Lavender--a Cure-All?

Did you know that essential oils--natural oils from plants, trees, nuts--have all kinds of wonderful properties than can help your body heal from various issues? It's true!

Lavender, while smelling sweet/floral/herbal, has some amazing properties. It's like the SuperMom of flowers and helps many different kinds of issues. For example, you can use it to help depression, panic attacks, irritability, and mental fatigue. Try adding 10 drops or so to a nice, warm bath and relaxing for 15 minutes or more. Inhale the aroma while you are soaking and don't think of anything outside of that bathtub. It will all still be there when you are finished.

Can't do that? (What, you can't just take a nice, relaxing bath while you're at work? ...or while driving your car in heavy traffic?) That's understandable, so how about this: place a few drops on a tissue and seal it in a bag in the morning, and take it with you. Then when you are having a rough time, open the bag and inhale all the Lavender goodness. Imagine you are in a quiet field full of Lavender, no stress, no boss, no traffic. Just peace and quiet and you.

Lavender is also good for insect bites--place a drop or two on a cotton ball and dab at the bite area. Got allergies or sinusitis? Try a couple drops of diluted Lavender on a soft cloth and gently massage the sinus area.

For clearing up your skin, try a facial steam with a drop or two of Lavender. Or if you have a nasty bruise, place a couple drops on a cold compress and gently hold on the affected area for about 15 minutes. It should help relieve the pain and swelling.

Most people know that a few drops right before bed will help you sleep. Try it in a lotion and massage your feet, or a drop or two on your pillow or on a tissue next to your bed. Whatever is comfortable for you.

Heaven and Earth Essentials offers many products with Lavender essential oil. Our most popular by far is the Sweet Dreams Lavender Cream. A little massage with it before bedtime and you'll be sleeping like a baby. Shhhhhh....

Rheumatiz Medicine

I was doing a little research yesterday...as I get older I'm discovering that I have more aches and pains than I used to...and I don't like taking drugs for them because that just masks the issue. Plus I'm very sensitive to everything and if anyone experiences the side effects of a drug, it is ME. (I'm like the canary in the coal mine, and if you know what I'm talking about, you just aged yourself too.)

The layman's definition of Rheumatism is pain and inflammation in the joints and muscles; it can often be affected by temperature changes such as exposure to cold.

A wonderful and natural way to deal with these issues is to use essential oils. Try Chamomile, Lavender, and Rosemary. Not only do they smell wonderful, but they have amazing properties to help our bodies heal! Try adding a few drops to a warm bath and soak for about 15 minutes. To make it truly luxurious, add some Bath Salts, especially if they have Epsom salts, Dead Sea salts, and Himalayan Pink salts (and no additional fragrance). Relax and let the salts and essential oils work for you. Heaven and Earth Essentials offers Bath Salts with these ingredients and we can add any or all three of these essential oils in it for you.

Another good way to help your aching joints is to add a few drops of these essential oils to a non-fragranced, natural lotion or cream or massage oil. Gently massage into the skin, let it soak in. Try our Massage Oil, Emollient Lotion, or Silken Glove Hand Cream--we'll add the essential oils for you.

When you use natural products, you can't help but feel good!

Natural remedy with Essential Oils

It's that time of year again, the beautiful days and buggy evenings. I enjoy sitting by my new little pond and fountain, but I really don't like the bugs! I refuse to use chemical sprays, especially DEET. So here's something for y'all to try--Lemon Eucalyptus essential oil. Not only does it smell great (of course, that's my opinion), it has been found to be "just as effective as DEET"! So why are we using nasty chemicals on ourselves and our children? Heck if I know.

Another good essential oil is Rose Geranium. Also keeps the mosquitoes at bay.

Both are also good for getting rid of sandflies, ticks, midges, and stable flies. Sounds nasty! Try a drop here and a drop there. What have you got to lose but a bunch of itchy bug bites?

More natural remedies will be coming in future posts!

To Burn or Not to Burn

We went to the Air Show this past weekend and had a great family time. We are one of those families that works and works and works (multiple businesses, farm, job, leaders of Scouts, VFW, Legion, and more), so a day away from everything is almost a shock. (I do, of course, bring work to do in the vehicle so the day isn't a total loss, hahaha). The weather was foggy, then overcast, then later the sun peaked out a little bit here and there. It was very warm and muggy, and we were outside the entire day.

Me being a mom, I pull out our Sunscreen Lotion and start applying it to my 8-yr-old son, myself, and then forced some on my DH. Well, the top of his head anyway. He's a real man and doesn't want any sissy sunscreen on him, right? So I made a big joke about how the reflection off the top of his head might be distracting to some of the pilots, might temporarily blind them, etc.

He wouldn't let me put any on his blindingly white legs though. First time wearing shorts, long Minnesota winters, you do the math!
We're talking W-H-I-T-E. Like chalk. You get the picture.

Oh, yes, our manly man today is walking around in pants at work, that fabric rubbing with every step against his now hot pink skin, which he coated with our Healing Lotion this morning, but we all know that doesn't help that friction element.

Men! The 8-yr-old is just fine, not burnt at all. I got a little bit of sunburn around my neck, which I forgot about, but at least I was wearing a hat, which helped.
But our manly man, not so good. He almost cried this morning when the dog jumped up on his lap and missed with his back leg, which scratched his burnt leg.

I'll say this once--if you are going outside, either cover yourself with fabric or put on some sunscreen! I don't care how much of a manly man you are, you AREN'T so manly when you're crying because you got burned in the sun!

On Perseverance

My son and I went for a 13-mile-long bike ride yesterday on this wonderful trail we have on the old railroad corridor along I-94. It was overcast, humid, with a slight breeze, but a wonderful day. (It's been raining off and on for the past week, so overcast is totally acceptable.)
As we were riding, we talked about anything and everything. I really enjoy these times with him. But I started to notice something--little explosions of green coming up through the tar on which we were riding. At first I just saw the little tar volcanoes and couldn't figure out what they were. Then I really started looking and saw little weeds coming up through them. Coming up through a thick, fat layer of tar!
Thinking about it the rest of the trip, it just got more and more incredible. A tiny little seed or root pushing its way up through a thick, man-made layer, meant to cover the earth, not protect it or help it, but just to provide me with a smooth road on which I could ride my bicycle.
Mother Nature wasn't having any of that. She lets us know in little ways that we don't know everything, we don't control the weather, and nature will always win. (Just watch the world news--volcanoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.)
Sometimes it's the little things that make big changes--over time those little tiny weeds are going to destroy that tar trail. Sometimes it's a big change like a hurricane.
But it's all about perseverance!
We're in the process of creating a new website and a new membership club for Heaven and Earth Essentials. Sometimes it is so difficult to work on both of these because we end up waiting on someone else, or something doesn't go exactly the way we want it, or we find out that we just can't do it or afford it.
But I'm going to take a lesson from Mother Nature. Perseverance. Stop, think about it. If the universe is saying you can't do something one way, try it another, or think about why you wanted to do it in the first place. I think she's a pretty smart lady and I'm glad she's my friend.

Tattoos and Scars

No, I'm not talking about the album by Montgomery Gentry...I'm talking about real tattoos and real scars. As it's getting to be warmer and warmer out, I've been noticing more and more tattoos out there. We live near a small town, a farming town, where you wave to strangers as they drive by, and as it gets warmer out, people wear less clothing so you can see more skin. The tattoos I'm noticing are not on the men, though, they're on the women...small-town moms, farmer's wives, waitresses at the local diner, and young women getting their hair cut at the salons.

I remember when I got my tattoo (at age 30--for my birthday)--it was scandalous! And that wasn't even that long ago. But today, they are much more accepted.
Here's why I'm writing about them. Ladies, make sure you take care of your tattoos! Keep them out of the sun if you can. Moisturize with something that goes deep into the skin, like Emu Oil or Shea Butter. Our Emu Moisturizing Butter is perfect for keeping the beautiful color on your tattoo.

What happens if you don't? Well, you know those old guys that maybe used to be in the military that hang around that one local diner? (Every town has one of those diners.) Look at their tattoos. Can you tell what it used to be? Yes, today's tattoo technology is much better, but they still fade with time until eventually it will look like a cartoon stretched out with Silly Putty.

My tattoo is of a female tiger surrounded by flowers. Her intense green eyes aren't so intense anymore, they've softened with age around the edges. I just wish someone would have told me years ago to moisturize my tiger. I do now...hopefully it's not too late.
As for scars? That same Emu Moisturizing Butter, or even straight Emu Oil, works on scars burns, wrinkles, and stretchmarks. Emu Oil also works for issues associated with arthritis. Try it, you just might find that it works on yours!

What Happened to Good Ol' Customer Service?

I am not a complainer. Having said that, I'm going to complain. It takes a lot for me to do this, but it's been on my mind for days and it's driving me crazy, so I'm putting it out there. What happened to good ol' customer service?

I've been in some form of customer service most of my life. I know what good service is, I can tell when someone goes out of their way to be nice, do something extra, etc., and I try to acknowledge it whenever possible. If something goes wrong, my order isn't quite right, I accept that we're all human and move on. However....

We recently had a building renovated. I've never been involved with something like this, so it's been a new experience for me. I was on-site every day, just checking in, in case there were any questions or problems. I even made the guys cookies, and I never do that! Everyone did a very good job, they were polite, even made suggestions for a few extras we hadn't thought of, and then did those extras in a timely manner.

We had spray foam insulation put in upstairs to insulate the new duct work. The unfinished upstairs was being used as the storage area for all the furniture and stuff from the main level, which was being totally remodeled. We were told to put everything in the middle of the room, as the ducts run down both sides of the room. We did this.

Here's my beef: At no time did ANYONE ever say "You might want to cover all your stuff with a tarp or plastic sheet so it doesn't get ruined from the overspray". We were on-site when they were there. They talked to us. The other contractors talked to us. NOT ONE PERSON mentioned how horrible the overspray is to clean up.

I don't blame MN Spray Foam and Insulation, their guys did the job. However, I am extremely disappointed in their lack of customer service on this issue. I know it's difficult to hire people that actually care about their jobs--been there on both sides. But come on, guys!

I have spent hours and hours cleaning and scraping that overspray off my furniture and things. I have things that are ruined and I can't get clean. I have used rolls of paper towels, spray cleaner, cloth towels, water, my hands are so rough from it all and I feel I have wasted hours of my life because no one thought to mention this one teeny tiny little thing. True, I never thought to ask either, but then I shouldn't have to. I paid them a ton of money, I'm the customer, and in this case, I think a little extra customer service would have gone a long way. Actually, it's not even an "extra", it's part of the job.

All in all, I'm happy with the way the building turned out and I can't wait to show it off. Now...back to scraping and cleaning that darn overspray....