Summer Sun Giveaway from Ethel
Remember when I wrote about taking care of your hands and talked about making a salt scrub to keep your hands in tip top shape for during the gardening season? Well Ethel Gloves is doing a giveaway on Facebook that includes a jar of my homemade herbal salt scrub, a pair of lovely yellow Saffron Ethel gloves and an organic cotton tote bag. See the instructions for entering below for your chance to win.
It’s been a hot summer, the sun beating down as you tend to your garden and work on finishing your weekend projects. Being out in the summer sun and caring for your hands isn’t easy. To help protect and care for your hands we are doing an exclusive Giveaway on our FaceBook Page! Simply visit our FaceBook Page click the “Like” button or select the “Giveaway” tab.
Enter our Summer Sun Giveaway by entering in your info and sharing the promotion with your FaceBook friends. The Giveaway will activate once 50 or more entries are registered. The sign up period will run from July 15, 2011 through July 31, 2011. Ten (10) winners from the prize pool will be selected at random on August 1, 2011.
The prize package includes:
(1) Homemade Lemon Balm Sea Salt Scrub
(1) Pair of Ethel Bamboo Saffron Glove
(1) Organic Ethel Gloves Tote Bag
PLEASE READ the Terms & Conditions prior to entry for eligibility information.
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A Helping Hand
I talked about my love of watering in the evenings last Friday, mostly because we’ve had a really dry June/July here at Chiot’s Run. From my records we’ve had less than an inch of rain over the last 6 weeks. As a result things are dry, dry, dry (at least it’s raining while I’m writing this post so that’s a welcome change). Most of the time I don’t worry too much about my gardens, with the leaf mulch and the soil improvement I have to water less and less each year. This spring however I planted 350 shrubs for a hedge around the perimeter of the property, I’ve also added 15 new hydrangeas, 50 crowns of asparagus, 17 new boxwoods, and 20-30 perennials. These plants are not established and need a good dose of water each week to make sure they get well rooted in to be drought tolerant in the coming years. That means I’ve been spending a lot of time hauling watering cans and using the hose to make sure I don’t lose any of these new plants.
Since I’m a busy person, I have come up with a few ways to maximize my time watering. Beside some of the new plants, I added small garden hooks that used to have hanging solar lanterns on them (I have 8 of them). I hang the hose over the hook pointing at the plant and turn the hose nozzel on a low spray. While the plant is being watered I can use my watering cans on other plants that need watered. This way I can be watering two different things at once. I usually wear a stop watch and set the timer for 10 minutes, then I switch the hose to the next plant.
This works like a charm if you have specific plants or small garden areas that are in need of more water than other areas and you don’t want to set up the sprinkler to water large portions. This does a better job at spot watering to save water, and is especially handy because you can weed, or do other garden tasks while the plants are being watered.
Do you have any great time saving gardening tips?
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Quote of the Day: Kristin Kimball
Food is the first wealth. Grow it right, and you feel insanely rich, no matter what you own. A frenchman once told me.
Kristin Kimball from The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love
I’m feeling exceedingly rich today as I stroll through my edible garden looking at all the bounty that will be in my harvest basket this summer. The golden peas are at their end, only a few more remain to harvest, the rest will be left for seed. The tomatoes are hanging heavy on the vines, promising a bounty of tomato soup and BLT’s later this summer. I harvested the potato onions and am happy once again to have homegrown onions in the pantry, they will be joined by a variety of other onions as summer goes along.
It’s very true that growing your own isn’t just about the good food that you provide for yourself, although that is the greatest reward. You truly feel rich knowing that you don’t have to spend money on fresh vegetables. Growing your own food gives you a sense of freedom, a sense of security knowing that you can provide for yourself should it ever be a necessity.
How does growing some of your own food make you feel? secure? happy? rich?
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Taking Care of Your Hands
We use our hands all day every day and often without thinking about it. During the summer they can be especially neglected with all the activities that come along with warm weather. We garden, cook, mow, play and do all kinds of things never thinking twice about our hands until they’re burned, injured, or we notice they’re at the height of neglect. In addition to all the work and play, our hands also have to deal with the onslaught of chemicals from soaps and lotions. This is especially bad because we wash our hands many times a day. Here are some tips to keep your hands healthy, happy and looking their best all summer long.
Wear gloves when possible. Gloves will help keep you from getting cut or scratched and they help keep blisters away. They will also protect your hands from the harsh sun in the summer and from the cold dry air in the winter. Perhaps the best reason to wear gloves is because it keeps your hands cleaner avoiding a lot of unnecessary hand washing that can dry them out. You can choose different kinds of gloves for the tasks you’re working on. I keep a box of disposable nitrile gloves in the closet for painting, staining and other messy jobs. They also come in handy if you need to pull poison ivy. I wear regular Ethel gloves for gardening when it’s dry and the utility gloves when it’s wet. A good pair of leather gloves will come in really handy when doing heavy duty chores like stacking firewood. Wear gloves when washing dishes by hand or find a dish soap that is less harsh. I have found that a lye soap that I buy locally doesn’t bother my hands at all. Dr Bronner’s Sal-Suds also does a fantastic job of washing without being to drying on hands.
And no my gloves are not always that pristine & clean. I have a few pairs of Ethel gloves that are in pretty rough shape from months of hard work in the garden as you can see by the image below.
Include more healthy fats in your diet. I used to be plagued with dry skin, until I started switched away from a low-fat diet and processed fats like margarine and canola oil to butter, lard, tallow and coconut oil. Including a fish oil supplement in your diet will also help your skin, I highly recommend Green Pasture’s Blue Ice Fermented Cod Liver Oil. Now that I’m eating lots of butter, drinking whole milk and using lots of healthy fats like Tropical Traditions coconut oil, my skin does not get dry.
One of the best pieces of advice I can give to keep your hands from getting dry is to: Avoid over washing! We live in an uber clean society, constantly washing our hands with soaps loaded with all kinds of weird ingredients. Only wash your hands if necessary. Personally, I think that eating nourishing food is going to do you a whole lot more good when it comes to avoiding colds and flus than washing your hands. If you haven’t already, think about switching away from anti-bacterial soaps and try to find a local soap made with goat’s milk or other natural ingredients. You’ll be amazed at all the wonderful things you can find made by local artisans in your area. If you can’t find any soap makers locally you’ll find a wealth of them on Etsy.
Use a natural moisturizer. Synthetic moisturizers often contain chemicals that can do more harm than good. Consider swapping your current moisturizer to something more natural like coconut or grapeseed oil. Keep a small bottle by the sink and add a drop or two to your hands after washing. Think about using a salt scrub every so often to soften and moisturize hands. I just discovered the joy of using salt scrub after making some with a bunch of salt I had from curing olives. My recipe for Herbal Salt Scrub is posted over on the Your Day Blog (we’ll be doing a giveaway soon that will include of some of my homemade salt scrub so check back soon, or friend Ethel on Facebook so you don’t miss it).
Every now and then the nagging pain from a cut or burn reminds me of the need to keep my hands protected. The older I get the more I appreciate what my hands do every single day and the more I want to keep them in good shape. That’s why you’ll find my hands protected by gloves most of the time I’m outside in the garden and following the tips above.
Do you have any great tips for keeping your hands in good shape? soaps, lotions, manicures?
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A Little Homework Assignment
Last fall a friend of mine did a scrapbooking class where she had to come up with words that described herself. I loved this idea and thought it would make a great blog series. So I’ll be doing Alphabet in August starting – you guessed it – in August. I’d love to have you join me, either on your blog or in the comments each day.
Since it can be a little tough to come up with words to describe yourself I figured I’d give you a head start. Pull out a piece of paper write the letters of the alphabet on it and put it on your fridge. Over the next 5 weeks start jotting down words starting with each letter that describe yourself.
If you want to follow along on your blog I’ll be uploading the photo above to my Flickr account at the beginning of August and you can grab it from there to use on your blog. Post your words every day and link back here in the comment section. If you don’t have a blog just comment your words. I’m really looking forward to hearing what words you come up with for each letter to describe yourself.
So what do you think? Do you want to join the challenge?
