Wordless Wednesday: Spring Blooms

Vacation Tips: Hot, Hot Days of Summer

I'm in Florida this week, and most of next week, so I had the idea of sharing vacation tips with you all instead of my usual blogging. Yesterday we were at Epcot and today we were at Disney's Hollywood Studios. The local weather gal is claiming we may set a heat record here tomorrow. Lucky us. Our little group consists of me, my husband, our sons who are 16 and 17, our daughter who is ten, and my mother in law and father in law who are 65 and 68. We are trying to do things as inexpensively as possible. We saved for this trip, so we could take it before our oldest son graduates from high school next year.

Today I want to talk about hydration-making sure you don't dehydrate during a visit to an amusement park.

First off, drinking water is something you NEED to do when going to any kind of amusement park in the summer. Combine it with soda, tea or other beverages but make sure everyone drinks water. When the temperatures are in the 90's and you are walking all day long, ignoring the need for water can make you sick. Second, buying drinks for a family can break you, even without food. A bottle of water at Disney is 2.50, and other drinks are anywhere from 3.00-4.00 dollars. Multiply that times seven, and that's a lot of money. One bottle each is NOT enough. So, what did I do?

We bought 24 bottles of water for $3.99 and we froze 7 of the bottles overnight. I brought an extra backpack that we put the bottles in, and the guys all took turns carrying the water. We wrote our initials on the caps with a Sharpie marker I had brought along. This really worked well. The ice melted fairly quickly, so we drank about half a bottle, then added more water from a drinking fountain to the ice that was left. After that we kept filling them at drinking fountains. I'm guessing we drank 3-4 bottles each. That would have cost us $70.00 JUST for water!

We could have bought plastic water bottles and filled them at the hotel in the morning, but the water here smells and tastes terrible. I'm sure other parts of Florida are fine, but where we are near Disney, the city water is down right nasty. That would be a good option if you are going on a day trip to an amusement park from home.

Small things really can make a difference, both in terms of a budget, and taking care of ourselves. Dehydration can easily turn your vacation into a trip to an Emergency Department, which is not a good thing.

~Brenda, on location from Florida (that's my hot weather look above!)

Bridal Teas and Favors for June

Success in marriage does not come merely through finding the right mate, but through being the right mate. ~Barnett R. Brickner

June is upon us and so are the Bridal showers, teas and weddings. I ran across these two tips that readers sent in to me that are perfect for this time of year. Before I share their lovely tips, I also have a few recipes that can be used for showers or bridal teas.

Rosemary Punch

Ingredients:

1 can frozen lemonade

1 cup boiling water

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary

1 cup pineapple juice

1 cup orange juice

In a glass or ceramic bowl pour the water over the rosemary. Allow to sit for ten minutes. Make the lemonade following the directions on the can. Strain the rosemary from the water and add to the lemonade with the other juices. Stir well and chill until ready to serve.

Lemon Thyme Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 2/3 c. all purpose flour

4 tablespoons minced lemon thyme

Beat the sugar and butter until creamy and light. Stir in the flour, mixing well. Add in the minced thyme. Roll the dough out on a floured surface 1/4 inch thick. Cut into small shapes with cookie cutters. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes at 400 degrees. I line my cookie sheets with parchment paper. Cookies should be just very lightly browned.

Herb Cheese Spread

Ingredients:

2 packages cream cheese, 8 ounces each, room temperature

1 tbsp. sour cream

2 tbsp. fresh, minced chives

1 tbsp. fresh minced dill

1 tbsp. lemon thyme, minced

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Combine all of the ingredients with a wooden spoon or use a mixer. Serve this with small slices of bread, crackers, or vegetables.

BRIDAL TEA TRADITIONS
As the young men and women of our family become engaged, the aunts of our family have given a tea for the bride-to-be. We have placed all the food items on the dining room table appropriately arranged with flowers, the menu, and a printed remembrance of the day for the bride-to-be and her fiancee.

All the mothers, grandmothers, aunts, girl cousins, and various other women family members important to the bride or groom are invited. We are seated at tables covered with linens, set with china, and convenient to the buffet. The bride-to-be is seated centrally so that all in attendance have an opportunity to speak with her. Her chair is adorned with slipcover, ribbons, and a bouquet.

Pictures of the bride and groom at an earlier time are assembled throughout the rooms. Teapots and pitchers with other beverages are stationed throughout the rooms. All the traditional tea accoutrements are available.

After the tea, we all gather to draw a slip of paper from a basket with a prayer concern for the soon to be newlyweds that will be prayed throughout the week of their wedding. The aunts who have given the tea give a gift of cup and saucer to the bride in her chosen china pattern. This event lasts up to 4+ hours as we enjoy the relaxing atmosphere of women being together in celebration. We love this tradition. ~Virginia

LAVENDER SACHETS FOR FAVORS
I'm sure you all have stashed in your dresser drawers, lovely boxed handkerchiefs that you've received as gifts over the years. There they sit, just too pretty to use. Well it's time to use them, even recycled as gifts for friends and family!

Iron the handkerchief flat. Often there is at least one corner with flowers embroidered on it. Place the hanky face down with the embroidered corner at the top. Add one to two tablespoons of dried lavender buds in the middle of the square. Fold the hanky by bringing the bottom corner up over the buds to form a triangle. Fold again by bringing the left and right corners of the triangle up to the top point. You now have a small square with the lavender buds in the bottom corner. Carefully turn the sachet over and secure the buds by tying a satin ribbon in a bow to enclose them in the corner of the hanky.

This handkerchief sachet is a fragrant and elegant addition to the pocket of a jacket, tied to a bridal or baby shower gift or even hung from a hanger in a closet (moths don't like lavender!). A small squeeze of the sachet will release the lavender essential oil for years!

~Susan from http://www.LabyrinthHill.com

Reader's Garden Questions

Today I have several questions from readers, but first I wanted to share a picture of one of my peonies that are in bloom. I have four varieties, but this one is always the fullest and has such a delicate color.

My lemon balm and the lovage is already 4 feet tall and growing. It's not even summer yet! What should I do?

Harvest it, and either use it, give it away, dry the leaves or compost it. Both of those plants can easily be cut back by half and be perfectly fine afterwards. You might even have to do this 2 or 3 more times if they continue to grow that well. On OFL we have articles with tips and recipes for lovage and lemon balm.

In the 1980's My wife and young son and I built a wilderness cabin in Idaho. One of our new friends and neighbors was an elderly Indian in his eighties. This new neighbor brought us a large coffee can of what he called dried "wedge peas" that he said was a staple of his folks and the early pioneers. This pea was unique because it created an artificial butter when it was boiled. Hence it was sometimes called the "butter pea". The dried pea was ordinary pea size but formed a distinct triangle or wedge shape. Our Indian friend said that we should use the bulk of the coffee can of peas as seeds as they had become an obsolete edible. I have been unsuccessful in my research to find information on this unique and marvelous legume.

Do you have any knowledge of this or leads that I can follow to find out more about this pioneer food? ~David R.

I did some looking and found a pea variety with the proper name Lathyrus sativus. You can see some information here:
http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Lathyrus+sativus

IF this is the pea, it does have some toxic qualities if not prepared properly, so be careful if you do grow it. There is a picture here:
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=LASA2

While sometimes plants fall out of favor for economic or other reasons, there are other instances where it's later found to not be as useful as once thought. IF this is the pea you are looking for, it may be the toxic element that made it fall to the wayside. Maybe this will help you with your research a little bit even if it's not the correct variety of pea.

Is there a reason not to just plant the tomato plants on the top as in a container and let them cascade over the sides of the bucket rather then planting them from the bottom of the bucket? ~Sandie

Not at all! The reason people are so into the upside down method is that it is space saving and some of them plant herbs or other plants in the top of the container. As long as you drill holes in the bottom of the bucket for drainage you can plant in the bucket right side up.

~Brenda

Wordless Wednesday: Heavenly Sky

Memorial Day Activities

Memorial Day is a day of picnics, family get-togethers and parades, but let's not forget the real reason for the holiday. Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service.

You can do this with your family by doing one or more of these activities:

-Visit cemeteries and help place flags or flowers on the graves of our fallen heroes. My son's class is doing this in our town.

-Visit your local memorials, and read the inscriptions aloud.

-On Monday fly the U.S. Flag at half-staff until noon. You can also fly the POW/MIA Flag if you have one.

-Stop to participate in the "National Moment of Remembrance": at 3 p.m. to pause and think upon the true meaning of the day,and say a prayer for those lost if appropriate for your family.

I also have another activity/discussion that you can have this weekend with your children or grandchildren. Discuss the concept of courage. What is it? Who can be courageous? Is it just the people we read about that do grand lifesaving acts? Or is it the soldier who does their duty to their country despite doubts and fears? Is it that we work through fears to keep on going even in difficult times? Each member of the family can name of person they think of as courageous and why.

These quotes should give you some ideas:

Courage is simply the willingness to be afraid and act anyway. ~Robert Anthony

Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death. ~General Omar Bradley

One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest. ~Maya Angelou

I feel Memorial Day is a day to set aside our political differences. It's a day to remember the men and women throughout history that have had the courage to face circumstances most of us cannot imagine.

On OFL we the words to "In Flanders Fields" for more discussion.

~Brenda

Wordless Wednesday: Car Show, Wisconsin Dells, WI