Month: October 2013

Crafting Adventures: Super Sculpey Sculpturing Compound

Aynaria 1 Comment

Earlier today, my daughter had a play date with her best  friend O.

In a post earlier this week I wrote this…

This Friday, my daughter, her best friend and I will be having fun with soap making. I’ll be making several pounds of liquid castile soap. No this isn’t one of the partially prepared soaps since I’ll be making the real thing. I have plenty of sodium hydroxide aka lye available. It’ll be a nice learning experience for my daughters friend and fun time for everyone involved.

But, we didn’t have her as long as we’d originally planned. I found that out a few days ago. That meant many of the activities I’d planned; hay rides, making cold processed soap and making lip balms had to be put on hold. Which is fine… My daughter (and her friend) weren’t the only one’s slightly disappointed; I was too. But, there will be other times when they have much more time together.

Today, they hung out together for about three hours. O, is crafty like my daughter and so after about an hour of running around my daughter’s room being silly, they were ready to settle down and make something with clay.

Super Sculpy

Since their play date was shorter, I decided a nice alternative to all the events I had planned was to  create items with Sculpey Super Sculpturing Compound (clay.) My daughter and I worked with this clay a few months ago and really liked it a lot. Since the girls love to be creative, I thought this was the perfect activity!

Making clay figures, pendants, beads, jewelry and Christmas ornaments

The two girls made human figures and I made  a few pendants, beads, jewelry, and some Christmas ornaments. After everything was assembled, I baked the items in the oven at 275 F. I kept a watchful eye on the clay to make sure it didn’t burn. By the time O’s mom came to retrieve her, her items were ready.

We sent O home with her sculpted doll that she made (which looked a lot like her.) Additionally, I gave her a few of the pendants that I made. And as an added bonus, she received her very own box of Super Sculpey Clay. She was thrilled! Her mom, is into craft making also, so I won’t be surprised if she starts purchasing that clay for some of their crafting adventures.

Upcoming clay projects: Making Buttons, stitch markers and other items…

The few hours spent with them was a lot of fun. So much so, that my daughter and I are planning on making more items from clay tomorrow, after her school project is completed. Tomorrow, I plan on making buttons and stitch markers. I’ll be designing and sewing a few holiday outfits for my daughter and one for myself. I would love to make my own funky buttons to compliment the outfits I create.  My daughter has no idea what she wants to make. I’ll be sure to post pictures of some of our creations.

Cleansing Adventures: Candida progress

Aynaria 4 Comments

Although I have not been writing about my candida… or should I say lack of it? I’m still following the routines that has eliminated my candida symptoms. It’s all about prevention, and folks that know me, realize I’m big on that.

I’m thrilled that I’ve seemingly kicked candida to the curb, and I plan to keep it that way. So yes… I’m still doing my enemas. I was doing enemas before I got aggressive with eliminating candida. In addition, to the enemas, I have increased my daily intake of dark leafy greens. Juicing dark leafy greens is an easy way for me to ensure that I’m significantly increasing the amount of dark greens I consume on a daily basis.

I occasionally still experience itching, but when that happens I know that with my next bowel movement I will be passing some things that seem to be common in candida sufferers.

And He *said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.
Matthew 17:20

New American Standard Bible

Interesting observation…

The ones most skeptical about my approach to healing are usually other Christians. Imagine that, the same folks that believe in a supreme being creating the world we live in would balk at using natural remedies to cure themselves. Say it isn’t so?  So while they won’t believe other intelligent people know what they are talking about when it comes to how the world was created, they will believe and dismiss natural remedies as “quackery” because educated folks told them so…

Personally, I find it hard to imagine that the same God that designed our awesome world, could not have provided us with a variety of items that could cure us naturally. 😉

 

WoW: Scored Jeeves schematic; So much for sleep…

Aynaria 6 Comments
WoW-Jeeves-Robot-
Jeeves

Last evening, I could not get to sleep and so I stayed up and read and then I did something I have not done in a while.

Just a warning this post won’t mean anything if you aren’t clued into gaming, more specifically, MMORPG’s, but I’m writing about this anyway.

Anyway, last evening, I played a MMOORPG, for about thirty minutes. My MMORPG of choice was World of Warcraft. I still pop on occasionally to play with a few of my online pals.

I will say that because of the game, I have met some great connections both online and in real life. One of my favorite pals, is a retired naval office. He’s much older, but I enjoy chatting with him when he’s playing. I also correspond with him outside the game. He’s good people!

But back to the game…

last evening around 11:30 p.m., I was on my level 75 Mistweaver Pandaran Monk. She’s my engineer/mining. I was at Fitzcrank Airstrip, specifically “grinding” for the Schematic: Jeeves, and it dropped within thirty minutes. I was able to “salvage” it the Scavenge-bot 005-B6. The drop rate from that robot is very low, 0.4%.

jeeves

 

Almost two years ago, when I was playing my Paladin, I never saw this schematic drop. I actively looked for it (easily over ten hours over a period of days/weeks) while it at this same airstrip and over in The Storm Peaks, and still came up with nothing on my paladin. So, I must say that I’m glad I scored it on the monk.

Perhaps the persistence has to find this recipe has to with my daughter interest with the game? I told her if she continued to do well, that I would get another WoW subscription for her.

I rarely play the game, because that would be time taken away from us. But since she’s still maintaining an A+ average, I’m getting her a WoW subscription this December. Maintaining that average, takes A lot of dedication on her part, and I’m right there to help her whenever she runs into issues. Jeeves will come in handy running her through dungeons, etc.

Even when she has a WoW subscription, we won’t be gaming too much. There are so many things that we enjoy doing, that during our free time we are rarely glued to a technology gadget. But it will be nice to occasionally meet her within a game. I love video games, but finding the time to actually play one is the challenge.

Funny video of Vin Diesel stating that he has played WoW, you can see that bit around the 6:20 mark.

 

The Keeper; say goodbye to disposable tampons for good

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The KeeperSeveral years ago, I started looking for alternatives to disposable tampons.

I really got tired of purchasing them, and wanted a reusable “menstrual alternative” to tampons. If you think about it, over time menstruating women can spend a lot of money on a product that’s used on a monthly basis.

If you check out The Keeper’s website, you can see how much a woman would most likely spend purchasing tampons over a ten year period. Uhm, no thanks!  I was also, looking for ways to reduce the amount of disposable items I leave in our environment. After a bit of online research, I stumbled upon The Keeper.

The Keeper_illust3

 

The Keeper does not function exactly like a tampon. It does not absorb menstrual fluid. Instead it gathers the fluid in the Keeper. The Keeper is made out of natural latex rubber and holds one ounce of menstrual fluid. Most women produce about two – four ounces of menstrual fluid during their menstrual cycle. I usually dump out the contents after three hours, wash out the Keeper, and reinsert again. Of course, I wash my hands during the process. I must say that I was fascinated, when I first learned about them but I wondered how easy it would be?

After I got over the fact that I had a reusable menstrual collection device and the slight ick factor, I was completely sold on The Keeper. It sure makes my life much easier, since I don’t have to make sure I have enough disposable tampons available. To clean The Keeper, I soak it in it’s own little jar with witch hazel or vinegar. When not in use, I keep The Keeper stored in a cute little bag hand sewn bag that I made.

I  will say after ten years of use, I have no desire to ever go back to disposable products. My only regret, is not making the switch sooner.

Resources:

The Keeper, Inc.: Usage and Care

Big Berkey; researching Water filters

Aynaria 8 Comments

Big BerkeyThe past several months I’ve been researching Water Filters.

In the past, I’ve used a few water filters, but wasn’t too thrilled with them. I’m not pleased with bottled water either, since I know in the long run it would be much cheaper to purchase a good water filtration system.

Once I purchase a water filtration system, I can add my own water to bottles. This way I can carry them along with me when I am out of the home. Another perk is that, it reduces my dependence of plastic/bottled water. I really like that, since it would be a cost savings not having to purchase bottled water again.

During my research for the “perfect water filtration system” for me, I decided to up my price range and look at acquiring a water filtration system that would last me a long time.

Distilled water filtration systems were out, since I don’t want to remove the minerals from the water. Why remove minerals that’s beneficial to my body? That does not make sense to me. The system that currently has my interest is the Big Berkey.

I know a few people that actively use this water filtration system, and they have all loved them.

Purifies up to 3.5 gallons per hour
Filter Life: Up to 3,000 gallons per filter element
Holding Capacity: 2.25 Gallons
Cleanable, Self-Sterilizing purification elements
High Grade 304 Stainless Steel

 

One of the best reviews I read was done by Jeff Pearce at Cooking God’s Way, I’ve included some of his points below…

Filters bacteria to a 99.99999% leve land viruses to a 99.9999% level.
Removes Lead, MTBE’s, and other heavy metals up to 95% levels.
Removes fluoride and arsenic. (see Is Chlorine In Drinking Water Safe?)
Removes chlorine. (see Fluoride In Drinking Water = Poison)
Easy to clean, and maintain unit.
Long lasting filters, (3,000 gal/black berkey filter).
Easy to assemble.
No plumbing needed to install.
Attractive look on counter.
Small footprint about the same as the average coffee maker.
Convenience of getting filtered water in the home.
Affordable price.

The only thing I need to decide is when I want to make the purchase. It’ll definitely be sooner rather than later. Once I do make the purchase, I’ll be sure to post a review about the product. I’m looking forward to this being in our household for a long time.

Del Shannon: Runaway

Aynaria 4 Comments

This was a little before my time when this was a hit in 1961, but I still love the song!

 

Del Shannon: Runaway

As I walk along,
I wonder what went wrong,
With our love, a love that was so strong.
And as I still walk on,
I think of the things we’ve done
Together, a-while our hearts were young.

I’m a-walkin’ in the rain,
Tears are fallin’ and I feel the pain,
Wishin’ you were here by me,
To end this misery
And I wonder–
I wah-wah-wah-wah-wonder,
Why,
Why, why, why, why, why she ran away,
Yes, and I wonder,
A-where she will stay-ay,
My little runaway,
Run, run, run, run, runaway.

I’m a-walkin’ in the rain,
Tears are fallin’ and I feel the pain,
Wishin’ you were here by me,
To end this misery
And I wonder–
I wah-wah-wah-wah-wonder,
Why,
Why, why, why, why, why she ran away,
Yes, and I wonder,
A-where she will stay-ay,
My little runaway,
Run, run, run, run, runaway.
Run, run, run, run, runaway.
Run, run, run, run, runaway.

Natural skin care business: Light at the end of the tunnel…

Aynaria 4 Comments

The past few weeks have been busy as I’ve been rounding up items needed to reopen my natural skin care business.  I had a small natural skin care small business up until the time my daughter was about two years old. It’s something I’ve missed immensely. I did a lot of research and experimentation and created natural skin products that truly made me proud.

kids experimenting

Within the next few days, I’ll be experimenting with a few of my old recipes; sunblock and toothpaste. I have plenty of  eager guinea pigs that I know will give me their honest opinion of whatever I grace them with. They’re the same folks I used the first time around.

skin care tubes

If you follow me on Facebook, you might have seen my post about  the lip balms. I made some this past weekend. You know what? Lip balm tubes and deodorant tubes are the perfect container to dispense your hard butters. They keep fingers out of the mixture and much less messier (and more sanitary I might add) then dipping your finger into a jar.

unrefined organic coconut oil

Tomorrow I should receive a large order of  unrefined extra virgin coconut oil, zinc (non nano) and a few other goodies. This Friday, my daughter, her best friend and I will be having fun with soap making. I’ll be making several pounds of liquid castile soap. No this isn’t one of the partially prepared soaps since I’ll be making the real thing. I have plenty of sodium hydroxide aka lye available. It’ll be a nice learning experience for my daughters friend and fun time for everyone involved.

It takes about a month for cold processed soap to cure, so this soap won’t be available to use immediately. But the results make it worth the wait. I do believe some of the soap will make it’s way into Christmas gifts.