Beauty Spots, Pine Salve, and Egg Candling
Chocolate Box Cottage Diary, Volume 2
Week 11: March 19, 2022
The eleventh week of the year was generously adorned with beauty spots; a few, like the Woman in the Rose Gown, were obvious. (Print available here.) Most were quiet and could easily have escaped notice. It makes me wonder what I missed.
Do you ever ponder this?
Do you wonder what beautiful things, exquisite moments, and spectacular people you missed because you were preoccupied or busy?
Flowering quince bush in its ephemeral spring glory echoes the beauty of the Woman in the Rose Gown.
I included pictures of a handful of beauty spots that were sprinkled throughout the week at Chocolate Box Cottage, including a visit with long-time family friends, happy mail, the sale of a prized pickup truck to pay off a wife’s car, candling eggs, and a simple salve made from wildcrafted tree resin.
Chocolate Box Cottage flaunting an impossible shade of green and Lost Creek Lake, Oregon.
Long-time family friends, Dallas and Linda Rhoden.
A sweet gift of a CD organizer will be a modest but well-stocked herbal apothecary cupboard for Sam.
Made this week: Pine Resin Salve using “pitch” from local fir, pine, and redwood trees with local beeswax.
Sam sold his truck to a collector from New York, <sigh.>
My wish for pussywillow cuttings, fulfilled, along with several packets of medicinal herb seeds. Thank you, Donna Sullivan Smith!
Recipe for Crumb Cake Muffins (pictured above) is available as a gift when you subscribe to Chocolate Box Cottage Tidings! To find it, go to the Home Page and scroll down to the bottom of the page.
If you think you don’t like beets, try golden beets. Their less earthy taste is often appreciated even by those who think they don’t like beets! These are to be roasted with coconut oil and fresh thyme leaves.
Taco Salad base with local beef, garden-grown, home-canned tomatoes, and soaked and cooked pinto beans will be spooned over shredded cabbage, with all the usual extras.
Cream Scones. Find the easy recipe here.
Sarah Fullerton gave me a lesson in candling eggs with a cell phone flashlight! We started with at least a dozen eggs and narrowed them down to 5.
A gift of herb magazines from a sweet friend who knew I would appreciate them. Thank you, Cynthia Davis!
Pearl. Looking down on me, as usual.
My all-time favorite picture of my oldest son, Drew, when he was in 4th grade. The duck “pillow” was named Max, a German Saxony drake.
Thank you for visiting Chocolate Box Cottage and I wish you success in your hunt for the beauty spots in your week!
Blessings to you,
Michele
