Tuesday, November 24, 2015

"Come and See..."

John 1:35-50

“Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” John 1:39

"Come and see" was the invitation Jesus extended to John the Baptist and his followers that day.  It was also the invitation extended to Simon Peter, Philip, and Nathanael. Indeed, it is it the same invitation extended to us all.  Just like Jesus and Philip, we are to invite people to "come and see".  Come and see the glory of the Lord.  Come and see God's goodness.  Come and see God at work.  Come and see Truth.  Come and see life.  Come and see contentment in difficult circumstances.  Come and see God providing for needs through his people.  Come and see mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical healing.  Come and see joy.  Come and see peace.  Come and see love.  Come and see lives being changed.

Come and see...

...JESUS!
...the Lamb of God
...the Son of God
...the King of Kings
...the Alpha and Omega

Sunday, June 14, 2015

What's Blooming

The rains of May have given way to the hot, humid temperatures of June.  Seems like we went from cool and cloudy to hot and sunny overnight with no time to prepare.  We also went from the feast of excessive rain to absolutely no rain.  It's not rained one single drop in my little corner of the world for the past 2 weeks.  My plants, garden, and flower beds could use some rain lovin right about now.  Nevertheless, my flowers are still going and blooming.  Guess they liked the 13" of rain we got in May!

Echinacea, Purple & White Coneflowers were so vibrant thanks to all the rain, cooler weather, and clouds.

This yellow yarrow came to me through a gardening friend.  I think about her every time I look at this plant.

This daylily was the prettiest its been in my garden.  Again, thanks to the rain, cooler temps, and cloudy days.

My all-time favorite daylily, San Antonio Firecracker, pays homage to my hometown.

Mexican Milkweed, a nectar & larval plant for the Monarch butterfly.  I just like the color of the blooms.

Many years ago, I intentionally planted one of these red salvias in my planter.  I've been getting volunteers every year.

This white Salvia greggii is evergreen and has a long bloom time.  It's a native Texas plant and does well in our hot, harsh growing conditions.

Lanceleaf Loosestrife grows on tall wispy stems.  The flowers are very tiny and dainty.  It's always a delight when it blooms.

I received some Roughleaf Sunflowers from a gardening friend last spring.  The plants didn't get very tall, but the did bloom. I sprinkled seeds around my garden and they germinated and have bloomed.  These are easily 4 feet tall, but I love the pretty flowers.

These pretty yellow daylilies were in a box of daylilies I picked up at Sam's about 10 years ago.  I knew nothing of growing daylilies, but that didn't matter to these guys.  They have been blooming along my garage driveway faithfully every spring.

Monday, May 18, 2015

Welcome to My Garden

Won't you please come and join me on a stroll through my garden? It's a bit wet due to all the recent rains we've received, so please be sure you're wearing your water shoes. :)


 We've got lots of tomatoes, garlic, tomatillos, cucumbers, cantaloupe, watermelon, peas, okra, and green beans planted.



The peas this year are easily 5-6 feet tall.  I love the dainty flowers.  It's fun to watch the pods swell with the tasty little peas inside.  This year, we're growing Alaska peas, an early variety.  In the fall, I'll plant Wando peas.

If you pick the blackberries, be careful.  They're very thorny, but oh, so tasty!  These are Kiowa blackberries and they do very well here in North Central Texas.

Hubby was going to yank out the grapes this year because they haven't been very productive in years past.  We have grapes coming out our ears this year and the vines are taking over the back portion of the yard.  Can you say, "You should've trellised them earlier??"


The green beans (pole beans) are filling in and the runners have reached the top of the cattle panel.  We should start seeing blooms soon with bean pods to follow.  These are Blue Lake Pole beans. 

Tomatoes...These are Super Sioux tomatoes.  First year in our garden and they have been very prolific.  I like how they grow in a cluster of 5-7 and aren't huge.  I foresee many salads in my future.
These are Marmande tomatoes.  They are a rare heirloom variety from Italy.  They produce a flattened small to medium sized tomato which is perfect for just one person, or two, if you want to share.
The garden wouldn't be complete without these little Large Red Cherry tomatoes.  They are the perfect size for munching and in salads.  They make a pretty cluster, too.

These cucumbers were grown from seeds I saved last year.  It was my first attempt at saving cucumber seeds, but it was so easy.  I'll do it again this year.  This variety is called "Muncher" and they are so sweet and pretty much burpless.  They make pretty good pickles, too.
I thinned out these Pike cantaloupe seedlings yesterday to allow circulation and better growth.  You can see they are kind of yellowing.  That's due to all the rain, clouds, and cooler than normal temps we've had the past month.  Cantaloupes (as well as watermelon and okra) like it warm and a bit on the dry side.

Thank you for joining me today.  I hope your shoes didn't get too wet.  Next time, we'll tour my flower beds and see what's blooming.  For now, here's a little sneak peek.










Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Homemade Coconut Lime Lip Balm


I've been struggling with dry, chapped lips more than normal lately.  Hypothyroidism causes dry everything...skin, hair, lips, eyes.  You name it, it will be affected by thyroid problems  *Sigh* 

I have been using Aveda Lip Saver for many, many years, but it's gone up to $8.50 a tube, which is just about too rich for my pocketbook, so I started cruising the internet for a homemade lip balm that uses few ingredients, doesn't make a bizzillion tubes all at once, and is relatively inexpensive and easy to do.  Believe you me, I found TONS and many are pinned to my Pinterest page.  However, I found this recipe by Fresh Picked Beauty that made one single tube and was easy to make!  I had all the ingredients on hand, so I gave it a go. 

I loved it!! 

I loved it so much that I put it in my pocket and took it to work to make sure that it stood up to 10+ hours in my pocket without melting or becoming too soft.  It did great! 

Since I normally keep one tube of lip balm at work, one tube in my purse, and one tube at home, I decided to up the single tube recipe to make enough to cover those 3 bases plus extras to have on hand or to share with friends.  I decided to shoot for 10 tubes, so I simply multiplied the base recipe by 10.  This recipe makes about a dozen 0.15 oz. tubes.

Coconut Lime Lip Balm (Makes approximately 12 tubes)
2 T + 1.5 t coconut oil (2.5T coconut oil)
2.5 t grapeseed oil or sweet almond oil (Original recipe called for calendula infused grapeseed oil)
5 t beeswax pastilles (or shredded beeswax)
40 drops Lime essential oil
30 drops Lemon essential oil

Place coconut oil, grapeseed oil, and beeswax pastilles in a glass measuring cup.  Place measuring cup in 1" - 2" of water.  Bring water to a slow boil.  Stir to mix and stir occasionally until beeswax is melted.  Once oils and wax have melted, remove glass measuring cup from water bath.  Add essential oils and stir.  Pour into tubes and allow to cool for 15-20 minutes.  Place caps on top of tubes and then allow to cool completely. 

**You can use a small funnel or pipette to fill tubes.  I used these containers and they worked okay.  If I could find some smaller ones, I think they would work even better. 

You can use an egg carton to hold your tubes for filling.  Just turn the egg carton upside down and cut slits in the bottom and insert tubes.  It's not perfect, but it's cheaper than buying a tube holder and it works well.


If you don't have access to essential oils, I use oils from Spark Naturals and Mountain Rose Herbs, but you can easily find essential oils at most health food stores or on Amazon.  I also purchased my lip balm tubes from Mountain Rose Herbs.  Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with either business, just a satisfied customer.

Monday, April 13, 2015

Meow Monday: Daisy's Story


Daisy's story is a story of learning to trust humans and feel safe and secure around them.  We adopted Daisy in January, 2012 from a local rescue group.  She had been found as a stray in a nearby county and found herself in their high-kill animal shelter.  You can read about her coming home and initial adjustment in our home here. It's been 3 years since Daisy entered our lives and she has come so far!

For the first week, Daisy tried to escape out the windows by pawing and scratching her way out.  I have no doubt that she was abandoned in a house and this was how she found freedom.  Every morning when I woke up, I'd find the blinds in the bedroom bent.  I finally pulled the blinds up about 6" so she could get under them and see out the windows.

As she graduated to full freedom in the house, we rarely saw her.  She'd come to the area near the kitchen for feeding time, then she'd disappear into either the living room or the front bedroom, which was her "safe place".  Every time I went looking for her, she'd startle and get the "fight or flight" look in her eyes.  She never growled, hissed, or swiped at us, but she'd dart behind the couch or under the bed.  If she was sleeping, she'd immediately wake up and pop her head up as if she had to flee.  During thunderstorms, she ran and hid under the telephone table, which has a narrow opening.

Over the months, she gradually started exploring the rest of the house.  I remember when she'd eat her breakfast or dinner and immediately head into the darkened living room by herself.  She wanted to trust us, but at the same time, she was afraid to trust us too much.  She gradually started coming into the den in the evenings with us.  Then, she started spending time with us in the kitchen.  Finally, she ventured down the hallway to the master bedroom and discovered the great view of the backyard from the bedroom window!

When I left for work, she'd ignore me when I got home.  I think she has some degree of separation anxiety.  I would work all week, come home and be ignored for a whole day before she decided to have anything to do with me.

Fast forward to today.  Daisy continues to come out of her shell and trust us more and more.  On days that I'm home, she is ON me.  Not near me. On me!  She loves to snuggle up on my chest and chill out.  Sometimes, she jumps up on the back of the couch and snoozes behind me while I watch TV.  She still likes to hang out in the front room, but only because she can watch the world outside, not to hide.  She eats and stays in the room with us.  She doesn't hide during thunderstorms and she sleeps soundly, even when we walk into a room.  She is in the kitchen with us constantly, often standing between my legs while I cook or prepare their food.  Of course, she's hoping for a handout, but she's still there.  She absolutely loves to play with Tumbles and Emie and she's even been seen trying to get Hannah to play. 

Torties are notorious for bonding with one human.  I'm happy she's chosen to bond with me.



Monday, March 16, 2015

Allergy & Sinus Relief



About a week or so ago, the left side of my head became congested.  My ear and my nose.  The right side was perfectly fine.  Go figure!  I wasn't running a fever, but I had a lot of congestion and knew this was a recipe for one humdinger of a sinus infection.  Rather than take an antibiotic as I've done for the past many years, I decided to suffer through it try a more natural way of curing myself.  Also, because I was dealing with the yeast infection from Hades (which I'm still dealing with, by the way), I didn't want to feed the yeast by adding an antibiotic to the mix.

Neti Pot, essential oil diffuser, and Nasonex to the rescue!

I used my Neti Pot daily, once in the morning and once in the evening.  If you've never used a Neti Pot, I highly recommend it.  It looks gross, but it really cleans our your nose like a charm.  It also flushes out all the allergens that have gotten lodged in the cilia in your nose.  (Cilia = nose hairs)  My eye doctor even recommends washing your eyebrows and eyelashes with Johnson's Baby Shampoo each day when you get home from work or doing any work outside to cut down on eye allergy problems.  I digress.

I used my little essential oil diffuser (pictured above) every night when I went to bed.  I set it on my nightstand and diffused the following blend in distilled water:

6 drops Rosemary
2 drops Eucalyptus
2 drops Tea Tree Oil
2 drops Lemon
2 drops Lavender
2 drops Peppermint

This has a very pleasant, relaxing smell. Diffusing this blend really helped me sleep well.  A couple of times I even put this blend in my Neti Pot with a salt packet and used it in my nose. Boy howdy does that clear you out and help you breathe!  Eucalyptus and peppermint are excellent decongestants on their own and combined they really pack a punch.  Lemon, Lavender, and Peppermint are a great combination for warding off allergies, too, by the way.  Two drops of each rubbed into the bottom of your feet twice a day helps decrease allergy symptoms.  You can apply them "neat", which means not diluted in a carrier oil. 

After using the Neti Pot, diffuser, and Nasonex trifecta for about 3 days, I was 90% better.  I was able to breathe and sleep throughout the night and wasn't blowing my nose non-stop at work during the day.  

Meow Monday

Tumbles looking dapper while basking in the sun.
Daisy getting ready to supurrvise the restocking of the cat food shelf.

Emmie being, well...Emmie.

Hannah

Sunday, March 08, 2015

Let's Talk Yeast {Strictly Female Post}

 

And I'm not talking about the yeast used in baking bread.  I'm talking about the kind that lives in your body and every female has known and hated.  The dreaded yeast infection.  Crazy thing is not only do I have the regular female yeast infection, I also have a yeast infection on my lips, as in on my face!  I had no idea you could get a yeast infection on your lips!! 

About 10 days ago, I felt the beginning itchies of a yeast infection, down there.  UGH!  I've only ever had one other yeast infection in my entire life, but I knew what it was.  Headed to the store to get something to help with the itch.  If you've been there, you know the "my privates are on fire and I want to rub them with a bottle brush to relieve the urge to itch" feeling.  The ointment helped tame the itch monster some and thank goodness I already had an appointment with my doctor this past Monday to reassess the problem with my lips...on my face.  I got fixed up with 2 different medications, Nystatin for my facial lips and Fluconazole pills for the other yeast infection because guess what?  They're caused by 2 different strains of candida!  Joy!

Took my first pill Monday, to be repeated 3 days later.  By Wednesday, I wasn't any better.  My crotch was still on fire, I was uncomfortable, and I was desperate for relief.  I mean, I'd have walked around with an ice pack on my lady parts if I could have!  After perusing Pinterest, I came across this easy remedy.  (Click the linky thing.) And guess what??  I had everything on hand!  I made the suppositories and started using them a couple of hours later.  OH. MY. G!!!  Heavenly relief.  God bless that woman for sharing her remedy!  I did use these as suppositories for two days, but now I'm just using them like a salve to help control the itching on the exterior portions of my body.  Warning, they are messy, but sooooo worth it if you're desperate for relief.

When I was in my mid-20s, I had my first and only other yeast infection.  I went to my OB/GYN, who was as old as the hills (to me).  I mean, she had to have been in her 60s.  I loved her!  She was so down to earth and practical.  And she helped out the young girls in the small town who couldn't afford healthcare for their pregnancies.  She gave me some invaluable tips for preventing yeast infections which I still use to this day.  Obviously, I'd not been following them as religiously as I should've been the past few weeks, though.  Yeast thrives in warm, moist environments in your body. 

To help prevent a yeast infection, follow these easy tips.
  • Wear cotton panties.  I know, granny panties are not the rage, but really whatever you wear should be cotton and not just a cotton insert.  Your body needs to breathe.  And for the love, please wear undies!
  • Wear loose fitting pants. Again, I know that yoga pants and second skin pants are popular nowadays, but be kind to your body and wear something that breathes.  Your lady parts will thank you.
  • Allow yourself to thoroughly dry after bathing. Have a few dedicated (dry) towels on which to sit after you get out of the shower or bath.  Spread 'em and sit for a few minutes. Hand towels work great for this.
  • Sleep without undies.  For some of you that may seem undoable, but again, it helps keep you dry.
  • Wash up before bedtime. You don't have to take a bath, but you should clean up prior to bed.  Also, if you're sexually active, you should clean up after to help prevent an infection.
  • Cut the whites...white flour and white sugar. Yeast feeds on sugar.  White flour converts to sugar in your body (think carbs), and gives the yeast food to feast on. 
  • Cut the refined sugar and processed food. See above comment on the whites.
Now if I can just get the infection on my lips cleared up, I'll be set!  I'm tired of swollen, red, chapped lips that hurt when I open my mouth too wide.  The medication I was prescribed has helped, but I'm thinking of using the suppository recipe and adding some beeswax pellets and making some homemade lip balm.  Coconut oil has healing properties.  I also most likely have a systemic yeast infection that needs to be addressed.  The joys of getting older.

Now that we've covered that tough topic, head on over to my food blog for my Cold Weather Chili Recipe!