My girls are growing up... up ... up...

My girls have been so busy. I decided to add a third deep hive body today to give them more room and a better chance to survive the winter.  The hive is starting to look like a skyscraper! The boxes are getting so extremely heavy- way more than I had anticipated.

As I was taking the hive apart for the inspection, the bees were flying all over the place. I grabbed my camera and just hit the button to see what I would capture. I thought this picture was pretty neat.

If you were a bee you certainly could not be claustrophobic!

See the white wax being formed to store the honey?

View from the top.

View of the bottom.

When I put it all back together the ones on the outside were working to get back in. These were some of the ones flying around me.

Today, I was able to see lots of larvae, honey and pollen. I checked all the way down to the lowest deep and the bees were flying all over. It is crazy how many they have grown into in such a short period of time.

Below is a short video clip of the bees before I added the extra box. You can see the bees leaving. If you watch close you can see some that fly only a little ways and come back. Those are the young bees just learning to fly. They go out a little and come back, then go out a little farther and come back. It is fun to watch.

Hope you enjoyed the visit!

Blessings!

If you enjoyed this post, I’d be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Google+, Twitter or Facebook.

Green Your Clean Series! Your body products

So far, we looked at a few areas of the home: the bathroom, the laundry room and the kitchen. Now lets wrap this up and take a look at how you may green up your personal body products.

When you look at all the things you put on your body, the chemical load can really add up. Lotion, shave gel, soap, shampoo, conditioner, mousse, hairspray, foundation, eye shadow, toothpaste, deodorant... I could go on and on. Look at the ingredient list on just one of those products...pretty crazy huh? 

I do not recall exact order I took when changing over products. It was one thing at at time. Taking the first step. Mostly I looked for stuff I could replace (and still be satisfied with it) without paying a ton of money for. This is how I ended up making most of my stuff (much cheaper) and ultimately what led me to Young Living.

Here is a little list of things I have done and hopefully you will find some you can try crafting. You can change the essential oils used for the scent or benefit you desire.

Foaming Shave Soap - love this stuff!

Sugar scrub - great exfoliant

Foaming Hand Soap - this can also be used in the shower or bath

Deodorant - no stink here!

Bath salts also here - so many options!

Roll on Perfume

Lotion Bar

Face Serum - replaces my face moisturizer

Pillow mist 

Magnesium Oil - great way to get your magnesium

Baby wipes - not just for babies, works great for clean ups of many kinds!

Waterless Hand Sanitizer - oh, this stuff is the bomb!

Here are two new things I have done that I have not talked about before:

Thieves Toothpaste: I made this one last year. Pretty simple to make. If you try it let me know what you think. This recipe makes a small amount which is nice, since you do not need much.

What you will need:
1/2 tablespoons bentonite clay
1/2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt - finely ground
1/2 tablespoon hot water
4-5 drops Thieves essential oil



Stress Away and Lavender Whipped Body Butter: This is awesome for all over lotion. I have made it with a few different essential oils but I think stress away and Lavender are my favorite combinations.

What you will need:
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 cup mango butter (or shea butter or cocoa butter or a mix or each)
1/2 cup sweet almond oil
1 teaspoon vitamin E oil
essential oils of your choice! (I put in 10 of each stress away and lavender but I do love my oils!)

Melt the coconut and butters in a double boiler. Remove from heat and add almond oil, vitamin E. Chill in fridge for 1-2 hours until it starts to solidify. Then mix in a stand mixer with the whip attachment to get it a whipped consistency. It will take several minutes. Add essential oils and mix them in. Store in a jar on your counter. (If your home it really warm it may melt but you can always whip it back up.)

So what do you want to replace? What have you tried? What is missing from this list?

Where ever you decide to start, have fun playing and enjoying all your chemical free body products.

Blessings!

If you enjoyed this post, I’d be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Google+, Twitter or Facebook.

Do you oil your hair?

Hair oiling. When I first heard the term I thought it sounded strange but really when I think about it I have been doing it for quite some time. Long ago I would do "hot oil treatments." And for the last 5 years I have been oiling my hair.

Recently I have decided to add more oiling to my routine. I spent a ton of time researching hair oiling. Since my son was born I have seen thinning of my hair and more recently an oily scalp. (I have started to work on my hormone imbalance but that is another post.)  

I have found three main ways to oil my hair. First as a styling product, like I have been doing for years. Second as an intense moisturizer on the ends. Third is oiling the scalp which concentrates on the hairs roots to help with healthy hair growth.

Styling:
As part of my efforts to get rid of chemicals in my beauty routine I got rid of my detangler and moose and started using argan oil. This small step made a big difference in my hair. People would say, "did you color your hair?" or "did you get a hair cut?" or "your hair looks great, what did you do?"  Well, I do color my hair and have been for a long long time. As a result it was dry, dull and needed help. And before you say it-yes yes I know there are chemicals in hair dye...but you have to pick your battles. Coloring is one (along with my hairspray) I have not been able to part with, yet.

After the shower, I use a small dime size amount in my wet hair. I concentrate on the ends and blow dry. (Beware as a little goes a long way... Use too much and you will have oily hair.) That is it! Easy right?

Root serum:
I found out there are great and inexpensive essential oils that are great for healthy vibrant hair. So, I have added a root serum and hair oiling to my routine (prior to shampooing) one to two times a week. I am seeing amazing results. My hair is shinny and so soft. It is still too early to say if it's made a huge difference in hair growth but I think it is looking pretty good. 

The root serum is my primary mode to focus on the overall health and growth of my hair, the roots is where is comes from right?!  I researched essential oils that are best for this and I chose to use cedarwood, rosemary and lavender. All of which help with hair health. I also choose to use grape seed oil in my root serum as a carrier and due to excess oil on my scalp. 

The night before I am going to wash my hair is when I use my root serum. I want it on my scalp as long as possible. I do it right before bed as part of my bedtime routine. I put the serum on my scalp using a glass eye dropper. I let it coat my scalp and try not to get it into my hair because I really want it on my scalp since that is where the hair comes from and I also want to avoid getting oil on my pillow. I have not had any problems with oily pillow case but you may want to keep that in mind if you do it,

Intense moisturizing:

In the morning (before shampooing) I occasionally oil my hair. I have long hair so it can use all the help it can get to stay healthy. I moisturize the ends for the dryness and overall health of the hair. In my research I found a really good article here about different oils to use for oiling your hair based on hair type. Based on my hair type I choose to use sweet avocado oil. I put about 3-4 table spoons of it in my hair, I focus on the ends and anything lower than my ears. I brush it in when I am done.  I try to let it soak in a good hour before washing. The longer the better. This could also be a "hot oil treatment" if you heated up the oil slightly... but yeah.. I have not done that.

Then shampoo, condition and argan oil as usual. 

What have you tried? I would love to hear about it!

Blessings!

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Honey Flow!

White clover is blooming, the white wax is being drawn quickly on the combs. Nectar is flow is increasing rapidly all around. The honey flow is on. Bees are super happy!

What is honey flow? Wikipedia says "Honey flow is a term used by beekeepers indicating that one or more major nectar sources are in bloom and the weather is favorable for bees to fly and collect the nectar in abundance."

It is a very busy time for bees. My colony is going strong and with the early spring it is really ahead of the game for our climate.

It took the bees five weeks to fill the first deep hive body. It has only been two weeks since I added the second deep hive body and it is already full! I would love to add a third deep hive body but it is going to have to wait until next year. So today I added my queen excluder and two honey supers... that means we will most likely have honey this fall!!!

Wait... honey in the fall? I am not even close to prepared for this! I was not expecting this until next year. Now I have lots of research and planning to do.

Sorry, not a ton of pictures today as I was super busy at the hive moving things around. (I am a busy bee you know.) I did include some pictures below from last weeks inspection. Click on the pictures to enlarge them. See if you can find pollen, larva, eggs, capped cells, drones and workers.

Blessings!

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DIY After sun care

Summer is on us and so is the sun. We all need our vitamin D but we also need to be watchful for the burn that can come with sun exposure.

There are several ways you can soothe your sunburn naturally. Here are a few:

• Cool bath with baking soda or oatmeal
• Green tea soak
• Aloe
• Witch hazel
• Apple cider vinegar
• Raw honey
• Lavender
• Colloidal silver
• Plantain leaf tincture
• Peppermint

If you get too much sun you may need some after care to soothe your skin. I find this after sun care spray absolutely amazing. It feels wonderful and is so refreshing. Plus it helps the pain and burn!

We made this at a recent make and take and have really enjoyed it.

In a 2 ounce spray bottle you will mix:
1 tsp witch hazel (I prefer this one)
5 drops lavender essential oil
Then top off with aloe gel (I like this one)

Cover and shake. Store it in the refrigerator or toss it in your cooler when you are out. It will be ready when needed.

Stay safe in the sun. And if you need it, I hope you enjoy it!

Blessings!

If you enjoyed this post, I’d be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Google+, Twitter or Facebook.

To go gluten free or not? Why do I have to even ask this question!

I always thought I would never have to ponder the gluten problem...until faced with an inevitable reality. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia over 20 years ago. I had it under good control with daily exercise, keeping my weight down and taking a good quality multivitamin. However after having kids I have had a hard time keeping up with this and I have seen it get worse and worse the last two years. I recently went to see a specialist to discuss my fibromyalgia (as well as unrelenting peroneal tendonitis and some hormone issues I was experiencing- but that is another story). My doctor brought up gluten and I dismissed it immediately.

Well, now I am wondering if she had something there. A little background... over the last year I have been avoiding processed sugars (like candy), breads, pastas and rice in hopes to reverse or at least stop the weight problem. I noticed it also helped my fibromyalgia. I had racked it up to the sugar, thinking that it was most likely a candida problem. However I had a really hard time giving up my chocolate and continued to eat that without noticing any changes. Then on Easter we went to a relatives to eat and that night I could not sleep AT ALL. I was in so much pain. I knew it was something I ate and thought- it must be the sugar. I did not take into account the breads, pastas or other gluten foods offered. It did not even cross my mind. Fast forward to Mothers Day... we went out for dinner so I did not have to cook. I never order pasta but did not see anything else that interested me so I ordered it. That night I was in so much PAIN! laying in bed at 4am unable to sleep I tried to figure out what I ate that had sugar in it....then my doctors words came back into my head and it hit me.... "have you thought about gluten?"

UGH! I did not want to think about gluten. I want to be able to eat fun foods whenever I want. I don't eat them that often! Feeling defeated I started to research and talk to some friends. I found that gluten sensitivity can be a factor in fibromyalgia. I liked this article.

Ultimately I dragged my feet not wanting to do it, then I got hit hard after a weekend of pizza, cupcake and other gluten filled foods. I found myself barely able to function. I was so tired and in so much pain I felt like I did the day after I ran a marathon or when I had shingles.  I had no other explanation for the misery- except what I ate.

Finally I have decided to give it a go and see if I can rid myself completely of gluten and possibly my fibromyalgia.

My first step has been to examine what I have in my fridge and pantry and learn how to read labels. I was happy to find out most things I eat regularly were ok. (Yeah!) However there were a few I would need to find replacements for (Boo!).

So I decided to start and share this crazy thing with anyone interested. Guess I will be going to the co-op to look for some new ingredients for recipes I find next. Wonder how this will go.... anyone want to join me?

Blessings!!

If you enjoyed this post, I’d be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Google+, Twitter or Facebook.