Today is National Loving Day. June 12th is the anniversary of the 1967 Supreme Court decision to overturn all the state laws that did not allow interracial marriages.
In 1958, Mildred Jeter married Richard Loving. She was African-American and Native American. He was white. Richard was a family friend, and they met when they were young. They started courting, and at the age of 18, Mildred became pregnant. They went to Washington DC to be married. When they returned to Virginia as a married couple, they were arrested for "cohabitating as man and wife, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth". They avoided jail time by agreeing to leave Virginia. They moved to Washington DC and started legal actions. They wrote to the US Attorney General, who at that time was Robert Kennedy. He it turn referred them to the ACLU. Two lawyers were assigned their case, and the Warren Court ruled in favor of the couple.
They didn't set out to change history. They just wanted to live in Virginia, which was their home and where their families lived. They were allowed to return and raise their three children in their hometown outside of Richmond.
It is 2016, and mixed marriages are still frowned upon by many. We also have the issue of same sex marriage. You don't choose who to love and there should never be laws to dictate that you have to.
Celebrate today by looking at the person you love and be thankful.
SWEEPSTAKES
Win a $100 gift card
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Win $500 for a home project
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Win Sweet Tea Samples
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Two Sweepstakes from BHG. One is a backyard party package and the other is $1500
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FREEBIES
Free Green breathalicious bone for your dog
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Free Skinnies 0 calorie cocktail mix samples
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TacoBell announced since the Golden State Warriors stole an away game, they will give away Free Doritos Locos Tacos on 21 June. Get there between 2 and 6 pm to get your FREE taco. I looked it up, and it is national at participating Taco Bells.
Dove TV ChannelSafe, family-friendly streaming movies, TV shows and specials
Helpful Hints for the Gardener (or wannabes like me)
Outdoors
Disposable aluminum roasting pans make great
containers for starting
seeds indoors. Cover with plastic wrap until
the seeds sprout.
Poke
holes in a bag of fertilized soil and place seeds in the holes.
Transplant seedlings when they are ready and discard the bag.
Use
golf tees to mark spots to plant bulbs. You can mow over them.
Before
sowing fine seeds in your garden, mix them with a little talcum
powder so you can evenly distribute them.
Mark
inches on your garden trowel with red nail polish so you can plant
seeds and bulbs the proper depth.
To
mark seed rows, put planting date on empty seed packet and insert
into clear soda bottle and stick bottle neck
down into ground.
Tomatoes:
To prevent blossom end rot, add 2 or 3 tablespoons Epsom
Salt per plant hole before planting. Each
month, sprinkle a tablespoon
around the base of each plant and scratch
into the soil.
Lawn
Care
Spray
lawn mower blades with vegetable oil so cut grass won't stick.
Use
salt to kill weeds in the lawn or in the cracks of your sidewalk. Let
the salt sit for a few minutes, then pour
hot water over it.
Spray
the whole lawn with a mixture of ½ cup children’s shampoo per
20 gallons of water.
Apply
any kind of liquid weed killer, but ONLY to the weeds. Use a 20-
gallon hose-end sprayer. One with an on/off
button would be best so
you can go from weed to weed without getting
the weed killer on grass
or other plants. Later on, spot treat the
weeds with a mixture of 3
tablespoons white vinegar and one pint warm
water. Squirt from a
spray bottle.
For
nicer lawn: Mix 1 cup Epsom salt, 1 cup Listerine, 1 cup liquid soap, 1 cup
ammonia, 2 cans of beer. Use 1 quart of
mixture for every 2500 square feet of lawn. Apply using a hose and spray attachment.
Summer
Lawn Food:
Feed every 3 weeks through the summer. Every
third “feeding”, throw ½ cup clear corn syrup or molasses into the mixture. Mix
together 1 can beer, 1 cup children's shampoo, and ammonia to fill the jar of a 20 gallon hose-fed sprayer.
A
lawn needs one inch of water a week to stay healthy. Water in the morning or
evening so the heat of the sun won't
evaporate the water before it is able to do its work.
Natural
Pest Control Liquid
For
the base:
1
head of garlic
1
tablespoon red pepper flakes
1
cup water
For
the pest control liquid:
2
tablespoons base mixture (above)
½
teaspoon liquid dish soap
2
cups water
Make the base: Remove the garlic cloves from
the head. Removing the peel is not necessary. Add the garlic, red pepper
flakes, and 1 cup of water to a blender and blend until it forms a wet paste.
Pour the mixture through a fine sieve to remove any small from the mixture. The
remaining liquid is the “base”.
To make a batch of insecticide: Mix 2
tablespoons of the base mixture, with ½ teaspoon liquid dish soap and 2 cups
water. Put it in squirt bottle and spray.
This mixture will also deter rabbits and
deer.
Make
Decorative Garden Stones
What
you need:
12"
round plastic flower pot drain tray works the best
Cooking
spray oil
Quick
drying concrete
Glass
beads, broken tile, shells, decorative stones or rocks
Spray the inside of the tray with cooking
oil. Prepare the concrete using the directions given on the package. Pour the
mix into the tray. Decorate. You can write out your initial, or make random
designs to suit your taste and style. Or place hand and foot prints in the
concrete and decorate around them. Let the stone dry overnight and remove from
the tray when it is completely dry. Place in your garden.
Random
Hints
To
entice butterflies and bees to your garden, plant oregano, catnip and
hollyhock.
An
old wheel barrow makes and interesting flower planter. Drill a few
holes for drainage, if needed. Rust holes work just as well.
Wastebaskets
make inexpensive and attractive outdoor planters. Cut out
a drainage hole in the bottom and add a small layer of stones to help
with drainage.
Plants
love the nitrogen in coffee grounds. Add coffee grounds to your
compost or add to flower beds. Pour left over coffee on roses or
azaleas.
Dissolve
an aspirin in a quart of water and use in your garden or flower
beds to help plant resist diseases.
Indoors
Make
mini-greenhouses from plastic milk jugs with the bottoms cut off.
Leave cap off for ventilation.
To
check if your plant in a clay pot needs water, tap your fingernail on
the side. A thud means plant is okay. A
ringing sound means it needs
water.
Every
time you water your potted plants, rotate the pot a quarter turn.
This will encourage new growth to come up evenly and your plants
won't lean towards the sun.
Rub
mayonnaise on the leaves of your houseplants to clean them, or
clean the leaves with a rag dipped in milk.
Once
a month, water your houseplants with weak tea to help balance the
acidity in the soil.
When
you go on vacation, punch a few small holes in plastic bags, one
for each plant. Enclose each plant in a bag
and fasten with a twist tie
after watering. Plants will stay moist for a
couple of weeks.
Force
Bloom Bulbs: buy bulbs from your local garden center. Arrange
them as close together as possible in a
shallow bowl or dish, filling it
completely. Add water just to touch the
bottom of the bulbs and
maintain that water level at all times. When
roots start growing, add a
small amount of plant food to the water.
Soon there will be blooms.
Some
ways to keep cats out of houseplants:
Sprinkle a heavy coating of pepper on the
soil.
Place pine cones around the plants
Place a few yards of adhesive backed paper,
sticky side up, on the
surfaces where you put your houseplants.
Once the cat learns to avoid
the area, remove the paper.
