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Friday February 28 is Economic Awareness Day

How are you doing?  It’s been a rollercoaster lately.  Mostly going down with my mouth open in a scream.  Occasionally a pocket of joy or happiness which I try my best to savor before I go back to the scream.  Take care of yourself and makes your economic blackout plans for Friday Feb 28.

As far as my research goes, this idea was originally proposed by The people’s Union USA.  I’ve also seen posts from Rev Al Sharpton and others.  The coolest was a woman I follow in Australia, so perhaps the movement will be world wide.  I sure hope so because I am fed up with all this billionaire sh*t.

My hope is that consumers give a big rethink to how they spend their money.  If you’ve been supporters of Dulse & Rugosa you’ll know this is not the first time we’ve talked  about “voting with your money”.  

The actions you take on Feb 28 will be different than mine.  That’s OK.  For me, it’s important to feel discomfort.  It’s easy for me not to spend money on Feb 28.  I live in rural Maine with snow banks 3 feet tall and icy parking lots, I’m not into physical shopping.  Any online shopping can wait a few days.  When I do make a purchase it will be from a small, indie business. 

However, it is going to be hard for me to give Waterloo Road, my escape streaming show.  It’s s a 2006 era British soapy set in a diverse British high school.  Both teachers and students make many, many bad choices.  As I watch I think “That’s not going to end well” and it doesn’t.  I’ve been drawn to shows produced outside the USA and this one has a lot of seasons.  

On Feb 28, I’ll cancel my prime membership and go cold turkey for the day on any sort of “cloud” activity including social media, emails and my alternative news outlets.  That will be uncomfortable and challenging for me.

I hope you find a way to show support, not just on a single day but by rethinking how you spend your money.  More events are scheduled through out the spring.  In general, if you can shop local, small or indie, do it.  Limit your purchases to the billionaires as much as possible.  

Let’s all collectively begin to feel and use our power- the power of our dollars.

Feel free to ask questions and also unfollow us.  Most of our customers share our values and want a world where ALL are valued.  That’s how we roll.

XXOO 

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Wanting to invite a bit of plant magic into your life?  Consider planting a tea garden.   I love to drink herbal teas and for the past few years I've been making my own.  This is especially lovely in the summer growing months as you can wander in your garden picking flowers and leaves to steep.  Each day you pick you get a slightly different blend.  That’s the start of the magic.  Once your batch of petals have steeped you have a delicious and refreshing drink.  Perfect hot, lukewarm or with ice.  One pot is good for the day.

You don’t need to invest a lot of money for this delightful activity.  Plants for sure and also a teapot with a stainless steel strainer.  You could use a smaller tea strainer but a teapot with a larger strainer means you can use bigger pieces and not worry about stems.  A well crafted teapot is an excellent investment.

Beyond the sheer pleasure of drinking your homemade brew making your own tea is an act of sustainability.  “Believe it or not, the humble teabag often contains a non-biodegradable plastic called polypropylene, which releases billions of microplastic particles every time you brew a cuppa.”  We are learning more each day about how invasive plastic is in our daily life and any chance we get to eliminate plastic is an opportunity we should take.  In the long run, you will also save money while  adding a bit of pleasure and ritual to your day.   Tea making will become an act you look forward to.   

Here’s a list of my favorite plants.  No worries if you don’t have a lot of space, these plants will do fine in a container.

Peppermint- this is the backbone of my herb blend.  Super fresh taste and very, very easy to grow- that means it can be invasive so choose your spot carefully.  What I love about the mints besides being easy to grow is they add bulk as well as flavor.

 Fancy mint- this can be a flavored mint, my favorite is Pineapple but there are many varieties.  Wander the herb aisle at your favorite garden shop to find the variety for you.  In my garden zone these tend to be a bit tender and often will not over winter.

Chamomile-  has a mellow, gentle flavor slightly “appley” flavor and known to help you relax, even get sleepy.  You can scatter seeds and lightly cover with soil or transplant.  Chamomile often selfs sows so keep your eye out the following spring.

Calendula- this bright orang/yellow flower is pure sunshine and happiness.  Their favor is a bit spicy and peppery adding a nice tang to your brew.  It’s a very sturdy, forgiving plant and can adapt to a lot of different soil types and selfs sows.

Lavender- has a bright floral flavor, too much is considered “soapy” but it’s one of my favorite additions to my brew.  It’s important to pick the right variety for your area as it’s a perennial.  Be sure to ask at your garden center for the variety that’s right for your area.

Brewing your own tea is an easy way to add a peaceful ritual to your day, add a bit of flavor to your life and to enjoy a plastic free, very sustainable drink. ENJOY!

Did you happen to see our posts about Val Pal?  It was an idea to help me change my own personal narrative about how crummy I find February and Valentine’s Day. 

It started last fall while listening to a podcast hosted by two young women.  It was February of the previous year and most of the conversation centered around love- not so much the traditional image of Valentine love.  The romance of a couple eating out, surrounded by roses and chocolates.  It was centered on loving your self in order to be able to love others.

At one point they asked each other what advice the’d give their younger self.  This made me chuckle, they both sounded like they were in their early 30’s.  I can’t remember the advice they gave but it definitely got me thinking about the stories I tell myself about my past in particular.  I decided to change my February story and that’s the root of Val Pal.

The way Val Pal works is simple and straight forward.  Commit to sending a stranger a piece of mail by Feb 10th.  You could buy a card from a local artist or maker or make something yourself.  I was so pleased by the response and positive energy Val Pal generated.  So many folks were excited to have a small project to focus on and to send something sweet out into the universe.

While it’s wonderful to send out positive vibes into the universe many of us, including myself, struggle with sending kindness to ourselves.  An article I found particularly helpful was Self-Kindness: Upgrade Your Thinking on the Modern Daily Knitting blog.  It started me on my journey of  awareness.  With the first step of talking to myself like a toddler when I went into my old patterns of negativity.  It’s so much easier to be kind to others!

I’ll definitely do Val Pals again next year and hope you’ll join us.

We are at the hallway point between winter and spring which seems an ideal time to share our love of Maine and the story of shower shots.  Shower shots are small nuggets filled with pure essential oils and topped with our flower confetti.  They are simple, sustainable self care.  Perfect for someone who is looking to add a bit of ritual and thought into everyday activities- like taking a shower.

When we started Dulse & Rugosa our focus was on our seaweed rich shampoo bars.  I discovered the power of seaweed while searching for a long term solution to my chronically itchy scalp.  Our shampoo bars are work horses and last a long time.  We realized we needed to expand our product line to help that annoying bottom line.  We have bills to pay.

 We wanted a product that served many purposes.  First, it needed to be of value to our customers.  We also needed a product that fit our environmental standards. A product that’s a joy to create.  Finally, our creation needed to reflect our love of place, the state of Maine.

 Folks often ask how shower shots work.  Simply place a “shot” on the floor of the shower.  As the water hits it, it will dissolve.  Quickly with a heavy stream of water or slowly under a trickle.  As it dissolves, it melts and releases a specific scent.  Aromatherapy in the shower. 

 We have a variety of scents, some to relax including lavender and feel better.  Others to uplift including peppermint and sinus relief.  PMS or Balance is our most quirky scent, when you most need it it can be quite powerful but if life is fairly balanced it can be a bit UH.  We package all our shots as sustainable as possible in compostable not plastic bags.  Individual shots are available as well as curated gift boxes. 

The actual making of shower shots is production work.  We are small assembly line.  We use vintage shot glass molds and a lot of muscle power.  Each individual shot is topped with a mixture of dry flowers that relates to the scent.  Once the shots have dried out they are packaged and ready for sale.

Last summer in particular I noticed how pollinators loved our flower gardens.  Many moments were spent outside simply watching pollinators in action.  We don’t have to add dried flowers to our shower shots.  Most companies that produce them do not.  We do it simply because we love flowers and want to add a bit of beauty and love to your shower ritual.

We use a wide variety of flowers.  We look for hardy species that can take the changing Maine climate.  Wet springs and fall with dry almost drought conditions in the summer.  Being able to reseed is an added bonus and we love sunny Calendula for its resiliency. 

My favorite story from last summer is a customer visiting our sweet shop noticed all the bees in our front garden.  He was memorized and mentioned he hadn’t seen so many bees for years.  I encouraged him to sit in the nearby chair and simply observe.  I often wondered  while sitting if the different species would be able to share a blossom.  They can giving me hope for the future.

We’ve noticed since Covid that our quality can be erratic. Occasionally a shower shot will “melt”.  We’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out the problem.  One easy solution would be to switch our packaging to plastic which would also save us money.  This wasn’t even considered.  After quite a bit of observing and tinkering we discovered that we sometimes get wonky batches of baking soda.  Being super frugal we try not to waste ingredients but now if we see the baking soda is off we don’t use it.  However, because of the compostable packaging, storage conditions, humid summers you might get a melty shower shot.  Simply let us know and we will gladly replace it.  You don’t have to toss the defective shower shot, use it as a toilet bowl cleaner.  This is especially effective before company arrives. 

Maine shops that support Dulse & Rugosa and sell our shower shots.  I know I’ve forgotten a few and I’ll update as my memory from the summer kicks in.  And word of mouth is by far the best way to grow a business, if you have a favorite store where our shower shots would fit please mention us to the staff.  XXOO

Bell Farms in York

Maine Homestead in Lyman

Heritage Seaweed in Portland

Portland Food Coop

Rising Tide in Damariscotta

Archipelago in Rockland

Good Tern Coop in Rockland

Tiller & Rye in Brewer

Granite Hall Store in Round Pound

Sheepscott General in Whitefield

Belfast Coop

Vignettes of Maine in Hallowell