Seaside Herb Society Faire Saturday March 30th in Ormond Beach

The annual Seaside Herb Society Faire will be held Saturday March 30th from 9:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the regular location at the Bailey Riverbridge Gardens, 1 North Beach Street, Ormond Beach. We will be bringing our most popular Aquarian Bath soaps and shampoo bars, and any other items upon request. I have also heard that Meg from Herb and Spice Scentsations will return to the faire with her wonderful spice blends, which I'm looking forward to restocking. Mark your calendars and hope to see you there next month. 

Short list of Aquarian Bath items to be available at the fair:

Unscented and Lavender Scented Eye Pillows

Gardener's Scrubby Soaps

Patchouli Soaps

Lavender Oatmeal Soaps

Lavender Patchouli soaps

Hemp oil soaps

Lavender Spearmint Salt Soaps

Vanilla Chai Soaps

"I heart MOM" Mother's Day soaps

Carrot shampoo bars

Neem Shampoo Bars

Lemon Vanilla Shampoo Bars

Microwavable Herbal Neck Pillows

Solid Perfumes

Lip Balms

Echo Moth Caterpillar Sighting

My daughters and I saw this beautiful Echo Moth caterpillar after swimming lessons last week in Daytona Beach. The girls moved him from the hot patio outside the pool onto the ground. Tessa picked an oval leaf for the caterpillar, and he went to work on it right away. You can see the nibble marks in these photos that Moira took. Hope you like them.  

Sea Side Herb Society Annual Fair March 12, 2016

The Seaside Herb Society Faire will be held again next month in Ormond Beach.  I apologize to those on my subscriber list who got a notice about last year's faire last night. I am not sure why that happened. Please note that this blog post has the correct date for 2016, which is March 12.

Seaside Herb Society 
21st Annual Faire

Come and celebrate everything herbs!  

There will be speakers, herb plants, baked goods, soaps, and more!

Saturday, March 12, 2016 - 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Bailey Riverbridge Meeting House

1 North Beach Street, Ormond Beach, FL

Black Snake outside my Sewing Window

I was sewing Flaxseed Pillow orders this morning and saw my cat Ginger chasing something from out my window. Then I watched this black snake slither up my tall cork screw ginger plant. Ginger sat and stared at it and I went out to snap a few photos.  Look how long it is! Hope you like the photos.  We keep the back area very natural for wild life. 

 

Growing Hemp to Become Legal In Florida?

via the Orlando Sentinel by Susan Jacobson

Bill would make hemp legal for research in Florida

Cory Trusty sells hemp-oil soap and shampoo bars, hemp-fiber pillows and hemp-and-cotton washcloths through her Internet business based near Daytona Beach.

She'd like to buy the hemp and finished products locally for AquarianBath.com, but Trusty must rely on China and Canada to fulfill her orders. That's because growing hemp is illegal in Florida.

A proposed law would change the status of the plant in the state, opening the door to a potential multimillion-dollar industry.....  continued here

Plastic Free July Beach Clean Up at Tom Renick Park July 6th

Aquarian Bath will run a “Two Hands” clean up at Tom Renick Park, A1A Ormond by the Sea, Ormond Beach, Florida 32176 on Monday July 6, 2015 at 5:30 P.M. for Plastic Free July 2015. To join the clean up, arrive at Tom Renick Park by 5:30 PM. All you need are some gardening gloves. Get a raffle ticket when you start at 5:30. After the beach clean up we will have a look at what we found, take a photo, talk about what the Plastic Free July event is all about, and plastic alternatives. The raffle drawing will be at 6:30 for one $50 prize and five $10 prizes from AquarianBath.com. Participants can get an extra raffle ticket by bringing a bag of trash they picked up from the roadside on the way to this beach event. You can RSVP to the facebook event page if you like.

Plastic Free July is aimed at raising awareness of the amount of single-use plastic in our everyday lives. You would be amazed how much tiny plastic material can be found along the edge of the beach, and it is not healthy for birds and ocean health.

A “Two Hands” clean up takes the spirit of huge national and international clean up days and brings it back to the individual. The concept is using your two hands for thirty minutes to clean up your world.

Around 20,000 people across the world have completed a two hands clean up which initiated in Fremantle, Western Australia.

To join the Plastic Free July challenge visit www.plasticfreejuly.org.

Blue Springs Manatee Photos

We took a half day off from work at Aquarian Bath to visit the manatees at Blue Springs last week.  Hope you like the photos that Scott and I took. Scott took the under water photos with his Gopro. 

Favorite spot for an annual photo.

Scott got these images of the nursing manatee with his "Gopro on a stick" contraption.

I helped him get these shots when I saw other manatees about to swim by by giving him direction where to turn the pole as he was laying down on one of the docks, "6 o'clock, 5 o'clock, 4 o'clock, 3 o'clock."

We probably saw a dozen altogether.  You can watch them during the winter on livestream:

Florida Museum of Natural History Photos

We spent last weekend in Gainesville Florida for a short weekend vacation after a hectic 2 months of shipping holiday orders.  I will post some photos from our favorites spots.  First, the University of Florida Museum of Natural History.  The fossil collection is amazing.  My favorite was the terror bird (below), which preyed on mammals, and looks a lot like a chicken.

Daytona's Museum of Arts and Science also has a giant sloth skeleton, but the UF museum has two or three towering giants.

The fossil room has many different species.

The giant bear dog, an evolutionary dead-end.

Extinct Rhinoceros species.

The special Megalodon shark exhibit costs extra. The A to Z shark Sharkabet artwork by artist Ray Troll made this exhibit worth the extra price.  His whimsical shark illustrations are realistic and often have fun settings, for example the nurse sharks (above) and dog fish (below). Spoiler alert: sharks are not bony fish, the model of the Megalodon is made from metal, and you can see Megalodon jaw replicas in the free part of the museum.

In the butterfly rain forest. The docent was very knowledgeable and friendly.  She offered to take a family photo.  The butterfly rain forest costs extra and is a must see. Florida residents receive a small discount.

Many species of butterfly were willing to sit still for photographs.

Owl head butterfly. 

The 6th mass extinction is said to be underway and due to human activity. Three hundred thousand species are estimated to be lost each year. Which are next? Endangered or threatened species are shown in the gallery above. Florida's last remaining pine rockland habitat is the only know home for a species of beetle previously thought to be extinct. A Walmart and theme park are currently planned to take over this area.

For news about threatened species please follow Extinction symbol on twitter.

Later on I will be posting some new Organic cotton pillow fabrics, and other photos from our Gainesville trip. Hope you liked the photos.

~Cory Trusty, president

Aquarian Bath

Eucalyptus Spotlight

Did you know there are 300 species of Eucalyptus trees? These trees are indigenous to Australia where the fresh leaves have been used traditionally in wound treatments, and the wood is used for making didgeridoo wind instruments. Trees are also used for making pulp and charcoal.  Eucalyptus essential oil, which is powerfully cleansing, antiseptic, and deodorizing, is steam distilled from the leaves.

Eucalyptus tree in bloom, photo by Starr. Trees can grow as high as 90 meters

Australian Eucalyptus globulus essential oil is the best quality. Due to its camphoraceous, sweet and woody scent, 75% of "Eucalyptus Oil" on the market actually comes from China where the faux oil is made from Camphor Trees. True Eucalyptus oil is refreshing and stimulating; a favorite to use in steams or bath formulas for people with congested sinuses. A 2% Eucalyptus oil room spray emulsion is extremely antiseptic, with the ability to kill 70% of airborne Staph bacteria. The oil provides a cooling and stimulating sensation useful in a congested chest rubs or lip balms for blistered lips. Below is a demonstration from Aromatherapy Oasis on how to use essential oils safely in a steam inhalation. 

There are environmental and safety concerns regarding cultivation of Eucalyptus outside of Australia. Eucalyptus has become invasive in many areas including California, where it is also a fire hazard due to the volatility of the essential oil. The Seminole Indian tribe has taken a stand against the planting of genetically engineered (GE) Eucalyptus trees in Florida. Native pine forests are being cut down to plant GE Eucalyptus, which worsens climate change and is a threat to biodiversity. People living near the GE Eucalyptus plantations are concerned with health risks from altered tree pollen and toxic chemicals used on the plantations. Eucalyptus trees are also require a lot of water. We are against the destruction of native South Eastern forests for Eucalyptus production. 

Eucalyptus globulus trees in Hawaii, photo by Starr

Photos from the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse

 We spent yesterday at the Ponce Inlet lighthouse for the annual homeschool day. This 175 feet hand-built lighthouse is the tallest in Florida. It was first lit in 1887 after many difficulties with the construction, including the death of its engineer Orville E. Babcock who drown in the first attempt to transport bricks into the inlet by boat. Two other boats hauling bricks subsequently sunk as well. This historical site is open to the public.  It is both a museum and an active lighthouse. Here are some photos we took.

My littlest is not afraid of heights or climbing towers.

A spectacular view of the ocean and Ponce inlet. 

The preserved buildings contain artifacts that were used in early life at the lighthouse.

This little soap cage was used for sudsing up water for washing laundry and dishes.

The glass bottles and metal tools and containers really give a good idea about kitchens before the invention of plastics.

Here is a collection of old time medicines, one of which was Choroform liniment!  Eek!  

This was the medicine chest provided to the Light House keepers by the Coast Guard which contained the medicines listed above.

There were also herbal medicines on site.

Popular herbal medicines from the 1800's.  Lydia Pinkham's Vegetable Compound and Atwoods Jaundice Bitters.

One building contains a stunning collection of Fresnel lenses from other lighthouses.  

Below is my favorite lens from an Australian lighthouse. It reminds me of a big insect.

Hope you liked the photos. What fun lighthouses have you visited?

Best Photos from Leu Gardens in Orlando

I have been meaning to go to Leu Gardens in Orlando for a long time. Monday we finally had a good opportunity, since we also had to make a trip to Sky Craft for hardware parts for a SolarNetone project, and the first Monday of the month is also free at Leu Gardens. We took pictures until the battery died on the phone, but here are some of my favorites.  The pohots are either of my favorite garden displays or just the best photos from the batch that I took. I hope you enjoy them, and find they inspire you to go visit. The photos that I saw online previously didn't really give me a good idea of what I would find there, for example a small but unique Bonsai Garden, a Butterfly garden, a Citrus grove, a vegetable garden, a rose garden, and flower clock. I posted other photos of roses and bamboo at my Aquarian Bath twitter and personal google+ accounts.