Cat Tales ~ Green Excesses

Mommy has a green thumb. She loves flowers and trees and all things growing in the dirt.
Mommy said she wanted to  make the new place look bee-utiful. A place that when people who stop to look at the old house say, "WoW! Look at those flowers. And at this altitude!"

{{Mommy said that the people who stop in the street or on the sidewalk out in front of the house are taking pictures of the house because it is old and pretty. Me disagrees. Those people are taking pictures of ME! cause Me is so handsome and Me likes to sit in the front window to show off Me's fantastic good-looks}}

Back to Mommy and her thumb. Mommy ordered seeds to plant to make her garden pretty. But she didn't want to plant the seeds in the ground. She wanted to plant the seeds in the house. Really???  I know those Doggies are pigs but Me didn't think the floor was that dirty!

Mommy got a mini-greenhouse - that's what Mommy called it. Me told her that it wasn't very green but she pointed out that the shelves and supports were green. And soon, Mommy said, there would be green in the trays and trays and trays and trays of dirt sitting in the greenhouse.

Well, Mommy wasn't wrong. There are trays and trays and trays and trays of green everywhere in the house. Mommy said that as soon as the weather breaks, she would be planting the green outside.

Now, how do you break the weather???

Soft Cactus

The art of Kwnag-Ho Lee

Cat Tales ~ Meowie Wowie!

That's not Mes! That's Mes young doppelganger who's in charge of Quality Control. And Mommy in back trimming the Bud

Over the summer, Mommy would harvest Catnip grown in her Youngest's garden. This was some pretty AwEsOmE stuff! Me named it Meowie Wowie! Mommy took a cutting from the last batch she got before the snow flew and cloned it. Meowzahs!

This clone is now growing on the kitchen window sill. Mommy said that she will clone more when the parent gets big enough to take cuttings. Mommy is then going to plant the clones once they are big enough in the Fairy Grove at Whyspering Woodes. Mommy said that Me can become a 'NIP Grower. And Me isn't even limited on how many plants Me can grow! Meowzahs!

Mommy said that she has found Catnip growing wild in many of the Nature Parks around the area. Me can't help but wonder if that explains why there are so many large wild cats seen in the area. Does Catnip affect Mountain Lions, Bobcats, and Lynx? Something for Me to delve into.....

Purz and Catnip Dreams.......Gomez

The Diatomist

Cat Tales ~ The Scoop on "Bud"

As many of you faithful readers know, Me loves Me 'Nip! 

Me loves to eat it, roll in it, and huff the plant's fragrant aroma. 

Catnip is known by many names - Catmint, Catnip, Cat's Heals All, Cat's Wort to list just a few. There are over 250 species of catnip plant which is in the mint family. But only good ol' fashioned Catnip, Nepeta Cataria, appeals to Cats. And yes, Catnip is a relative of the cannabis plant. But Kittys should never have cannabis! 

It is the oil, Nepetalactone, that causes odd behavior in Kittys. Or rather sniffing the aroma of the oil that causes Kittys to act funny, strange or mean. In fact, a Kitty can smell 1 part Nepetalactone to a billion parts air! Meowzahs! It is thought by mens of science that the aroma of the oil Nepetalactone mimics cat pheromones. Eating catnip actually allows Us Kittys to release more aroma from the leaves. And Wes get Our greens that way too. 

Catnip Love is hereditary. If a Cat doesn't come from a family of Catnip Lovers then He can't learn to like it. 

But always remember moderation when partaking of any 'green' recreational bud.

Purz and Catnip Dreams.......Gomez

Weird Wednesday ~ Glow in the Dark Plants

What if plants could glow, like a firefly, at night and we would no longer have a need for power consuming street lights?

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This is the brain child of Daan Roosegaarde, a designer and developer who advocates the use of bio-luminescence as an alternative energy source.  Roosegaarde promotes the technology of Dr. Alexander Krichevsky, who splices bioluminescence properties into the DNA of plants. Dr. Krichevsky has successfully created plants which will absorb sunlight and then glow for approx. 8 hrs at night. The only drawback, so far, is that the plants have a short lifespan.

Click Here to Read More!

Click Here to go to the Bioglow site!

Aquascaping Competition

Click Here to learn more about Aquascaping

Weird Wednesday ~ Vampire Plant Talks to Its Victims

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It has been discovered that a parasitic plant named Strangleweed actually 'communicates' with its victims as it feeds on them. Strangleweed wraps itself around its host and punctures the plant's stem with appendages and then absorbs nutrients from the host. 

It is at this point that the Strangleweed sends ribonucleic acid into the host giving instructions to the host plant's DNA. These instructions tell the host plant how to grow, thus changing the host plant's DNA to make it weaker and to lower its defenses. These changes allowed the Strangleweed a better opportunity to feed on the host plant.

Click here to read more!

Talking to Plants

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Do you talk to your plants? I do.
Do your plants talk back? They will if you listen closely.

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George Washington Carver discovered over 300 uses for the peanut plant. He said that he was told of these uses by the plant itself! Some people may feel this is quite far fetched but to those who are in tune to Nature, it is quite normal to have a conversation with a tree or flower or bush. Perhaps if we slow down and listen with our heart and soul rather than our ears and our mind, we will hear what the Flora is trying to tell us.
Experiments have been conducted on a plant's ability to communicate and the response of plants to Human interaction. These experiments have been performed by a variety of scientists worldwide as well as by 'lay people' like the Mythbusters. It has been proven again and again that plants will respond to certain types of noise better than others. Is it the actual noise or is it the vibrations created by the noise to which the plants respond? 
Scientists in China discovered that crop plants will increase their yield when sound waves of certain frequencies are broadcast to them. The frequency levels at which plants respond are well out of the range of human hearing. 
Plants also communicate among themselves, usually by scent. This has been proven again and again. But do they 'talk' to each other? In some sort of way that resembles human conversation? Maybe. A team of researchers are currently studying if some plants have specific requirements for sound and if some plants are more talkative than others.

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Plants having the ability to communicate brings about another question. Do they have an intelligence? Do they have a soul? This is a topic that could cause quite a stir.

For over a 100 years, botanists have documented similarities between plants and animals. Which leads to the conclusion that plants are intelligent beings who can communicate not only with each other but with animals and humans. In fact the bond between a plant and a human can be so strong that the plant can sense things about its human, even if the human is many, many miles away.

Kinda gives a whole new meaning to "Tree Hugging".

Click Here to Read More about Plant Communication!

And Definitely Click Here to Read about Plants and their souls!

Weird Wednesday ~ Singing Plants

Nature Contemplation

*** Okay, I lied! This really is my last post for 2013!***

The Art of Daniel McPheeters

Tumblin' Tumbleweeds...

tum·ble·weed                                     

ˈtəmbəlˌwēd/

noun

1. 1.

   a plant of dry regions that breaks off near the ground in late summer and is tumbled about by the wind, thereby dispersing its seeds.

Tumbleweeds have inundated many areas of the Plains this Autumn.

What to do with all those Tumbleweeds?

Add foliage to a winter bare tree

Build a shed

Make a 'Snow' Man

Make two 'Snow' people

Make a Christmas Tree

Add lights for a smaller version of a holiday tree

Add outdoor lights for a 'festive' touch

Or just hang one in the middle of the dining room for that 'country' feel

Montreal Mosaiculture

Click Here to learn more!

There's a Little Witch

Florissant Grange

In September, I attended a class about home remedies using native plants and things found in the kitchen. The instructor was Mari  Marques, a certified herbalist. Mari is also known as The Thymekeeper .  She attended school in Boulder and practiced for many years to obtain the knowledge she has about herbs, oils, tinctures, and native plants. And her mental encyclopedia is quite vast. I am hoping she'll have more classes as time goes by. I would love to soak up some of the knowledge she is so willing to share.

She made cough syrup during the class and kept up a constant dialogue about herbs and their uses while she was cooking the concoction. I could see in my mind's eye how this very scenario may have occurred so many times throughout history - a Wise Woman teaching her pupils the ways of healing.

As I glanced around the room of the old Grange, I saw an assortment of people taking notes and absorbing the knowledge that was being given. And I was reminded of a saying from one my favorite movies (and probably one of yours as well!), 
Practical Magic. 

There's a Little Witch in All of Us.


Cough Syrup
**This is meant for information purposes only**

Hibiscus Flowers  - 1/4cp (vitamin C source)

Anise Seed - 3/10 oz (healing to lungs)

Cramp Bark - 3/10 oz (anti-spasmodic)

Ellacampane - 3/10oz. (anti-spasmodic)

Wild Cherry Bark - 3/10oz (reduces fever)

Grindelia - 1 1/2oz (helps relieve phlegm build-up)

Osha Root tincture - 1 oz (all purpose healing agent, promotes sweating & expectoration, antiviral)

Echinacea tincture - 1/2oz

Honey - same amount as water used to boil bark/root/seed mix

Marshmallow Root Powder - 1 TBLSPN (relieves sore throat, good for mouth ulcers)

Brandy - non-flavored 1/4cp (used for a preservative)

1. Steep Hibiscus flowers & 1/2oz Osha Root tincture in 1 1/2cp boiling water. Let steep while making the rest of the syrup.

2. Place Anise seed, Cramp bark, Ellacampane (root), Wild Cherry Bark, & Grindelia in pan. Cover with 2 cps water. Bring to rolling boil, reduce heat and simmer for approx. 15min - 20 min. Strain through a cofee filter or very fine wire mesh strainer. 

3. Add Osha Root tincture (1/2oz), Echinacea Tincture. Stir well. Whisk in Marshmallow Root powder until dissolved. Measure amount of liquid. Add equal part Honey.

4. Strain Hibiscus flowers through coffee filter or strainer. Add Hibiscus flower water to honey mixture. Stir well.

5. Add brandy. stir.

Store in bottles or jars in refrig. until needed.

La Scala di Santa Maria del Monte

La Scala di Santa Maria del Monte is a 142 step staircase located in the small Sicilian town of Cltagirone. Each rise of the staircase is decorated with a different ceramic pattern.

In the Spring and Summer months, the staircase is decorated with flowers and other potted plants during La Scala Infiorata. 

And the staircase is decorated with luminaries during La Luminaria.

Don't forget to enter my September Give-Away!
Click Here to Enter!