Great Quotes

"The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak." -Hans Hofmann

Great Quotes

"The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease." -Voltaire

Monsoon Monday

Just had another "monsoon" pass through the area. I love the rain, and I really love rain storms, but this having to shut my computers down and loose my train-of-thought for work purposes really stinks! Ugh!

Enjoy....

"Don’t just eat the food, enjoy the food
Don’t just drink the beverage, enjoy the beverage
Don’t just go for a walk, enjoy the walk
Don’t just live your life, enjoy your life"
{author unknown}

Great Quotes

"Healing comes when the individual remembers his or her identity—the purpose chosen in the world of ancestral wisdom—and reconnects with that world of Spirit." -Malidoma Patrice Somé

Creative Works....

I love all the creative works that I create....even the works that find themselves in a digital or tangible trash can. Some get trashed because, after being created, they didn't/don't portray the essence of what I had imagined. It doesn't mean that they weren't/aren't good, or great, it just means that my vision wasn't/isn't fulfilled in them the way I had wanted/hoped. Some of those works may make the "cut" for a future idea I might have. Or not. Nonetheless, they are still loved, because a piece of me, a part of my imagination, heart, and soul is forever in them.

{by me}

Missing You....

The thoughts, the visions, and the dreams of a soul; a soul that, throughout life, has been the tortured spirit of a fatal attraction. An attraction due to a love affair, a past tribal pact, or maybe, just maybe a long line of tainted blood. Dare we walk together....but how do we walk apart....

{by me}

Live Life to The Fullest....

Live & love passionately...with no symbolic walls....because if pain, disappointment, anger is in the future cards, then it's going to happen no matter how much or little you put yourself out there. So fully enjoy the moments, the choices, the things that make you happy & satisfied. Don't hold back because of fear. If, and when the times comes for hurt, or discouragement, just trust your Guides to carry you through with wisdom, health, patience, love, and respect. And thank Them for giving you the opportunity to grow.

{by me}

Guide Talking...

"While we are sleeping, angels have conversations with our souls." -Author Unknown

Happy People....

"The happiest people don’t worry too much about whether life is fair or not, they just get on with it." -Andrew Matthews

Waiting For Spring....

The first few snows are pretty. It's great walking in the woods and on the trail during & after them. But then the long, gray, cold, dark winter with its' snow & solitude become a demon bitch that feeds off ones aching, lonely, disgusted soul.

So I say, come on spring, come on and embrace me with your colors and warm breezes!

{by me}

Life Balance....

Life has to be balanced. It has to have ups & downs, Yin & Yang, good & bad, happy & sad. Otherwise we wouldn't grow, we wouldn't learn, evolve into strong, understanding, wise creatures. We wouldn't learn to love, to chance things, to move on & up. We wouldn't be able to tell the difference between what should be & what shouldn't, between the wrong & the correct. We wouldn't know true happiness, true love, true peace, true faith, true fear, true accomplishment. We wouldn't be able to discover ourselves or our goals. Our life's journey would be mundane, moot, unfulfilled, even boring. It's not that we should "jump for joy" at mishaps, mistakes, pain, etc. But we should embrace them enough to know that they are making us stronger, more capable creatures able to go on and reach our potential and the wisdom & understanding that we are meant to.

{by me}

Words of Wisdom

"Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time." -Betty Smith

Fights Don't Always Linger

Hubs brought them home for me....both my camera & I thanked him!

©Donna M Condida :: None of my images are in the Public Domain :: If you'd like to use one of my images (for any purpose), please contact me at donna.m @ donnamcondida [dot] com

Black Ointment...Wonderful Ointment!

One of my nieces, while 'sprinting' across her wood floor, encountered a 'splinter of wood' in her foot. Ouch! Yeah, it kind of, sort of left her in pain, in need of some time off from work, and visiting endless doctors who invasively tried to remove the splinter.

{auntie herbal to the rescue} I supplied my niece with Comfrey leaves and instructions on how to soak her foot to both remove the splinter of wood, and to heal her foot. It's an easy recipe, just add a handful of Comfrey leaves to a cup, pour boiling water over the herb, let infuse for 10-minutes, then strain and add the Comfrey infused water to an Epsom salt foot bath. Soak for at least 15 to 20 minutes. {Comfrey is a healing, soothing, loving herb that is fantastic for bruises, scraps, swelling, etc. It's comforting, hence the name. I literally carry it (and Yarrow, reduces or stops bleeding and Lavender, bee stings, I'm allergic to bees, ugh) on me at all times, for those "oh crap" moments that may be encountered while out in the wilds of the world}

I also supplied my niece with some Black Drawing Ointment. Ahhh, you know the stuff...wonderful, isn't it! My first experience with it was when I, myself, had a terribly sore splinter in my hand as a child. My Grandmother filled a small soaking basin with some infused herbal waters and Epsom salts. She encouraged me to soak my hand for as long as I could tolerate. Which for a child wasn't that long, but it was sufficient. After my hand was dried, my Grandmother reached for this strange-smelling black salve (tallow to a vegetarian, what). I giggled with delight, for even as a small child I loved anything black...clothes, shoes, jewelry, markers, pastels, and now this awesome salve!!! Whoa! And it was black, black as charcoal...and I love it!!

Lo & behold, between soaking my hand and that silky smooth [peculiar smelling] black salve, that pesky sliver came out of my skin. {oh happy day}

So now here I am in present day, supplying my niece with ingredients, instructions, and the wonderful black ointment that my dear Grandmother so highly regarded. {I too highly regard black ointment, I have never not had black ointment in my home, love the stuff}

In honor of my niece and her "ouchie boo-boo" (laughing yet Krista), here's some recipes I found along my cyberspace travels today. I have my own awesome, dearly loved recipe that I won't give out...but these recipes, minus the tallow, are just as good as my own. Enjoy...and remember, black salve/ointment is a must have for every home!

This first recipe is from The Nerdy Farm Wife...love her blog, love her recipes > http://thenerdyfarmwife.com/drawing-salve/

This second recipe is from Wellness Mama...another blog I love, and recipes I love as well >> http://wellnessmama.com/8364/black-drawing-salve-recipe/

And finally this third recipe is from a blog I newly discovered, but have come to love just as well, Live In Art >>> http://www.liveinart.org/2013/06/black-drawing-salve-recipe.html

Give one, or all of these recipes a try...and be sure to come back & comment to let me know how you did and what you think of black ointment.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Pins & Needles, Needles & Pins....

Humans irk me. Not all of them. But a good portion of them. I won't get into details of why. It would take to long to write, and to read. And no one really needs to know exactly why. But they do. They irk me.

And each of us, at one time or another, has felt this way, or close to this way. We all get "irked". Minor irks, major irks, I'm going to kick you in the face irks.

It's part of the struggles we all face. No getting away from struggles...or getting away from being irked.

Lies. They really irk me. A lot. Especially when the person telling the lie is not a good person. When that person overlooks their faults and constantly justifies their "reasons" for doing, or not doing what they do/did, and when they manipulate others to believe what they want them to, like the lies. And then they go public with those lies. Unless you're hoping to get caught, why the Hell would you go public with the lie....like Internet public, social media public! {going 'social media public' shows a lot for someone's character doesn't it} The drama.

I recently had something revealed to me. Actually a few things. But the few things aren't bothering me. It's the one thing that has me irked. The most recent thing. Because it's an awful lie. And it's sad, sad that humans, creatures with souls tell such awful lies.

What I'd really like to do is place a horribly "cute" doll near this person's house. To irk them. Okay, okay, to scare them. Hmm...

But that's not me. Well, it is, but that would be the humorous, theatrical me. Not the real me. It would be fun though, right?!

So with that said, I'll just leave this at humans irk me.

What usually stops me from harming humans? My Yoga practice, meditation, Nature, my Spiritual beliefs, music, chocolate, and wine.

Yoga practice – helps me focus on "letting it be".
Meditation – shows me how to believe in "let it be".
Nature – teaches me how to just be.
Spiritual beliefs – holds me close, whispers "let it be", and soothes my soul, and temper.
Music – relaxes me, pushes me to dance or sing away my problems.
Chocolate – because eating chocolate is much more satisfying, sometimes.
Wine – because by the time I’m ready to harm someone, I’m too tired and just want to go to bed.

But I must forewarn everyone; if ever you see me practicing Yoga, in a trance-like state, in my gorgeously enchanted & naturally cared for yard, while chanting to my Spirit Guides, with music playing loudly, and chocolate in one hand & a glass of wine in the other, I warn you, look away, keep walking, do not approach me, and do not try to gain my attention...because I'm probably curing my irk....and you don't want to come between my irk and its' "cure". {although, we can use a few more frogs for our backyard pond, teeheehee}

Talking With Spiders

From the time I was very young, until just several years ago, I feared spiders. {ewww, creepy} I always thought it had something to do with the fact that older kids, okay, older boys would catch Daddy-Longlegs (also known as Harvestmen) and chase me, threatening to put the spiders on me. {I know, Harvestmen aren't technically 'spiders', but tell that to a 5-year-old girl}

I wasn't the type of person who would go running & screaming when I saw a spider. I would just back-up from it & scream (a sound that resembled a high-pitched Mermaid shriek). I think I scared more people from my scream than what possible fear the spider may have caused.

As I grew, I battled with this fear on a daily basis, especially during the warm season. When I got my first place, and lived alone, I had no choice but to 'put on big girl panties and deal with spiders'. Which, by the way, wasn't that easy for someone with minor arachnophobia.

Funny thing, even with my fear of spiders, I would sit and watch entire "B" horror movies about the giant spiders that terrorized towns; and there were plenty of those movies when I was growing-up.

My fear, at times, was so great that when my hubs was at work, if I came across a spider in the house, I begged forced commanded would ask our daughter to catch the spider and take him/her outside. Yeah, this made me feel so very brave and parent-like. Apparently our daughter has very good 'spider removal skills' though. She now catches & releases spiders in her own home, at the request of her husband; another person suffering from arachnophobia.

Daily To-Do = Daily Struggles

::Monday Morning:: Started this week with every inch of my being determined to finish each of my daily to-do lists.

::Monday Early Afternoon:: Determination is still strong. It's a driving force that's pushing me forward. Things are moving along smoothly. Yay for focus!

::Monday Mid-Afternoon:: WTF? Where did the day go?! My Monday's to-do list doesn't even look like it's been tampered with. Disgust is setting in.

::Monday Late Afternoon:: I practice Yoga. I'm beyond this 'kicking-myself-in-the-butt' for not accomplishing things I set out to do. Yep, sure, I'm seriously trying to believe this!

::Monday Evening:: A few things checked-off my to-do list. It makes me happy...a little. But I had these huge dreams for today, this week. I think I just blew those dreams out-of-the-water. But perhaps not. Hmmm...still hopeful.

::Monday Night:: I give-up! There's only so much that can be done in one day. So I didn't complete more than half of my "Monday's to-do list"....I'll just try to squeeze in some of today's to-do list into tomorrow's. And if not, well, I have a whole week to bitch about it get done what I need to get done. I can do this!!

What did I get done on Monday?

• All of the herbal oils I set-out to infuse, are infusing. Check.