A Sign of the Times

Posted by Gabrielle

We have a plump little bunny living around our house. We're not sure exactly where he lives, but he loves hiding out in the bushes and nibbling greens and dandelion stalks around our yard.

This evening, several family members were discussing around the dinner table whether this bunny is male or female, and some were rather opinionated.

Benaiah chimed in with his own vote. "I think it's 'email'!"

It is definitely a sign of the times when the word email is part of a three-year-old's vocabulary!

Thou Great I AM

by Mama H.

... from "The Valley of Vision" .... Choices:

.... Thou hast done for me all things well,
hast remembered, distinguished, indulged me.
All my desires have not been gratified,
but thy love denied them to me
when fulfillment of my wishes would have proved my ruin
or injury.
My trials have been fewer than my sins,
and when I have kissed the rod it has fallen from thy hands.
Thou has often wiped away my tears,
restored peace to my mourning heart,
chastened me for my profit.
All thy work for me is perfect, and I praise thee.

Natural Plant Sprays

Posted by Gabrielle

I was researching inexpensive, natural plant sprays for this summer, especially for my tomatoes that seem to get attacked by tomato horn-worms and came across the following advice which I think some of our readers may find amusing as well:

1) Combine one teaspoon of hot pepper or Tabasco sauce, 4 cloves of garlic and a quart of water. Blend well in a blender and strain, with cheesecloth or nylon mesh before placing in your sprayer. This will repel many insects including whiteflies, aphids, spidermites and caterpillars.

2) Mix 1/8-1/4 cup of hydrated lime with one quart of water. This creates an effective spray against many insects, especially spidermites. Add a drop of non-detergent soap to act as a sticking agent and insecticide. Lime can cause serious harm to plants if you use too much, so always spray a test plant first and watch it for a few days, to check for any adverse effects on plants.

3) Take one ounce of tomato leaves and add to one quart of water and blend thoroughly. Strain the resulting liquid and use to repel insects. This works well on white cabbage butterflies too.

4) Take a copious amount (as many as you can collect) of the insect you wish to repel and grind their corpses up into a powder. Mix the resulting powder with one quart of water and, spray as a repellent for the insect that you ground up for the powder.