Category: Pop and Thistle

Now Remember Rosemary

Mad Ophelia tells us: “There’s Rosemary, that’s for remembrance”. In Shakespeare’s day it was common knowledge that rosemary helped one remember. Today, as then, herbalists agree: “For weyknesse of ye brayne, sethe rosemaria in wyne and keep ye heed warme”. The leaves of this tough, evergreen shrub, are valued for both medicinal and culinary uses. …

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Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle Those Old Candles

Have you ever wondered what to do with those old candles that you have finished using?  The wick is done, but you still have almost half a candle left. The wax is almost completely demolished with black streaks and beads of hardened drips.  You can’t really keep them and drop a tealight into the center …

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Jamaican Jerk Chicken Tacos

My aim in this recipe is to offer a dish with lots of flavor, and in keeping with jerk chicken spice, to also have a rich flavor blend, and really tender meat.  It does call for a fairly large number of ingredients to achieve an amazing mix of flavors, but once you have the dry …

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Happy Earth Day! Here Are 7 Impactful Environmental Organizations Worth Checking Out

Happy Earth Day! If you’re looking for a reputable charity to donate to this Earth Day, then have a look at these great organizations as options.  We all have causes that speak to our hearts, so hopefully this will help you choose one that you really feel passionate about. All of these have been given high …

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Aerobic Composting: 7 Steps to the Perfect Compost Heap

Earlier I posted about The Town with No Waste for Earth Day awareness, and if you’re interested in moving towards a waste-free life, recycling and composting are key elements. Composting can be daunting, but here are seven simple composting tips to help any beginner get started. When it comes to making a compost heap you can, if …

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Earth Day Inspiration: The Town with No Waste

In 2018 I posted about the town of Kamikatsu, Japan, that had started a plan in 2000 to have zero waste by 2020. At the time, they had achieved 80% of the goal, and today they are very close to the goal, and serve as an excellent example for the rest of the world. Kamikatsu …

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Earth Day Awareness: Plastic

One of the largest concerns on the planet today is plastic waste, especially with poisonous expanding landfills and the growing Pacific Garbage Patch. TED-Ed has an informative lesson on where plastic waste goes, how the patch is formed, points out that there are more patches in the ocean, and tells us why it’s important to …

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Earth Day Awareness: The Great Barrier Reef

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest living structure, yet at alarmingly rapid rates, it is becoming the planet’s largest dying structure due to rising ocean temperatures. The Great Barrier Reef stretches over 134,000 square miles off of the coast of Queensland, Australia, and is home to a vast array of fish species, turtles, …

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Earth Day Awareness: Slowing Climate Change

Earth Day is just around the corner on April 22, so I wanted to take a few days to share awareness videos and discussions. TEDTalks has an educational radio hour called “The Big Five,” where experts talked about five massive crises in today’s world, number one being climate change.  One of the clearest and most …

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Kids’ Craft Project: Building a Volcano

Well, since I did a cheat sheet on volcanoes, and I have talked about them a few times, I thought I would give you a how-to on building a volcano. This is actually a pretty fun activity and many kids can take advantage of this when they need a science project in school. It is fairly …

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