A Touch of Nature - 08/01/06

HERE AT BLUEBIRD COVE

Hello Subscribers!

We've had bunches of butterflies lately and it's such a joy to watch them gather around our butterfly bushes. I keep them dead-headed daily so they are in full bloom even though we haven't gotten much rain at all this year here in our area of Virginia.

Randal and I enjoy this time of the year since we are early risers. I love to hear the birds waking up with one birdsong joining another as dawn breaks on another glorious day. Okay, I know that most days don't seem glorious with all their trials and troubles .... but if you take a few moments in nature early each morning, you'll find something glorious to close your eyes and think about during the day when all the trivial details of life fall apart.

I found a course online called Project Nature Connect. It's a 10-week course used for healing depression, mood disorders and fatigue, while strengthening relationships and good feelings about self and society. Sound like something you'd like to dump into Corporate America?

I've added more to the Bluebird Cove Chronicles and have made a commitment to myself to continue to do this. It will be a fun thing to share with my grandchildren one day when I have some, and a nice way to look back and discover again the wonderful life's lessons we learn in our own back yard.

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

Donna

NATURE'S NEWS

Wolf Spiders
Wolf spiders are found in habitats ranging from dry inland shrublands and woodlands to wet coastal forests and alpine meadows. Some species, such as the Lycosa furcillata and L. godefffroyi are common in suburban gardens.

Many Wolf Spiders have wide distributions. This distribution is aided by their ability to disperse aerially as spiderlings or small juveniles over large distances. Most are wanderers but some build burrows, either open or with a trapdoor, while others may make temporary retreats in vegetation. Arid zone species build turrets to deflect floodwaters during rainy periods, while others use pebbles to plug their burrows. In woodlands, twigs may be used to form a palisade around the top of the burrow. The shape and materials used to form burrows and trapdoors may help to distinguish similar-looking species.

Mating takes place outside the female's burrow at night. Some adult male Wolf spiders of smaller-sized species are known to disperse by air in order to find mates. The male is attracted by scent markings left by the female, often associated with her drag-line silk. Males perform a courtship ritual prior to mating, often involving complex leg and palp signalling to the female.

The female constructs an egg sac of white papery silk, shaped like a ball with an obvious circular seam, which she then carries around attached with strong silk to her spinnerets. When the spiderlings hatch, they are carried around on the female's back until they are ready to disperse by ballooning or on the ground. Such a high degree of parental care is relatively unusual among spiders. Read the entire article on wolf spiders at the website where this information came from.

Recently I took some photos of a spider that had babies all over her back. It looks like a walking Brillo pad or a spider having a bad hair day. I can only assume it was it was a Wolf Spider. Visit our photo gallery to see this spider.

Buy Hot Sauce, Save An Elephant
From www.LiveScience.com

In Africa, farmers use the spicy chemical in locally grown chilis to keep elephants away from other crops. And in a unique marketing campaign designed to help farmers and save elephants, a line of Elephant Pepper chili products is now being sold in the United States.

The goal, in a cooperative effort between African farmers and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), is "to create new economic opportunities for rural Africans and support efforts to safely reduce the conflict between elephants and humans in Africa," according to a WCS statement. Elephants do not like capsaicin, the chemical in chilis that makes them hot, so farmers surround maize and other crops with buffers of chilis. They also mix crushed chilis with used grease and smear it on fences. And they mix chili with animal dung to make briquettes, then burn them at night to create a noxious smoke. Chilies are also sold to the Elephant Pepper brand for hot sauce products (see www.elephantpepper.com). Proceeds from the sales of the products are then donated to Elephant Pepper Development Trust.

Elephant Pepper product line now offers U.S. consumers a means of supporting both elephants and sustainable development in Africa," said James Deutsch, director of WCS’ Africa Program.

THOSE AMAZING BIRDS

Q&A
Question: My bluebirds just fledged from my nest box. Should I clean it out or will they use the old nest?

Answer: Clean out the old nest. Any birds reusing the box will build a new nest, even if they have to build on top of the old one. In the Fall take out the old nest also. You might even fashion a new one from dried grasses to give birds some winter insulation for roosting over the colder non-nesting months.

A Haven for Hummingbirds
Does one small bird have the power to change two lives? For Curt and Anna Reemsnyder, the answer is a resounding yes. About 25 years ago, Curt bought a hummingbird feeder for their weekend cottage, located north of Corpus Christi, Texas. Soon they noticed a hummingbird, but not the Ruby-throated variety that their bird book predicted. A phone call from the Reemsnyders enticed Jesse Grantham, a co-founder of Rockport-Fulton's famous Hummer/Bird Celebration, to visit and identify the mystery guest as a Buff-bellied Hummingbird.

"At that time," Anna recalled, "it was an unusual sighting." Grantham asked permission to add their discovery to a hotline, and the Reemsnyders, who considered themselves "primarily plant people with relatively little expertise in birds," began meeting hummingbird admirers from near and far. "It was a dependable, gorgeous bird," Anna continued. "It came every 20 minutes, winter and summer, for three and a half years. It was almost like having a child to care for, because we had to come up from our home in Corpus Christi to change the bottle twice a week." Read the entire article at Birder's World

NATURE'S BOUNTY FOR US
Natural herbs and supplements bring the powerful world of nature into your body for health and healing. We've been using herbal remedies since the late 70's and have been so blessed by them. It's been our full-time business since 1982. We'd appreciate you shopping with us.

Herbs and Supplements by Health Topic

Nature's Sunshine 100% Pure Essential Oils

GARDENING FOR WILDLIFE - RESTORE THE BALANCE

Leave Those Dead Flowers Alone!
I mentioned I was dead-heading the butterfly bushes to produce a bunch more flowers for the butterflies. That's a good thing because buddelias, butterfly bushes, can be invasive if you let them seed. I am very careful not to allow invasive plant seeds get too far away, so I don't like birds eating them and carrying them off.

Other than the invasives, I leave my dead flowers go to seed for the finches and sparrows. The American Goldfinches especially love to hang from the many varieties of salvias we have. The deer don't like them so we enjoy planting them. Here's a photo of American Goldfinches on our salvias eating seeds.

You have to consider what's the best use for the particular plant. Dead-heading will produce more blooms for the hummingbirds, bees, butterflies and all, but when it's coming to the end of the season for one of your plants, let it seed so you can feed the birds.

We have 9 feeders in our yard right now, but like us, the birds need a variety of nutrition and different seeds provide that variety of nutrients like different nuts can provide for us. You can't just think about "pretty" when it comes to flowers that are past their blooming cycle. After they've produced the seeds, we need to let the birds have them.

I enjoy having the opportunity to talk about it as people drop by ... since so many people have been "trained" to dead-head and don't think of any reason not to do so. How delighted there are to know that they can save the work, tell others about bird feeding, and have a show to enjoy as the birds feast in their yard.

Our green-headed coneflowers are just beginning to bloom. They are right up against our front porch and I love to see the goldfinches gather for their feast so close to the windows. What they drop to the ground, the sparrows eat. It's such a joy to know that even after my plants finish blooming, they provide life and enjoyment to the birds of the air. After all .... what did I plant them for anyway? Here's a photo of the goldfinches on our coneflowers.

GREEN INFO - MAKING IT A WAY OF LIFE

Cell Phone Turns Into a Sunflower When Planted In Dirt
Scientists have come up with a cell phone cover that will grow into a sunflower. It's totally biodegradable and non-toxic plastic. So, now you can give your cell phone a proper burial and reap a harvest of sunflowers. Read about it here.

More and Cheaper Ways to Recycle Computers
I gathered this information a few months back so they could've made a few changes since then, but I wanted to pass it on to you. Many people don't like dumping large items like computers into landfills ...especially when you consider the toxic effects it's going to leave for our children and grandchildren to deal with.

Recycling this equipment is a wise decision. First of all call around to see if a local repair place may want to buy what you have for parts. We've recycled a couple computers that way. If you can't find a local dealer who will be happy to have components, then maybe one of these recyclers will be of interest to you.

If you're local, you could recycle for free at some of these places.

AAA Regional Computer Recycling (Rochester, NY) - $15 fee plus shipping - www.ewaste.net

Asset Recovery Corp. (St. Paul, MN) - Range of fees on site. - www.assetrecoverycorp.com

Earth Protection Services (Phoenix, AZ) - $.50/lb. plus shipping - www.earthpro.com

Intercon Solutions (Chicago, IL) - $10 monitors, $5 computers/scanners, plus
shipping - www.interconrecycling.com

Metech Int'l (Mapleville, RI) - $30 fee includes shipping - www.metech-arm.com

PC Disposal (Olathe, KS) - range of fees - www.pcdisposal.com

Resource Concepts, Inc. (Carrollton, TX) - no fee, but you pay shipping - www.resourcecon.com

Surplus Buyers (Houston, TX) - no fee, but you pay shipping - www.surplusbuy.com

United Recycling Industries, Inc. - no fee, but you pay shipping - www.unitedrecycling.com

GREEN SHOPPING

Recycled Gold Jewelry Saves the Earth
Gold is a very versatile metal. It is malleable and ductile. It’s a good conductor of heat and electricity, immune to tarnish, and resistant to acids. Although these properties make it very useful in industrial applications, 80% of the gold used each year nonetheless goes into jewelry.

While gold is valuable enough to provide an incentive to recycle, significant amounts of gold sit idle, while mining continues at a pace of 2,500 tons a year. In fact, there is enough gold above ground (already mined) to satisfy all demands of the jewelry industry for the next 50 years. Much of it sits in bank vaults and in the form of old and unused jewelry.

Consumers have the ability to demand the liberation of that idle gold through their purchasing decisions. Demand for recycled gold, in conjunction with campaigns to clamp down on ecologically and socially unacceptable mining, holds the potential to effect change. Because this methodology helps societal custom work in concert with principles of commerce, it can be embraced by consumers and producers alike, and therefore result in sustainable change.

Buying recycled gold is one of the most ecologically and socially responsible choices a consumer can make. Consider www.GreenKarat.com.

Get more information:
Gold Mining and Processing – The High Cost of Gold Jewelry

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. Read more about Sunshine Concentrate.

Muse On Nature

Who leaves the pine-tree, leaves his friend,
Unnerves his strength, invites his end.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Woodnotes"

Pets Are Part Of Nature In Our 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 and Reptiles

Free Natural Pet News Newsletter

Adopt A Pet - Search For One Near You

The Frugal Life - Living Well With What You Already Have
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 site.

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Copyright and Reprint Information
© 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.