First Snow in Chicago

Jojo is all geared up for winter

It came "on little cat feet " during the night.  Children on the block were laughing and playing on their sleds.  The first snowfall is always so magical and then after that, when it doesn't stop, it just becomes a chore to keep it shovelled.

                             Nipped in the bud Knockout has finally been dealt the final blow.

 

                        
  A white blanket envelops Sweet Garden Chicago

And the award for the longest lasting perennial goes to :  Ornamental kale.

                                       Snow on the Limelight Hydrangea

December had one of the coldest openings in several years and it looks like we're in for a lot more of the same.  It snowed in North Carolina and there are freeze warnings out all across Dixie down to Florida .  

       

Written by Carolyngail at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago All rights reserved

Food for Thought : Beauty Foods

Mother Nature by Yours Truly

Everyone's heard the old adage " You are what you eat ."  Ok,  I had a fruit smoothie for breakfast with yogurt, blueberries, cantaloupe, grapes, and whey protein.

 Then as I was going through my morning skin care routine I happened to take a closer look at the ingredients in my moisturizer :  Yogurt, blueberries, cantaloupe, grapes, wild honey, figs and dark chocolate powder .  Gulp.  I had to look twice.  Was I dreaming or did I have my breakfast on my face ? 

It made me think more about the important link between our food and health and what it means for the condition of our skin, hair and nails . We hear much about the "superfoods " that we should be eating such as  blueberries, broccoli, soy, salmon, dark chocolate, oats, spinach, tomatoes, walnuts and yogurt.  Eating too much sugar, flour and trans fats , on the other hand we are told, causes inflamation .

Americans are living longer and are interested in maintaining their health, beauty, and energy .  We want  more natural options in the products we choose which is why the market for nutrition-based cosmetics is expected to grow to $5 billion worldwide by 2015.    Asia and Europe have the most consumers of these products but we are a hard-sell and want to see scientific evidence supporting the effectiveness of the claims of these products. 

As for my nutrition-loaded skin moisturizer I didn't read its list of ingredients very carefully and  picked it up because it was on sale .  After using it for a while  I found that it was very effective in keeping my skin hydrated through out the day .  Although I'd rather eat the blueberries and other fruits it contains I feel better knowing that its a food-based product without a lot of harsh chemicals. 

Garden Bloggers' Muse Day

                            

  Wintry View from my Window by yours truly

"How like a winter hath my absence been

From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year!

What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen!

What old December’s bareness every where!

And yet this time remov’d was summer’s time;

The teeming autumn, big with rich increase,

Bearing the wanton burden of the prime,

Like widow’d wombs after their lords’ decease:

Yet this abundant issue seem’d to me

But hope of orphans and unfather’d fruit;

For summer and his pleasures wait on thee,

And, thou away, the very birds are mute:

Or, if they sing, ’tis with so dull a cheer,

That leaves look pale, dreading the winter’s near."

- William Shakespeare, 

Just like Willy I don't look forward to winter and I am certainly beginning to feel " dreading the winter's near. "   Hurry, May !