Don’t Forget The Tiffin

For Christmas I got Chris this two-tiered tiffin from To-GoWare.  It was one of those selfish gifts that was really for me too.  If you’re not familiar with tiffin boxes, they originate in India.  We keep ours in the back of the van and when we go out to eat we bring it with us to put our leftovers in.  It even comes with a tiny little container for things like salsa and guacamole.

You ask, “so what’s wrong with Styrofoam?”  Studies show that styrene mimics estrogen in the body and can therefore disrupt normal hormone functions, possibly contributing to thyroid problems, menstrual irregularities, and other hormone-related problems, as well as breast cancer and prostate cancer. The estrogenicity of styrene is thought to be comparable to that of Bisphenol A (BPA), another potent estrogen mimic from the world of plastics.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer lists styrene as a possible human carcinogen, though this conclusion is primarily based on studies of workers in styrene-related chemical plants. The Vallombrosa Consensus Statement on Environmental Contaminants and Human Fertility Compromise includes styrene on its list of contaminants of possible concern, noting that even weak estrogen mimics can combine with other such chemicals to have negative effects even when the chemicals are individually present at levels that would have no impact. On the positive side, a 2005 expert panel convened by the National Institutes of Health concluded that there is negligible concern for developmental toxicity in embryos and babies.

(Source:  http://www.grinningplanet.com/2008/04-08/foam-cups-polystyrene-cups-article.htm)

So, no more styrofoam boxes (excuse me, polystyrene) for us.  Now, if I had just gotten the 3-tired one . . .

Green Thumb or Good Window

I’ve always had this thing for African Violets.  When I first went off to college one of the several plants that I took with me was an African Violet.  My Momma had never been able to keep them alive for very long, but for some reason I always had a knack for them.  And the way I took care of mine was against what all the directions say.  I would leave it sitting in water and I would water it from the top!  That’s a big no-no in the African Violet world.

After getting married I started collecting them and had gotten up to about nine before we left for our travels around the country.  One of the things that we had to farm out to our family was my plants.  And I just knew that when I came back they would all be dead.

I was mostly right.  Only two or three of my violets had survived my Momma’s house.  And they were in pretty bad shape.  But thankfully, I was able to revive the ones that weren’t deceased and bring them back to a prettier life.

I now have gotten my violet collection up to seven.  They are a lot of different colors and varieties.  I like the variegated ones and frilly-edged ones all the same.  All of them are blooming at the moment.

So, the jury is still out on whether or not I just happen to have a green thumb when it comes to African Violets or, if I have just been blessed to have good lighted windows for my violets.  Whatever the case may be African Violets are something that I love.

Seed Time

So, we got our seeds in the mail.  Yay!  We are looking forward to this years garden.  We plan to make it even bigger this year.  Some of the seeds that I got from Seed Savers Exchange, so far, are:

• Garden Huckleberry
• Early Snowball Cauliflower
• Golden Bantam Corn
• Clemson Spineless Okra
• Blacktail Mountain Watermelon
• Aunt Molly’s Ground Cherry
• Scarlet Nantes Carrot
• Calabresse Broccoli
• Cilantro
• Green Tomatillo
• Dwarf Gray Sugar Pea
• Golden Zucchini Squash
• Black Beauty Zucchini Squash
• Seed Savers Lettuce Mixture
• Dr. Wyches Yellow Tomato
• Kellogg’s Breakfast Tomato
• Red Brandywine Tomato
• Trucker’s Favorite Tomato
• Black Krim Tomato
• Martino’s Roma Tomato

And I couldn’t pass up getting in some Benary’s Giant Zinnia and Prairie Black-Eyed Susan seeds.  Love, love, love me some flowers.  Especially old fashioned ones.

There are lots more vegetables that we want to plant, but we will just get a few plants of each of those, such as different varieties of peppers and cherry tomatoes.  I also want to get more varieties of regular tomato seeds as well.  Six varieties just isn’t enough!  Every year we’ve also had volunteer cantaloupe pop up everywhere and I look forward to those too.  Our neighbor, who we share the garden with, is getting strawberries, sweet potatoes, pole beans and a host of other veggies as well.  I sure hope that we can keep up!

Loving My New Necklace

So, a lot of you may have already heard about Lisa Leonard Designs.  If you haven’t, then this post is for you.   I can’t remember where I first heard about her fabulous jewelry because several blogs that I follow had already spoken of her.  I had perused her website and picked out a few necklaces that I loved.  It wasn’t until after Christmas when I had some “clothes cash” that I decided to make my purchase.  Plus–I had a coupon for quite a bit off

Anybody who knows me, knows that I am not particularly a jewelry person.  I just don’t wear it that often.  So, when I do wear something I want it to be very special and mean something to my heart.  I have several necklaces that I got when my Granny died.  I have a hemp necklace that a fellow VW bus person made and one that my past employer made out of glass beads.  I wear those a lot.  But, when I saw the Mama necklace, I knew that it would mean even more to me.

I love the fact that every piece is handmade (which I try to buy mostly).  They are hand-cut, hammered, antiqued and polished.  And they are sterling silver.  So, the mama piece was perfect for me.  Plus, I could customize it to say momma.  That’s my name, don’t wear it out.  (I don’t know how I got to spelling momma like that.  I just always have and I always will.)

Well, long story short, my momma necklace came today.  It is perfect.  I will treasure it.  It says, “hand holder | dream soother| love giver”  It will remind me everyday to cherish my children because they are a gift from God.  It will remind me of my role in their lives.

Slacker

Okay, I know that it’s been since September since I wrote anything.  This is the way that I feel about this.  Everything I want to write about , simply, has already been written about.  So, I may just change the content of my blog.  Or I may just write about it anyway.  Bear with me as I figure this one out.

Plus, I just can’t find the time anymore to write.  Who else is with me?  I haven’t gotten myself into a habit yet.  I need to just pick a day of the week and  . . . do it.  Here’s to doing it.  Err, writing it . . .