A little dress

 I feel my creativity coming back.  I yearn to make things with my hands and at night all sorts of ideas run through my head.   xoxo

Breathing

This blog "River-Rose" has highly been ignored by its writer and with good reason.  In October of 2010, her husband was diagnosed with a terminal illness.  She has been documenting their struggle with Pulmonary Fibrosis and how a family deals with a terminal illness.  The blog she documents this on is called "Breathing".  Her hubby passed away this December, just a little over a year from his diagnosis.  Please head on over to Breathing and show her your support and help raise awareness about this disease.

xoxo

http://breathingair1.blogspot.com

Beauty Tips

Below is a wonderful poem Audrey Hepburn wrote when asked to share her 'beauty tips.'

It was read at her funeral years later.

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone. People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, redeemed; never throw out anyone. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself; the other for helping others.

photo via

You

You, You.  Oh, Beautiful You- 

Flying above the ground

Colors and lightness, Perfection in You 

Creative Art

Beautiful, You.

Without a Sound

Casting Light

Casting Shadows

Upon the Ground.

To find interesting poems, thoughts, stories and photographs,
visit MAGPIE TALES

Maytime

My Grandmother passed away today.

She was the matriarch of our family. 

No matter how far we wandered, she was the beautiful glue that held every single one of us together.

She used to love to crochet. 

Not the big stitches that make a blanket, but the tiny, little stitches that made the finest lace on handkerchiefs. 

She really loved to travel. 

She had been to most of the areas in this world.  All the way through her life she enjoyed any opportunity for a new experience.

Most of all, she loved her husband, family, and God. 

She prayed the rosary for everyone, everyday.  She was a faithful woman to all of those things and everyone could always count on her for her prayers.

A couple days before she passed, my Mother asked her what is her favorite of the Commandment's and she said the Second..."Love thy neighbor as thyself."

This was a song she used to sing in the kitchen as she cooked the most delicious meals for all of us and she also sang this song with tears in her eyes the last time that I saw her.

“Fun. I never knew there was such fun, such, such happiness. I've never been so happy in my life. It's been wonderful.” 

Maytime (1937)

photos via:  #1, #2, #3

Link Via

Facinating!

Some of my favorite childhood memories were spent at my Grandmother's house.  Where, up the stairs was my Uncle's room, quietly preserved, as he traveled the world.  At times, my Sister and I would sneak into his room and- Behold! 

A photographic-montage covered every corner of the walls within his room.  Beautiful and dreamy pictures of female icons. 

 Not to mention, books!  Lot's of books, about every juicy, documented detail of their lives!

It was fabulous to be a young lady and literally be transported into another world, a place that both strong and fragile women ruled and their beauty, even within the flaws of their lives -were undeniable. 

I am glad that I secretly entered his room...-many times.  The things I thought about as I looked at the pictures and read their stories have stayed with me to this day, and, as a side note, helped to create the passionate spirit within me. 

Elizabeth R. Taylor

   February 27, 1932 - March 23, 2011

photos via: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5

It's a dirty job but someone's got to do it!

I started composting three years ago because I thought it was a good way to recycle food waste and also get good soil amendment called vermi-compost or worm compost material. The worms turn the scraps and garden waste into a rich form of worm compost through their digestive system. The compost and the compost tea are full of micro-organisms and nutrients.

The compost started out with about 100 worms and now I have so many I would not be able to count them! The worms used are Red Worms: Eisenia Foetida -commonly known as red wiggler, brandling or manure worm. Red worms are the best because they can withstand various conditions.

I feed my worms about once a week. They love coffee grounds most soft vegetable peels and fruit scraps. I usually cut banana peels so they are easier for the worms to digest. They cannot be feed anything acidic such as citrus; lemons, chicken manure, tomatoes and chili. Acidic foods will also unstablize the ph level in your compost. Worms thrive in neutral ph conditions.  Another tip, do not include anything that has been cooked or has grease, no meat- this stuff will attractive rodents to your worm compost.

Each worm contains a male and female organ, so any mature worm from the same species can mate. After mating they produce a capsule containing 20 eggs. A mature compost worm might mate every 7-10 days & produce 4-20 capsules per week, but only 3 capsules will hatch with 4 worms inside. Thus producing 12 baby worms, per mature worm, each week!

For the compost tea; simply add 1-2” of compost to your water can and allow compost and water to steep for a day, mixing occasionally. Then use to water plants. This works as fertilizer and insect repellent.

Take care of your worms and they will take care of your garbage and produce compost. You will notice less bedding and more compost in 3-5months after setting up your worm farm.  This means it is time to harvest. Harvest means removing the compost from the container. It’s like striking gold! Your plants will be so much healthier and you will not believe the results.

To learn more about Worm Composting:

Worm Book – The Complete Guide to Gardening and Composting with Worms

http://www.vermicoast.com/

The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievement of Earthworms

“Best Practice Guideline to Managing on –Site Vermiculture

The Worm Digest

Article and photo via:  Guadalupe Lucio

BLOG LOVE- First Post Feb 2009

Love

(February 2009)

Just because Valentine’s is over, why should the romance end?

My romance with food began as a small child in the kitchen with my Grandmother.

She was a simple woman whose

small abode was always filled with visitors and family.

My favorite place to be was right next to her in the kitchen where,

 I became fascinated in the wonder of watching her tiny, well-worn hands delicately prepare exquisite and thoughtful meals.

As she sang songs from her youth she sliced and diced, sautéed and fillet.

Not, until I found myself in the kitchen as an adult did I realize that all of her culinary masterpieces where prepared on a very limited budget. It had never crossed my mind because

every mouthful had been prepared with love.

What is the connection between food and love?

The evidence is all around us.

Remember your first taste of cotton candy at the fair or a romantic candle-lit dinner?

Perhaps even the gallon of Rocky Road ice cream when that date didn’t quite work out?

In food there is a giving and a sharing mixed with a bit of the unknown.

My romance with food and the people with whom I share it is an ongoing adventure in which I will always be opened minded, because I know that when inspired with love- anything is possible!

Jeanne from the Collage of Life has designed a very special way to reflect on the development of a blogger and the blogs that we have created. 

She is a very talented blogger and a person that I admire, greatly! 

If you click her picture above, you will read her very first post, and she has requested that we put up our first posts as well.  It had me thinking, what was my very first post?  I originally started this blog when I began writing food reviews for the local paper of my small town.  But, I could not even remember what my first post was about!  I looked back into the archives and found what had inspired me to start River-Rose...Thank you, Jeanne and to all of the many fascinating and creative bloggers that have made my blogging experience a pure joy!

xoxo