I think it's important to regularly experiment. Our experiments may fail, at times. But that's not the same as us failing. In my opinion, my own failure would come from never trying new ways to do things. Besides, success becomes sweeter after a failure or two. Here's what went right and what went wrong in the past few months.
My new hair routine
I have not used shampoo for 4 months now.
This is what I've been substituting for shampoo, an inexpensive conditioner designed to protect color-treated hair. I continue to be pleased with the look and feel of my hair. I'd say this experiment was a success for me with my hair type (coarse, dry, curly, with a tendency toward frizz).
Some mini coffeecakes
I had a dream a week ago. I was in a bakery, and in the glass case were these coffeecake muffins. I awoke with such a hunger to replicate those pastries. I finally got around to making them yesterday and was very pleased with the result. I didn't use a recipe, but made a standard coffeecake batter, a cinnamon-brown sugar-pecan filling, and a streusel topping. I scooped a layer of batter into the bottom of the muffin liners, topped with the cinnamon-sugar, then another layer of the batter. I used a knife to swirl the cinnamon through the batter. Finally, I sprinkled the coffeecakes with streusel, then baked.
They were everything I dreamed they would be, minus the bakery setting.
My nasturtium plant and seeds
Last fall, I brought one hanging basket with a healthy nasturtium plant indoors. I was hoping to collect a dozen or so seeds from the plant.
The plant was setting seeds, so it looked like my hopes would come to fruition. Sadly, this is all I was able to collect from the plant -- 3 very tiny seeds.
I don't have much confidence that they'll grow into anything. The only upside is it is now nearly February and my plant is still hanging in there, sitting in the kitchen window.
It might survive until spring when I can set it outside again. Keeping my fingers crossed. But I think I'll need to buy nasturtium seeds to grow more plants for this upcoming summer.
So, I had two successes and one fail. I learned a lot about expectations. I also learned that I would never know the answers to my questions if I didn't at least give it a try.
What have been your best experiment successes? Any experiment failures that surprised you?
