I grew up in Miami in the 70’s. It was a time of burgeoning technology and instant everything. It was exciting and fast-paced. My mother was an old soul. She always said she was born 100 years too late and as I’ve aged, I’ve discovered that her “old soul” lives in me. I want to return to simpler times.
Becoming the hippie I always wanted to be…
My mother was frugal and financially savvy and pinched pennies so that we could have whatever we needed to make us happy. I never considered that we were poor – only that other kids had cooler things and presweetened cereals and whole milk straight out of a plastic gallon container. We drank powdered milk and only had the air conditioner on when it got too hot to move around.
As I got older I discovered that although I could buy “nice things” my wallet didn’t bulge with wads of cash nor could my credit cards support me in the style I hoped to become accustomed. After I joined the Navy I turned my paycheck over to my mother. Because she had far more common sense than I she managed to improve my credit drastically. She gave me an allowance out of my paycheck. She had done the same with my father garnering him “walk on water” credit.
She used coupons and found that vitamins and whole foods were far superior to the processed foods I thought I needed. As I watched her I realized that going back to the basics was optimal. I began researching what made hippies different. I wasn’t sure I wanted to live in a commune or forsake the comforts of modern appliances but I was curious.
Planters, raised bed gardening and bath bombs…
I was shopping in Sears, looking for gardening gloves. My husband was looking at gardening tools because we wanted an easier way to remove weeds. I told him I thought I might try raising some herbs or vegetables. He asked me what I would grow if I was serious about gardening. I told him maybe some lavender, or rosemary, or peppermint – maybe tomatoes (I was hungry for a good old-fashioned tomato sandwich at the time.) The next day when I came home from work he had built me a raised bed planter in the backyard and he had also bought a starter tomato plant. I was thrilled. My life as a hippie could begin!
Strolling through Bed, Bath & Beyond I would always stop at the spa type products – looking longingly at bath salts, oils, fizzy bombs and loofahs, plush bathrobes, massagers. For Christmas one year my husband presented me with one of every single variety of bath bomb they sold at the store. I started to look at the labels and had read plenty of magazines on herbs and their uses and making my own products so I thought “Why not just go for it?”
I want you to be able to enjoy life the way it was lived back in “the good old days” without having to sacrifice comfort. You can have your cake and eat it – so to speak.
What we offer
Here you will find a blog documenting trials and errors (and successes!) when it comes to gardening and DIY beauty products and herbs and anything natural that can improve the health and contentment of you and your family and your pets.
As we grow there will be opportunity to share opinions and reviews of products that you’ve found would benefit our community. I hope to see you online real soon.
All the best,
Cheryl Rossiter
channelingmyinnerhippie.com