Month: April 2012 (Page 2 of 4)

The Living Paper Shredder

April 21, 2012 / Lindsey / 5 Comments

Very handy!

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Garden action this week~

April 20, 2012 / Lindsey / 8 Comments

Stormy sky. (The tall things are garlic.)

Ohh it’s been another full week! I haven’t felt too terribly inspired to spend much extra time at the computer this week; I’ve been pounding out the moneymaking work and then happily slamming the laptop lid when I’m through for the day!

The week slipped by so quickly, I hardly remember the details of it, but I did get a wonderful day of work done in the garden. It was the perfect day; the weather (upper 70s) was even better than summertime because in summer you can’t reasonably work straight through the midday and still be comfortable. And I gardened to the scent of lilacs the entire day — oh my! What a fabulous treat that was. And the yards are getting so green and beautiful, the trees all leafing out, the tulips still blooming, the lilacs, the sound of lawnmowers, the smell of grills barbecuing delicious food! This is truly one of my favorite times of year. Spring and fall, I just love ’em.

So onto some pictures for you. Things are going very nicely in the garden — with this warm weather and some rain, stuff is growing fast. We’re eating chives, arugula, and masses of beautiful fresh oregano, which is such a treat in Greek salads — I pile it on. It’s the more mild variety, by the way, which I like a lot better than that really pungent Oregano which is strong enough to burn a hole through your salad.

Oregano

Baby radish plants, (c) The Herbangardener

Baby radishes

Lettuce

I uncovered one of the lasagna beds and planted it this week.

Potato sprouts

Arugula

The onion sets grow so fast!

Peas

Wheat (planted last fall as an experiment)

'Black Kabouli' garbanzo bean plant

Playing with my rotting leaf compost

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Gratitude Sunday * April 15, 2012

April 15, 2012 / Lindsey / 3 Comments

~ I’m once again joining Taryn over at Wooly Moss Roots in her Gratitude Sunday tradition. ~

Gratitude Sunday is a time to slow down and remember those thankful moments that graced our week. One reason I love keeping a daily gratitude journal is because it helps keep things in perspective for me. Each Sunday, I open my journal and share some of those moments with you here. If you’d like to join in, just leave a comment!

Gratitude is powerful energy. I love hearing others’ gratitudes!

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– The warm glow of late afternoon sun in our apartment. My favorite time of day in this place…

– A bike ride after work with F, to take care of some errands. It was really nice to be riding bikes together again, especially on a beautiful afternoon — 78 degrees!

– Rain! We got rain this week. It’s been so dry and warm here, the rain was really needed. And the smell! It’s been so long since we’ve all smelled rain!

– My Honey… he’s so caring and tender.

– Drinking high quality tea. It makes such a difference. I drank some supermarket-quality black tea this week and it made me appreciate the good stuff even more.

– Being my own boss. Being in charge of my own days. Creating each day with my own hands!

– Several days of really amazing energy!

– Taking advantage of that boundless energy to get a ton of stuff done that had been weighing heavily on me. What a relief.

– Antibiotics. Geez, that should really be first on my list. And on every single list that I write!!!

– Riding through the rich neighborhoods and observing what happens in a yard when money is no object! Beautiful…

– Errands on weekdays, when stores aren’t very crowded.

– No library books, not much reading. I’m liking that a lot right now. More time to think… reflect… be…

– The way my cat quietly reached over and rested her hand on my jacket cuff while I was taking a nap next to her on the grass.

– Lilacs!!!

– Watching Lost in Translation, one of my favorite movies, the other night; it cheers me up every single time I watch it. It was just what I needed that night, when I was feeling really rough from my medicine and just completely worn out from the previous days.

– Watching some old Dick Cavett shows with F; the Groucho Marx one was great!

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What have you been grateful for this past week?

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Free Shipping at Tropical Traditions! (Thru Monday Apr 16)

April 14, 2012 / Lindsey / 0 Comments

It’s Free Shipping time again at one of my very favorite companies, Tropical Traditions! I love free shipping days. You save about $10-15 off your order, so it’s a good time to stock up, or try them out if you haven’t before. I really love this company’s products, and use them daily. Now through Midnight EDT on Monday April 16th, they’re offering free ground-only shipping when you enter coupon code 16412 at checkout.

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If you’re a new customer and have never bought from them before, you can also get this Virgin Coconut Oil book, with information & recipes, for free (any time, not just today) by entering my User ID, which is 6032410. When you’re going through the checkout process and you’ve added your shipping address and phone number, you will see the question “How did you hear of us?” Just choose “Referred by a friend” and then a new “User ID” field will appear below that where you can enter my User ID. (See screen shot below.)

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Tropical Traditions has lots of products I love; here are my favorites:

Moisturizing lotion – I use this every day on my face and hands. It’s the most luxurious stuff, and very gentle since it has only a few wholesome ingredients. Definitely my all-time favorite lotion.

Moisturizing cream – Much thicker than the lotion, this is another favorite. Also great for use on face and hands.

Virgin organic coconut oil – Great for cooking, eating, and also for skin! Has a much better taste than other unrefined coconut oils I’ve tried. I just love this stuff.

Organic raw honey – This is the best-tasting honey I’ve ever had. I like to buy and taste lots of different honeys, and this one always wins, hands down. When I first tried it, my eyes got big and my mouth dropped open; it just has the most amazing taste! Quintessential, flowery honey taste. This stuff is a staple in our house!

Coconut cream concentrate – I love this stuff. LOVE it. The “format” is a little strange, because when you receive it, it will have settled out into a hardened layer of coconut oil and a layer of dried/finely ground coconut meat. You’ll wonder what to do with it at first; what I do is put the jar into a pan of simmering water and let it sit there until the contents have softened and liquefied, and then I can easily stir it up. Then, I put it in the fridge until it’s hardened again. Once hardened, you can then store it in the fridge or at room temperature (it won’t separate again unless it gets really hot in your house). I usually just eat this stuff plain, it’s so good; I break it into chunks with a knife, and eat it as a snack. Sometimes I’ll eat it dipped in the raw honey, which is a very decadent and extremely delicious snack!!!

Organic Maple Syrup — Delicious, and it’s the Grade B type, which I prefer since it has a richer flavor and more nutrients than Grade A.

Laundry Detergent – This detergent is all we use, now that I’ve discovered it. It works really well, gets the stains out, and lasts a long time, making this a very economical purchase.

Oxygen Bleach – Like OxyClean. If you need a tough stain-fighter/deodorizer for laundry and everywhere else around the house.

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Now, I’ve also tried their organic bar soap, and though it was really nice soap, Hubby and I have never seen a bar of soap get used up so fast! It was weird. It just seemed like it was gone in record time. So I wouldn’t get it again. (Though my mom has the liquid soap and really loves it.) I haven’t tried every single product that they sell…but the ones I listed above, I make sure to never run out of!

Also, I bought the Atchara once out of curiosity, and it was extremely strong (even for this vinegar lover!), and a little weird. Not quite a favorite.

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