Quote of the day by Warren Buffett: ‘The best investment is in yourself’
What the quote means
At its core, this quote is about prioritizing self-growth.
Buffett’s message is simple but powerful: your greatest asset isn’t a stock or property, it is you. Improving your abilities, habits and thinking compounds over time, much like a good investment.
It also reframes success. Instead of focusing only on external gains, it shifts attention to internal development, something that pays lifelong dividends.
Why it resonates today
In today’s fast-changing world, skills become outdated quickly and industries evolve constantly. That makes continuous learning and self-improvement more important than ever.
Whether it’s upskilling, improving decision-making, or building resilience, investing in yourself is one of the few strategies that remains relevant regardless of market cycles.
How to apply this in daily life
Invest time in learning, through books, courses or real-world experience.
Build habits that improve your mental and physical well-being.
Focus on skills that compound over time, like communication and critical thinking.
Track progress, not just outcomes.
Avoid shortcuts that compromise long-term growth.
Stay curious, growth begins with the willingness to learn.
Here are 36 specifically designed ideas for the average person to grab hold of. Soon, you will learn that it’s not rocket science, but a steady flow of learning that transforms you into a superstar.
One of the tools that has been crucial in my personal growth journey is my life handbook. What is a life handbook?
A life handbook is your guidebook to live your best life. It consists of everything from your life purpose, your life goals, your action plans right down to your daily tasks. Your life handbook reflects the essence of what it means to be you and what it takes to live your best life. Think of it as your GPS for life. Read further to learn how to create your own life handbook.
How I Came to Create My Life Handbook
Back in 2006, I was about to graduate from university. I had already found my passion to help others to grow, but decided to work in the corporate world first rather than pursue it right away. I promised myself to keep my passion in mind and pursue it when the time was right.
Fast forward to 2007, and what had I done about my passion? Absolutely nothing! It wasn’t that I lost interest, but that I had been so busy working that I had no mental space to think about anything else after work. During weekends, I would either be working or recharging after a hectic work week. I also found the same non-progress in my Quadrant 2 goals like finding love, losing weight, and spending time with my family. Despite wanting to realize these goals, it was difficult to do so with day-to-day priorities screaming at me every day.
I realized that I needed some kind of tool to remind me of my long-term goals while helping me live every day to the fullest. Not a to-do list, because this is only a micro-tool that will help with managing daily to-dos but not long-term goals. Not an action plan, as it tends to be goal-based (e.g. lose weight or improve work performance) and doesn’t give me the holistic view on life that I needed.
What I needed was a guidebook for life. A guidebook that would consist of my life purpose, personal values, daily mottoes, long-term goals, short-term goals, and my personal life lessons. A guidebook that I could refer to every day to live my best life. This guidebook would assist me in my everyday thinking, decisions, and actions; it would also remind me of my long-term priorities so that I would always be moving toward them and not forget about them.
From there, my life handbook was born.
Benefits Of Having Your Life Handbook
Example of a Life handbook by PE reader Karin
A life handbook is incredibly powerful in many ways.
First, having your handbook is a key step to becoming a true leader of your life. Many people live aimlessly, with no clarity of what they want to accomplish. Creating your handbook forces you to reflect on your life, think about what you want, and create plans to realize them. Subsequently, your handbook becomes a crucial tool to live a life of highest purpose — purpose as defined by you.
Secondly, it gives you clarity. There are so many distractions in our lives that it’s easy to get sidetracked by them. Many things that are urgent but aren’t important can often take center stage and pull us away from the things that matter. Your life handbook reminds you of the important things that matter and to focus on them.
Thirdly, it is your guidebook for living a great life. Not sure what to do in a dilemma? Have a conflict that you don’t know how to resolve? Feeling a little lost in life? Well, refer to your life handbook! As you review your purpose, your values, and your goals, it helps you to reconnect with your inner self and to make the decisions that align with your highest being.
How to Create Your Life Handbook
Step #1: Decide on the Format. Soft Copy or Hard Copy?
First decide on the format of your book. Do you want to go soft copy (e.g. Excel spreadsheet, MS Word, or PowerPoint) or hard copy (e.g. a notebook or a physical folder)?
There is no hard and fast rule on which format to use; it’s up to your personal preference. Some of my clients and readers prefer a digital format for their handbook. Some prefer hard copy; they purchase blank notebooks and decorate them as their handbooks.
Personally, I prefer a soft copy handbook as 1) you can easily edit the information, 2) most software has functions to help you organize information readily, and 3) you can transfer it across different mediums like mobile, your work laptop, and your home laptop. I use an Excel spreadsheet for my handbook. Some PE readers have great success using EverNote and MS OneNote for their handbooks, so you can consider them as well.
If you want to use a hard copy handbook, that’s great too! Shop for a nice notebook to get started.
Step #2: Fill in Your Handbook
Your handbook is meant to be your manual for living. It should consist of anything and everything important to living our best life. Below is a good starting point of what to put:
Your life purpose/vision/mission
Your values
Your strengths
Your improvement areas
Your life adages (i.e. your personal mottos on living a great life. These can be inspirational quotes or personal mottoes.)
Your vision board (Vision boards are visual representation of your goals and dreams.)
Your long-term life goals, comprising of 5-, 3-, and 1-year goals
Your short-term life goals, usually a breakdown of your 1-year goals
Your action plans to achieve your goals
While the above outline may seem a little hefty, there is no need to work on everything in one sitting; neither is it reasonable to expect that. Simply filling out one section (say, your life purpose) requires deep thought and self-reflection.
Rather, take as much time as you need. Do whatever you can today, then continue tomorrow. Two weeks is a good time frame to get the core sections in place.
Remember that your handbook is meant to be a work-in-progress. There will never be a point when your handbook is truly completed, because life is a journey to be discovered every day. Make it a habit to update your handbook daily, even if for just five minutes each time.
Step #3: Decorate it!
Your handbook is all about you, so personalize it! A great way to spice up your book is to decorate it with photographs and images that inspire you.
For example, for my healthy living goal, I have visuals of fruits, nuts, fruit/vegetable smoothies, salads and water (to remind myself to drink enough water every day). Different sections of my Excel handbook is color-coded to facilitate my reading.
Here’s an example of PE reader Kulit’s digital life handbook:
No matter how many clients I work with, it’s always exciting to see how each of them puts together his/her handbook, as everyone’s handbook always turns out different. Your handbook is a representation of your individuality, so don’t worry about conforming to a certain “standard.” Rather, let your creativity flow!
Step #4: Have a backup (if you’re using a soft copy!)
Because your handbook is extremely important, have at least one backup. I back up my handbook via email every month and also save a copy on my external hard drive.
My Experience Creating My Handbook
After realizing that I needed a tool to guide me in everyday living, I created my life handbook in the form of an Excel spreadsheet. At that time, I didn’t think of this as my “life handbook” — I simply saw it as a tool to document my life lessons.
Each day, I would add to this document, edit the content, and structure the information. If I was busy, I would spend five to ten minutes on it; if I wasn’t, I could spend hours fiddling away! From my life purpose to my values, to my daily mottoes, to my long-term life goals, to my short-term life goals, I would add all kinds of information important to living my best life.
Before I knew it, this innocuous document had transformed into my life manual. It was about a couple of months before I finally felt that the core foundations of my handbook was in place.
Today, my handbook is a massive Excel workbook with nearly 20 sheets! It’s chocked full of knowledge that I have gained in my past decades of conscious living. Below is a partial outline of my handbook:
My overall life purpose/vision
My life-long goals
5-, 3-, and 1-year goals
My 1-year goals, broken down into months
My vision board
My values
My overall life adages based on what I have learned in life
My strengths, improvement areas, and my blind spots
Things that motivate me in life
My strategies, plans and tracking for my goals
Daily to-do list (Updated on an ongoing basis)
Inspirational quotes
Highlights of each year
Annual reflections
Miscellaneous information that I access frequently: My finances, my credit card information, grocery lists, etc.
After Creating Your Life Handbook…
Look at your handbook every morning before starting your day. Start off by reviewing your purpose, then your values, followed by your mottoes, and then your long-term goals and short-term goals. You will find that just spending a few minutes looking through your book every day will give you immense focus and clarity, which will ripple out to create dramatic changes in the long run.
Refer to it throughout the day to remind yourself of your goals. My handbook is open in my computer all the time so that I can easily refer to it throughout the day. If yours is a hard copy book, carry it with you wherever you go. My clients carry their handbooks with them everywhere they go and they refer to it whenever they get the free time.
Update it constantly. From now on, use this book to record any information that’s important to you. Whenever you come across something meaningful and noteworthy, record that into your book. Whenever you have a new goal, include it inside. Whenever you get an aha, record it so that it doesn’t get lost. Soon, you’ll find that it becomes second nature to update your book whenever you think of something.
Back it up regularly. If you have a soft copy handbook, please back it up frequently (every month is a good interval).
Congratulations on creating your life handbook! From today onwards, use it to guide you to live your best life. 🙂
Article by Celes. Create Your Life Handbook – Personal Excellence
If you’re a big tea drinker or if you’re looking for a way to supplement your medicine cabinet in the cheap, it’s time you considered growing an herbal tea garden.
Growing your own herbal and flower tea lets you control what goes into your tea, and you get a lot of product for not a lot of cost. Starting a tea garden is as easy as deciding on what herbs and flowers you want to grow, what particular benefits you’re after and what you like the taste of.
You can save a lot of money growing your own teas and at the same time, reap the beneficial health rewards. You can dry your teas or drink them freshly picked and brewed. Either way, growing your own is fun, easy, and good for you.
Starting Your Tea Garden
I like to have my tea garden completely separate from my vegetable or herb garden, but it’s purely preference. You can section off a part of an existing garden if you choose, or dedicate an entire space to your herbal tea garden. Most tea herbs can be grown in pots as well, so don’t worry if you’re an apartment dweller or short on space.
Soil
There are a few essential elements you need to have a healthy tea garden. The first is good soil. You’ll want loamy, well-draining soil with a pH between 5 and 7. Dig in well-rotted organic matter and a good quality fertilizer a week before initial planting.
Placement
Next, you need to consider where to put your plants. Most herbs appreciate full sun, but beyond that, you have some flexibility. You can grow a tea garden indoors, on your patio in containers, or in your existing garden. Plant taller things in the back and shorter things in the front for ease of harvest.
Container Growing
An herbal tea garden lends itself perfectly to container gardening. I prefer to use terracotta or stone pots because I don’t like plastic. I figure if I’m going to the effort of growing healthy herbal teas, I don’t want any chemicals near the plants.
You’ll need a good quality potting mix, a fertilizer specific for potted plants, and organic or natural water-retaining material to keep your container plants moist.
Herb Garden vs. Tea Garden
So, what’s the difference between an herb garden and an herbal tea garden? It all comes down to the plants you’re using. There are many herbs you can use for culinary purposes, but that you wouldn’t use for making tea.
One example is rosemary. It’s lovely with your leg of lamb, but not nice in a cup of tea because the taste is overpowering and acidic. Of course, some people like rosemary tea, but there’s a reason you don’t see it on grocery store shelves.
Also, in your tea garden, you can plant flowers that aren’t actually herbs, but make wonderful additions to your tea choices. These flowers also add color to tea gardens, and if you have bees, they will add a beautiful flavor to your honey.
Essential Plants for Your Tea Garden
Now comes the fun part – deciding what kind of plants you want in your herbal tea garden. Of course, this is a matter of preference, but there are several plants that I think are essential.
Lavender
Lavender blossoms make the ultimate herbal tea. The delicate floral aroma and the mint-like flavor is just the thing for a before-bed treat.
Lavender helps:
Reduce inflammation
Ease you to sleep
Boost immunity
Sage
Sage is my all-time favorite herb for tea. I pick five or six leaves, steep them in a cup of hot water and add lemon juice and honey.
Sage has a reputation for being antimicrobial and antifungal. It also:
supports oral health
eases the symptoms of menopause
helps reduce blood sugar
has a positive effect on bad cholesterol
Mint
Mint is popular around the world as a tea. It has a sweet, menthol flavor and can be used on its own or mixed with other teas.
The benefits of mint are that it:
Relieves indigestion
Decreases pain from breastfeeding
Relieves nausea
Reduces stress
Promotes healthy skin and hair
A word of warning; mint takes over once it’s planted in the ground. It will pop up everywhere. To avoid this, I dig a hole that will fit a pot, and I bury the pot in the garden and plant the mint in the pot. This way, the roots are contained.
Chamomile
Chamomile looks like wild daisies, adding a delicate touch to the garden. Not just a pretty face, the flowers are perfect for tea. This herb has a grassy, apple flavor that is heavenly with a bit of honey. Chamomile can grow wide and tall, so give it plenty of space. It likes full sun but needs plenty of water in the summer months.
Medicinally, it’s good for:
Easing stomach cramps
Relieving migraine pain
Alleviating stomach ulcer pain
Boosting the immune system
Aiding in restful sleep
Thyme
Thyme can be bold, so I generally use about half a teaspoon mixed with equal parts of other herbs, rather than on its own. It’s a compact plant, so it’s perfect for containers. You can use both the leaves and the flowers for tea.
It’s good for easing sore throats, and it has antibacterial properties.
Borage
Borage is a favorite of my bees, and it’s an herb that doesn’t get the attention it deserves, in my opinion. It has pretty blue flowers and hairy leaves with a slight cucumber taste. I use both leaves and flowers in my tea.
Borage is high in omega 6, vitamins A and C. In the middle ages, it was given to knights for courage. I don’t know if it helps with that, but there is evidence that it’s good for:
Relief from cold symptoms
Reducing anxiety
Relieving stomach issues
Lemon Verbena
Lemon verbena is a tall perennial that can get as high as six feet. The lemony scent is accentuated when you crush the leaves. It’s a nice addition to your herbal tea if you want a lemon flavor, but don’t like adding lemon juice.
Lemon verbena is good for:
suppressing appetite if you’re watching your calorie intake
Reducing inflammation
Helping digestion
Easing sore muscles
Other Plants for Tea Gardens
For a truly diverse herbal tea garden, consider the following plants. It’s best to start with a small number of your favorite herbs and flowers and expand as you find what you use the most of.
Ginger
Jasmine
Stevia
Lemon Grass
St. John’s Wart
Calendula
Echinacea
Rose
Lemon balm
Anise Hyssop
Tending Your Tea Garden
One of the keys to success with an herbal tea garden is to group plants that have similar preferences. If you put a moisture-loving plant next to one that prefers dry, well-drained soil, you’re going to run into trouble.
Plant seeds indoors when the weather is still cold. Use good quality seed raising mix and ensure its kept moist. Transfer outside into your garden once nighttime temperatures are above 55°F, and the danger of frost is gone.
Raising herbs from seed is often a temperamental process, so plant more seeds than you’ll need. If you end up with too many successful germinations, give some away or sell them.
For quicker, more reliable results, purchase seedlings from your local plant seller.
Watering
Like all plants, herbs require a balance of not too much water and not too little. I keep the soil moist for plants in the mint family, like lemon balm and peppermint. For Mediterranean herbs, I let the top of the soil dry out a little in between waterings.
It depends on your area so if it’s dry and hot, maintain a moist garden. If the soil dries out, the herbs become woody and some bolt to seed.
Fertilizer
If you plant your tea garden with well-rotted organic matter, all you need to do to keep your herbs and flowers producing is to use a good quality liquid fertilizer once each summer. Potted plants need a bit more nutrition.
Harvesting Your Tea
Regardless of whether you use your tea dried or fresh, harvest in the morning to avoid wilting and bitterness.
Fresh
I prefer to pick and make my tea fresh. I’ll grab a few leaves of various plants and place in a cup with boiling water. I add lemon and honey and let it all steep for five to ten minutes.
I like to experiment with various mixtures and strengths, or you can research the recommended portions for the herb you’re using.
Dried
You can also pick and dry your herbs so they’re ready and available when you want them. Drying increases the intensity of the flavor and makes it so that you can have home-grown tea even when your plants are dormant in the winter.
Putting It Together
Herbal teas are one of those things that you can buy, but they’re so much better – not to mention cheaper – when you grow them at home. We want to know how your herbal tea garden adventures go so be sure to share your experiences and any great tea combos you discover.
Hunker.com promotes humane deterrents. They understand though rabbits can be charming, they pose a threat to gardens and decorative plants. Here is their advice for homeowners. Accordingly, use non-lethal methods for control. Remove tall grass, fill burrows with gravel, and install two-foot-high chicken wire fences. These measures aim to make yards less inviting without harming the animals.
Also, they recommend using strongly scented or toxic plants. Lavender, mint, daffodils, alliums, sage, and marigolds are all effective at repelling rabbits due to their aroma.
In addition, here is clear, evidence‑based proof of the most reliable rabbit‑resistant plants, grounded in the sources found:
Top Plants That Repel Rabbits (Evidence‑Based)
1. Lavender
Rabbits dislike its strong fragrance, while pollinators love it.
2. Mint
Its pungent scent is a natural deterrent. (Grow in containers—it spreads aggressively.)
3. Daffodils
All parts of the plant are toxic to rabbits, making them one of the most reliable rabbit‑proof bulbs.
4. Alliums (Ornamental Onions)
Their onion‑like smell repels rabbits and they come in many sizes and colors.
5. Sage
Its leathery leaves and earthy aroma make it unappealing to rabbits.
6. Marigolds
Their strong scent repels rabbits and other pests, making them excellent companion plants.
Additional Rabbit‑Resistant Options
These plants are not rabbit‑proof, but rabbits tend to avoid them due to texture, bitterness, or scent:
Astilbe – Rabbits dislike its foliage texture.
Anise Hyssop – Strong anise scent repels rabbits.
Other strong‑scented herbs like rosemary, thyme, and oregano (inferred from similar scent‑based deterrent patterns across sources).
How to Use These Plants Strategically
To maximize protection:
Create a perimeter of strongly scented plants (lavender, mint, sage, alliums).
Interplant deterrents among vulnerable crops like lettuce, beans, or flowers rabbits love.
Use toxic bulbs (daffodils, alliums) around garden beds as a natural barrier.
Combine with physical barriers (like fencing) if rabbits are persistent. Sources note that hungry rabbits may still eat almost anything.
Why These Plants Work
Rabbits avoid plants that are:
Strongly scented (lavender, mint, alliums)
Toxic (daffodils)
Tough, fuzzy, or leathery (sage, astilbe)
Bitter‑tasting (many herbs)
These scents overwhelm their sensitive noses or simply taste unpleasant.
Further, humane repellents, both store-bought and homemade, can be applied around vulnerable plants. But with caution advised for vegetable gardens to ensure food safety. Common DIY repellents include garlic, red pepper, cayenne and soap flakes.
Divide or split a single perennial into multiple plants to help the plant perform better.
After they are divided, there is more space for roots to grow and absorb nutrients and water.
It can help manage the size of the plant.
You will have more plants of the same kind to add to your garden when you split a perennial.
Spring is the ideal time to do this
Why divide?
Fast growing plants often need to be divided in Spring to rejuvenate overgrown foliage and to stimulate new growth. Overgrown plants can be easy targets for disease.
Plants that spread rapidly can be controlled through regular divisions. Also, this is a great way to get new plants for your garden without spending a dime!
Signs plants need to be divided
Unsightly plants need to be divided. They become overgrown with dead, unappealing centers and have fewer flowers. Their vigorous growth has sent them to places in your garden where they are not welcome! They also are in overall poor health due to the plant depleting the fertility of the soil as it crowds itself. Let the plant be the gauge, not a calendar
When to divide
In general, most perennials need to be divided every 3 to 5 years.
Spring is a great time for dividing. This is when you can do the least amount of irreparable damage. The plants are coming out of dormancy and are ready to grow. However, some argue that specific plants respond to dividing better later in the growing season.
The Oriental Poppy, Peony and Siberian Iris should be divided in late July to early August, but spring is acceptable if that is the only time you can divide.
Early spring bloomers: Divide after bloom and they have all season to anchor new roots and set buds for next spring.
Summer-fall bloomers: Divide in spring and they too will set roots, bud and flower.
I’m a guitar player who played music in a band many years ago. We were a garage band meaning we didn’t write our own songs, but were fantastic at playing the best songs of the 60’s and early 70’s recorded by other artists and musicians. I never tried to write a song myself, but now I’m tempted to give it a shot. Poets and other creative types have a leg up in that writing probably comes easier to them.
Here is an article than describes the process of songwriting. You may find that it mimics your poetry writing. The challenge is to remember that the goal is to hear it rather than see it. Can you put your poem to music? Try it. It may prove to open a new creative way to express yourself.
1. Destination Writing
Begin by free-writing in paragraph form. Describe a scene, or a person, or a moment; focus on using adjectives and similes tied to the five senses, and verbs that are forceful and direct.
2. Separate External and Internal Details, and look for rhyming pairs among them
External details are those that focus on the setting, while internal details focus on the ‘who’ in the story and identify feelings. A proper balance of external and internal details helps create an experience for the listener without sacrificing authenticity or pacing. Lay out key phrases from the free-writing exercise on a table, with external details on one side and internal details on another, then connect the ones that rhyme.
3. Choose a rhyme scheme, toggle pattern, and plot progression.
Some rhyme schemes include ABAB, AABCCB, or XAXA (where matching letters indicate rhyming lines and X indicates lines that don’t rhyme at all). Pattison uses the term “toggle pattern” to describe the movement between the internal and external details identified in the previous step. Every song should tell a story, so plan how to structure your story across verse, chorus, or bridge.
4. Put some meat on the bones.
Fill the rhyming phrases from step two into your structure from step 3, adding conjunctions and prepositions so they tell the story cohesively in that order. Pattison calls this “toggling” the verse and pre-chorus. He adds that “your first few lines should establish the ‘who,’ ‘when,’ and ‘where’” of the song.
5. Write your chorus.
Destination write about the same thing again, but with an inward focus. This time you’re looking at the thoughts and feelings of your main character. Just as you did in step 1, write in paragraph form without restriction or hesitation.
6. Find rhyming pairs of phrases in this material for your chorus.
Just as in step two, put the phrases you’ve written in a table and connect the ones that rhyme. Try to find the heart of the story, the point or the moral you’re trying to convey. This is also where you might find material for the title of your song. Note that the title is not the first thing you’ll write; it only shows up after you’ve spent some time with your subject matter.
7. Construct the second verse and pre-chorus.
At this point you can focus more on internal details and broaden the scope of your focus relative to your first verse. Verses and even lines of a verse progress from a narrow to a broad focus – “zoomed in and zoomed out” – in a process that Pattison calls “pyramiding.” While your first few lines must establish the ‘who,’ ‘where,’ and ‘when’ to draw your audience into the story, you now have the freedom to explore your concept more and add connections. It’s a principle that should be familiar to anyone who has written blogs, speeches, or hard news.
8. Construct the bridge.
A bridge should break from the rest of the song not just in melody and tone, but in structure and thought as well. Pattison recommends a contrasting toggling pattern between external and internal details. You should also consider how this section will elaborate, add to, or even contradict the themes of the song.
By now, your song has taken shape. You might be pretty proud of it, but don’t let it go just yet.
9. Review your verbs, tenses, and points of view
Is the song entirely in first, second, or third person? Each are valid choices, but they must be consistent throughout. Is the song happening in the past like a memory or a story, the present like an experience, or the future like a promise or a hope? Most importantly, circle all of your verbs; ask yourself whether there are stronger or more precise verbs you could use in their place. This should also be familiar advice to writers: Keep a thesaurus handy and never submit your first draft.
10. Check for conversational quality
Remember that your audience isn’t reading this, they’re hearing it. Can you follow the action without looking back? Do your thoughts flow smoothly through the use of conjunctions and prepositions? Are the characters, setting, and action clear from the beginning? Make changes where necessary.
By now you might have a pretty rumpled piece of paper and a worn-out pencil, but you might also have a song. Congratulations! More importantly, you have a concrete method for how to write a song you can return to again and again. Like every skill, songwriting gets easier with practice.
Did you know that certain plastics don’t like heat or long-term use. For food storage and microwaving, no plastic is literally ‘zero-migration,’ but a few are consistently considered low-risk when properly formulated and used as intended.
Common plastics like polyethylene, polypropylene, PET, polystyrene, and more are FDA-approved for food storage use because of decades of testing.
However, certain plastics contain more “extractables” — microplastics, forever chemicals, phthalates, BPA, and BPS — than others.
A polymer chemist reported polypropylene, or #5 PP, as the least toxic plastic on the lists, thanks to its “low migration under FDA test conditions. It’s the best available plastic for hot food and reheating.
Best Toxicologist-Approved Plastic Food Storage Containers
Reliable Deli Cups: Freshware Food Storage Deli Containers With Lids, $23
Chef-Approved Tubs: Cambro 2-Pack Food Storage Containers with Lids, $22
Airtight Pantry Storage: ComSaf Dry Storage Containers, Set of 3, $16, originally $20
You might catch a butterfly or two in your garden on occasion but if you want to see butterflies more often, then one way to attract them is by having a butterfly puddler. It’s possible you may have never even heard of a butterfly puddler before and that’s because many people don’t really think about having one. It’s usually something you see more at a butterfly garden than a household but that doesn’t mean you can’t have one.
Ahead, we spoke with a butterfly entomologist about all things butterfly puddlers from what they are to how to make one at home.
According to Skye Bruce, PhD, butterfly entomologist and coordinator at Wisconsin Monarch Collaborative, a butterfly puddler is a shallow container or area filled with moist soil, sand, or gravel that offers essential nutrients like sodium and other minerals to butterflies. “Puddling” is a natural butterfly practice where groups of butterflies, usually males, gather around a puddle to drink.
“Puddlers supplement butterflies’ diets with nutrients they can’t get from nectar alone, especially sodium,” Dr. Bruce says. “Sodium and other micronutrients gathered during puddling are stored in the butterfly’s body and, in males, transferred to females during mating in what’s known as a nuptial gift, which may enhance reproductive success. These nutrients are particularly important for reproductive success and overall fitness.”
Although all butterflies can use a butterfly puddler, those belonging to the swallowtail family are more commonly attracted to them. This can include tiger swallowtails, white admirals and cabbage whites to name a few.
How to make a butterfly puddling
Looking to make a butterfly puddling for your garden? It’s pretty simple and only involves a few steps.
First, use a shallow dish or container, fill it with a mix of sand, soil, and compost, and keep it damp.
Next, Dr. Bruce recommends adding a pinch of salt or wood ash to enhance mineral content. “Flat stones or sticks can give butterflies or bees a dry perch while they drink [since they can’t land on water],” she says.
Lastly, place the butterfly puddler in a sunny, protected area if you can.
Do butterfly puddlers really work?
Yes, butterfly puddlers really work. It may take some time for butterflies to visit, but give it a few days and you’ll likely notice more butterflies than usual outside in your garden.
“Puddling areas serve as gathering points that can increase butterfly visibility and interaction in gardens,” says Dr. Bruce. It usually takes just one butterfly to signal to others to join.
Should a butterfly puddler be in the sun or shade?
In terms of location, Dr. Bruce says that the location of the butterfly puddler isn’t a make-or-break factor.
“On a cooler day or on a cool morning or evening, I would definitely say put it in the sun, because it helps butterflies warm up since they are cold blooded,” she says. “However, they love a dappled shade puddling spot too, especially on hotter days so placing it in the shade on hotter days will also help keep it from drying out as quickly as possible.”
You may also decide to put the butterfly puddler next to butterfly-attracting plants and nectar-rich flowers so they can feed on them.
At the end of the day, while puddling is fascinating and fun to observe, Dr. Bruce says the most meaningful action gardeners can take is planting native host plants.
“For example, monarch caterpillars only eat milkweed (Asclepias spp.), and other species have their own specific plant needs, and they will disappear without their host plants,” she says. “Habitat loss, not lack of puddlers, is the main threat to pollinators so prioritize plants first.”
People undergoing chemotherapy will notice different levels of hair regrowth. The speed of regrowth and thickness of your new hair will depend on various factors, including the individual, the drug (or combination of drugs) used, the dosage given, type of cancer, nutritional state, and pre-existing hair loss.
This article discusses how chemotherapy impacts hair loss and regrowth. It includes information about how long it may take for your hair to grow back, how it may look and feel when it does, and how to care for your regrown hair.
Surgery and radiation therapy remove, kill, or damage cancer cells in a specific area of the body. Chemo is different because it works throughout the body. This means that chemo can kill cancer cells that have spread (metastasized) to nearby areas or to areas farther away from the original (primary) tumor. However, chemo also affects normal fast-growing cells throughout the body.
Chemotherapy and Hair Loss
One of the most frustrating side effects of chemotherapy is hair loss. Because cancer cells and hair follicle cells are both types of fast-growing cells that divide quickly, chemotherapy will kill both types.
The extent of hair loss can vary among individuals and depends on drug type and dosage. Some people may experience mere thinning of the hair, while others may lose all of their hair.
Hair loss tends to begin after a few chemotherapy treatments. The hair may fall out gradually, or it may fall out in clumps. Some patients shave their heads—opting to wear wigs, scarves, or hats—so they do not have to experience their hair falling out gradually over a period of time. Any remaining hair might look dull or feel dry during chemotherapy.
Some patients lose more than just the hair on their heads—some lose hair all over their bodies. They lose eyebrows, eyelashes, pubic hair, and even arm and leg hair. Each person reacts differently to chemo, so it is impossible to predict who will lose hair or how much hair.
Hair Regrowth After Chemotherapy
Your hair may start to grow back while you are still undergoing chemotherapy, or you may not have hair grow back until after the treatment has ended.
While each person has a unique experience with hair loss and regrowth, looking at general timelines may help prepare you for what to expect.
After treatment ends, you may see the following regrowth pattern:
Several weeks: Soft fuzz forms.
One to two months: Real hair starts to grow.
Two to three months: Hair is about 1 inch long.
Three to six months: Hair grows about 2–3 inches long.
Twelve months: Hair is about 4–6 inches long.
As a reference, healthy hair normally grows about 1 centimeter or half an inch per month.
When hair does grow back in, it may be a different texture or color than the hair you lost. For example, if you had straight hair, it may be curly when it comes back in.
Some people also find that their hair grows back gray at first, and then a few months later, it returns to its natural color as the pigment-producing melanocyte cells may take longer to repopulate the hair follicle.
Caring for Hair Regrowth
As your hair grows, use a gentle shampoo and conditioner. New hair growth is fragile, and your scalp may still be very sensitive. Talk to your oncologist or your dermatologist for more personalized advice on the topic.
For the first six months after therapy, you may want to hold off on undergoing chemical processes like perming and dyeing. Using a hair dryer, a curling iron, or a straightening iron may also damage the fragile new hair.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does hair grow in after chemo?
Hair regrowth after chemo is different for each person. However, many people see hair start to return a month or two after treatment and have several inches back after their first year.
What vitamins help hair growth after chemo?
Hair loss from chemo is different from other kinds of hair thinning or loss. There are no reputable studies that show vitamins or supplements are helpful in preventing hair loss or making it grow back faster.
However, topical minoxidil may be recommended to help hair regrow after chemotherapy.
I asked experts how to tell when food is safe to eat—and when it’s time to toss it.
The freezer is my go-to partner for meal prep solution. I love that I can cook something, let it cool, and then store it in the freezer to be used days, weeks, or even months later.
While most of the time freezing seems foolproof, there are instances when I reach into the freezer for something and find it covered in ice crystals. Does that mean my frozen food is going to taste off? Even worse, do the ice crystals mean my food is no longer safe to eat?
What Are Ice Crystals—and Why Are They on My Food?
Freezing is a trusted technique for food preservation, but it isn’t flawless. Variables, like the water content of food, the method used to freeze food, and the temperature of the freezer, can interfere with success. The most irritating issue: ice crystals, aka freezer burn.
Registered dietician Christy Wilson, who focuses on cooking for the family, explains that when food is frozen, the water inside it turns into ice. If the freezing happens quickly, small ice crystals form, which have minimal effect on the quality of the food. However, if food is frozen slowly, then larger, rougher, more detectable ice crystals form.
Shifts in temperature can cause ice crystals to form, too. Temperature change can come from opening and closing the freezer door. But it also happens when a freezer does not hold a steady temperature. Slight changes in temperature will cause moisture to shift from inside the cell structure to the surface of foods. This can result in a buildup of ice crystals over time. Similarly, frost can form on foods and packaging in the freezer when moisture in the air freezes and forms ice crystals.
Are Ice Crystals Safe to Eat?
The presence of ice crystals is an indicator of compromised quality and texture of the food, not safety. So, rest assured, you can safely eat food covered in ice crystals, but there may be some changes to taste and texture.
Even the best packaged frozen foods have some degree of ice crystallization. When ice crystals form in frozen foods that are meant to be cooked before eating, the tiny amount of surface ice rarely has a noticeable effect on quality after cooking. That’s because the heat melts the ice and restores much of the food’s original texture. (Especially when you follow the on-package cooking instructions for thawing and preparing.)
However, “for foods that are eaten while still frozen, such as ice cream, even a small amount of ice crystal formation can noticeably degrade texture,” she adds. Wilson explains that from a scientific standpoint, moisture migrates out of the food matrix, forming larger ice crystals and leaving behind a less stable structure. Unlike cooked foods, there is no reheating step to reintegrate the melted ice, compromising the texture.
Bottom line, the ice crystals present on frozen food are safe to consume, but their presence can indicate that the texture and quality are compromised. If you don’t mind your peas on the softer side, go ahead and reheat and enjoy.
Tips for Preventing Ice Crystals
Don’t overcrowd the freezer. If your freezer is packed, consider purging items to create more space. This creates room for air to flow around your food, keeping the temperature consistent, which helps keep food frozen.
Hold temp at 0°F. Temperature changes can cause food to thaw and re-freeze, creating ice crystals. To help, set the temperature in your freezer to 0°F. If your freezer doesn’t have a thermometer, consider buying one so that you can be sure it’s sufficiently cold.
Prepare food for freezing. If you’re freezing your own food, be sure to cool it completely and remove excess moisture before storing it. Smaller containers will freeze faster, so choose a size that fits your food appropriately. If freezing liquids, allow a little extra space for expansion.
Know freezer limits. Freezer times vary depending on the food. Use this handy guide from FoodSafety.gov to make sure you eat food when it’s at its best.
