Clare Davis Etheridge

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D.I.Y. Whipped Hydrating Cream for your Face.

I have been wanting to make a whipped creamy cream for a while but I figured that I might not be popular if I used the regular hand mixer to whizz up said cream. Cake anyone?!

Today I was in Goodwill and I found a little hand mixer and a perfectly sized glass bowl, so I grabbed them and looked forward to whipping up my first lotion.

I have a couple of recipes written down so I chose one for which I had all of the ingredients and I got melting and cooling and adding and whipping.

As I have mentioned before, I don’t like to use store bought face moisturiser, so this cream is another home made option. I am thinking of making some with zinc oxide in it to make it a daily facial sunscreen.

I found this recipe in a book called Handmade Beauty by Annie Strole which I borrowed from the library. I added a touch of lavender essential oil for a lovely calming scent.

Shea and Cocoa Butter Hydrating Face Cream.

1/4 cup shea butter

1/4 cup cocoa butter

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

6 drops lavender essential oil (optional or use an oil of your choice)

Melt the shea and cocoa butter and let cool for half an hour then add the olive oil and essential oil (if using).

Chill in the fridge until partially solid. This took about an hour and the balm was soft to the touch.

Whip with a hand mixer until the cream looks pale and creamy.

Store in glass jars. I used baby food jars and it filled two.

I store the cream in the fridge, and a little goes a long way, so use it sparingly and layer it on as needed.

Even though this recipe is called face cream, there is nothing to stop you from using it everywhere from your hands to your feet via elbows and knees.

It melts very quickly into the skin and does not leave a greasy film.

I really do love making my own balms and now creams, adding lovely mixes of essential oils and learning lots about the processes and the oils themselves. It is like making a little bit of magic and being able to make practical use out of each thing I create.

That is what creating anything is really isn’t it? Making a little piece of your own magic.

Do you like to create and make things? Are you going to make some face cream, let me know how you get on!

Happy Monday x

A Bloggers Year in Books (so far).

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

I have just finished my latest read which was ‘Half Broke Horses’ by Jeanette Walls, it took me a monumental time to read as I started it while we were on vacation and every time a another book came into the library I wanted to read, I put done ‘Half Broke Horses’ to read the new book. The crazy reasoning behind this is that I own ‘Half Broke Horses’ and the books from the library are usually on a two week loan which is quite the deadline for this slow reader. The thing was, I kept starting new books and putting this one down, but a week later I would ditch the new read and carry on with ‘Horses. In this time, I started ‘The Library at Mount Char’ by Scott Hawkins which I gave up on because it was just too darn odd and violent for me. Odd I can easily deal with, I even like odd, but with violence, not so much. So back to ‘HBH’ I went. Then I started ‘Our Endless Numbered Days’ by Claire Fuller which I quite liked and I think I will go back to. I stopped reading this one because ‘All Together Now’ by Gillian Hornby came into the library and I wanted to read it because I really liked her previous book ‘The Hive’ which was hilarious. Unfortunately this new book did not catch my attention and I returned it to the library less than half read.

I know, why on earth am I writing a post about the books I half read, when surely I should be telling you about the books I actually read from one end to the other. Did I read any books from one end to the other? I am sure you are wondering!

I did make it all the way through ‘Half Broke Horses’ which was in turns historic, insightful, funny and moving. A great summer book.

The book which I brought into 2015 from 2014 was ‘The Martian’ by Andy Weir. I stormed through this book (which is not at all my reading style, I am normally more of a snail reader!), it is compelling from beginning to end. I read somewhere that it was scientifically researched and as accurate as possible from that point of view and honestly I did wonder how this would affect the book’s read. It only enhanced the story and flow of the book for me. I am looking forward to seeing the movie and as I was reading it I thought to myself that it would make a great film.

‘Ella and Otto and Russell and James’ by Emma Hooper is a character driven book and totally my kind of read, I loved all of the characters in the book and found it very thoughtful. A complete difference to ‘The Martian’, but in a good way. It has a lovely cover too!

Everyone was reading this book in the Spring, so I got it from the library with the dreaded two week deadline, ‘The Girl on the Train’ by Paula Hawkins. Probably one of the most popular books this year and one I read quite quickly (no choice there!), but I didn’t love. This is unusual for me, if I don’t completely love a book, it goes to the side to make way for the next one on the list and yes, I have a list! I didn’t hate it, but I really didn’t like any of the characters, they frankly got on my nerves! I liked that it was set in England and that was about it. So what magic did the author use to keep me reading? I don’t know, maybe peer pressure and the fact that everyone kept telling me how great it is. A touch of fear of missing out maybe? Not my favourite.

‘The Mirror World of Melody Black’ by Gavin Extence is completely my kind of book, great characters and a good story to hold them together. I loved Gavin Extence’s previous book ‘The Universe Versus Alex Woods’ which was such a great read. This new book did not disappoint and I would put it in the same boat at ‘The Rosie Project’ and ‘The Rosie Effect’ by Graeme Simsion both of which I also enjoyed. A little bit quirky with a big pinch of life and great people to read about.

The book which took me up to ‘Half Broke Horses’ was ‘The Gracekeepers’ by Kirsty Logan. I bought this one to take on holiday running the risk that I would not like it, but I did! Another quirky little number with a great combination of characters to love and to loath and plenty in between. Another gorgeous cover and a very imaginative story which flows beautifully. I left Gracekeepers in the cottage we stayed in on Cape Cod and I took ‘Horses to read. A reasonable deal I think, and hopefully lots of people have enjoyed ‘The Gracekeepers’ since I left it on the Cape.

Do you read lots of books or just a few? Speed-reader? I wish!

I must admit, I thought I had read way more than this in 2015, but when I looked back (yes, I write them in the diary), I realized that many books I was convinced I had read this year, I had actually read in 2014 or even 2013. Just shows what a terrible memory I have and why I have to write it all down!

Some of the books I want to read this year are ‘Church of Marvels’ by Leslie Parry (I am about to start this one), ‘The Illuminations’ by Andrew O’Hagan, ‘A Man came out of a Door in the Mountain’ by Adrianne Harun and ‘A Steady Running of the Hour’ by Justin Go. I wonder how many of these I will make it through.

Here are some other fab blogs to check out and see what they have been reading this year.

Happy reading!

Through The Lens Thursday #33. 9 O’Clock.

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

At 9 o’clock this morning I was just getting breakfast which consisted of toast with homemade marmalade which never really set enough and a cup of tea.

Around this time I had just walked my youngest to school and when I got home, the usual activities of a morning – checking e mail which was all trash, putting the washer on, writing my ‘what I need to do today’ list and getting ready to go to pilates and yoga classes all took me up to 9am. I know, I am an over achiever on Thursday mornings at the Y, I take an hour of yoga followed by an hour of pilates.

All of this stuff and a whole lot more, is why I am posting my 9 o’clock photo at 2 o’clock! Where do the days go? They whizz by our ears laughing at our lists as we only cross half of the items off.

And now it is almost time to go and meet my little fella from school. I wonder how today went? The beginning of a new school year is always a tough time for kids I think. New teacher, new workload, lots of new stuff to do and learn. As they get older, the homework is also harder and usually leaves me standing in the dust scratching my head! No, I am not smarter than a fifth grader, in case you were wondering.

Happy Thursday! Next week’s Home of Through The Lens Thursday prompt is Faded.

Weekly Photos 32/52

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

1. We went to the zoo this week and had a chat with the stingrays.

2. And we chatted to the seals. My two are almost too old for the zoo, but we passed a lovely couple of hours visiting some animals and snacking on over priced candy floss!

3. This weekend in humidity which resembled the rainforest, we went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens. These mosaic plants really fascinated me, so beautiful on the water, they look like they were swimming without moving. It was a happy accident that the reflection of the sun popped into the shot.

4. I missed the flowers of the Sacred Lotus, but the leaves are so amazing and the pods from the flowers are beautiful too.

5. Talking of missing things, I was sad that the Chihuly glass had gone from the white arches at the gardens the past couple of times I have visited. Now they are back! Hurrah! I must have photos of these beauties in all seasons as I never fail to get a photo of them when I visit the gardens. I think they must be one of my favorite things.

We are at the end of the summer holidays for the kids this week, back to school on Wednesday. I never thought I would say this, but the summer has flown by. We have done some stuff and lots of not much at all, but it has gone from May to August in a minute or two! Backpacks are out and ready to go, lunch boxes are at the ready and we have met the new teachers. Now I just have to get everyone up in time on the first day!

Are you on summer break? When are you back to school? Are you pleased to be sending them back off to school? The beginning of the school year is like my new year, it is often when I decide I will start new projects and set a few goals for myself. This year I plan to work on my blog design and I am going to master Photoshop if it kills me (which it might, wish me luck!).

Have a fab week ahead. x

Through The Lens Thursday #32. Sharp.

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

For this week’s ‘Through The Lens Thursday’ project photo, the prompt is ‘sharp’. I emptied my pin tin of sharp contents among some not so sharp contents.

Next week’s prompt is ‘9 o clock’. I wonder if I will remember at 9am or 9pm? We shall see!

Grey Hair, Don’t Care.

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

Processed with VSCOcam with se1 preset

Here I am to report on the hair situation. It is all grey, not even a teeny bit of dye left, it has been that way for a couple of months now and I like it!

I also like that I don’t have to dye it at all ever ever ever again, although I have been thinking about going purple which may colour the grey bits or it may not. Either way purple would be a temporary move.

At the beginning of the summer, I wondered if the sun and heat would alter the colour at all, make it yellow or dry it to a frizz, but I seem to have got away with it because neither has happened. Phew!

It is in great condition and I am super happy about that even when it is at it’s most floppy and unco-operative, bearing in mind that in my world of hair styling, unruly hair means it won’t tuck beind my ear and stay out of my eyes.

Did you see that Kate Middleton has a few greys (she may have had them covered by royal appointment by now of course)? All kinds of people getting their knickers in a knot over that. Isn’t it funny how people are criticised for their ‘natural’ look. No-one gets all hot under the collar if we don’t wear make-up, so why should hair be any different? I don’t know if more people are letting their hair go natural or whether I am just more aware of it because I took the decision to stop dyeing mine.

I recently started using shampoo especially for grey hair which is not easy to get hold of! I just wanted to use a regular drugstore brand shampoo formulated for grey instead of the $16 a bottle fancy stuff. I found Pantene Silver Expressions and bought the shampoo and conditioner which I wasn’t sure was doing anything apart from leaving blue blobs wherever I washed my hair! Both products are blue, but they don’t color anything blue. However when I look back at photos from a few months ago my hair did seem to have a slight yellow touch to it which it doesn’t now, so maybe it is the shampoo or maybe just how it ends up naturally as the grey develops and settles.

I also use a hair oil (Suave Moroccan Hair oil is the one I use) every time I wash my hair. I just dry my hair to damp, then squirt 4 or 5 blobs of oil onto my hands and work it into my hair. It never feels oily as it soaks right in. In fact hair oil is something I want to make myself, so when I get a good recipe I will be sure to share.

As for styling, I just wash, tuck it behind my ears and go! I know, I am a hair stylist’s nightmare!!

Oh, the sunnies are from Zero UV in case you where wondering. They have lots of super fun styles!

Weekly Photos 31/52.

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

1. It doesn’t seem like a week ago that I was sweating out my body weight at Vans Warped Tour here in St Louis.
2. The bridge is being painted, but the leaves are ignoring the signs.
3. In garden news, I harvested my first aubergine this week and it is sitting in the fridge waiting for me to figure out how to make it tasty. It is only a small one, so maybe I see ratatouille in our future. Do you like aubergines? What would you do with a small one?
4. In other garden news, the tomatoes are ripening nicely. This branch has a pretty ombre thing going on don’t you think?!

I can’t believe the kids go back to school next week! Yikes, better get the supplies all sorted. Erasers, tissues, notebooks which will get three pages written in all year, hand sanitizer and of course endless pencils to sharpen. This year we also need ear buds for more ‘electronic device’ based learning, how long until we don’t need pencils and paper anymore for class? I hope that never happens but I wonder.

Whatever you are up to this week, have a great one!

The August break, joining in with film photos.

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

I am joining in with Susannah Conway this year again and taking a photo a day for The August Break. There are daily prompts which can be taken on whichever camera you may choose. I am lucky enough to have a Minolta 35mm camera from 1980 something, so I am planning to take each photo with that. So unless I also take a digital picture too, I won’t be posting everyday until I get the film developed.
Hopefully I will snap other photos with my camera along the way, and use up the film so that I can get them printed a couple of times during August and see what I came up with.
Will I get a serious case of ‘fear of missing out’ if I don’t post an Instagram August Break picture daily? Maybe, but I think I will just stick to the film camera and see how they come out. Hopefully not all out of focus or wrongly exposed.
Just think, this is how we took all photos only a few years ago, no looking at the picture immediately to check it. No taking 20 photos of the same thing (unless you had a lot of film available!). What a film camera does give you is that gift of the photo you didn’t expect, the photo you had forgotten you had taken or the one which came out differently to how you planned it.
And of course, you have them in your hand, to flick through, pass around and enjoy. I like to look at photos on a phone or iPad, but I love to look at them printed on good ole fashioned paper and store them in an album for future browsing.
So, I shall be taking a photo a day for The August Break and showing them in blog posts as and when I get them printed. Fingers crossed for focus and success and pleasant surprises.

Are you joining in with The August Break? Do you do any other photo a day things?

Through the Lens Thursday #31 Shadow

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

My little basil plants are showing off their shadows today. It is a bright sunny day, so the shadows are nice and crisp.

Next week’s prompt is ‘Sharp’.

Happy Thursday!

‘Taking Stock’ July 2015

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

We only half way through the week and it has been a good one so far. On Monday I went to Vans Warped Tour with my teen and it was one of the hottest days of the year so far. It was a good hearted day as Warped usually is, the bands perform with gusto and will often host a signing which is a marvelous thing for the fans.

My complete life saver that day was my Bohemian Traders scarf which is big and light and keeps the sun off my neck like a dream. Wearing a scarf didn’t make me any hotter, I don’t think I could have been any hotter no matter what I wore, or didn’t wear!

At the end of the sweltering day in true St Louis style, there was a massive thunder storm and we got soaked to the skin! Always an experience, what would a day out be without some crazy weather to remember it by.

I am about to write some letters with the new stationery I received from Uguisu in Japan and it is so pretty and fabulous I am not sure I will want to part with it! It is perforated every few lines so that you can write a mini note and it will look just as lovely as a three page letter. What a great idea, and on such beautiful prints too. Oh yes, I also ordered a very cute ‘zine full of drawings and photos to inspire all day long.

We are heading out into the bazillion degree heat for a swim (indoors) in a few minutes, but before that, I thought I would do a little stock take for July. ‘Taking Stock’ is an fun idea from Pip at Meet Me At Mikes, if you fancy a go, there is a blank list at the end of this post for you to copy and fill in. I like to fill in my responses to the list as quickly as I can while still making sense, just to see where my mind is at right now. And go!

Making : Coconut blueberry muffins.
Cooking : As little as possible because it is so hot, I hardly want the oven on, but I still made those muffins!
Drinking : Water water and more water along with cold brew coffee which I keep in the fridge and mix with milk when I fancy a coffee treat.
Reading: ‘All Together Now’ by Gill Hornby, she is so funny and observant, I love her books.
Wanting: The heat to cool down a little, so I can leave the house without the sun trying to cook me.
Looking: At my new stationery and loving the designs on it.
Playing: Ker-plunk, Jenga and Battleships.
Deciding: When to start the new jigsaw puzzle we just borrowed from the library
Wishing: I knew how to use Illustrator and Photoshop.
Enjoying: Swimming in a cool pool.
Waiting: For the ‘blue moon’ this week.
Liking: Sandwiches from Jimmy Johns, delivered to the door!
Wondering: How many calories are in that sandwich.
Loving: My Fitness Pal on the phone, it seems to be working, I am losing a few pounds, slowly but surely.
Pondering: How best to take indoor photos.
Considering: A tarot card reading for the full moon (blue moon) on Friday.
Buying: Art supplies for the ‘Inspiration Information’ course which starts on Monday.
Watching: ‘Grace and Frankie’ and documentaries on PBS.
Hoping: There is a new season of Grace and Frankie soon.
Marvelling: At how fast tomatoes, chilies and aubergines grow once they get started.
Cringing: At how many of my tomatoes I am sharing with my garden buddies…
Needing: Lots of good salad ideas for the hot days ahead.
Questioning: Why stuff isn’t growing so well in my raised beds? I think they need an over haul in the Spring.
Smelling: Tomato plants, the best smell of the summer.
Wearing: T shirt, skirt and flip flops.
Following: My nose.
Noticing: The months pass by, July is almost August.
Knowing: School starts again in two weeks.
Thinking: We need to get school supplies and backpacks.
Admiring: The mail carriers who must be melting away in this heat.
Sorting: What we need for school. Shoes, bags, lunch boxes, pencils…
Getting: Ready to start knitting a scarf for the winter (this one, or next, we shall see).
Bookmarking: Where I am in all the magazines I am trying to read. They all have bookmarks in!
Coveting: New winter boots.
Disliking: That my kids are both in men’s shoe sizes.
Opening: ‘The Grammar of Ornament’ book and marveling at all the ideas which are leaping out at me.
Giggling: At my kid all dressed to go swimming.
Feeling: Sore from Barre class this morning (in a good way!)
Snacking: ‘Inner Peas’ from Trader Joes are so good and may even be a little bit healthy!
Helping: Make model planes and soldiers.
Hearing: BBC radio whenever I can.

Here is a blank list for you to fill in if you want.

Making :
Cooking :
Drinking :
Reading:
Wanting:
Looking:
Playing:
Deciding:
Wishing:
Enjoying:
Waiting:
Liking:
Wondering:
Loving:
Pondering:
Considering:
Buying:
Watching:
Hoping:
Marvelling:
Cringing:
Needing:
Questioning:
Smelling:
Wearing:
Following:
Noticing:
Knowing:
Thinking:
Admiring:
Sorting:
Getting:
Bookmarking:
Coveting:
Disliking:
Opening:
Giggling:
Feeling:
Snacking:
Helping:
Hearing: