Gardening


 

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Getting into Trees

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The Right Path In my watercolor class, hosted by a very talented man in the UK, we are beginning our adventure with trees: how to paint them organically, how to make them convincingly real by the use of shadow, how to paint the layer of branches...trees, to me, are as hard to paint as the human form in all their complexity. I am looking forward to the challenge...and I am off to paint more trees! This scene is from one of my favorite places: the Smoky Mountains in Cades Cove. Suffice to say, there will be many more paintings coming from this area!
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Bath Bombs

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Sometimes I just want a little pampering at the end of the day. My skin feels rough from too much time in the garden and too much sun, and I just want a little whiff of something that smells like the plants I have been working with. In stores these bath bombs usually run around 3-4 dollars a piece, but believe it or not you can make them for around 75 cents a piece; a little less if you use inexpensive essential oils. Lavender, ylang ylang, and orange combination are my favorite. Peppermint can be invigorating and if you have a cold nothing beats eucyliptus! The following recipe will make around 12-16 bath bombs. I put mine in a large glass jar and set it by the tub, ready to throw one in when the mood strikes. 1 3/4 cups baking soda 1 1/4 cup citric acid (this can be ordered at Amazon) 2 cups cornstarch 2 teaspoons essential oil (any combination) 1/2 cup sea salt 2 1/2 tablespoons jojoba oil (any oil will do, but this one is best for dry skin;this can be ordered online or fo...
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My Tea Cabinet

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Tea Time. A relaxing time. A time where, during the day, you can take a breath and regroup. Today,I was forced to stay home because my son James is working on his car and needed to go to work. I spent the morning doing a load of clothes, started a loaf of bread, harvested several bunches of peppermint, and dried lots of sage. For dinner I went out into the garden and picked lots of thyme to make a lemon/thyme roasted chicken with heritage carrots.  And as the chicken was cooking I decided to put together several tea recipes that have muddled around in my brain. For months I have been collecting herbs to make some of these creations. I will look around on the internet for ingredients in the various teas out there, wrote them down and then tried to combine these ingredients in a pleasing way. I wrote out my findings as I was creating, taste the creation, and then make adjustments. The following recipes are what I came up with: Hibiscus Tea A tangy tea with lots of vitamin C ...
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