These are toothbrushes

Yes, it's true. But I didn't know it when I first met them. It was many years ago, when my boyfriend during my university days brought me a gift from his trip in Africa. He didn't tell me what they were or what they were used for or how to use them, at least I don't remember descriptions, but then again, I could very well have been stunned by his idea of 'natural' of me. I was into natural things, but what was I going to do with a bunch of sticks?!  I threw them in the garbage. Not at first, but after a while of them staring at me and me staring blankly back, I just threw them out.  Do I ever regret that now! If I only knew what a precious and special gift I had been given! 

It was many years later, over 10 years later, that I discovered their true identity and use. Wow, amazing, is what I thought. You mean that I can brush my teeth with something I can just take from tree and it's very beneficial to my gums as well, not even mentioning what it does for the body?  Cool. So when a friend was going back home to visit family in Africa, I asked "Please bring me back some neem twigs!" I finally got to use these amazing toothbrushes. I was told that this tree is called a cure-all in Africa.  It is very good, as a tea for example, for the body. I haven't tried it yet.  I usually look into these things more before going ahead. 

I did use the precious twigs as toothbrushes, peeling off a half inch piece of bark, then chewing on the inside softer wood to make 'bristles', then 'brushing' my teeth with it. "It is VERY bitter", he said. "You probably won't like it". I loved it! Yes, it was bitter and I had read that it was, but I enjoyed the taste.  And my gums and teeth felt so good. A toothbrush and toothpaste, all in one convenient branch. Who knew?  What else is out there for our hygienic pleasure that is gentle on ourselves, our money and the environment?

How To Help Babes Sleep Through The Night

"What has worked for us is keeping baby in the bed with us. We nurse when babe gets restless, and both fall back to sleep. Quite easy and blissful. Oh, and remembering that for a young nursing baby a 5 hr chunk of time is considered 'sleeping through the night'... that helps us put it into perspective! We also used disposable dipes at night for a while, till we got better at nursing in the dark and got more caught up with our sleep. Then we did EC at night (with cloth backups). EC(elimination communication) helps us know why he's not settling. .. He's not 'fussy'... He has to go pee!! ;)

Happy Night Shift, fellow Moms!

Another answer from a Mom: “make sure they are fed (whether bed time snack or late meal) 30 min - 1 hr before bed time routine so they have full tummy dont give them a drink right before bed (as they may wake up wet and wanting bum change which disrupts sleep)

make sure temperature in room is comfortable (not too hot or cold)”

Healthy Cleaning

For many years now, we have been cleaning the house with just baking soda and vinegar. For the bathroom, we use half vinegar, half water in a spray bottle and spray and wipe the toilet. For the floors, 1 cup of vinegar in a bucket of water does the job (good for pets too who lick their paws often after walking on the floors). On sinks and tubs, we sprinkle baking soda and scrub. It's a good, free workout for the arm muscles. Baking Soda is amazing on tea cups, pots and even marks on white walls. Run some vinegar through your coffee pot, then run plain water through it to get it clean.

Baking soda sprinkled on the carpet and vacuumed up is a natural deodorizer and vinegar diluted with water helps clean carpets of pet accidents.

It helps if you love the smell of vinegar and inhaling it is good for health (unlike chemical cleaning products). I read a study talking about people who worked in the vinegar department of a factory. They seemed to get less colds and flus than other people in other parts of the factory, presumably, inhaling the vinegar fumes all day long helped build up resistance.

Look for other uses for baking soda on the baking soda box itself and for vinegar online and in books on cleaning. There are many uses for the two. Both help with septic systems and are, of course, beneficial going back into the environment. It's a win - win!

Wouldn't it be great to start ENJOYing cleaning...

From I llness to We llness

I saw that today on a poster, moving from I to We, since we are all one anyhow. I have been listening alot to Marianne Williamson lately, bases on a Course in Miracles, and I am working on letting go of me, of the I, and moving into the We, the you and I, the all. Miracles. That's what she talking about right now. We are entitled to them and it is our birthright. Plain and simple. Miracle are happening everyday, all the time.

Just yesterday, we found a big box of slat wall brackets that we need for the Bookstore at the Sally Ann for $6! We thought we'd have to order them in for 1.50 a piece plus shipping and handling. A small miracle, yes?

Opening a used bookstore. Started off with 30 books, that I bought used for a used bookstore some day. I didn't think I'd be doing it now! Where would I get the rest of the books? And the store? And the shelves? They are here now. All used, like the books! A small miracle, yes?

Moving from employee to entreprener....is amazing. Doing it in small steps everyday, and in simplicity is wonderful.

Thank you universe for continually taking care of me, for all my abundance and love.

Toothpowder

~ This was in my email today, I want to share it with you ~

Conversations with God

by Neale Donald Walsh - Daily Inspirations

On this day of your life, dear friend, I believe God wants you to know...

...that what your heart thinks is great, is great.

The soul's emphasis is always right.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said that, and he was correct.

The mind is the last part of yourself to listen to.

It thinks of everything you can lose. The heart thinks of

everything you can give, and the soul thinks of

everything you are.

I will leave it up to you to decide which of those

three is the most important...

From Neale Donald Walsh's Conversations with God book - Daily Email Inspirations. http://www.nealedonaldwalsch.com/

The Invitation

A number of months ago, a long lost friend that I knew in University contacted me. Since the time that our friendship parted back then, we have gone down different paths, different lifestyles. And recently, we spoke again, and he asked me if, given everything leading to the point that I'm at now and the path I have gone down - am I truly happy? His answer to the question for himself was no. My answer was also no. It's amazing to me to think about my life as a traveller the past number of years, practicing following my inner guidance, moving with the wind and changes in season, and going where my heart desires as much as possible, yet I am not truly happy. The question stirred my heart. What was wrong, what was missing, did I make a wrong turn?


I realized in many ways I was still attracting the same circumstances into my life, reacting with the same old fears and although alot was changing on the outside - in my environment (which is essential to me), many things remained unchanged within me. A lack of harmony with myself and the natural world. In my study of herbs and health and wellbeing, I've come to understand that harmony with ourselves and the natural forces of life, and knowing when to receive and when to give, creates harmony within for the body (health), for the mind (peace) and for the soul (happiness/joy). So, my quest now, is to reconnect with Mother Nature, with the universe, with God, and to see what is it in my life that helps me to stay connected.

In Conversations with God, it's stated:
Call on me whenever you separate from the peace
that I am, I will be there, always, in all ways.

An invitation for you and me
(from the book The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer (1999))

"It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.
It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain. I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstacy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human."


....there is more in the beginning of the book The Invitation. I hope to explore this in future posts. Come with me for the journey and explore the limitness and joy of your own soul. After all, most of what occupies our days, is not really what we came here to do.