Cat lovers in London will soon have their own cat cafe. Entrepreneur Lauren Pears, 30 years old, was able to raise more than $151,000 through project-funding website Indiegogo. She is currently looking for space and will have the cafe opened up in a few months. The cafe idea is based on the popular Japanese cat cafe.
I wonder if the coffees are served up like this? Photo via CoffeeStencil.com
Lauren’s already found 10-15 cats from the animal shelter to staff the cafe. She’s also received 300 prospective job applicants and more are coming in each day. She plans to charge about $7 per hour for customers to enjoy coffee in the company of cats. Or in the company of other cat lovers.
Lauren will have a volunteer program so people who can’t afford the cover charge can actually come in overnight and look after the cats. For hygienic reasons, the cats are to be kept out of the kitchen.
Vienna, Austria also had their first cat cafe open up last year and it seems to be a hit among locals and tourists. Cafe Neko (”neko” means cat in Japanese). The cafe was opened by Vienna resident Takako Ishimitsu, a 47-year-old woman originally from Nagoya, Japan, who moved to Vienna some 20 years ago.
If there was a cat cafe near where I lived, I would definitely check it out. Although I already have enough cats in my life, I wouldn’t mind having coffee with a few new cats.
BBC News Report on Youtube here - Vienna cat cafe with strict no dog policy.
There is silver yarn, now there’s silver soap… actually made with Colloidal Silver. CS is great stuff, mostly known for it’s immune strengthening abilities. I usually have a bottle of CS around and take a couple of tsp a day when I feel a cold coming. I also like to apply some CS on cuts and noticed how fast my skin heals.
So adding CS to soap is a fantastic idea! There are many skin care brands out there with their version of CS soap.
Cor’s standard size soap (120 gram, about 4 oz) sells for $120…yes that is correct. Before you lay down all that cash for soap, they also have trial size bar you can try for $15.
This is what COR states about their soap, ” It has been shown to even out the skin tone, reduce the appearance of sun spots and pore size, maintain the skin’s natural moisture factor, visibly reduce the signs of aging, and protect against the hazardous effects of the sun.” If it’s true then it sounds like amazing stuff.
Like any other beauty product out there, it depends on the person’s particular skin type, so results may vary. Overall, many Amazon’s reviewers believe it’s really helped their skin.
Other makers of CS soap include The Heritage Store’s CS soap at a more reasonable and affordable price of $3.97 for 3.5 oz bar.
Besides CS soap, I’m thinking another great way to add CS to skincare is to just spray the solution onto skin after washing it. A simple and great way to prevent break-outs. Much like a skin toner, but made with CS.
Even when I haven’t made new soap lately, I am still always happy to hear about new soaps along with all their skin healing benefits. If I were to make CS soap anytime in the future, I would make one with Dead Sea mud or maybe activated charcoal and peppermint essential oil for a refreshing scent.
Spring is in the air and we’ve been getting much more sun out in California. So to celebrate all this bright and cheery weather I’ve decided to try a new SPF facial moisturizer.
The main reason I chose DeVita’s SPF 30+ moisturizer is because of the ingredients. It’s 100 % Paraben free and never contain GMO ’s. It also contains Hylauronic Acid. HA is a key component of collagen that is normally produce in the skin and joints of the body.
This product is advertised as an all-natural sunscreen, with no titanium oxide, sheer, moisturizer/sun screen that is deeply moisturizing daytime cream and sun block all in one.
So far this is the best facial sun protective moisturizer I’ve ever used. First off it is very light and not oily and soaks in really well. I’ve tired other safe and natural facial sunscreen, but they almost always feel heavy and leave white streaks on my skin. I also like that this lotion is not overly scented.
When applying this lotion, it gives off a cooling sensation. Might not be so comfortable on cold days, but I can see how nice that would be in the summertime. After I apply this lotion, I apply mineral powder and it settles on well.
A little bit about DeVita: It’s a privately held company from Arizona. In 2012, Inc. magazine ranked DeVita Natural Skin Care on its sixth annual Inc. 500|5000, an exclusive ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies.
The company notes, “DeVita’s exclusive line of cosmeceuticals gets down to the root cause of premature aging skin and helps your body naturally heal itself. All of the extracts and essential oils used in the DeVita Natural Skin Care line are alcohol, fragrance and pesticide free.”
DeVita can be found at many health and beauty stores, especially .
How to solve spell checker in MS Office 2010. This issue has been reported when using MS Office 2010 with Windows 7. The error reports that spell checker is working fine when it fact it was not.
Microsoft offered the following help online. Just my luck that method 1-4 did NOT work! Luckily Method 5 worked for me.
And here are the steps in case anyone else runs into this problem. As instructed from MS Support:
- To resolve this problem, complete the methods that are provided in this article in the order in which they are presented. If you have previously tried one of these methods, and it did not help to resolve the problem, you can skip that method and proceed to the next one.
Method 1: Install proofing tools
Method 2: Enable the speller EN-US add-in
Method 3: Enable Check Spelling as you type
Method 4: Select language and clear “Do not check spelling or grammar”
Method 5: Use Fix it to modify the registry
To fix this problem yourself, follow these steps:
Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Run box, type regedit, and then press Enter.
Locate and then right-click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Proofing Tools\1.0\Override
Click Delete.
Exit Registry Editor.
Exit and then restart Word.
Office 2010 looks interesting, I am hoping to make more use of Publisher, OneNote, and Access.
Stinging nettles are one of the most useful herb to have in the garden. And it has been used for centuries as medicine for various ailments. It’s especially useful for those suffering from asthma and hay fever.
Catherine, the herbal gardener, told me to take some and make tea with it. She gave me a few plastic bags to put them in. The scary part was the furry spikes on the plants poked through the bag. All of a sudden I felt an intense burning and itchy feeling on my hands. Luckily the itched went away in 30 minutes. I guess they weren’t kidding when they named it “stinging nettle”.
So here I still have the stinging nettle in a glass filled with water. I am a bit apprehensive of the spikes so I haven’t prepare tea with it yet. Instructions are to never boil the plants. It’s best to infused the tea in hot water and let it sit for a while.
Dr. Christopher’s Herbal Legacy has a more detailed list of this plant as herbal medicine. Here is a partial list of it’s useful treatment:
*Anemia/fatigue
*Women’s complaints
Increase lactation
PMS
Menopause
Prenatal/eases labor
*Parasites
*Stones
Gravel from bladder
Kidney stones
Increase urine output
*Allergies
Hay fever
Seasonal allergies
Asthma
Hives
What’s interesting is that people also eat this plant - just boil or steam and serve - with spikes and all. I assume the cooking destroyed the spikes. But I don’t think I can go that far yet, so I’ll just try it as tea. I’ll have to use coffee filter to make sure the are not spikes floating around.
“Stinging nettle should be planted in it’s own spot away from the main garden and not allowed to go to seed or it will spread . It also spreads by runners like mint. It is worth growing however because it has tremendous soil building and health benefits.” - Local Harvest
Since I always make my own lip balm, I really have no need to buy lip balm. But sometimes a really good lip balm comes around and I just can resist.
Weleda’s Everon lip balm is one of those products. It’s really the best all natural lip balm out there. This little 1/8 oz or 4 gram stick last forever!
I love that it doesn’t feel too sticky or leave your lips too shiny. The ingredients are really the best part. And the light scent of rose and vanilla is great too.
Ingredients: Jojoba Seed Oil, Beeswax, Shea Butter, Candelilla Wax, Rosa Damascena Flower Wax, Carnauba Wax, Vanilla Fruit Extract, Rosa Damascena Extract.
The company’s name “Weleda” is derived from the Celtic goddess of wisdom and healing. A bit of history:
“Weleda developed a personal approach to health care using natural ingredients that can holistically work with and support our own body’s healing tendencies.
They started by creating one of the world’s first Biodynamic® gardens to grow what they needed. Sound new agey? It’s actually old agey—what cultures around the world have done successfully for generations.”
I also love their company mission statement: “In harmony with nature and the human beingâ€. If I had to choose between the Body Shop or Weleda, it’s always Weleda.
They also do not test on animals and abide by fair trade practices. What’s nice about Weleda is that they were already thinking about sustainability and being “green” long before it was trendy.
There are many places to find this lip balm, from health food stores to online vitamin stores.
I found this cute scarf pattern from Lion Brand Yarn. It’s called “Meandering Rib Scarf”. I love that it’s reversible, as both front and back looks the same.
It was a simple project with only two knit type of stitches (knit & purl). Just be sure to keep count!
Sometimes it’s nice to have a simple project at hand. Something to knit a bit, leave, and pick up again.
Nothing is more relaxing then getting the chance to sit down and knit a few rows each day.
The one pictured on the chair was knitted by Lion Brand Company. It looks so pretty - all nice and plush. They used Fisherman’s Wool, which is a lovely wool to knit.
My version was knitted with machine washable acrylic yarn. It’s surprisingly warm and soft.
As much as I love wool yarn, most of them are a bit itchy. Unless it’s merino or cashmere blend. Cascade’s super wash wool is another nice one that isn’t too itchy for me.
Lion Brand has lots of nice and free patterns. Registration is also free. Enjoy!
Photo on right is from Lion Brand Yarn.
An excellent supplement that I’ve been taking recently and noticed a big difference is Vitamin B 12.
I am normally tormented by PMS symptoms on a monthly basis, but this time around it’s been less so. A combination of more exercise and adding Vitamin B 12 has really helped.
B 12 can be found naturally in calf liver, clams, mussels, sardines, and salmon. It’s not likely that I eat these type of food daily, so the next best thing is supplements.
Signs of vitamin B 12 deficiency include fatigue and depression. Vitamin B 12 is essential to our health as it involves the development of red blood cells. Long term deficiency can lead to anemia and cause damage to the central nervous system.
The best one to take is Methylcobalamin (Methyl B-12) because it is better absorbed and retained than other forms of B12.
- Methyl B-12 protects nerve tissue and brain cells
- promotes better sleep and reduces toxic homocysteine to the essential amino acid methionine
- Aids digestion by allowing food to absorb properly
- Improves energy levels
Give vitamin B 12 a try and see if it makes a difference. Vitamin B12 can be found at many health food store or online shops.
Other popular ways of getting vitamin B 12 supplements is with B 12 shots. But that requires a doctor’s prescription and usually not covered by insurance. And there’s also the *ouch* factor from needles.
