A cold but sunny day today

I haven't felt much like writing lately.  I see that my last post was around Christmas time.  Haven't written any poetry or short stories either which is very unlike me.

I am hoping the 'writing bug' will visit me again and I will start to become creative once more.

Speaking of creative, I have been having fun experimenting with different recipes using coconut oil.  Did you know that it can be used in some very useful ways?  For an example, for a conditioner for one's hair.

One of my Pakistani friends told me that she warms up some coconut oil from the grocery store either on the stove or in the microwave and pours it on her dry hair and massaging her scalp and hair so that it gets thoroughly spread through the hair.  She leaves it on for two hours and just goes about what she wants to do at home, then washes her hair with regular shampoo.

Being the very curious type that I am, I tried it myself and it did a fine job.  I would not want to do it every time I wash my hair, but I will do it from time to time.  My Personal Support Worker (PSW) told me how she uses it as well.  After washing her hair, she takes some coconut oil and warms it up in her fingers and then lightly spreads it around on her hair.  

Naturally I had to try that as well, and it gave a lovely shine to the hair plus my hair did not seem as dry when I used it.

I was also advised by these two ladies that coconut oil is used in cooking in many areas of the world so I also tried that.  I really like the taste and it does a good job.  Coconut oil is a little bit more expensive than vegetable oil for cooking though.  I suspect it is much more healthy to cook with it or with olive oil than vegetable oil.

Not only is coconut oil good for hair and a good taste for cooking, I also found a recipe for a deodorant that one can make easily at home.

Here it is:   Deodorant:

1/2 cup coconut oil (warm it up by leaving it in the bottle and putting it into a pot of hot water.

1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup baking soda
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of essential oil such as lemongrass, or lavendar, or tea tree oil.

Mix the warm coconut oil with the essential oil of your choice, then add the dry ingredients AND MIX WELL

Then transfer it into a wide mouth small jar or a plastic container.  It can be left out on the counter to harden or if you put it into the fridge, it will harden very fast.  Use as you would use with any type of deodorant that you would spread on your arm pits.

As an experiment, I found out that it worked for almost three days without having to reapply it.  Very frugal to make and works really well, at least it did for me.

Now onto another subject.  The weather here in Ontario, Canada has been very difficult this year.  Very, very cold, ice storms, snow storms and so often older folk such as myself could not go out as it was so icy and not worth the risk of falling and ending up for months on end in the hospital and rehab facilities.

I have been borrowing about twelves books at a time from the library and thankfully I have been able to renew them via the internet when they come close to the due date.

All in all, I am fine, health is not bad, getting around on the better days outside and thankful to have friends I can talk to via the telephone as well as on the internet.  

I am looking forward to seeing Spring arrive in due course though as I do enjoy getting out and going on the many trails here and being by the waterfront.

Have a good day and keep warm and snug at home.

Thanks for dropping by.