Decadent Herbal Cold Remedy: Turmeric Milk

Update: It's now 8 years after I wrote this article and all of the pieces I've included in this post are things I'm still using! It works! I'm sick. This has been a bad year for colds in our home. My youngest boy started school and he loves to germ up while he's there and … Continue reading Decadent Herbal Cold Remedy: Turmeric Milk

Happy Halloween 2022!

I thought I'd share our finished projects this year. We have a large display and the tutorials are on this blog site. We have a lot of fun with Halloween and we enjoy sharing our creations! I love quick, cheap, homemade decorations. We add a little more each year. We're eight years in and this … Continue reading Happy Halloween 2022!

How To Make A Bagged Dead Body For Halloween

I made my original dead body bag about 4 or 5 years ago and I've learned some things about how to make these after having to repair it a few times. Like most of my projects: this is simple but impressive. I've seen some bodies in our neighborhood and online instructions (using plastic containers) and … Continue reading How To Make A Bagged Dead Body For Halloween

Glowing Jellyfish: Outdoor Halloween

I'm always working on our Halloween display. This year I decided I needed jellyfish! I love spooky stuff but the creepy, gory, sicko type stuff just doesn't light my fire. However, glowing awesome jellyfish sounded way too cool to pass up! I got this idea several months ago and ordered what I needed in September. … Continue reading Glowing Jellyfish: Outdoor Halloween

Easy Packing Tape Ghost

Halloween 2015 Oh, I had fun making this! She's now five years old. It has been one of my favorite projects. I have a huge display this year and she still holds her own, even with our 12 foot ghost and witch circle (you can get those instructions here)! I saw this "packing tape ghost" … Continue reading Easy Packing Tape Ghost

Silver Faceless Aliens

It's Halloween time again! I'm trying something new this year! Silver Faceless Aliens! They are human height and shape and creep everyone out! I instantly had the idea after looking at this mask. So much fun! Like all of my projects: it's super cheap and has a big impact. I'm making four. Here are the … Continue reading Silver Faceless Aliens

Melon Trellising

I usually grow my vining melons on a trellis. Trellising makes them easy to care for and the plants themselves are healthier. Getting melon vines off the ground keeps the powdery mildew under control and I can easily spray the leaves when the inevitable aphid explosion comes. Since I like to research things, and I'm … Continue reading Melon Trellising

The Greatest Green You’ve Never Eaten: Sweet Potato Leaves

I'm always looking for new ways to use my garden. After years of growing sweet potatoes I came across a recipe that called for the leaves. Sweet potato leaves are edible? Yes. Yes, they are.The sweet potatoes slips I got this year were supposed to be a bush variety. While they haven't thrown vines out … Continue reading The Greatest Green You’ve Never Eaten: Sweet Potato Leaves

Be The Bee! How And When Hand Pollinating Makes Sense.

Flowers are beautiful examples of sexual reproduction. We gather them, we create bouquets, we stick our noses into a plant's sex organs and take a deep breath of intoxicating fragrance. The idea of sex (at least when we look at our own species) seems to be incredibly more complex and inherently immature. I will point … Continue reading Be The Bee! How And When Hand Pollinating Makes Sense.

Low Maintenance, Highly Productive, Annual, Summer Vegetables.

The things I grow in summer are things that I don't have to baby. Today our "feel like" temperature was 103 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm not interested in doing manual labor in that sort of heat (Although, I did. I was out in that heat for about an hour and a half yesterday weeding and pulling … Continue reading Low Maintenance, Highly Productive, Annual, Summer Vegetables.

I Painted My Kitchen Cabinets And I Love Them!

A year ago today I finished this project and wrote this post on how to paint kitchen cabinets. I have to say that they are still one of the best home improvement projects I've done. Not simple. Not easy. But very worthwhile. The finish is just as nice as the day I rehung the cabinet … Continue reading I Painted My Kitchen Cabinets And I Love Them!

Show Stopping, Southern Shrubs

I live in the South. Where I am: summer ends up getting really hot (above 100° Fahrenheit) with little to no rain for months at a time. In summer we get moisture that blows in from the Gulf of Mexico and that humidity (without rain) is a real problem. There are weeks where we don't … Continue reading Show Stopping, Southern Shrubs

Reaping The Rewards Of Spring Planning

This month is heavy on the picking and light on the work. Why? Because I worked hard in the spring to create this exact scenario. Water-wise, deep beds have yielded incredible amounts of produce. See how we built them here: Hugelkultur, Keyhole Gardens: Bridging Ideas and here: Mother’s Day Raised Hugelkultur Bed! Instructions for creating … Continue reading Reaping The Rewards Of Spring Planning

My Favorite Hummingbird Feeder

Hummingbirds are a joy to watch! I have plenty of flowers planted to feed them from last frost to first frost. But even with the plethora of flowers I grow, they still frequent my feeders. I live in Texas. It gets blazing hot down here in the summer and some days it doesn't cool off … Continue reading My Favorite Hummingbird Feeder

Ever Had Spiced Hibiscus Flower Tea?

One of my favorite plants to grow down here is hibiscus. It is truly a beautiful plant and the flowers are breathtaking. I am not the only one who appreciates hibiscus. We frequently have hummingbirds in the garden sipping hibiscus nectar. My favorite part about the plant though, is that it's edible. Hibiscus is high … Continue reading Ever Had Spiced Hibiscus Flower Tea?