Vits n' Pieces

A sad goodbye!!

2009-07-01T22:19:00.002+01:00

Just wanted to add a short but very important note to today's blog.
For those who are visitors to the shop, I just wanted to let you know that Dandy had her last day with us yesterday as she is moving abroad. I just wanted to take this opportunity to say a heartfelt goodbye and a very public "thank you" to her for being an absolute superstar while she has been with us. I'll really miss you - and I know loads of other people will too.
Lots of love and very best of luck to you and all your family Dandy, I hope that you will be very happy xxx

Create the impossible -day 1

2009-07-01T21:56:00.004+01:00

Well, today is the 1st of July so it is the start of my 30 day adventure in creating the impossible. I have decided that my impossible goal is to have my new natural headlice shampoo and conditioner formulated, tested, manufactured, shipped and have the first 2500 units sold by the 1st August.

They did say impossible! Especially since the current lead time for manufacturing is 10 to 12 weeks. I have 'accidently' (or perhaps serendipitously) placed an advert in the new ABC magazine thinking that it came out in September,but I have already had 4 enquiries in the last 2 days. So maybe not so impossible if I can get the stuff made - anyone know of a good contract manufacturer for shampoo??

Just to clue you in about the shampoo - It is called Nitnots, and it is based totally on herbs and essential oils, and I use it to treat and repel headlice that used to plague my kids. It is a lovely little shampoo and you use it just like you would any other shampoo. It makes the kids hair lovely & shiny, and the Rosemary in it really helps the hair to grow well too. I've been using it for about 5 years and have been supplying it to friends in the playground for about 3 years, and have some great feedback.

I've already had one formulation tested but I am looking at changing the preservative as I know that some people really don't like using parabens (though the potentially dodgy paraben has actually been removed from most good quality paraben mixtures). I have been looking for someone to do the retest for months and I have now decided to try and get someone to make it too as they then do the testing onsite. I have therefore spent the last two weeks trying to find a manufacturer, but apparently they are all too busy to even reply to e-mails (don't you hate it when people do that!). So I have spent today on the phone to New York (how very jet-set!!) trying to get it all started, and hey! the Americans are actually answering e-mails, making calls when they say they will and moving it all along swimmingly. It does make me a bit sad that I can't use a UK company, I would like to keep the old 'carbon footprint' as low as possible but what can you do??

So now I have to leave it till tomorrow now and see what the Americans come up with in terms of cost and turnaround time. So day 1 of 30 is essentially over, 29 left to go...

Stay tuned,
More tomorrow
Love

Gill xxx

Create the impossible in 30 days

2009-06-11T20:46:00.003+01:00

Wow! Now here is a challenge - do you have a dream that you feel is impossible but feel so passionately about that you would enjoy spending the time necessary t bring it to fruition,even if you knew you could fail at the end of it.
Do you think that you have a less than 50% chance that you will succeed?
Would you be willing to put it on the line and set out to achieve your dream within only 30 days?

Scarey huh?!? As part of his Effortless Success programme, Michael Neill is offering to guide you through this phenomenal, whirlwind of an adventure for only $99 (about £60. How much do you want your dream? Is it worth £60 to you, is it worth a month's worth of effort to achieve?

Mine is!! So I'm hopping aboard. I hope to see you there!! Please, please let me know how you get on. Click now on our Genius Catalyst link and go to "Upcoming events" to find out more.

I will keep you informed as to how I am getting on throughout July.
Lots of love
Gill x

NLP Superheros

2009-06-10T22:02:00.004+01:00

Good evening!!
I am so excited. We have managed to set up the links to the website of two of my favourite people, and I really hope you enjoy sharing them with us. There will be more treats to come very soon, but let's take some baby steps and stick to the ones we already have.

As in my previous blog, I mentioned a great guy called Michael Neill, who I had the pleasure of meeting a few years ago when I did my NLP training. Michael is a really super, down-to-earth bloke, a phenomenal life coach (to the rich, famous and royal!!), an prolific author and also an accomplished actor. If anyone has the right to publish "Effortless Success", this man has! Michael's generous nature and fun approach to life means that his books and CD sets are a real joy to read and enjoy, almost to the point that you may not notice how much he's making you work on yourself. My 9 year old quotes him all the time, and even my 4 year old loves his stories.
Seriously, if there was one self-help/personal development/damn fine read that I would recommend to my best friend it would be a book by Michael Neill. Try it out for yourself, you won't be disappointed.

Similarly, we have linked with Paul McKenna's website, a superhero of NLP!! Paul has recently been back on TV with his weightloss programme, and as usual he has been able to help many, many people to lose weight and keep it off. His programme is profound, simple and incredibly life-changing for those who have followed it. Paul is a very talented performer, who comes across as very polished and professional - he is also a man who cares very deeply about being able to help as many people as possible, particularly when it comes to weight loss. He is a pleasure to train with and a very articulate and expressive author. As well as weight-loss, Paul has also written prgrammes tohelp you sleep, give up smoking and make some money all of which come with a hypnotic CD, expertly constructed to speak to you at both a conscious and subconscious level. A true superstar! If you want to give up smoking, lose weight, gain confidence or change your life in 7 days, just follow the link to get to Paul's brilliant webshop.

And still to come...
More NLP surprises, The Ethical Superstore (chock full of green, eco and fair trade goodies), Myakka, an amazing furniture store specialising in beautiful wooden furniture from India, and The Release Technique, which will blow you away with it's power and simplicity.
I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do.
Until next time, in the words of Mr Neill, "Have fun, learn heaps"...

New partners

2009-06-07T22:39:00.002+01:00

Just one more blog for tonight, and off to bed!
We are adding some really exciting links from our website to other sites that are extremely important to me, and that I hope you will find enjoyable, fun, inspiring and link-worthy.

I will update the blog whenever we put one on to let you know a bit about them and why we have chosen them to be associated with our website. There are some real treats in store, particularly Michael Neill's site - that is a guy really worth paying some attention to - he's funny, wise, intelligent and a really nice bloke. So even while you are waiting for the link, check him out at www.geniuscatalyst.com

Hope you enjoy
Lots of love
Gill x

Lots to tell....it's time for therapy

2009-06-07T22:32:00.002+01:00

Part 3...
And in my spare 5 minutes (LOL), I have decided to start actually practising my therapy work after about 10 years of study. It was a really difficult decision to decide what to advertise as because I use so many fabulous therapies and I really believe that each has it's own strengths and some will suit some people better than others.

I also think that a huge part of getting back your health and wellbeing is feeling in control of what is going on in your life - there is nothing worse than not understanding what is happening to you, or having decisions forced upon you over which you have no say. I found that when I was pregnant, I really needed to just talk to someone who was just being impartial and really taking the time to listen, there was nothing wrong with me as such, I just needed to be emotionally held and allowed to express my anxieties and worries. That was a real discovery point in my life, sometimes that is what people really need.

Moving on from there, other people may need help in dealing with deeply held issues in order to understand and overcome the things that are making them unhappy or holding them back, and others just need to be told that it's OK to make a decision. For this NLP, hypnotherapy or a holstic counselling session might be ideal.

For others, they just want to relax but don't know how, or are spending so much time running around that they just need time to sit and think about what is going on for them and discuss the choices and issues that are affecting them at that time. Others just want to chill and meditate for an hour or have a lovely relaxing aromatherapy massage.

Other people may find that their health issues are more of a problem than their lifestyle and there are a number of ways to look at those, whether through the use of herbs or homeopathy, or by a dietary change or supplementation. It is amazing how much better people can feel just by reducing the things that make them feel bad, often sugar, dairy or wheat.

Personally, I believe that all of these factors contribute to our wellbeing and happiness, which is key in helping to ensure good health. So I love to work truly holistically using a combination of therapies to tackle each set of individual circumstances to best suit needs of the individual. However, in the spirit of giving people control back, I am guided by what the individual feels about what they need and what they feel the mot important aspect is. My job is to provide support, education, technical skills and a safe space. You, though, are the expert - the expert on you!!

I am looking forward to expanding on the role that I love in the shop, actually helping people to feel better, and being able to provide a more indepth service where I can actually take an hour or so to really focus on them - it is gonna be so cool.

Oh yeah, and what did I call myself in the end - a "Holistic Wellness Therapist". Just hope it makes sense to people!!! Will let you know.

Lots of love (and thanks for listening to my "me, me, me" post this time round)
Gill x

Lots to tell....It's MAGIC!!!

2009-06-07T22:28:00.002+01:00

Part 2...
The cosmetics side has been brewing for about 4 years, but I have never had the nerve to actually move forward with it although it is something that I love passionately and I believe can contribute in many ways to improving people's health and wellbeing. So far we have launched a range of high quality, organic aromatherapy oils and a gorgeous natural lipbalm, with no colouring, scent or nasties - it is purely beeswax, cocoa butter, organic thistle oil, organic jojoba oil, vitamin E and carotene. Beautiful and really pure. I am so excited!!!

The next project is the launch of Nitnots, a shampoo that helps treat the symptoms of headlice and helps keep them away - and again no nasties, just herbs and essential oils and boy! my kids have been using it for a while now as have my friends kids and if you are half as happy with it as I am then I will be delighted!

There is also a fabulous cream that has been designed to help with skin conditions, it may be especially useful in cases of eczema and psoriasis. So that will be along as soon as I can get it all sorted out and on the shelves and we will get it on the webshop too, which will be great.

I am really really excited - I really hope that you like them xxx

Lots to tell...

2009-06-07T21:42:00.003+01:00

Hi!
I'm back, it's been a while and I am very sorry for that.
There has been such a lot going on it is hard to know where to start really. The shop is currently up for sale as personal circumstances may be forcing a move. However, in the meantime, I am taking and giving as much to the experience of having the shop as I can. I do love it and it's a great feeling to have people come in for help and leave feeling much better, lighter and happier than when they first came in - that is a real joy for me.

I know that for a lot of people things have been really tough over the past year or so, with many people losing their jobs, homes and businesses. It might just be the sunshine but there really seems to be a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel. It isn't really that people are spending more money than they were - but people just seem a little bit more positive and ready to take steps to improve their lives. I have a friend who comes into the shop who has told me that she is starting a degree in a subject that she loves, another friend has decided to go back to university to study to be a social worker (and she will be amazing at it!) and other friends are making real decisions about having more children, changing career path or simply taking more time out to take care of themselves. Its all positive decisions too, all take due to choice rather than being forced upon them.

Personally I have had the courage to open up my heart and do something that I love too, well two things actually - I have launched my new range of toiletries and aromatherapy oils called Magic Natural Cosmetics and I have decided to dedicate more time to my therapy work.

More to follow....

Website had a nervous breakdown

2009-01-21T23:01:00.002Z

Hi!
Sorry haven't been on for a while. Had first lot of end of year accounts to do - joy!!
Just a quickie to say that the website has been out for a while now and it's also affecting our ability to get e-mails. We have been in touch with the people who host it for us (more than once!) but we are still in website-limbo. Apologies if it's causing anyone any inconvenience, we are trying to get service back up and running as soon as possible.
Lots of love and a belated Happy New Year
Gill x

Ecover refills

2008-11-05T23:03:00.004Z

Just a quickie today.

I am sure you have heard of the great eco-friendly Ecover range of cleaning products. Well, we are in a fabulous position of being able to save you money and help to reduce the environmental impact of packaging.
We have extended our range of Ecover refill stations to include multi-surface cleaner and fabric conditioner, as well as our original washing-up liquid and laundry liquid refills and we will be introducing the toilet cleaner from next week.

The scheme is really simple. Bring back your empty bottles, and we will refill them with exactly the same product and you can save significant amounts of money eg. laundry liquid 1.5l is usually £5.65 to buy, but the refill is only £4.50. Bargain or what!!!!!

Please help support us in this project, we think it is a fabulous idea for everyone and we are really proud to be able to offer the service. While we are being a bit cheeky asking for your support, could we also ask for your carrier bags when you have finished with them as we reuse them, saving even more rubbish from reaching landfill.

And on environmental great ideas, why not look at our OWL electricity monitors, which allow you to see exactly how much electricity you are using. We have saved so much money with one of these little gadgets - absolutely love them! They are really, really easy to use and will, I am sure, save you far more than you spend on the
cost of one.

Lots of love
Gill x

Homeopathy part 2- Prescribing

2008-11-03T19:44:00.005Z

In the previous blog I explained what homeopathy is and how the remedies are made. I thought this time I would look at how prescribing is done, and then do a few following blogs about the main remedies.

When prescribing homeopathically it is not really about prescribing for a condition such as a cold, but about the individuals experience of that condition. For example, imagine there was an accident - you would tend to find that people would react in one of two main ways; either "I'm fine, leave me alone" or they get a bit hysterical. These people have experienced the same event, but they are dealing with it in very different ways. In homeopathic terms, the "I'm fine (though my leg is broken, but I can still walk home)" response would be treated with Arnica, whilst the "Oh my God I'm going to die (if you look really carefully you'll see there is a tiny cut on my left pinkie)" reponse would indicate the remedy Aconite. If you get that bit we'll move on to the common cold.

If a homeopath was treating a cold they would ask a lot of questions, some of which may seem pretty irrelevant but they all add up to the overall picture of what remedy is best suited to treat the patients experience of their cold. Some of these questions might include:

"Was anything happening to you when it started?" - You might have got wet or had a row with someone or ate too much icecream. This may seem irrelevant but sometimes when you are a bit low anyway these seemingly trivial things are just enough to tip you over the edge

"What makes you feel better/worse?" - Some people feel better if they get up and keep busy, others need to lie down quietly and sleep, others are really thirsty and feel better if they drink lots of cold water while others want warm drinks, some might need the fresh air while others suffer from the slightest draught.

"Do you feel hot or cold?" - People experience the temperature in different ways. Some feel freezing, others are really hot, some have a fever and feel cold, others feel hot inside but feel cold to the touch. There is even one remedy where the patient feels freezing cold and must be wrapped up totally to keep warm, but craves fresh air so will still need the windows open at the same time.

And on to the charm that homepaths are famous for...
"Do you have much mucus? What colour is it? What is it's texture? - You have probably noticed that when you have a cold you sometimes have a runny nose, sometimes you haven't. Sometimes it only runs when you are indoors/outdoors/in a draught/have a hot drink.

And the corzya (snot,to you and me) can vary greatly too. Sometimes yellow, other times green, or watery, or slightly bloody. Sometimes it's like water, other times i's really sticky and thick, other times it just blocks you up and you can't breathe.

So the general idea is that each time an individual has a cold it will be different and it will vary from person to person too. Obviously some people have specific triggers - some suffer as soon as it gets a bit damp in autumn, others have more summer colds, others always have colds that go to their chest but there is often a bit of variation.

In order to prescribe then, what you would need is a list of the symptoms associated with the condition you are treating. The more unusual they are the better really - sneezing and coughing are not really much good as symptoms although the details about how and when they cough and sneeze may give some great clues to the right remedy. When you have a list of the symptoms you will need a book called a repertory and you look up the symptoms and see which remedies correspond to those symptoms. Basically by doing a little table you start to build up a picture of the most likely remedies and by reading the remedy picture itself you would be able to identify which of these remedies is closest to the cold experience your patient is having.

An easier way, when you first start out is to get a good book such as Miranda Castro's Homeopathy Guide and learn the different remedy pictures for the main remedies for colds, sickness, hayfever, earache, whatever you need (preferably before you need them). Another way is to get a Helios or Ainsworth Homeopathy kit which has all the remedies you are likely to need and include a guide to those remedies and how to use the kit. They are both extremely good, but Helios has a wider product range including one for Childbirth, a first aid kit, a small & large general kits and a travellers kit. They all have the basics plus some specifics for your individual situation.

It sounds complicated but you soon get the hang of it - for example, pulsatilla is a remedy that covers very changeable symptoms (including mood), it has greeny/yellow snot, often comes on after getting your feet wet, and in children can be characterised by them being really clingy and tearful.

Chamomilla on the other hand is a very cross remedy, it is often used in teething babies but that is not its exclusive use. They feel pain really severely and get very angry about it. The condition may also be brought on after being angry, and they don't like to be looked at or touched. In teething babies they may have diarrhoea which (here we go again...) may look like chopped spinach!

Arnica, as we have said, is the "I've only broken my leg, of course I can walk to the hospital 3 miles away, leave me alone, I'm fine". They can be very oversensitive. Or it can simply be to help bruising come out. People who need arnica tend to feel like they have "been kicked by a horse" or similar, and generally feel very painful, bruised and achy.

You generally start to get a feel for the main remedies pretty quickly and can see them quite easily with a bit of practice (though this is not the case every time - I wish it were!).

When you have a good idea of the remedy then you give it in whatever potency seems appropriate - I would suggest starting out using 30c's in most cases, though the Helios childbirth kit uses 200c's due to the intensity of the states during labour and birth. The remedies are given as needed, perhaps giving the remedy as the patient says they need one or when you see the symptoms are returning. There is a bit of a misleading 'fact' that I was told when I first started off, which was that you can't overdose on remedies - I would beg to differ. After inducing in myself a 5 day horrendous hangover by repeatedly taking Nux Vomica when it was the wrong remedy, I can testify that you can cause some temporary discomfort by taking too much of the wrong remedy. So if after 3 or 4 doses you are not seeing any significant difference start to relook at the case and see if you have missed something that might indicate another remedy, and represcribe.
So that is a basic rundown on how homeopathy is prescribed - at this point I would not expect you to be able to do a prescription, so don't fret if you still don't quite get it. As I said earlier, I would recommend either getting yourself a kit complete with instructions, buying a beginners book such as Miranda Castro's Homeopathy Guide (I actually use her mother and baby guide as I find it easier to follow), which has loads of information and some sample cases to practise on or contact your local homeopath to book onto an introduction course.

It is much easier than it sounds, honestly! And I have found that it is more effective, long-term and quicker than using painkillers, antibiotics and antihistamines. However on a serious note, if you have any doubt about a condition, are on medication or have any concerns about your health it is important to speak to a pharmacist or your GP before taking any course of action - better safe than sorry!

Next time, more on colds & coughs since it is a highy appropriate time of year for that one.

The Rise & Fall of the Local Shop

2008-11-01T20:01:00.000Z

What is your view of the position of the local shop? There is currently a real drive in the media to ‘Keep it local’, we all want our town centres to be vibrant and full of life, and we all value to importance of convenient shops local to us when we want to pop out and buy the odds and ends we don’t pick up on our trip to the supermarket. We all say that we value the local independent shops and bemoan the takeover of our high streets by the big chains.

But, in honesty, how many of us actually use our local shops regularly? I admit to being as much at fault as anyone – I have had my shop for almost a year and today was the first time that I went next door to the greengrocers to buy the vegetables I needed for tea. Like everyone else I value the convenience of the supermarket , the megastore at which I can conveniently park and pick up almost everything I could possibly want at a ‘bargain’ price. Like most people I am happy with the anonymity and lack of knowledge of the staff most of the time as I just want to get in, buy what I want and get out. The meteoric rise of the supermarket is no surprise and, in my opinion, is quite justified.

However, what about when we do need speciality products, or we need to pick up the vegetables we forgot to get at Tesco’s or we really need advice on what it is we need to buy? None of these things are available from the High Street chains, and if we are not careful they will be disappearing from our local shopping centres too. Not only is our convenience at risk but so is the heart of our local communities. Imagine for one second, Shoreham or Stenying town centres without the small independent shops or Ham Road in Worthing without it’s chemist and Co-op, or a shop- free Lancing. We think it will never happen, but in the States this is exactly what has happened – one Walmart per town, and that is where you buy everything, that is the reality in many American towns. Is that what we want? Really?

A customer of mine passed on a few words of wisdom from a colleague of mine in the local Shoreham greengrocers, if everyone in Shoreham spent just £1 a month in each of the local shops (of which there are not that many), the security of the local businesses would be assured. If fact each shop would take £19000 a month – unbelievable! Even spending just £1 a year would give these businesses are real fighting chance of survival through the recession and ensure the existence of the local town centres that we all say that we love and support. Otherwise, and this is unfortunately true, many of these businesses will not be coming through the current financial crisis and will be lost forever.

Intro to homepathy

2008-10-27T09:55:00.000Z

We often have people coming into the shop and ask about certain conditions and what they can take. As someone who uses homepathy as my main healthcare resource it is often something that I would recommend, and find the responses quite interesting.
There seems to be 3 standard responses;
1. No idea what it is, don't ask, just want to feel better
2. Oh yeah, homeopathy , I use it all the time
3. No way, never used it, it doesn't work and it's dangerous

I thought I would just do a little bit about the history of homeopathy and 'how it works' and follow up with some remedy pictures over the next week. I'm not planning on being controversial, if you don't like homeopathy I don't want to get into a debate really but I am happy to answer genuine questions so please feel free to get in touch. If you don't like homeopathy then that's cool with me and I certainly wouldn't try to convince you except to say that if you try it you might be pleasantly surprised.

First of all, I really don't know how it works, and to be honest I don't think anyone really does know at this point. But I also think this doesn't detract from the fact that it does work for me and my family and the patients I have treated, not always perfectly but I would think that is to do with my ability to prescribe rather than the remedy itself! During my last 2 c-sections I had epidurals (obviously) and then no pain relief at all following the op, just my remedies which I self prescribed. After each one I was up and about within 2 hours and was home the following morning. This is not something I am recommending without discussion with your GP and medical practitioners, but it worked for me and the doctors at the hospital were genuinely amazed by my recovery. I've got the kids through colds in a day, bruises in a matter of hours and calmed my hysterical 8 year old immediately with one dose of aconite after he had a fall at school among many other things. It has been almost my sole healthcare resource for about 9 years now

Is it placebo? I wish it was...it would make prescribing an awful lot easier. I have had more than one occasion (quite a few more than one) where I have prescribed the wrong remedy and nothing has happened, and then changed the remedy and had a full and complete recovery. It follows logically (at least to me) that if it was placebo then it wouldn't matter what remedy you gave, the result would be the same. There is also the argument that it works on animals, babies, plants etc and they have no idea that they are meant to get better when they take the tablet. And quite frankly even if it was placebo, why the hell not - if it makes me better and has no side effects I don't actually care whether it is placebo or not. But as I say I wish it was placebo, it would be alot easier.

My thoughts are that we simply don't know yet how it works - once upon a time we didn't know how electricity worked, or gravity, or cars, or fire even but they worked too and eventually we found out exactly how they worked. And as a by-the-way, we don't actually know how anaesthetics work either but we all take them for granted (and very fortunate we are to have them).

Anyway, homeopathy is not a new thing. It was 'invented' by a guy called Samuel Hahnemann back in the 18th century. He was a GP who decided that there must be a better way than leeches (which are still handy little critters today though), drilling holes into peoples skulls to let the bad spirits out and dosing people up with copious amounts of mercury and silver nitrate. He wasn't the easiest of blokes by the sound of things - he was just a wee bit arrogant (which becomes very clear if you read his writings), but he definately put alot of effort into putting the system together. I won't do any more of the history at this point as it is a bit long, except to say that historically homeopathy has been practiced by doctors and it's provision is written into the NHS charter, so at some point it was recognised as a mainstay of the British Health Care system. This remains true in Europe, where it is practised by GPs and hospitals and is a major part of health care in countries like India where the health system is much less drug based and more holistic.

So how does it work - well, on each bottle you will see a little number, usually followed by a 'c' or less often an 'x'. This indicates the number of times that the substance had been diluted. So I will run through how they make a 3c solution and you can work out the rest from there:

The substance to be used is selected (let's use arsenicum - arsenic) and is made into a dilutable form. Imagine there is a row of 3 test tubes in front of you. You take one drop of the substance and put it into the first test tube, then add 99 drops of water to the same test tube. This gives you 100 drops of liquid in the first test tube. The test tube is the sucussed (basically shaken and banged about), this was historically done by banging it on a hefty bible. That bit seems to be the bit that does the work of turning it into a remedy - no idea how, but there are several theories around which are trying to explain it. When you have banged it 100 times then you put that test tube back in its rack.
Now you take one drop of the succussed solution in test tube one (now a 1c solution) and put it into test tube number 2. Then add 99 drops of water to the second test tube, so you have 1 drop of the 1c solution plus 99 drops of water = 100drops in total in test tube 2. Now succuss in the same way (with the bible) and you have a 2c solution. Now put test tube 2 back in it's rack.
Take one drop of the 2c solution and put in test tube 3 along with 99 drops of water (100 drops of liquid in the test tube) and succuss again. You now have a 3c solution.
Get the picture? Obviously, you need to be a careful with some substances you use to make remedies as they are often poisonous (for reasons I will explain in anther blog), so remedies are made by qualified homeopathic pharmacists and are only sold in potencies which are so diluted that they are no longer poisonous, for example you wouldn't buy 1c of arsenicum to be on the safe side.
The two most common potencies (ie. number of dilutions) is 6c and 30c so the first means it had been diluted and succussed 6 times and the second means it has been diluted and succussed 30 times. Generally you can use either potency but most commonly people tend to use 30c's for acute complaints but it doesn't really matter that much, one might just work a bit better than the other but if the remedy is right then it should work anyway. Its a bit like having 1 or 2 sugars in your tea I suppose, one might taste a bit better to one person and the other might taste better to another person but in the end the sugar has sweetened the tea.
This is getting a bit long so I will stop now and do a how to prescibe blog tomorrow. Hope this made sense, but if you have any questions you can get in touch via the vits n' pieces website at http://www.vitsnpieces.com/ . Tomorrow I will do a bit about prescribing and how to take remedies. Speak then xx

The power of perception

2008-10-23T10:23:00.000+01:00

In Shoreham at the moment the council are running a mystery shopper scheme, the aim being to help businesses by telling them about the customers experience of being in their shop. What a great idea! I think we are really lucky in that, because we are a community business we know most of our customers, and they are really good at telling us when we are getting it wrong - and also when we are getting it right, which is lovely!

It did make me think about the power of our perceptions and how they affect our lives. I don't think it's as simple as having a 'glass is half full/empty' attitude, though that is certainly part of it. Take the so-called credit cruch, a great soundbite if I ever heard one! I know that there have been job losses and that people and business have lost money due to the problems within banking and housing and I would no way want to belittle that - if you have really been affected then I you have my best wishes and I hope that things look up for you soon. This isn't really about the credit crunch as much as about attitudes to it - especially mine, which you may relate to.

Personally we haven't really been affected that much, the shop pays its bills but doesn't really make any money so as long as it carries on that way we are in no worse position than we were. My husband does work for a bank but his job is pretty secure we think, and yes, the price of fuel has gone up and our house price has gone down but that is the point I guess.

We do have a seven seater car, because there are six of us, not just because we wanted a big car so it does use alot of fuel, and also produces more pollution than we would like. So what do we do? Well we could gripe and complain about the cost of fuel, which I admit we did do for quite a while but we could also take a deep breath, put on some sensible shoes and get walking instead of jumping in the car. We live about a mile from school so it is a bit of a trek to walk all the way there and back, with a 3 year old, a buggy and two exhausted schoolchildren. So we don't walk all the way but we drive to my daughters school, leave the car there and walk down to my son's school to pick him up and then we walk back to the car. And you know what, it's lovely! The kids get to interact with their environment, I get to talk to other grown-ups and the kids get to play with their friends. It also encourages us to just pop to the park as we walk past the gates - which the children love. We NEVER used to go to the park when we drove. And it is actually quicker too. Will we keep it up when it's raining or freezing cold in the winter? I don't know, I would like to think so but either way I am not going to beat myself up about it - every day that I do walk is one day that I have cut my fuel usuage and reduced my carbon emissions. It really doesn't need to be all or nothing, just small steps every day will make all the difference.
So the question is - has the fuel increase improved or reduced the quality of our lives? I know what the children would say, they get to see their friends, go to the park and see the flowers and the spiders, it is a bit of a no-brainer really!

Same goes for energy costs. We, like everyone, noticed a huge increase in fuel bills in the recent years but we were terrible about leaving lights on and things on standby. Eventually we bought an OWL energy monitor and it has saved us a fortune! We are stocking the meters in the shop now as I so strongly believe that they are amazing and everyone should have one. All you do is attach a little clip to the electric cable near your meter, which you then plug into the a little box which measures your fuel consumption. There is a really clear monitor that you put in an obvious place and it tells you how much electricity -in monetary terms you are using per hour. Let me give you an example of how it has worked for us; one morning I was heading out the door to take the kids to school, as usual half the lights in the house were on and pre-monitor I wouldn't have thought twice about it. I did however notice the meter, which was showing we were usng a shocking 70p an hour! I took 2 minutes and ran round the house switching things off - including the iron which I had left on, and the rate dropped down to 4.1p a minute. It turned out I was out for 10 hours that day, which even with my maths adds up to £7 saved in one day, and it potentially stopped the house being burned down. We haven't had an actual bill yet, but since we are now aware of our usage I would bet the £29.99 it cost for the meter that it has paid for itself at least twice over.
So is the credit crunch really the end of the world as we know it, or just a trigger to think about how we spend our money? Should we be scared just because we are being told to be, or should we be lokking at how it has really affected us at a personal level and focus on those things? And lets face it, the credit crunch is a fabulous marketing tool for those pack 'em high, sell 'em cheap companies - we all know who they are - that got us into this state in the first place.
Lots of love
Gill x

It's a big job but somebody's got to do it!

2008-10-22T00:02:00.000+01:00

We are constantly looking at new products, and trying to meet the needs of all our fab customers, at home or on the web. It is kinda hard to get it right, but not for lack of trying! And no, this isn't a whinge about how hard the life of a health food shop owner is cos I actually love what I do. It is, however, a request for help.

We are in a weird position at the moment, with the move of the supermarkets into the health food and supplements market. We are in the niche of being the place that people come to when they can't get what they want in the supermarket, but there is a reason that the supermarket doesn't sell these things - they are not big sellers, after all the supermarkets want to sell as much as they can so if people are going to buy it then they will be selling it. And at the same time the supermarkets are buying in the top sellers in bulk and selling them off cheaper than we can often buy them in for.

However - and this is the biggie, we can meet the need for these more unusual little products but we need to know from you what those things are. Where we are able to help is by providing that personal service, and for those who don't know already, if you let us know what you need we can probably order it in for you. So if you are in and can't find what you want then don't just walk away, let us know and we can try to help. After all, thats what we're here for and we are more than happy to oblige.

It's a changing world and for all we small businesses talk about how difficult it is for us to compete against the supermarkets, I actually think that it gives us a huge opportunity for us to provide you with the fabulous service that only we can, and that you deserve. So let us know what it is that we can do for you.

New blog - how exciting!!

2008-10-21T23:33:00.000+01:00

Gosh, here I am being all technical. Well actually here I am asking my husband to show me how to be technical. My hubbie, Mark is our resident techie and put together this blog and also our website with the webshop. It's all new to me but it is all really exciting.
Isn't it amazing - our very first order on the website actually came from Amsterdam! I really love our little shop and we have a real community feel to the shop, and it's lovely to think that we can be involved in people's lives and can make a real difference. I love the fact that, not only do we have the fab therapists upstairs for when you need particular support, but also that we can provide the resources so that you can look after yourselves on a day to day basis. Now though, we can expand that out and do our bit over a bigger area.

As this is my first blog I would like to do a bit of an oscar speech, if that's OK. I would really like to say thank you to everyone who has given both me and the shop their support in the last year since I took over the shop. It has been a bit of a rollercoaster because, if you know me you'll know, I haven't had any experience of running a business before and between that and the kids it's been pretty full on. We have taken on a great bunch of therapists this year, including Claire Yuill who is our physio and also a clinical pilates instructor and Sandry Koo, our acupuncturist. The list is really long and if you have a mo it would be worth having a look to see who we have now - it's all on the website.
And, of course, what can I say about Laura and Dandy - fabulous girls, I don't know what I would do without them. When I started we had seven staff, all doing crazy hours and it kinda felt like you never saw the same person twice. Now we have me and the two superstars running the whole ship and they are doing a great job - I hope it feels that it's a bit more consistent and things are more organised now, it certainly does to me.
Thats loads for tonight, and there is loads more that I wanted to say but I'll do it gradually over the next few weeks. I'm planning to let you know what's going on in the shop, what's gonna happen, new products and also things like recipes, advice on different conditions and articles on different vitamins and remedies. Also I was planning to just have a chat about what's going on generally in health food, shoreham and life, the universe and everything.
If there is something you want me to talk about then get in touch at contactus@vitsnpieces.com and I will see what I can do. Hope you enjoy!