My honey habit

  

Here are 20 interesting facts about the importance of honey and bees:

1. Did you know that honey never spoils? Archaeologists have found pots of honey in ancient Egyptian tombs that are over 3,000 years old and still perfectly edible!

2. Did you know bees are essential for growing many of our foods? They pollinate about one-third of the food we eat, including fruits, vegetables, and nuts.

3. Did you know honey has natural healing properties? It can help soothe sore throats and even speed up the healing of wounds and burns due to its antibacterial qualities.

4. Did you know bees produce a tiny amount of honey in their lifetime? A single worker bee produces only about 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in her entire life, but together they make a lot!

5. Did you know bees communicate through dancing? They perform a "waggle dance" to tell other bees where to find the best flowers.

6. Did you know honey can help your brain? It contains antioxidants that may support brain health and improve memory.

7. Did you know beeswax, made by bees, is used in many everyday products?** It's found in things like candles, lip balm, and even some types of food packaging.

8. Did you know honey can be a natural energy booster? It provides a quick source of energy because it's packed with natural sugars.

9. Did you know there are over 300 types of honey in the United States alone? The flavor, color, and aroma depend on the flowers that bees visit.

10. Did you know that beekeeping helps many communities around the world? It provides income, supports agriculture, and helps improve food security in many regions.

11. Did you know honey can be used as a natural preservative? Because of its antibacterial properties, honey has been used to preserve fruits and other foods for centuries.

12. Did you know that some bees can recognize human faces? Studies have shown that honeybees can remember and recognize human faces, much like they remember different flowers.

13. Did you know honey can improve your sleep? A spoonful of honey before bed can promote relaxation and better sleep by raising insulin slightly and allowing tryptophan to enter the brain.

14. Did you know bees are colorblind to red? Bees can see ultraviolet light, which humans can't, but they can't see the color red. Instead, they see it as black.

15. Did you know honey can help with seasonal allergies? Consuming local honey is believed by some to help build immunity to local pollen and reduce allergy symptoms.

16. Did you know that royal jelly, produced by worker bees, is fed to all bee larvae? However, only those destined to become queens are fed royal jelly throughout their development.

17. Did you know honey has different medicinal uses in various cultures? For example, in Ayurvedic medicine, honey is used to treat digestive issues, and in ancient Egypt, it was used to treat wounds.

18. Did you know bees have a built-in GPS? They use the position of the sun, the earth's magnetic field, and their own memories of landmarks to navigate and find their way back to the hive.

19. Did you know honeybees are the only insects that produce food eaten by humans? They are unique in their production of honey, which has been a staple in human diets for thousands of years.

20. Did you know that honey can vary greatly in taste and texture? The type of flowers the bees pollinate affects the flavor, color, and texture of the honey. Some honey can even be creamy or spicy!

Thank you, precious bees!

Text credit: Earth Unreal

Image credit: Rory Shapland

How do I take my honey each day? A teaspoon at a time in each of two cups of coffee. Nothing else.

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My health continues to improve, slowly in the breathing and stamina of course, but able to go to chair Yoga yesterday. We've had a measurable amount of rain each day (not all day of course) for the last 11 days. I plan to start at the Tailgate Market today, and may well go sit in the car for whenever it is difficult to breathe the muggy air. I did dig out a few new pots to sell. It meant really cleaning the dust off the ones on bottom shelves!

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Today's quote:

Wholeness does not mean perfection. It means embracing brokenness as an integral part of life.

PARKER PALMER SHARING WITH EILEEN'S SATURDAY CRITTERS

Last Saturday's pottery I brought home

 That's the trouble with bringing pots to market. You have to wrap and cart them home again when they don't sell.

Here are a few that were there and now packed in my trunk of my car all week.

A simplified monarch mug

Things still have the red tent reflection sometimes...there is no red on any of these pots!

A great pot pie or soup bowl

 

I brought the Monarch wall pillow home again. I didn't feel that anyone was going to like it as much as I do.  It is wired to hang on a nail or picture hook, and of course is safe outside as well as inside.

Doesn't everyone need a blue bird of happiness?

I was happy to see how many people picked up the calico kitty, but then they put it down. I bet they think small means it should be cheap. But just think, it's wheel thrown, adjusted, trimmed, added ears and eyes, then glazed in 4 different colors all applied by hand. Is $15 out of line?

but then again, it's at a Tailgate Market!

These are the cheapest things on the table...tiny vases for $10...again thrown, trimmed and glazed!

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And for those who are interested in stopping the Heritage Foundation's influence on Project 2025 and the GOP platform for this election, I found this:

 "Did you know that you can directly oppose the Heritage Foundation? As a 501c3 corporation, the Heritage Foundation is not allowed to participate in politics, let alone publish political manifestos. You can download Project 2025 pdf from the website and attach it to IRS Form 13909 and challenge their tax exempt status.

Here's their EIN # 23-7327730

Money is the only weapon. Here is your second American Revolution. Right here. It doesn't take that long to file.

Christopher DiverThe People's Project 

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Today's quote:

I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, "Mother, what was war?" -Eve Merriam, poet and writer (1916-1992)

Some of my pottery and health update

 These are the things I'm trying to sell. At reasonable market prices at the Tailgate Market, each Sat. just for 3 hours, 9-12. (I usually post pottery on my art blog, but feel this is easier for you all to see on this one.)

A pair of brown bowls with leaf designs.

This larger  bowl has chop-stick resting grooves along the top edge.

A fluted serving bowl, with just one color. The sun reflected off our red tent.

A slightly wonky bread bowl. It's large, not perfect, but ideal for rising a double loaf...and not pink.

A white classical shape vase with red trim (no pink, remember the sun on the red tent reflecting down)

The base of the white vase....remember no pink!

Downward Cat mug

El Gordo Gato...fat cat mug...the face

And each side has a leg, with the tail by the handle.

A little sugar bowl with faceted sides

Me holding the lid and showing the inside is green glaze.

Top on the sugar bowl. 

I must mention Cathy's remaining little dishes with flowers and leaves glazed designs, and her little black bears, which bring smiles often to those who have encountered our local wildlife around their trash bins.

These overviews give better color quality. Sold the two little soap dishes at top middle.

And I sold one of the blue and white mugs in center left.

Personal note:

Thanks for all the well-wishes that I received the day before. Yesterday was more of the same conditions of my coughing, until I got to the Dr. office.

Saw Nurse Practitioner yesterday. Had a breathing treatment after she listened to my lungs. She reviewed what my pulmonologist had said last Fri when he started me on Singular, and upped the dose on my Advair inhaler. She said to try going without the Singular. 

It seems to have been an acute episode of bronchiectasis...so she's increasing all the treatments I have (but haven't been doing lately.) So nebulize not only with saline solution twice a day, but Albuterol also. And get back to using the therea-vest, which shakes my lungs to get stuff loose. I'll have to set that up again somewhere where I can sit comfortably for 15 minutes at a time, with lots of rumbling noises. And she started me on an antibiotic for 2 weeks, at which time I am to go see her again. I sure had a good thorough visit, including a student, and a couple of nurse assistants. 

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Today's quote:

There are stars whose radiance is visible on Earth though they have long been extinct. There are people whose brilliance continues to light the world though they are no longer among the living. These lights are particularly bright when the night is dark. They light the way for humankind.

 -Hannah Senesh, poet, playwright, and paratrooper (1921-1944)

Saturday in Black Mountain

Well, I'm over at the Tailgate Market of course, showing my pottery to the folks who just really have thought; "great aunt Gertie might like that and she's always got room for one more little piece of pottery"...or perhaps "that is just the thing I need for my ----!" Thinking positive this week!

I forgot to introduce you to our favorite critter visitor last week, this charming little grasshopper. She had really sticky feet, and when we tried to flick her off my finger, after she quite willingly walking on it from Amelia's arm, she held on for dear life. We finally gently put her in the bouquet of flowers that were displaying a beautiful vase.

Lake Tomahawk Canada Geese

The picnic shelter offered cool shade on Wednesday last week...and there was a great breeze off the water to increase the cooling of our 84 degrees of sunshine.

Better detail of the Canada Geese. They seem happy feeding in the grass, perhaps recently cut so there's lots of goodies. But they also are not-so-politely waiting for the folks picnicking in the shelter, as seen above in silhouette. The white ones often will waddle right into the picnic area looking for scraps.

Lake Tomahawk Dam

As of Wednesday last week, there were sprinklers working on the dam. Some of the grass looks a bit parched.

And for those thinking of fishing, it is allowed in the lake, with usual state licensing provisions, but I think kids can do so without a license.

10-30-1904 Hannah's Reef, Galveston Bay.

My grandfather, George Rogers was probably the smallest man there. And his sister Annie Lou might have been the person on the far left. I never saw my grandfather with hair, so he could perhaps have been the boatman on the far right. That gentleman isn't holding a fishing pole. But this is all conjecture, and I never bet on my own guesses. Don't they have a fine catch!

I prefer Norman Rockwell's version of fishing!

Today's quote:

When we offer nothing but excuses in our lives, we are not being honest with anybody, mostly ourselves.

Sharing with Sepia Saturday this week

and Eileen's Saturday Critters

Poor sales at the Market

 It's really hard being next to a good bakery booth, where there are constant lines of people purchasing the goodies. We had one sale, a beautiful vase made by Cathy, who couldn't be at the market.

Amelia's flowers and her pottery, with the breads of the bakery in the background.

Coming home to see my kitchen window, such a relief.

I had a great difficulty with coughing at the market today...which leaves me pretty wiped out. I'm not sure I can keep doing this every week. Am talking with friends who are part of our little co-op.

Cathy's green vase (it looks yellowish here) with little  leaves painted on the side.  (not the green bottle with the white stripe.)

Note: This post is not a whining complaint. It's a realistic look at how things are, and my thinking that things need to change. What can  I change?

Today's quote:

"No woman should say, 'I am but a woman!' But a woman! What more can you ask to be? Born a woman — born with the average brain of humanity — born with more than the average heart — if you are mortal, what higher destiny could you have? No matter where you are nor what you are, you are a power." Maria Mitchell, astronomer, professor

Tail-waggers at the Tailgate Market

  

I admit to not going to introduce you to many dogs and their families, as they weren't coming over to the pottery booth anyway. This one group didn't seem at all friendly from my position at the back of our tent.

This little one in the sunhat was my favorite market-goer for the last market in June.

I missed my chance to have a shaken paw...

I enjoyed meeting the wirehaired terrier, and his family.

However, they were leaving and Mr. Dog became a very bad dog, peeing on my tubs under the table. Maybe he missed, but I did soak up his deposit with a Kleenex, and said "bad dog" loud enough for the departing owners to turn around to see what he had done. They just echoed "bad dog" and went on their way. When I had to load the un-sold pots into my tubs, I was aware that I might be carrying Mr. Dog's scent along with me. And I sure didn't welcome any more dogs into our pottery area, thinking they might feel obliged to leave their own marks.

Fortunately there's been a rain. I will soap down the tub's handles before unloading them next week. Incidentally, everyone had sales this day, so it was a satisfying Tailgate Market for the Mud Buddies!

Sharing with Eileen's Saturday's Critters

Today's quote:

The preface Walt Whitman wrote to Leaves of Grass, only in the 1885 edition:

"This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul; and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body."