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Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Homestead Debacle and More No Poo Hair

A comment from yesterday's post asked if I knew about the scandalous debacle about trademarking Urban Homesteader and Urban Homesteading.  I do know about this such debacle.  I will try to keep this short.

A family in California wants to trademark the words "urban homesteader" and "urban homesteading."  Right now, as I understand it, they hold a supplemental trademark.  This means they have a certain amount of time to prove that their use of the words is exclusive to only them.  Meaning, all of us other urban homesteaders don't use those words.  This is ridiculous.  I wrote that it was a fluid and everchanging movement and trying to narrow it down so finitely is a disservice and rather insulting to the rest of us.

Yesterday was the day many, maybe thousands, of people peppered Facebook, Twitter, and their blogs with those words.  One part was to post your visitor tally prior to your post and then after your post.  My visitor tally for yesterday was 112.  You'll be surprised to hear that once again 90% of the visitors were actually looking at the post about henna in my hair. 

The other thing I was trying to accomplish with my post was to not specifically say why I was writing the post that way.  I wanted it to look commonplace and not give exclusivity to the trademark seeking louts.  For me, if I wrote it saying, "I'm writing this because of that family," then it gives them exclusivity and wouldn't show generic usage.

So if I get a letter in the mail saying I should stop using those words I will show it to you.

Today was Day 2 of No Poo Hair.  I'm doing rather well.  Last night I washed my hair with conditioner only.  Here's my pic.  I wore it up today because I just do that a lot anyway.  It looks and feels fine.  I'm not surprised.  I have a feeling the real test of sticking it out is in another day or two. 

Monday, February 21, 2011

Of No Poo Hair and Homesteading

First off I want to mention the visitor counter.  I installed it long after this blog was rolling.  My official visitor count as of right now is 5,761.  When I track my stats, an overwhelming amount of visitors appear on days I blog about my hair.  I'm talking over 1,200 people have read about me using henna in my hair.  Just thought I'd mention that little factoid.

Today at my little urban homestead I will again be talking about what I've done to my hair.  I hope Blogger's servers are prepared to handle the incoming traffic of my hair groupies.

Thanks to the internet and the library (ancient way people research things), I've been able to expand my efforts in urban homesteading without fear of horrible consequences, i.e. losing a limb.  There are so many involved in this that it creates a wealth of information, free for anyone who wants to learn.  It's an interesting movement that is fluid and ever evolving.  With so many people participating there could never be a finite location or singular ownership of the idea.  The things I've managed to conquer:  productive gardens my family can use as a source of food (in winter we would starve, but I'm working on it), a real compost pile,  crocheting wearable items, making household bath and beauty products, cooking and eating better, exercising, canning, and giving back to others in the urban homestead movement without a price tag attached. 

On to the hair.  I know you're asking what I'm talking about.  No Poo Hair?  Some of you may know about this and have even contemplated it, maybe even tried it.  The No Shampoo Method is to use alternatives to shampoo to wash your hair and still come out with clean, managable hair. 

I have tried several different recipes, some from videos off Youtube, and all of them had failed me.  I ended up with what I call "sticky hair syndrome."  This will make the hair look and feel like you have never washed your hair, sticks together, and is uncombable.  It's disgusting.  I was depressed thinking I wouldn't be able to go the distance in this urban homesteading project. 

Well, last night I decided to try again but I cut down the traditional No Poo recipe...a lot.  The traditional recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of baking soda per cup of water.  Generally, people need 2 cups of this to get all of the hair wet.  I opted for putting 1 teaspoon of baking soda in 2 cups of water (16 oz.).  I made a total solution of 2 teaspoons baking soda to 32 oz. of water, since I have long hair.  I poured it onto my dry hair and made sure it all got wet. 

The apple cider vinegar rinse I use is 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar to 20 oz. of water.  I rinsed my hair 3 times with this solution.  The apple cider vinegar acts as a conditioner for me. 

Lastly, I rinsed 3 times with only water.  I just had to wait for it to dry....

Here's my result for day 1 of No Poo Hair.  My hair feels like it usually does when washed with shampoo and conditioner.  I'm very happy with the results.  I've read the stronger baking soda solution is good for people with curly hair and the weaker solution is more appropriate for people with straight hair. 

I'll keep you updated and include any variations I might add, such as any other natural conditioners or essential oil usage.  I hope you found this urban homesteading project useful.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Cost Saving Tip and Homemade Arthritis Ointment

Even though that title sounds incredibly boring, there's two important pieces of information I want to pass on.


Last week I decided we needed some more vegetable storage space.  The crisper box wasn't cutting it since we've increased our vegetable and fruit buying.  The stuff just won't fit.  Instead of being a good homemaker vegetable lady and storing the vegetables cut up and in prim and proper bags, I just threw them in the fridge.  Well, as so often happens, I'd get lazy and not feel creative in my cooking.  By the end of a week those vegetables were looking pretty sad, if not angry and threatening to riot.  So in the compost they would go. 

One day I thought if I got an extra storage bin then maybe those vegetables would last a little longer.  It turns out that's true.  I bought vegetables last week and they are still looking fresh as daisies.  This is going to save me a lot of money.

Now for the homemade arthritis ointment.  It might be good on aches and pains, too.  Starting last fall I noticed some twangs in my knuckles.  It wasn't enough to limit my activities.  Just a gnawing soreness.  It's persisting through the winter.  I decided to research for some home cures.

I came across this recipe:  2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and 1 tablespoon of coconut oil.  I put it into the jar and stirred and stirred and stirred some more.  It did not want to blend.  I still applied some and it really did work.  I left it alone for an hour and when I came back it looks like it's starting to blend on its own.  Oh sure, you'll have a little vinegar smell (very little) but the soreness is all gone!  This recipe will give you 2 ounces.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Good Prevails Over Evil Part 2

And Justice was served!  And apparently it tastes like Jello...

If you follow this blog then you'll remember my rant about this picture.  Or rather, the comment one "lady" left about it.  You'll remember that I only posted it to try and win a subscription to a magazine and I was feeling iffy about entering it. 

Well, today I received an email saying this photo would be in their slideshow. And. It. WON in its' category!  Vindication is Mine!!!    What did Rowan say about it winning?  "Bo-ring"  hmmph.  I say you gotta grab victory wherever you can. 


Apparently they also like my foot because this picture is in the slideshow, too.  It didn't win in it's category.  I don't mind. 

Monday, February 7, 2011

Because Good Always Prevails Over Evil and Other Spring Fairytales

Last week we received snow.  I know many of the people up North were sitting on the edge of their seats wondering if the stupid people down South would be able to survive.  Much like the times when we Southern people sit around and laugh about the poor folks up north who are sweltering when it hits 80 degrees.  Thankfully, we did survive and we didn't have to do anything drastic like interact with the crazy neighbors because we never lost our internet.  Score 1 for good over evil.


An update to my last post:  The therapist has declared that Rowan is normal!  The words were, "She's normal and very happy."  In fact, it seems just the act of everyone noticing what her social skills are has made her more sociable and less anxious.  We'll continue seeing the therapist but only every other week, and frankly I think they are going to cut us loose after the next session.  The down side?  We finally get the top of the line health insurance and this is the best diagnosis they can give us?  She's normal?  C'mon.  Score 2 for good over evil.

We are all eagerly anticipating spring right now.  Things are abuzz with energy.  There are plans for gardens and projects are being mapped out.  The arm wrestling over who gets which garden beds are complete.  The seeds are ready.  It's like the revving of engines at the Indy 500 before the flag.  Spring conquers winter.  Score 3 for good over evil.

I lost a blog follower.  I think he was from South America.  He's been replaced by Cheeseboy.  Hop to his blog if you get a chance.  He's like the Activity Director on the cool kids' cruise ship.  Score 4 for good over evil. 

I wish I had a great ending for this post, but I don't....