It’s been a rainy day in the mountains of Kentucky today. A day filled with a lot of rain, much work, cooking, reading, and a little relaxation. Rainy days provides me with opportunities to catch up on chores that need attention inside, which leaves sunny days wide-open for work and activities outside the house. I must admit, as much as I love working and spending time outdoors, I like an occasional rainy day inside. But, I also enjoy a little time outside on rainy summer days. I enjoy the scent that fills the mountain air after the rain subsides, and the beautiful earth that seems to come alive with sounds, sights, and new life. I made sure to take a little time today to enjoy a walk between the rain-showers to enjoy the beautiful mountains that surrounds our home.

Raindrops the rain leaves behind fascinate me.

Even though summer vacation is in full swing for me…to say it’s been a busy summer, would truly be an understatement. Edition two of Reading and Language Arts is in the final stages of editing, which consists of rigorous deadlines of revisions and editing in a short amount of time. Again, I was thankful for the rain today, because in bright red ink on my calendar was one of those deadlines looming over me and scheduled to be complete today! I’m happy to say that I met that deadline about noon today! I find myself getting anxious as the day of print draws closer and also knowing that the new edition will be ready for me to teach with and for my students to hold in their hands for fall classes! It’s always exciting as well as rewarding to see your words come to life in print! I shouldn’t, but below is a sneak peak of the cover of my latest book!

Our garden also fills many hours of our spring, summer, and fall days. And even though today’s forecast consisted of a lot rain, there was still time between showers to pick a few fresh veggies, and pull a few weeds away from the plants. One of the many things that I have learned about having a healthy garden is that it takes time, time for planting, plowing, hoeing, and nurturing our plants with little tender-loving-care. I enjoy organic gardening, which results in much reading and researching as well as experimenting with new ideas to make our garden as healthy and organic as possible.

I’ve recently begun experimenting with the use of herbal teas in both the vegetable and herb garden. I love drinking a wide-variety of herbal teas and always wondered what I could do with all those used tea bags. After reading and researching, I discovered other gardeners who used the discarded tea bags for feeding their plants and also for pest control in their gardens.

I decided to try making a weak tea from used organic green tea bags. I cooled the tea and poured it in a spray bottle. I’ve been spritzing my herbs and many of my vegetables for weeks now with the tea. I’ve noticed a significant difference in the reduction of pests feeding on the leaves of my veggies and also noticed a rich darker green color on both the herbs and veggies. I’ve also been burying the used tea bags near the base of the plants to help fertilize the roots and also protect them against burrowing pests. The rich antioxidants from the organic tea has truly made a visible difference in the health of our plants.

With that being said, I’m off to salvage the remainder of the evening and be a little creative in the kitchen! I’m anxious to experiment with a new recipe I’ve been working on for clean and vegan energy balls. By the way, cooking is another passion of mine. I love creating new and exciting healthy dishes and meals. I made vegan lavender butter this evening that we enjoyed with our supper. I’m happy to say the first attempt at this tasty addition was a success! Our daughter and her husband both loved it, but unfortunately I neglected to take pictures of the process. I hope to have a new post with the recipe for this delicious sweet treat posted sometime tomorrow. Yes, I remembered to take pictures today!

I look forward to a relaxing with a good cup of coffee this late evening and read the final chapters of the current novel I’m reading! For now, God bless from our little corner of the world in the mountains of Kentucky! Feel free to leave comments. I love hearing from my readers. Also, feel free to follow my blog. Readers are always welcome! Blessings from our home to yours!