#thread: blackberry jelly

[coalitionheroes]

    ❝Dude, I get that you’re worried about Keith and Allura being out there by themselves... but Keith’s a pretty good pilot. If anything happens, I’m sure they’ll be fine!❞

@leaderchosen ( Shiro )

[hydra-collector]

Jam

AO3

Ship: Loceit

Characters: Logan Sanders, Janus Sanders, Roman and Virgil briefly mentioned

TW: self-harm, eating disorders (sort of), food, overworking, body negativity

Words: 1773

Summary: Jam is a bit of a comfort to Logan, no matter how stupid it feels. And God, does he need comfort.

Note: College AU

~~

Logan stared into the blue light of his computer, eyes heavy and head aching. The bright LED of the kitchen wasn’t helping, but he forced himself to stay due to Janus sleeping soundly in their bedroom. If his boyfriend knew he was up this late, he would surely force him back into bed, Logan’s work left unfinished.

He was trying. He really was. But he’d barely made any progress after… how many hours has it been?

He glanced to the clock on the bottom right of his computer. Three.

Logan sighed, resting his head on the table instead, stomach growling. He often spent nights like this, hungry and tired, refusing to eat under the guise of not wanting to go to sleep while digesting. That excuse barely held anymore, though, due to the fact that he kept his dinners lighter than breakfasts, and was often up for, well, three or more hours later each night. So he grew hungry quick, and he used to opt for the easy option of jam and bread. But he couldn’t be gorging himself in the middle of the night like that anymore, or really any time of day.

Come to think of it, he hadn’t had a jar of Crofter’s in a long while.

That was fine. It was unnecessary, and more expensive than other brands. Plus, jam wasn’t really the best filler for the fruit in his diet. And he wasn’t keeping up with healthy eating habits much anymore anyway.

It was fine. He needed to lose weight after all.

He squeezed his eyes shut at the twinge of guilt bubbling up in his chest. He would give anything for Janus’s help, but the thought of telling his boyfriend that he’s worried about something that isn’t even that serious terrified him. It wasn’t difficult to eat, he just did less of it. He needed to, that wasn’t unhealthy.

It was fine.

He sighed again, headache finally starting to recede as his eyes were shut tight on his arms. He knew this wasn’t healthy. He tracked every action he took, and he knew he wasn’t healthy, physically or emotionally. He knew exactly which advice to give to someone going through the exact same things, performing the exact same self-destructive tendencies.

So why couldn’t he apply that knowledge to himself?

Even right now he was writing a paper on psychology, you’d think he knew enough not to live his life like he was a depressed preteen.

Nothing was ever good enough for his own standards. Not his work, not his body, and not Crofter’s.

Why the hell did he care so much about a jelly brand?

He groaned, kicking his legs and pounding the table like a six year old throwing a tantrum. He lifted his head up to lean back in the chair, suddenly reminded why he buried it in his arms in the first place.

“Lo?”

He jumped at the sound, shutting his computer screen, more due to impulse than to rational thought. Janus would have already realized what he was doing, there was nothing to avoid it.

His boyfriend ambled in his direction, pale nightgown swishing around his ankles.

“It’s one in the morning, love.”

Janus pulled up a chair beside him, the sound cutting through the peaceful quiet of the night. Logan couldn’t help but tense at the arm snaking around his back, Janus’s forearm pressing against his belly fat. Soon, though, he relaxed into the touch, letting his eyes close for another moment.

“How often have you been doing this?”

“...Not too often.”

Janus nuzzled his head into Logan’s hair. “I know you’re lying. You wake up late and exhausted every morning.”

Logan sighed, nodding slightly. There was no point in trying to further his lie, he hated himself enough as it is, he didn’t need Janus hating him too.

“You wanna talk about it?”

Logan pulled his head off of Janus’s shoulder, slumping down in the chair to look up at him with tired eyes.

“What?”

Janus threaded his fingers through Logan’s hair, looking down with a soft, worried expression. “How your daily routines are borderlining on self-harm.”

Logan nearly felt himself choke at the term. It was everything he’d tried to avoid, everything he tried to convince himself he was not.

“I’m not- I don’t-”

Janus sighed. “You eat half your meals, you pinch or punch yourself when you get frustrated, and you refuse every offer to socialize you’re given while you isolate yourself with your work, all while beating yourself up over it.”

“Janus, I have to get my work done. I don’t have time to ‘hang out’ with people, that’s why I’m up at one in the morning trying to finish this. Imagine how it would be if I had wasted two hours of that with Roman or Virgil? And I don’t intentionally punch myself, I just need something to vent my frustration onto, and since everyone else gets frustrated if I slam a door or mutilate some random object, I don’t have many options but myself. I always regret it afterwards, it’s not like I want to keep doing it. And I realized I’m not at the ideal weight, so I cut down on some of the unhealthy things-”

“It’s not just the unhealthy things, Lo, you know that too. You’ve done your research on weight statistics and how societal norms set an unattainable goal, you don’t need to do this. You don’t even eat Crofter’s anymore.”

“I don’t need Crofter’s. It’s stupid, it’s just a jam.”

“It might be just a jam, but it’s still important to you. I know how you’ve eaten that stuff during the best and worst times of your life, how attached you are to it. It’s your comfort. And it’s okay to have little comforts. It’s okay to have ‘stupid’ comforts. It’s okay to feel bad about them. Things don’t need a reason for making you happy. You’re pushing out everything else that makes you happy right now, why not let yourself have one thing?”

Logan looked up at Janus. “Happiness is the most distracting thing. I don’t need it now, not when I have so much to do.”

Janus laughed, the sound breaking the quiet.

“I think that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard you say. We’re going to CVS.”

Janus grabbed him by the wrist, putting on a coat and shoes as they stumbled out the door. He remembered his wallet and keys, stuffing them in his coat pocket.

“Wait- Janus, I can’t-”

He didn’t have much of a choice as he was dragged out into the cool night- morning air. Janus pulled him into the car, turning the key quick and driving off into the dark.

“So why are we going to CVS in our pajamas?”

“To get you Crofter’s.”

“Janus, can’t that wait until tomorrow-”

“You won’t come tomorrow. I have to bring you when you’re tired and helpless, so you won’t resist.”

“So you’re kidnapping me?”

“I wouldn’t phrase it like that…”

Despite the irritation caused by his boyfriend, Logan smiled. It was rare that he believed, or really even let himself hope, that he was loved. And now that Janus had decided to throw all plans of sleeping out the figurative window just to get him something he liked… it was a bit easier to consider.

He was reminded of his hunger as his stomach growled in pain, not just hungry but deprived of food for the previous day as well. He looked out the window, streetlights passing by as they drove.

“We’re here.”

“Hm?”

Logan opened his eyes, not knowing when he’d closed them. He was scrunched up against the door in an unadvised position. He might as well have not been wearing a seatbelt at all, based on the way he was sitting.

He was snapped back to reality when Janus brushed his hand.

“You’re very cute, love, but you do have to get out of the car.”

Logan did so, suddenly wishing that he’d worn more than his pajamas as his skin met cold air, as well as realizing that anyone out could see him in such unprofessional clothes. He seemed to have forgotten in his sleep deprived state. Hopefully the cashier wouldn’t remember them from this outing.

Janus laced their fingers together, pulling him closer as they approached the 24-hour store.

The inside was warmer than the shockingly cool air of the night. The lights inside were tinted blue, reminiscent of his bright computer screen. Janus led him through the aisles, finding the jam fairly quickly.

“Take your pick.”

They didn’t have too many flavors here; they were lucky that they sold the brand at all. Logan sighed.

“This feels stupid.”

“There’s nothing stupid about it. Now come on, just choose a jar.”

He sighed again, but with a smile this time, picking up a jar of blackberry. Janus didn’t let go of his hand the entire time as they paid, Logan leaning into Janus’s touch as they left.

They arrived home soon, the exhaustion finally setting in Logan’s body. Janus held him by the waist, guiding him inside to sit back down at the table. He took Logan’s computer away, likely to their room, before returning. Logan sat there, head on his arms, just staring at the jar.

“Do you want toast?” Janus asked, hanging his coat back up before returning to Logan.

Logan kept staring. “No. Just a spoon.”

Janus got him one, handing it across the table as he sat down. Logan opened it, beginning to hungrily shovel the jam into his mouth. Janus just sat there, waiting for him to finish.

He paused halfway through, slumping back and setting his jam down, spoon still sitting in it.

“This is stupid. I’m a grown man sitting in the kitchen at two in the morning with my boyfriend eating an entire jar of jam because I’m insecure.”

“Is there something wrong with that?”

Logan looked back down at his jam. “I guess not. It just feels stupid.”

“Like I said, it’s your comfort. It’s not stupid to have comforts, plus you’re a fan of consistency. Crofter’s is something that you keep consistent. Now eat your jam.”

Logan smiled softly, leaning back down to finish his jar. He did so messily, not bothering to stand up and get a napkin when he was finished. Janus stood to get it himself, tilting Logan’s head up to dab at the sweet substance. He then placed a quick kiss on Logan’s lips, tugging him up by the collar of his pajamas. He stood, leaning against his boyfriend as they made their way to bed.

[howdoyousleep3]

Hi Miss K! I am here to put in a request: I hope you like it. Been having a hard time recently, health-wise, and your writing always makes me happy. I can't stop thinking about Stucky living in a cabin in a forest somewhere, all cozy, where magically there is enough sun for Bucky to grow a veggie garden. They can food and Steve likes to quilt when he isn't painting. Farmer daddy/baby vibes! Maybe this IS farmer daddy au, idk. Just thought maybe you'd like to write cabincore!Stucky. Love u ma'am!

Oh bug are you in for a treat. 

I read this and immediately felt certain people come to mind! So of course I naturally asked them to help me out in answering this with some random thoughts so! @hanitrash​, @trekchik​, and @cantabile-l​ have helped me answer this BEAUTIFUL Ask! 

They're 20 minutes from the nearest town, which is still small, maybe 3k people, tops. 

Steve bitches about not being able to find the right threads for his quilting, or the right yellow for his painting. 

Bucky has an ongoing feud with a rabbit that keeps eating his vegetables. 

They both thoroughly enjoy foraging for wild mushrooms and learning how to cook with wild plants.

Omg. The zucchini. Bucky has no clue and plants too many (which is really, really easy to do) and there is. SO. MUCH. ZUCCHINI. 

They eat it every meal for about two weeks straight and Bucky vows to never grow it again. Fried zucchini chips. Zucchini bread. Roasted zucchini. It's everywhere.

Don't forget the spiralizer/veggie sheet cutter for zoodles and zucchini-wrapped lasagna rolls.

They discover they like hot peppers and they make pickled eggs with hot peppers grown in the garden. Pickled cherry peppers. Pepper relish. 

There's wild berry bushes and they make blackberry and raspberry jelly and omg Bucky making jellies is tugging at my heartstrings

He gets those strawberry pots and one year finally manages to grow enough strawberries to make jelly and he’s just so goddamn tickled Steve can’t help but kiss at Bucky’s cheeks every time Bucky grins as he slathers a piece of toast or a biscuit in the preserves he’s proud of

Bucky starts doing woodworking, wants to find some sort of creative or artistic hobby to get him through the winter like Steve has. He scavenges logs and branches and shit and makes like, birdhouses and whittles little figurines and shit.

Oh my god can you imagine Bucky complaining about the rabbit and Steve's like, “I mean I've got some rope I could set some traps... Always wanted to try some rabbit stew...”

And Bucky is HORRIFIED

Goes away with a huff and won't speak to Steve for several hours because that is unspeakable animal CRUELTY.  Steve's just like ??? “But... You were just ready to kill the rabbit... You legit said those exact words...”

“But not actually!! Bucky yells from outside.

We love this, Nonnie! I love it because I grew up on a farm and living in a cottage in the forest, living off the land with my chickens, is the dream for me. Living my best Lumberjack AU over here lmao. Thank you for sending this in! It was a delight! 😘😘😘

[dvstbvnnies]

I rly wanna do like a post about what my muses smell like all the time so y’all (and I) can have a reference of what they smell like in threads lol.

—————

Lucia: her shampoo/conditioner is really light, but kinda floral scented. lemony/orangey body wash, Perfume is very citrusy.

Ivy: pear shampoo/conditioner, dove body wash, vanilla lotion, Light floral perfume

Jenna: do u guys know the smell of kenra shampoo/conditioner bc that’s it, and then like a really like cedar/lavender smelling perfume

Alfie: he uses a 2in1 shampoo and conditioner bc he is a MESS of a white man, and idk probably dove bar soap bc his mom went to Costco

Maya: teenage maya probably uses like herbal essences honey shampoo and coconut milk conditioner, and like the cheapest citrusy body wash from the drugstore. Whereas adult Maya buys like Biolage shampoo and conditioner and like the Twilight shower jelly from Lush

Norah: Honey I Washed My Hair shampoo bar & Happy Happy Joy Joy conditioner, Dream Cream body lotion (all from Lush), and then like a nice orangey, vanilla-y, almond-y perfume

Casey: coconut shampoo and conditioner, blueberry bar soap, vanilla lotion

Luna: lavender shampoo & conditioner, The Olive Branch Lush shower gel, lemon/citrusy lotion, cedar & bergamot perfume

Nova: Paul Mitchell Lavendar Mint cleansing conditioner, jojoba oil, and catch Nova wearing that FANCY Burberry For Women perfume

Addison: biolage shampoo & conditioner, some handmade cranberry bar soap, rosemary mint lotion, and tocca Stella perfume (this is my fave perfume but it’s so spendy so I have the same bottle my parents gave me Christmas I’ve had for 2 years lmfaoooooo)

Arthur: he is a man of taste™ so he uses redken clear moisture hydrating shampoo but no conditioner, BUT! He uses Ouai leave-in conditioner which is like “this beautiful floral fragrance contains notes of Bergamot, Italian Lemon, Rose De Mai, Magnolia, Lily, Blackberry, Violet, Cedarwood, Amber, Patchouli, Sandalwood, and White Musk.” And then he is a dumbass who uses like the cheapest lotion available at the drugstore and then he’s not a fan of cologne rly

Charlie: Aveda cherry almond shampoo & conditioner, some handmade rose soap, Marc Jacobs Daisy Dream perfume

Dante: he’s a TUFF GUY who uses rly stupid products. 3n1 tea tree shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. Then some kind of hair pomade and literally tresemme hairspray (it’s what his momma Charlie uses uwu)

Lara: biolage shampoo (can y’all tell this is my fave yet?) & It’s A 10 miracle deep conditioner, Shea butter, Lara using that Versace Eros Pour Femme perfume 😤😤😤 the perfume is “a sensual and addictive floral, fruity, and woody fragrance”

Mandy: Shea butter & hibiscus shampoo and conditioner, Happy Hippy Lush shower gel, Karma Kream Lush body lotion

[spoonie-living]

Reminder: Jell-o Counts as a Fluid

Did you know this? Here’s some more info, reposted with permission from @fuckingrecipes​‘ part in a long thread (original post here):

I’d like to remind everyone that Jell-o counts as a fluid. 

That is, many doctors prescript Jell-o, and Gelatin treats to children and adults who, for whatever reason, have trouble keeping hydrated. Maybe they have jaw issues. Maybe dementia, or they are on a fluid-only diet and drinking broth for weeks is mind-boggling boring.

Jell-o brand in particular has a lot of sugar added to the packets, however it’s quite straightforward to buy plain gelatin and make low-sugar jelly blobs to snack on for that sweet fruit-pop of hydration.

Soo~ Here we goooo~

2 cups juice – Orange juice, grape juice, whatever you want. Fuck, you could even use your favorite blend of tea, or coffee (though coffee, in my experience, needs a little more gelatin to set properly)

Low heat until juice is hot, but before it starts to boil – once you see a bit of bubbles rising, add 2 tablespoons gelatin, and stir gelatin into hot juice until totally dissolved.

Turn off heat

Add another cup and a half of juice (or whatever), stir for another minute or so, then pour into a mold.

You could pour it into ice cube trays, a Tupperware container, or any sort of silicone candy mold.

Cover it, stick in the fridge overnight, and viola~

Bite-sized taste snacks, full of water.

Gelatin is broken down very easily and put to use once in your gut, so it’s fine to eat loads of it, and otherwise you’re just taking mouthfuls of juice… or tea or whatever.

If you want it a bit more sweet, feel free to add sugar or honey to your hot juice… or hot…whatever…

I was pondering about the guy’s electrolytes worked and now I’m paralyzed with the idea of turning Gatorade into jell-o.

[Someone reblogged to remind folks not to use pineapple juice, as the enzymes break gelatin down]

Right on, forgot about that! Kiwi, Pineapple, Figs, Ginger, Guava, and Papaya have an enzyme that flips the bird to gelatin.

Apple, Grape, Strawberries, Orange, Cherries, Blueberries, Blackberries, Lemons, Peaches, Raspberries, and Cranberries all make great gelatin snacks, though.

ETA: a couple of folks have pointed out that there are some plant-based, vegan alternatives to gelatin out there!

@JackIronsides notes: “agar agar makes a vegan jelly. It’s a firmer set than gelatine, but it also sets at a higher temperature and doesn’t need to be chilled to get firm.”

[nellygwyn]

Good books I’ve read recently: 

The First Iron Lady: The Life of Caroline of Ansbach by Matthew Dennison - A non fiction biography about Caroline of Ansbach, the wife and queen consort of King George II of Great Britain. Caroline was politically astute, a patron of the arts and of science, an Enlightenment princess, an Anglophile, and a model wife, mother and queen. 

Margaret the First by Danielle Dutton - This is a novel about Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle, who was a philosopher, poet, playwright, novelist AND scientist of the English Restoration era. She wrote one of the earliest examples of science fiction, ‘The Blazing World,’ in 1666, and was the first woman to attend a meeting at the Royal Society in 1667. 

The Poison Bed by E.C. Fremantle - This murder mystery is set in the early 1600s, during the reign of King James I of England. It follows Robert Carr, one of King James I’s lovers, and Carr’s current infatuation and eventual wife, Frances Howard. In real life, Robert and Frances were both convicted of murdering Robert’s old friend, Sir. Thomas Overbury, via poisoned cakes and jellies, whilst Overbury was imprisoned in the Tower. This story sets out the tale of that gruesome murder from both Robert and Frances’s perspective, as well as breaking down the factional politics of the Jacobean age, and embracing the unreliable narrator. 

Blackberry and Wild Rose by Sonia Velton - Set in Georgian London, this book follows two protagonists from wildly different worlds who find themselves entangled. Sara Kemp is a sex worker, under the thumb of a tyrannical madam. Esther Thorel is the wife of a respectable, but unaffectionate, Huguenot master silk weaver. Esther’s charitable impulse leads her to offer Sara a way out of her trade, after she witnesses Sara being humiliated by her madam in the street. Sara takes her up on the offer after an unnerving encounter with a client and seeing her madam’s terrifying disinterest, but Sara is sceptical as to whether working as a lady’s maid for Esther will be any less of a drudgery than working as a sex worker. Their tale becomes even more precarious, as Sara becomes frustrated with the hypocrisy of the genteel and falls for the firebrand leader of a disillusioned group of weavers and weavers’ apprentices. They want to demand better pay from their masters by any means necessary and their dissatisfaction is about to reach boiling point. Esther, on the other hand, tries to pursue her dream of designing silks and proving herself to her unfeeling husband, and in doing so, she begins an intimacy with one of her husband’s most talented apprentices. 

The Corset by Laura Purcell - This was not as brilliantly terrifying as Purcell’s The Silent Companions but it was still deeply unnerving. Set in Victorian England, we follow middle class phrenology enthusiast, Dorothea Truelove, a rather eccentric young woman, deeply dedicated to her Roman Catholicism (much to the annoyance of her father) and who visits the local woman’s prison, both to indulge her penchant for charitable giving and to feel the inmates skulls so as to prove her theories about the mind of a criminal. There, she meets a teenage seamstress and murderess, Ruth Butterham, who is accused of killing her mistress, slowly and painfully. As Ruth recounts her oft-horrifying story, Dorothea will question everything she has ever accepted and decide whether Ruth, who says her wrongdoings stem from some evil power that lives inside her sewing needle, is a) a guilty lying monster, unhinged by her trauma, b) completely innocent of the crime to which she confessed, or c) truly possessed by some supernatural entity that only reveals itself when she sets needle to thread.

Murder Most Unladlylike by Robin Stevens - This is the first book in a series for younger readers. Set at a girls boarding school in 1930s England, the (Chinese!) protagonist, Hazel Wong, comes across the body of the school’s science mistress in the gym, only to discover, to her horror, that it has disappeared 5 minutes later. She and the rest of the Deepdean School for Girls Detective Agency now have to hunt for a murderer and, more importantly, prove that one actually happened in the first place. The Audible audiobooks of this series are read by Gemma Chan!

[ragchaser]

Day74: rorita cookie

Gender: girl

Pet: stitched together bear and cat plush

Phrases:

'Im not mad,its just how my bangs are.'

'Im more of a blue,purple kind of girl'

'Please dont touch stitch'

'Boo'

Relationships:

Lolita- sister

Widow- mom

BlackBerry- best friends

Roll cake- loathes

Personality:

Despite how she looks, she very nice. Unless you're roll cake cookie, than she'll try and kill, hes the reason that stitched exists. Which is a combination of a bear and cat.

Power:

Occasionally takes out a thread and needle and throws it, stringing jellies along

Pet power:

At given intervals, they will transform into a giant beast and destroys obstacles in its wake

Candy power:

Places random pieces of patch work throughout the level and when five are collected a doll is made, by the end of the run the amount of dolls made are added to the points

[beautyduniya11]

10 Natural Home Remedies for Dark Lips - Beauty Duniya

But keep in mind that no one shade or colour is better or healthier than another. However, the colour of your lips may often mean that they need additional care and attention. Discoloration or pigmentation of the skin on your lips refers to a difference in your lips’ appearance. This condition may arise as a result of both medical and lifestyle factors. In this post, you will learn about some of the potential causes of dark lips, as well as how to lighten your dark lips naturally.

In this thread, we will discuss how to get rid of dark lips and the remedy for dark lips. 

What Causes Dark Lips?

Dryness–  Lips look great when they’re moisturized, but they lose moisture quickly because their skin is still open. Smokers, mouth breathers, and people who lick their lips constantly are the most likely to experience dry lips. Cold and windy weather dries out the lips as well. Dead skin, darkness, and dark spots appear on the lips as a result of this. These are some of the most common causes of dark lips.

Lifestyle and Habits- Another factor that may leave a smudge on the lips is one’s lifestyle. Lip discoloration may be caused by smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, or the use of drugs daily. Dehydration also targets the most delicate areas of the skin, such as the lips and face

Cosmetics- The use of cosmetics is one of the causes of dark lips. Some lip care cosmetics contain a high concentration of chemicals that can irritate and discolour the lips’ delicate skin.

Sun Exposure- Since the constant sun rays can burn the skin of both the lips and the face, excessive sun exposure can result in discoloured dark lips. The UV rays in sunlight cause melanin deposition, with the most susceptible skin areas being the most affected.

Anaemia– anemia occurs when the oxygen-carrying compound, hemoglobin, is insufficient. Hemoglobin is responsible for giving blood its red colour, and a lack of it can cause discoloration. 

1. Lemon

Lemon has long been used to treat dark and patchy skin, and it’s no different for lips. Its bleaching abilities are highly beneficial. It is one of the best ways to get rid of dark lips. You may use lemon in the following ways:

By itself before going to bed

With glycerine and massage

Massaged with honey

Sugar and massaging

 2. Rose

Rose is a gift from nature. It has a stunning appearance as well as incredible assets. It can be used for soothing, colouring, moisturizing, and cooling purposes. Rose can be combined with the following ingredients:

Honey, which should be mixed thoroughly and massaged repeatedly.

Make a paste with butter and massage it’s in.

Make a paste out of milk cream and rub it in.

Make a paste with cream and saffron, rub it in, and use it as a lip balm.

4. Sugar

Exfoliation is a vital step in maintaining healthy lips, and sugar is a crucial ingredient that can be combined with various other ingredients for scrubbing and exfoliation. It will naturally moisturize lips while also acting as a cleanser, removing dead skin cells. Sugar can be used on your lips in combination with:

Butter to make a paste and clean for a natural shine.

Honey and almond oil.

5. Beetroot

Everybody is familiar with the benefits of beetroot. It gives your lips a natural pink tint while also lightening them, thanks to its excellent bleaching properties. For best results, use it fresh and pure or as a juice regularly. For faster results, combine it with carrot juice and rub it into your tingling lips regularly.

6. Pomegranate

Pomegranate has long been known for its medicinal properties. It effectively provides a brighter hue, moisturization, and a natural pink tint when it comes to nourishing lips. It can be used with:

Milk cream and rosewater, crushed and mixed into a paste. For excellent results, apply the same and clean thoroughly.Juice from beets and carrots After 10-15 minutes of use, rinse it off with lukewarm water.

 7. Cucumber

Cucumber salad is referred to as a parlor salad. It has been cooling and nourishing so many beautiful things all over the world for a long time. It even brightens the skin and lips. For best performance, gently rub it on your lips and do it daily.

8. Berries

Berries such as raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, and others contain essential minerals and vitamins essential for maintaining safe and vibrant lips. You can use berries to lighten your lips by applying aloe vera gel as a paste and massaging it into your lips.

·         Massage with honey as a paste

·         Massage with petroleum jelly

·         Massage and lip balm

9. Honey

Honey is another common skin-softening and health-beneficial ingredient. It may also aid in the restoration of the natural colour tone and texture of the lips. For best performance, apply honey at night, keep it on overnight, and then wash it off the following day. You can combine it with various other ingredients, such as milk cream, gram flour, yogurt, and massage or scrub it in for even more successful results.

10. Almond Oil 

Almond oil is an excellent hydrating and nourishing agent for lips. Honey, castor oil, coconut oil, and rose petals paste can all be used to brighten the lips. For the best performance, massage it thoroughly

Nature has provided us with incredible foods for maintaining good health; now, it is up to us to decide what we want to eat, how we want to eat it, and what works best. To get rid of the darkness on your lips, try one of these natural remedies. If nothing else works, see a specialized doctor or dermatologist for further treatment options. 

Hence, natural remedies can solve the problem of getting rid of darkness around the mouth fast. It will take some time, but it will undoubtedly yield the desired results. Before you try either of these treatments, make sure you do a patch test first. If you are allergic to any of these ingredients, avoid them and seek out alternatives.

 Conclusion:

I hope you found this to be helpful. Try on these tips and let us know if they worked for you or not. 

[paullassiterca]

Mulberry: Good for Silkworms, but May Benefit You as Well

Table of Contents

5 Health Benefits of Mulberry

What Are the Uses of Mulberry?

How to Grow Mulberry in Your Garden

Try This Nutritious Mulberry Recipe Today

How to Make Mulberry Oil

Mulberry (Morus) is a large, deciduous tree that produces small fruits clumped together, similar to blackberry and raspberry.1 It’s estimated that there are over 100 different mulberry varieties and 24 Morus species, but these are the most common species:2,3

White mulberry (Morus alba), which is native to eastern Asia

Red mulberry (Morus rubra), which is native to northern America

Black mulberry (Morus nigra), which is native to southwestern Asia

To help you distinguish mulberry variants, remember that they are identified by the color of their leaves, flowers and buds — not by the color of the berries, as it’s possible for a white mulberry tree to produce lavender or black mulberries.4

5 Health Benefits of Mulberry

Mulberry is rich in antioxidants and nutrients like potassium, calcium and magnesium,5 which are beneficial for metabolism.6 Studies have also found its potential benefits for the following areas:

Digestive health — A 100-gram serving of mulberries can give you 1.7 grams of fiber.7 Dietary fibers may help improve overall digestive health by promoting regular bowel movement and lowering your risk of stomach diseases.8

Blood circulation — Mulberry’s iron content9 may help boost the production of red blood cells, improving the distribution of oxygen to every cell in your body.10

Organ and tissue health — Mulberry’s methanolic contents, which exhibit anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities, may help reduce your risk of organ and tissue injury.11

Blood sugar level — Mulberry contains a special antioxidant called DNJ (1-deoxynojirimycin) that helps inhibit the breakdown of carbohydrates into sugar. Since it helps lower the amount of sugar going into your system, it may be beneficial for diabetes management.12

Liver health — According to one study, mulberry may help alleviate the buildup of fatty deposits around your liver, resulting in a lower risk of various hepatic diseases.13

What Are the Uses of Mulberry?

Aside from being eaten as it is, the mulberry fruit is used as an ingredient in making pies, tarts, muffins, cakes and milkshakes.14 It can also be pressed or pureed to make drinks and cocktails, preserved to make jams and jellies15 and fermented to make wine.16

The mulberry plant can be a herbal remedy as well. Its leaves may be used to make a decoction, which may be gargled to help relieve throat inflammation. Its root extract, as well as its leaves’ tips, may be brewed to make tea, which may help manage high blood pressure.17

In some countries, mulberry is primarily used as food for silkworms,18 making it an economically important plant for countries that heavily rely on silk production. In fact, it is the only food source of Bombyx mori L., the silkworm species that produces most of the world’s silk.19

To create the silk, eggs are kept in an enclosed environment with a temperature of 65 degrees Fahrenheit, which is gradually increased to 77 degrees Fahrenheit until they hatch. The worms are then fed with handpicked and chopped mulberry leaves until they gain weight and enter the cocoon stage.

From there, the silk that surrounds the cocoon is extracted by boiling the eggs. Five to eight filaments are then twisted to create a single silk thread. It’s estimated that 2,500 cocoons can produce a pound of raw silk.20

How to Grow Mulberry in Your Garden

Growing mulberries is generally a simple affair because they are easy to transplant, tolerant to salt and may even help with erosion control. You’ll need a sizeable garden because the trees can grow quite large. Mulberry trees can have varying heights, depending on their species. Black mulberry trees can reach up to 30 feet, red mulberry can grow up to 70 feet and white mulberry are the tallest at 80 feet.21 Here are the steps in planting a mulberry tree through propagation, according to SF Gate:22

Cut 4- to 6-inch-long stems from a mature mulberry tree.

Slice off the blooms, leaves and buds from the bottom half of the stems and dip an inch of their bottom parts in natural rooting hormone.

Plant the stems in the soil with a depth of about one-third of their lengths and cover them with a clear plastic container for protection. Remember to keep the soil consistently moist and place the stems in a bright spot.

Below are several pictures of me harvesting mulberries from my back yard. I planted these a few yeas ago as a one foot stem and it has grown into three large 15 foot bushes that provide many gallons of mulberries every year.  Delicious.

>>>>> Click Here <<<<<

>>>>> Click Here <<<<<

>>>>> Click Here <<<<<

Try This Nutritious Mulberry Recipe Today

Mulberry is naturally sweet with a mild flavor,23 making it an ideal ingredient in many desserts. If you’re looking for a quick and easy recipe using mulberries, try this refreshing mulberry papaya salad from “The Wild Vegan Cookbook:”24

Mulberry Papaya Salad

Ingredients

1 cup mulberries

2 medium-sized ripe papayas, peeled, seeded and diced

2 tablespoons natural cherry juice or other fruit juice

1 cup hazelnuts, chopped

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons dried mint, finely crumbled

½ teaspoon liquid stevia or 2 tablespoons raw honey

Procedure

Mix together all the ingredients in a medium-sized serving bowl.

Chill and serve.

How to Make Mulberry Oil Infusion

Mulberry leaves produce a unique essential oil, which makes silkworms attracted to this plant.25 This essential oil can also be used as an ingredient for home and personal care products such as:26

Soaps

Hand and body lotions

Candles

Shampoos

To obtain the fragrance of mulberry, you will need to infuse its leaves in a carrier oil. Coconut oil is a great carrier oil because it has a very mild scent, and offers its own health benefits like thyroid function boost,27 skin hydration28 and healthy metabolism.29 Follow these steps in making your own mulberry oil infusion, courtesy of DIY Natural:30

Place a hand towel at the bottom of your slow cooker to prevent heat from directly touching the jars, and then fill the container half-full with water. Turn on the cooker to a “warm” setting.

Gently rub the mulberries between your hands, and then fill up a Mason jar with the fruits to about one-third to one-half. Cover the fruits with enough coconut oil and leave at least 1 inch of headspace from the cover, and then stir the mixture to release air bubbles.

Cover the jar then place it into the slow cooker. Allow it to infuse for eight to 12 hours on the lowest setting. Stir and shake the jar occasionally during the process.

Allow the mixture to cool down, and then strain the oil into a new jar.

Label the final product accordingly.

from Articles http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2019/04/04/xdjm18-herbs-spices-18mcsa-mulberry.aspx source https://niapurenaturecom.tumblr.com/post/183930879796

[jerrytackettca]

Mulberry: Good for Silkworms but May Benefit You as Well

Table of Contents

5 Health Benefits of Mulberry

What Are the Uses of Mulberry?

How to Grow Mulberry in Your Garden

Try This Nutritious Mulberry Recipe Today

How to Make Mulberry Oil

Mulberry (Morus) is a large, deciduous tree that produces small fruits clumped together, similar to blackberry and raspberry.1 It's estimated that there are over 100 different mulberry varieties and 24 Morus species, but these are the most common species:2,3

White mulberry (Morus alba), which is native to eastern Asia

Red mulberry (Morus rubra), which is native to northern America

Black mulberry (Morus nigra), which is native to southwestern Asia

To help you distinguish mulberry variants, remember that they are identified by the color of their leaves, flowers and buds — not by the color of the berries, as it's possible for a white mulberry tree to produce lavender or black mulberries.4

5 Health Benefits of Mulberry

Mulberry is rich in antioxidants and nutrients like potassium, calcium and magnesium,5 which are beneficial for metabolism.6 Studies have also found its potential benefits for the following areas:

Digestive health — A 100-gram serving of mulberries can give you 1.7 grams of fiber.7 Dietary fibers may help improve overall digestive health by promoting regular bowel movement and lowering your risk of stomach diseases.8

Blood circulation — Mulberry's iron content9 may help boost the production of red blood cells, improving the distribution of oxygen to every cell in your body.10

Organ and tissue health — Mulberry's methanolic contents, which exhibit anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities, may help reduce your risk of organ and tissue injury.11

Blood sugar level — Mulberry contains a special antioxidant called DNJ (1-deoxynojirimycin) that helps inhibit the breakdown of carbohydrates into sugar. Since it helps lower the amount of sugar going into your system, it may be beneficial for diabetes management.12

Liver health — According to one study, mulberry may help alleviate the buildup of fatty deposits around your liver, resulting in a lower risk of various hepatic diseases.13

What Are the Uses of Mulberry?

Aside from being eaten as it is, the mulberry fruit is used as an ingredient in making pies, tarts, muffins, cakes and milkshakes.14 It can also be pressed or pureed to make drinks and cocktails, preserved to make jams and jellies15 and fermented to make wine.16

The mulberry plant can be a herbal remedy as well. Its leaves may be used to make a decoction, which may be gargled to help relieve throat inflammation. Its root extract, as well as its leaves' tips, may be brewed to make tea, which may help manage high blood pressure.17

In some countries, mulberry is primarily used as food for silkworms,18 making it an economically important plant for countries that heavily rely on silk production. In fact, it is the only food source of Bombyx mori L., the silkworm species that produces most of the world's silk.19

To create the silk, eggs are kept in an enclosed environment with a temperature of 65 degrees Fahrenheit, which is gradually increased to 77 degrees Fahrenheit until they hatch. The worms are then fed with handpicked and chopped mulberry leaves until they gain weight and enter the cocoon stage.

From there, the silk that surrounds the cocoon is extracted by boiling the eggs. Five to eight filaments are then twisted to create a single silk thread. It's estimated that 2,500 cocoons can produce a pound of raw silk.20

How to Grow Mulberry in Your Garden

Growing mulberries is generally a simple affair because they are easy to transplant, tolerant to salt and may even help with erosion control. You'll need a sizeable garden because the trees can grow quite large. Mulberry trees can have varying heights, depending on their species. Black mulberry trees can reach up to 30 feet, red mulberry can grow up to 70 feet and white mulberry are the tallest at 80 feet.21 Here are the steps in planting a mulberry tree through propagation, according to SF Gate:22

Cut 4- to 6-inch-long stems from a mature mulberry tree.

Slice off the blooms, leaves and buds from the bottom half of the stems and dip an inch of their bottom parts in natural rooting hormone.

Plant the stems in the soil with a depth of about one-third of their lengths and cover them with a clear plastic container for protection. Remember to keep the soil consistently moist and place the stems in a bright spot.

Below are several pictures of me harvesting mulberries from my back yard. I planted these a few yeas ago as a one foot stem and it has grown into three large 15 foot bushes that provide many gallons of mulberries every year.  Delicious.

>>>>> Click Here <<<<<

>>>>> Click Here <<<<<

>>>>> Click Here <<<<<

Try This Nutritious Mulberry Recipe Today

Mulberry is naturally sweet with a mild flavor,23 making it an ideal ingredient in many desserts. If you're looking for a quick and easy recipe using mulberries, try this refreshing mulberry papaya salad from "The Wild Vegan Cookbook:"24

Mulberry Papaya Salad

Ingredients

1 cup mulberries

2 medium-sized ripe papayas, peeled, seeded and diced

2 tablespoons natural cherry juice or other fruit juice

1 cup hazelnuts, chopped

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons dried mint, finely crumbled

1/2 teaspoon liquid stevia or 2 tablespoons raw honey

Procedure

Mix together all the ingredients in a medium-sized serving bowl.

Chill and serve.

How to Make Mulberry Oil Infusion

Mulberry leaves produce a unique essential oil, which makes silkworms attracted to this plant.25 This essential oil can also be used as an ingredient for home and personal care products such as:26

Soaps

Hand and body lotions

Candles

Shampoos

To obtain the fragrance of mulberry, you will need to infuse its leaves in a carrier oil. Coconut oil is a great carrier oil because it has a very mild scent, and offers its own health benefits like thyroid function boost,27 skin hydration28 and healthy metabolism.29 Follow these steps in making your own mulberry oil infusion, courtesy of DIY Natural:30

Place a hand towel at the bottom of your slow cooker to prevent heat from directly touching the jars, and then fill the container half-full with water. Turn on the cooker to a "warm" setting.

Gently rub the mulberries between your hands, and then fill up a Mason jar with the fruits to about one-third to one-half. Cover the fruits with enough coconut oil and leave at least 1 inch of headspace from the cover, and then stir the mixture to release air bubbles.

Cover the jar then place it into the slow cooker. Allow it to infuse for eight to 12 hours on the lowest setting. Stir and shake the jar occasionally during the process.

Allow the mixture to cool down, and then strain the oil into a new jar.

Label the final product accordingly.

from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2019/04/04/xdjm18-herbs-spices-18mcsa-mulberry.aspx

source http://niapurenaturecom.weebly.com/blog/mulberry-good-for-silkworms-but-may-benefit-you-as-well

[newyorktheater]

Richarda Abrams in First by Faith

I spent much of the week in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, attending the week-long 16th biennial National Black Theatre Festival, which presented 30 plays and musicals from black theaters in 16 states and South Africa.

Founded in 1989, the festival has become an integral part of the life of the city, reflected in permanent street signs ( “National Theatre Festival Boulevard” etc.) and goes way beyond just the shows themselves – with free workshops, a film series, celebrity appearances (Leslie Uggams, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Andre de Shields are among those who came down from New York), a huge vendor market , a poetry jam, and many parties. (The festival coincided this year with the annual conference of the American Theatre Critics Association.)

Of the seven shows I got to see, my two favorite both happened to be by New York-based theater artists —  Harlem 9’s “48 Hours in Holy Ground,” six short original plays inspired by (but very different from) African-American classic plays such as Lorraine Hansberry’s “To Be Young, Gifted and Black”; and “First by Faith: The Life Of Mary McLeod Bethune,” written and performed by Richarda Abrams, one of numerous  (mostly solo) shows about celebrated/historical figures (Others were about cabaret performer Bricktop, Sammy Davis Jr., Aretha Franklin, Lena Horne, Booker T. Washington, August Wilson, and Bass Reeves, a freed slave who became the first African-American United States Deputy Marshal, whose life may have inspired the character of the Lone Ranger.) This year’s festival was heavy on musicals, as one of the festival organizers explained, because North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper proclaimed 2019 The Year of Music.

Click on photographs below to read details about some of the NBTF shows, and events, including my micro-reviews of a few of the shows I saw.

  Leslie Uggams speaking at National Black Theatre Festival kickoff, next to Brian Stokes Mitchell and Sylvia Sprinkle Hamlin, the festival’s executive producer and widow of founder Larry Leon Hamlin

Brian Stokes Mitchell, from left, dancer Nana Malaya Rucker and Andre Dé Shields pose for a photo for a fan prior to the news conference kicking off the National Black Theatre Festival. Photo by Andrew Dye.

Sammy: Celebrate the Legacy. Performed by David Hayes.

Mother to Mother. The one show from a theater company outside of the United States, this adaptation of Sindiwe Magona’s novel, produced by Spirit Sister Productions of Cape Town, South Africa and performed by Thembi Mtshali tells the story of a South African mother whose son is accused of killing a young white American woman, who was in South Africa to help fight apartheid. The South African mother addresses victim’s mother.

Bricktop: Legend of the Jazz Age. Written and Directed by Cathey C. Sawyer. Performed by Gabrielle Lee.

First By Faith: The Life of Mary McLeod Bethune. This solo play written and performed by Richarda Abrams tells the remarkable journey of the daughter of former slaves who became a world-renowned educator and activist. In an extraordinary performance portraying many characters in Bethune’s life, and Bethune herself at various ages, Abrams reclaims Bethune from the wall of saintly portraits in elementary school classrooms, and breathes her back to life as a woman with feelings, and vulnerabilities, and wit, and, yes, faith. “Without faith, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible.” But by faith, she wasn’t just talking about religion.

A vendor of women’s hats

The bus to “Ruined.” The venues are spread throughout the city of Winston-Salem, so the festival provides buses.

Twelfth Night, or what you will, mon” was performed by North Carolina Black Repertory Company outdoors at Winston Square Park. William Shakespeare’s comedy but the setting moved from the Island of Illyria to Jamaica the songs by Bob Marley

March On Written and directed by Daniel Carlton, performed by Blackberry Productions of New York, NY. The journeys of three people who attended the 1963 March on Washington.

Soul Man, written and directed by Nate Jacobs, and performed by the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe of Sarasota, FL. This musical revue, tied together by the thinnest of narrative threads (the old-timers teaching a youngster about the values of the 60s) presents music made popular by 1960s R&B artists such as Sam Cooke, Sam & Dave, James Brown, Otis Redding, The Temptations, Ray Charles

Prideland, performed by THE POINTE! Studio of Dance & Elise Jonell Performance Ensemble of Greensboro, NC. A dance interpretation of the Disney movie “The Lion King.”

“Blood at the Root” written by Dominique Morisseau, performed by North Carolina Central University of Durham, NC. Based on theJena Six case, this play takes a hypothetical, multiple perspective look at the racial chaos of a high school in Jena, Louisiana resulting from the questionable arrest of six African American students for the assault of a white student.

Jelly’s Last Jam, written by George C. Wolfe, performed by North Carolina Black Repertory Company of Winston-Salem, NC. The Tony award-winning musical that tells the true story of Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe, a.k.a. Jelly Roll Morton, the self-proclaimed “inventor of Jazz.”

A person attending the 2019 National Black Theater Festival

  July 2019 New York Theater Quiz

Shows opening in New York in August

  Broadway shows closing in August Be More Chill August 11 The Prom August 11 The Cher Show August 18 King Kong August 18 Pretty Woman August 18 What The Constitution Means to Me August 24 Beautiful October 27 Waitress January 5, 2020

The Week in New York Theater News

Harold Prince, January 30, 1928 – July 31, 2019

Harold Prince’s Broadway Shows, Playbill by Playbill

‘Six,” a musical/pop concert about the marriage, divorce and beheading of the six wives of Henry VIII that began at the Edinburgh Festival, is coming to Broadway. It’s scheduled to open at the Brooks Atkinson on March 12, 2020

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/01/theater/six-musical-broadway.html

Antoinette Nwandu

Vineyard Theater 2019-2020 season (specific dates not yet determined)

Conceived and director by Tina Satter Based on FBI transcripts, this adaptation tells the still unfolding story of former Air Force linguist Reality Winner who is surprised at her home by the FBI, interrogated, and then charged with leaking evidence of Russian interference in U.S elections. Reality remains in jail

Dana H. by Lucas Hnath Dana was a chaplain of a psych ward where she met a charismatic patient, an ex-convict searching for redemption. A harrowing true story, Dana was held captive with her life in this man’s hands — trapped in a series of Florida motels, disoriented and terrified — for five months. Told in Dana’s own words and reconstructed for the stage by her son Lucas Hnath

Tuvalu, or The Saddest Song By Antoinette Nwandu Twelve-year-old Jackie tries to make sense of her life in 1990s Los Angeles

In @NYTimes, novelist @viet_t_nguyen on why he hates Miss Saigon (being revived in LA), which “perpetuates deeply held notions of Asian inferiority.” He praises @DavidHenryHwang‘s M Butterly & calls for more Asian narratives.

Read intriguing comments https://t.co/XCTy99SLGy

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) August 4, 2019

National Black Theater Festival. Six on Broadway. Mourning Hal Prince. #Stageworthy News of the Week I spent much of the week in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, attending the week-long 16th biennial National Black Theatre Festival…