January 3, 2012
Liquid Hand Soap
When I read somewhere online that I could make liquid handsoap out of bar soap, I knew that's what I would do with the old hardening remains of bars that I had been desperately trying to get the most out of instead of throwing them away. I didn't get immediately on the task, but this impowering knowledge gave me justification for retiring the sad little bars into a drawer and replacing them with fresh ones that are easier to get sudsy. The drawer pile built for some months before I decided it was time.
The process of making liquid hand soap is extremely easy and costs almost nothing. I used a recipe that called for a small amount of vegitable glycerine, which I already had on hand for making extracts and toothpaste. Using my patend-pending Wondershreder (antique cheese grater I inherited from my maternal Grandmother), I turned the hard little pieces of soap into "soap flakes", or in my case a blend of soap flakes and soap dust depending on which bar I was working on and how hard I pressed. Obviously, an old hard bar of soap is going to take more muscle to run across a grater, but it doesn't take much to make a batch of liquid soap:
- 1/2 cup grated soap
- 4 cups water
- 1 1/2 tsp vegetable glycerine
Put all the ingredients in a pot over medium-low heat and cook, stiring occationally with a whisk, until the soap flakes are disolved. Let cool overnight. The following day, I poured the goopy liquid into a food processor and blended until smooth before funneling it into a refillable bottle. Since I made enough to fill the bottle at least three times, I stored the remaining soap away and I still have a pile of leftover soap bars.
Different soaps will have different results with thickness. After it's cooled, you can add more water in the processing if necessary to get a thinner consistancy. You can also use an electric hand-mixer or blender instead of a food processor.
I've read recipes online that turn a whole new bar of soap into a gallon of liquid soap. Even with such a splurge, you would yield a savings of over 90% (a $4 bar of soap makes over $40 in liquid soap ). To make a quantity like this, use 1 bar of soap and 2 Tbsp glycerine for a gallon of water. I think in the future I'll try adding essential oils to give mine a fragance.
Tags
diy (2), frugal-living (2), homemade (2), homesteading (2), soap (1)
Catagories
December 18, 2011
Hot Club Beelzebub plays the Whiskeydrome
Tags
band (20), bicycle (2), fire (3), games (2), musician (20), night (29), panned (1), party (5), show (20), whiskeydrome (1)
Catagories
October 23, 2011
Rooftop-Hopping Turkeys
A flock of turkeys cruised through my neighborhood today, rooftop-hopping.
“Let go and give away the past. Share your gifts with generosity. Feel the freedom gained.”
Medicine Cards: Turkey
Tags
birds (21), creatures (30), rooftop (2), santa-rosa (17), turkey (1)
Catagories
October 6, 2011
Sigils
A “sigil” is a magick symbol made up of letters systematically selected from a word or statement of intention, that are graphically designed into a talisman. The sigil is “charged” with energy, taken into the creator's subconscious while in a state of “gnosis”, and then as the meaning of the sigil has become subliminal, it is consciously forgotten or even destroyed. The step of charging the sigil is actually the process of infusing it into the creators deep, unguarded mind by focusing on it while in meditation, trance, ecstasy, or peak exaltation. With the intent planted in the subconscious mind, the conscious mind or ego, which is unable to perform magick, can not interfere and the sigil is left to do it's work.
Sigils have been used for spellcasting for thousands of years, since at least Neolitic times. In modern times, it's a method also used to create logos or personal insignias based on one's name.
A sigil based on a desire must be carefully formulated. It should not be phrased as “I want” because your subconscious hears that as an intention to have desire, not to have that which is desired. It must be written as if it will be at some time, or even better, as if it already is. Since the subconscious hears everything as positive, the intention must be worded with precise, positive, strong, and unambiguous terms. A negatively phrased desire, such as “I don't want...” is heard without the “don't”.
The form below will perform the basic functions of preparing words or statements for sigilization by removing vowels, duplicate letters, and any unnecessary characters. The letters that remain should be drawn or pictorially or abstractly arranged together, overlapping or merged whenever possible to futher simplify the symbol. Letters that are contained in another letter can be removed or worked within each other in the drawing. For example, an N is contained within M so the N can be removed... C within G, L within H, P within B, a W is the same as an M, etc.... More information about sigils.
enter your intention
sigil helper with character & word counter
| Sigil Letters | # of Original Words | # of Original Characters | # of Sigil Letters |
|---|---|---|---|
Tags
drawing (5), form (1), javascript (1), magick (1), sigil (1), spells (1)
Catagories
September 29, 2011
Tobacco Story
Over about a year and a half this tobacco plant grew to be a monster of a thing. Giant leaves, bunches of pretty pink flowers, all of it intensely sticky. I couldn't maneuver in my garden around it without pieces of it sticking in my hair or on my arms. Though I read about what it would take to harvest and cure the leaves, having quit smoking over a decade ago, I didn't have much motivation for such a lengthy and complex process. A bit of dried leaf did get burned in a ceremonial way, an acknowledgment of abundance this harvest season between my Love and I, and honoring it as the sacred plant it is.
The flowers dried into little seed vessels that, when turned upside-down, poured hundreds of tiny seeds out. After realizing that the piles of brown granuals on my worm box were not from terminates, but were in fact from the tobacco plant towering over it, I began collecting them. With minimal time spent and collecting at most maybe 5% of the one plant's seeds, I filled a pint container.
If the seeds cause volunteer tobacco plants to grow next year, I may harvest some of the leaves and try some curing. It could be fun to make a homemade cigar or some vanilla flavored pipe-tobacco....
Tags
flowers (30), garden (11), plants (13), seeds (1), tobacco (1)
Catagories
September 26, 2011
Handcar Regatta 2011
Photos of me taken by Rick:
Tags
arianna (15), event (4), festival (4), handcar-regatta (1), railroad (2), rick (2), santa-rosa (17)
Catagories
September 1, 2011
Silently Flow Between
In August I submitted a poem to Harbin Hot Springs' poetry contest and was announced as one of the winners of a $140 certificate toward camping and hot springs use for two nights.
Silently Flow Between
falling trickling through fig roots
into pool rock and stream
below bridge and buildings
honoring a sacred place
a meditation
a prayer of gratitude to the waters
warm hot cold
from sky
from deep earth
it finds itself and unites
we seek it
hot cold
collect it into pools
held by one and then another, we silently flow between
worshiping of self-all
a swim
a misty fall rain touching our faces
hot cold
from minerals
from hot steam
soften, cleanse, expand, contract
we find ourselves
balanced
cozy pillowed tiers
darkened evening entertainment
relaxed deep and sleepily connecting hands
falling melting through dream
Tags
butterfly (3), contest (1), harbin (1), hot-springs (1), poetry (3), water (9)
Catagories
August 14, 2011
High Sierra Music Festival 2011
We arrived the day before the festival to camp out in cue in a cow pasture in Quincy, California, and wait for the gates to open in the morning. There was still snow on nearby mountains, possibly just from the night before. But the day was beautiful and warm.
Photo of me by Rick
Rick
Mia Dyson
One-man-band: Zach Deputy, and the hula hoopers who joined him on stage.
I loved seeing the kids at the festival, especially when they were enjoying the bands and wearing ear protection!
There was a daily parade through the festival grounds which I managed to catch one of the days.
The Brothers Comatose
Cellist and loop master: Zoe Keating
Escaping the hot sun by resting in the solar-powered mist room made the weekend survivable! We took an afternoon to swim in a nearby river.
He's My Brother, She's My Sister
Neko Case
Rick, Steve, Melissa, Shaky, Allie, Tim, & Chrissy ready to see My Morning Jacket.
Robert and Heidi
People enjoying the band (?) playing atop an RV.
Weekend headliners: Ween
Robert, Rick, and Steve after break-down, pack-up, and clean-up is over.
A few more photos over on Picasa.
Tags
arianna (15), band (20), camping (1), festival (4), friends (10), musician (20), rick (2), travel (1), water (9)
Catagories
July 9, 2011
Exquisitely Creative
Last month I went to a party at friends, Xoe and Marq's, house. It was my first visit to their place, which is filled, wall to wall, floor to ceiling, in creativity. They collaborate each month on drawing and decorating a month calendar and each calendar turns out to be an amazing work of art. (In the blurry photo below is the calendar current for the month as it sat in progress, as well as some people who I don't remember their names.)
While mingling with mostly strangers, I came across a couple ladies drawing on what looked like a piece of paper folded into thirds. I excitedly asked them if they were playing exquisite corpse, the French Surrealists' game of folding a page into thirds and drawing on one third, then passing it around to have the other thirds completed by two other artists without seeing what's on the other parts. They asked if I wanted to fill in the bottom third of one. It's one of my favorite games, so I gladly did. I really enjoy the unfolding and discovery of the whole drawing.
Tags
art (18), drawing (5), iphone (2), marq (1), party (5), santa-rosa (17), xoe (1)
Catagories
If you can read this text, your browser does not support web standards or you have CSS turned off. This site is made to be viewed in a browser that complies with web standards, but it is accessible to any browser or Internet device. If you think you are seeing this in error, re-loading the page might help.
Arianna Helen