Our spice bush abounds
far more than I realized
good harvest come fall
Cori MacNaughton
I'm posting this one a tad late because I had a lovely date night with Marek, and we went to see "Ready Player One" in 3D,because we both LOVED the book, and were really hopeful that the film would be handled well.
And the film is pure Speilberg, one heck of a fun, wild ride, even though the first half hour or so has virtually nothing to do with what actually happened in the book, and many of the really important things that did happen in the book are left out completely. Other important things are kept in, albeit in abbreviated form, or changed until they are almost unrecognizable.
So would I recommend the film? Yes. And no.
If you're a purist, and want the book and its story to be treated with the utmost respect, you'll probably hat the film, and would be better off re-reading it and waiting for the film to come on cable, or not bothering at all.
On the other hand, if you're willing to not only suspend reality, but also any expectation that the film will actually have anything to do with the book, then you'll probably have a good time, even though you'll be calling "bullshit, bullshit, bullshit" on a high percentage of the pivotal scenes.
Still,an enjoyable ride, I loved the casting, and the scene where "Chucky" appears I nearly choked to death trying not to bust out laughing out loud.
Though, in truth, we saw it in Cookeville, so no worries. On Saturday night, the 10:00 showing, there were literally ten people in the theatre - including us. Yes, really. So, if nothing else, we know who our fellow geeks are. ;-)
So, back to spice bush, a couple of years after we bought our place, a friend I met on eBay of all places, visited us on our place, when she and her husband delivered our first "guest goats" to help us clear out our barnyard, which worked for them as well, since they didn't need to feed them for the duration.
And, while we were walking our place, she immediately noticed some spice bush at the edge of the woods behind our main house, and commented that she wished she had spice bush on her land, because it was an indicator of really good soil. So, from the beginning, I was pleased to know we had it here.
When I started researching it, I discovered that spice bush was one of the species introduced to European settlers by Native Americans, who used the leaves of spice bush to make an excellent tea. The fruit, a small oval red berry when ripe, they used as two separate spices, separating the seed from its soft red covering, drying both, and adding them to other foods either in whole or powdered form.
Walking around the place in the fall, I tend to scrape off the fleshy part with my teeth and save the seeds to plant, but the seeds are good as well, even when fresh. But then I like really spicy foods, so it may be an acquired taste,but as "spicy" goes, they're actually quite mild. And quite tasty.
In the past ten days or so, I checked out our known spice bushes, so that I would recognize their blooms, since I hadn't really checked them out much in spring.
And I was surprised to discover that, not only are our known bushes literally covered with blooms, but that we have several times the number of bushes close to the house as i thought, not to mention a large number between the main house and the studio.
In fact, I've been watching two small bushes next to the front porch of the studio, because I didn't want to cut them down before I knew what they were, and lo and behold they both turned out to be spice bush. So one bush we will maintain where it is, but the second we will remove and plant in a better location, because they are too close together for both to bear well. But, clearly, that means our soil is excellent there as well. ;-)
And, in the meantime, we seriously need to do in (read: there may be flame throwers involved) as much of the poison ivy that is growing all over our barnyard and around the studio as possible, so we can keep the number of new seeds down to a dull roar, and slowly take back our place from the dark side.
And I would love to hear your take in the comments.
I Dance Toward My Blessed Death – Original Poetry
Our Black and White Hope – Day 82 – Daily Haiku
Marek, My Best Friend – Day 81 – Daily Haiku
Sorting Through Receipts – Day 80 – Daily Haiku
Forms of Life – Jean-Luc Ponty – Jazz That Changed Me, part 2
Once a Blue Planet – Jean-Luc Ponty – Jazz That Changed Me
Black and White Kitty
Hickory Syrup – Day 78 – Daily Haiku
Rural Internet – Day 77 – Daily Haiku
Birds Singing Brightly – Day 76 – Daily Haiku
If you feel my posts are undervalued, and/or you want to
donate to tip me, I would appreciate it very much.
In the process, you will be helping our small organic farm to operate,
to help others, and to feed and house all our animals better. Thank you!
Bitcoin (BTC) – 37Z9UabFyygFYXMoChifdCkyFgPJtKwXRj
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) – qq5p7dkr9239u6fer98lyc3cjvhcwcggzuxyde9mjp
Ethereum (ETH) - 0x731e363a4e6C680D47aFA63e4620342964a9d0Fb
LiteCoin (LTC) – MprMcJSAXKvtBouDQRSSk85qbms8ak3xDY
The following are a few affiliate links, to companies we really
believe in, that will further help us to operate, to help others,
and to care for and feed our animals.
If you have any interest in becoming affiliated with these companies,
which may bring you additional income, please contact me,
and perhaps we can work together!
Dr. Al Sears, well known anti-aging doctor, with his first-class
line of supplements that actually work:
https://primalforce.net/?aff=1893
Melaleuca, a company that has been making natural, eco-friendly
products since the 1980s, that not only work as well as
chemically laden versions from the supermarket,
but are safer, and typically save money overall in addition.
I was introduced to them by a co-worker in 1990, lost track
of them, and was thrilled to find them again about a year
and a half ago. I strongly recommend their products.
http://www.melaleuca.com/corimacnaughton
Prime My Body offers a nanoenhanced hemp-based CBD oil
that is legal in all 50 United States, and clinically proven to be
absorbed 3X better than the leading pharmaceutical brand.
I have used it on myself and my animals with excellent results.
https://Crescendo.primemybody.com
If you are interested in becoming an affiliate yourself,
check out this link:
https://enrollpmb.com/Crescendo
All words and images are my own. The photos of the spice bush on our place, although taken in the fall of mature berries, were taken by me, likely with my old Blackberry semi-Smartphone. I do have more recent photos of the blossoms, but couldn't find them tonight, but I'll post them hopefully tomorrow.
The photo of our dog, Lolo, and our late cat, Miod, I took as they were cooperatively begging at the dinner table, despite our longstanding rule of not feeding them from the table.
You can see how much that deterred them both.
Resteeming is welcome, you may link to my post from your own website or blog, and you may use excerpts and/or images as long as you credit me, and link back to this post.
Please ask for permission, before using my work otherwise, as all rights are reserved.