The Sensuous Mango

Valentine's Day is typically associated with pale pink and red and hearts.

But, being that it's cold and wintery in most parts of the world (like inside my house!), 

what about something spunkier, warmer, more sensual like mango, orange and magenta! 

And instead of chocolate and flowers ...

how about silk, candles, lollipops and jewelry!

  Sounds good to me!!!!

petrafanella $25.00	Fairyfolk $18.00
ZahnerPhoto $18.00	vixendesigner $48.00
FusionSweets $21.00	Fabricana $3.50
bunnybuttapoth... $5.50	SmadarsTreasur... $74.00
southindiabaza... $42.95	SpaGoddess $25.00
cutemonkey $8.50	LidsJamsandJel... $5.00
rawadesign $120.00	IndigoFragranc... $2.39
whatnomints $9.00	PKStudios $69.00

You can click on any image above to take you to the Etsy online shop...

Everything at Etsy is handmade and sold by small independent businesses.

Treasury tool is sponsored by Lazzia.com.

Hachiya .... Gesundheit!

Thanksgiving has passed but I'm still feeling it.  It was paradise in Paradise.... awesome family, great fun, delicious food, silly snowball fight, relaxing.  I'm so thankful for my all of my "in-laws".... how I got so lucky I will never know!  


And now that I'm back home in my own paradise, I'm so thankful for living in Ojai and the abundance around me. Right before I left, our persimmon tree was ablaze in brilliant orange leaves and fruit.  It was just beginning to carpet the groundcover with it's color.  I shot a quick photo but realized I need to share more images with you and to finally bring some fruit inside to ripen.  I hope they ripen before my bookclub on Thursday ...I'm hoping to make some tasty cookies.


Our persimmon is a Hachiya, which is a variety that produces large oval shaped fruit that must be ripened into almost a mush before it can be used...mostly for baking.  And our happen to be HUGE this year!  The other type is called at Fuyu, which have a squattier shape with a flat bottom.  Fuyus can be picked and eaten raw in a salad or alone.  Both varieties, which originate from Japan and are their national fruit, are loaded with vitamin C and high in fiber. They are good for your gesundheit (which means health) but one shouldn't eat them on an empty stomach!  

Here is something I bet you didn't know. I didn't until today....

from Mother Earth News — Issue # 127 - August/September 1991 —

Remove a few twigs from a persimmon tree, cover them with water, and boil for 20 minutes. Strain and cool the liquid. Applied on a poison ivy or poison oak rash, it will stop the itch immediately, and after a few applications will dry the rash.

Kumquat may....

When we moved to the Arbolada in Ojai with all the houses are so spread apart, I figured it might take years to get to know only a few neighbors.  I was so wrong.  Maybe because everyone walks,  maybe because I was pregnant when we moved in, or maybe because everyone is so amazingly friendly, I got to know just about everyone in a three block radius within the first year.  


One of my neighbors, whom we met because she walks by our house almost daily, saw my husband at the Farmers Market last year buying kumquats.  She mentioned that she had a tree full of them that nobody ever ate and that she will remind us to come by.  A year later now, she called to let us know her tree was ready for us.  I couldn't believe she remembered.  And here are the beauties I picked.....Thank you Jo!

I must add that Jo and her husband Kris Young, started our Ojai Locavore group and started the project Eat Local One Year last year.  This year, they are hoping to get everyone to eat at least three completely local meals throughout the year.... Locavore Lite 2010.  Check out their websites!   

www.eatlocaloneyear.com

locavorelite2010.webs.com

Come what may...

I will be always thankful for such great neighbors.

Arbolada Rainbow - Orange

Orange.

As a kid, I hated the color orange. I suppose it's because in the seventies, one only saw orange with yellow and brown (like my grandmothers sofa!). It's so much more fun with aqua, turquoise green and chartreuse. Now, I can't get enough of it! (You may have noticed lately that my logo changed from black to orange) ....Maybe that is because orange, the color of the second chakra, represents creativity and manifestation!

Orange things I love:

Fresh squeezed orange juice. Marigolds. Satsuma tangerines. Monarch butterflies. Huge orange dragonflies. Pumpkins. California poppies. Autumn leaves of "liquidambar" (sweet gum) trees. Campfire embers. Amber. Calendula. Carnelian.

Just as a reminder, all of these "rainbow" photos were taken in my neighborhood on Monday in about an hour on my daily doggie walk ....