A Touch of Nature - 07/15/06

Here At Bluebird Cove

Hello Subscribers!

Isn't this a surprise!? I hope a nice one. We continually have people telling us they do not receive our mailings even though they have subscribed to them. Spam filters have been creating a big problem for us for a very long time. I think we've found a way to get around some of that with a brief notification email and having the newsletter on a blog.

Some people have mentioned it's hard to see where one segment ends and another begins and wanted some color, so this should take care of that. I published another mailing that I do on this format and got totally rave reviews. I hope you enjoy it also. You can even make comments at the bottom and send it on to friends by clicking on the white envelope. Hopefully it's there ... if not, next time :-)

This has been a bit of a challenge for me, Saint Francine, as the neighbors call me here at Bluebird Cove. I'm not the techy type and I wanted to do this all by myself. Hmmm.... does that indicate a bit of stubborness or pride? The blog site promised that I could and I learned a lot. I checked out a bunch of blogs and one subscriber was so helpful with giving me bunches of links. Thank you, Suzanne! Of course I needed my techy husband's information on how to get the post from here to there. All that FTP stuff.

It's almost time for our work day to end and I wanted to get this posted to mail on time so I didn't get to play around with the photo gallery and give you some links, but this should improve with every post. Including the design of the template. I don't really like it so that's my next challenge to create something different.

Take time to add a touch of nature to each and every day!

Donna


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Nature's News
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Q&A Segment

Q: What should I do about opossums or skunks that hang around the house or actually come in through the pet door.?

A: Stop leaving pet food outside or near the pet door!


Q: How can I keep migrating ducks from taking up residence in my pool?

A: Usually, brightly colored objects floating freely in the water will discourage them from landing on it. Things like beach balls or kids’ toys can be used effectively. You can also can cover the pool until they have moved on.


Mud Puddles and Basking Spots for Butterflies

Source: What Butterflies Need Besides Nectar by Naomi Mathews

There are certain minerals that some butterflies, such as swallowtails, sulfurs, and blues need that are not provided in a diet of nectar alone. These minerals are found in standing water, or mud puddles. On learning this, you may be inspired to dash right out into your garden and make a mud puddle or two so your butterflies can get their daily “mineral fix.” Not a bad idea! Just another healthful way to attract butterflies to your yard.

Quiet StreamYou have probably noticed butterflies drinking from almost anyplace they can find water. Maybe you’ve seen them fluttering around your drippy outdoor faucet, or checking out a water sprinkler that left a small puddle. In natural habitats they often drink from the edges of streams or beneath waterfalls. I found it remarkable that butterflies release the water they drink almost immediately after drinking it. Yet amazingly, they manage to absorb the minerals they need in the process.

There is yet another reason why butterflies--especially males of certain species--enjoy puddles. They love to congregate at puddles, much like men in many parts of the world enjoy gathering at Starbucks™ for a great cup of espresso! Can’t you just picture a flock of these colorful fellows perched around their favorite puddles, perhaps discussing the latest reports about the price of nectar and such? Or, are they maybe gloating about which female they just won for their mate? I’ll leave this up to your imagination.

There are certain minerals that some butterflies, such as swallowtails, sulfurs, and blues need that are not provided in a diet of nectar alone. These minerals are found in standing water, or mud puddles. On learning this, you may be inspired to dash right out into your garden and make a mud puddle or two so your butterflies can get their daily “mineral fix.”

Basking areas--what and where?

Gardeners should also provide areas where butterflies can bask when it is sunny and warm. This helps to warm their wings for flying. Basking areas can be made by interspersing several flat rocks in your flower beds. In rural areas, an old tree stump, a log, or a piece of driftwood will serve as a perfect basking spot.

Read the entire article here

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Those Amazing Birds!
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ID Your North American Bird at This Site

This site has a radical search engine to identify birds of North America that differs from anything on the web. It's so accurate and fast that the Wild Bird Feeding Institute is using it to help people identify birds for Project Wildbird, their 3-year study on backyard feeding habits. The search engine presents a visual interface to whatever field mark you select first. Each step narrows the search results to help locate the bird you saw. Try the bird search engine--it currently has over 800 birds in the database. ID Your North American Bird at This Site

Up-to-date Information on Avian Flu

Avian disease is in the spotlight with the link between viruses and birds. Organizations are keeping track whether wild birds are in any danger of being destroyed because of the panic over these bird-related viruses. Before you panic, please be sure to check out the sites online that are tracking this kind of information, not only for your own assurances, but to be able to be informed to tell others who may join the ranks of those wanting to destroy wild birds.

Cornell University is one organization where you can get up-to-date information on Avian Flu

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Nature's Bounty For Us
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Shopping for Herbs and Supplements?

Herbs have been used by people around the world for thousands of years. Many healing cultures are still based on herbs. Our family has many wonderful stories of what herbs and supplements have done for us. If you use supplements, we'd certainly appreciate you shopping with us. Shop for Herbs and Supplements by Health Topic


Essential Oils Are Nature's Remedies

With the continual bombardment of viral, bacterial, parasitic and fungal contamination in our world, essential oils are a great benefit to help protect our bodies and homes from this onslaught of pathogens.

Essential oils are frequently referred to as the "life force" of plants. Unlike fatty oils, these "essential" oils are volatile, highly concentrated, substances extracted from flowers, leaves, stems, roots, seeds, bark, resin or fruit rinds. Only pure oils contain a full spectrum of compounds that cheap imitations simply cannot duplicate. We sell Nature's Sunshine's 100% pure essential oils. We'd appreciate you shopping with us

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Fun Walking Programs - We've Joined the First One
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Join Us on a Walk on The Appalachian Trail

Want to make exercise fun? Track your virtual path along famous trails like the Appalachian Trail, or the Lewis and Clark, Alaska Highway, or Highway 50. "Step Up to Better Health" is a motivating 10-week walking program designed to boost daily activity. Wearing a step counter and tracking your steps online, you’ll be inspired to move more as you enjoy the benefits of an active lifestyle. You’ll have access to health and fitness articles, healthy recipes, and health-related resources on the web.

If you own a step counter you can begin tomorrow morning. If you don't, you can order one at a reasonable price from AARP. Members get discounts. Step Up to Better Health - Visit the site for this free program

Get Fit on Route 66

If you'd rather not count steps but want a physical activity adventure designed to inspire you to be more active, trace the famous route of this virtual highway by exercising. Whatever physical activity you enjoy doing - tennis, jogging, swimming, biking, softball, or something else, this is a fun way to motivate yourself into keeping fit.

Your goal is to "travel" from Chicago to Santa Monica (2,448 miles) by recording your physical activity minutes. You'll record your minutes of exercise online, where our program will convert the minutes to miles; one minute equals one mile. You set the pace, whether it's ten or sixty miles a day. Get Fit on Route 66 - Find out more about this free program

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Gardening For Wildlife - Restoring the Balance
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10 Steps to a Healthy Lawn

For years George Tyler blanketed his lawn with commercial fertilizers, believing the chemicals would compensate for the poor clay soils and construction backfill in the Bloomington, Minnesota, subdivision where he lived. Then Tyler, a sales engineer for an Internet services firm, discovered corn gluten meal, a byproduct of the process that makes high-fructose corn syrup. Gluten, which is sold as cattle feed and an organic fertilizer, kills germinating weeds but doesn’t damage established turfgrass.

Tyler began applying the gluten to his lawn twice a year. Several summers later he went on a two-week vacation in the middle of a severe drought. When he returned he found he had become the envy of his hose-crazy neighborhood. “There were almost 100 homes in that subdivision,” he says. “When I came back from vacation, all of their lawns were burnt to a crisp. Mine was green - and it hadn’t been watered.”

It turned out the gluten allowed earthworms and red worms—previously killed by chemicals—to once again tunnel beneath the lawn, breaking up and aerating the clay, and adding their castings to the soil, which boosted the volume of organic material. Because gluten is a slow-release fertilizer that feeds plants gradually, it also may have encouraged deeper root growth. “If you have deep root growth and organic matter in the soil, you can go a while without watering,” says Matthew Stephens, an area agent at the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center. “Lawns are a lot tougher than people think.”

Tyler’s ingenuity yielded more than an emerald lawn - it helped protect the Mississippi River, about 12 miles away as the crow flies. Each year homeowners apply more than a million tons of fertilizers and 163 million pounds of pesticides to their yards, and a lot of those chemicals eventually run into the Mississippi and other waterways. These toxic substances kill beneficial insects, contaminate drinking water, lead to algae blooms and fish die-offs, and help create ideal conditions for what’s known as the “Dead Zone,” off the Louisiana coast.

Creating a truly healthy and full lawn is not as challenging as you might think - in fact, it may even make your life easier. Follow the 10 easy steps to a healthier lawn in the rest of this article on the Aubudon website

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"Green" Info - Making It a Way of Life!
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Greener Choices for a Better Planet

This website produced by Consumer Reports has lots of information on making green choices in Autos and Fuels, Appliances, Home & Garden, Electronics and Food. Get the scoop on the best brands and ideas on being green.

There's even allergy-free gardening tips. Just because you have asthma or allergies doesn't mean you can't enjoy the pleasures of gardening. In fact, there is a wide range of big, showy flowers, shrubs, and trees that won't make you wheeze, cry or sniffle. Learning what these are, along with some overall tips, will get you on your way to an allergy-free gardening experience.

Visit now and soak up the alternatives: Greener Choices at Consumer Reports

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Green Shopping
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Detoxify Your Soaps and Cleaning Supplies With Sunshine Concentrate!

This environmentally-friendly cleaning and washing concentrate is nothing less than wonderful. We've used it for 15 years for laundry, hand soap, pet baths, soaking produce, dishwasher, cleaning, and a multitude of other uses. This product has saved us money and health. No more "itch" of chemical soaps. Sunshine Concentrate


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Muse On Nature
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God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fools.

~John Muir


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Pets Are Our Nature In The Home
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Need A Pet? Adopt one. You save a life and become life to an orphaned animal. Check out Pet Finder.com to find a local shelter with a pet for your family. Choose online so you don't have to visit the shelter and have your heart break. Find a Pet Near Your Home

Pet Supplements Catalog by Health Topic

Pet Success Stories Using Nature's Remedies

Nature's Heartworm Program

Healthy Pet Corner for Birds, Cats, Dogs, Horses, Rabbits & Reptiles

Free Email Natural Pet Newsletter

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The Frugal Life - Living Well With What You Already Have
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Living more simply is a great way to effect change in your own personal environment and it helps the planet. The Frugal Life website has lots of ideas on getting back to basics. They also provide a free newsletter twice-monthly and a forum where you can ask questions or search for information. Visit The Frugal Life Now

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Forward This Newsletter to a Friend
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Copyright and Reprint Information
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© 2006 Donna L. Watkins

The content, suggestions, and web links in this newsletter are for informational purposes only and not necessarily endorsed by our sponsor "The Herbs Place.com." This is a personal publication by Donna L. Watkins. The ideas and information expressed in it have not been approved or authorized by anyone either explicitly or impliedly. In no event shall Donna L. Watkins or "The Herbs Place.com" be liable for any damages whatsoever resulting from any action arising in connection with the use of this information or its publication.

You may forward this newsletter in its entirety by clicking on the white envelope below.