Hunkering Down and Making Kajal

Dear Reader;

 Canada is not called a deep freezer for nothing. This past week has been cold...windy but the sun still comes to make the misery just a little bit more tolerable. Today it is still very cold but sunny. We have had a warning to expect a terrible blizzard and perhaps 2 feet of snow!!! So in preparation Gaura Nitai is making sure that we have a large stock of wood and we have done our grocery shopping so we are prepared. My only fear is if the electricity goes off then getting water to the herd will be difficult.

 I grew up in a small village in Saskachewan,Canada and I remember that in the winter time on Saturday my foster mother would get large blocks of snow and melt them in a large tub on the woodstove. When the water was hot then she would give me my sponge bath by the stove. Scrub...scrub...scrub....rinse...rinse...baby power...flannel pyjamas...hot water bottle in my bed and zzzzzzz.

 That is my plan if the power goes off to melt snow on the stove and carry it to the cows.

 What I did do yesterday to continue to simplify my lifestyle was make my own kajal....eye makeup. I took a small 4" by 4" cotton cloth...rolled it up and then soaked it in ghee...put it in a frying pan...lit it up and then placed a wok over the flame so that the soot could collect. When the flame died down I simply mixed a 1/4 teaspoon of ghee with the soot and placed it into a small metal container. I would have liked to add a pinch of edible camphor to the kajal but I simply can't find any around here. The camphor helps to cool the eyes and the kajal not only looks beautiful but it is very healthy for the eyes.

 Stay warm:)
Hare Krsna
Kokum Lal