This year, however, I am going to be trying some more natural concoctions and see if we can get away from so many processed things that could be detrimental to our skin and health. For mosquitoes around the picnic tables, I am going to be trying something I saw on Instagram posted by @inspiredlifeandhome. I am going to make her natural luminary, but I am going to add Belle Aroma® Lemongrass Essential Oil to the mixture.

Since I had to come inside, I’m choosing to duplicate the memory today by using my Bamboo Rain No-Mess Fragrance Tarts® in my Belle Aroma® Plugables® Mosaic Vase. Bamboo Rain fragrance top notes are Sandalwood (my favorite scent) and Musk. The base is Bamboo and Ozone. These No-Mess Fragrance Tarts are good for any low-temp scent warmers including the Belle Aroma ScenTrio® Petite Wax Warmer.

I’m sitting in my recliner today with Tosh on my lap on what is my first real day “off” since semi-retiring a couple of weeks ago. That’s OK, though, because the things I filled my days with were enjoyable and things I needed to do. But today is the first day at home to catch up on some things around here. I’m in my recliner because it is storming outside, and thunder always makes Tosh very anxious. In fact, she usually runs to her papa, David, at the first crack of thunder. But since he’s gone, I’m the next best thing in a storm.

When my husband and I first moved to Missouri back in 1980 we were pretty poor. If we had a nickel, it would be lonely. Imagine how excited we were to have found a farmhouse to rent. It was owned by an older couple who basically just wanted someone in it so it wouldn’t get destroyed by vandals. It had been the woman’s homestead that she inherited from her parents. They offered it to us for $25 a month during the winter months if we would count their cows and feed them some hay. During the summer when they didn’t need to be fed, we were to pay $50, but they took pity on us and never changed it from $25!

I don’t know about you, but the later we get into spring the more my mind goes to summer vacations! A few years ago, the phrase “staycation” was coined. While I love the idea of a few days at home where nobody makes any demands on you and you can stay in your pj’s all day if you want, I am talking about a real vacation. I have been to all but 4 states and have hopes of vacationing in 3 of them by Fall. But until then, I’ll be content reminiscing about some of my vacations from younger years.

Springtime in the Ozark Mountains is a beautiful time of year. The woods are full of the Dogwood, the state tree, and numerous Redbud trees dot the landscape. Even though compared to say, the Rockies, our Ozark Mountains are just hills, they still have a majestic beauty. At the moment, I am diffusing Mountain Air Belle Aroma® No-Mess Fragrance Tarts® in my Belle Aroma® ScenTrio® Tabletop Warmer.

My Belle Aroma Plugables® Fragrance Vase is beautiful. Mine is the pink and gold Mediterranean-style mosaic glass vase, which is designed to double as a night light. It’s plugged into my living room wall now with one Chocolate Lava Cake No-Mess Fragrance Tart and one Crème Brûlée. Warming the two together gives the impression that I’m baking a delicious dessert! Should you have a house on the market consider turning on your Belle Aroma Plugables® Fragrance Vase and freshening up your home before a showing. It will add beauty and home freshening at the same time.

We are traveling today to see family in Iowa. It’s a beautiful day, even though a bit chilly. We’re using my favorite car diffuser, the Belle Aroma® FlashScent USB Aromatherapy Diffuser, with my favorite essential oil, lavender. Tosh is calmly riding on David’s lap close to the diffuser. Did you know that dogs don’t have any problems with lavender? In fact, it can have a calming effect if they are having an “episode.”

My husband and I celebrated our 44th anniversary last month! It got me thinking about the time prior to our meeting. I had determined in my 21 years of living that I didn’t want to marry a farmer or a janitor. Now, don’t get me wrong: I have nothing against farmers or janitors. I just knew that wasn’t the life for me.

How did you and your family fare during the pandemic? I’ll be the first to admit it changed me and my family. In fact, my husband stood up in front of a large group of people recently and stated, “it changed me! I have a dog now! A tiny INSIDE dog!” Yes, that was quite a change for us. Let me explain how it came about, as she was not a pandemic dog in the strictest sense of the word.

A few months ago, my husband and I made what we feel sure will be our last move. We downsized our home by about 250 sq ft and by about 5 closets! We will be semi-retired and have figured out that while we do like possessions, we just don’t need as much “stuff.” So, we began the sorting, saving, and pitching process. I can only speak for myself, but I have found over the years that I am not a very sentimental person who forms a strong attachment to “things.”

Do you remember when it first dawned on you that water is a precious resource? We, in this country, are so used to turning on a tap and out comes pure clean water. That wasn’t always the case at my house. We were living in the foothills of the Cascade mountains in Oregon, and we had a crystal-clear stream in front of our house. But our well was rusty! It had a metallic taste and was discolored to the point that we couldn’t use it for drinking or doing laundry. This was long before the days of bottled water. What were we to do??

Do you remember the first time you drove a car? I do but let me explain. Way back in the day my dad took his 1954 Ford Custom sedan and cut the back of it off! Right behind the front seat he cut it off and put some kind of wood or metal behind it, built a big white wooden box with sideboards a little higher than the roof of the cab. The sideboards were removable so it could just be a flatbed if he wanted. He painted the front of it sky blue. It was an ingenious way to get a pickup with little investment, even if it was a bit funny-looking. It was a 3-speed on the column, and it had the hugest steering wheel!! It had to have been 15-16” across! This “truck” is what we moved from Iowa to Oregon in so evidently it was reliable.

Were you given an allowance as a child? My earliest memory of an allowance was $.35 every two weeks, and I had to put $.20 of that in the donation box, so that left me a whopping $.15 that I could spend on candy, etc., for two weeks. I was recently reminiscing with a younger friend who has four children, ages 12 to 20. He told me he didn’t think his kids even knew money came that small! Hahaha!!!

Our second summer in Oregon was in a word… sweet! My dad was a lineman for a small local telephone company. One of his customers had a mature Bartlett Pear tree that was loaded with the biggest, most luscious pears we had ever seen. The man told dad he could have all he wanted as his family didn’t want any. What kind of crazy was that?!?! Dad came home and asked mom if she’d like a bushel of pears. Of course, she said yes!

A vivid memory at a very young age, maybe 7 or 8, happened in a forest. Let me back up, though. At age 6 my parents decided to move the family from Iowa to the Pacific Northwest. To my knowledge, we had never been there, or at least my brother and I had not. Both of my parents had lived in California as young adults, but we weren’t going there. We were headed to Oregon.

Being a child in wintry Iowa, I learned at an early age the enjoyment of scent. I only lived there for 6 years to begin with but that was long enough to experience cold and snow deep enough to play in. Each time we would get a snowstorm my mom would bundle my older brother and I up to go outside to play. You know the drill.