rise and root

***

~*~*~*~



The Flame Haired Solstice Dreamer

Cold winter brings the Everfrost and jewels every tree
In a forest new as birth and old as old can be
A flame~haired dreamer wanders there and shelters from the wind
And spins her dreams around the trees to break the ties that bind
She takes her thread and spins anew and how the Greenwood smiles
As she spins a spell for freedom and for her spirit Wylde

The dreamer finds an ancient oak and shelters in his lee
In a forest new as birth and old as old can be
Tis summer now and birdsong weaves its magick through her spells
And humming bees drum drowsily in the foxglove's bells
The dreamer sits beneath the oak with yarn upon her knee
And spins and knits and weaves her dreams and sets her spirit free

***
"When birds fall from the sky and the animals are dying, a new tribe of people...shall come unto the earth from many colors, classes, creeds, who by their actions and deeds shall make the earth green again. they will be known as the warriors of the Rainbow"

Hopi Prophecy

~coconut oil & yarn~

well folks the coconut oil treatment worked a treat.

i think the trick is to really give your scalp a good soaking and leave it overnight, but cover your hair!
i have a floral buff that i have had for years~last seen here in my avebury posts from last year keeping my head from getting sunburnt...



so i just wrapped my hair totally at bedtime to protect my pillow.

in the morning i just washed my hair in my usual seaweed shampoo and so far i have been 95% itch free for two days and my hair is super soft.

i have to admit i have been contemplating using home made shampoo, i seem to have an ever increasing concern over the assorted chemicals in products.
we use faith in nature seaweed shampoo and although it doesn't contain SLS or SLES i still wonder if my scalp is sensitive enough to be intolerant of the ALES in their product~its entirely possible.
anyhow i have been on the susun weed forum to see what other people do~i am not sure i am brave enough to go the no-poo route.

do you want to share your haircare with us?
do you have any shampoo recipes or are even no-poo?
if you want to share just drop me an e-mail and i will do a sham/no-poo post in a few days!

~*~*~*~

we have had a few nice days and so i have had to combine not using all my spoons with enjoying a bit of time in the garden.
i shall try to get out tomorrow and take some photos, but we have a few nice splashes of colour. the yellow of the forsythia is fading to be replaced with the bright, almost lime, green leaves~that alone makes me think we are really into spring now.
swampy is convinced we are still due another spell of freezing weather but i think mother nature knows best.

****

we are both excited as next week our raised beds are going in~gone are the days of an almost formal garden, it is now divided into exciting sections.

now we have my 'nook' which hopefully in the next few weeks will be resplendant with wooden seating and a little table~i cannot express how excited i am to have my 'nook'~everyday i look out or stand there imagining sitting in my seat with my crochet or a book, enjoying home made lemonade and looking at our growing things and listening to the birds, we are so lucky to live where there is no passing traffic and are far enough away from a main road.
next come the raised beds, edged on one side by the path~a bench is going under the bedroom window under which is going the small logs we have been collectingfor our fires/outdoor cooking~even boiling a kettle when it is too nice an evening for going indoors!
the pathway will also house a potato growing bag and tomato pots and hanging from the eaves will be baskets with strawberries.
the garden is then divided again with cody's 'bed' and goes up two steps under a wooden arch to a sloped grassy area where a wild life pond is going.
around the edges are beds where we have flowers and herbs.
we have never had a 'forever' home before and so never really had the inspiration to do anything so exciting. although it has taken nearly two years to get to this point (and the bedroom still has not been decorated!) it feels good to know that the main work is nearly done and we can really start to enjoy it.

~*~*~*~

i have been pandering to my crochet obsession these past few days~one day i couldnt even get out of my pyjamas and did little but read~i finally started 'wildwood-a journey through tree's' by roger deakin (who by the way wore boots from green shoes, the folks who made my lovely green boots!) after finishing 'blackberry wine' by joanne harris (another beautiful book)
i first heard 'wildwood' read on radio 4 and fell in instant love with his lyrical writing and so finally recieved my book as a yule gift.

...here i am branching off, i am meant to be showing you this...




do you like it?

my lovely alpaca cotton is being worked into a grannie shawl and as i am working it with a size 7 hook it is growing fast.
as you can see its designed with blocks of 'raindrop' separated with bands of 'rice' and 'salmon'~two more bands of 'rice' today and its back to the 'raindrop'.
i am now debating if i should edge it with scallops of 'rice'...

depending on how much is used i may well make one up to go into my etsy store.

well i have been sitting here too long and feel mentally tired now.
its only just gone 5pm but as you know that is effectively mid-evening for me so its time to get into my comfortable pyjams (not a spelling mistake~read 'pie-jam's'!) and think about dinner.

*~*~*~*

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is really lovely:-)
Lovely colours. Lovely texture. Lovelllly work.
Makes me want to make one as well:-)
I suffer from a terrible scalp and think your hair treatments sound so good I'm going to try them out.
Will let you know how I get on.
Alison x

Rebecca said...

Cant wait to see photos of the garden and the alpaca yarn is lovely, it looks so soft, I think I would just keep stroking it!

Kath said...

Isn't it lovely to have plans! I am looking forward to seeing ow your little seating area develops.
Good to know about the cocnut oil treatment.
I use products from the health shop, which I can refill when I take my old bottles back. I can't remember what it's called, but will have a look tomorrow, as I need more conditioner.
No-poo? no thanks, I couldnt bear it. Besides my scalp starts to get itchy when its due for a wash.

Miss Robyn said...

I love this post.. it has all the qualities of sitting down with a good friend over a cup of tea and talking about our day.. thankyou
will re-read it again.. I just had to say that!
ps - I use totally organic hair care.. expensive but worth it. have you ever tried pure olive oil soap? you can use it to wash hair and body.. and it is good for sensitive people. [if you can't get it, let me know.. would love to send a cake to you]
(sometimes our bodies become so sensitive to even the slightest chemical.. when we live purely like you and I do)

laoi gaul~williams said...

dubgirl you have found me out~i keep stroking my alpaca and its such a joy to work with.
i have decided that once i have finished the shawl i am making a poncho with the same~they have such a lovely selection of colours :)

kath, i tried the conditioner only method yesterday (haircut day so i like to wash it after) but it left it feeling rather...i want to use the word 'sludgy' but after brushing my hair this morning it was fine...just didnt 'feel'right. i think i have become so conditioned to using shampoo any other method makes it feel weird!

robyn~i like the idea of the olive oil soap. i have looked at some sites here in the uk and most seem to use the olive oil as just an extra ingredient. the one i have used in the past has mineral salts added so not sure about that one. just going to look at a site i found via susun weed's forum...i shall let you know i may want a small parcel from Australia!

laoi gaul~williams said...

hey ladies~the site mentioned on the susun weed forum (i believe its a shop of a forum member) is southland soap

http://www.southlandsoap.com/

i think i may give the 'options' bundle a go it sounds lovely and my choice of shampoo bar is patchouli :)

Miss Robyn said...

the Olive oil that I get is from Syria. it is a big square bar - nothing fancy but I even use it on my face! fantastic for exzcema

JuliaB said...

Hello. Have you tried making your own shampoo/soap etc., try my friend's new blog, she is one of the big noises in the soaping world and this resource is excellent: http://soapteacher.blogspot.com/ :)

All things share the same breath~the beast, the tree, the man, the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.



Chief Seattle






Johney Gaul~1915

Johney Gaul~1915
1890-17 september 1918~France