Some people just think of pollen as just something that makes us sneeze, but pollen is critical to sustaining life on earth - through plant fertilization and seed production.  Pollination is the process where the male pollen produced by the plant is brought to the female area of the same plant or to another plant by a pollinator.  This fertilization then produces a seed and new growth is started.  The pollinators include birds, bees, bats, butterflies, moths, beetles and sometimes bigger animals.  Sometimes the wind helps too but it is mostly our pollinator critters who do the job. Worldwide, approximately 1,000 plants grown for foods, beverages, spices, florals and medicines rely on pollinators. Because of mostly man introduced poisons and chemicals and projects which create habitat loss, the pollinators are being decimated.

What can we do?  1. Grow native plants, especially those that provide nectar and food for the pollinators like milkweed for the Monarch butterfly whose presence is seriously dwindling 2. Supply moving water sources 3. Plant and grow without pesticides and chemicals 4. Enjoy making pollinator habitats such as bird houses and butterfly gardens 5. Sit back and enjoy what you have created knowing that you are helping contribute to a sustainable world for all.

Good News!  This year's national consumer gardening report by the National Wildlife Federation found that U.S. consumers purchasing plants to help wildlife increased 26% from 2020; 1 in 4 people specifically buy native plants; 1 in 3 buy mostly organic or all organic products and 19% of  people plan to convert a portion of their yard to a wildflower native gardening.  Many of these projects involve multi-generational activities and are healthy for all.  We are on the right path: keep it up!

Anyone who knows me knows that I am an avid environmentalist.  This is our world and we need to take care of it and the creatures that share it with us.  Several of my Lae Lae books are on these subjects: the animals, the flowers, the trees, the birds and all of the other little critters of nature.  Now I have a chance to put it all together in a project: Hideaway Glen LLC Tiny Home Nature Retreats, a community of 8 tiny home sites .5 acres each in the Piney woods of northeast Texas.  As we work on this I am envisioning a peaceful yet vibrant world of organic gardens, pollinator habitats and delightful jams and pastries made from the wonderful fruits and berries on the land.  Certified by the National Wildlife Federation as a wildlife habitat, it is for me a dream come true. For more information about the project go to www.Hideawayglennatureretreats.com.

It has been a long time since I have posted on the Lae Lae blog and I am overdue in announcing the latest award for one of my favorite books "A Trip To Hideaway Farm".  The book was chosen as a Distinguished Favorite Book by The INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD Association.  The competition had entries from around the world.  Authors and publishers representing independent publishing from countries such as the U.S., Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Jordan, New Zealand and Switzerland entered and the competition was judged by experts in different aspects of the book publishing industry, including writers, editors, publishers and book designers.  

My book is about a little Navajo girl named Mai and her life with her family and her animals.  Lae Lae and her friends visit Mai and learn about the Navajo and American Indian spirituality and the code of "Living in Balance" with reverence for Mother Earth and Father Sky. The book is my 10th book in the Lae Lae Collection.   Each book is divided into three sections: A read along story, a story telling section and a games and activities section.  It is designed for an age range of 2 to 6 years old; a broad  range but the book can be enjoyed by a toddler on a lap as a picture story book with simple activities as well as by a first reader for the older child.

With today's complexities and the lack of harmony in our lives, it is important to remember the simple and essential morals and values of life as expressed in the Indian life.  I hope people enjoy reading "A Trip to Hideaway Farm" as much as I enjoyed researching and putting it together.

Lae Lae and her group of friends celebrate "Mother Earth" and all of the creatures that share "Mother Earth" with us.  The children represent different cultures from around the world and they band together to learn about the environment, our natural resources and all of the animals who live on Mother Earth.  

The month of November has been designated as  National Gratitude Month and Lae Lae invites us all to join her in finding something to be grateful for.  Being grateful does not mean that we deny that negative things happen in life; it means finding and focusing more on the good things.  It means finding something, however small, to be grateful for instead of concentrating on the negative.  It's hard but an  attitude of gratitude has been proven to produce a positive impact on mental, physical and personal wellbeing.  

​Lae Lae wants to invite you to join her in gratitude in her Lae Lae book adventures with stories, story telling opportunities, games, activities and teaching notes for children ages two to six and their adult friends.

​* This is being sent to you as someone who is interested in children's causes and children's books.  All questions and comments are appreciated.  If you no longer want to be included in information about Lae Lae or the blogs for children that are written weekly, please let us know and we will be happy to take you off our list.  Thank you!

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When I was a little girl, I used to love to make dandelion crowns in the summer when I played "dress up".  I loved the cheery little yellow blooms.  Much as my parents thought they were pests and weeds in our yard, I loved them.  They were happy and  bright and they popped up everywhere.

As an adult, my appreciation of dandelions has grown tremendously as I realize all that dandelions give us.  Blooming in April and May, they provide early sources of much needed pollen for honeybees, ladybugs and many other beneficial insects beginnings to lay their eggs.  In addition to being a support for other insects and pollinators, dandelions are a green, growing medicine for us, - more nutritious han most vegetables in our gardens.  

Dandelions have been used as a food and medicinal plants for millennia.  The word comes from the Greek and then French "dent de lion" or lion's teeth because of the dandelion's deeply cut tooth like leaves.  Young dandelion leaves can be used in a salad and the buds can be fried or baked to taste like a mushroom.  Dandelions have more vitamin A than spinach and more vitamin C than tomatoes.  They are also a powerhouse of iron, calcium and potassium.  If, however, you are planning to forage and eat them,  sample small amounts at first to test for allergies.  Other than perhaps a stomach distress, dandelions are not a poisonous edible and have no poisonous look alike.

Boiled dandelions were used by Native Americans to treat a variety of illnesses including kidney disease, swelling and inflammation, skin problems, heartburn and upset stomach.  The Chinese and Europeans also used dandelions to treat a variety of illnesses and infections.  Dandelions are survivors, growing in harsh locations, requiring little and spreading deep and resilient roots.  They are fast growers....with plenty of sun they go from bud to seed in days and they are now in cultivation in many places for their culinary and medicinal use..  

And dandelions are just fun!  Children love to pick them and wear them.  Also, when they develop to a puffball they are fun to blow to scatter the hardy little seeds to begin anew.  Catch a flying dandelion seed and you make a wish..  

So here's to the lowly but important dandelion! Thank you for your gifts!

I have loved dogs and have had them all of my life. I think they are a gift of love sent here to be our special companions.  They give us devotion; they give us comfort and they give us joy.  They do silly things and they make us forget our personal problems.  Loving your dog is a great way to lift your spirits and your pet loves it too.  It has been found that the very act of cuddling your dog causes the brain to release the happy hormone Oxytocin, the "feel good" hormone.  It's a two way street; you love it and your pet loves it.  It makes the dog feel safe and loved and in return, it boosts our feelings of happiness.

My last wonderful fuzzies were from left to right: my adorable Shih Tzu Nunzi who had one leg shorter than the other three but it didn't bother him (his walk was just a little different); Tinker, a Shih Tzu mix who only had one eye (but that didn't bother him either).  He loved to carry his teddy bears around with him. And now my little Gumby (a Maltipoo who likes to hang his head out the car window (therefore the aviator goggles). All three were shelter pups (I think they are the best kind).  Nunzi and Tinker have crossed over the rainbow bridge now but Gumby is still lighting up my life with his wonderful and spunky personality.  He particularly loves little children and all the kids in my neighborhood know him by name.

These feelings and that connection deserve a special celebration and one is coming up.  Sunday September 12 is "Hug Your Hounda Day".  So enjoy what the dogs (and really any companion animal) give you and indulge in some special "cuddle Time" with your pet. 

   

It should not be there but it is...plastic trash filling our rivers and oceans.  Marine waste is often the result of poorly managed land waste.  The amount of human produced waste continues to rise, more than doubling between 1960 and today.  This trash finds its way into streams, rivers, and other waterways.  Those waterways eventually empty into the ocean where the trash that they carry chokes our sea animals and contaminates our native vegetation.  This trash improperly disposed on land accounts for approximately 80% of the marine debris which has floated up on beaches and seaside lands.

More than one-third of the debris cataloged on beaches comes from single use, disposable plastic packaging from food and beverage containers (things such as single-use disposable plastic cups, bottles, straws, utensils, and stirrers). The other 20% of items making up ocean trash is attributed to at-sea losses from accidental or deliberate dumping from ocean going ships and other sailing craft. and abandoned or lost fishing gear.  In beach cleanups, the top ten items collected are 1: cigarette butts, 2. food wrappers, 3. plastic beverage containers, 4. plastic bottle caps, 5. straws and stirrers, 6. miscellaneous plastic bags, 7. plastic grocery bags, 8. glass bottles, 9. bottle caps (not plastic), 10. Plastic cups and plates.  Reducing all of this trash on land is very important to prevent the tremendous marine trash beds that we now find swirling in the oceans.  

Pictured above is just one of the numerous types of cleaning vessels scavenging in our oceans.  They all work differently but their end purpose is the same ...to cull the trash out of the ocean and bring it back to shore to recyclers to reprocess and repurpose it or dispose of it properly. In many cases part of what the ships obtain is processed for fuel to propel them in their travels.  The ships also utilize solar and wind energy for propulsion.  Some 1000 rivers around the world empty into the ocean and the rivers are terribly contaminated by on land trash. Now barges to fit the waterways are patrolling here as well to clean and cull the trash before it reaches the ocean.

What can we do as parents to teach our children to take care of our waterways.  I find that if you let them have fun with a subject or play a game with it, the lessons learned stay with them. Since I am an artist, I enjoy playing the "trash into treasure" game.  We walk the beach (or walk wherever you live) and pick up various bits off recyclable trash that have been discarded..  Then we come back and each person turns his or her trash into a piece of "art".  It is so much fun to see what creative works come out of the trash.  If the kids want, we award a prize at the end for the best recycled treasure.  
           
                         It is fun to see creativity at work while cleaning up the environment. 

Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on this planet.  It has been recorded growing at an amazing 47.6 inches in a 24 hour period.  

A crucial element in the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, a grove of Bamboo trees releases 39% more oxygen than a grove of any other trees.  Planting bamboo is a good way to reduce the carbon footprint and help fight global warming. Bamboo can be grown in its own box or in a field ..... but watch out - it does spread when it gets started and, if not contained, can take over a landscape quickly.  It is a great soil conservation tool with a spreading root structure and a thick overhead canopy.  Although it does need water, it can tolerate extreme conditions that most plants cannot.   

Bamboo is so very versatile that we are now using it for many things in our modern, daily world.  I have in my personal life, bamboo sheets and towels, a bathrobe, dinnerware, and even a bamboo toothbrush.  Bamboo flooring has become very popular as a wood substitute and my next flooring might just be bamboo.  It can be harvested in 3-5 years vs. 10-20 years for most softwoods.  It can out yield pine 6 to 1 in biomass production.  It is also one of the strongest building materials we have today with a tensile strength of 28,000 psi compared with mild steel tensile strength of 23,000 psi. and it can be used for concrete reinforcement.

Lae Lae thinks that bamboo is a great plant for our world and all those concerned with a green environment.  It's not too expensive, fast growing and earth friendly. Yea bamboo!

A fun way to welcome spring!  Magic drawings!

How to make a magical drawing in three easy steps:
 
1. Squeeze lemon juice from a lemon into a bowl and then add one teaspoon of water.  Mix together to make an "ink".  

2. Take a q-tip or cotton swab, dip it into the lemon "ink", and draw a special spring picture or write a special message on a piece of white poster paper (not too thick so the light will shine through it and the heat will penetrate).  This will be invisible and will be your magical picture or message.

3. Hold the drawing (or message) on the paper up to a light or tape it to a window that gets plenty of sun and the drawing will magically appear.  

Why does this happen?  Because lemon juice is an organic substance that turns brown when heated.  

​If you want to send a surprise message to a friend, let the lemon juice dry but don't heat it.  Send the invisible magic drawing or message to the friend and give them instructions on how to heat it to reveal your special message or drawing to them.  

A nice way to celebrate spring (and friendship)!