Fruits of our labor

Radishes, cucumber, and strawberries, oh my! Our little garden is growing well. We harvested and ate a little snack yesterday. The little kids all at least tried everything.

What one can find in one's own backyard

There are numerous weeds, herbs, grasses, and shrubs growing in some overgrown areas near our backyard. For years i have been fascinated with the availability of wild food. I will walk by some plants in a random field and I will notice all  of the edible plants. It may not taste the best but I bet I could live off the land for a little bit. these pictures are of wild carrot. I know you all have seen it beside most roads around here in Alabama. the flowers are pretty amazing. Take a moment one day to stop and take a good look. Check out more info here. T he book I keep going back to reference is this one....

Verbena Alabama

 I have the opportunity to work and spend some time in Chilton County. Where else can you see toilets in the front yard of a mobile home with plants growing in them!!!

My newest finds

I found some colorful measuring spoons and some Russian dolls that are actually measuring cups. The wooden spoon set I got for herb use when I make salves, potions, and charms. The small wooden spoon is not actually one of my finds. A friend of mine (OK my boss) found it at Pepper Place. Her 2 year old daughter just had to have it. The drink is a fermented dandelion and burdock "sodas". I want to find a shelf to place the colorful spoons and the dolls on. I believe Lyn and I may go for an early morning walk one day and find a circle to enjoy the "soda" as a mother and daughter time.

Whipping up a raspberry leaf tincture

Sara loves me...

My thoughtful co-worker brought me the small chocolate bars this morning. It meant so much to her to bring them to me that she actually took her make-up out of her purse to fit them in. She knows me so well. The two big chocolate bars were already in MY purse.... A girl can never have too much chocolate.

Beads for life again....

Again, here is Annika in her new necklace.If you want more info on this fundraising opportunity check out this website...

I do believe red is my favorite color right now

This geranium graces my front porch. Red is such a strong color. It lends protection and plain makes me feel better.

Beads for life...

Annika has such a big heart. I bought the necklace she is wearing to help two causes.  They were made by women in Uganda out of recycled material. They were then bought by a friend of mine to resale as a fundraiser to support her adoption.  When Annika was told the story of the beads she got a bit confused.  She thought my friend was adopting orphans from Uganda that are starving. I explained again what they were for.  With tears still in her eyes she asked if she could send more money to the orphans.  That was an easy answer... of course we can.

Evening Primrose

I just participated in a Webinar all about herbs. It was very enlightening. Now I want to just want to be able to grow everything and give it to those in need. Evening Primrose sounds good. I need something new to try.... Evening primrose was one of the main focuses today.

Breastfeeding in public again?

OK does my backyard count? Ben is 16 months old today and I am so happy to say that he is still breastfeeding and doesn't seem to want to give it up anytime soon. He will drink from an open cup for Dad during the day but mostly he just waits for me to come home to get some "mama's milk". He is still waking up at night to nurse too. Since I am away from him during the day at work I don't mind that unless he just wants to play and not go back to sleep. I am proud of him for learning how to latch at 3 months of age. I was confident in him and my body. I am hoping he will continue to nurse till he is  at least2 years old. We all seem to forget that the medical community recommends nursing a year as the minimum not the maximum of breastfeeding duration.

16 months old

I cannot believe my baby is so old....

Making a salve

 I used dried comphrey, dried calendula, powdered slippery elm bark, dried echenacia, mullien extract, vitamine E oil, olive oil, and seasme oil, beeswax and palm wax. The herbs were crushed and added to the oils and heated. The waxes were then added. This is a salve for cuts, scrapes, and acne. I'll let you know how it works.

Another attempt to add new things to my diet

My mother bought me the Apple Cider Vinegar with Mother. My aunt, mother, and my aunt's friend have started taking a cap full of this once a day to help improve our health and balance our internal flora and fauna. A plus, my mom said it seems to be an appetite suppressant. I still need to loose about 20 pounds to be at my driver's licence weight!!!

The GingerApple Cider drink is a bit different. It is meant to be drunk at one sitting. I think I am going to have it on hand for those moments of upset tummies.... Ginger works wonders with nausea.

One of my favorites....

One of my favorite shopping sites lately is Wild Mother Arts. I bought three bracelets in a set recently. Ben snapped two of them. One was repaired without loss of any beads. The other one broke outside and we never found all of the beads. Using the ones we did find Lyn added them with some large beds of the same make and one of our own spiral beads. It turns out there are 13 of each size bead. I love that. It reminds me of the mother daughter connection. Thank you Wild Mother Arts for the inspiration.....

The kids' garden

We have a small plot in the backyard with vegetables growing. We have squash, eggplant, radishes, turnips, bell peppers, and strawberries. Oh yeah, and cucumbers. I actually think they are all going to do very well.

Thank you Jenna

My good friend gave Lyn a present to celebrate a very important milestone. It was perfect. Lyn loved it.....

Random acts of kindness

After working all morning I loaded up 4 of the kids and headed to the grocery store. As we were loading up the van a fire truck came around the back corner of the store. Lyn drew the little kids' attention to them. One of the fire fighters told the rest to go ahead into the store and he let the kids see the truck. Evan was the only one who actually sat in the truck. Eliot was a little shy. Maybe Evan wants to be a fire fighter like his Granddad!!!

Adding fermented foods to your diet

We just don't eat enough fermented foods and drinks anymore in our culture. Since Ben got thrush and I listened to some professionals about the importance of fermented foods in our diet. I have added apple cider with some apple cider vinegar to my drink choices. At the store the other day I came across this drink. Mmmmm, it was good......

What is that?

On a trip to World Market Lyn picked out this interesting Japanese soda. You have to pop a glass marble through the opening to open it. Needless to say she is keeping the bottle.

To the doctor we go

I know it is thrush. But the doctor's office won't call in a prescription because we have not been in the office lately.  Duh.... we haven't been sick that is why we haven't been in.

Mother's Day

While I was sitting at church waiting for the service to begin Lyn was sitting beside me. She is wearing a necklace that she made yesterday. You can't tell very well in the picture but the color of the beads match her gray hazel eyes perfectly. The sermon today was focused on the motherhood of god. Check out the pod cast if you are interested in hearing it. All throughout the service I held my Mother beads. They give me comfort and it seemed very appropriate to have them in my hands during the service.

For my Mother

Your hearbeat was the first sound I heard



Your arms were the first to hold me


Your milk was the first that nourished me


Your eyes were the first to gaze into mine


Your dreams and hopes were the first to guide me


Your knowledge was the first to teach me


Your ideals were the first to mold me


Your heart was the first I captured

You made me the mother I am today to my oun children


You are my mother

My baby has thrush....

Ben has been grumpy and had a low grade fever for a few days. He has thrush in his mouth and today he has a yeast infection in his diaper area. He is getting a bit better. We have tried diluted grapefruit seed extract in his mouth and on my nipples (he is still breastfeeding). Some apple cider with a little apple cider vinegar has been added to my diet. Ben can be encouraged to drink a little bit. We have also added more yogurt to our diet. Also we are drinking a Kefir drink. I tried our homemade baby powder on his bottom. We topped it off with a backing soda bath. If the Ph of his skin and mouth hasn't been altered I don't know what else to try......

Lyn's first money making event

At this years Early intervention training workshop Lyn had an opportunity to be a vendor and showcase her artwork, jewelry, and homemade concoctions. She did great. She sold a lot more than I thought she would. She was very professional. She even made some special orders because she sold out of a lot of her bracelets. She is going to try to set up her web site (blog) better so she can showcase her work and make more money and share her talents with the world.

How much fun can someone have with a sheet?

Lyn, Annika, Evan, Eliot, and Lyn's friend found a way to make a sheet loads of fun. The sheet is actually Lyn's drop cloth when she is painting. They pulled each other up and down the side yard till they were worn out. All in all a fun afternoon.

Happy Birthday Annika! 9 is a great year!!!

They hatched...

Now we need to figure pit what kind of birds they are. The mama bird flies away too fast....

Herbal poultice

Eliot and Lyn helped me make an herbal poultice for scrapes and general boo boos. I placed crushed comfrey and powered slippery elm bark in the center of a recycled piece of clean cotton. I then added two drops of tea tree oil and arnica extract to a carrier oil (sweet olive oil). This was placed in a corked vial and the cloth was folded and all of it was tied with a  piece of jute. Voila, a homemade poultice for slight injuries.