There are plenty of fresh citrus in the market this season. Recently I bought a bag of organic oranges and saved the peels to add to my tea. This time of year is also when we get Meyer lemons from a friend’s tree. I also saved those peels and add them to tea.
The peels can be fresh or dried. To dry them, just leave them sun or in the oven. But make sure it’s fully dry so it doesn’t get moldy. And store them in a air tight container.
I used fresh orange peel with this cup of green tea. It gives the tea an orange tint and it’s not bitter at all. The skin actually gets soft and you can just eat them too. And if you like it sweet, add a little bit of honey.
When you are cooking with citrus peel, it’s best to use only citrus that are not sprayed with pesticides. This is because the precious citrus oils are located in the outer skin and can absorb the chemicals.
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Almost 6 years ago someone had abandoned a little chick at the Buddhist temple. The monk told my mom she could take it home. Mom named the little chick “E lie” meaning “stripe lady”. But I call her Eliza, after Eliza Doolittle of “My Fair Lady”.
Eliza is of the Plymouth Rock variety. Here’s more info:
“Barred Plymouth Rocks or “Barred Rocks”, as they’re called, are one of the most popular dual-purpose chickens on small farms today. Their heritage is unclear with reports of different crosses, but what is clear is that they’re very friendly, great layers of large brown eggs and able to withstand cold weather quite nicely. Though they tolerate confinement, they’re most happy when they get to range freely. All varieties of Plymouth Rock aside from the Barred and White varieties are relatively rare.” - mypetchicken.com
I picked some jasmine flowers for Eliza. She comes to you when you call her name. I really never thought chickens would make such great pets until Eliza came along. There’s something peaceful about watching a chicken pecking at grass or taking a dirt bath.
For the first 3 years she would lay an egg daily only during the summer months. Now she’s just a retired hen that’s really great at eating spiders and all sorts of bugs in the garden.
I love seabuckthorn for it’s highly nutritious berries and leaves. I’m counting the days until the arrival of my own seabuckthorn or seaberry bush next month. In the meantime I’ve been admiring these seabuckthorn plants at the San Jose International Fruit Orchard.
Here’s a photo of the tip of the male seabuckthorn. The leaves are much smaller than the female bush.
And this is the female seabuckthorn. I think this may be the little berries, but we’ll find out by end of the year.
There were lots of giant big thorns which would make picking the fruits or leaves very tricky. But I did get a few leaves to make into tea.
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Out in northern California, jasmine bloom only in springtime. And the scent of fresh blooming jasmine is one of those unforgettable scent that can’t be duplicated. Even with jasmine scented perfume or lotions, there is still something missing.
Here are some fresh jasmines and roses I gathered recently. The small jasmine flowers have such a sweet aroma that can overtake the roses.
A study was done at Wheeling Jesuit University that found individuals who were exposed to jasmine aroma received a better night of sleep.
“The researchers monitored 20 people while they slept for three nights. When the effects of the jasmine odor were compared to the effects of the lavender odor and the non-odor control condition, the dispensing of jasmine led to greater sleep efficiency and reduced sleep movement. And when it comes to rest and relaxation, jasmine beats out even lavender.
When the participants woke, those who breathed the jasmine rated their level of anxiety and vigor lower, and performed cognitive tests more rapidly.” - Wheeling Jesuit University.
So for a better quality of sleep, try putting some fresh jasmine next to your night stand.
In aromatherapy, jasmine oil can help reduce anxiety and increase your feeling of optimism and confidence.
Wishing everyone a happy belated Lao New Year!
I was able to attend the celebration at the local Lao Buddhist temple. Part of the ceremony involves prayers and blessings for a healthy and prosperous new year.
We also get to douse the sacred Buddha statues with holy water. And if you have elderly relatives, then you can also sprinkle them with holy water too. Or if you are young at heart, you would have a fun water fight.
Hachi: A Dog’s Tale is a heart warming movie based on the true story of a faithful Japanese Akita dog and his owner. The Hollywood version stars Richard Gere, but the best acting of all would be for the Akita dog Hachi!
I like the feel of the movie, with it’s quaint town and friendly characters. There were a few scenes that could have been omitted, but overall a nice movie that will have you feeling sentimental for this loyal dog soon enough.
Although this American movie came out in 2009, the original Japanese version was made in 1987 titled ““.
A little history:
“In 1924, HidesaburÅ Ueno, a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo, took in HachikÅ as a pet. During his owner’s life, HachikÅ greeted him at the end of each day at the nearby Shibuya Station.
The pair continued their daily routine until May 1925, when Professor Ueno did not return. The professor died, never returning to the train station where HachikÅ was waiting. Every day for the next nine years the golden brown Akita waited at Shibuya station.” - source from Wiki.
To this day, there is even a to honor Hachiko at the train station.
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It’s been years since we’ve been back to visit the San Jose rose garden. Since we were in the area, we made a short visit.
There weren’t as many roses blooming, and some that were blooming didn’t look too good. I thought maybe they were a bit neglected, but some pretty and colorful ones were scattered around.
Although these didn’t have much petals, it made a really nice statement from a distant with the bright red petals.
The garden is located near the San Jose airport. It’s an ideal place to watch planes come and go. Here is one of Southwest’s plane taking off.
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Another soap just off the rack is this Gardener’s Honey soap. In addition to the honey, it also has organic oatmeal and organic yogurt. To keep it really natural, it’s not scented but still smells very pleasant.
Ingredients: olive oil, grapeseed oil, palm oil, soybean oil, coconut oil, illipe butter, wheat germ oil, distilled water, sodium hydroxide, organic oatmeal, honey, organic yogurt, calendula petals and geranium petals.
I chose all these ingredients because of their soothing and conditioning abilities. It’s the same ingredients found in a facial mask, but put into this great bar of soap. Not only is a great facial and body soap, but also ideal for gardeners or anyone with super dirty hands! As the bits of oatmeal is very exfoliating.
This is also the first time I’ve soaped with fresh yogurt and illipe butter. The yogurt did leave a soft bar while it was being cut. But after several weeks of curing, it’s perfectly hard and nice as my other soaps.
The soap is also topped with calendula petals and geranium petals harvested from last summer’s flower garden.
Benefits of Illipe butter from Mountain Rose Herbs:
• Moisturizing chronically dry skin
• Mature skin
• Sunburn
• Healing sores
• Damaged skin
• Rough skin (such as on feet)
• Mouth ulcers
• Dry or over processed hair
This is my latest soap just off the curing rack. It’s made with kelp powder and French green clay. Both really good ingredients to help remove toxins from your skin.
Ingredients: Rice bran oil, avocado oil, palm oil, soybean oil, hemp oil, wheat germ oil, distilled water, sodium hydroxide, organic kelp powder, French Green clay, peppermint essential oil, cedarwood essential oil.
I omitted coconut oil from this recipe and went with lots of rice bran and avocado oil. So lots of vitamin E! The downside is that it didn’t harden up very nice and made it difficult to cut. But it is still great soap. I have tested it out and can say it’s a fine bar of soap. It does get rather soft after several uses, but just keep it dry between uses and you’ll be fine.
The bar is also slippery because of the kelp (seaweed). According to skincare experts, this slipperiness if from the gel like quality of kelp which helps to protect and restore hair and skin. It’s very hydrating and healing ingredient in skincare.
Because it’s a very green bar of soap, it’s scented with peppermint essential oil. Which is a very uplifting and clean smelling essential oil.
