50 Summertime New Uses for Old Things
What’s new under the sun? These clever uses for ordinary household items.

My Favorites:

Antacid Tablets
To soothe a bug bite, dissolve two tablets in a glass of water, then dab the solution on the itchy spot.

Baby Oil
Bare feet left with tar after a day on the beach? Lift it off with a dose of baby oil.

Wagon
Play cocktail waitress at a backyard bash. Fill the cart with ice and beverages and make the rounds once an hour—or whenever people appear to be parched.

Baking Soda
Need a deodorant in a pinch? Dust baking soda under your arms to absorb body odor.

Banana Peel
Grow healthier roses by planting a banana peel at the base of a rosebush, an inch down into the soil. The potassium feeds the plant and helps fend off diseases.

Citrus Peels
Kick-start a fire with citrus peels. Leave orange or lemon peels on the counter for several days to dry out. Then use the pretty pieces as kindling in your fire pit or bonfire for a fragrant flame starter.

Sand
Prevent melting wax from sticking to a glass hurricane lamp. Pour in sand to cover the base, then nestle in a pillar (or votive) candle. When the light goes out, toss and repeat.

Tea Bag
Here’s another smart way to soothe itchy mosquito bites: Place a cold, used tea bag on the sting and let it sit for five minutes. Tea will help ease sunburn, too: Brew a pot and pour it into a bath of lukewarm water. Soak until you feel relief.

Rebecca
Country Meadow Ltd.
Eco Friendly Shea Butter Spa Products

www.countrymeadowltd.com

Now tiger lilies may not be ‘indian summer’ or ‘autumn-ish’ but they ARE orange and in my book that qualifies!

Tiger Lily Earrings by DK Jewels

Tiger Lily Earrings by DK Jewels

Rebecca
Country Meadow Ltd.
Eco Friendly Shea Butter Spa Products

www.countrymeadowltd.com

Country Meadow will be closed from Thursday, August 12, 2010 through Sunday, August 15, 2010.

We will be vending at the Marysville Homegrown Festival!

Located at:
Third Street from State Street East

Hours:
Friday, August 13 – 10:00 am – 7:00 pm
Saturday, August 14 – 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Come by and say Hello!

Oh Yea….
It’s supposed to be in the 90′s all weekend….
Someone Bring Me Ice Cream!!!

Rebecca
Country Meadow Ltd.
Eco Friendly Shea Butter Spa Products

www.countrymeadowltd.com

There is still a few weeks of summer left and if we are lucky we will have an Indian summer thereby stretching the bbq season into October!

14 Summer Party Desserts
The perfect end to a summer meal among friends? An irresistible seasonal dessert, of course! Serve up some of these fruit-filled and grilled desserts at your next summer party. There’s even a grown-up s’mores recipe for the kid in us all!

This one looks totaly do-able!!

Mixed Berry Hobo Packs with Grilled Pound Cake

Ingredients

1 pound(s) (3 cups) mixed strawberries and blueberries, strawberries halved or quartered if large
1 teaspoon(s) finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon(s) lemon juice
1/4 cup(s) sugar
3/4 teaspoon(s) cornstarch
2 tablespoon(s) unsalted butter, softened
4 12-inch squares of heavy-duty aluminum foil
4 (1/2-inch-thick) slices of pound cake
Crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream, for serving

Directions

Light a grill. In a medium bowl, combine the strawberries and blueberries with the lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, and cornstarch. Spoon 1/4 tablespoon of the butter in the center of each sheet of foil and top with the fruit. Bring 2 sides of the foil up over the fruit and fold to form a seam across the top. Fold the remaining 2 sides to seal the hobo packs completely.

Grill the hobo packs over moderate heat until the fruit is sizzling, about 10 minutes.

Spread the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter on the pound cake and grill on both sides just until toasted, about 1 minute. Transfer to plates. Open the hobo packs and pour the berries and juices over the pound cake. Serve with a dollop of crème fraîche or ice cream.

Berry Hobo Cake

Rebecca
Country Meadow Ltd.
Eco Friendly Shea Butter Spa Products

www.countrymeadowltd.com

Can a fake tan really make you look thinner — or is it just an illusion?
By Lizzie Dunlap

Get highlights: Whether you’re using waterproof makeup or sunless tanner, “playing with shadows and highlights will give you definition where you have none,” says Jamie Kern Lima, former Baywatch babe and founder of It Cosmetics. The tricky part is making it look natural — which is why she prefers easily fixable makeup over self-tanner. Lima recommends applying a matte bronzer powder two to three shades darker than your skin tone on spots lacking muscle definition, using a flat-topped brush for precision. “Hide your least favorite areas, like the folds above your armpits, with bronzer, then use a highlighter to draw attention to the areas you like — clavicles, shoulders, the firm topsides of arms,” says Lima.

For maximum visual slimming, “a customized salon spray tan will give you the best results,” says Melanie Mills, head makeup artist for Dancing with the Stars. Those adept at self-tanning can apply lotions with sponges to strategically create contours. Mills suggests starting with a freshly self-tanned base, then going over areas, like the triceps’ line from elbow to shoulder, with a second coat to fake muscle tone. “If you’re too heavy-handed, you can always use a dry puff to buff away streaks after the tan has dried and you’ve showered with a light body wash,” she explains.

Tighten up: Make your tummy two-piece-ready by applying makeup or self-tanner to the vertical contours on either side of your belly button. “You want to enhance the muscles you do have, not look like you drew on muscles you don’t have,” says Mills. Lima suggests dusting the sides of your waist with matte bronzer to narrow your midriff. “A waterproof powder should last at least six hours,” she adds.

Skin-firming treatments offer an extra line of defense against love handles and flab. “Regular massages or body wraps will have the best results in reducing the look of cellulite and bloating by helping to stimulate circulation and lymphatic drainage,” says Edouard Mauvais-Jarvis, scientific director for Christian Dior skincare, who recommends a monthlong series of thrice-weekly appointments before bikini season. Can’t commit? At-home tightening creams containing ingredients like peptides and epsilon-viniferin (a grapevine extract) can temporarily flatten bumpy areas on the stomach and inner thighs. But heed caution before you rub down. “Lotions can cause makeup and sunless tanner to streak,” says Mills, “so self-tan the night before you hit the beach or pool.”

Perfect legs: For a more sculpted look below the belt, layer a few swipes of matte bronzer or self-tanner under your calf muscles, along your quadriceps’ indentations, and along the crescent below each butt cheek to mimic hard-earned tone. Steer clear of shimmer on less-than-perfect zones. “Shimmer lotions are beautiful on 90 percent of your body — just don’t use them anywhere you have cellulite unless you want to draw attention to it,” says Lima. Even deep skin tones can benefit from bronzing: “I recently started using sunless tanner on very dark skin — it helps correct uneven pigmentation,” says Mills.

Regardless of how you whittle down your frame, select your sunblock wisely. For bottle-bronzed skin, “try natural sunscreens, since some chemical ones can break down the compounds in sunless tanner,” says Lima. And if you want to appear as lean as possible, “use powder and spray sunscreens that don’t have the shiny, cellulite-emphasizing finish of lotions,” she adds. Now, if only it were that easy to actually drop those last 5 pounds.

Rebecca
Country Meadow Ltd.
Eco Friendly Shea Butter Spa Products

www.countrymeadowltd.com

MANY years ago I had the bright idea (one of many) of buying dried gourds to paint on. I even bought several how-to books.

After gathering dust for…oh…..five years or so I realized that I would never have time to do anything with them and gave everything to my mother-in law…who paints (I don’t).

In years past I have been in the habit of buying how-to books and materials thinking I would have the time to do all these wonderful projects. Sadly it has taken me many years to realize I have to budget my time and it is better for me (time-wise and dollar-wise) to simply purchase the finished project from someone else who knows what they are doing.

So since I currently DON’T have any painted gourds I want this one from Gourd Artist I Am!

And no, I would never put it outside!

Sunflower/Bird Gourd by Gourd Artist I Am

Rebecca
Country Meadow Ltd.
Eco Friendly Shea Butter Spa Products

www.countrymeadowltd.com

The Week In Review:

**Hersheys Dark Chocolate Syrup is way better than the normal chocolate

**Even though hubs said we have enough firewood left over from last year we are now on the quest for more (just love our log splitter!!). I think we are lined up to get some over the weekend. I am hoping for an actual winter this year…with snow!

**Signed Brodie up for yet another obedience class. We’ve been through Puppy Preschool, Puppy Fundamentals and now we are on to Basic Behavior & Obedience!

**We went to the local Harley shop last weekend as hubs wanted to look at accessories for his bike. I was unexpectedly hit sideways and fell in love with the new 2011 Cross Bones bike. So much so that I even had to sit on it.

Now I have a bike (anniversary edition 2003 Dyna Low Rider) and it fits like a glove and is totaly paid for. However, I am still drooling over the Cross Bones. At this very moment in time I will be happy with my Dyna….

However…

I reserve the right, next spring, to possibly trade it in for the Cross Bones!

**I have been working very hard updating our blog with advanced posts. I have the entire month of August already blogged and sitting in ‘draft’ mode. So now all I have to do is click on Publish each morning!

**Over the years I have realized that a person needs to stick to what they do best. For me it’s formulating/manufacturing body products. I’m not very good at creating websites or marketing material so I have outsourced those. I am in ‘talks’ with a graphic designer and she is in the process of creating a marketing brochure that will match our company theme. Now I have to get in gear and retake a few collection photos!

Rebecca
Country Meadow Ltd.
Eco Friendly Shea Butter Spa Products

www.countrymeadowltd.com

Garbage islands threaten Three Gorges Dam
Official: Trash is two feet deep, so compacted people can walk on it

BEIJING — Thousands of tons of garbage washed down by recent torrential rain are threatening to jam the locks of China’s massive Three Gorges Dam, and is in places so thick people can stand on it, state media said on Monday.

Chen Lei, a senior official at the China Three Gorges Corporation, told the China Daily that more than 3,000 tons of trash was being collected at the dam every day, but there was still not enough manpower to clean it all up.

“The large amount of waste in the dam area could jam the miter gate of the Three Gorges Dam,” Chen said, referring to the gates of the locks which allow shipping to pass through the Yangtze River.

The river is a crucial commercial artery for the upstream city of Chongqing and other areas in China’s less-developed western interior provinces.

Pictures showed a huge swathe of the waters by the dam crammed full of debris, with cranes brought in to fish out a tangled mess, including shoes, bottles, branches and Styrofoam.

‘Decaying’
Some more than half a million square feet had been covered by trash washed down since the start of the rainy season in July, the report said. The trash is around two feet deep, and in some parts so compacted people can walk on it, the Hubei Daily added.

“Such a large amount of debris could damage the propellers and bottoms of passing boats,” Chen said. “The decaying garbage could also harm the scenery and the water quality.”

The Three Gorges Dam is the world’s largest hydropower project, and was built partly to tame flooding along the Yangtze, which killed over 4,000 people in 1998 and countless more over the centuries.

Enormously expensive and disruptive, the dam has cost over 254 billion yuan ($37.5 billion) and forced the relocation of 1.3 million people to make way for the reservoir. Towns, fields and historical and archaeological sites have been submerged.

Environmentalists have warned for years that the reservoir could turn into a cesspool of raw sewage and industrial chemicals backing onto nearby Chongqing city, and feared that silt trapped behind the dam could cause erosion downstream.

China has made scant progress on schemes drawn up nearly a decade ago to limit pollution in and around the reservoir.

Chen said about 10 million yuan ($1.5 million) is spent each year clearing floating waste by the dam.

Rebecca
Country Meadow Ltd.
Eco Friendly Shea Butter Spa Products

www.countrymeadowltd.com

14 Cool Drinks for Hot Summer Days

Looking for a way to beat the heat? These refreshing summer sips will quench your thirst and please your palate. Prepare them for an outdoor party, a day in the backyard with the kids, or after mowing the lawn!

The Mango-Peach Fizz sounds delish!!!

Ingredients
1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and cubed (1 1/2 cups)
1 large ripe peach, peeled, pitted, and cubed (1 cup)
1/2 cup(s) unsweetened mango, peach, or orange juice
1 tablespoon(s) sugar
Peach schnapps or peach-flavored seltzer
Cold club soda, seltzer, or champagne

Directions
In a blender, puree mango, peach, fruit juice (mango peach or orange), and sugar (adding more sugar if puree is too tart). Puree can be made up to 1 day ahead and refrigerated.

For each fizz, fill tall glasses with ice cubes. Pour 2 tbsp each puree and peach schnapps or peach-flavored seltzer into each glass and top with cold club soda, seltzer, or champagne.

Rebecca
Country Meadow Ltd.
Eco Friendly Shea Butter Spa Products

www.countrymeadowltd.com

33 Beauty Myths: Fact or Fiction?

Can items from your kitchen make a beauty mask? Can split ends be reversed? Read on to determine what’s fact and what’s fiction in the beauty world.

See if you guessed right!

Rebecca
Country Meadow Ltd.
Eco Friendly Shea Butter Spa Products

www.countrymeadowltd.com