Gardening: A Week In Review

It has been a mostly warm and cloudy week of gardening here in southeast Texas. While I was in no mood to sip warm tea, cook warm soups, or bake hot casseroles, I did bake some incredibly delicious and crispy homemade kale chips! I also spent time (1) updating some of the gardening sections on the website and (2) working on the indoor container gardening.

The Website

The gardening page got a mini makeover earlier this week. The updates made the page more user-friendly and entertaining. Then, a brand-new container gardening for beginner’s page was added! You can have a look at both of them.

Indoor Container Gardening

The indoor container gardening is mostly fresh herbs that are used to cook with and garnish food with. So, I am happy with the culinary herbs I have growing thus far. But now, if possible, it’s time to harvest some vegetables! The bok choy that is growing from seed is looking promising. And one of the giant noble spinach leaf seedlings that is growing from seed has some potential.

Bok Choy (Day 24)

Boy Choy (Day 24)

Last night…

• The spinach was transplanted into clay pots to give them room to grow and room to breathe. The roots on spinach are very delicate! Therefore, this is not recommended. However, I had nothing to lose because they were not thriving very well all in the original container.
• Then, the second set of bok choy seedling were centered and topped off with more soil.
• And lastly, the rosemary seedling was also centered in its container and topped off with more soil.

This morning…updated photos were taken and added for:

• How to Grow Parsley From Seed
• How to Grow Cilantro From Seed
• How to Grow Bok Choy From Seed
• How to Grow Spinach From Seed
• How to Grow Rosemary from Seed

Conclusion

The DIY face scrub for dry skin and DIY face wash for mature skin were added this week as well. Then, another DIY oil pulling recipe with cinnamon was added as well. That is all for now! I hope you find something to do! Have a great weekend…

It’s Still Fall Ya’ll!

In Texas, we are having what I like to call – flip flop sweater weather. It gets cold enough to have the heater on, but then the heat warms you up rather quickly. So, I am still wearing flip flops, shorts, and capris with a sweater or a jacket to balance things out.

Last week was colder as we started some days with a low in the 40’s (degrees Fahrenheit). Between the cold sleep inducing air and the time change, my melatonin levels were whack. For the first few days, I had doubled my coffee intake and was still feeling as if it were bedtime as it was getting dark around 4 o’clock. Crazy!

This week, it was noticeably warmer. The heater has been off for the past two days and the fan is on just to stay cool. The weather and the time change have both made the indoor fall gardening and the start of the indoor winter gardening efforts quite interesting.

With the weather dipping into the 40’s, the warm weather basil had to be resuscitated in a warmer room. However, the oregano continued doing well even with the drop in temperature. Meanwhile, parsley from seed, spinach from seed, and bok choy from seed were successfully started. They all have seedlings emerging. The latest photos have been updated if you would like to see their current progress.

With the start of the cooler weather, it is always nice to have a fragrant wax melt burning to contribute to the warmth of the room. So, this year I made my own DIY wax melts. They are incredibly fragrant and easy to make…and even easier to color! : )

Once the cool air arrives, you get the dry chapped lips and dry skin arriving shortly thereafter. So, a new lip balm recipe without beeswax was created. It’s incredibly easy to make and has a unique flavor that I am loving thus far. Most of my lip balm recipes are with beeswax, so making one without beeswax turned out to be a pleasant surprise. This week, I started using the DIY face wash for dry skin. It is a really elegant professional smelling face wash!

A new fall bread recipe that I can share with you is a small loaf of keto cranberry orange bread. Like the lip balm, it too has a wonderfully unique fall taste and smell.

That is all for now. You can peruse the new DIY face care page for more face wash, face toners, face scrubs, and face serum recipes. Or, if you want to get your hands dirty in the garden this weekend, you can visit gardening or gardening for beginners for some more ideas.

Early Start

Awake an hour before my alarm. The coffee has been guzzled. But still waking up. It may help if I actually turn on the room lights. Still enjoying the warm heat from the heater. Endeavoring to get an early start, but do not want to move.

Saturday

The “things to do” list from this past Saturday was a win in my book! I worked so hard this weekend that by Sunday night it felt like I had been to the gym for a full body workout. Definitely no complaints – multitasking at its best!

• Laundry – I washed, dried, and put away three loads of laundry with a new semi-homemade laundry detergent that worked out really well. Loved the unique scent!
• Winter Clothes – The winter clothes were located, but not unpacked. That room had already been through a mini catastrophe. So, cleaning and organizing was needed before making a new mini catastrophe to deal with…more laundry and finding a place for bulky sweaters.
• Gardening – The research for nutrients required for plant growth was completed. Created a little macronutrient and micronutrient fertilizer to fertilize the tomato plants yesterday. And finally got the DIY tomato cage around the tomato plants this past weekend. The tomatoes were an experiment that went far better than expected. So, now I am having to figure out what to do with tomato plants in winter. Got the list of what to plant in fall garden ready to use. Planted the radish seeds and spinach seeds this weekend. Planted the broccoli seeds weeks ago, so they are well on their way. Should have at least a few broccoli soon.
• Skin & Hair – The latest DIY lotion bar added is a palm-sized vanilla lotion bar recipe shaped like a snowflake! Very cute. Tackled the hair successfully with the DIY rosemary soap. It is made for the skin, but it worked out very well as a shampoo bar for the hair too! Very pleased with the results. Never did get to the DIY facial.
• Homepage – Did a mini update on the homepage to add a gardening section, but still more work to be done.

I have work to get done today, so I better take advantage of the early start. What do you have planned for the day?

Things To Do

I woke up this morning to the cool crisp air of fall and a really strong cup of coffee. It was too strong for my taste. But, as I sat in the dark endeavoring to wake up with this overly strong cup of coffee, my mind began to fill with all the things that need to be done.

The floors need to be swept and the laundry needs to be done. Winter clothes need to be unpacked, cleaned, and organized. With rooms that need to be cleaned and freshened. Thus far, I have the first load of laundry in the dryer warming the house, but the floors still need to be swept and the rooms still need to be cleaned.

Then, there are some indoor tomato plants to cage and radishes to plant. And more plant nutrients required for plant growth to continue researching and writing. There is some very interesting behind the scenes research going on here.

There are several new plant photos that have been taken. So, there is a need to share and write about them for the new gardening page. Broccoli, tomatoes, onions, garlic, mushrooms, celery and more. The indoor oregano from cuttings and indoor basil from cuttings are still doing really well. And, growing green onions indoors in water is still working out quite well. But so far, I have not had much success with keeping the green onions growing indoors in soil very well.

With the sudden arrival of the pleasantly cold air, a facial of some sort is definitely needed and a hair moisturizing treatment required. The hair alone will take at least a few hours to complete. Then, there are more fall scented DIY soap bars to make and moisturizing DIY lotion bars to share.

Although likely not all happening today, there are a couple of new exciting DIY pages to add. It may take a while to get that done, so I will see how the day or week goes before saying anything specific. Well, now that I have my to do list, time to start getting things done.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading! Please take time to like, share, and subscribe. I hope you are having a great start to your weekend!

DIY Movie Snacks

I decided to share some DIY movie snacks to go along with my one and only movie review. For some of us, some sweet or salty DIY movie snacks are just as exciting as having a fun family movie night on the theater screen. After eating the DIY movie snacks, I am just about done with the movie. But, that is not the case for everyone. So, here you will find a really nice combination of DIY movie snacks that you can make for your next family movie night!

Screen Projector for Home

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Fruits/Vegetables

As a health enthusiast, I have to at least mention fruits and vegetables as one of your ideas for DIY movie snacks. You can eat fresh fruits that are easy to snack on like grapes or cherries. Another option is to eat a small serving of unsweetened dried fruits like cranberries, blueberries, or cherries with mixed nuts. Or you can serve and eat drinkable fruit cups for movie night. Cucumbers, pickles, carrot sticks, and celeries sticks are some more really healthy DIY movie snacks that are easy to make or find.

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Popcorn

Popcorn is likely one of the most obvious DIY movie snacks! Just the smell of popcorn makes one feel like they want to watch a good movie. Well, you can keep this ideas as simple as possible with a bag of microwaved popcorn. Or, you can be a little more creative by making bags of fresh popcorn with popcorn seeds, popcorn oil, gourmet popcorn seasonings, and cute popcorn bags. This may require a little more effort, but the popcorn can turn out to be really delicious DIY movie snacks. Some that you may eat before the movie starts! You can also be really creative when you choose popcorn as one of your DIY movie snacks by adding a semi-homemade sweet mixtures to the popcorn like caramel syrup and peanuts or popcorn and candy coated peanuts. And, if you are a diabetic, or just happen to be cheating a little on your keto or low carb diet, you can use a mini microwave popcorn bag with the sugar free caramel syrup or sugar free candy coated peanuts.

Gourmet Popcorn Seasoning Variety Pack

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Trail Mix

Trail mix is another one of the DIY movie snacks that you can quickly and easily make! The cool part about trail mix is that you can make them as healthy or as unhealthy as you want and they still taste really good! You can make them no sodium, low sodium, or the normal amount of sodium. Then too, you can make these DIY movie snacks sugar free as well. You can find and make several different keto trail mix recipes. If you are not on a sugar free or low carb diet, just add regular chocolates and regular dried fruits as needed/wanted.

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Theater Box Candy

While this DIY movie snacks idea is not a complete DIY, these theater boxes of candy (at the time of this post) are pretty easy on the budget for a large family when you order a small bulk. Even the food you purchase to make your DIY movie snacks will cost a bit. So, being able to eat a box of theater candy is a good way to really have an authentic movie theater experience for movie nights!

Theater Box Candy – Mini Bulk

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Gummy Bears

These super easy DIY gummy bear recipes are another really nice DIY movie snacks idea. They can be a great alternative to buying theater box candy because they can be made with sugar free ingredients. So, if you are a diabetic or on a keto diet or low carb diet, these keto DIY gummy bear recipes are for you. And, if you want your gummy bears with regular sugar added, simply use ingredients with regular sugar in them.

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Popsicles

And last, but not least, if you are taking your home theater outside on the “big screen” during the warmer summer months, DIY popsicles are another one of the healthy and fun DIY movie snacks. The popsicles are sugar free, but can be made with regular sugar for the entire family to enjoy. You are welcome to read the story behind the “big screen” if interested.

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Screen Projector for Home

Conclusion

That is all I have for now. If you made it down the page, thanks for reading! Please be sure to like, share, and subscribe. Be sure to check back soon to see if there are more ideas for your DIY movie snacks!

Anne Frank’s Diary (Animated Film)

One of the first movies I watched with my “DIY” Smartphone Projector was an animated film of Anne Frank’s Diary. This movie was in harmony with my recent personal development project of enduring trials. So, the movies theme and tone is also highly consistent with some of my book reviews that deal with enduring trials.

As an animate film, it is well-suited for a young audiences. However, this animated film of Anne Frank’s Diary is also well-suited for young adults as well as old adults. Everyone may be pleasantly surprised as how this true story is captured in an animated film. With that said, however, you can also choose choose from a variety of non-animated Anne Frank’s Diary movies. You can watch some of these Anne Frank’s movies for free with a free Prime Video trial.

After telling a few friends about this animated film, I learned that some people read Anne Frank’s Diary in school or perhaps watched one of her movies in school. Well, I must have somehow slipped through the cracks – I had never seen any of the movies or read any of the books. Therefore, this free animated movie of Anne Frank’s Diary was very insightful and timely for my personal development project.

Anne Frank’s Diary is the true story of a young Jewish girl that lived in Amsterdam, Holland during the early 1940s. It is a sobering diary of things that she and her family had to deal with during that period of time. However, Anne dealt with her trials and difficulties with great optimism and hope for a better future.

I give this animated film five stars. So, I hope you can appreciate watching it on the big screen too.

ANNE FRANK’S DIARY – An animated feature film

Conclusion

I hope you can appreciate the animated film of Anne Frank’s Diary. If you have questions or comments, please share them below. Or additional movie recommendations please let me know.

DIY Smartphone Projector For Movies

I must start by telling you that this movie DIY smartphone projector project did not turn out as expected. But, it gave me a lot of great laughs along the way. So, I hope you tag along for the story. People that truly know me, know that I am typically always up to learning something new. Well, making this DIY movie smartphone projector was something that I was up to a little while ago.

For some reason I have always wanted a movie projector. So, with the pandemic situation, I decided to make my own projector! I started by watching this young intelligent kid on YouTube and promptly made a list of thing to purchase for my DIY smartphone projector.

Supplies

• Magnifying Glass
• Black Masking Tape
• Black Paint
• Box Cutter
• Small Cardboard Box
• Styrofoam Wedge (Optional)
• Glue Gun
• Mirror

Before starting, I did some more research and came across another exciting DIY smartphone projector by this guy. I was completely pumped and ready to go with this design.

Day 1

The next day, I jumped in the car only to discover a small box with a perfectly sized round hole already in the box! It was the perfect shape for the upright DIY smartphone projector idea I discovered in the second video. What a score, right?! I was all too excited to start my own DIY smartphone projector project. In fact, I made a special trip to the store to get the supplies that I needed. That night, I started painting what would be the inside of the DIY smartphone projector box black.

Day 2

The following day I painted the rest of the inside of the box black and cut the rectangular piece of Styrofoam into a 45 degree wedge for my mirror to rest on. I did manage to get the glue off of the mirror without breaking it or cutting myself. However, I never could get the lens out of the magnifying glass, so I just taped the whole thing in the box.

Day 3

I taped and glued the final DIY projector screen and tested it out that night. After several minutes of troubleshooting and trying to make it work, I gave up and decided to just read a book instead of watching a movie.

Day 4

The next day, I went back into research mode and came across this DIY smartphone projector YouTube video.

I could totally relate to her sentiments at the end…especially with the magnifying glass being completely snatched out of the box. So, I started looking into more smartphone projector options.

Day 5

After watching several more videos, I discovered that you CAN make your own DIY Projector with the correct angles, distance, and geometry. I still did not get the exact angles and measurements needed for the DIY smartphone projector to come out right. So, I decided to just buy an inexpensive projector that actually works really well!

I am totally liking and using this little projector! I use it with my laptop with a cord that come with the projector. However, you can also connect it to your smartphone with an adapter that is sold separately. This is an HDMI adapter for iPhones. And this is a type C adapter for Android phones.

That is all for now – I hope to share more soon. Please like, follow, and share my post for a DIY smartphone projector.