Author: Morgan G

My girlfriends, my compatriots, are a lovely bunch – adventuresome, accomplished, creative and thoughtful; probably a lot like yours. And, like you, I depend on them for support, laughs and inspiration. In the midst of birthing babies and businesses, splitting up and hitching up and surviving this altogether queasy economic ride, sustaining friendships is more important than ever.

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Lately I’ve been mulling what fresh form a consistent, low-cost and pressure-free opportunity to gather and share mutual awesomeness might take. For my answer, I turned to the French. Oui, mon amie, the French. The form is the French salon, and I am proposing a revival. (To be fair, the Italians came up the concept, but the French took it to a whole new level.)

sa-lon (se-lon)

a regular gathering of distinguished guests, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine the taste and increase their knowledge of the participants through conversation

Réunion de dames. A. Bosse.

I am drawn to everything about the salon – the history, the intent, the distinguished guests, the idea of dedicating a space in the home to a social practice – but, more than anything – I love that the salon can be an incubator for sustainable living. Ne comprenez pas? It can! Sustainability solutions should give equal consideration to economic, environmental and societal factors. While it’s obvious how regularly hosting friends and would-be friends in one’s home can increase social capital, the economic and environmental elements require a slant. My spin on the salon would be that, instead of reciting poetry or playing music at each gathering, one member of the group would share a DIY talent that translates into a cost-saving and/or earth-loving practice in the home. Such as?

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Such as jamming, concocting homemade vanilla extract, seed sprouting, lavender satchel making, etc. I’m still surprised by the hidden talents of my friends and I think le salon is le forum to celebrate them. And you? What do you think about the concept? Would you go to or host a salon? Take a look at these modern salon-style spaces for inspiration!

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One day last week hubs calls me out to the yard insisting that I “really need to see something” before “he gets rid of it”. Boys really know how to sell potentially scary/gross sights, right? I found him, arms folded, standing in front of my favorite planter box – that half wine barrel that houses our two tomatillo plants. He pointed. At what? I didn’t know. “Lean over,” he said. And I did and…I still didn’t see anything. “There,” he pointed. Oh me, oh my. He showed me my first tomato worm.

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This time last year I had one garden wish and one garden wish alone – a birdhouse. Sad to say, I never made it happen – but! – the universe made it up to me this spring because, at work, we have enjoyed not one, not two, but three little bird families in residence.

There’s something kinda wonderful about human built birdhouses. Though their own nests suffice quite well, I find it magical that birds will happily shack up in a human offering that resembles a human dwelling. Maybe it’s only the lazy or opportunistic or procrastinating individuals of the species that do this, but they do indeed! Case(s) in point – we had a family in each of our houses. The kids have since left the nest, so I took a few close-up shots of the now-abandoned homes.

I also thought it’d been fun to take a porch perspective of each. That’s the view that follows.

My personal favorite of these is the White & Brown House – very shabby chic, right?  If last summer’s wish comes true this year, though, and I do get a birdhouse in my own garden, I might have to get one of these:

A natural-looking abode for the bird who is truly one with, er, nature. Available at curios-n-gifts.com.

A bright, bulbous (more square inch-age, right?) home for the minimalist bird with a sense of humor. Featured at iainclaridge.co.uk.

A metal nest for self-deprecating birds who believe they deserve solitary confinement. Check it out at tomdukich.com.

For the Mr. and Mrs. Bird who have something to prove. Gotta have it? Go to yardenvy.com.

Ah, I could go on and on. But enough, I need to make a decision and your input to do so. Which should the hubs and I buy?

Thank you to Linsi and David for the monthly real estate. Love working with you guys! mg

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Hubs hasn’t been making much coffee around the house, which means I’ve been short on one of my key ingredients for homemade body scrubs – coffee grounds. Like most shortages – cash, a decent outfit to wear, toilet paper – this lack of grounds forced me to get creative. Naturally, I headed outside.

First, I snapped up two sprigs of lavender from the yard. As we all know, lavender smells great.  The flowers produce a natural oil that has a calming effect both physically and psychologically – bonus! Haphazardly, I pulled the sprigs apart, flower and stalk and left them in a teacup. As you go through this process, you’ll feel the lavender oil on your fingertips – double bonus! When I was done pulling apart the sprigs, I probably had a tablespoon and a half of lavender bits.

Next, I headed back indoors in search of my gritty substance. A tub of Quaker Oats rose to the occasion. Gentle, but exfoliating, the oats also have absorbing properties meaning they would readily accept whatever binder I chose.  Now, I like gritty exfoliants so, if I had my druthers, I would’ve had steel cut oats on hand. While the steel cut oats would make for a deeper exfoliation, they wouldn’t take to the binder as well as the Quaker Oats. How much did I use? Oh, just about a healthy handful. It’s not a precise science.

Now, what to use to bring the mix together (binding, as I call it)? Depending on your skin type, there’s options here. I have dry skin. Even in summer, I can wake up to a flaky chin or scaly arms. For that reason I chose grapeseed oil as my binder. Just a teaspoon or so will do the trick. If you have oily skin, especially if you plan on using this on your face, DO NOT use grapeseed oil! You may break out or slip right out of the tub and crack a tooth or something. In either case, our friendship would be over fast. Instead, choose a couple tablespoons of honey. Yes, it will be sticky, and you’ll have to do a nice rinse in the shower, but it won’t make you über oily and it will moisturize nicely.

I’ve found the best way to apply exfoliators is in the shower or tub prior to turning on the faucet. Stand in the shower and scrub, then follow up with a warm, steamy shower. Ahhhh. Hope you enjoy!

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Buttah.

In certain situations – okay, a lot of situations, a pat of butter can make all the difference.   Case(s) in point:

On a fresh-from-the-grill ear of corn.

On a piping hot baked potato.

On a perfectly toasted slice of hearty bread.

On a heap of steamed broccoli.

On a stack of blueberry pancakes.

And so on and so forth.

Butter certainly pulls its weight around the kitchen. Every now and then I like to return the favor by dressing a stick of unsalted butter up in something sweet or savory. It’s a really simple trick and you can probably pull it off with items you have in your cupboards right now.

For sweet butter, any of the following will work: cinnamon, honey, maple syrup, brown sugar, cloves

For a savory spread, opt for: garlic, chives, thyme, basil, dill, cheddar cheese

Making a flavored butter stick is done the same way with any of the ingredients above. As for me, I’m whipping up cinnamon-honey butter here.

First…place a stick of softened, unsalted butter in a bowl and mix with ingredients of your choice and stir.

Second…Transfer the butter mix onto a sheet of wax paper. Fold an edge over the butter and roll into a log.

Third…Give the ends of the wax paper a twist to seal. The result looks like a log-like piece of taffy. Place the log into the fridge and seal for an hour or more before using.

Your new and improved butter stick will look something like this –

Slice into it and spread it on a slice of toast, pancakes, a scone, an english muffin, a crumpet or teacake – whatever you’ve got handy. Now, say it with me. Mmmm. Buttah.

…and many thanks to Linsi for having me “over” this week! Much Gratitude, MG.

Find more of Morgan’s great recipes, tips and ideas on home and garden on her blog Grounded.  And find her every third Wednesday here!

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