Tova, here's the recipe I used for the toner, from Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs. "Start with either apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar. Add 1 cup of petals or leaves for each pint of vinegar and place on a sunny windowsill in a tightly sealed glass bottle. let the mixture steep for two or three weeks, shaking it vigorously every day. Strain and rebottle. If you like a more diluted lotion, add water." Naturally, you will want the plants you use to be clean and free of any pesticide. Make sure your containers are sterilized, like you do for canning or making jam. I used the lemon balm because it's supposed to be good for wrinkles, and calenula is good for oily skin, and is a soothing and healing herb. This is a really simple recipe, so it's one that you can try and have some fun with. Connie

Thai Green Beans and butternut squash 1 medium butternut squash, split in half and baked at 350C until done (pierce with a fork to test) 1 can regular coconut milk (15 oz or so) 2 cups fresh cut green beans (frozen works too but fresh is best) 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp sugar 1 tbsp lemon or lime juice 3 leaves from a kaffir lime 1 small bunch of fresh thai basil AKA Siam queen (regular sweet basil will also work) 1 small bunch chopped scallions 1 sliced hot pepper (I used cayenne and thai red peppers, leave in slices so they can be removed if desired  green hot peppers will also work here) Salt to taste Bake butternut squash. When cool enough to handle, peel, seed and cut into 1 inch chunks. Open can of coconut milk. Use some of the solids on top (the oil) to sauté garlic, kaffir lime leaves, sugar, salt and hot peppers for just a few minutes (do not burn the garlic). Add green beans and squash cubes and stir. Add the rest of the coconut milk can and cook for 10-15 minutes until green beans are done. Taste, adjust seasonings and sprinkle top with chopped scallions.

I've started using walnuts or pistachios instead of pine nuts: Making Pesto? Hold the Pine Nuts NY Times Op-Ed by Jonathan C. Slaght Oct. 19, 2015 (Excerpted) MINNEAPOLIS — AT this time of year, kitchens across North America are filled with the aroma of freshly picked basil, fistfuls of peeled garlic bulbs, hunks of Parmesan, cruets of olive oil and jars of pine nuts. It’s pesto season. Mixing these ingredients into a delicious sauce for use throughout the winter months is an end-of-summer tradition. The tiny, delectable pine nut is often viewed as essential to a classic pesto “alla Genovese,” but it is the most vexing ingredient — for the high cost of even a small packet or jar of them. They also come at another kind of price: The pine nut industry may be contributing to the crash of an ecosystem. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a majority of pine nuts imported into the United States come from the Korean pine tree, a keystone species found primarily in the southern parts of the Russian far east. The temperate rain forest of this wild corner of Russia represents a mere 1 percent of the country’s territory yet contains about a quarter of its endangered vertebrate species. ....An ever-expanding road network, driven by selective logging, is exposing more and more of the region to the covetous reach of pine nut harvesters. Once collected, the cones are shucked and the nuts, still in their shells, are sold to Chinese merchants, who haul truckloads across the border to China. From there, they are shipped to overseas markets. Depending on the market price, local traders will pay about $6 for a sack of Korean pine cones, which can hold on average about 125 cones. Last year, I (the author) encountered a group of collectors in the forest that had filled 4,000 sacks — half a million cones — in just six weeks. At the peak of the harvest season, the forests are populated with thousands of collectors in hundreds of makeshift camps. The global demand is making this harvest unsustainable. The entire Korean pine ecosystem (which supports numerous species depending on the pine nuts for winter food) could collapse if it continues.

All you who have installed The Natural, does the painted bevel bother you? On the sample, I borrowed from the showroom, the painted bevel doesn't blend with the color of the flooring as well as other Provenza LVT in the Moda Line. The bevel stands out and looks like a distinct line. Im about to purchase so Im just curious if this is something you dont see once its installed on a large scale.