♥Hi Friends!

Just a little update on my lilacs from one of my previous posts. I have three of these little bundles on my small but growing bush.  I didn’t get a pic when they were at their finest but this is what they looked like today!  And just in time for ‘Earth Day’!

In case you missed it, yesterday was ‘Earth Day’!  I’ve read up a bit about how it got started (go here and here for some info) and I appreciate the efforts of those who wanted to set aside a day every year to help bring awareness to what we can do to help keep Mother Earth PHYSICALLY HEALTHY and thriving.  And so it seemed fitting as we just celebrated the 46th anniversary of this event that I opine a minute about my thoughts of taking care of Mother Earth, global warming (or climate change as they now call it), and what I think we can do to help in this endeavor.

We as children of God were blessed and hard-wired with amazing SPIRITUAL, PHYSICAL and EMOTIONAL self-HEALING gifts and energy.  I mean why wouldn’t we be?  God is after all our Father!  And hopefully if you read my blog, you understand that requires some effort on our part to truly benefit from the blessings (through the Atonement) that come with those divine gifts.  (After all, another one of our gifts is that of choice!)  If we do not do the things necessary to feed and nourish our SPIRITS, BODIES and MINDS so that we can rid ourselves of the SPIRITUAL, PHYSICAL and EMOTIONAL toxins in our lives, we create a thriving environment for disease.  It’s pretty simple.

I don’t have to look far to be reminded of the amazing gift Earth is to us.  Whether it’s taking in the fall colors on a drive along the Alpine Loop, hiking the red rocks in Capital Reef, walking along Laguna Beach at night with my Honey (okay that’s a little far from my home), or simply laying in my backyard and soaking up the HEALING energy that she, Mother Earth, has to give.  All of this and more allows me to feel her HEALING SPIRIT.  And I believe she has been hard-wired also to HEAL herself.  But, since we are stewards of this amazing planet, we too share some responsibility for her welfare.

What does that mean?  To me anyway?  There are more people on this planet than in any other time in history.  (By the way, I don’t think that’s a problem since it’s the last days and Father is sending the rest of His children down here to receive a BODY and be tested and tried so that we can return and live with Him again! Yay!)  We are constantly reminded in the media of the toll all these people are having on the Earth.  There’s a hole in the ozone layer, our air is UNHEALTHY to breathe, our water is polluted with chemicals, the ice is melting in the Arctic, the Earth’s temperature is rising, and let me tell you I’m not debating all of that.  We should do what we can to be wise stewards by eating cleaner, walking more and driving less, recycling and reducing household waste, and changing out our toxic chemicals for those don’t pollute our ground water (along with a myriad of other things).  But, I think we miss the correlation between where the citizens of our planet are headed SPIRITUALLY and the effect it has on the SPIRITUAL well-being of Mother Earth and in turn her PHYSICAL well-being.  Truly!  Sin, selfishness, sadness, and a whole host of other SPIRITUAL and EMOTIONAL toxins are prevalent in every city, state, country and continent.  And if you work to educate yourself and understand the SPIRIT/BODY/MIND connection, you will develop a reverence for, and it will become clear to you how that also connects us to, other people and the animals and the Earth.  I truly believe Earth’s capacity to detoxify all the PHYSICAL toxins we throw at her is hindered by the SPIRITUAL toxins we also throw at her.  With all the toxic overload she becomes diseased.  Obedience can be a hard thing.  And therefore taking responsibility for our SPIRITUALLY destructive behavior is getting more and more difficult for many of the human population.

“Sodom and Gomorrah” is alive and well here.  The problem is that it’s not contained to one city or location anymore.  But, we’ve been told through prophesy that the closer to Christ’s return we get the crazier things will be!  So although I don’t like it, I take comfort in knowing I am a part of these glorious last days of helping those I can come unto Christ!  And I rejoice at the opportunity!

In the end, along with recycling plastic and riding our bikes to work, I hope we can try a little harder to more honest, kind, and full of integrity so that we can be directed by our SPIRITUAL promptings to become beacons of SPIRITUAL, PHYSICAL and EMOTIONAL light and HEALING to the those we share Mother Earth with!

♥I love Mother Earth!  And I love you!

P.S. Click here to watch a little video about the Earth and our relationship to and stewardship over her!

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(I’ll share on another post some more of my laundry tips.  But today we’re talking detergent and spot cleaners.)  One day I may try to come up with a homemade laundry detergent.  They are all over the internet.  But for now, here’s a shot of the ‘safe-for-Mother-Earth-and-the-environment-and-works-really-great-and-is-cost-effective’ laundry detergent I use.  I even went out in my backyard to take the picture for the wow effect (I’m so clever!?!)

I get this jumbo 210 oz container at ‘COSTCO’ for about $13.  A smaller version is available at ‘TARGET’.  Target also has a Seventh Generation brand that I’ve used before.  This also happen to be an ingredient in the following recipe for my spot cleaner.

♥♥♥UPDATED RECIPE!!!  See my May 14th post!♥♥♥

GRANDMA KATIE’S SPOT REMOVER

• 6 cups water
• 60 capsules of Now Plant Enzymes
• 2 cups Dr. Bronner’s Unscented Baby Mild Castille Soap (You can use any scent.  I buy this in the gallon which is a chunk of money, but it comes in smaller sizes like the size shown here in the link.)
• 2 cups Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds Biodegradable Cleaner
• 2 cups Ecos Laundry Detergent or any green environmentally friendly laundry detergent
•  1  1/2 cups Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Laundry Detergent
• empty 1 gallon container
• 1 spray bottle
• Fels Naptha (‘WALMART’)

In medium glass bowl open and pour/smush/tap enzymes out of veggie caps.  Pour 3 cups of water over enzymes and mix with wire whisk until there are no clumps.  Using a funnel pour in to empty gallon container.  (I used an empty and rinsed vinegar bottle.)  Add rest of ingredients to container and gently shake.  Pour in to spray bottle for easy use.  Spray on underarms, collars or grease stains.  Using on of the ends wipe Fels Naptha over sprayed area.  Let sit 15 minutes for colored and 1 hour for whites.  For really greasy stains, saturate with the spot cleaner and really rub in the Fels.  You may need to let the clothes sit over night or for several hours before washing.

 

I’m not sure scientifically why all these products combined together work so well to get out spots and armpit stains.  As always, it wasn’t my recipe.  With a little thought and inspiration about some of my products I had at home, along with a trip to ‘TARGET’ to figure out the last couple of ingredients, this is what I came up with.  This spot cleaner would work nicely on carpets.  Spray and let sit, scrub with a wet rag, repeating, until spot is gone.  Pour hot water where spot was and cover with towel.  Soak up excess soap by standing on towel and repeating with the hot water and different dry parts of the towel until soap is gone.  Love this!

 

Fels Naptha has been around since 1893 according to Wikipedia.  I didn’t have a packaged bar.  I had an extra and gave it to my daughter because believe me, they last long!  But here’s what it looks like!