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Bird In Tree By Raintree Annie |
If your loved ones are interested in wildlife or like gardening with wildlife in mind here are some beautiful gifts they will enjoy for a long time.
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Baby Robin By Raintree Annie |
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Bird In Tree By Raintree Annie |
If your loved ones are interested in wildlife or like gardening with wildlife in mind here are some beautiful gifts they will enjoy for a long time.
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Baby Robin By Raintree Annie |
I have recently begun making my own soaps. While making soaps, I've started to purchase fragrance oils and I am already learning which fragrances I prefer. Which fragrance oils I can depend on. Bramble Berry is quickly becoming my favorite fragrance oil supplier.
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Reviewing Bramble Berry fragrance oils |
Bramble Berry Fragrance Oils
I discovered Bramble Berry while looking for video tutorials related to soap-making. They have a channel with many tutorials. I learned that they also offer supplies: molds, fragrances, oils, and more. Initially, I continued ordering supplies from Amazon - based on fragrance rather than brand or supplier.
One shipment from Amazon (from one of "these sellers") arrived and despite seemingly being packaged adequately (including bubble wrap) the oils had leaked making both a mess and triggered a migraine from the over-powering scent.
Other fragrances I've ordered work great in Melt & Pour soap recipes, but end up loosing strength in the cold process soaps I'm learning to make.
So far, the fragrance oils from Bramble Berry have been wrapped so that they don't break or leak during shipping. The lids are taped (or shrink wrapped?) to ensure they do not leak. These fragrances are rich-smelling and as described. The Bramble Berry scents remain through the saponification process (when the lye and oils turn to soap while some of the other scents I've used have weakened to the point of creating a nearly unscented soap.
The Bramble Berry fragrance is immediately one of my favorite oils. I have a cold process wine soap loaf curing now. The apartment smells divine. The Bramble Berry site describes this fragrance as:
"It is a sweet scent of bergamot, blackberry, raspberry, peony, honeysuckle, and violet leaf. Notes of white woods, golden amber, and musk add complexity and depth"
Even if you aren't interested in making soaps, people use fragrance oils for a variety of things: lotions, home and office oil diffusers, cleaning supplies, vaporizers, candles, and more.
Pros:
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Why I Love Grammarly Premium |
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Card designs by Christmas Holidays on Zazzle |
Two years ago, I added gripper clips to my cabinet pantry door for easy access to the spices I use most often. They are truly fabulous and convenient. However, I still had dozens of spices, seasonings, baking extracts, powders, etc. tucked away and often lost in the depths of my pantry.
I've had a carousel tray on the top shelf of my pantry to at least keep the spices all together, but the small containers somehow managed to flip off the carousel and get lost. Or worse, they would keep the carousel from turning and cause an avalanche of spice containers. Of course, that always happened when I was cooking and trying to find something quickly.
My son often heard me complain about my pantry cabinet and spice organization. This past Mother's Day, he surprised me with the Deluxe Spicy Shelf. I was thrilled! I had never seen one before, but the picture on the box looked totally awesome and perfect for my needs. Then, I opened the box! Yikes!!! The number of pieces to assemble my new deluxe spicy shelf intimidated me immediately. I set the gift aside to construct "later". Even I didn't realize "later" meant 5 months later.
Knowing the holidays were fast approaching and I would soon be seeking out those least often used spices, I set aside an afternoon to assemble my much needed organizer shelf. With no small amount of dread, I opened the box once again.
Imagine my utter shock that it took me less than 30 minutes to assemble the shelves, remove the content from my pantry, and set it all back in completely organized, easy to see and so much easier to find a specific item. I was so giddy that is was all accomplished in so little time that I considered putting it all in alphabetical order. I stayed my hand there though because I wanted the things I would need for Thanksgiving toward the front. Extra, unopened spices went to the back, but I can easily see them!
As you can see in the photo below, I even found a great use for my carousel. It has been serving me for so long, I didn't have the heart to toss it.
Because I have a few economy size spice bottles, I set them just in front of my carousel. They are very easy to lift out and grab what I need from behind them. No more tearing the cabinet apart to find one small bottle.
That time of year is coming upon us very quickly now. You know the one holiday that everyone has been gearing up for since the beginning of the month. No, it's not Thanksgiving, although that is just a day away! Rather it's the holiday that features good Ole St. Nick, eight tiny reindeers, singing carols by candlelight and sharing our love for one another! Christmas is just a month away!
This is a gift and application review, to help make Christmas a little brighter for everyone!
The Lost Vintage travels between current day California and France and World War II France, where one family did as best they could to survive the German occupation.
Living on a prestigious wine domaine in the Burgundy region of France, they managed for a while to avoid drawing attention to themselves by keeping their heads down but eventually they were drawn into the war in one way or another.
The mystery that drags the current generation down in the modern day part of the book is whether or not members of the family were Nazi collaborators or members of the resistance. The idea that our ancestors were on the right side of history is an interesting one that cannot be true for all of us.
Because this book is well written, I had no problem switching back and forth between the different time periods. I was a bit less enthusiastic about the inclusion of the occasional French phrase, sometimes translated and sometimes not. I expect the French was included to give a French feeling to the book and translation is not necessary but I did find the practice intrusive.
As the back of the book says, this story contains a mystery, a love story and of course, a history lesson. It is packed with French food, culture and of course, wine. It is well written and it is easy to read. If you enjoy historical fiction, wine and/or reading about France, I believe that you will enjoy The Lost Vintage. You may even find yourself needing to read "just one more chapter", wanting to drink a bit of wine and desiring a trip to France.
Without giving away the secrets of this book, I will mention that it deals with a little discussed part of the story of France. That is, what happened to French women when the country was liberated from the Germans. French women were often treated as traitors and found guilty without a trial by what was really mob justice. No allowances were made for varying situations like the difference between women who slept willingly with German soldiers and those who were raped.
This book comes HIGHLY RECOMMENDED by me. You can buy your copy of The Lost Vintage from Amazon by clicking right here.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas movie reviewed.
Have you ever wondered how it seems everyone in a virtual meeting has THE perfect office as seen from the background of the camera. The perfect bookshelves, the perfectly clean office, the perfectly arranged room which shines from behind on the computer screen.
It is an illusion. An illusion provided by a green chromakey backdrop ala the green screen we are used to seeing in the creation of movies with special effects. The green screen is now available for online meetings and the ZOOM platform does make it very easy to switch in and out your favorite background.
As working at home is the new normal for many or for seasoned virtual workers, the Chromakey Green Backdrop is a great gift or stocking stuffer! This is the gift any virtual employee will appreciate and may not want to buy, but will love receiving.
A gift certificate to iron (see below!) and install the backdrop would be an added bonus!
What is key for this backdrop is your iron! Yes, I am not a fan of ironing. But as noted by many of the over 2,000 reviews the backdrop must be free of wrinkles to work properly. Have you ever been in a ZOOM meeting where one person seems to fade in and out of their background? A wrinkle is probably to blame.
The illusion is slightly ruined when a face starts dropping in and out of the gorgeous window we thought?! was in the office. After the ironing is complete the installation of the Green Backdrop is very easy.
Avoid breezes, fans, air ducts and heat return ducts! Air flow will create the same effect as a wrinkle. Viewers will suddenly find yourself in your actual room instead of the virtual background of your choice when the air conditioning or heat turns on.
My green backdrop is now hung with an inexpensive curtain rod at the top of the wall. If you'd like to try out the backdrop first before investing in a hardware or putting holes in the wall then the backdrop can be adhered to a blank wall with painters tape. Again, the backdrop still needs to be ironed.
The permanent but portable solution is to purchase a backdrop frame on wheels. This looks similar to a rolling luggage rack and allows the backdrop to be easily moved from room to room or from desktop to a laptop in a different room. The backdrop does come with hanging clips for the installment option which works best for your virtual office.
Once your backdrop is ironed and ready to go then the fun can begin with shopping for backgrounds. A multitude of free resources exist to download backgrounds. Travel from the artic to the tropics to the office you wish you had! with the click of a download.
A few favorites to shop for ZOOM backgrounds:
Unsplash Sleek and modern
Pexels Huge variety from all parts of the world!
Good Housekeeping (Hallmark fan alert, there are Hallmark backgrounds!)
and ZOOM
Shop around the web and find the background to make your virtual meeting just a little more interesting!
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Review of 5 Health-Related Gift Ideas |
Especially during Covid times, health-related gifts are something to consider.
Some people may have had enough thinking about Covid and prefer not to be reminded of it via gifts. However, these items are practical beyond this crazy time.
Here's a List of Health-Related Gift Ideas
Product Page Featuring the Items Listed Below Is Here
1. A Pulse Oximeter
We recently bought a pulse oximeter; it's similar to this one. Ours requires two AAA batteries. After watching endless news reports on how tracking your oxygen levels with Covid is wise, I decided we needed to have one on hand. According to medical experts, Covid may cause your oxygen levels to drop quickly, so tracking is important. Fortunately, so far we've avoided the Covid nightmare here (knock-on-wood), but just to be safe, I ordered one.
2. A Blood Pressure Device
Several people in my family have one of these on hand. I decided, yep, time for us to get with the program. I have the blood-pressure monitor app on my phone; however, it's a bit awkward. The Health App is handy when you're on the road, but an actual blood pressure device is nice to have in the home. On the above product page, you'll notice they range in price from lower to higher.
3. Face Masks
One year ago, would we have ever considered face-masks as a gift-thing? The world is slipping off its axis or something. Most of us have masks now, but a lovely gift idea is personalizing it to the user's taste. I would love something that fits my personality and likes. I'm too busy to hunt for them or make them; I need someone else to do it for me, lol.
4. Air Purifiers & Humidifiers
Not just during Covid times, but all year round, an air purifier serves a valuable purpose; it cleans the air. Since most of us resist purchasing what we consider 'extras,' this item makes both a thoughtful and practical gift. Who wouldn't love to get one of these? When you visit the product page (link is above), you'll notice they can be a bit expensive depending on the one you choose. When pooling resources, this makes a quality gift.
If an air purifier is out of the price range, consider a small table-top humidifier. They're especially useful for apartment dwellers. We purchased several a few years ago and gave them out as gifts. They were very much appreciated.
5. Adjustable Thermostats
We have one, as most people do. If a loved one or friend doesn't happen to have an adjustable thermostat, consider it a practical gift. Check out the Google Nest Auto Learning Thermostat as well. Ours is a different brand and not self-learning, but we use it for both heat and air conditioning. I have various times of the day stored at different temperatures. Very handy. Highly recommended.
Build a Personalized Health-Related Gift Basket
Consider making a health gift basket with cold and flu products, a thermometer, masks, healthy juices, boost, bandaids, vitamins, candles, creams, and lotions - throw in a book or two.
Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas <3
P.S. - I'm not a doctor or medical professional - These recommendations are strictly my personal suggestions.
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