Tell the world.

World Organic

This is what I did with the money I haven't spent on booze.
:-)
Actually, I've been saving up. I haven't spent any money on skincare in ages. (Determined to use up everything in the bathroom cupboard.) A couple of days ago I got down to the dregs of my Trilogy - Enegizing face lotion. In a timely fashion, I also reached the dregs of my Neutrogena - Deep Clean foaming cleanser. So, at last I can order the stuff I've been dying to try from The Organic Skin Co!
I picked up some Calming Calendula Cream at a Sustainable Business Network showcase in town over summer (I also got to try out their other lovely products). It's brilliant stuff for eczema, and smells absolutely divine. Like lemon vanilla cheesecake! I've been desperately crushing the metal tube to try and get more out for weeks, while also eyeing up the website in anticipation of ordering more.
If you follow that link, you might notice a "summer series" special scroll past. (I certainly didn't notice it at first.) The general gist of it is that if you spend $100, they send you a set of River Veda stuff worth $94.50 for free! But I didn't quite realise this when I ordered myself a Calming Calendula Cream ($38), and a "Back to School" set (Organic Skin Co. Rosehip and Orange Day Moisturizer, Juniper Face Wash, and Almond Seed Face Exfoliant) which has disappeared off the website now, but was $75. plus $5.50 p&p. So, a rather extravagant $118.50!
Today, the cute little box arrived, with all the lovely extras! I am irrationally excited. The Freebies are from the other organic range sold by World Organic, called River Veda. A cleansing milk, lip balm and eye cream.
I gotta say, just tried out, Juniper Cleanser, Almond Exfoliant, Eye Cream and Lip Balm from River Veda, and Rosehip and Orange Day cream. My skin feels fricken amazing! And smells soooo good. All these super critical extracts and lovely organic bio-active things are awesome!
The exfoliant is very fine and wet compared to what I've been using, so you only need a tiny amount and it spreads really well and feels great.
Both ranges are Ecocert certified, and free from a whole range of nasties, and not tested on animals. Infact, everything carries the stamp of the Vegan Society, except for the Lip balm, (which contains beeswax).

When I find a new product I love, I just have to share.

*I should mention, I have not seen these for sale in any stores yet! They seem to be going the "Party Plan" route, and signing up consultants and beauticians. So, if you get a chance to try out the products, grab it!

Making and Doing

Just doodling around with photoshop. When I was supposed to be posting this.

Very bored with my thermal curtains, I found this nice trim at the fabulous Geoff's Emporium. The curtains are very large and dark, and have come to dominate the room when I draw them at night. The trim helps a little (and the green matches the old bit of carpet I had overlocked to make a rug).

While I was loading the photos onto the 'puter, I found a whole bunch of photos on the memory stick. Stuff I can't remember if I've blogged about...

Soy Candles I made at christmas time, for presents etc. And by etc, I mean myself! I bloody love the smell of the Ecoya French Pear soy candles, but no way can I afford $50 for a nice large one in a glass jar. Fortunately, I can make my own with supplies from HERE. Their "french pear" fragrance smells exactly the same as the ecoya one. Soy wax has a lower melting point than parrafin or beeswax, and is cleaner burning. The fragrance "throw" is much better too.

Valentines day last year, I made this for Himself. Potato chip bouquet, with a large Toblerone stem.

My classic "perfect bag". I've made about 4 for myself and worn them out, 2 for a friend and 2 for my mum (both their first ones wore out too) and made at least a few others for various people. I'm not currently using mine, as the leather one from a few posts ago is in daily use. If I could make one of these in leather I would. Seriously considering getting into leatherwork just so I can!

Funny, just when I say I've stopped making stuff, I find all these photos!

In other news, the plum wine had a miss-fire at the start. First lot of yeast didn't make a go of it. Luckily the second lot seems to be working. First lot I just chucked in the barrel (it's what the instructions on the pack said to do!). The second lot I made a starter in the hot water cupboard. Think I've learned my lesson! Wine has been delayed about a week.

If you were wondering how the lack of drinking is going, well, I stayed up until 5.30am on Saturday night (Himself was DJ-ing), got up at 11am, and offered to work a couple of hours for a friend who had been up all night with me, but working on the bar. It worked out well all round! I did not get grumpy, actually woke up feeling good!
My other big change has been cutting right down on bread. Seems to have made me crave sugar a lot more though. Have not lost ANY weight. Sigh. Still have exzema on my fingers, so a month off the booze hasn't helped that yet. Definitely need a more concerted effort!

Breaking Habits

This is one of my coffee grinders. It hasn't seen a lot of action lately.
I got sick a few weeks ago. Just your average cold but with a bit of an upset tummy. So I thought it best if I didn't have coffee for a day or two. Not so hard to go 2 days without coffee if you are barely able to leave your bed anyway! But on day 3, I started to think maybe me and coffee should take a bit of a longer break. So I started drinking tea instead. It was only when I found myself NOT desperately thinking "Oh my god, I NEED a tea!", that I realized what an addiction coffee was for me.
I'm not a person who goes out much for coffee any more, I haven't been for a few years, can't afford that sort of thing on a regular basis. But with a coffee machine at work, with $1 coffees, it's easy to find myself having 2 a day in addition to the plunger or stovetop espresso I had for breakfast. I had a hard time dealing with the american coffee situation when we went to the states, (I can see now why they all think starbucks is so great compared to a lot of what's on offer).
I am also a person who really struggles to get out of bed in the mornings. When I do manage to get up, it's usually to get as far as the kitchen to make coffee before plonking down on the couch and staring into space while my brain attempts to get into gear for the next 15 minutes or so, while I drink my coffee.
I'd come to believe that I MUST HAVE COFFEE in order to function. Which is obviously a ridiculous notion. It makes me cringe to think of all those bourgeois stereotypes - "oh darling, I couldn't possibly manage without first having my cup of coffee!" I'm not one of "those" people, am I?
Well anyway, I went 19 days without coffee. On day 19, I thought to myself, "I think I'd fancy a coffee." Because I hadn't thought "I NEED a coffee", I had one. It was really delicious. I sat down and drank it, rather than walking around drinking it while doing other things. I savoured it. It was delightful. It was a treat!
Now, if I can just hang on to that feeling!

Coincidentally, it's been 3 weeks since I consumed any alcohol. I think I'll stay off the sauce for a while. The hangovers were getting ridiculous! But speaking of sauce, I've got some black doris plums in the fermenter. About to add the yeast to start turning them into wine! I'll go for a sweet wine this time, as I don't think I put enough sugar in for the feijoa wine last year. One of the batches came out very dry. The SG on the plums (1.7kg plums + 1 kg sugar) is 1.110, which should theoretically put it in the dessert wine range. Here's hoping!