June Winner of Mystery Monday Announced

We didn't have that many entries this month and that is understandable, so I am taking a vacation from it for the rest of the summer. I know we are all so busy in the summer months so we will resume in September.

Here is a reminder of all the mystery photos posted for June. I couldn't get the one to upload properly for me so it is all by itself, but the dates are printed on each photo.


I tried to give you an eclectic mix this month, hoping to stir up more interest. These are what the Photos were of:

June 7 - A Van Gogh painting titled: Draw bridge with carriage, This Mystery photo was a close-up of the brickwork with the Arles Sunshine reflecting the water below. This is on a very cool vintage tin I've had for over a decade or more. There is another painting on the other side. I just love his use of color in this one.

June 14 - That one was a close up of the center of one of my Challah bread loaves, back when I could eat it, before I got Celiac Disease. Here is the loaf in full. I love how the camera captured the braids in a glowing way that reminds me of mist between the mountains very early before the crack of dawn.




June 21 - This photo was a close up of the Native American Pottery featured on a this stamp from the 1970's - Folk Art Series. I used it in a brooch/pendant I made with polymer clay and copper wire. It took me forever to drill those holes to weave the wire through, I wish I'd have thought to do this before I baked it!





June 28 - Very close up of the foot of my resident (one of them, we have a pair now) hawk. He was sitting only 12 feet from my patio door for over an hour one day and I took the opportunity to snap some photos of him while he watched me and about a dozen squirrels and chipmunks frolicking in the yard. Here he is perched on the framework of the roof of our tent gazebo, we haven't put the top or sides on yet and the birds love to perch there.


And of the entries we had, most which were on the last photo, where tallied together and this is the winner drawn: Cindee! I will be emailing you shortly about your prize! thanks to all who played this month, I know it's been very busy! See you all in September with a new Mystery Monday Photo!


I did take the time to stop and smell the roses as promised here in my Commitments post, Friday evening and have posted some pics here for you to enjoy if you aren't near a rose garden. I also got some excellent ideas for future organic beads for Heart of Eden Beads so look for those, coming soon I hope!


The end of last week was so beautiful I spent most of it outside enjoying the temperatures in the 70's with clear blue skies and low humidity. At times I even had to pull on a sweatshirt to stay warm! Oh how I loved that. But On Saturday it took a turn, the mercury started climbing, yet was still bearable. But yesterday when I woke up I could feel the humidity creeping in. Saturday night my feet had swollen to almost half size, very uncomfortable! They went down and for that I am grateful but this coming week it is promising to be downright awful! High humidity and in the highest 90's into the 100's! I don't think I will be going out anywhere this week, nor firing any beads in the studio, there's enough high to combat with our two air-conditioners. I really can't go anywhere anyway as hubby's car died and I am left without one till we find another. But I will be working on some sketches for those beads, and will finish up some other projects that don't require much heat.


Yesterday was very hot but we went over to the park to watch the fireworks (the first time in 10 years I've been able to do this and it is only because Jazmine died last August, as we always had to stay home with her because she got so upset it would cause her to go into a seizure.) They were pretty good, we had great seats by the river and it was so cool there, and the sky was clear so I got to take for the first time with my digital camera some shots of fireworks. I love the ones that look like dandelions in the moonlight, I shall have to make some more dandelion beads.

Hope you had a great 4th! Stay cool this week!

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Mystery Monday Winner announced

I tried not to make this too hard. I looked around the house to see what would be interesting on a 'up close and personal' level. :) I took shots of lots of things but when it came down to choosing for last weeks Mystery Monday I guess our almost record breaking temperatures that day helped me to make the decision by thinking 'warm', 'tropical'.

On my dining room table sitting in a shallow teal square bowl were two pineapples I had purchased the night before at the Farmer's market. I got a great deal, Two for $4. They weren't quite ripe, which is good but would ripen in a few days. As they sat there ripening up from top to bottom I looked closely at them marveling at their very interesting pattern. This pattern is actually formed by the fruit of each flower of the pineapple. What we call a pineapple is actually a large conglomeration of dozens of these fruits. So what this past weeks Mystery Monday Photo was is a single fruit of a pineapple flower to be exact, but all who guessed pineapple were put into the drawing.

On this specific mystery photo you can see the green of the unripe part and the brown is the remains of the flower. I remember when we were in Hawaii and going to the Plantations of Pineapples there. There was one section that had Pineapples from around the world. They were each different. Some squatter, some thin, some were said to not have much flavor and some so tiny you could hold two or three in your hand side by side.

In the USA Pineapples have been a sign of hospitality since the Colonial times, long before Hawaii ever was even thought of joining the union of states. It can still be seen today in many decor items. It does have a regal look to it, standing tall with a good foundation, and its 'headdress' called a crown actually, of plumage in it's Bromeliceae type leaves.

In fact did you know that you can grow your own pineapple plant from the cut off top of one? Next time you buy a whole pineapple, give it a try. Go here for some simple instructions on how to grow your own from the crown you would usually toss out! Eventually it will sprout roots and can be moved to a pot with soil. It will love a warm, humid sunny spot in your home and if conditions are right one day you may see a stem growing up from the middle and a tiny pineapple appear!


Here's some fun facts about pineapples you may not know.

• *The enzyme bromelain in pineapple can be very medically important according to new findings. Bromelain is a kind of natural mixture of enzymes that help in reducing swelling and lessening of inflammation. This of course is helpful with diseases such as sinusitis, sore throats, arthritis, gout and may even help in recovery after surgery. For best results it is recommended to eat it between meals without any other food to interfere with the enzyme action. It is also included on the anti-inflammatory diet which if followed could help prevent numerous ailments and diseases such as heart disease, Alzheimer's and possibly cancer, along with Arthritis.
  

• Pineapples can be eaten raw, juiced or cooked even and still retain their texture and flavor.

• Pineapples are Fat and sodium free!

• Pineapples are pollinated not by bees but by my favorite bird, the Hummingbird.

• It gets its name from the Spanish for pine cone, 'Pina', now you know where the 'Pina' in your 'Pina Colada' comes from! We have this Spanish derived name because Christopher Columbus found them on the island of Guadalupe and brought them back to Spain.

• Hawaii is now the biggest producer of the Pineapple which was brought there from Spain, but they have their own word for it, "Hala kahiki", sounds even more tropical doesn't it?

• It takes about a year and a half to grow a pineapple so remember that and savor it next time you bite into one!

• Chunks can be added to onion pieces and bite sized pieces of chicken and grilled. They can also be added to certain stir-fries and many other dishes try Pineapple recipes here at Dole where you give them what you have on hand and they give you a recipe to make with it!.

One way I don't like them is with chicken and banana's. One day my husband found a recipe in the quarterly magazine we get from our local grocery store and he wanted to make it. Now he doesn't know enough about cooking to know when to follow the recipe and when to leave something out. The banana's certainly should have been left out! Keep cooking bananas for Banana bread or pancakes or muffins, not chicken!


So who is the winner and what did they win? Well since this mystery was a Pineapple I thought I'd stick with that theme. The prize is a gift card to the winners favorite Grocery Store (I'll send you a list of ones in my area where I can get one for you) so you can go get yourself some fresh tropical produce to help you out of the winter blues. And this set of Wine/drink Charms with, what else? Pineapples! And Palm trees! So for your next Luau you won't have to worry about finding perfect glasses, just dress up your everyday goblets with these! And one more thing, a mystery piece of art from yours truly!

And the Winner is.....................................................Steel Drum Roll please! :)

Lynn of UnaOdd! Congratulations Lynn. I will email you about your choice of store! And Congratulations for being on the Front Page of etsy too! 3-4pm EST Monday Feb1. With your great new snow flake ring!

REMEMBER! If you had a correct entry in this Mystery Monday giveaway and did not win and you play next week that entry will be added to the other entries even if you don't guess right next week so be sure to play the next round, posted later today!

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