October Newsletter

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Lavender and Pumpkins make a beautiful Fall decoration

October 2021

Happy October Friends!

As I write this I am still a bit jet-lagged from our trip to Helsinki to visit our son Josh, so hopefully there won't be too many errors in this newsletter! Helsinki is such a beautiful city, and Fall was in full force during our time there, with cool days and nights and the beauty of orange, yellow, and red trees. And of course, once we got home, we were greeted with those same conditions. How awesome is that? Oh how I love Fall!

One thing I love in Scandinavian culture (specifically Denmark and Norway, but seen throughout the region) is the concept of Hygge -- a coziness and hospitality that creates contentedness, intimacy, and community. Hygge can be achieved though decor, through food, through spending quality time with those you love. It's about living simply and living well -- creating a mindful, meaningful connection with your world. And lavender can be a wonderful addition in creating hygge. Whether it's lavender candles, dried lavender bouquets or wreaths, or lavender self-care products, they all create a calm and contentedness that help to create a refuge in an increasingly stressful world.

Should you want to incorporate a little hygge into your life, our little shop in downtown Newberg and our online store both have lots of lavender products to help create your own oasis. And in this newsletter, we will offer a few suggestions as well!

Have a great month!

Using Lavender to Create a Cozy Home

As we move into the season where more of our time is spent indoors, creating a comfortable interior environment is crucial to keeping those winter blahs at bay. Bringing outdoor elements inside can help, as can the use of candles. There are so many options, but here are just a few that incorporate lavender!

Something to Drink: Lavender Hot Chocolate

Photo Credit: suburbiaunwrapped.com

Hygge also includes comfort foods -- and what's more of a comfort food than hot chocolate! Here is a lovely recipe, adapted from Kathy Gerht's Discover Cooking with Lavender.

Ingredients

3 cups whole milk

1 ounce bittersweet chocolate (chips or chopped bar)

1 tablespoon dark cocoa powder

2 tablespoons lavender sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Heat milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat
Bring just to a boil and then remove the pan from heat
Whisk in bittersweet chocolate until melted and smooth
Return saucepan to medium heat ad whisk in the cocoa powder, sugar and salt until dissolved and smooth.
Remove the pan from heat and whisk in vanilla.
Pour into three mugs, topping with whipped cream if desired.

Makes 3 (8 oz) servings)

A Little Bit About Lavandula angustifolia

'French Fields'

Flower Color: light/medium purple
Stem Length: 12 –15 inches
Plant Height: 24-30 inches
Best Uses: culinary, dried and fresh bouquets

French Fields is a beautiful light purple lavender and is my first bloomer every year, which I greatly appreciate. I had one plant up by our house a few years back and I liked it so much that I took some cuttings and propagated 60 plants to put out in the field.

The shrub is compact, green and nicely mounded. The whorls are spaced evenly and spread out. This lavender will also bloom pretty continuously throughout the summer after it is cut back. This is one of the lavenders I use for culinary, but it also makes a nice wreath and a sweet bouquet.

Uncle Jimmy and the Dog Rooster

Jimmy (on the left) along with his siblings John, Shirley and Anne

Recent events in our community have reminded me of a little story I wrote a few years back about how rich our lives are when we cherish those around us and how much we can learn from those who are different than us. I hope you enjoy it...

I was about 10 when I first met Uncle Jimmy. I don’t remember ever even hearing about Jimmy until one day in the car-ride over to one of our much anticipated trips to my grandparents’ house, Mom and Dad tried to explain that we’d be meeting Dad’s younger brother and that he was different and that we should all be very kind to him. I really didn’t understand what “different” meant as my exposure to different had been pretty limited in my small-town, Catholic school childhood. So when we walked in Grandma’s front door, I wasn’t prepared for the grown man that came walking over with short, quick steps and extended his hand to my Dad. “How do Brother John” Jimmy said with a big toothless grin. After my dad said hello and shook hands with his brother, my dad turned to all of us and introduced us to Jimmy. I remember shaking his smooth, limp hand as he said “How do Pammy.”

Jimmy was indeed different. I starred, I’m sure a little too long and intently, at my uncle, a tall lanky man with questionmark posture, his pants hiked up a little too far over his white button-up shirt, and his hair combed over and plastered down like a young boy’s. He was like no grown-up I’d ever met before. Grandma tried to explain. “When he was only two,” she said,” Jimmy got very sick -- so sick that his brain stopped growing and got stuck. He’s been about 2 ½ or 3 for his whole life.”