Tuesday, November 7, 2017

November 7th


Did everyone have a nice Halloween?  There are no children living in our community except grandchildren but Gracie, Cali and Nora came over so we could see their costumes.  Gracie just loves baby Nora and will make a great babysitter before we know it!



Here is grandson Travis with their darling baby Nora!



We don't use a lot of taco seasoning but needed to make up more.



Trying to prepare for winter in zone 5.  Rosemary will not survive outside in our zone but I put leaves around them and am hoping!!



I made melt and pour soap with rose essential oil.  It is a shea butter soap and is white although this picture shows cream.



It is now all packaged up in cellophane ready to give away.



At the previous house I did nothing with my hollyhock for winter.  I read to cut dead foliage off and cut back to about 6 inches and mulch.  Done!  Hoping for flowers next year.



Made up a gluten free biscuit with a mix from Bob's Red Mill.  Fixed some breakfast sandwiches for myself with egg and cheese.  On a scale of one to ten I would rate it about a six!  But "beggars can't be choosers" when trying to eat gluten free!



I have been trying to figure out how to keep my strawberries in the raised bed on legs from freezing.  We put plastic around the bottom and then I put leaves around the strawberries but read that was not good so am taking those off.  Bought a half of a bale of straw and will put some of that around them after a couple of hard frosts.  This raised bed gardening in a courtyard with a dog that has to have room to "potty" and eats all my veggies is certainly a challenge!  Thank you for visiting.  Please come again!

20 comments:

Granny Marigold said...

I hope you're successful in keeping your strawberries from freezing. Sounds like you're doing your best to keep them safe.

It must be hard to have to eat gluten-free. It's hard enough to know what to make all the time let alone having to worry about gluten.
( Have you ever sat down and figured out how many meals you've made in your life? I figure I've made over 19,000 suppers alone, never mind lunches!!)

Cozy Thyme Cottage said...

Hi Granny Marigold, It is not easy trying to eat gluten free but if it helps with the itchy rashes I will keep at it. It seems even though I try to eat gluten free that there is a lot of contamination from other things. No, I have not figured out how many meals I have made but we have been married for 57 years so I would guess a lot! Nancy

Margaret said...

The straw is a good idea for the strawberries - that's what I do and have not had any issues overwintering, even when the temps went down to 40F!

Henny Penny said...

That soap is so pretty and probably smells good too. You do so much! The children are cute as can be! Hope your strawberries keep well. I've been adding leaves to the garden, and around my many potted plants that won't fit in the little greenhouse.

Rain said...

Hi Nancy :) Your soap is very pretty! I do want to get into soap making myself one of these days, if I find the time for it. I have so many "to do"'s!! I hope your rosemary makes it, I've never been successful at keeping it over winter, and for some reason it didn't even grow from seed this summer!

Betsy said...

Your grandchildren are so cute! How nice that they were able to come to your house to see them in their costumes. Great idea for overwintering plants. It gets so cold here that sometimes my roses don't make it, but I continue to mulch and hope for the best each year. Your bars are so pretty. I've never been able to make soaps or lotions. I enjoy using the fruits of others' labors but the few times I tried they didn't turn out at all. I guess it's not one of my talents and that's okay. :-)
Have a lovely reminder of the week my friend.
Blessings,
Betsy

Creations By Cindy said...

Oh my goodness those grands are adorable. I hope your strawberries make it. I would love to have a strawberry patch. Hoping you are having a great day. Hugs and blessings, Cindy

Cozy Thyme Cottage said...

Hi Margaret, Glad to hear the straw worked on the strawberries for you and here's hoping it works for me this year too! Nancy

Cozy Thyme Cottage said...

Hi Henny Penny, Thanks! It will be interesting to see what survives this year and what doesn't! Hoping for the best! Nancy

Cozy Thyme Cottage said...

Hi Rain, Thank you! I took the easy way out and made my soap with melt and pour soap. I am afraid to use lye. My Mom made soap with lye and now I am wishing I had learned how to do that. I bought my rosemary as a plant. It is doing so good, nice and big and I will hate to lose it. Nancy

Cozy Thyme Cottage said...

Hi Betsy, Thank you! I am sure you could make soap with the melt and pour kind that I used. You have so many talents! Here's hoping your rose bushes make it through the winter and mine too!! Nancy

Cozy Thyme Cottage said...

Hi Creations By Cindy, Thank you! My little strawberry patch is only 4x4 but it is so nice to have a few to put on our oatmeal. Nancy

Julie said...

Your great grandies are beautiful Nancy!! As is the soap you made .. I wish the screen was scratch & sniff as I imagine it smells beautiful :-) How lovely to have it all packaged up ready to gift. Hope your week is going well Nancy Xx

Cozy Thyme Cottage said...

Hi Julie, Thank you! Little Nora was here for a visit today. If you lived close I would gift you one of those little soaps. So easy and fun to make! Nancy

Pom Pom said...

Your soap looks beautiful!
I always wonder if my hollyhocks are new from seeds that fell to the ground or the same ones that came up two years before. I think they staggered themselves. They ARE biennials, but somehow they organized themselves so that we can enjoy them every year!

Cozy Thyme Cottage said...

Hi Pom Pom, Thank you! It was so easy so I want to make more. Sounds like your hollyhocks do well for you. Hope one plant comes back. It didn't have any flowers this year so will probably have them next year. (I hope!) Nancy

Leigh said...

The soap looks so pretty! I hope you have success with keeping everything alive over winter. The weather is always a challenge!

Cozy Thyme Cottage said...

Hi Leigh, Thanks! Maybe we will have a mild winter and everything will do great! Nancy

Gloria said...

Hello Nancy, It has been while since I have been on the computer. How are your strawberries and rosemary surviving so far? I love your rose scented soap. It's one of my favorite scents. I use to wear tea rose perfume all the time when I was younger but stopped when one of my coworkers had a major allergic reaction to my perfume. That's a very pretty mold as well. I would love your recipe for that if you feel like sharing. Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving.

Cozy Thyme Cottage said...

Hi Gloriade, I live the smell of roses and I also like a faint smell of lavender. So far rosemary and strawberries doing okay. We probably have some bad weather ahead of us though. I think we will put the straw around the strawberries and climbing rose bush tomorrow. The soap is so easy. Just buy melt and pour soap and add essential rose oil and pour into molds. I hope you try it! Nancy

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