We are now getting plenty of rain as the typical tropical weather pattern has kicked in: hot with afternoon thunderstorms filled with wind, lightening, and impressive thunder. The humidity is high these days. It’s like a warm blanket surrounding me on my early morning walk which avoids the heat that starts to crank up mid morning. Still, for a few days, we’ve had temps in the 80s for most of the day. (July is our hottenst month here.)
All the rain has driven lawn grubs and other lawn critters to the surface. The White Ibis are delighted with this outcome, and we are delighted that nature is culling the harmful critters. White Ibis eat grubs, mole crickets, and earthworms. I’m fascinated with the curved bill.
My Texas sage, planted a year ago, has burst into bloom. It’s gorgeous.
I love the silvery sage leaves too.
I’ve been struggling with what is called “hot mouth” or “burning mouth.” It’s caused in part by sleeping with one’s mouth open for some of the night so the mouth tissues dry out. I’ve done that my whole life, so why this problem now? I think I have an allergy to xylitol in chewing gum (which can clean teeth) and in some dental products. Mint flavorings are also part of the problem, or at least make my scalded mouth feel worse.
I love to chew gum when I’m sewing or at night after my dinner. There are very, very, very few mainstream gum products easily obtained that do NOT have xylitol or aspertame. (Xylitol is a wood alcohol product that does sweeten quite nicely. Note that it is wildly poisonous to dogs.) I can’t do the mint choice, and the chemicals in Juicy Fruit smelled up my whole pantry and upstairs sewing room. Ugh!
I finally found this product, but beware, some flavors do use xylitol. It’s a good find. There are lots of flavors. The flavor is mild, very lightly sweet, and the gum chews pleasantly. BUT, LOL, don’t attempt to take it out of your mouth with your fingers as the natural gums will stick to your fingers like mad. That’s what the little tissue papers included in every pack are for, as it turns out. I had to use “Goo Gone” to remove the gum. And I retrieved the little tissue papers from the trash.
This product does not use synthetic plastic in the gum base. It uses a tree sap called “chicle.” Here are the ingredients in the maple flavor: organic raw cane sugar, natural chicle base (chicle, candelilla wax, citric acid), natural flavor, organic vegetable glycerin, organice rice flour, Tapioca starch.
So, I am happily chewing gum to my heart’s content again.
Today is going to be a soup making day, with boned chicken thighs included.
But my main meal, eaten around noon, will be the reheated lamb chops I grilled yesterday, leftover fresh corn, and frozen peas defrosted from the freezer. AND, cut up seedless watermelon and a handful of very pricey organic green grapes. And a glass of raw milk after the fruit to neutralize the acid in the fruit, which also disturbs my mouth.
Did you know that you should NOT brush your teeth after eating fruit, especially high acid fruit like citrus? The fruit acid softens the enamel on your teeth, so brushing can damage the enamel. One is told to wait 30 minutes before any brushing after fruit. Who knew????
My washing machine and dryer are singing with jobs assigned to them.
And I now have to go and…chop veggies and chicken thighs.
Have a great week everyone!
Louisa Enright's Blog 