In non-hair news, I believe I've discovered ginger growing in my herb garden.

Or at least something that looks a damned lot like it.

Plei, you really need to come over and mock my lack of knowledge and educate me on what the hell I've got growing in this garden.

What do you use proportion-wise for the baking soda mix?

A teaspoon per cup of water for straight baking soda. Spray bottles work well for application. For the shikakai mix, I tend to just make a paste and work it through my roots.

It's really nasty. The reason I did it over New Years was that I was sick, so I was housebound and didn't care how narsty I looked. I do want to try again soon.

Start diluting your shampoo when you use it, and you should be able to start washing less frequently pretty quickly. I did it by accident, because I was using a solid shampoo that I'd grated up and had started dissolving a pinch of it in water before using.

Plei, you really need to come over and mock my lack of knowledge and educate me on what the hell I've got growing in this garden.

You need the Sunset garden book!

Ginger as in wild ginger (asarum)? Heart-shaped leaves? Pretty much all you have to do is bite it to be sure. Regular spice-type ginger can't take a frost. If you have leaves that look like that type of ginger, it's probably a ginger lily.

I found my Batman t-shirt! Makes outside clothes worth it. It had gotten mired among all my other black T shirts.

I went no shampoo, not for hair reasons, but for scalp reasons. I don't know if it helped much. My hair has changed so much in the past five years, I don't know what it's about. But if I'm keeping up with it, it shouldn't be long enough for its condition to matter.

I only shampoo once a fortnight or so - once the build-up from running and working is ridiculous. Otherwise, I just rinse it every time I shower and occasionally condition it. It works pretty well, and definitely helps keep the dye on.

no shampoo here.If I'e been really sick , I wash it. i use conditioner everyday, but it can' be just anything. However, I have dry skin. My hair is much healthier if I don't use shampoo.When I do use shampoo ( because things can get in your hair-- I have to use some sort of deep conditioner.

Blast, CJ's flight has been delayed by 2 hours. The weather here is beautiful despite the foot of snow yesterday.

Time for me to jump in the shower, post-karate, and wash my hair.

Another in the almost-no-shampoo club here - once you stop, it's amazing how much of the everyday "dirt" on your hair turns out to have been shampoo build-up.

You really shouldn't rake up leaves when your legs are greasy from a fresh pedicure...

My hair gets washed twice a day, but that's the hazard of the swim habit.

So today I: went to the farmers' market with a bunch of neighbors, and promptly ran into more neighbors. I got spinach and empanadas and more of the yogurt stuff. Then we came back and hung out on a porch and drank water (me) and coffee and I fed them the weird cookies. They claimed to like them. Made possible plans for monday night half price margaritas, but I may already be booked (old friend from out of town.) Then I went out and got a pedicure, which took forever waiting. Then the leaves and general snow debris (branches ahoy!) got bagged up. Shortly, like in 15 minutes, I shall go swim. Then perhaps I shall go buy some flowers. And eat an empanada. And then perhaps sit and contemplate how fucking awesome today was. And maybe laundry.

Tomorrow is TJ and Target run, hopefully plant some shit, maybe take a walk around the lake in the SUN, swim and do laundry if I haven't already. I really need more summer clothes that fit, but I don't really want to shop.

Met one neighbor's "wife" (old roommate who several vendors at the farmers' market assumed was her partner) and her boyfriend, as well as another neighbor's friend. Nice day.

Do the non-shampooers use product? Because the only thing that has made my hair feel dirty or greasy is conditioner or product.