Life away from Bella Terra

It has been a busy few weeks away from home with limited internet coverage (how nice!). Since I don’t have a staff to write blog posts for me, I am finally back home and now able to share my adventures.

The only glitch in the trip was the plane had to do an emergency medical landing in Memphis. Unfortunately one of the passengers died after valiant efforts by the crew and volunteers to resuscitate her. We missed our connection but the airline was very accommodating in getting us a later flight. After witnessing a crisis like that, you just count your blessings.

First stop: Connecticut. My sister has a lovely home in Old Saybrook right on the water…..such a treat for me as I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the water.

Here is where I had my morning coffee. Lucky me. There is something about looking at the ocean-I can actually feel my stress melt away.

Each morning included brisk beach walks. I enjoyed the abundance of flowers and lush landscaping.

Here’s my future beach house. Here is my future beach house. Here is my future beach house. If I keep saying it over and over again, won’t it come true?

In Connecticut, I cannot resist the fresh, local seafood. Lobster, lobster and more lobster. Here we are having lunch at the marina at Saybrook Point Inn.

After a glorious trip to the beautiful shores of Connecticut and reconnecting with my siblings, we then flew into Philadelphia for my goddaughter’s wedding weekend.

We arrived in Collegeville (about an hour north of Philly). This town has an incredible public park called the Perkiomen Trail, which has 20 miles of walking, biking and hiking paths. The trail goes along the Schuylkill River and we completed a 4 mile walk on the morning of the wedding.

In spite of the high temperatures and high humidity, we all survived the late afternoon outdoor ceremony. The wedding reception was held indoors (thank goodness for air conditioning) in an old barn.

Back to Phoenix and less than 24 hours later, we were headed up to our mountain cabin for the 4th of July.

This PARADISE metal step, from an amusement park slide, greets us at the front door of the cabin. The weather was perfect with cool mornings and 75 degree temperatures during the day~~a significant change from the sweltering Phoenix heat.

When we were here in May, I discovered a bird’s nest in my geranium basket that hangs by the entrance. It was filled with these gorgeous blue eggs.

Now, the nest is empty with tiny pieces of blue egg shell in the bottom, so the baby birds have hatched and left the nest.

We had a full house for the July 4th holiday. What a joy to have all my children and their friends with us! Our neighborhood has a fun, homespun parade…the Bullfrog Loop parade, which celebrates our patriotism and freedom.

We are now back in Phoenix. Monsoon season is upon us so we are praying for much needed rain in Arizona. My daughter LOVES the rain!

I hope you are having a relaxing and fun summer! In a few weeks, all my children will be going their separate ways so I am cherishing each and every moment. I may not be blogging as much during this time but I will pick up the pace at the end of August.

Sending big summer hugs to all of you!

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A Few of My Favorite Things

When someone shares their favorite product, or book, movie, food, or restaurant, I look forward to trying their recommendation.

Here are five of my favorite items~~you know, the ones that make you feel good inside.

My Happy Cups: Three years ago my Dad passed away here at our home. It took several weeks for me to overcome missing his presence in our house. Each room was a reminder that he wasn’t with us anymore. I didn’t want our home consumed with sorrow as his death coincided with many happy occasions for our family (i.e. my daughter’s graduation). One day I decided it was time to “re-love” our home. As a result, I went and bought new cups for my morning (and afternoon) coffee. I call these my happy cups because, every time I use one, I feel happy. The cups are from Anthropologie.

Candles and Diffusers: My absolute FAVORITE candle is Capri Blue Volcano. They also make a diffuser. Typically the candle is in their signature blue jar, but the silver container (in the photo) was one of their holiday designs. This candle smells SO good and it seems to be the only one that can combat strong kitchen smells like fish and broccoli. It has a crisp and clean scent and though I have tried other candles, this one wins out each and every time. You can purchase this candle online through Amazon or Anthropology.

My favorite decorative candle is anything from Rosy Rings. Their candles are works of art…..the more they burn down the better you see all the botanicals imbedded in the wax. This one is Apricot Rose. I featured their Autumn candle in a previous post. You can purchase these online through the manufacturer or Amazon.

Wooden Spoon Products: Wooden Spoon Herbs is a boutique herbal medicine line base in the Appalachian foothills. The Wildwood Flower moisturizer is kept by the kitchen sink to use on my hands. Made from natural ingredients, it is perfect on my dry skin and smells like a field of wildflowers. I cannot wear it around the dogs and cats because they try to lick it off…..it must taste good too!

I just recently started using their Super Green Protein Powder made from moringa, nettle and oatstraw. This superfood is filled with nutrients and claims to nourish, alkalize, tones and calms the nervous system. All it takes is 1-2 teaspoons per daily.

Small bowls: I can’t say enough about these small bowls. The glass ones were a gift from my friend, Connie (who is the master gift giver). I use them EVERY SINGLE DAY. Made in France by Duralex, they are perfect for recipe preparation, sauces, dips, olives, and more. The two sizes I have (3 1/4″ and 4 3/4″) stack for easy storage. They can be used in the microwave and freezer.

The small white bowls are from West Elm and these get used equally as much. Not only do we use them for food, but also they were an integral part of my Valentine’s Day dinner party centerpiece, where I filled them with flowers to create a high/low centerpiece.

Vital Proteins: I have been using this product for 2 years and the benefits for me are: improved nails, hair and joint health. As we age, we stop producing collagen. This dietary supplement has 18 grams of protein in two scoops, which I add to warm lemon water or coffee in the morning. I believe it dissolves better in hot vs. cold liquid. Made from grass fed and pasture raised bovine, it has 20 grams of collagen per serving. The 20 oz. container has 28 servings. My joints have literally stopped popping and clicking. You can order it through Vital Proteins or Amazon.

Do you have a favorite product? Wouldn’t it be fun to put together a list of Favorite Things? Please send me your Fav 5 and hopefully I can generate a list to share~~especially before the holidays.

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Prom

Do you remember your first prom or formal? When I was a sophomore in high school, I was invited by the kicker on the football team to attend his Junior Prom. My mother made my gown out of satin fabric with lilac flowers. My date was just that, a date, not a boyfriend, but I remember it vividly. That tuxedo! My flowers! Those curtains! Too funny.

We recently hosted a prom event at our home for our youngest daughter, who is a junior in high school. Naturally it was on a Saturday evening, so Elisabeth and I got started early that morning to try and beat the heat.

We are so fortunate to have a rental company only a few miles away. Party People delivered the tables, chairs, linens and dishes.

The flowers were purchased at Trader Joes. With relatively narrow tables, we made simple arrangements in glass jars.

The itinerary for the day included appointments for Elisabeth and her best friend, Ella to get their hair and makeup professionally done at Salon Estique.

Festivities began around 5:30 p.m. We also invited parents to come for cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and picture-taking. Even though we had a professional photographer, so many of these candid shots came from other parents.

It was so delightful to see all the prom attendees dressed up in gowns, suits and tuxedos. Here is Elisabeth walking in her very, very high heels (which stayed on her feet for about 15 minutes!).

Good, solid friendships are invaluable in high school. This group of 8 girls and 12 boys were happy to be going together~~some were couples, and some not.

Once again, Julie Greder and her team did an amazing job catering the cocktail hour and the sit-down dinner. She makes entertaining SO easy. The minute she walks in the door, I breathe a sigh of relief. With my husband out of town and my dear friend, Connie lending her capable helping hands, the event went without a hitch.

Even the weather cooperated and by the time dinner was ready to be served, the temperature in the orchard was perfect.

After dinner, a bus transported them to the prom event which was held at the Scottsdale Center for Performing Arts…. a relief to me that no one was driving that night. Later that evening, everyone returned for a post-prom party.

Many of the parents brought snacks for the after party and breakfast items for the next day. It was definitely a magical evening for me, so I can only hope that all the children and their parents enjoyed it as well.

We are a few days away from getting the professional photos but I couldn’t wait to share this with you.

Hopefully this post will make you reminisce about the proms or formals you attended!!

P.S. Did you know that the word prom is a shortened version of promenade?

Update on my Painting Journey

As you know, I took up painting for the first time in my life 2 years ago. Mind you, I am a newbie at art. I started taking acrylic classes when my daughter went off to college. There are days when I put a lot of paint on a canvas and it is disastrous. Other days I paint, step back and think, it’s okay. Rarely do I love it.

My art teacher and dear friend, Joann Augur just wrapped up a 4 week session on using different application techniques. One class we took very watery acrylic paint and a paper towel and dabbed color all over the canvas. Then we painted in a vase and added flower details. It was such a fun class! I loved the randomness of it because I had no idea where the paints would take me. Using the same technique with different colors, I produced two totally different images.

It is so helpful to take photos of the paintings….with the one below I need to work on the vase. I didn’t notice the distortion until I posted this picture.

For our 2016 Christmas card, I painted this snow scene. I donated the original for a charitable event. My husband was disappointed that I had given it away, so I painted another one (a larger version) just for him.

This colorful landscape STILL NEEDS WORK~the mountains are wrong (no life, flat). It is a rather large painting and IF I can get it just right, I will frame and hang it.

My friend Janie, who is an accomplished artist recently convinced me to sign up for a few oil painting classes at Scottsdale Artists School. Painting with oils is completely different. Acrylic paints dry very quickly and are water soluble. Oils take days to dry. It sounded so intimidating. But nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

The first oil class I took focused on painting blue and white vases. The teacher, Nancy Chaboun, is extremely talented. She creates live settings for you to paint.

Dah-DA…..my very first oil painting!

My second class (which is the first in a series of 3) is focused on painting still life. Here is the setting Nancy created.

Below is my painting. I took some creative license with it. Painting flowers is hard work. The few times I have painted roses then end up looking like peonies.

Yesterday, was the second still life class. We learned about painting glass and metal…silver, bronze, brass. Our setting included rich tones, a brass pot and colorful sunflowers and oranges.

And here is my painting. I am not sure if I am done with it yet….

I feel much more comfortable with acrylic, but I am learning (slowly) the nuances of oil paints. The good news is I am L.E.A.R.N.I.N.G and meeting some incredibly talented people along the way.

I hope you enjoyed my show & tell…..Practice makes perfect so I am wishing for a summer filled with paints and canvases!

Are you learning something new?

Happy Friday!

Growing Chamomile

When I was planting my garden years ago, my sweet daughter opened up a whole packet of chamomile seeds and scattered them far and wide, while squealing, “Wheeeeeeeeee”. For those of you that know me, I am a geometric person, who likes things planted in rows, straight rows I had no idea where the seeds landed and after I got over the initial shock to my organized inner self, I delighted in the fact she was so carefree in her seed distribution.

As a result, this delicate flower from the daisy family is growing in numerous places, year after year.

Traditionally, chamomile has been used for centuries as an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, mild astringent and healing medicine. According to U.S. National Library of Medicine, chamomile is one of the most ancient medicinal herbs known to mankind.

It is a member of Asteraceae/Compositae family and represented by two common varieties ~~ German Chamomile (Chamomilla recutita) and Roman Chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile).

The dried flowers of chamomile contain many terpenoids and flavonoids contributing to its medicinal properties. Chamomile preparations are commonly used for many human ailments such as hay fever, inflammation, muscle spasms, menstrual disorders, insomnia, ulcers, wounds, gastrointestinal disorders, rheumatic pain, and hemorrhoids. Chamomile is often used to treat mild skin irritations, including sunburn, rashes, sores and even eye inflammations. Who knew? For more information on the benefits and uses of chamomile, click here.

The chamomile garden patch is one of Sox’s (our beagle) favorite spot. He smells SO good after romping around in the flower bed.

I decided to try making a tea this year using the fresh flowers vs. drying them. Unlike many other herbs, you want to collect the blossoms only, not the leaves, stems or roots. The best time to harvest is mid-morning, after the dew has evaporated but before the mid-day sun. Just pinch off the blossoms and shake off any dirt or insects.

As with most herbs, more quantity is needed when using fresh vs. dried. I used 3-4 tablespoons of flowers.

If you do not have a tea pot with a strainer, you can use cheesecloth to bundle the herbs. You can also just strain the tea from the blossoms after you are finished steeping.

Add hot water and steep for 5 minutes. Fresh chamomile tea has a clean, fruity, apple undertone which is different from dried chamomile. The Greek derivative of chamomile means “earth apple”. Makes sense.

I did add one mint leaf….which seemed to enhance the chamomile flavor, not overwhelm it.

I rarely add sweetener to my tea, and this one, in my opinion, doesn’t need anything!

After reading about all the benefits of this simple tea, I plan to drink it on a more consistent basis.

Perhaps I will experiment with adding lavender…..and concoct the perfect sleepy time tea!

Chamomile is extremely easy to grow. Roman chamomile is a perennial, growing from the same root year after year. German chamomile is an annual, but don’t expect it to grow in the garden for just one year! It self-sows freely and you can bet if you plant it one time, it will spring up in the garden from then on.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hollyhocks and a Gift for You

We have an ABUNDANCE of hollyhocks growing in our yard. This is the closest thing to Jack and the Beanstalk~~as this small seed grows into a plant that is 10-12 feet tall. All the garden books suggest they grow to 8 feet, however, ours are so much taller. I’m 5’4″ and you can see this plant is double my height.

Hollyhocks, Alcea, is a genus of about 60 species of biennials and short-lived perennials. They grow in moderately fertile, well-drained soil in full sun. It is recommended that you grow as an annual or biennials to limit the spread of hollyhock rust.

They come in a variety of colors. I believe this chocolate-maroon one with a yellow throat is called “Nigra”.

We have hollyhocks with single flowers in pink, fuschia, white and a carmine color.

Depending on your growing zone, they can be propagated in the spring or mid-summer. We seem to have them blooming at all different times of the year in our yard. They tend to take over an area, especially if they are allowed to self-seed. You can see their growth in front of the well tower window.

“Chater’s Double” bears double flowers in a range of bright colors and paler shades, including pink, apricot, red, white, lavendar-blue, yellow and purple. Notice how they look like a cross between a carnation and peony.

When the flower dies, then the seed pod becomes available.

Last year, we collected the seeds in a big plastic bag. However, we failed to separate them according to color or blossom-type. This year, I am trying to divide the seeds according to varietal/color.

Since we have an abundance of seeds, I would love to share them with you. Please check your Plant Zone to see if you can grow hollyhocks. If so, and if you would like some free seeds, please email me at marycrz@cox.net. Include your name and mailing address. Also, please be assured that I will not share any of your personal information.

I would love to see your hollyhocks in full bloom so please share any future photos with me! Happy growing!

Hollyhock information source: The American Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants by Christopher Brickell & H.Marc Cathey