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Friday, September 28, 2012

Colored Fire Pinecones

"Fantasy mirrors desire.Imagination reshapes it"
 Mason Cooley
  

TODAY'S SEEDS OF WISDOM


  • JUST BLOOMED TODAY  
  • AWKWARD PHOTO OF THE DAY
  • TWEET TREATS
  • DID YOU KNOW...?SHE'LL BE COMING 'ROUND THE MOUNTAIN
  • DOG CONFESSIONS
  • GARDEN UPDATE
  • FAUNA
  • GARDEN GIGGLE
  • GARDEN GOODIES~SHARE OUR GARDEN RECIPE #RA09 COLORED FIRE PINECONES 
  • WHAT IN THE WORLD?  
  • FEEDBACK
JUST BLOOMED TODAY 
Mint By The Pond


AWKWARD PHOTO OF THE DAY 

TWEET TREATS
bringing you the quirky, funniest and most interesting tweets from Twitter that we came across.  
  I hope he's not 42.    @SteveMartinToGo 

 


DID YOU KNOW...? SHE'LL BE COMING 'ROUND THE MOUNTAIN
How We Know It Today:

She'll be coming 'round the mountain
When she comes
She'll be coming 'round the mountain
When she comes.


So ... she's coming ... we're all really excited about it ... can't we just leave it at that? Please?

What It Actually Means:

Everybody is going to die. Like, tomorrow.

The real origin is even darker: "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain" is actually based on a slave-era spiritual called "When the Chariot Comes." The two songs share the same melody, structure and even some lyrics -- the iconic "when she comes" chant is present in both versions.

Notably different, though, are original lyrics like "King Jesus, he'll be driver when she comes" and "She'll be loaded with bright angels when she comes." "When the Chariot Comes" and, by extension, "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain," are both songs about the Rapture -- the day when Jesus comes back to earth to play favorites. "She" actually refers to the chariot he'll be riding down to bring about the End of Days. You know, same as how we give boats and cars feminine properties.
 If you're going to end all life on earth, you might as well do it in style.

So there you have it: That merry old-timey prospector song your kids are singing out in the yard is actually rejoicing about the imminent death of all humanity.

 
GARDEN UPDATE
  They keep warning us about either rain or hot, hot heat coming our way but so far, it has been a balmy day with the mercury not touching more than 84F. It was 64F when I woke up, so watering was very pleasant and all the birds were out and about.
GARDEN GIGGLE

There's two muffins in the oven. 

One says "Man! Its burning up in here!" 

The other one says "Hey look! A talking Muffin!!!"


FAUNA

GARDEN GOODIES~SHARE OUR GARDEN  #RA09 COLORED FIRE PINECONES
This is the recipe I am always looking for each cold season! It is my favorite recycled project for Fall/Winter. This is the time of year when the trees turn colors and the pinecones fall. These wonderful pinecones make amazing firestarters and look so pretty when they burn; Or, use old broken up crayons to get a creative look that can sit in a pretty basket on your hearth!

An alternate recipe calls for soaking the pinecones, but they will take about a week and a half to dry. We have had success with sprinkling the chemicals straight on the wax after dipping. Simply put the chemicals into a shaker bottle (like the ones for spices or glitter) and sprinkle on the pinecone while it is drying from the wax.

We use up all our leftover candles for the year so our pinecones smell wonderful while burning, as some of the candles are scented. 
Editor's Note: Be sure to be aware that the utensils and pans you use with the wax will be unusable for regular use afterwards, so be sure not to use your best ones! Also, these chemicals can be expensive, so start with the salts and epsom salts first).Don't color BBQ fire! The colorants may produce pretty flames, but they can also produce toxic food. Keep the colorants away from children and handle them with the care and respect due to potentially hazardous chemicals. Read and adhere to any warnings listed on product labels.
You Will Need:
dry pinecones
candles or household wax
a double boiler 
a deep old pan (that will be used only for the candle wax melting)
newspaper
tongs (these will be only used for wax melting)
an old aluminum pie tin you can throw away
optional: broken up crayons 
chemicals as seen below

Fill the large pot (like a spaghetti pot) halfway with water and bring to a boil. We use a dedicated old pan to sit on the boiling water and it should be deep enough to dunk a pinecone in. Place your used candles and household wax in the deep pan over the boiling water until wax is melted. NEVER cook wax directly over a flame.

In the meantime, spread your counter with newspaper.  Using tongs, grasp each pinecone and dunk them into the melted wax and then using the pie tin, hold it underneath the cone until you reach the counter to avoid drips. Sprinkle on your choice of chemicals if you want colored flames; if you just want a pretty pinecone to put in a basket or give as a gift, melt crayons in separate empty cans and pour over top of pinecone. These make a wonderful gift basket to give to someone for a fun fire. Cover with basket wrap or clear cellophane and tie with pretty plaid ribbon. I have also seen people put the colored cones in a big basket and thread the tiny white Christmas lights in them and put the basket on the fireplace.

Note:Some of these chemicals are hard to find.  
GREEN: boric acid (found in home improvement store in garden dept)
ORANGE: calcium chloride (a bleaching powder found in laundry area)
YELLOWISH-GREEN: Borax (washing soap)
RED: stronium nitrate (internet, EBay)
BLUE: copper sulphate (internet, but also at Home Depot as Zep Root Killer, which is labeled as copper sulfate pentahydrate and is sold with septic tank and drain cleaning chemicals (not with other garden root killers or with other plumbing chemicals), also with swimming pool supplies
PURPLE: potassium permanganate (EBay, internet or hardware near the water softeners) or potassium chloride (salt substitute)
YELLOW: table salt (grocery store)
WHITE: epsom salts (grocery store)

WHAT IN THE WORLD?  
On today in American history, people in gardens everywhere were talking about:
1829 Sir Robert Peel organizes British Police
1907 Gene Autry, the Singing Cowboy is born
1954  Willie Mays, centerfielder for the New York Giants, makes an amazing over-the-shoulder catch of a fly ball hit by Cleveland Indians first baseman Vic Wertz to rob Wertz of extra bases in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series. The catch has gone down as one of the greatest in the history of baseball.
1965 Hanoi announces that downed pilots will be treated as war criminals
1979 Pope John Paul II makes his first trip to the US
1982 Cyanide-laced Tylenol kills six
1988 Stacy Allison of Portland, Oregon, becomes the first American woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, which at  29,035 feet above sea level is the highest point on earth 2012 Filmmaker of anti-Muslim film that sparked outrage in the Middle East jailed on probation violations


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