Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Update : partie deux
Also, today is my lunaversary! Sean and I have now been married for 80 months! Can you believe that? Me neither. Every month we celebrate by going on date and being nice to each other (even if we haven't been lately). It seems to work, makes us get out together even if we have limited funds and forces us to recall why we married each other in the first place. So Happy Lunavesary! J'taime Sean!
Update
So the bathtub is in place, the window is (finally) installed and it is my job today to install the insulation and measure where to cut the cement and wall boards. If I have time (and the patience) I will actually attempt to cut out the boards and install them, but its not on my to do list :)
In other news, my friends Jillian (from thinklikeajillian.blogspot.com), Gordon and Jaima, are headed to Japan tomorrow! I am very excited for them, but not jealous since Sean and I are headed to France in three weeks time. Really, I'm not jealous...ok maybe a little. So I am bidding them all Bon Voyage or the Japanese equivalent thereof :) zen (good) tokou (voyage)? Somehow I think the online translation could be wrong. Ok, at the very least 幸せな旅行 which roughly translates to "Happy Travelling" :) Ok, how about Japlish: happi-toraberingu!
Also the violets are now taking over the lawn:
Unfortunately I don't think harvesting them is on my to do list today either.
In other news, my friends Jillian (from thinklikeajillian.blogspot.com), Gordon and Jaima, are headed to Japan tomorrow! I am very excited for them, but not jealous since Sean and I are headed to France in three weeks time. Really, I'm not jealous...ok maybe a little. So I am bidding them all Bon Voyage or the Japanese equivalent thereof :) zen (good) tokou (voyage)? Somehow I think the online translation could be wrong. Ok, at the very least 幸せな旅行 which roughly translates to "Happy Travelling" :) Ok, how about Japlish: happi-toraberingu!
Also the violets are now taking over the lawn:
Unfortunately I don't think harvesting them is on my to do list today either.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
The Bathroom Project continues....
My husband said this morning, on the fact that we still don't have the bathtub in place: "It's like camping, but without the fun and more sawdust."
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Viola odorata
Well it's now April, so it is time for the herb of the month!* I picked one of my favorite herbs for this month for a couple of reasons. First of all violets just started popping up in the lawn and because my father is suffering from bronchitis. (coincidence? I think not!)
Viola odorata is a small little purple flower with four petals and heart shaped leaves. It likes shady wet places and often hides in lawns (if you don't spray nasty chemicals on them anyway). It starts to bloom mid-march to mid april depending on the weather and what area you live in. I wait impatiently every year for them to pop up and if I am not quick they are all gone by the time I get out to harvest them (I am afraid that with all this snow that keeps covering them up I will miss them again this year). Hopefully tomorrow will be nice enough for a first harvest.
Violets are expectorant (make you spit and move phlegm out of your lungs), alterative (get your lymph moving and clear out the blood), anti-inflammatory, and diuretic (make you pee). The actions together make for an excellent remedy when sick with Bronchitis (especially), colds, coughs and influenza, for they move your immune system through the body and remove waste from the blood and urinary tract more quickly. Violets have also recently come into the scientific spotlight as one of only a handful of herbs that contains a substance called cyclotides. These compounds are disulfide rich proteins that make up an exceptionally stable ring structure that are being explored for therapeutic use in HIV and cancer drugs. You can read more here on the cyclotide.com website.
Violets are one of the wild edibles that should be on your stop, pick and eat list. Violets are rich is ascorbic acid and minerals that are especially needed in the spring to get us over our winter deficiencies. Ascorbic acid, or vitamin C is a highly unstable molecule that is easily lost by exposure to heat, light or air, but if you eat fresh (just picked less than 2 minutes before) it will not be degraded.
Violets heart shaped leaves are a reminder that violet is also used to ease the heart. In fact one of violets names is hearts-ease (usually referring to the Viola tricolor species). Violet has been used through the centuries to cure the broken heart and to lighten moods.
The leaves and flowers can be made into a tea (2 tsp to 1 cup of water, let it steep for 10-15 minutes) or as a 40% alcohol tincture.
A good way to make yourself remember that violets are used for bronchitis would be to make them into a cough syrup. I took this recipe from Judith Berger's Herbal Rituals:
Violet Blossom Syrup
lots of violet blossoms
1 quart jar
boiling water
honey
brandy
Gather lots of violet blossoms. Fill your jar halfway with blossoms and fill jar with boiling water. Let steep for 2 hours and strain out blossoms (keeping the liquid. Put the liquid in a pan and reduce by half (on low heat). Add honey to taste and 2 teaspoons of brandy as a preservative. Use by the teaspoon for bronchitis, sore throats and sore hearts.
You can also combine it with other herbs, such as thyme Thymus vulgaris for its warming and anti-viral activity; garden sage Salvia officinalis for its cleansing and ability to break up phlegm; and black elder berries Sambucus nigra for their anti-viral activity and ability to induce a fever (febrifuge).
References
Medical Herbalism, David Hoffman
Cyclotides.com
Herbal Rituals, Judith Berger
*No I didn't put up an herb for March. Sue me!
Viola odorata is a small little purple flower with four petals and heart shaped leaves. It likes shady wet places and often hides in lawns (if you don't spray nasty chemicals on them anyway). It starts to bloom mid-march to mid april depending on the weather and what area you live in. I wait impatiently every year for them to pop up and if I am not quick they are all gone by the time I get out to harvest them (I am afraid that with all this snow that keeps covering them up I will miss them again this year). Hopefully tomorrow will be nice enough for a first harvest.
Violets are expectorant (make you spit and move phlegm out of your lungs), alterative (get your lymph moving and clear out the blood), anti-inflammatory, and diuretic (make you pee). The actions together make for an excellent remedy when sick with Bronchitis (especially), colds, coughs and influenza, for they move your immune system through the body and remove waste from the blood and urinary tract more quickly. Violets have also recently come into the scientific spotlight as one of only a handful of herbs that contains a substance called cyclotides. These compounds are disulfide rich proteins that make up an exceptionally stable ring structure that are being explored for therapeutic use in HIV and cancer drugs. You can read more here on the cyclotide.com website.
Violets are one of the wild edibles that should be on your stop, pick and eat list. Violets are rich is ascorbic acid and minerals that are especially needed in the spring to get us over our winter deficiencies. Ascorbic acid, or vitamin C is a highly unstable molecule that is easily lost by exposure to heat, light or air, but if you eat fresh (just picked less than 2 minutes before) it will not be degraded.
Violets heart shaped leaves are a reminder that violet is also used to ease the heart. In fact one of violets names is hearts-ease (usually referring to the Viola tricolor species). Violet has been used through the centuries to cure the broken heart and to lighten moods.
The leaves and flowers can be made into a tea (2 tsp to 1 cup of water, let it steep for 10-15 minutes) or as a 40% alcohol tincture.
A good way to make yourself remember that violets are used for bronchitis would be to make them into a cough syrup. I took this recipe from Judith Berger's Herbal Rituals:
Violet Blossom Syrup
lots of violet blossoms
1 quart jar
boiling water
honey
brandy
Gather lots of violet blossoms. Fill your jar halfway with blossoms and fill jar with boiling water. Let steep for 2 hours and strain out blossoms (keeping the liquid. Put the liquid in a pan and reduce by half (on low heat). Add honey to taste and 2 teaspoons of brandy as a preservative. Use by the teaspoon for bronchitis, sore throats and sore hearts.
You can also combine it with other herbs, such as thyme Thymus vulgaris for its warming and anti-viral activity; garden sage Salvia officinalis for its cleansing and ability to break up phlegm; and black elder berries Sambucus nigra for their anti-viral activity and ability to induce a fever (febrifuge).
References
Medical Herbalism, David Hoffman
Cyclotides.com
Herbal Rituals, Judith Berger
*No I didn't put up an herb for March. Sue me!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Amanda: Demolition Woman!
I got up today and went on a magical journey to Lowes, where I bought cement board, wall board, tape and grout. I transported it home and put it away and walked into the bathroom where I proceeded to TEAR DOWN THE FREAKING WALLS!!!! WOOHOOO!!!
I don't know the last time I had such fun. The old wallboard was all water damaged and moldy so most of it tore right out, but I had to resort to a crowbar and hammers to get the parts of the wall that were undamaged. I also discovered the source of the water damage which turned out to be the window.
See when they* installed the newer (smaller) window they had simply placed a piece of plywood in front of the gaping hole and forgot** to seal it at all so there was a nice 1/4 inch exposed seam into the wall that has been there for 20+ years. No wonder its always too cold to take a bath in there.
Anyway I am tired and covered in mold and plaster dust and really loonging for a shower which I will not get until tomorrow at a friends house. It's just poetic justice that the reason I need a shower is because I demolished it.
*The identity of 'they' has been concealed to protect the innocent or not so innocent
**Neglected?
I don't know the last time I had such fun. The old wallboard was all water damaged and moldy so most of it tore right out, but I had to resort to a crowbar and hammers to get the parts of the wall that were undamaged. I also discovered the source of the water damage which turned out to be the window.
See when they* installed the newer (smaller) window they had simply placed a piece of plywood in front of the gaping hole and forgot** to seal it at all so there was a nice 1/4 inch exposed seam into the wall that has been there for 20+ years. No wonder its always too cold to take a bath in there.
Anyway I am tired and covered in mold and plaster dust and really loonging for a shower which I will not get until tomorrow at a friends house. It's just poetic justice that the reason I need a shower is because I demolished it.
*The identity of 'they' has been concealed to protect the innocent or not so innocent
**Neglected?
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