Please do not use
any of the information in
posts that discuss the
medicinal properties of
of plants to diagnose disease.
If you should try something
suggested here, you are
responsible for the outcome.
You may want to consult with
a Health Care Provider that is
knowledgeable about herbs,
or spend some time reading
and educating yourself on
the proper use of herbs.
It is that time of year again, Christmas, and our Christmas Tree is once again a Norfolk Island Pine. The tree we purchased last year can be viewed at the preceding link, and in the next day or two, I’ll post a picture of our new tree, I started decorating it yesterday and will finish today. Since the tree is actually a house plant, it will live on after Christmas, so I’ll leave the decorations on a week or two into January. Then if it does well, it will be decorated for Valentines Day. The tree we purchased last year did well until April…we think that we weren’t able to provide it with enough light because we had so very much rain that being under our skylight wasn’t enough, but aren’t sure.
We purchased our latest Norfolk Island Pine on Sunday at a great price, it is about 3 feet tall plus the pot it is in, and stands on a table behind the couch. I have light weight ornaments on it, no lights though, because that would be too much weight. Instead our indoor Christmas lights surround the frame of a doorway.
I never take for granted the privilege of sight. Those who cannot see compensate by having acute senses in other areas, but I can see so can’t imagine what it would be like if I could not see the beautiful array of colors as flowers bloom in springtime and throughout the year. I could smell them, touch them, but would not be able to see them. Or how about the changing colors of fall if you live in parts of the world and United States where trees change…what if we could not see them? What would “color” mean to us?
I suppose I’d not know what I was missing and would adjust as many do, but I do have my sight and treasure the gift and want to care for it. My medical doctor told me just this week that I should have my eyes examined each year as “older” age comes not only to make sure that my glasses are correct for my eyes, but to watch for things like glaucoma. So I will go and get them checked, get my prescription and proper measurements of the lenses so that the line for bifocals, or progressive lenses in my case, is properly placed, and then will look into ordering cheap eyeglasses online at my favorite site where they manufacture their own glasses…no middleman, no fancy name brands…but pretty fancy glasses at incredibly low prices.
In fact, at the prices offered, I may get two pairs. I want to spend many more years enjoying the beauty that is around me, and caring for my eyes and vision is an essential part of that.
One thing that we are thankful for during the month of Thanksgiving is the availability of Pomegranates. They are available in the fall in our supermarket, but the prices are reduced during the month of November, and we buy a couple each week. My husband was watching “Good Eats” with Alton Brown one night and learned that the cleanest way to remove the seeds with their juicy coating was to do so under water. It is clean this way, and we then enjoy working several seeds around in our mouth to break the outer soft part and enjoy the juice, and discard the seeds. I have read, however, that the seeds are high in fiber and beneficial oils, but we have not yet gone as far as to eat them. We just finished one a little while ago and have another waiting in the fruit basket.
The red juice contains many antioxidant benefits, as do so many of the red and blue berry fruits. But we are just happy to enjoy this annual tradition of eating fresh pomegranates during the month of November and thankful for whatever benefits they may bring.
Puppies, babies, what can be cuter? I am not working my garden now as it is “resting” for the winter, but do have time to look a cute pictures. So it’s only natural that taking a look at cute pictures at the Puppies vs. Babies online contest would be a nice substitute. Not only can you take a look at ADORABLE pictures, but you can vote….and you have until November 23rd to do so. The winning baby or puppy gets $5,000.
When my now grown children were babies, to me they were the cutest babies in the world. They are all grown up now, and I have a Yorkie named Aspen…so now puppies are the cutest things in the world to me, but when it comes to choosing “Puppies vs. Babies “, I’m having a hard time deciding, and admit to being biased. Alas, I don’t think I can enter my Aspen into the puppy contest, but it’s not to late to vote, and I want you to see why I think she’s one cute little dog, here’s her picture:
I guess what you like is going to be determined by whether you have or have had a baby, or whether you have a little fur-baby right now, but no matter what, don’t forget to take a look at the cute pictures at any of the links and cast your vote.
Please tell us in a COMMENT who you plan to vote for…cute babies or cute puppies, and take a moment to tell us why.
When this blog was started almost 4 years ago, it was inspired by seed and plant exchange page that I maintained on another website. As time has gone by, that aspect of the blog seems to have moved to the background even though there are links to such a page along the top above as well as information (that may need updating) about mailing plants.
I recently received a comment on a post to this blog about Butcher’s Broom seeking some Butcher’s Broom seeds. If you’d like to help, click “Butcher’s Broom” and read the comment at the end of the post. The person who posted can be reached at the email address associated with his name in the post.
I would like to spend some time updating the “Swap, Sell” page on this blog in the near future, please do leave a comment if you have any seeds or plants that you are looking looking and / or plants or seeds you have to offer in trade.
