Are You Voting?

I encourage everyone to vote, not just for the president, but for local and state candidates too.  But please don't vote blindly - research your vote!

Of course we all know who's running for president by now (except maybe some of the third party candidates).    If you don't know who's running locally you can find your candidates easily using the form listed on VoteSmart.org.   The only problem I found with it was that it couldn't determine your school district, so it listed ALL the districts.  Your school district is listed on your voter registration card or you can find it at Who Represents Me. 

General Texas Election Info:
Texas Elections Page

A few places to to do research on the candidates:

WacoTrib Election Page

Dallas Morning News Election Guide
(Good for Waco too, because you submit your address to find your candidates). 

Project Vote Smart

On the Issues

Free Voters Guide

Fact Check Sites:
These sites help you fact-check candidates statements.  I suggest reading the full articles if you have time since this gives you a really good understanding of the issues.  While these tend to focus on presidential and congressional candidates, you can occassionally find articles on local candidates.

Politifact Texas

Politifact Main Site

Fact Check.org

I'm linking up at...

 

Throwback Thursday

Farm Day - This Saturday

worldhungerrelief.org

Temps are Dropping This Weekend! Protect Your Plants!

Post Card by Swisstoons

Temps may go below 40 degrees this weekend, so some of your plants may be in danger of "catching cold."  Below are some plants you'll want to protect (this is not even close to an exhaustive list, so if you're not sure...protect it).  Click here to learn how to protect plants from the cold.

Some pepper varieties may be harmed by temps under 55 degrees (or so one person at Garden Web Forums sas),  while others can handle fairly low temps.  If you're not sure, protect them.  

Basil leaves are damaged by temps under 45, and we're expecting 41 degrees Saturday night.  It  takes temps up to 33 to damage the stems--so they should survive, but you might want to cover them anyways.   Aloe will survive as low as 40 degrees, but I'd pull them in a day early just in case (probably your other succulents too).

Saturday its expected to get down to 39 degrees.    Temps below 33 degrees will kill beans, cantaloupe, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, okra, peas, pepper, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, tomatoes, and watermelon...but I'm not sure what temps will damage them.  

Cold hardy veggies like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, lettuce, mustard, onion, radish, and turnip should do fine.  

Featured Waco Crafter: Sapone Soaps and Candles

I'm going to start regularly featuring Waco crafters and artisans.  This week I'm spotlighting Bernadette Lee Bennett of Sapone Soaps and Candles.  Her father (who has his own shops: BBCreations and InspriationWorkshop) got her involved in crafting when she became disabled.  Together they design and make  novelty soaps and candles which they sell on Etsy.

"Crafting showed me I had more than one talent and I love making unique things. "

 - Bernadette Lee Bennett, Waco Crafter

Fall Leaves Soap Petals SaponeSoaps $5.00	Candy Corn SoapSicle SaponeSoaps $5.00	Candy Corn Tealights SaponeSoaps $5.00
Spooky Teeth SoapSicles SaponeSoaps $6.00	Cucumber Melon Tealight... SaponeSoaps $5.00	Mini Autumn Leaf Soaps SaponeSoaps $4.50
Wiches Brew Candle Tart... SaponeSoaps $4.00	Boney Bones Soap SaponeSoaps $5.00	Witches Brew Tealights SaponeSoaps $5.00
Tiny Little Pumpkin Soa... SaponeSoaps $4.00	Witchy Fingers Soap SaponeSoaps $4.00	Cutey Skull Soap SaponeSoaps $4.50
Pumpkin Cinnamon Tealig... SaponeSoaps $5.00	Gold & Silver Star Soap... SaponeSoaps $5.00	Jack o Latern Pumpkin S... SaponeSoaps $6.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Don't you just love  the fun Autumn and Halloween themed items she has in her shop?   I could see using some of these for party favors (if you were careful to let the guests know they weren't candy!)   And the scents sound just scrumptious!

Free Fall and Halloween Coloring Pages

The following are free Halloween and Fall coloring pages.  All except the first two are from the Dover Sampler, which usually expires after a month or so (so save them on your computer now before they're gone).  Happy Fall everyone!

Artistic Fall Leaf
Various Fall Coloring Pages
Bats 
Ghostly Tree
Pumpkin
Halloweenscapes (Various)
Various + Recipe
Halloween Coloring Activities

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