Monday, 11 May 2015

Exotic Lavender - Benefits ❧


"And lavender, whose spikes of azure bloom shall be, ere-while, in arid bundles bound to lurk amidst the labours of her loom, and crown her kerchiefs with mickle rare perfume."
~William Shenstone

A scent or aroma has the power to stimulate memory and profoundly affect one's mood. It can be more powerful than looking over old photos, having the ability to transport us back in time, re-awakening memories long forgotten.

The scent of spruce floods me with memories of childhood Christmases past; while the aroma of freshly baked bread takes me back to days spent in the kitchen with my mother baking bread. The exotic scent of lavender, being one of my grandmother's favorite scents, is still a favorite of mine today. With all the 'scent-free' zones now, having a chance encounter with someone wearing a perfume or aftershave has become few and far between. However, on those rare occasions that I should cross paths with someone wearing that particular scent, I am immediately taken back in time, to a moment which is very vivid and surreal.

Lavender, derived from the Latin word “lavare” which means “to wash”, is a flowering plant in the mint family which is native to the 'Old World'. It can be found in the Canary Islands, down through southern Europe, and the Mediterranean. Besides being used in gardens as an ornamental plant, lavender is also used as a culinary herb and for the extraction of essential oils.

Flowers of the lavender plant may be blue, violet or lilac in the wild species, occasionally blackish purple or yellowish in color, and are borne in whorls, held on spikes rising above the foliage. The leaf shape is simple in some of the more commonly cultivated species; whereas in others they are toothed in a feather-like arrangement. In most species the leaves are covered in fine hairs, which normally contain the essential oils.




The plant is grown mainly for the production of essential oil of lavender, which has antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties and was used in hospitals during World War I. The flowers and leaves are used as an herbal medicine, either in the form of lavender oil or as an herbal tea. These extracts are also used as fragrances for bath products. English lavender yields an essential oil with sweet overtones, and can be used in balms, salves, perfumes, cosmetics, and topical applications. Dutch lavender, yields a similar essential oil, but with higher levels of organic compounds, which add a sharper overtone to the fragrance.

The ancient Greeks called lavender nardus or nard, after the Syrian city of Naarda. The Greeks discovered early on that lavender, if crushed and treated correctly, would release a relaxing fume when burned. Lavender was one of the holy herbs used in the biblical temple to prepare the holy essence, and is mentioned in the Song of Solomon.

Lavender essential oil, when diluted with a carrier oil, is commonly used as a relaxant with massage therapy. Products for home use, such as lotions, eye pillows (including lavender flowers or the essential oil itself) and bath oils, etc., are also used. Both the petals and the oil are the most popular ingredients in handmade soap.

Dried lavender flowers and lavender essential oil are also used as a prevention against clothing moths, which do not like the scent.

Benefits of Lavender
 
• Helps suppress visible effects of aging by reducing the look of pores and fine lines
• Reduces acne outbreaks
• Protects skin from damaging free radicals
• Helps encourage wound healing and soothes inflammation
• Soothes insect bites and stings

Combining lavender oil with other essential oils, such as frankincense or cedarwood giving you a variety of scent options, which can also be used as a perfume.

Sleep Aid and Relaxation:

The following options can be used to aid sleep and relaxation, as well as alleviation related sleep disturbances and anxiety, (and also helps calm the elderly struggling with dementia).

1. Placing a sachet of lavender seeds and flowers in pillows.

2. Diluting 2 to 4 drops of the essential oil in 2 to 3 cups of boiling water, inhaling the vapor by wafting, not directly inhaling steam.

3. Adding flower heads to 2-3 cups of boiling water, again inhaling the vapor by wafting.

4. Drinking a cup of any of the organic lavender tea blends, such as honey-lavender herbal tea or chamomile- lavender tea.

5. Placing 2 to 3 drops of the lavender essential oil in the palms of your hands, and rubbing together and applying directly to the temples, hair, or clothing.

6. Also placing 2 drops of lavender oil into a spray bottle with approximately 1 cup of water (shake to mix and spray the area).

*There are also various essential oil diffusers available for a continual running air purifier.

Stress and Headache Relief:

Combine a drop of lavender oil and a drop of peppermint oil in the palms of your hands, apply directly to the temples.

Bee Stings and Insect Bites:
Lavender bundles, intended to repel insects.

To reduce redness, swelling and itching, place a drop of lavender oil on the affected area.

*Bunches of lavender will also repel insects.

Minor Cuts and Burns:

Cleanse area, place 2 to 3 drops of lavender oil on the affected area to alleviate pain and redness.

Cold Sores and Chapped Lips:

Add lavender oil to a carrier oil, such as coconut oil and apply to cold sore or chapped lips.

Dandruff or Dry Scalp:

Mix 10 drops of lavender oil with 2 tablespoons olive or coconut oil. Heat in the microwave for about 10 seconds or until it feels warm. Dampen hair and massage oil into your scalp, cover with a shower cap or towel for about an hour, then shampoo.




Hay Fever:

Alleviate symptoms of hay fever by rubbing a drop of lavender oil between your palms and inhaling deeply.

Acne and Sunburn:

Dilute 1 part lavender oil with 10 parts water, rosewater, or witch hazel and apply to acne or sunburned area.

Eczema or Psoriasis:

Mix a couple of drops of lavender oil with 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil or coconut oil.

Motion Sickness:

Spray lavender oil on your skin and clothes or rub it into your temples to alleviate motion sickness or upset stomach.

*A survey paper on lavender and the nervous system published in 2013 states that, "there is growing evidence suggesting that lavender oil may be an effective medicament in treatment of several neurological disorders."

Health precautions - Lavender is traditionally regarded as a 'safe' oil although it is not recommended for use while pregnant or breast-feeding. If used by young boys, caution should also be used due to possible hormonal effects; and may cause skin irritation.


<< ❧❦ Essential Oils Guide - Benefits & Uses ❦ ❧ >>
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Wednesday, 6 May 2015

Famous People Who Failed Before They Were Famous





Even though you may face a failure, you can still find success!










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Monday, 4 May 2015

A Mother's Prayer





A Mother's Day Prayer

Dear Lord, itʹs such a hectic day,
With little time to stop and pray,
For lifeʹs been anything but calm
Since You called me to be a Mom.
Running errands, matching socks,
Building dreams with wooden blocks,
Cooking, cleaning, finding shoes
And other stuff that children lose,
Fitting lids on bottled bugs,
Wiping tears and giving hugs,
A stack of last weekʹs mail to read
So whereʹs the quiet time I need?
Yet, when I steal a moment, Lord,
Just at the sink or ironing board,
To ask the blessings of Your grace,
I see then, in my small oneʹs face,
That you have blessed me all the while
And I stoop to kiss that precious smile.
~Unknown






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Saturday, 2 May 2015

Relaxation - Serene Summer Roses & Rain




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Thursday, 30 April 2015

Mother's Day History

Defining the role of 'mother' is neither exhaustive nor universal and any definition of 'mother' may differ based on how social, cultural, and religious roles are defined. A 'mother', whether biological, adoptive, or stepmother (other mother), is usually the primary caregiver, fulfilling the main social role in raising the child(ren).

One of the more famous mother's in history, is Mary, Mother of Jesus, also known as Saint Mary or the Blessed Virgin Mary. The New Testament describes Mary as a virgin who conceived her son miraculously by the command of God. This took place when Mary, at the age of 12 or 13, was already betrothed to a carpenter named Joseph and was awaiting marriage. The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced her divine selection to be the mother of Jesus. After marrying Joseph she travelled with him to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born.

Although Mary's life held great honor, her calling would demand great suffering as well. Just as there is pain in childbirth and motherhood, there would be much pain in the privilege of being the mother of the Messiah.

Mother Teresa is another well known 'mother'. While not a 'typical' mother in the sense that we have come to define, was a Roman Catholic sister and missionary who lived most of her life in India. Mother Teresa was widely admired by many for her charitable works, giving wholehearted free service. She ran hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis; soup kitchens, mobile clinics, children's and family counselling programs, orphanages and schools. She was, in every sense, a mother to the poorest of the poor.

Mother's Day is a celebration honoring motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society.




In England, during the 1600's, Christians celebrated a day to honor Mary, the mother of Christ. The holiday, celebrated on the 4th Sunday of Lent, was later expanded to include all mothers, and called 'Mothering Sunday', which included a cake called the mothering cake. Servants would have this day off and were encouraged to spend the day with their mothers.

As Christianity spread throughout Europe the celebration changed to honor the 'Mother Church' and over time the church festival blended with the 'Mothering Sunday' celebration with people honoring mothers as well as the church. This tradition slowly ceased with the passage of time.

In the United States, Mother's Day was loosely inspired by the British day and was first suggested after the American Civil War by social activist Julia Ward Howe. Julia, born to Wall Street stockbroker, Samuel Ward III, was a prominent social activist and poet, and the author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", which she was inspired to write in November 1861 after she and her husband met with Abraham Lincoln at the White House. It quickly became one of the most popular songs of the Union during the American Civil War.



After the war Julia decided to become active in reform and focused her activities on the causes of pacifism and women's suffrage. She founded many women's clubs and associations and in 1870, became president of the New England Women’s Club and founded the weekly "Woman’s Journal", a suffragist magazine which was widely read. That same year, she wrote her "Appeal to womanhood throughout the world" to rise against war, later known as 'Mother's Day Proclamation', asking women from around the world to join for world peace. In 1872, she asked that "Mother's Day" be celebrated on the 2nd of June; however, her efforts were unsuccessful.

Mother's Day was first celebrated in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother in Grafton, West Virginia, honoring her own mother by continuing work she started and to set aside a day to honor mothers. Her campaign to make Mother's Day a recognized holiday in the United States began in 1905, the year her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, died. Large jars of white carnations were set about the platform where the service was conducted. At the end of the exercise one of these white carnations was given to each person present as a souvenir of Mother's Day.




Anna, preferring to remain unmarried, spent many years looking after her ailing mother. When her mother died in Philadelphia on May 9, 1905, Anna missed her greatly and felt children often neglected to appreciate their mother enough while the mother was still alive.

Anna's mother was a peace activist who cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the Civil War and created Mother’s Day Work Clubs to address public health issues. Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker who, starting in 1858, had attempted to improve sanitation through what she called 'Mothers Friendship Day'. In the 1900's, at a time when most women devoted their time solely on their family and homes, Jarvis was working to assist in the healing of the nation after the Civil War.

Due to Anna's campaign efforts, several states officially recognized Mother's Day, the first in 1910 being West Virginia, Jarvis’ home state. In 1914 Woodrow Wilson signed the proclamation creating Mother’s Day, the second Sunday in May, as a national holiday to honor mothers. It soon crossed national boundaries into Mexico, Canada, South America, China, Japan and Africa.

By the early 1920's, Hallmark and other companies started selling Mother's Day cards. The commercialization of Mother's Day soon caused Anna to become resentful and angry that companies would profit from the holiday. Jarvis became so embittered by what she saw as misinterpretation and exploitation that she protested and tried to rescind Mother's Day.

The holiday that she worked so hard for was supposed to be about sentiment. Jarvis organized boycotts and threatened lawsuits to try to stop the commercialization. She crashed a candymakers' convention in Philadelphia in 1923, and two years later protested the American War Mothers, which raised money by selling carnations, the flower associated with Mother’s Day, and was arrested for disturbing the peace.

In 1933, Roosevelt’s first year in office, Mrs. H. McCluer of Kansas City, a past National President of the American War Mothers, put forth the idea of having a special stamp for use in conjunction with Mother's Day mail. After presenting her idea to President Roosevelt on January 25, 1934, was informed on February 16 that her request had been granted.

President Roosevelt, known to have been devoted to his own mother, personally sketched his idea for the stamp.

Jarvis's holiday was adopted by other countries and it is now celebrated all over the world. According to the National Restaurant Association, Mother's Day is now the most popular day of the year to dine out at a restaurant.



Mother's Day continues to this day to be one of the most commercially successful occasions.
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Monday, 27 April 2015

Italian Herb Bread












Ingredients:

1 Loaf French Bread
1/2 cup margarine
2 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp savory
1 tsp celery salt
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp chervil (or parsley)
1/2 tsp basil
1 tsp sage
3 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp oregano




Directions:

Combine all ingredients, spread on sliced bread. Wrap in foil. Heat in 350 deg. Oven for 30 minutes.

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Monday, 20 April 2015

Roasted Vegetable Medley




















Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 large butternut squash (1.5 lbs)
1 pound carrots
1 pound parsnips
1 small rutabaga
1 pound shallots
3 tsp dried rosemary
3 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt and pepper




Directions:

Preheat oven to 450° F. Peel and remove seeds, cutting the squash into ½ inch wedges. Peel and cut carrots and parsnips into 2 inch lengths. Peel and cut rutabaga into ½ inch wedges. Peel shallots and cut into halves, if large.

Combine the vegetables and rosemary in a large bowl. Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with 1 tsp salt, and season with pepper. Toss to combine and spread in an even layer on parchment lined baking sheet.

Roast until vegetables are tender and golden in color, tossing occasionally (approximately 40-50 minutes). Serve warm.
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