POLL RESULTS

Here are the poll results for "which country is credited with discovering tea first." 67% of you thought that it was Japan. 33% credited China. The correct answer is China (it was brought over to Japan later), BUT...Japan is well-known for perfecting the art of tea processing AND tea drinking along with the tea ceremony. They are well known for "tea culture." I personally think that Japan has done a fantastic job in perfecting the production of some of the finest green tea in the world. I've tasted green tea from China, and while I like it, I absolutely love Japanese green tea and I can easily tell the difference. Anyway, taste for yourself and see which one you like.

Check out the next poll already posted (at the bottom of the blog page). You "old folks" will probably know the answer right away!! I wouldn't know so easily:)

TO THE TUNE OF TEA TUESDAYS (#5)

WHAT TO DO WITH ALL THAT LEFTOVER TEA

According to Atsushi Yasui and Family, "Even after teatime, used tea leaves can benefit your daily life." How so? Leave it to tea to have the ability to not only be good to you and good for you, but it can help you around the house.

This family says that tea leaves have an amazing deodorizing effect. "For example, you can burn dried, used, tea leaves as incense. The smoke will eliminate odors and make your room smell fresh." I have yet to do this, but I can't wait to try it. I should be doing something besides throwing all of those wonderful, "unfurled" tea leaves away all of the time. They say that "you can also put dried, used tea leaves in your shoes to remove bad odors." I need to save up every tea leaf now, just thinking of my sons' shoes, and dump a whole pail of them inside. Now if I didn't have a good enough reason to save tea leaves before, this would be the absolute most legitimate reason. The boys' shoes can KILL!! I will tout "tea leaf odor absorption" to the ends of the earth if this works in my boys' shoes! Anyway, it is also said that "odors on cooking equipment like cutting boards and cooking pots can be removed by wiping them with damp, used tea leaves." Hmmmm....

It is said that "wiping a steel pot or knife with tea leaves can prevent the item from rusting." This makes sense because of the chemical make-up of a tea leaf. "Tannin, an ingredient of green tea, makes an anti-rust coating on the surface of steel."

Tea leaves have an antiseptic and astringent effect. They say that "you can gargle with green tea to kill germs or use as a topical antiseptic or astringent to keep your skin beautiful and healthy." Now, the Japanese don't put sugar in their tea traditionally, so it won't do you any good, my good American people, to gargle with your tea and have added sugar to it. That might be properly termed a "cavity-causing rinse." And no wonder people from other countries have such beautiful skin!! You mean all I've needed to do all this time is gulp my tea down, relax in the tub or by the pool, and plaster my used tea leaves all over my face? Hey, they do it with cucumber and seaweed already!! I don't see why tea leaves shouldn't work. Or do I need to gulp down half a cup (again, no sugar added this particular time), and save the other half to pour on cotton balls to give my skin a little astringent wipe before putting whatever else I'm going to put on it, on it?

I tell you what, if we put these things to the test and they work, we've had answers right here at our fingertips all of this time (or could have) and didn't know what was good for us. Isn't that just like some of us. Well, I'm passing this on! Try some of them or all, and let me know what worked for you. Then we'll all know:)!

The tea-cha is out till next Tuesday. Catch me tomorrow for Wednesday Wisdom.

MOMMY (Caregiver/Mentor) MONDAYS (#5)

Sharing a website I think you'll love and check in on regularly (http://www.flylady.net/)

This is for anybody who cleans their home (or wants to) and wants to organize. This website will even help you organize the days you want to organize your house. I learned about it some years ago, but had forgotten about it. I stumbled across the website again today and thought I'd share it. It is really cute and incredibly helpful.

A quote from the FlyLady: "We give you the tools to help you get out of the CHAOS and find the peace and joy in your homes that you deserve."

This website has the FlyShop, a place where you can purchase some of the things talked about on the website, that will make your cleaning and organizing job easier. It even has tabs or words you can click on for tips, hints, and ideas if you're "FLYing with pre-schoolers, FLYing with homeschoolers, FLYing while pregnant, FLYing with a teenager, FLYing with a big family, etc.

I really encourage you to check this out today. Just looking over the article on "How FlyLady Uses Her Office-in-a-Bag" has me interested enough to crawl back over there. I've only read a little on this one, but I like what I see so far. I could use this idea on long road trips that we take. You can even do other "things-in-a-bag" that fit your lifestyle, hobbies, or needs.

Let's do this: If you guys have some clever organizing, cleaning, lifestyle management ideas, put them on comment under this post, so that all can see and share. I would love to have a listing of what you guys have done, so that I can try some of them out myself (although I don't need any cleaning and organizing ideas personally:) I'm almost losing control laughing at myself on that one). I know this will get one of my friends going with ideas to share. Her house is very organized and she likes doing different things in her home. I like going over to see what she's done new and next. Come on people, let's share:)

HUMOR ME SUNDAYS (#4)

A PARENT'S 10 COMMANDMENTS

I thought I'd share with you today a parent's 10 Commandments of how not to be bothered by your children at inappropriate times and how to lay down the law for them concerning things in life. You can borrow these if you like. :)

1.) Thou shalt not bother a parent when a parent is on the phone (which is when the kids like to bother parents) or the consequence will be that you will be ignored at the very least and perhaps have the parent talk to you on the other end of another phone while you talk to your friends!!

2.) Thou shalt not beg a parent for money above and beyond what you've already gotten for allowance or have been given out of the goodness of the parent's heart. The consequence will be that you work off every penny you get or you will become the borrower, we're the lender, and you have to pay back with interest. (Is that Biblical?:))

3.) Thou shalt not ask a parent if you can do something with your friends at the last minute and in front of the friend (putting us on the spot). The consequence will be that the answer is an automatic "NO."

4.) Thou shalt not tell us that you need money for school or field trips, etc. the day of. The consequence will be that you don't get to go on the field trip, and you get to stay at the school with the other kids who did the same thing and clean the school building or do extra school work by the teacher left behind that didn't want to put up with you in the first place.

5.) Thou shalt not tell the parent that you need a whole month's worth of permission slips and other things signed NOW (that have been folded or balled up in your backpack), or you'll lose grade points or get in trouble with the teacher. The consequence is that you get in trouble with and deal with the consequences spelled out by your teacher.

6.) Thou shalt not think at every point that your agenda is more important than the parents' and commands immediate attention. The consequence: A statement like..."It's not and it doesn't!"

7.) Thou shalt not roll eyes, talk back, and huff and puff when a parent is correcting or advising you. The consequence will be that you'll be huffing and puffing from the "pop" that caused your eyes to be literally rolling across the floor as we talk back to you and tell you that you'd better not do either of these 3 things again.

8.) Thou shalt not ever think of using the emergency 911 numbers on the keypad because of the above consequences. If you do, the consequence for the 911 respondent will be that they'll have to take you home with them and put up with your eye rolling, huffing and puffing, and talking back.

9.) Thou shalt be grateful for this type of upbringing. The consequence: It will make you better. Sounds like it should doesn't it?

10.) Thou shalt understand that with all these rules, we STILL LOVE YOU!!

HAVE A GREAT SUNDAY!!!

SATURDAY SHOPPING AND STUFF (#4)

I won't have time to post tomorrow, so I'm posting early for Saturday. I have a suggestion for a website that I think you'll be interested in. A lot of you have probably already heard of it, but I'm going to mention it anyway. This website will help you learn how to establish a budget, save, spend wisely, invest, teach your kids how to manage money, etc. Go to crown.org. This is a financial management website that is so user-friendly. There are tons of resources, guidelines, helps, downloads, tips, etc. here. I took a Crown class at church and it has proven to be invaluable to me and my family. We are now on our way to being debt-free (we've still got a little way to go, but are on track) and learning how to manage our finances overall better. One of our teen sons has taken the Crown teens class and we think that will prove invaluable to him too. We're looking forward to having a class with the girls. Crown takes the fear and apprehension out of trying to get control over finances. This subject is not comfortable for most of us, but it seems more uncomfortable when we actually have to put a plan in practice. Crown makes it much easier, and once you see that it works, you're motivated to keep going. Crown has all kinds of ways to get control from the old-fashioned pencil and paper method to using software and the internet. It's up to you. Do it with your spouse, children, aging parents, friends who may need help and financial accountability, etc. You'll be so glad you did. God will be honored too, that you learned how to spend and invest His money wisely. You did know it was His didn't you?:)



Spend wisely this Saturday!!

FRIDAY FUN DAY!!

RECIPES FOR RELAXATION (FOR ANYBODY-MALE AND FEMALE)

I'll tell you a little story about one of my daughters and then I'll follow up with recipes of things you can concoct to relax as much as she likes to. Little Missy (we'll call her because of how she acts about certain things) thinks that you can't take a bath without milk and floating dried herbs or flowers. Well, she used to think that anyway. She's a little better at handling reality now that she's a little older. I guess I "messed her up" early on when I introduced her at age 2 1/2 or so to "milk baths." We didn't do just any old milk bath either; we're talking quality milk, honey, and herbs and flowers ("botanicals" as she might call them). Now Little Missy takes showers 99% of the time, but occasionally, she will ask me to get her a milk bath going or at least help her gather the ingredients so that she can take her own, and you guys, it's all I can do to pull this child out of the bathtub. Our hot water heater goes on overkill just trying to accomodate her constant need to re-warm and refresh the water. Needless to say, we don't encourage these baths that often anymore, not if we ever want to get into the upstairs bathroom anyway. Otherwise, on those rare occasions, we resolve to trek downstairs and use the other one. This might be my fault:). I love to create natural bath products, I introduced her to this world early on in her life, and these things are easy and usually inexpensive to make. Oh yeah, and I enjoy them on occasion too and I'm assuming she picked the enthusiasm up from me (you think?:) Anyhooty, since spring is coming you can get your creative juices flowing and make some cool stuff and...RELAX!!

First up, My Goat's Milk Bath recipe:

1 cup of powdered goat's milk (you can usually find it in your grocery store, but if you can't, go to a natural foods store or specialty grocery store)

1/2 cup epsom salts (if you're diabetic, you may not be able to use this milk bath because of the epsom salts. Check with your doctor.)

1 Tbs. of baking soda

1 tsp. of cornstarch

Essential oil of your choice. I like 5 drops of lavender and 4 drops of rose

Mix dry ingredients together, add essential oils, mix again, store in airtight container, use within 3 months, enjoy! Use 2-3 Tbs. or 1/4 cup directly in the bath or in a tea bag or tied cheesecloth. Play around with this recipe by using your choice of dried botanicals. It's pretty floating around in the tub, and it's fragrant. We like to throw in dried lavender blossoms and rose petals.

Next up, body powder--when it gets hot and you sweat, stay cool and keep moisture absorbed with this great mix:

For medium fine- 1/4 cup arrowroot powder

1/4 cup cornstarch

3 Tbs. rice flour (leave out if you want fine powder)

Essential oils of your choice. I like 6 drops of rose, 4 jasmine, 3 violet, and

3 pikaki (the only artificial fragrance I use)

Run thru a sifter, store in a pretty, airtight container (up to 2 years). Use a powder puff to apply. If you'd like to use this on your boys, just change the essential oil scents. For a baby, leave out essential oils, especially if you're not sure if this will irritate baby's skin.

Try this cooling and refreshing foot spray:

1/2 cup of distilled water

1/2 cup of liquid witch hazel (you can find this on the shelf next to or near the alcohol and peroxide at the store--Wal-Mart, whatever)

4 drops of tea tree oil

4 drops of peppermint

blend well and store in a spray bottle. Shake well before using each time. This can be a coolant and a deodorizer. This can last for the whole summer and after. Another alternative is to use 4-6 drops of eucalyptus oil only (no other essential oils). My family really liked this cooling spray.

I'll share more recipes with you another time. Your essential oils will last you a long time. I use pure essential oils instead of the fragrance oils, but it's your choice. Once you make the investment, you will get your money's worth because you only have to use a few drops at a time. The other ingredients listed above are pretty inexpensive too. Use these recipes for home and for family and friend gifts. If you find cute jars and containers, and find the right ribbon, twine, etc., throw on a cute homemade tag, you've got yourself a pretty neat gift to give. The recipient will be quite happy. Have a fun Friday!

FOR TODAY'S POST, CHECK FEBRUARY's

Don't think I'm crazier than usual. I did post for today, but this blog program posted today's post in my February posts, so you'll have to look to your left, click on older posts or posts from February, and then scroll down to the post called "SISTER SECRETS." Sorry you have to go through so much to get there. I meant for it to be seen as a new post on the front page today. I hope you go there because the picture and the post are worth seeing:)!!