; my hair is obviously clean after using it, but the texture does feel different (no "straw"). My hair is definitely not oily after using it. It feels soft, "conditioned," and not straw-like. I think I need to rinse it more thoroughly. Shampoo detergents are designed to rinse quickly from the hair; soap is not. 

My hair first thing this morning, after washing it with a shampoo bar yesterday morning.
It's not oily, is rather wispy, but not desiccated.

In the end, I think I'll use my new shampoo bars most of the time; after 2 or 3 uses, I'll use a shampoo detergent once. For me, that's a good combo. I'd encourage you to try a shampoo bar. Stick with it for at least two weeks, giving your hair time to adjust to different requirements of oil production. I remind myself that I'm being kind to my hair by avoiding detergents, which are more harsh.

Jody mentioned that she's made microwavable pouches filled with rice. Why do I use flax seed? Flax seed has lots of oil in it, unlike rice, which loses its oil when its husk is removed. The oils in the flax seed heat up in the microwave and retain their heat longer than other fillers like rice or beans. Flax seeds are also small, and they make for a softer, more comfortable pouch than larger seeds or beans. But I think it's the oil that makes the flax seed superior :)

That's it, ladies! I hope that's helpful. Try a shampoo bar, but I do think each person's taste regarding hair is individual, and you'll have to evaluate for yourself if you like what it does to your hair.