the friday feed: blackberry-basil "sangria"

My mom's side of the family has a history of Alzheimer's. My mom, her mom, and her grandma, all died from complications of this horrible disease. Now my siblings and I are next in line to see if Alzheimer's will pass along to us. It's an unpleasant thought, I don't dwell on it, but I am being proactive with my lifestyle to keep my brain and body healthy. Diet and exercise, enough sleep, hobbies, socializing...all those factors contribute to a healthy lifestyle.

Today is the Friday Feed and I found a fun recipe that uses summer produce - blackberries and basil. The bold blackberry flavor combines with fresh herbs for a brain friendly drink. Blackberries deliver antioxidants to enhance memory and improve blood flow to the brain. The tea adds inflammation control and the honey adds a dose of sweetness as well as supporting restful sleep.

Bright Blackberry-Basil “Sangria”

Ingredients

• 4 cups blackberries  
• 1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves 
• 1 cup water 
• 1/2 cup honey 
• 3 cups fruity herbal tea 
• 1 cup sparkling water 
• 2 limes cut into 1/4 inch rounds 
• 2 cups ice 

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, combine 3 cups of the blackberries, 1 cup of the basil leaves, the water and honey. Bring to a boil over medium heat, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Let cool and strain the syrup through a fine-mesh sieve into a measuring cup. You should have roughly 1 cup of syrup.
3. In a serving pitcher, combine the blackberry syrup, tea, and sparkling water.
4. Add the limes slices, remaining 1/2 cup basil leaves, remaining 1 cup blackberries, and ice.
5. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours.
6. Serve and enjoy!

The Alzheimer’s curse

runs in my mom’s family.

Food as medicine.

This is a refreshing, tasty drink on its own but...it makes a great cocktail, too! I like mine with tequila and Todd likes his with vodka. Versatility is a spice of life.

a new table

Every Tuesday morning a group of Dayton artists gets together at an area coffee shop for an “Art Pop-Up.” This is to help their art get exposure, maybe make a sale or two without a space fee or commission to the business, rub shoulders with other artists, and introduce the public to some fun coffee shops around town.

Part 2 of the story is that once a month four of us friends get together and we play euchre. One of the women (not me) is a really good euchre player and she is a wonderful teacher for the rest of us so-so players. We rotate houses, fix snacks, and usually finish two complete games because we talk too much. The first time everyone was at my house, we sat at the dining room table. My table is oval shaped and whoever sits at the oval ends has a farther reach than the other two players. It’s not a good table for playing cards and I don’t have a card table. 

I follow a few local artists on Facebook and one day one of them posted a photo of a card table he had made into a piece of art and he was taking it to the Wholly Ground coffee shop. He calls it “Hollywood Squares” and it can hang on the wall until you need to use it as a table. What fun! I messaged him and told him I would like to buy it, Todd and I met him at the coffee shop, visited with him and the other artists, and left with a card table. 

Sometime in August it will have its first euchre game played on it.

wednesday's words and wanderings and wonderings

Look who's in Kettering, Ohio this week! Wonder if this guy's last name is Trump or if he uses his license plate to show his political support or maybe he's really good at playing cards. His car, his choice. It is an eye catcher and thought provoker.

Out at the farm we have two mockingbird nests. I was at the table to tray up some tomatoes and this mama was giving me what-for. Also at this table is a little container of blueberries and she wanted to come down to get get a blueberry to feed her babies. She was not happy that someone had invaded her space so I stepped away for a few minutes to get some big gulps of water on that very hot day.

Boxwoods are dying in Ohio either from boxwood blight or from the invasive box tree moth. The moth defoliates the bushes so my guess this one has died from blight. So there's a dead bush by my front porch and it needs to be dug out. One of these days Todd or I will get around to it. 

 

My basil needed to be trimmed. Those flowers grow so quickly. Pinching off or trimming the flowers encourages the plant to focus its energy on producing more leaves, resulting in a bushier plant with a larger harvest. Additionally, basil leaves tend to become more bitter after the plant flowers. I did get around to it.

Look what's in my garden - a conjoined coneflower. Side-by-side beauty in one of nature's anomalies.

This doesn't happen very often - Wordle in 6. On that last word, I thought, "What the heck. I'll just go-fer it and see what happens." Didn't break my streak!

tuesday

Not much happens on a Tuesday. Every other day has something to offer except Tuesdays. Tuesday is just bland and basic as a day can get. Whether you love or hate any other day of the week, you don't love or hate Tuesday. Tuesday just happens with an "eh."

This past week I've been going through boxes, looking at my "stuff," and came across a letter that I sent to me. It's postmarked February 22, 2022. In the numerical date format that we use in the US, it shows up as 2-22-22. All twos. And to make it even more special, the day of the week was Tuesday! Tuesday, February 22, 2022, was dubbed as "Twosday." (Look at the stamp...it says "celebrate!").

Just thinking way ahead, February 22, 2222, will be all twos in any worldwide date format. Very cool. But it will fall on a Friday. Sigh.

The next "Twosday" will happen 400 years from now on Tuesday, February 22, 2024. Wonder if my "geek gene" will pass along through the generations and someone will send a letter to him/herself to commemorate this day. But then again, in 2422 will people hand write letters, will there be stamps, will the USPS still be in existence? I hope someone will take note of this once-in-a-lifetime date.

monday's mulling: another sunflower post

(Image created on Snapseed)

happy monday!

welcome your day with energy and strength

and a sunny disposition

stand tall

shoulders back

chin up

and share your beautiful smile to spread a little sunshine.

(Original image)

thought to start your week

"May we have the strength of the mountain and the wisdom of the water."

~ Paul Coelho

 

back in the day...

Was this part of your gym class routine...climb a 30-foot rope (9.14 m) with a life-saving 2 inch mat below? It was a test of strength and agility.

I was good at climbing the rope. My grandparents had a tire swing tied to a rope that hung from a tree and that's where I first started my rope climbing adventures. Those skills carried through the physical education years. My children never did this in school but they did climb a rope at their gymnastics classes. The rope hung over a pit filled with big foam blocks - just a bit safer than the 2 inch mat of yesteryear. They were so excited when they finally made it to the top to ring the bell. 

This activity was phased out in the early 2000s due to concerns about safety, rope burns, and injury, the lack of participation, and the liability for the schools ended this exercise.