Leaves of Three and Stings like a Bee....Be Wary of these Plants

With Earth Day upon us, many of us make an effort to increase our appreciation and awareness of our mother earth with all the goodness nature has to offer. If for you that means getting out there and getting in the nitty gritty of yard work, gardening, or naturalizing, then be aware of two plants that can easily sour your mood in a hurry. Poison Ivy and Stinging Nettles

Remember these old rhymes to help you recognize poison ivy   (Rhus toxicodendrun):

"Leaves of three; let it be."

"Hairy vine, no friend of mine." and
 "Raggy rope, don't be a dope."

  Vines on trees have a hairy appearance. Old, mature vines on tree trunks can be large and thick and the recognizable leaves may be higher up the tree where you may not see them.

 "Berries white, danger in sight."
 "Red leaflets in the spring, it's a dangerous thing."

In the spring, new leaflets have a red, shiny appearance. Later, during the summer, they are green and easily blend in with other plants. In the fall they turn a reddish-orange, making them more difficult to distinguish from other plants.

The itchy rash caused by poison ivy is from the potent urushiol oil which irritates sensitive skin. A person's sensitivity can vary from season to season or even change throughout a lifetime. The potent oils stay active on unwashed clothes, garden tools and even dead plants for up to five years. If you are clearing brush and poison ivy is part of the pile, do not burn it or you could end up in the ER with severe lung irritation.

Our body reacts to the urushiol oil by releasing histimine, which is what causes the itch. The miserable cycle starts when the irritation begins to itch and we scratch. Scratching feels good for the moment but only aggravates things and since the urushiol is now on your fingernails it is likely to spread to other areas of your body that you touch. Be sure to change your clothes because you will continue to reinfect yourself if the oils are on your clothes.

Poison ivy, oak and sumac do all serve a purpose. The urushiol oil coats the leaves of the plant and is a natural defense mechanism for them. Also, the small, white or bluish berries feed a number of bird and small animals, and the tangle of the plant form a source of shelter.

Thank you Angelina for this great explanation of what is happening when exposed to plant allergens:
" It's an immune system response.The body's immune system is normally in the business­ of protecting us from bacteria, viruses, and other foreign invaders that can make us sick. But when urushiol from the poison ivy plant touches the skin, it instigates an immune response, called dermatitis, to what would otherwise be a harmless substance. Hay fever is another example of this type of response; in the case of hay fever, the immune system overreacts to pollen, or another plant-produced substance.
Here's how the poison ivy response occurs. Urushiol makes its way down through the skin, where it is metabolized, or broken down. Immune cells called T lymphocytes (or T-cells) recognize the urushiol derivatives as a foreign substance, or antigen. They send out inflammatory signals called cytokines, which bring in white blood cells. Under orders from the cytokines, these white blood cells turn into macrophages. The macrophages eat foreign substances, but in doing so they also damage normal tissue, resulting in the skin inflammation that occurs with poison ivy. ­"


Fascinating in nature is that where one poisonous plant grows its antidote is most likely growing nearby. Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) is actually a wild native Impatiens. It favors wet soil and averages 4 - 5 feet tall. Found throughout the eastern United States, it is recognizable in that it has a lovely light green shade and after a rain, the droplets seems to lay on the surface. Should you find this plant after exposure to poison ivy or stinging nettles, break off the stems and crush them in your hands. You'll see that the stems are hollow and contain the itch relieving juice inside. Apply like a poultice to the areas of exposure for relief.

Jewelweed is often one of the first wildflowers children learn about, not only because of its usefulness but because it is so much fun. The flowers are orange in color and shaped like little trumpets so are adorable to look at. It has a second kind of flower other than the orange one. These are tiny petal-less flowers that don't open but that form the majority of the seeds. Once ripe, the slightest touch sends these seeds hurling everywhere, much to the delight of any child. The other name given to this plant is Touch-Me-Not.

Young Nettles mixed with Dock

Jewelweed is also great for the sting of Stinging Nettles (Urtica dioica), a herbaceous perennial found almost worldwide. Many of us discovered this plant the hard way. Brushing up against this plant results in a stinging that one isn't soon going to forget. The leaves and stems are covered with brittle, hollow, silky hairs that contain three chemicals, a histimine that irritates skin, acetylcholine which causes the burning feeling and serotonin.



Nettles are a foraging favorite for those seeking out the nourishing spring greens. They cannot be eaten raw, but used in tea form or cooked like spinach, you can just taste the green energy. For health purposes, nettles are known as a kidney and adrenal ally, great for removing toxins from the blood, reducing inflammation, help with eczema, the list goes on. When skin and hair are a problem, nettles come to the rescue to restore balance.

To gather nettles, you must wear long pants and uses gloves to touch them so avoid the nasty sings. Best when gathered while tender and young, April and May are the best months to cut and harvest the plant.

Even if you have no interest in dealing with a nettle patch for food or medicinal purposes, let it alone to help out the butterflies. Members of the Nymphalidae or Brush-footed butterflies, depend on nettles for the growth of their caterpillars. Look for Red Admirals, Tortoiseshells, Peacocks, and Commas.

Nettles also make a great fertilizer for the gardener. Soaked in a bucket of water, the resulting tea once strained is great for the plants and can be used as a spray for aphids and black flies. Add chopped up nettles to the compost heap to act as a natural activator which speeds up decomposition.


Even with precautions, no doubt you will get against the plant anyway, so it is best to know what to do. The plant that often grows nearby is Dock.

Tinged with red on the leaves, once you recognize this plant it is easy to spot. Tear off the leaves and crush them good into a mushy poultice. Apply this to the stinging area of skin. Don't rub or you may just aggravate it. You want the juice from inside the leaves to drip onto your skin to offer its neutralizing relief.

Nettles in flower (behind the orange Daylilies)

A look-a-like plant that is often growing amidst Poison Ivy is Virginia Creeper. A harmless vine that may be annoying because of its aggressive growing habits, but is a beautiful red in the fall and offers dark blue berries for wildlife. Virginia Creeper has five leaves, whereas Poison Ivy has three leaves.

Virginia Creeper

	It is always a good idea to have on hand a natural remedy in your medicine cabinet in preparation for those time when you are exposed to the misery of Poison Ivy or Stinging Nettles. Jewelweed infused with apple cider vinegar results in an itch relieving spray. Lavender essential oil is added for its healing properties to help with the inflammation and harm done to the skin from scratching.

Jewelweed Vinegar Spray

Spring Chickweed isn't just for Chickens

Even a chicken's diet must get monotonous after a long winter of feed grain and cracked corn. While the reappearance of the lawn weeds in early spring aggravate many people, for those who own chickens or guinea hens, this is the perfect opportunity to shake off the winter blues and make use of those plants and reap the rewards with happier birds and stronger eggs.

Comfrey and dandelions are calcium-rich plants that chickens relish and does help with soft eggshells. Broken eggs are not only a waste but a mess within the nest. Other plants loved by your chickens include clover, fleabane, violets, perennial grasses, purslane, shepherds purse, plantain and groundsel, but their favorite is usually the tender chickweed.

Chickweed is Stellaria media which in latin means little star. The little white flowers appear to be made up of five petals but look closer and you'll see each petal has a cleft to become ten little slivers. Chickweed is one of those creeper plants often cursed by gardeners when it "invades" the garden as it self-sows very rapidly. Preferring cool, moist soil, once the summer heat builds these flower patches seem to just disappear.

Loaded with potassium, phosphorus, and manganese, this plant is sought out by foragers as a mineral rich salad green. As assumed by the name, this tender plant is sought out by chickens if given the freedom to free range in the garden or pasture.

For safety purposes, our little flock is confined to a fenced in area and because of their scratching habits, the soil soon becomes just dirt. So what we do to help supplement their diet is to take advantage of the fast growth of the chickweed spreading across my garden and flowerbeds before it is time to disturb it with my gardening. The larger weeds I just pull and gather a pile, but the chickweed gets a haircut. Chickweed pulls out of the ground easily, so if I want to extend its growth time and delay its going to seed, I take a pair of scissors and snip right across the mound. Once the weather gets warm, the chickweed gets lanky, goes to seed and somewhat disappears. People who don't want it should pull it before it reseeds itself.

While you're snipping away, keep back a bowl full to add to your salad at dinner. Known as an herbal diet pill, a healer of wounds, an eye poultice during allergy season, a joint oiler, and an overall nourishing, strengthening food. Susan Weed has excellent information on several plants she calls herbal allies in her book Wise Woman Herbal Healing Wise

Are You a Weekend Warrior?

It finally feels like spring, and you wake up on a Saturday morning with the sun pouring through the window. The energy starts flowing as your mental to do list for the day rolls out before you. All the things you continually walked past during the winter, telling yourself you'll take care of it when the weather warms up, are now tugging at your heels.

Time away from our work schedules is precious so of course we try to make the most of every minute.
We cram as much into our free time as possible and risk paying the price with a stiff back, shoulders, knees or whatever else put in overtime.
If you are what is called a weekend warrior, prepare for the next day aches by having on hand a few pain relieving balms, liniments or oils.

Weekend Warrior Relief is a balm which utilizes two herbal infused oils, comfrey and ginger root.

Called the living medicine chest, both the leaves and roots of the comfrey plant are important. High in silicic acid comfrey can reduce swelling, bruising and strengthen ligaments and tendons. Also known for its allantoin content, a crystalline oxidation product of uric acid, comfrey stimulates and accelerates tissue repair.
Ginger root is used for its aid in increasing circulation which enhances blood flow to the damaged tissue or achy muscles and joints.
The addition of shea butter adds to the therapeutic value since this rich soothing butter helps to heal bruising.

The cool, refreshing aroma of wintergreen and peppermint essential oils greet you upon application of this balm. They both contain analgesic properties which help soothe tired, sore muscles and joints.
Helichrysum essential oil is from the garden flower you probably know as immortelle. This oil has a reputation for improving circulation and the regeneration of nerves and tissue repair.

Wintergreen essential oil contains menthyl salicylate. If you are allergic to aspirin, pregnant or breastfeeding please consult with your doctor before using a product containing menthyl salicylate. Be aware of this product containing menthyl salicylate before using on children.


 Ease The Ache Massage Oil is a nice way to end a busy day. The power of touch can do wonders to work out those hard, ropey, knots in our strands of muscle. You don't necessarily need another person or a massage therapist to benefit from a massage. Whatever area you can reach will appreciate a good deep kneading to work out those painful points. Use kneading motions as you apply an anti-inflammatory massage oil blend into your neck, shoulders, lower back, calves or your own feet. In fact, one of the most effective forms of utilizing essential oils is to apply them to the soles of the feet where they are easily absorbed throughout the bodily system.

Should you have assistance for your back, enjoy the warm, flowing motion of their touch as the anti-inflammatory properties of the essential oils in this oil blend help you relax and find relief.

The chosen essential oils for this blend are lavender, eucalyptus, juniper and chamomile. All contain anti-inflammatory properties which means they help reduce inflammation, pain and swelling in the joints and muscle tissues. Useful for relaxing those muscle spasms, the aches of arthritis, and tension headaches. Elimination of bodily toxins and fluid retention are both helped along by the increase in circulation.

Carrier oils used are almond and jojoba oils. Almond oil is very popular for massage oils because it is nourishing, gentle and glides easily over the skin. It absorbs quickly but not fast enough that you feel you'll need to stop and reach for the dropper bottle. Jojoba oil is very similar to our natural skin oils and easily penetrates and nourishes.

 Herbal Pain Relief Liniment is an alcohol based preparation ideal for those who dislike the oily feel of a balm or massage oil. It is useful in the relief of muscle aches, joint pain, inflammation, bruises, as well as part of the warm- up routine prior to exercise.
It can be used as a disinfectant but not to be applied to broken skin.
Useful for the treatment of headaches as well. Spritz fingertips so as not to get into eyes and rub into temples, forehead and the back of the neck.

Prior to strenuous physical activity, it is important to warm up your muscles and keep them supple. The application of a liniment before exercise increases blood flow thereby helps to warm up the muscles and decrease the chance of injury.

Should there be pain from over-exercised muscles, liniments can also help after soreness has set in. The muscles need to rest and relax.
Liniments have a way of tricking the brain. Pain creates a loop between the area of pain and the message to the brain reinforcing this pain. The focus on the pain makes it hard for the muscles to relax. The combination of the liniment and the friction caused by the rubbing application from our hands creates an increase in heat. This provides an opportunity for the muscles to relax. Certain plants activate both hot and cold nerve impulses in the skin. The contrast between the two makes a liniment seem hotter than it actually is.

Isopropyl alcohol 70% is the liquid base in which fresh or dried herbs are infused for several weeks. The idea behind using alcohol is that upon application the alcohol evaporates leaving behind the therapeutic herbs to penetrate the skin's surface.

Herbs and spices used for this liniment are peppermint, rosemary, comfrey, oregon graperoot, echinacea, ginger, cinnamon and cayenne. These combine to activate both hot and cold, relax muscles, increase blood circulation, and soothe bruising.

So dig out your gloves, dust off the equipment, spring has sprung!

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Color is fun and when we think spring we think pastels!
Pinks, yellows, purples and greens brighten up our homes, wardrobes and spirits.

Check out Meadow Muffin Gardens for fun, fresh and natural ways to keep you and your family clean, fresh and taken care of!

 Natural and affordable home remedies and personal body care. Handmade with a touch of the love and wisdom from past generations.

Handmade, organic, eco-friendly solutions in skin care and healing for the entire family.

"Beauty is only an herb away" The quip from my son that started it all.

Utilizing herbs, flowers, aromatherapy, and oils without the use of parabens, artificial colorings or synthetic fragrances to create natural solutions to personal and family care needs.

Ingredients used are purchased from reputable, certified organic companies or grown organically in my own gardens.

"Wholesome and practical is the best way to describe our line of body care. Simple pleasures are among life's best treasures. Guided by wisdom and knowledge passed down from generations of women our products consist of ingredients provided by our natural world. Information and recipes often tucked away in quaint old books resurface to remind us that 'simple is best'."

Easter Traditions Include Homemade Chocolate Eggs

  

 Easter memories often include goodies from overflowing Easter baskets, exciting egg hunts even if still wearing winter coats, as well as the fun of dying and finding ways to eat all those colorful eggs.Traditions are wonderful to pass along, especially if they include old-fashioned recipes pulled out only for the holidays.

Three Pennsylvania Dutch Easter egg recipes are below with all the sweet, creamy, chocolate goodness you would expect with a "Grandmom" type recipe.

CHOCOLATE COVERED CREAM EGGS

2 lbs. confectioners' sugar  (1 pound = 4 cups so need 8 cups)
1 stick or 1/2 cup butter or margarine
8 oz. package cream cheese
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Chocolate coating wafers or semi-sweet chocolate chips (start with 2 cups)
Vegetable shortening (1 tbsp. added for each 2 cups melting wafers)

DIRECTIONS
Soften the stick butter at room temperature or about 20 seconds in the microwave.
Soften the cream cheese at room temperature for about 30 seconds in the microwave (take out of the foil packaging before putting in the microwave).
Cream together the butter, cream cheese and the vanilla extract.
Gradually add the confectioner's sugar and blend to mix.

To shape into eggs:
Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Have some extra confectioner's sugar handy to dust your palms since the mix will be sticky. With your hands, dip out and shape into little balls, roll in palms of your hands till firm, and then roll to form an oval shape. Place on the cookie sheet leaving some space between them. The recipe said to put the baking pan in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight. Personally, I don't have room in my refrigerator, so I use my chest freezer. I find that if frozen they hold together better for dipping into the melted chocolate.

To coat with melted chocolate:
This is the part where it is easy to blow it. Chocolate is not forgiving with how it is melted. If it is melted at too high a temperature or if there is any moisture whatsoever in the bowl it will seize up and be useless.
Some people use the double boiler method of having the chocolate in one pot on top of another pot containing simmering water, stirring constantly.
The method I prefer is to use my microwave. The model I use is a small counter top type with a maximum output of 700 watts. I put 2 cups of melting wafers and 1 tbsp. shortening in a microwave safe bowl. I heat at 70% power for 2 minutes, stir, heat another 30 seconds at 70% power, stir till smooth. The reduced power isn't written anywhere as a rule, it just seems to work best in my experience. You will have to experiment with your own model.

Leave the candy eggs in the freezer till you are ready. You don't want them softening while waiting for the chocolate. Once the chocolate is melted, don't fool around getting the eggs dipped.
Using two spoons, drop one egg at a time into the chocolate, dip it out with one spoon and transfer it to the other spoon letting the excess chocolate drip off. Lay the coated egg onto another baking sheet or plate lined with wax paper and it will harden as it cools. Don't drop more than one egg into the melted chocolate because the extras will soften while waiting and may lose their shape.

Depending on their size, this batch makes about 4 dozen
Store your eggs in a covered container and keep in the refrigerator.

PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE COVERED EASTER EGGS














1 lbs. confectioners' sugar  (1 pound = 4 cups)
1 stick or 1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups smooth peanut butter 
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Chocolate coating wafers or semi-sweet chocolate chips (start with 1 cup, you can always melt more)
Vegetable shortening (1/2 tbsp. added for each cup melting wafers)

DIRECTIONS
Soften the stick butter at room temperature or about 20 seconds in the microwave.
The easiest way to measure peanut butter is to use one of those plastic push-up cups that are composed of two pieces where one fits inside the other to push out the contents.
Cream together the softened butter, peanut butter and vanilla.
Gradually add the confectioner's sugar and blend well.

Follow the directions in the Cream Egg recipe for shaping and chocolate coating the eggs.
Depending on size this batch makes about 2 - 3 dozen.
Store in a covered container and keep in the refrigerator.

COCONUT CHOCOLATE COVERED EASTER EGGS














3/4 cup mashed potatoes (cook potatoes and mash with just enough milk to be able to mash the lumps out)
2 cups fresh or dried flaked coconut (sweetened or unsweetened is up to you)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

Chocolate coating wafers or semi-sweet chocolate chips (start with 1 cup, you can always melt more)
Vegetable shortening (1/2 tbsp. added for each 1cup melting wafers)

Mix together the mashed potatoes, coconut, salt and vanilla. Gradually mix in the sugar. Cover the bowl and store in the refrigerator overnight.

Follow the directions in the Cream Egg recipe for shaping and chocolate coating the eggs.
Depending on size this batch makes about 2 - 3 dozen.
Store in a covered container and keep in the freezer.

I had a hard time with this recipe. I had used leftover mashed potatoes from a meal and I think it was because they had been mashed with an egg, butter and milk, that even being in the fridge overnight to thicken up, my candy mix was still too wet. I compensated by adding additional confectioner's sugar and a bit more coconut till the mix had a stiffer consistency. I gave up trying to form egg shapes with my hands, it was way too sticky. So I just used two spoons as with cookie dough and plopped little mounds on a wax paper lined baking sheet. The mounds sank somewhat so my candy looked more like coconut wafers. Though once they were in the freezer for an hour, I could  then shape them with my hands into an egg or ball shape. But they still turned out tastefully good, just like a Mounds Bar, so definitely worth making again. I plan on experimenting in the future with the potatoes. I'm going to use baking potatoes since they are drier than typical white potatoes, and use just enough milk to be able to mash the lumps.

 HAPPY EASTER!

Don't Let It Be Just Another Day

"I'm bored is a useless thing to say. I mean, you live in a great, big, vast world that you've seen none percent of. Even the inside of your own mind is endless; it goes on forever, inwardly, do you understand? The fact that you're alive is amazing, so you don't get to say 'I'm bored'".
                                                                Louis C.K.

Comedians make us laugh but often their humor is filled with satire and frustration with people and the world in which we live. How many times have you been with people who if you had to describe them in one word, it would be 'drainers'. People who you just want to shake some life into, and maybe if you scream loud enough, something of what you say will sink in.

Granted, by late winter, seemingly endless gray, dismal days leave many of us feeling like a deflated balloon. The excitement of the holidays are past, the credit card bills have accumulated, life is back to the humdrum of normal. This is where the attitude cup is either half-full or half-empty.

For some, just thinking of spring boosts one's mood with excitement over new gardening plans, new vacation spots, and simply new life. Such personality types utilize the quiet of the winter months to calm down and reflect. For others, the cup is half-empty and they seem to always find something to pull them down, be it the weather, the news, the same old, same old.

Feeling productive, useful and needed are the keys to a healthy mental state. Disability or retirement can easily result in low spirits if one's identity had always been associated with a job title. Once that is in the past, a person may feel left behind, cut off from the familiar social groups and perhaps forgotten. Unless there is a rediscovery of one's passions and interests there is a real risk of depression. For anyone who doesn't believe the holistic view of how the mind and body are connected should live with someone feeling so despondent. Rarely feeling good can send one onto the merry-go-round of specialists, testing for one ailment after another, often with the results coming back normal. Eventually, bodily systems may break down into some form of chronic disease, since a depressed mental state pulls down one's immune system.

The solution is so very obvious, yet people often just don't see it for themselves. A person that wallows on their own problems just sinks deeper. Stop focusing on yourself! Get up, get out, get with it!

Fill your world with music, color, something to take care of, books and/or puzzles, a craft, volunteer for a cause important to you, engage in a form of spirituality, and get some exercise.

1. Music is a must to drift away into the past, reflect on life's loves, have a good cry, calm down anxieties, sing along and/or dance (you are never too old to sway, tap or dance as though no one is watching).

2. Color is a great stimulation and mood lifter.

If you love the outdoors, bring the outdoors inside to you. Bring life into your home.

Taking care of plants is beneficial in many ways. They are beautiful to look at, even bond with. They improve the quality of the air. By February or March you can bring twigs of dogwood, forsythia or cherry inside and the temperature change will fool them into going into bloom. 

 

Add new color to your decor. Paint a room, learn to stencil on either the walls or pillows, add a few pretty lap blankets or pillows to your couch, change the curtains, rearrange the pictures on the walls or even paint an original.

 

3. Read a book. It's a shame people don't read like in the past. Television really does make the mind lazy. I think TV is great entertainment when you are too tired to think about anything but it tends to deaden the mind as well.

I've always been aware that as long as I read I can remember how to spell. I used to be able to just look at a word and recognize whether it was correct. I find lately I have to look it up more and more often. Maybe it goes with age, but reading definitely keeps the mind sharp.

4. Get a pet, something to need you. Even a fish needs care. There are so many pets of all kinds who need homes. If you are older and are afraid a pet would outlive you opt for a senior pet. You're probably saving its life if from a shelter. An older pet is already housebroken, usually knows its manners and is out of the destructive stage.

  5. Plant a vegetable garden and enjoy the rewarding benefits of growing your own food. Get creative with container gardening by arranging flower pots around the doorway. Gardening is very therapeutic for the mind and body as it helps one connect with nature, get some exercise and relax.

6.  Do a puzzle. Puzzles can really pass the time. Whether its word games, crossword puzzles, or an actual 1000 piece puzzle, they are good for your brain. Use it or lose it. One must problem solve and think to keep the faculties sharp. To watch TV is simply mind dumbing entertainment.

7. Always have some sort of project started. You probably learned to do crafts or sewing projects when young and then with a busy family and/or job they just got left in the dust. Sewing, be it hand sewing such as knitting, embroidery, or machine sewing, is so very therapeutic. Completed handcrafts offer so much satisfaction when completed and are wonderful, appreciated gifts to pass on to loved ones. I look at my wall hangings and am in awe of the time and patience it took to finally finish.

8. Volunteer or periodically get together with someone.

Humans just aren't meant to be alone. Even introverts need social contact now and then. We need to feel like we have accomplished something in a day and feel productive. Especially hard for parents of grown children or retirees is the lack of purpose in life. Once you have time you'll be amazed how good it feels to offer your talents without the need to be paid. Just knowing you made someone smile or life a little easier is enough to put a smile on your own face.

Having a sense of community is one good reason being a member of a church or local organization is so emotionally rewarding. You get out, you know what is going on in the neighborhood, and you have a social network should you need help yourself.

9. Learn how to use a computer. Older folks are often very intimidated by new technology. But learning how to use e-mail and social media sites like Facebook or Google+ are great ways to connect with the outside world, children and grandchildren.

10. Start feeding the birds and get a bird identification book. It is very rewarding to watch the wild bird activity through the comfort of your warm home on a blustery day. Once you can identify the different types, you will learn their habits and migration patterns throughout the seasons. Even more fun for your viewing is to set up a bird bath as well. If you have an outdoor outlet, there are types with a heater for use in the winter. Just be sure you get a type that is lightweight enough that you can handle tipping the bowl.


11. Play with your food. Planning and preparing meals can be tiresome when hurried at the end of a busy day. But if your time is now your own, it can really be fun and creative to play around in the kitchen. Healthy eating is very important and to get in the habit of sitting down with others to eat is not only emotionally healthy for everyone, but an important part of connecting with family and friends.

12. Move your body, stretch out your back, something.You'll be amazed how good it feels to just release tension in the back and neck. Jobs today require far too much time trapped at a desk, resulting in poor posture which often leads in the need for a periodic trip to a chiropractor to get things back in alignment. Many aches and pains are the result of just not moving the body enough.

It does a world of good to feel good about yourself. 

If you feel good it shows to those around you just by how you carry yourself.

Absolutely wonderful words of wisdom:

"As it is, we are merely bolting our lives—gulping down undigested experiences as fast as we can stuff them in—because awareness of our own existence is so superficial and so narrow that nothing seems to us more boring than simple being.  If I ask you what you did, saw, heard, smelled, touched and tasted yesterday, I am likely to get nothing more than the thin, sketchy outline of the few things that you noticed, and of those only what you thought worth remembering. Is it surprising that an existence so experienced seems so empty and bare that its hunger for an infinite future is insatiable? But suppose you could answer, “It would take me forever to tell you, and I am much too interested in what’s happening now.” How is it possible that a being with such sensitive jewels as the eyes, such enchanted musical instruments as the ears, and such a fabulous arabesque of nerves as the brain can experience itself as anything less than a god? And, when you consider that this incalculably subtle organism is inseparable from the still more marvelous patterns of its environment—from the minutest electrical designs to the whole company of the galaxies—how is it conceivable that this incarnation of all eternity can be bored with being?”

~ Alan Watts, The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are