Clay

Have you ever taken a pottery class? Playing with clay is something I have always liked to do. When I was small, I used to make things out of play dough and let it sit in the sun to dry. Where I lived we had lots of clay in our dirt. All we had to do was dig about 2 ft into the soil and find nice green or red clay. My friends and I would dig it up and make little bowls and cups for fun.

I dabbled a little in pottery at school but never came home with a project that I remember. I have a couple cute things my daughter made with clay when she was in school. She made a turtle that sits by our fireplace. One of her teachers actually asked to purchase it from her. This momma said “no”. 

I have been wanting to go to a pottery class. I love clay pots and ceramics. However, I prefer the more rustic imperfect looks. If I knew how to work with pottery, I would want to make something like this…..

BUD VASE family

I love these little bud vases. They are so cute and unique and everyone of them is different. I would love to purchase one of these but I need to save for other things right now.

I am learning to appreciate bees and would love to make these……

 BEE CUPS.

I love these little Bee cups. They are meant to be placed in your garden. They catch rain water and the bees and butterflies will come in for a sip. 

These are so adorable. You can have one or you can have a cluster. They also brighten up your garden and attract other small creatures. 

I am currently looking around my area to see if there are any classes available. There is also different types of clay that can be purchased a local craft stores. I notice a lot of people I know play around with polymer clay and make earrings. I will have to read up on this a little bit and see what I can get my hands into. 

Pineapple Tea

If you use fresh pineapple, stop throwing the skin away. Lately I have been buying fresh whole pineapples and cutting them up instead of buying can pineapple. It taste a lot better and it’s cheaper too. I just learned today that there are a lot benefits in the skin of the pineapple just like with other fruits. 

When your finished cutting up the goodie of your pineapple, gather the skins and boil them for about 15 minutes then let them simmer for an hour. 

After an hour, you strain the water and you have a nice clean pineapple tea. 

Pineapple peels have an abudance of health benifits including anti inflamatory properites. Anti- flamitory is the major benifit in boiled pineapple skins. 

They say you can lose weight by drinking pineapple tea daily as it is high in fat eating bromelain. 

The skin has 38 % more vitamin C and 40 times more calcium then the flesh. 

It improves digestion, improves  arthritis, and cleans the blood. 

How does it taste? 

It is not as sweet as the pineapple flesh. It has a vinegary/sour taste. I like it. It was like drinking a warm pineapple cider. I will continue to do this every time I cut up a pineapple. It was soothing to sit back with a hot tea to end the evening. And who knows? I could lose a few pounds drinking it. 

Oh but wait……

Let’s not forget the top of the pineapple. Don’t throw that away either. Cut it at the bottom and place in in a bowl of water. Once you see it rooting, you can plant it in a pot of dirt for a nice tropical plant that could produce another pineapple. 

I will share more about this once I see it working. I’m a little skeptical about this trick really working,  but well see.