Category Archives: Mothering

Update

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Things at the house are going pretty well. We had planned on being fully moved by now, but, well we all know about the best-laid plans… We do have the little house mostly set up, and we are living there now. We still have some stuff at the apartment but hope to finish the move tomorrow. K got really sick this past week and spent 6 days with a high fever. Even with Tylenol, her fever would come right back up. It’s scary how helpless Toby and I felt! I know the stress of the move didn’t help any of us either! Kaia is doing better now and we are all settling into the new place. We have so many projects ahead of us, we aren’t sure what to do next, but it will be one of the following: set up some water system for the house, set up a bathroom, set up a solar system, clean out that big tub I got so we can take baths (outdoors:-)), clean up the extra lumber from the front yard, begin finalizing the ‘big’ house plans, build a deck, move the chicken coop to the land…and more. Wow, living a simply life is complicated!

I spent yesterday at the Medicines from the Earth conference put on every year by Gaia Herbs. It was awesome! The conference lasts for 4 days, but I only went today (too much to do at home). I went to talks about Herb/Nutrient Combinations by Bill Mitchell, Medicinal/Invasive Herbs to use for Energy Production by James Duke, and one on the mind/body connection in relation to illness and stress by Omar Cruz. All amazing talks!

“Eat Shit and Die”

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I heard a statement in the news the other day that makes me want to scream!! Generation Y, the young kids today (which includes my baby) are predicted to be the first generation to die before their parents! You know why? Because of all the shit we feed them! Kids under 20 are already starting to have problems with obesity, diabetes, cholesterol, and other illnesses that we aren’t supposed to see until old age (if we see them at all). So here’s what I know… in the 1920’s people were eating fresh, whole foods; foods that were produced by the farmer next door. In the 1940’s all the men went to war, all the women went to work in the factories for the war. New chemicals were developed in these factories… chemicals that include pesticides and preservatives. It was an effort to produce more food and make it last longer. A good thought… unfortunately, they couldn’t have predicted the repercussions! In the past 3 generations, we have seen the invention of processed foods, preservatives, pesticides, herbicides, chemical hormones, food colorings and other additives. Not to mention the invention of the TV that we veg out in front of to eat these processed chemical foods! In the past 3 generations, we have also seen an increase of cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, reproductive issues, and inflammatory diseases. I wholeheartedly believe that it is directly related to what we are eating. As a society we are over fed but under nourished! No, I cannot sit here and tell you that I cook every meal from my garden, or that I don’t get that box of Mac and Cheese on occasion. But, as of this moment, I am making it my duty to be damn sure that my daughter doesn’t die before I do because of what I fed her! I challenge all the parents out there to do the same! Let’s start eating more whole foods, unprocessed foods, foods that haven’t been chemically altered! Let’s start buying foods locally, that aren’t adulterated with preservatives, or hormones. I know it takes more effort to eat this way. Believe me… I know! I guilt myself every time I pour my daughter that bowl of processed, high sugar cereal. But, what could be more worth the effort of healthy, whole food eating than the life of your children?? If you need a good place to start, I would recommend Sally Fallon’s book “Nourishing Traditions”, or any other whole foods cook book (any other recommendations?)

Happy Mother’s Day!

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I know I am a day late, but I think this is beautiful! So, I had to post it! I never knew anything about the history of Mother’s Day! It gives me goose-bumps to read it!

“Mother’s Day is actually a centuries-old tradition in Europe. The ancient Greeks held festivals in honor of Rhea, the mother of the gods. The early Christians adopted the holiday, celebrating on the fourth Sunday of Lent in honor of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. English colonists who settled in North America, however, gave up the practice, and it was not celibrated in the US until 1872. At that time Julia Ward Howe organized a day for mothers explicitly dedicated to peace.”

Mother’s Day Proclaimation by Julia Ward Howe:

Arise then…women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
“We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.
From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: “Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.”
Blood does not wipe our dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace…
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God –
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

Happy weekend!

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Graduation was this past week and we had sooo much fun! All the students and some of the teachers had a camp out at this great house in the boonies. We stayed up until 3am, had a lazy morning cooking and playing (I brought my hoops and got almost everyone hooked, and there was a trampoline there too) and had a wonderful ceremony. One of our teachers (she specialized in energetic herbalism) conducted a hand-fasting for each student and a chosen plant. For the next year, we are to learn more about the plant we were hand-fasted to, in every way we can. She said that when she meditated on me, Rock Rose (Cistus ladaniferus) came to her. So, for the next year I will make this plant my ally. I’m excited, first because this is so cool, and second because I know nothing about this plant except that it is one of the main ingredients in the flower essence “Rescue Remedy“. I ordered the essential oil so that I can work with that too.

Here’s a picture of my class and some of the teachers. All of us but one are going on to level three (and that’s only because one student just had a baby and is taking some time off).

Some of you have asked about the school I go to…
There are three official herb schools, and many others that hold classes, in Western North Carolina. This area really attracts healers, so there are all kinds of alternative education programs around here. The school that I go to, and teach for, is the Mountain Spirit School of Herbalism (MSSH) (We just changed our name from the Southeast Center for Herbal Healing, so don’t get confused by the web page). I took my first classes in 1999 at the North Carolina School of Natural Healing, which was being run by another herbalist at the time. I went on to open Full Circle Herbs, but kept it very small. This past September, I met up with Mimi Middleton, who is the director at MSSH. She was one of the first graduating classes from Tai Sophia with her Masters in Herbal Medicine. (Tai Sophia is the only school in the US that is approved to give Master’s degrees in Herbal Medicine). Anyway, she is an amazing woman to talk with and a fantastic teacher. She asked me if I would be interested in teaching some basic classes for the school, but I didn’t feel confident or competent enough to teach. So, instead, I decided to take the Level 2 class that was about to start, and I am so glad I did. Though some of the stuff was review, most of it was absolutely amazing and educational and stimulating! So, now, I have decided to go on to level 3. This is the final level and I will begin seeing clients in the clinical setting as an herbalist. I’m really excited about this! I have seen clients before, but I have never had a course like this and I think it will be extremely helpful. My plan, when I am done, is to see clients part-time out on the land. I will have a small apothacary out there and a great big herb garden. I am also about to begin teaching for the school. The next level one course is beginning next week and I will be teaching a few classes. All of this is really amazing, especially since I never thought I would find a place as an herbalist when we moved back to Asheville.

Now, for those of you who could care less about herbs, and are only checking this blog to see how my Chia Heads are doing, well, here you go:

Check it out!!! The roots grew through the panty hose without a problem, but the little sprouts couldn’t. So, I had to do a little brain surgery and cut a hole in the top. I love how the hair style changes depending on the angle of the sun :-) Kaia and I will probably plant them for the Equinox on Monday. We also plan to dye eggs and plant some flower seeds. What are you all planning for Ostara?

Purple, sparkly fairy dress

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Last week, I promised K that I would make her a “purple, sparkly fairy dress” when she got over the chicken pox. So, yesterday, we went to the fabric store and she picked out what she wanted for her dress, and I spent the afternoon sewing. I have to say that I am very impressed with what resulted, ’cause I don’t know how to sew! I took the basic idea from another dress that K has and came up with this:

Isn’t that awesome!! If I thought I could even come close to repeating it, I would make one for myself too!! :-) And K likes pockets, so I made two in the front for her:

And here are her wings in the back. They are held on by a button, so she can take them off if she doesn’t feel like flying:

This week is also graduation for my herb school! Then, in one month, I will start the clinical preceptorship and begin seeing clients. I have seen clients before, but taking an ‘official’ course makes me feel more confident in my skills and more qualified to teach other herb students. I will be teaching Male and Female Anatomy and Physiology, Respiratory A&P, and select herbs to go along with those to the first level students that are beginning school in two weeks!

Oh, and on the beekeeping front, both of our hives made it through the winter and seem to be holding strong! We hope to move them up to our new land soon so that they can take advantage of all the Tulip poplars out there during blooming season!

Oh (again), and the Chia heads are growing!!

pox and such

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Well, I think we are over the rough part of chicken pox with K. She developed full blown symptoms last Thursday (fever and some small spots) and has had a rough weekend. But she is such a trooper! She loves taking her oatmeal baths and she helped me make a lotion to soothe her spots. She is even using visualization to help! (I told her to imagine a purple, sparkly sunshine just outside of her body and that when she takes a deep breath, the sunshine goes into her body and warms her up and helps her feel better. She was so cute… taking deep breaths and trying to concentrate on the purple sunshine.)
Here she is taking a little break on the couch:

Today, K helped me make some home-made chia pets. I don’t know how they will work, but it was fun anyway. We took old panty hose and put a layer of red clover seeds on the bottom. Then we stuffed it with seed starting soil and the end of a wick (I used some yarn since I didn’t have a real ‘wick’). Then, we tied up the ‘head’ and stiched on some buttons for eyes, nose and mouth. Then I dunked the whole thing in water and for a minute and placed it over a jar with water and am letting it sit in the window. I’ll let you know if it works. I think the hose may be to tightly woven and the seeds won’t be able to break through…

We also went up to the land this weekend. We had hoped to camp, but with K feeling under the weather, we decided against it. Still waiting on the Atty. to finish the paper work before we can close. Hopefully, next week.

Chicken Pox Stew

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Well, in anticipation for K getting the Pox (no signs yet), I decided to make a ton of yummy, nutritious, immune supporting soup. I made ~ a gallon and put a bunch in the freezer. Here’s the recipe:

  • Place 4 chicken legs (fat and skin removed) in ~ one gallon of water with 2 crushed garlic cloves and 2 green onions and simmer until the meat falls off the bones. (Crush the garlic 10 minutes before using it to activate the medicinal properites.)
  • Take the bones out of the soup and leave the meat
  • Add into the broth: 3 chopped red potatoes, one chopped burdock root, one shreaded turmeric root (~2 inches), and one cup of dry rice, and simmer for ~30 minutes
  • Add ~10 sliced Shitake mushrooms, a handful of Wakame seaweed (dry), 2 handfuls of kale, 5 crushed cloves of garlic and 5 green onions, and simmer for another 15 minutes
  • This soup is fairly bland, which is good if you are sick, but if you want more flavor, add Miso paste to taste. I add ~ 1 heaping Tbsp each time I heat up enough soup to feed the three of us. Once you heat the soup take it off the heat and strain off some liquid into a bowl. Add the Miso paste to this liquid and stir it well. Then add this miso fluid back to the main soup, mix and serve.

Yum Yum!!

Chicken Pox

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Well, K may be getting chicken pox sometime soon. One of the friends she plays with just came down with it. His doctor said it was the first case she has had in her office in over 2 years. WOW! I know a lot of kids are vaccinated against it now, but in our community where so many families don’t vaccinate, you’d think there would be more cases. A bunch of parents have already asked me if their kids can come over and try to get it through natural exposure if K gets it. So, maybe we will throw a Chicken Pox Party. Anyway, in preparation I wrote up a little herbal info for dealing with chicken pox.

Natural Therapies To Support Our Children Through Chicken Pox

Continue reading »

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So, you know how we all have that list of “things we want to do before we die”? Well, I am very happy to say I marked one thing off my list tonight! I did Karaoke!!! And it was a blast!! I’m so proud of myself. For some odd reason, once I got out of high school, I developed a pretty strong stage fright. I don’t like being up in front of people. But, I have always loved singing and really wanted to give karaoke a try. Plus, if I am going to be teaching this year, I need to get over this introversion. Plus, plus, I don’t want K to be afraid of being up in front of crouds just because mom and dad are. So, I did it! I got up there and belted out RESPECT by Aretha Franklin. And I did a good job if I do say so myself 🙂 When I was done, K said “Mommy, you are a great singer!” pause… “That was terrible!”

Parties and Pageants

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Last Sunday, the North Carolina Chapter of the American Herbalists Guild had a holiday party and fundraiser. The party was great! We had live music, lots of amazing donations for the silent auction, and drew in a bunch of great people! We raised well over $400! Now we just have to think of what herby things we want to do with the money!

Also on Sunday, K’s preschool had a little Christmas pageant. We didn’t get the greatest footage, but it is pretty funny. I was proud of them for doing a little skit on the history of Christmas customs, and I think it’s pretty funny that I know of at least 4 pagan-y types who have their kids in playschool there. I think it’s because they don’t push religion down your throught. (If you don’t have Quicktime on your machine, it’s pretty easy to download it from the site.)

Harry Potter

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So, of course, being the die-hard Harry Potter fan I am, I went to see the 4th movie on opening night. I think the books are far superior to the movies, but I still have to go! Anyway, I don’t know why I am surprized, because it happens everytime, but I just can’t get over how many parents bring their little kids to see these movies. I saw kids ages newborn and up. I know it is marketed as a kids book, but it’s not. And the older Harry Potter gets, the more evil and violence there is in the books. The first half of the movie was fairly lighthearted, but the second half was scary, violent and dealt with a lot of devilish people. I just don’t get it. Our world is scary enough without subjecting our little ones to things like this. At least reading the book, they can create their own images, but the movie does it for you and it was something like Alien vs Poltergeist. I heard three kids on the way out who said they were going to have nightmares! Poor things!

K’s experiment

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We did a little experiment today and styrofoam “peanuts” vs. starch “peanuts”. I have to say, I was very proud of myself for thinking this one up! We put them both in water and watched the starch ones dissolve. Then K and I talked about how the starch ones were easier for mama earth to turn back into dirt and that the styrofoam ones took a really long time and kind-of give mama earth a belly ache. It was fun! It must have been peanut starch, ’cause they smelled like peanut butter when they dissolved

Why?

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Mark this day in history! Today is the day that the “why’s?” began!

“Mommy, why do we walk on the sidewalk?”
“Well, there are fast cars are on the road so we stay on the sidewalk.”
“Why?”
“Because we could get hurt if we walked in the road.”
“Why?”
“Because cars drive on the road.”
“Why?”
“Well, the cars need somewhere to drive, so they drive on the road.”
“Why?”
“Because someone made a law that said cars drive on the road!”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, I guess it just made sense at the time!!”
“Why?”
“Because I said so!!”
“Why?”
“Because you are a nut-nut!!”
“Why?”
“Why not?”
………

You get the idea!

Halloween

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We had a nice dinner last night… pumpkin soup, home made cranberry sauce, apple cider, and pomegranites. I felt really weak, though. Toby was thinking that it could be Carbon Monoxide from our heater, but we just got a monitor and that doesn’t seem to be it. Maybe I just need a break…

Here are some pics of K’s costumes
Last friday we went to a festival at the library and she wanted to go as a “pink fuzzy bunny with a fluffy tail. And my name is Cottontail”

Then yesterday, she decided to be a “ghost who goes in the dark and goes ‘boo boo'”

And, here, just for the fun of it, are the “hands of fate’!!

Boogers – part 2

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I am happy to report that K woke up this morning and immediately said to me “Mommy, boogers are not for eatin’! They are gross an yucky an stanky!!” Then she happily ate her cereal, drank her milk, picked her nose, and ate a booger.

What you would hear if you were a fly in our car.

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“Mmmmm, Mommy, I’m eatin’ my boogers!”
“Eww, gross, K, don’t eat your boogers. They’re not food”
“Yes they are, mommy! Boogers are food!”
“No, K, boogers aren’t food”
“Yes they are! Boogers are food. They are for eating! Mmmm!”
“K, boogers aren’t food! They are to keep out the buggies and colds and stuff. Don’t eat them!”
“Boogers are food Mama!”
“K, listen, I promise to stop eating my boogers if you stop eating yours!” 🙂
“But, Mama boogers are food!”
Etc…….

Yesterday’s conversation in the car went something like this:
“Mama, I want a sometin snack”
“Do you want some crackers?”
“I want some qwackers”
“It’s crackers, K, not qwackers”
“I said qwackers, mama!”
“No, K, it’s crackers.”
“Qwackers!”
“Crackers!”
“Qwackers!”
“Crackers!”
Etc……

Chimney Swifts

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K and I went downtown tonight to watch the Chimney Swifts do their nightly plunge into one of the larger chimney’s in Asheville. I have lived here off and on since I was 12 and have never heard of this. Apparently, they all gather in one spot before taking their winter trip to Peru. So, for 3 days at sun rise and sun set you can see them swirling around the chimney over one of the downtown buildings. It was really amazing! It started off ~7 pm with 10-20 of them circling over the building. We went to lay in the grass with ~30 other people all there to wathc (some with wine and cheese:-). By the time the sun was setting, there were thousands of them in what looked like a funnel cloud just swirling around the chimney. Then they started to dive in. And over ~5 minutes, they were all gone. It was wild! While we were there, a reporter from the local paper came over to ask me a few questions. I said stuff like ‘yeah, it’s amazing that they don’t crash’ and ‘I wonder why they chose that chimney’ and stupid stuff like that (I’m glad she didn’t quote me when I joked about why no one was getting crapped on since we were all laying down directly under the birds). And then, K (who had been occupied with a cookie that someone gave her) decided to get up and do a “birdie dance”. It was awesome! She was flapping her arms and tweeting and zooming all around! She is such a nut! Too bad the reporter didn’t have a camera 🙂

I tried to get a good picture, but there was just no way with them all swooping all over the place. I did get a shot of the chimney that they all fly into though. If you look really close, you can see some dots in the sky that are the birds. (but don’t strain your eyes!)

Birthdays, celebrations and house crap

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Toby’s birthday is today, so K and I got up and made him some breakfast, and brought it to him in bed. Then, tonight we got some Thai food (one of his favorites) and I made an “applesauce raisin spice cake with maple cream icing” MMmmmmm.

We are also preparing for our equinox celebration. We made our indian corn necklaces today, and then wore them to the grocery store where we got lots of compliments. We also planned out our menu… I am making spiced apple bread, garlic mashed potatoes and gravy, swiss chard casserole and maybe some turkey. We are going to a friends house tomorrow for dinner (we are having our big celebration tomorrow ’cause Toby won’t be here on the equinox), and then to a huge bonfire on Sat. I am really enjoying having celebrations with the seasons! It just makes so much more sense to me.

OK, so the house crap. We sent a letter to the x-buyers letting them know that they had broken the lease and did owe us earnest money, since their reasons for breaking the lease weren’t legal as far as the contract goes. We just got a letter this morning from the x-buyers with the general tone of ‘you guys are idiots and will never win in court with your frivolous claims. We told you we can’t get financing and won’t be able to buy the house. we are right, you are wrong, Suck it!’ Well, had they actually told us that they couldn’t get financing, that would have been a whole different story! My feeling is that they went out and asked someone to deny them credit so that they could send the letter to us. Who knows. ‘Cause otherwise, why would you say “well, we just don’t want to have two mortgages and we may not get approval from the builder” and other crap like that. A simple “we can’t get a loan” would have ended it right there, no questions asked. Oh well, we are totally over it and don’t feel like pushing anything. If it was a missunderstanding, whatever… If they did get someone to give them a ‘no credit’ note after we sent them the letter asking for earnest money… well, Karma baby.

Lata!

Our Trip to the Post Office

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while standing in line at the post office
“Mama, do they have a potty here”
“No K, there is no potty at the post office, do you have to go?”
“I have to go potty, mama”
“K, didn’t you just go potty at daddy’s office?”
loudly and emphatically“Mama, I have to go Poopy!”
move up to the counter, hear snickers from the people behind us and the postal workers
“Can you wait until we get home? We are going home after this”
“Mama, I just stand like this”crosses legs “and hold da poopy in so it doesn’t come out!”
more giggles

“Hey Mama! der’s a cock on de wall! A big round cock!”
strange looks from the audience!
“Yes, K, there is a clock on the wall! It is almost one o’clock”
I turn to the other customers and say “you didn’t know the post office had such wonderful things to look at did you?” and one of the customers replies “I have never had such entertainment at the post office!”

“Mama I’m still holdin’ in de poopy, kay?”
“Good job K, let’s get home so you can go potty”
“Mama, I already went. I run like dis to de car” jumping, skipping and waving her hands “and all the poopy goes boing boing boing on my butt!”
“Thank you K for the visual”
“welcome mama”

For those concerned citizens, K did not go in her ‘big girl panties” She waited until we got home!

Addendum: Oh, and I almost forgot about the part where K told me “mama, I don’t want to eat my poopy! It’s stinky! SHOOOWEEEE!” Ahh, my little girl!

Wild ride!

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I have to say, I am kind of glad that this weekend is almost over and maybe we can start fresh tomorrow. Aside from the house coming out of contract (they just decided they didn’t want it anymore!!) Toby started having trouble breathing and had to go to the ER. Turns out he has costochondritis, inflammation of the joints in between the ribs and the sternum. It’s usually caused by stressing that area too much. (We think this may have happened in the move). It’s like throwing out your back, except it’s your front. I’ve got him on all kinds of herbs for inflammation and pain, and he is taking prescriptions if needed. Poor thing! In the middle of it all, K and I are full of snot with a nice cool weather change cold. But, on the bright side of it all, K has decided (at barely 27 months of age) that she will no longer wear diapers. She has been in her “big girl panties” for the past week, including at night, and hasn’t had an accident! I am floored! I thought she would be at least 3 before this happened!! She’s so awesome! Today, when I was putting her to sleep she said “mama, K has a little butt, and mommy and daddy have big butts”. How true!

OK, I’m off to bed to recuperate!

Oh, here are a few pictures of our evening play. We are taking all the kernels off of the indian corn and are going to make them into necklaces in celebration of the equinox next week. You just soak them in water for a few hours and then thread a string through them. Then, when you have the right length necklace, you lay them out to dry. and Voila!



mama’s play time!

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Well, I just dropped K off at her first day of play school! I am still struggling with the “I can do everything and still get a nice dinner on the table” mama attitude, and have realized that in order to keep (or get back) my sanity, I need a break! So, I found this great place just down the street (literally 5 houses down) that has a Tuesday/Thursday play school from 8-11:30!! So, K gets some time to play with friends and learn more than just my 5 song repertoire, and I get time to work on Full Circle Herbs. I am still planning on home schooling, but I think this will be very good for both of us.

So, I am hoping to use some of this free time to start doing an “Herb of the Week” write up. I figure it will be a good way to refresh myself! I will post it on this site.

What else… Oh, we have a contract on the house in Chapel Hill!!! We never did have to put it on the market! And we should close by the end of this month!! So, we went to Chapel Hill again this weekend and did all the final touch ups and trash removal. We were also able to pack up the bees and bring them to Asheville. (At night, when they have gone into their hives, you put a piece of screen over the entrance and strap the hives together so nothing moves. Then put them on the truck and away you go) They are hanging out on my brother-in-laws property where he has a little more space than we do. I hope to get over there at least every other week to do a mite count. That is about all I do now for the bees. Toby does everything else. I am kind of freaked out about getting stung again. After the last sting (which I think was a yellow jacket, but still), my leg swelled up so big you could bounce a dime off of it. And it took a few weeks to resolve. SO, I figure, I should probably stay away from the bees just in case the stings keep getting worse.

Packing, packing, and more packing!

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We are getting there as far as the packing is concerned. The dust got to me so badly yesterday that I had to have sneezed over 300 times! Seriously!! I ended up exhausted in bed and feeling like crap, so I didn’t get to go see the WAS show. K has been interested in all the boxes and packing tape and all the other things that are getting moved around. So, it hasn’t been as hard to pack as I thought it was going to be. Here is K, helping us organize Toby’s childhood baseball card collection. (yes, she was running around “nudey bottom” so I painted on a skirt 🙂

And here she is packing up herself! (Check out the awesome giraffe hat!)

And this is what we look forward to having when we move closer to Grammy’s house! She got this at a yard sale!!! K loves it!

Yummy summer fruit

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These past few days have been filled with yumminess! When my mom was here, we went blueberry picking… $1/pound for organic blueberries!! I only got ~4 pounds and they went into the freezer. But, I will go back! Then, I noticed that some of my wineberries were ready to pick. This is my first year having berries at this house. I planted ~15 raspberries last fall, but they probably won’t produce anything this year. I also put in 4 wineberries. They taste like a mix of a raspberry and a blackberry. Here’s my first mini-harvest:

Then, this weekend, I went to a friend’s house to can some tomatoes. They have just started a garden this year and are taking their produce to the local farmers markets. But, there were so many extra tomatoes that we ended up canning 26 quarts of tomato sauce!! Here are some picks from the canning party.


Then, I went out to a different blueberry farm this morning to do some more picking. Another place with organic blueberries for only $1/pound!! I only ended up getting ~1# before my friend, B, got stung by a yellow jacket and we realized that there was a nest ~10 feet from where we had put our blanket for the kids. B was a bit shaken by the whole thing (she hates insects, especially stinging ones), so we decided to just head home. When we were turning into her neighborhood, we saw a little baby holding onto a nurf ball, walking in the middle of the street with just a diaper on. He couldn’t have been much over a year old. I slowed down and waited for his parent to grab him out of the street, but no one came. He looked really scared. So, B jumped out of the car and picked him up and we started knocking on doors trying to find his parents. Soon, I saw a man coming out a house down the street and I said “are you looking for a baby??” He didn’t respond, but just started running towards me. Then he started making the sign for baby and I realized that he was deaf and never heard his little boy open the front door and leave the house. He was so shaken! I felt like crying when I thought of what might have happened if some one had come plowing around the corner and not seen the baby! And imagine if you could never hear your child’s cries, or laughter? I’m feeling very blessed for all of my senses right now, and that the little baby is safe at home now!

Three Generations of Feet

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As I was wrote this title, I remembered a friend of mine in college who couldn’t stand feet. She had the opportunity to usher (and attend for free) a Grateful Dead concert and almost turned it down because she had heard about “all those hippies that don’t wear shoes”. But she was determined to see what all the hype was about the Dead and got herself a postcard with a picture of a foot on it, placed it by her bed, and forced herself to look at it every day to get over her foot ‘issue’. Well, I hope it worked, cause Kathy, where ever you are, this post is for you!

My mom came down for a visit this past week and we all got our nails done!

Clarifying

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For some time now, I have been trying to figure out what avenue I want to travel down with this herbalist thing. With my website and the stores that offer my products, it seems like I am heading towards being a business woman herbalist. But, I know that’s not how I want it. I have been hemming and hawing over whether or not to put my stuff in Earthfare. And at first, I thought it was the money commitment (buying liability insurance and UPC codes would cost $2000 just for this year). But, I think, the more I clarify my desires, the more I realize that I don’t want to be that type of herbalist. I don’t want to be spending more time in my office and on my computer than I do in my garden. I don’t want this business to grow so big that I have to hire other people to play with the plants while I do administrative stuff. I have felt out of touch with the plants and I think that’s why… not enough plant time and too much computer. Right now, a lot of my income (which is really not an income, more like pocket change) comes from the internet sales. But, even that gives me reservations. Though I love to think about my products touching people in California and even France, when I think about the pollution it took to truck/fly my box of goodies out to that person, I feel bad. If every community had and supported their local herbalists, we would all be healthy and well taken care of and no one would need to mass produce and ship their stuff. So, I think I am getting a little clearer about my vision. I like the feeling I get when I think about being a community herbalist. Someone that people can come to when they are ill, or healthy and want to stay that way. I want to talk to people about slowing down their fast paced lives, eating healthy foods and treating each other and the earth with kindness. I want to have a garden full of herbs that I hand harvest and make into medicines myself. I want my relationship with the plants to go deeper than it is now. Be more spiritual. That makes me feel good! I can maybe even see a small herbal apothecary carrying the products of the local herbalists, along with some local herbs. I don’t know…

So, for now, I will hold off on growing this business. If my products are in any stores, they will be local and definitely not chains. I will hold off on printing the T-Shirts. I fill focus on opening up to my neighbors and friends, and listening to the plants.

Argh!!

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I’m not sure what that title is about… I think I am tired of thinking and that is what came out.

So, how come, the more I just want a simple, relaxed life the busier it gets. I feel like there are so many things happening right now. So many details to keep track of in my head and crap, that I can’t turn my brain off for a second to relax! I can’t remember the last time I sat down and read a book for pure enjoyment and not for the sake of learning something new. (That will all change on the 16th when the next Harry Potter book comes out!!!)

Anyway, enough bitching…

Here’s what K and I did this morning:

First we made a sling for her little bear that she has been carrying all around lately. She loves the sling. She only took it off to sleep!

We also made playdough this morning. Here are K and her bear (still in the sling) learning how to “mash da paydow”:

Here’s the recipe for the playdough. It was really simple. We made blue and pink. (It takes lots of food coloring to make a vibrant color)
1 cup water
1 Tbsp oil
1/2 c salt
1 Tbsp cream of tartar
food coloring
mix all of this in a sauce pan and heat until warm (and most of the salt is dissolved). Take off the heat and add 1 cup of flour. Stir, then knead until smooth. Keep in an airtight container.