Gold Dust Croton

I brought a new Beauty home with me yesterday and I figured out what type of plant it is this morning - it didn’t have a tag yesterday when I fell in love with it. So I just brought it home I couldn’t leave it at the store! Here she is ENJOY! And what a fitting name - matches the blog... couldn’t believe it ❤️

Metamorphosis II

I posted almost 8 years ago about a poster/picture I had come across titled,
‘Metamorphosis’ little would I know that almost eight years would come and go so quickly I have been busy BEING ... Going through my own metamorphosis... I had big plans to keep up my blogging back then but life takes over and growing two girls and life just happens — I guess there is no real excuse. I let it fall to the wayside. I am glad to have picked it up again. The writing that is. So glad. It has been almost 12 years since we moved up here to the Sierra foothills from the city and fast paced lifestyle of the Los Angeles area... so much has changed. I still feel the same tug of the city whenever I go or long for working nine to five back in downtown Los Angeles when I see pictures of a cityscape or high rise ... but all in all this life style has been a good reset for us. A great place to raise children and animals. Slower life in general. I can’t believe how crowded it is down in Southern California! we were just down there again for Christmas and traffic alone slaps you back into reality real quick. Where do all of the people come from good God! Disneyland was so packed for the holidays I know Walt Disney is probably rolling over in his grave no matter how much money they are making — it wasn’t meant to be such a sardine can while you wait for rides at the ‘Magic Kingdom.’ One great souvenir we did come home with was the FLU. But that’s a whole other post.

Ms. Gentle

We have a hen who is nearing 10 years old who has survived attacking bears, foxes, raccoons, and most recently a Christmas vacation bobcat in the yard who took her lookalike sister hen Shadow - we originally thought Gentle had died but it was Shadow the much younger Australorp hen her lookalike twin. Only my two daughters can tell them apart.
Today my youngest came rushing in and told me that her tail feathers needed cleaning and she was coughing again. Oh not again. Poor bird. I told her to get some paper towels and start to get her cleaned off on her own. It is imperative to keep a hen’s vent clear and clean. They can get so sick. That is not what she wanted to hear... At first she would not do it I had to give her a pep talk and told her take care of it! I am so proud of my daughters ... this time I took my time getting out to the yard I want them to start getting the hang of hen/bird care on their own since I usually do it all. By the time I arrived the bird had been cleaned and they were coaxing her to eat - she had also been ‘diagnosed’ by my eldest with the smallest cough again and my daughter urged me to mix up her ‘medicine water.’
Poor Gentle. Age may be getting the best of her. She was walking around so slowly and seems thinner than her usual glorious black and greenish feathered full bodied self. She is one of our largest hens. She is one of our original six baby chicks from so long ago, I had ordered a pair of Jersey Giants but she’s an Australorp. Gorgeous. I mixed up the grapefruit seed oil with water and we fed her three heaping beak fulls of it. Tomorrow we will repeat. Only time will tell.

MelaBusiness

I really strive to keep a healthy and happy home. “Cleanliness is next to Godliness” or isn’t that what they always used to teach?  But somewhere along the way we have all been over exposed and drenched up to our eyeballs in chemicals, crazy toxins and factory made-butyl-who-knows-what! Not to mention good old fashioned tried and true BLEACH  - grandma always taught us to bleach the hell out of things right? Not now. It’s time for a radical shift in mindset and a change in education and imagination. We live on property (2.5 acres) and have a septic system. Do you know that we NEED the good bacteria to EAT up and BREAK DOWN the bad bacteria and sludge? Bleach kills that good bacteria and will kill our septic. Not only is bleach toxic to breathe it causes all sorts of health problems if you are over exposed to it. What happens to humans after a lifetime of exposure to bleach and chemical soups of bathing products laundry and cleaning aides all leaching into our skin within 26 seconds of contact with our skin? I had used Melaleuca The Wellness Company’s products back in 2002 before marrying and moving up here - flash forward to life with kids and sensitive skin still being an issue of mine (along with wanting to make healthy choices for our family and property)... it’s a no-brainer... Melaleuca’s cleaning and laundry products are free of parabens, phthalates and formaldehyde as well as being biodegradable! So wonderful. I am grateful that although NO COMPANY OR PRODUCT IS PERFECT they have a 32 year track record of NO MEDICAL CLAIMS AND ARE A PROVEN manufacturer. I am also hoping to share the company and their opportunity for building a business with more families so that they can create safer less toxic homes just by referring the shopping club too.

Silver Fox

So I’ve decided to go gray. Not just a rash decision. I’ve had white hair growing naturally amid my dyed hair for as long as I can remember- But I have been dying my hair to ‘hide’ white hairs for years probably since my 20s when my hair was a combination of brown and these off the beaten path white ‘stragglers’ would pop outta nowhere... now the time and MONEY spent over the years and years in the upkeep alone for dying fast growing locks like mine is nothing to laugh about! Thousands and thousands of dollars!!! I would say-every 4-6 weeks going in to see a professional stylist for cut and color back down in Los Angeles and then after moving up here finding another stylist stretching out the coloring process as long as possible but at least every 6 weeks - $$$$ I finally took it into my own hands almost 2 years ago and did Henna hair dye to get away from all chemicals and toxins after 20 years of dying my hair. I would mix henna with red wine and spices to achieve my favorite hue. But the Smell!!! And the Time and the Process!!! Like COW POOP!!!  I have an enlarged thyroid and doctors can find ‘nothing’ out of the ordinary. I wasn’t convinced that chemicals aren’t to blame.  I don’t feel good about dumping chemicals on my head every few weeks anymore! So flash forward to - THE GREAT SILVER GROW OUT - I last Henna’ed my hair in the end of October of 2017 so I have photos of Nov and then now January 2018 I have had  a lot of progress. I am excited! It has a lot of white and silver - my daughters are excited about it they compliment the hair and say it is pretty and shiny and looks glittery ... that helps boost my confidence...growing it out in such a way where the rest of my head is completely RED is a very bold thing to do —- I think of myself as a Red Fox growing it’s Silver Coat ....at 42 I finally feel as if my true self is emerging...