Choosing Voluntary Simplicity

Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies

Shirley — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:18:58 +0000

I like these blueberry cookies made with oatmeal much better than the usual sugar cookie type blueberry cookies. The combination of the chewy oatmeal cookie and soft sweet blueberries is wonderful.

I Hope She Didn’t Try To Eat Them…

Shirley — Sat, 12 May 2012 12:25:47 +0000

My husband and I were clearing leaves and winter debris out of one of the hosta beds when we heard a car stop in the road just slightly past our house. A woman got out of the car and quickly walked to a flower garden we have created at the edge of our lawn. She was carrying a large plastic bag.

Dogtooth Violet, Trout Lily, Adder’s Tongue (Erythronium americanum)

Shirley — Thu, 10 May 2012 11:59:04 +0000

There used to be a lot of these dogtooth violets (Erythronium americanum) in the woods across the road from our house. Unfortunately, these and many other wildflowers have been casualties of the new owners and their haphazard logging operations. We have tried to save as many as we could... perhaps in time we'll have most of the different types of wildflowers thriving again here on our side of the property.

Are Your Hands Clean Enough?

Shirley — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:42:22 +0000

The recent staph infection scare hits pretty close to home for me because this happened to our family. A few years ago, one of my cousin's very healthy children was admitted to the hospital for a routine procedure, had his surgery on Thursday, and three days later he was dead from the staph infection he had picked up in the hospital.

“Instead of Salt” Herbal Salt Substitute

Shirley — Tue, 08 May 2012 12:30:16 +0000

Reader question... "My husband has just been put on a drastically reduced salt diet and he says everything tastes bland now. I am looking for some way to flavor his food that doesn't involve salt and I wondered if you would have a recipe for something like this." --Mari K.

Wherever You Go, There You Are

Shirley — Mon, 07 May 2012 11:14:26 +0000

"Something wonderful begins to happen with the simple realization that life, like an automobile, is driven from the inside out, not the other way around..."

Tricolored Bumble Bee (Bombus ternarius)

Shirley — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:05:42 +0000

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you will already know that I like to take photographs of bees. A couple of days ago I noticed that there were bees on the dandelion flowers (earlier than usual this spring), so of course I had to take some photos. One bee had a bright orange stripe around its body and was unlike any bumble bee I have ever seen before.

The Peppermint I Planted Doesn’t Smell Like Peppermint

Shirley — Wed, 02 May 2012 12:08:35 +0000

Reader question... "Last year I planted a few peppermint seeds. The plants grew well but don't smell as pepperminty as I thought they would. I was telling this to my neighbor and she says I couldn't have planted peppermint seeds because peppermint is sterile and doesn't produce seeds. She says I planted some other kind of mint but not peppermint. The thing is, I saved the seed packet and it IS labeled as peppermint. I remember reading in one of your posts (don't remember which one) that you grow peppermint so I thought you might know which of us is right." --Izza W.

When Should You Get Involved?

Shirley — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:21:42 +0000

I once spent several uncomfortable minutes in a grocery store watching a young mother with her young child. The woman was nicely dressed, probably in her middle twenties. She had two children with her, a little girl of perhaps three or four, and another little girl probably a couple of years older. The woman was kneeling with her face almost touching the smallest girl's face, and she was threatening the child with the punishment she was going to receive once they left the store. The little girl stood there with her head down and tears rolling silently down her face. The other child seemed unaffected by the mother's anger.

Chives (Allium schoenoprasum)

Shirley — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:44:45 +0000

Like many of the plants in my gardens, my collection of chives began with a tiny clump that my mother gave me many years ago. Over the years that one clump has somehow multiplied to become at least thirty large mounds of chives... and despite my efforts to keep any of the chives from reseeding, I keep finding more new baby chive plants growing in the open areas between the mounds.