new blog

I decided to start a new blog for nature and everything else – jillpill51.wordpress.com – 51 – because I was born that year.

healthy marigolds and in remembrance

What humans can eat is the flower part. But they repel garden pests so they are win win.

Mother Earth article about marigolds

My dad died November 4, 1954 – 56 years ago – amazing how time flies. I always remember the day though. Here are the things I did on this Nov. 4. I put up a bird feeder and Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal found it right away, but I didn’t get a picture of the Mrs. I went to the clinic to read for Reach Out and Read, but no kids showed up, so I enjoyed reading a book and magazine. I came home and wasted time on the computer and fixed food. I subscribed to the blog of Paul and Ann Malkmus (see link on right) and loved the idea of the Salad Bar. I will definitely be doing this in the future – what a time saver that will be! YAY!

homemade muesli

After learning it’s best to eat nuts raw I’m not making granola anymore. I will work with muesli. The link tells a lot about muesli. It should be soaked before eating, at least 1/2 hour.

Muesli bars

muesli recipes

Hopefully I won’t be buying any more muesli at $4-5 per bag – just too much to pay. It takes more time to make things at home, but so worth it.

sewing and giving

I’ve been sewing when I get time. I like to make bags for Hearts in Unity – they have so many groovy projects going all the time and are so grateful for whatever is donated to them. I like to collect material and make these bags they send for schoolchildren in Tanzania. A few months ago I sent them 42 bags. I also am making sleeping bags for the homeless I can give to homeless shelters here in town, so probably won’t be doing so many bags this time. The other bag shown is just a bag I made for fun. Sometimes I store blankets or towels in them.

I’ve been playing dominoes with assisted living friends once a week. Today Helen told me today was her 90th birthday. I knew it was coming up because she always likes to tell us her upcoming age. I went and got her a card and some lotion but took a picture of them first before I went back and gave them to her. Happy Birthday dear Helen!!!

crabapples

We have this nice crabapple tree we planted a few years ago. I never thought about using the little crabapples on them at this time of year. This video shows someone juicing them. yum

Yesterday (Nov. 2) was washing the windows and crabapple day. I am bushed today from all that window washing inside and out. But praise God now I don’t have to look out the yucky front window. Here’s the view:

The crabapple tree is pretty this time of year. This morning (Nov. 3) I juiced some crabapples and Romaine lettuce like in the video above. Way too bad – about made me sick. I won’t try that again. I don’t really want to make jelly out of it because of all the sugar so I may leave these nice looking crabapples to the birds, although they aren’t eating them.

Last, a couple more pictures of our outdoors. Pineapple mint and then where I planted some garlic and shallots. Also, our fall banner blowing in the wind.

horseradish fights cancer

see this article Looks like horseradish is a winner!!!

another good thing to try sooner or later – making my own horseradish sauce how to here

I wonder how hard it is to grow your own horseradish. They say it is very hardy, so maybe not so difficult. It grows tubers underground and has to be shoveled up, not pulled. Here we go – how to plant horseradish. It’s not too late this year to plant it. It needs full sun so now I need to know what its companion plants are. Companion Planting – good to plant it near potatoes and to use the bottomless pot method to contain it. a wealth of information here!

more on how to grow it

This one says you can eat the leaves in sandwiches (^_^)

tri-fold mat

I’d really like to make one of these thingies. I have the foam mattress, just a matter of cutting and sewing it.

(Nov. 3)

I cut this foam mattress we have into 3 equal sections and covered it as you can see. I think I’ll take off the plaid and replace it with a plain brown material. I like these tri-fold mattresses. I saw they are making foldable mattresses – easier to take from one place to another.

no-stitch lamp shade slip cover

I recently went to a thrift store bag sale and got a bunch of things for $6. A small shadeless lamp was one of them. Today I bought this shade at Big Lots. It fits fine but looks very plain. I looked for ways to make it more interesting, but I didn’t really want to paint, glue or sew, so I took the bandana and cut it. Works for me!!

Usung pinking shears, I cut a hole in the middle and trimmed all four sides.

I pretty much like the result. I can always replace it or not use it since I did nothing to the shade itself. I’m thinking of tying it with some beads instead of hair clips. (^_^)

avocado hummus

1 large ripe avocado
1/2 lb cooked drained chickpeas (save cooking liquid)
6 tablespoons lemon juice
4 tablespoons tahini
1-2 garlic clove, crushed
salt to taste
paprika

(^.^) Cut avocado in half and remove pit.
(^_^) Scoop out the flesh and place it in a food processor or blender with chickpeas, lemon juice, tahini, garlic, and a little of the saved cooking liquid.
(^o^) Process until smooth and creamy, adding more liquid if desired.
(^_^) Season with salt to taste and serve garnished with the paprika.

Have to post a picture of the hummus I made from this recipe. I love it !!

I try to store things in glass now days. I heard olive oil leaches the plastic out and not healthy.

the skinny on corn

The 700 Club has skinny Wednesday every week. That’s where I got the saying – just saying that corn may not be too good for us. The video explains some about corn.

Good website here that explains why and gives more links to further investigate.

When I eat my favorite snack, popcorn, I don’t feel better afterwards – just have a slightly dull headache and feel a bit sluggish, probably because the digestive system has to deal with excess load it doesn’t really need. (The free dictionary says “afterwards” is a word even though the spell check on here has a red line under it.)

Found an interesting web site – here it is. I will try to find out more information about corn. My thinking is that fresh corn on the cob is the greatest in the summer, but I should limit popcorn and not eat corn much if it’s not fresh corn on the cob.

We always used to grow sweet corn in the summer and my mom would freeze it – so tasty. So I think fresh or fresh corn frozen is good. My mom was quite a whiz at cutting the corn off the cob. I did it some too. Frozen applesauce was always so tasty too : ) We also had cherry trees and I got to pick the cherries, pit them and eat lots of them. We probably froze those too. We had a big freezer in the screened in porch off the kitchen. Even when my mom lived in a small apartment she insisted on having a small freezer. That is something I don’t care about. Now that we aren’t eating meat anymore (except salmon and other fish and a little chicken) I don’t really need one and never really wanted to keep a lot of frozen food. We are close to lots of grocery stores.

A photo taken this past summer of a cornfield near a place we visited.