Julie B. Montgomery's : A Blog of Beautiful Things

A LITTLE GAME WITH NUMBERS: Excerpt from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

2011-04-17T08:32:00.000-07:00

Recently I read Betty Smith's classic, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Amazing book. Set in the early 1900s, the protagonist, Francie, is a young girl learning her sums and creates a little game with them.

Now every time I see a grouping of numbers, a grocery store receipt, an address, telephone numbers, I can't help find Francie's "story" in the numbers! I dedicate this entry to all my accountant and banker friends. Enjoy!

"She liked numbers and sums. She devised a game in which each number was a family member and the “answer” made a family grouping with a story to it. Naught (zero) was a babe in arms. He gave no trouble. Whenever he appeared you just “carried” him. The figure 1 was a pretty baby girl just learning to walk, and easy to handle: 2 was a baby boy who could walk and talk a little. He went into family life(into sums,etc) with very little trouble. And 3 was the older boy in kindergarten, who had to be watched a little. Then there was 4, a girl of Francie’s age. She was almost as easy to “mind” as 2. The mother was 5, gentle and kind. In large sums, she came along and made everything easy the way a mother should. The father, 6, was harder than the others but very just. But 7 was mean. He was a crotchety old grandfather and not at all accountable for how he came out. The grandmother, 8, was hard too, but easier to understand than 7. Hardest of all was 9. He was company and what a hard time fitting him into family life!

When Francie added a sum, she would fix a little story to go with the result. If the answer was 924, it meant that the little boy and girl were being minded by company while the rest of the family went out. When a number such as 1024 appeared, it meant that all the little children were playing together in the yard. The number 62 meant that the papa was taking the little boy for a walk: 50 meant that mama had the baby out in the buggy for an airing and 78 meant grandfather and grandmother sitting home by the fire of a winter’s evening. Each single combination of numbers was a new set-up for the family and no two stories were ever the same."

Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,pg.167, Harper Perennial,1947

SLEEP DEPRIVATION + JET LAG REMEDIES

2010-12-11T17:51:00.000-08:00

Need a little help staying awake and feeling refreshed. These remedies are perfect for parents with under five year olds and for weary world travelers.

1. Rub your feet with oil (sesame, olive, almond) for 5 minutes. Do the same for your hands. Gently rub and tug your ears for 1 minute. All the nerve endings to your entire body are in you feet, hands, ears and solar plexus. Rubbing these areas stimulates your whole system.

2. Bach Flower Tincture OLIVE. This remedy is for emotional and physical exhaustion. Four drops under the tongue. Available at health food stores.

3. Place your fists under your sitz bones. Sit on your fists for 10 minutes. This is the equivalent to aerobic exercise for one hour.

4. Meditate using TM for 20 minutes. This is the equivalent to 3 hours sleep.

5. Place your feet up against a wall for 20 minutes. For those of you advanced in yoga, do a headstand for 10-15 minutes. When we sleep the blood in our body circulates differently because we are lying down for eight hours. Inverting the body brings the blood to our upper region bringing refreshment and circulation.

6. With a wooden or plastic spoon, mix ¼ of a teaspoon baking soda(sodium bicarbonate) in 8 ounces of water. Mix and wait till liquid is clear. Drink. This alkalizes the body. Do not use if your system is sensitive to sodium.

7. For jet lag: Take a homeopathic remedy made specifically for this purpose. Available at your local health food store.

8. For jet lag: Take 2 capsules of dried ginger every 4 hours with food beginning 12 hours before your journey, continuing through your flight and through the day after you have arrived at your destination. If you sleep for more than four hours at a time, simply take the ginger with food after waking. Do not take if your stomach is sensitive to dried ginger.

9. For jet lag: Sip plenty of water the day before you travel, during the flight, and the day after travel.

10. For jet lag: Before you begin your journey take a shower. When your skin is still damp, cover your body with oil (sesame, olive or almond), wait a few minutes and gently pat down your body with a towel or paper towel. Do again when arriving at your destination or hotel. This helps nourish the skin against the dehydration that comes with air travel.

INSPIRING SPEECH

2010-11-20T09:25:00.000-08:00

photos Julie B Montgomery

In 2005, Steve Jobs, of Apple Computer and Pixar Animation, gave this speech to the graduating class at Stanford University. He urges students to pursue their dreams and see the opportunities in the setbacks of life. I know it's a little long for a blog entry but I couldn't help myself as it inspired me to tears. It's worth the read. Enjoy!

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots. I dropped out of Reed College after the first six months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another eighteen months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And seventeen years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out okay. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the seven miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it’s likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - yogurt, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.I was lucky - I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parent’s garage when I was twenty. We worked hard, and in 1ten years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over four thousand employees. We had just released our finest creation- the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I had just turned thirty. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at thirty I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me - I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I had a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was seventeen, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as

if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past thirty three years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next ten years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, thity five years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. Thank you all very much." - Steve Jobs - June 2005

POWER OF ECLIPSE

2010-06-08T07:54:00.000-07:00

We're coming up to another eclipse this month. June 26, Lunar Eclipse 4:30 am PST. Below are some interesting thoughts from a Rinpoche about eclipses. I encourage you to harness a little of this potent eclipse energy and schedule some meditation time, whether it's primordial sound with a mantra, or the one minute meditation (see former posting), or simply whatever makes your heart sing. Maybe spending some time in the garden, making art, baking a cake or getting on all fours and playing and laughing with a child.

Lama Drimed

An announcement from Khenpo Sotagye Larong Monastery:

"According to Kalachakra Tantra, any postive action committed during the days or periods of solar or lunar eclipse, its merits get multiplied thousands and millions of times. Before HH Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche passed into parinirvana, he had been emphasizing practice on these particular days. Sangha are encouraged to vastly engage in positive deeds and refrain from negative actions or wrong-doings, recite mantra, release life, adopt vegetarian diet, or entering a Nyung-ne retreat. All of these activities are extraordinary ways to accumulate virtue."

Image Cornell University

Lovely Tree Poem

2010-05-09T09:18:00.000-07:00

click image to see larger

Trees

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the earth's sweet flowing breast:

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear,

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

by Sergeant Joyce Kilmer 1886-1918

Blossoming Cherry Tree, drawing from the sketchbook of Julie B Montgomery, Copenhagen, 2002

I dedicate this poem to all mothers, especially mine, who models creativity in everything she does. Happy Mother's Day.

GROUNDING: A One Minute Meditation

2010-05-02T17:53:00.000-07:00

photo Julie B Montgomery

Bumping in to tables? Can't make a decision? Feeling the need to be grounded? Try this simple method for 1- 10 minutes a day. Great for everyone! This method has saved me over and over. I ground everything from what I don't want, what I do want, inspiration, lack of inspiration, my fears, hopes, paintings... even "the answer to the question, what's the best thing to do about blah blah blah". The only thing I don't ground is Henri, my four year old. Our children naturally ground thru us, however it's unhealthy for a parent to ground thru a child. So take a minute and let it all go. The Earth will keep you safe.

One Minute Grounding Meditation:

1. Sit in a chair with both feet on the ground and your arms at your sides.

2. Center: Imagine a gold ball in the center of your head.

3. Acknowledge: Place yourself in the center of your head and say hello to yourself.

4. Ground: Imagine a cord from the base of your spine to the center of the planet.

5. Clean: Drain what you don't want down the grounding cord. You can also send down what you do want.

6. Call Back: Imagine your energy as particles connecting you to others or events. Call your energy back to you.

For a guided meditation via youtube in three parts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa-ZmwokWaU&feature=related
www.psychichorizons.com
For a guided meditation via a real person contact john@holdenpt.com

RUSH HOUR HYMN

2010-04-24T08:40:00.000-07:00

Looking for beauty in traffic...

Blank Blue "Eyes Closed" from hsugi on Vimeo.

Found on http://www.tinylightbulb.blogspot.com

FINDING SLEEP

2010-04-11T19:25:00.000-07:00

Here are some nurturing ideas for getting a good night’s rest:

1. Go to bed at around the same time every night. Do the same routine. ie. put on slippers, brush teeth, wash face, read book, close eyes. If it's the same every night it will signal to the body… sleep is coming soon.

2. Lavender Essential Oil, a drop in the pillow. Very calming.

3. Massage your feet before bed. Dry massage is good, a warm oil massage with sesame oil even better. Add a few drops of Lavender to the bottle of oil, who wouldn't fall asleep. Great for children and babies. See "skin" label to the right for dreamy skin oil recipes for different skin types.

4. In Aryurveda difficulty sleeping/ falling asleep is a vata disorder. Simply put, the nervous system is out of balance. Warm oil ingested in your food and placed on your skin will feed and calm your nerves. Eating warm, cooked foods instead of raw also helps. Drinking a cup of heated milk (heat till it begins to bubble on the sides of the pan) You can also steep a pinch of saffron, or add few drops of ghee to the milk. Great for children and babies.

5. Have a journal next to your bed so you can write down anything that may be on your mind and let the book take care of it for you.

6. Bach Flower Remedies makes some really lovely tinctures that are wonderful as a sleep aid. I’ve also used these a lot when traveling or overworked. There are different remedies for different kinds of sleep issues. You can find them at health food stores or at www.bachflower.com

7. Take the television out of the bedroom. Limit screen time (computer included) before bed. Watching screens stimulates/ over stimulates the nervous system.

8. Count backwards from 100, visualizing each number. note: If you are accountant this may not work for you. My insomniac accountant friend says she likes to imagine sewing the sleep and waking worlds together.

9. Remember just the simple act of lying down for eight hours will give you all the rest you need, especially if you are relaxed and calm. So take a few deep breaths and enjoy putting your feet up for a long while. You deserve it.

10. If you wake up at 3 am and can't go back to sleep it may be one of two things. 2-6 am is the vata time of night ruling the nervous system and creativity. To calm vata, rub sesame oil gently across your forehead in one motion, a drop in the belly button and on your feet to calm. I've also heard an alternative idea that it's your creativity calling you and to get up and write or draw or create enjoying the serene quiet of the early morning. Then catch up on the rest by meditating.

These ideas are not intended to be medical advice.

EASTER: If you make it, they will come.

2010-04-04T19:34:00.000-07:00

photo Julie B Montgomery

Traditionally, in my family, Easter is a really big deal, sometimes as big as Christmas. What a wonderful thing it is to truly celebrate in the birth of spring. My Russian heritage brings to the table the infamous Pascha (pos-ka): a special cheesecake molded in a flowerpot, decorated with fresh flowers and eggs and only made on Easter.

On Saturday while making the Pascha, I realized I had no idea who, if anybody, would be joining me for breakfast the next day. My four year old, Henri was camping with his Papa, and the usual suspects were out of town. I told myself, "If you make it, they will come". As fate would have it, my good friend Caroline spontaneously decided to get a change of scenery, and drove up to visit me on the ranch. We woke up Sunday morning, decorated the Pascha with flowers from the garden, and colored a few hard boiled brown eggs with my son's nontoxic markers. Look what we made... and then ate. Yum!

Pascha Recipe:

serves 6

2 pounds ricotta

2 pounds cream cheese

1 cup almond flour

1 vanilla bean

1 pinch of salt

sugar or maple syrup to taste

1/2 cup yellow raisins

1/2 tsp cardamon (optional)

love

Melt the cheeses in a pot on low making sure to stir often. Once melted, add flour, love, salt, rind of lemon and sugar/maple syrup to taste (about 3/4 cup). I like it a little bit sweet, but not too sweet. Add raisins. Traditionally you add a few eggs, but it's already pretty rich. I also like to add 1/2 tsp ground cardamon, but that is definitely not traditional.

Line a mold, a clean flower pot is traditionally used for the cylindrical shape, or you can used a sieve for a half round. Line the mold with cheese cloth or a clean tea towel. Pour in the warm ingredients from the pot. Let cool. Fold the excess material on top and place a heavy plate on top to press it down. Refrigerate overnight.

Turn upside down onto a large serving plate and peel off the cloth. Decorate with flowers. For the top I used flowers I know are nontoxic like lavender, nasturtium, and sour grass. Enjoy.

CREATIVITY: Elizabeth Gilbert

2010-02-20T13:09:00.000-08:00

If you or someone you know is creative in any way please watch this video. As a full time artist I found the information and ideas to be invaluable, opening up the pathways to create. ENJOY.

Elizabeth Gilbert on Creativity

UNION OF HEARTS

2010-02-13T17:52:00.000-08:00

"not I love you because I need you but I need you because I love you." Unknown

Things that make you live longer... living in small spaces with the ones you love, a daily glass of wine, and seeing nature every day. This piece, A Union of Hearts, was painted as a pattern for wallpaper during the Arts and Crafts Movement at the turn of the last century. This movement led by William Morris and influenced by the critic Ruskin, was a response to the Industrial Revolution. It brought the much needed nature of British flora and fauna indoors to the walls of the masses. Both the organic imagery of this movement and the presence of public parks, greatly increased life expectancy.

So touch a leaf, draw a heart, drink a glass of wine and go sit in someone's lap. Who knows, if you do it daily, chances are you'll live a long, long life.

Union of Hearts, a water colour design for textile by C.F.A. Voysey, 1899. The design was used by Alexander Morton& Co. as awoven fabric and as a wallpaer by Essex and Co.

plate 58a, Parry, William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement, Portland House, 1989

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arts_and_Crafts_Movement

GHEE: CLAIRFIED BUTTER

2010-02-08T12:54:00.000-08:00

all photos Julie B Montgomery

Ghee or Clarified Butter:

Ghee or clarified butter has a rich, silky, nutty flavor and is used by chefs worldwide. It's a wonderful oil to use for cooking, especially at high temperatures. It's also considered by Ayurveda to be the most important lubricant you can ingest. It increases enzyme production in your body, keeps the body working at a higher efficiency, strengthens the nervous system, improves sexual vitality and helps build muscle. You can use ghee instead of oil for cooking, add to vegetables, and spread on toast. Ghee is a good alternative for those who are lactose intolerant because the milk solids have been cooked out (consult your doctor) and is excellent for putting a drop in to your baby's warm baby food to aid digestion.

You can buy ghee at you local health food store or you can make it yourself.

Cooking ghee takes special attention as it is easy to burn at the end. The cooking part usually take 15-20 minutes so be near the stove for the full duration. Especially the last 10 minutes!

One pound unsalted organic butter

Cheesecloth

Rubber band

Heatproof jar

1. Using a medium stainless steel or glass heatproof saucepan, heat butter on medium to medium-low heat.

2. Allow butter to melt and bring to a boil, stirring. You will notice that the oil will separate itself. The top will begin to froth; remove froth with a wooden spoon.

3. Allow the oil to become clear and watch for the milk solids on the bottom of the pan to turn amber(this happens in seconds). Once, clear liquid and amber solids are present, remove from heat immediately, place on cool surface, and allow to cool for 15 minutes.

note: Making ghee sucessfully without burning takes practice and patience. The difficulty is when the milk solids on the bottom of the pan start to amber, they can then burn easily. The challenge remains in cooling the ghee before burning. Seems simple enough, yet not always easy. Some people prefer to pour the ghee immediately into a heat proof bowl or pyrex container. Remember if you do this, the oil is boiling! So be careful. You can put the cheesecloth in a sieve and pour oil thru to pyrex at this point. Personally I prefer to watch the foam and set pan on cool surface at the first sign of the browning solids. Then when cooled to warm, transfer to pyrex and then strain into mason jar or heat proof container.

4. After cooling, strain ghee through a very fine strainer into container or jar, or through 3-5 layers of cheesecloth attached with a rubber band on the rim. A paper towel with tiny holes punched into it, works in a pinch as well.

5. Put lid on container and store on shelf. Ghee will last for two months at room temperature or indefinitely if refrigerated. Be careful to always use dry utensils when scooping from the jar as water can contaminate it.

Alternative method:

1. Using a medium stainless steel or glass proof saucepan, heat butter on medium to medium-low heat.

2. Allow butter to melt and bring to a boil. Let simmer for 15 minutes. Begin to check the color of the milk solids on the bottom of the pan, by using a wooden spoon to pull back the foam. When the solids on the bottom of the pan turn amber or honey color.(see picture:this is what the top foam looks like when the solids on the bottom begin to turn, with little tiny flecks of amber.), turn off heat and immediately transfer to cool surface and let cool. A strong aroma of popcorn accompanies the solids turning from pale yellow to amber. If you smell this, remove immediately pan from heat and check.

3. After cooling, strain ghee through a very fine strainer into container or jar, or through 3-5 layers of cheesecloth.

4. Put lid on container and store on shelf. Ghee will last for two months at room temperature or indefinitely if refrigerated. Be careful to always use dry utensils when scooping from the jar as water can contaminate it.

5. ENJOY!

note: Because I prefer to cool my ghee before straining, I then can involve my four year old son in the process. His favorite thing is to pour the warm amber ghee thru the cheesecloth. In fact those are his chubby little hands in the photograph. When we finish making ghee he always want to have at least one tablespoon of this nurturing warm oil to eat.

ps. When completely cooled down the ghee becomes opaque. I chose to photograph it slightly warm because of the beautiful glow it has when held up to the light. I feel the nurturative, healing, and medicinal qualities were captured best in this element of it's beauty.

You can also watch a demsonstation on YouTube.

/www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjOshVO-Alo&feature=PlayList&p=3B312EB0CA613FE7&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=54

Pg. 32 Effortless Beauty, Brunig, Thomas

Pg.117 Ayurveda, Brunig, Thomas,

http://mideastfood.about.com/od/dipsandsauces/r/ghee.htm

ENTREE D'ARTISTE

2010-01-29T13:29:00.000-08:00

Santa Barbara Magazine did a shoot with me and my son, in our home and studio space, for the Feb 2010 Design and Style Issue. I was honored to work with editor, Gina Tolleson, and photographer, Nancy Neil... two very talented women artists. Here's to filling small spaces with creativity and abundance. Enjoy.

Click on the image for a larger version.

WINTER WARMTH

2010-01-25T09:04:00.001-08:00

photo Julie B Montgomery

The days are beginning to get longer and yet we still have February and March to get thru. A lovely way to start any breakfast, especially a dark winter one, is to light a candle. Warming the atmosphere, our hearts, taking a pause in the morning rush and starting the day right. Remember to blow it out when your done.

THIEVES OIL: NATURALLY ANTIBACTERIAL

2010-01-22T10:58:00.000-08:00

photo Julie B Montgomery

THIEVES OIL:

A British friend of mine introduced me to this wonderfully effective, and deliciously aromatic oil blend. You can buy it ready made or make it yourself to use as a disinfectant for your body, home and environment. Thieves is known to have anti-bacterial, anti-viral, antiseptic and anti-catarrhyal properties while stimulating the immune system, circulation and the respiratory system.

Thieves Oil Recipe no.1:

200 drops clove bud essential oil

175 drops lemon essential oil

100 drops cinnamon essential oil

75 drops eucalyptus essential oil

50 drops rosemary essential oil

Thieves Oil Recipe no. 2:

Combine equal parts (50 drops ea) of essential oils of clove, lemon, cinnamon, eucalyptus and rosemary.

How to Use:

1. Apply to the bottom of the feet.

2. Dilute with a base oil for a stimulating massage under the arms and on the chest and at the base of the neck. Diluted recipe: Place Thieves mixture above into a 2 ounce bottle. Fill the rest with jojoba, almond, or sesame oil. Note: If you have fair skin use more base oil and use caution.

3. Using an oil diffuser, diffuse in your home or work environment for no longer than 30 minutes.

The History of Thieves

Europeans began producing essential oils in the 12th century. During the Plague of the 15th century, certain thieves were able to rob the dead without fear of becoming infected by the terrible disease. After being captured and charged with robbing the dead and dying victims of the plague, the thieves were offered a deal. The magistrate offered them leniency if they would reveal how they managed to avoid contracting the dreaded infection, in spite of their close proximity with the infected corpses. They disclosed that they were perfumers and spice traders, and that they had rubbed themselves with a concoction of aromatic herbs (cinnamon, and clove).

http://www.beauty-and-body.com/youngliving/2007_Articles/The_History_Of_Thieves_Essential_Oil.htm

http://www.quantumbalancing.com/news/thieves_oil.htm

DREAMY SKIN OIL RECIPES

2010-01-17T12:19:00.000-08:00

photo Julie B Montgomery

Here are some lovely Ayurvedic Skin Oil recipes. Use this as a general guide, and please experiment with scents you really love. I believe what you are drawn towards, is what your body needs. I also like to add a teaspoon or so of Vitamin E Oil. These oils are great for doing a nurturing skin oil massage, or just a splash in the bath makes for a bit of heaven. I rub my and my son’s feet before bedtime for a deep sleep.

SKIN OIL RECIPES:

Dry Skin:

8 T cold pressed sesame or almond oil (1/2 cup)

16 drops geranium essential oil

16 drops neroli essential oil (expensive but so worth it)

8 drops lemon essential oil

Medium Skin:

8 T cold pressed almond or coconut oil (1/2 cup)

20 drops rose essential oil(expensive but so worth it)

20 drops sandalwood essential oil

Oily Skin:

8 T cold pressed safflower oil

12 drops lavender essential oil

12 drops bergamot essential oil

12 drops clary sage oil

Very Oily or Blemished Skin:

8 T jojoba oil

20 drops lavender essential oil

20 drops tea tree essential oil

8 T jojoba oil

20 drops bergamot essential oil

20 drops lemon oil

Mature Skin:

5 T jojoba oil

4 T calendula oil

1 T wheat germ oil

12 drops lavender essential oil

12 drops frankinsence essential oil

12 drops neroli essential oil

Pg. 125 Effortless Beauty, Brunig, Thomas

BEAUTIFUL EVERYDAY OPTIONS for BOOSTING the IMMUNE SYSTEM:

2009-11-30T11:12:00.000-08:00

Warm Water: Daily, drink a cup or two of warm water before eating or drinking anything else. To cleanse the liver add a squeeze of juice from a fresh lemon.
Wash Your Hands: Wash often with regular soap. Dry with clean towel. Beware of hand sanitizers and antibacterial soaps that have the compound triclosan. Scary stuff. http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-trouble-with-triclosan-in-your-soap.html
Use Good Oils: Daily, use virgin/ cold pressed olive oil or ghee (clarified butter) in your cooking every day to lubricate your digestive system and coat your nerves. See below for ghee recipe.
Tulsi Tea: Drink daily. It’s full of antioxidants and is yummy by itself, or with milk and honey or sugar. Note: Put honey into glass AFTER the boiling water has been poured.
Salt Water Gargle: Daily, even twice daily, gargle with warm salt water. Natural sea salt, or pink himalayan salt preferable. http://www.himalayancrystalsalt.com/
Garlic Toast: Finely chop garlic and spread on buttered bread. Lightly salt. Toast in a toaster over or oven.
Vitamin D: Take Vitamin D daily. http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamind.asp
Tumeric: Take 2 capsules of tumeric powder at lunch for 45 days straight 2 times a year. You can also get concentrated tumeric at the health food store. Take(amount needed) Tumeric is antifungal, antiseptic, and antinflamatory. Do not take if you have gallstones. http://www.vegetarian-nutrition.info/herbs/turmeric.php
Thieves Oil: If you want to disinfect your home, work and self. Thieves Oil comes from research about four thieves during the 15th-century plague who used cloves, rosemary, and other aromatics to protect themselves while robbing plague victims. How to use: Diffuse for short periods of time (1/2 hour or less) in the work or home environment. Apply to the bottom of the feet or dilute with a Massage Oil Base for a stimulating massage under the arms and on the chest at the base of the neck. Common Ingredients: Clove (Syzygium aromaticum), lemon (Citrus limon), cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum), Eucalyptus radiata, and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis).
Thieves Oil recipes:
Equal amounts of eucalyptus, rosemary, cinnamon, clove and lemon. Mix with base of olive oil. I usually put a tablespoon of each in a 2 oz. bottle and then fill the rest with olive or jojoba oil. you can make a larger batch in a quart jar following the same proportion method. Same ingredients, but measured out in different strength's. Clove Bud Oil 200 drops, Lemon Oil 175 drops, Cinnamon Oil 100 drops, Eucalyptus Oil 75 drops, Rosemary 50 drops. Note: If you have fair skin use more base oil and use caution.
http://www.quantumbalancing.com/news/thieves_oil.htm
Stretch: Daily. Yoga sun salutations are great. Start with one or two rounds, building up slowly to 5 rounds a day. http://www.yogasite.com/sunsalute.htm
Skin Brushing (1-3 minutes- before your daily shower):
Acquire a soft, natural fiber brush or loofah. You can find them at health food stores in the
bath department. A long handle is helpful for reaching your back.

Gently brush with long stroke on your limbs and circular strokes on you joints. Start with the feet and work your way up. Please note your skin should not become red. Feet to abdomen, then hands and up your arms toward your heart. Brush across your upper back and down the front and back of your torso. Cover the entire body (except your face) once only. Your face needs a softer brush. Begin at the center of the face and gently stroke outward. Brush down the sides of your face and neck.
Your skin is an organ. Dry brushing assists it in ridding the body of toxins and impurities (a potential source of illness), while increasing blood circulation in all the underlying organs and tissues. It also helps the lymphatic system. Yea.
Pg. 198, The Seasonal Detox Diet, L’Esperance
Feed Your Skin: Daily Oil Massage (10-20 minutes- before your daily shower). Use cold pressed sesame or almond oil for dry skin, almond or coconut oil for medium skin and safflower oil for oily skin. See dreamy recipes below. Note if your skin is very oily, instead of oil use a silk glove or mit found at bath shops.
Warm the oil (1/8 -1/4 cup), you can place the oil in a small dish or container and set the bowl in hot water until it reaches room temperature. If the oil gets too hot it can scald your skin. Alternatively you can pour some oil into your palms and rub your hands together vigorously till warm. Note: As nuturing as this is to do by yourself it’s even better to do with someone else!
Starting at the top of your body and working down, apply a thin layer of oil over your entire body. Massage face, ears, back of the ears, using short vigorous strokes. If you have no hair (you lucky ducks) give yourself a vigorous scalp massage. For those with hair or who do not wash your hair everyday do a oil free dry scalp massage. Proceed to your neck and shoulders using your fingers and the palm of your hands. Then massage you upper arms and lower arms, using long back and forth strokes. Use a circular motion for your joints, including shoulders. Massage your chest and abdomen, using a clockwise motion. Next massage your hip joints, buttocks, legs (again using long strokes), and then your ankles and soles of your feet. Shower in warm water, too hot of water will take all the oil off. Pat dry.
For optimal restoration, do some light exercise, stretching or yoga with the oil on your skin before the shower. Don’t slip.
If you find you don’t have time to do your entire body focus on your feet.
Pg. 90 Effortless Beauty, Brunig, Thomas

Oil Recipes for Skin :
Dry Skin:
8 T cold pressed sesame or almond oil (1/2 cup)
16 drops geranium essential oil
16 drops neroli essential oil (expensive but so worth it)
8 drops lemon essential oil
Medium skin:
8 T cold pressedalmond or cocnut oil (1/2 cup)
20 drops rose essential oil(expensive but so worth it)
20 drops sandalwood essential oil
Oily Skin:
8 T cold pressed safflower oil
12 drops lavender essential oil
12 drops bergamot essential oil
12 drops clary sage oil
Very Oily or Blemished Skin:
8 T jojoba oil
20 drops lavender essential oil
20 drops tea tree essential oil
or
8 T jojoba oil
20 drops bergamot essential oil
20 drops lemon oil
Mature Skin:
5 T jojoba oil
4 T calendula oil
1 T wheatgerm oil
12 drops lavender essential oil
12 drops frankinsence essential oil
12 drops neroli essential oil

Pg. 125 Effortless Beauty, Brunig, Thomas