Making oil blends...and a few pics

I just spent a fun half hour or so this afternoon indulging one of my favorite pasttimes -- mixing essential oil blends. I love the fragrance, the power of making something to meet my needs (rather than purchasing something), and just the lovely "witchy" creativity of it (I say witchy because it meets my mental image of an old time "herb witch" crafting her goods). The blends I made today are 100% courtesy of dear Sandra and her power to research and resolve problems. Both of our families suffered mightily at the hands of mosquitoes last summer. And lately, she's heard an earful about my problems with ticks and my dogs. So, before I know it, I get an email from Sandra with recipes to solve both these issues. We combined an oil order to supply the oils we were both missing from our own supplies (I needed lemon eucalyptus, catnip and cedarwood essential oils and fractionated coconut oil). The result -- a homemade mosquito repellant that is oh-so-natural AND great smelling and an equally good smelling tick repellant for my dogs. Absolutely nothing synthetic or harmful in either one of that -- this makes me a happy woman! :)

So, I also said I'd post a few pics. First, you'll see our lovely garden as it's looking currently. Everything is growing so well, and the energy out there is peace at its best. A few months ago, I as lucky enough to "win" a hammock stand on FreeCycle. We weren't able to get the hammock for it until recently but now it's all set up and it's definitely my new favorite spot. AND, for once, it coincides with where the kids want to be. They are loving the yard right now too (it doesn't hurt that we got a new kiddie pool).





Next, I bring you Ainslie a la her brother's Ninja Turtle costume. I think it's actually the costume's photo debut as I bought it for Grady last Halloween but at the last moment, he couldn't bear to not be Batman.