Salt and It's Many Uses

I use non-iodized sea salt for these and other health practices.

• Flushing sinuses* Although its use is ancient, modern medical research has shown that flushing the sinus passages with a saline solution can help prevent/relieve sinus infections, relieve post-nasal drip.
• Cleaning teeth Try a mixture of salt and baking soda for your “toothpaste.“ Pulverize sea salt in a blender or crush it with a rolling pin, mix with an equal amount of baking soda, shake, and store in a small glass jar. Mix with a bit of water, and brush as usual. Both salt and baking soda have antimicrobial properties that kill many of the pathogenic bacteria that cause cavities and gum disease.
• As a gargle, mouthwash, or breath sweetener* Mix a teaspoon of this mixture in a cup of warm water.
• As an eyewash* Dissolve 1/4 teaspoon of salt in a cup of warm water and used it as a wash for tire, irritated eyes.
• Reducing under-eye puffiness Dissolve ½ teaspoon of salt in a cup of hot water; soak a wash cloth or cotton balls in the solution and apply on the puffy areas.
• Reducing fatigue Soaking tired feet or your entire body in a warm salt-infused bath has a restorative effect.
• Relieving the pain of insect stings Mix salt with a bit of water and apply to the sting immediately.
• Treating poison ivy Soaking the affected areas in hot saltwater helps relieve the itch and dry up the blisters
• As an exfoliant Mix sea salt half and half with olive oil and rub gently over the body for an exfoliating, moisturizing scrub. Rinse with warm water. For the face, mix one part salt with one part honey.

There's probably a billion more uses of salt. This is but, a small list.

My "Somebody To Love" audition

Wow! Does he do a mean Freddy Mercury! And, he even looks a bit like him.
Thanks Katie for posting the link on FB.
You rock my little niece!

Why Leaves Turn Colour in the Autumn

Not all leaves turn vivid colors in the fall. Only a few species of deciduous trees—notably maple, aspen, oak, and gum—produce grand performances for the annual autumn spectacular in North America.

Several factors contribute to fall color, but the main agent is light, or actually the lack of it. The amount of daylight relates to the timing of the autumnal equinox. (Tomorrow morning Sept. 23rd at 5:05 am EDT)

As the autumn days grow shorter, the reduced light triggers chemical changes in deciduous plants causing a corky wall to form between the twig and the leaf stalk.

This "abscission layer" eventually causes the leaf to drop off in the breeze. As the corky cells multiply, they seal off the vessels that supply the leaf with nutrients and water and also block the exit vessels, trapping simple sugars in the leaves. The combination of reduced light, lack of nutrients, and no water add up to the death of the pigment chlorophyll, the "green" in leaves.

Once the green is gone, two other pigments show their bright faces. These pigments, carotene (yellow) and anthocyanin (red), exist in the leaf all summer but are masked by the chlorophyll. (The browns in autumn leaves are the result of tannin, a chemical that exists in many leaves, especially oaks.)

Sugar trapped in autumn leaves by the abscission layer is largely responsible for the vivid color. Some additional anthocyanins are also manufactured by sunlight acting on the trapped sugar. This is why the foliage is so sparkling after several bright fall days and more pastel during rainy spells. In general, a dry fall produces the most-vibrant color.

Is this more than you wanted to know? I had a friend ask about leaves and their specific colours. I had to do some research to answer her question because it bothered me I didn't know. This above is what I learned. Do you go leaf peeping? Me, I do as I love the coolness of the weather and the vivid show of Nature's.

Autumnal Equinox

Fall begins. The autumnal equinox is defined as the point at which the Sun appears to cross the celestial equator from north to south. The celestial equator is the circle in the celestial sphere halfway between the celestial poles. It can be thought of as the plane of Earth's equator projected out onto the sphere. Another definition of fall is nights of below-freezing temperatures combined with days of temperatures below 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The word equinox means "equal night"; night and day are the same length of time. The spring equinox is in late March. In addition to the equal hours of daylight and darkness, the equinoxes are times when the Sun's apparent motion undergoes the most rapid change. Around the time of the equinoxes, variations in the position on the horizon where the Sun rises and sets can be noticed from one day to the next by alert observers.

How to Overwinter Geraniums

South African in origin, geraniums (pelargoniums) have a three-month dormant period during winter’s dryness. They need to be kept well-watered before going into dormancy. In the old days, we had cool cellars with dirt floors that were dark and moist. We shook the dirt off the roots and hung them upside down in bundles.
If you have a cool place in your house (around 50 degrees Fahrenheit), it is possible to overwinter your geraniums by keeping them in plastic or glazed pots with good drainage and giving them very little water. In spring, bring them into a warm place and water them heavily. When they start to show buds, repot them and prune heavily.

Harvest Moon

The full Moon nearest the autumnal equinox. (September 23 this year) is called the Harvest Moon. This Moon, which occurs on Monday, September 12 this year, is not just the full Moon that occurs at the time of the harvest. It is the full Moon that actually helps the harvest by providing more light at the right time than other full Moons do.

Because of the location of the sun, Earth, and moon this month, the nearly full moon will appear low in the southeastern sky for several nights in a row, which traditionally has allowed farmers an extension of daylight during the critical time of year when they are harvesting their crops.

The exact time of full moon will be 5:27 a.m. EDT (0927 GMT) on Sept. 12.

Love This

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Oh Joy, Joy, Joy

For those of you with little ones returning to school.... this is dedicated to you.

Donut Seed

Love this redneck gardener.
Make sure to watch all the way thru.
I sat here laughing my arse off.