Monday Mani - Tealery

Two cheapie brands and my own blue duochrome that is half of both Horsehead Nebula and Eagle Nebula. And can I just say? I love love LOVE this Fresh Paint flaky topcoat. I've been using it over every color I have and it looks fab on all of them.

Top Ten Tuesday - Ideas that would make the world better if we implemented them

1. Teachers are super-important to the future not only of our children, but to the world the children will build
2. We aren't the bosses of everything; it's our responsibility to make sure we don't use everything up now, and that we make it easier to live lightly on the world in the future
3. Communities support communities, and it's up to the community to build the community it wants to be
4. Kids really can do stuff for themselves sometimes
5. We aren't the police of the entire world just because we have more guns; that's not really all that great a way to judge actual progress and usefulness
6. Smart is better than conformist or strong in this modern world; focus on making people smarter
7. Public transportation. Across the board.
8. Urban gardening can feed almost everyone it's needed to feed in a city
9. Buying local and supporting local business could totally change the economy and make the collapses we're weathering much less likely to happen again
10. Everyone in the world needs to travel to see how other people live at least once in their lives

What ideas do you think could change the world?

Tuesday Tea - Pumpkin Spice Brûlée

http://www.teavana.com/the-teas/oolong-teas/p/pumpkin-spice-brulee-oolong-tea

I usually don't buy Teavana tea just because it's so very, very expensive, but we stopped by to look at the pretty tea tins and they had it brewed and waiting for me. It smells buttery and tastes like a mildly sweet and mellow pumpkin spice--not all cloves and cinnamon, thank god! It's also made with oolong tea, which is my fav of the teas!

And it's perfect for fall.

Gardenation - November Planting Reminders!

This month, according to various emails and websites (linked below), we can plant:

• Angelica 
• Asparagus 
• Beans - broad beans, fava beans 
• Beet
• Broccoli
• Brussels Sprouts
• Cabbage
• Cardoon 
• Carrot
• Celery
• Corn Salad (also Lamb's lettuce or Mache) 
• Cauliflower
• Collard
• Endive
• Garlic
• Jerusalem Artichokes (also Sunchoke)
• Kale
• Kohlrabi
• Lettuce
• Mustard
• Onion 
• Pak Choy 
• Peas
• Potato starts
• Radicchio
• Radish
• Rhubarb
• Salsify (also Vegetable oyster)
• Shallots (also Eschalots)
• Spinach
• Spring onions (also Scallions, Bunching onions, Welsh onion) 
• Swedes (also Rutabagas) 
• Swiss Chard
• Turnip

All of them outside, since I guess they're the sturdy things that can overwinter without dying or get better with a little cold. 

Inside plantings:

• Papaya seeds, for new plants; older plants in for the winter
• New herbs

Harvest:

• Sweet potatoes and remaining regular potatoes
• Citrus
• Remaining tropical fruit that wasn't harvested before
• Camelia flowers will be opening up this month and into next; get some for vases and displays inside

Garden Tasks:

• Prune berries if they've finished fruitingm and roses
• Start early varieties of spring veggies if you have a greenhouse
• Rake up leaves and dispose or compost (do this a lot)
• Dig up non-wintering bulbs; plant out spring-flowering bulbs
• Cut back and clean out the dead summer plants
• Remulch trees and beds
• Switch birdfeeders to the fattier winter blends
• Preserve / Dry remaining herbs for the winter, or bring the potted plants of the tenderer ones indoors
• Plant out any trees and shrubs you're putting in
• Plant out most herbs that are grown and sturdy, or put up new ones inside to wait for spring
• Water regularly, but not too much; plants are going into hybernation and don't need as much water
• Prepare for freeze protection
• Put away the tomato cages and summer trellises
• Fertilize once
• Take cuttings of plants and trees you want to root for the spring
• Check acid-balance of garden soil and adjust as needed
• Sow cover crops if you have big fields to do so
• Make sure potted plants have space underneath so they don't get waterlogged
• Divide perennials, houseplants and hanging bakets
• Check that houseplants get enough light and moisture during the winter

DISCLAIMER

Not all plants will work in all areas; this is a guide.

Sources:

• GardenGate.com email
• http://www.the-gardeners-calendar.co.uk/news/story.asp?nid=3636
• http://www.walterreeves.com/seasonal-gardening-calendar/november/
• http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2013-10-27/features/os-tom-maccubbin-gardening-chores-1026-20131027_1_vegetable-fruit-gardening-older-herb-plantings-vegetable-and-fruit-plantings
• http://easttexasgardening.tamu.edu/homegardens/monthly/nov.html
• http://gardening.about.com/od/fallinthegarden/a/NovGarden.htm
• http://www.farmersalmanac.com/calendar/gardening/

Font Friday - Hey

Like the previous Hey2, but with more brush-stroke-like lines. I think it's very pretty.

You can get it here, at 2tff.

Top Ten Tuesday - Things that make life better

1. Repainting your nails any color you want
2. New haircuts that you love
3. Collectibles
4. Vacations--even really short ones
5. Cats who like you
6. Tea, all of it
7. Chocolate, all of it
8. Sleeping in because you don't need to be up yet
9. Babies laughing
10. Finding the exact thing you need to bring the room together

Top Ten Tuesdays - Places I want to visit

1. Ireland
2. Slovenia
3. All the places I used to live
4. Macchu Picchu
5. Sweden
6. The Redwood Forest
7. Stonehenge
8. The Moon
9. Tuscany
10. Skara Brae

What about you guys? Where do you most want to visit?

Seven things that are annoying me right now:

1. My computer somehow got 113 bugs on it and almost wouldn't run enough to clean them out--and I'm not sure where the gap in coverage is.
2. I didn't even see that the Maybeline ad for the Hunger Games inspired make up totally did what the Capital does--divide and distract--and now I'm wondering what else I've missed lately.
3. My bedroom is dark and I don't have a spare lightbulb for my lamp.
4. Being poor.
5. Wanting cake.
6. This pervasive feeling I'm having right now that I don't have enough time to do things--and the certitude that this is a lie my brain is telling itself.
7. That smudge right in the middle of my glasses that I just can't seem to wipe off.

Gluten Free Me - What I've been eating

Somewhere on one of the GF blogs, I read the best advice ever: the easiest way to be gluten free is to eat stuff that naturally doesn't have gluten. So that's what I've been doing, mostly. Recently, we've had:

- Potroast and mashed potatoes

- Pork and sweet potatoes with applesauce

- Roast chicken with baked potato and cheddar-broccoli topping

And when something normally has a wheat-based starch, like tonight's hotdogs and beans, I usually just skip the bread. Last night, when we had barbecue beef sandwiches, I had mine over rice.

Lunches are more in my control than dinners, which everyone shares. I eat a lot of soups at lunchtime; it's fairly easy to find GF soup, and ones I make myself are guaranteed to be GF. Plus, home made soup makes use of bones and veggies we have lying around and freezes real well for later.

One of my fav lunches is at the top of this post: toasted corn tortillas with tuna and veggies. I use mostly the pre-flavored tuna, and I find that I don't need to add sauce or mayo or anything because it already tastes good. Then I top it with whatever veggies we have around and nom away! Less that 300 cals, naturally GF and delicious!

I do eat a lot of the standard GF pancakes, and I'm starting to get tired of them; I think I'll try the Bob's Red Mill pancake mix soon. And I do miss cupcakes, muffins and cookies, so I think I'll also try Bob's GF all-purpose flour soon; I found out yesterday that WalMart has it for almost $2 cheaper than Target, where we usually shop.

Day 27 and I'm doing pretty well!

Font Friday - Versa

Mine. I made it. With my own hands and my own iPad.

You can get it here, at 2tff.

Do any of you make fonts? Share them!