Summer's treasures

Cassia and I spent a morning, just across the way, treasure hunting & came home with a trove of sweet delights...

Garden Life

We have joined with friends to plant, weed, and harvest a big, beautiful, green garden.

Dreaming in Flowers (and vegies)

February always finds me sketching plans for the upcoming spring planting. Back in Washington I could actually carry out these plans, but here, they are only sketches.

I dream in flowers. Secret gardens of my mind. Tiptoeing through visions long embedded from stories, and whisps of memories become my nightly foray during this time of year.

I can smell the fresh earth, feel the moisture under my feet, name each plant as I go. And, I gather. I gather the ingredients for our salsa, I choose blossoms for the vases, and I hold moments in my heart that I will return to when next I dream. There is a sound of contented buzzing in the garden of my dreams. There are moss encrusted walls of rocks and the sun is always warm on my back as I wander.

But as I said, here & now, they are only longings - - only sketches.

And while I sketch, Minda knits.

Soon the seed catalogues will begin arriving. I'll pack them by my side instead of in a box. They'll while away the miles between destinations. Oh, I do hope we are settled in time to plant!

For now I'll just dream of playing in the dirt.

Summer Delights

Summer seems to have made up it's mind to stay awhile in Bozeman! Although the weather hasn't been hot, it's been warm and pleasant. It's made us dream of picking raspberries at Grama's, and eating cherries as we sit in the crook of the branches... days gone by.

The sunshine has also made us want to eat right ~ cold vegies and fruits, high Omega 3s, grains and nuts. Lunch today was cold Pacific Sockeye in a Garlic Dijon Pesto, fresh organic Strawberries and an organic green smoothie (Kale, Orange, peach, carrot). It was absolutely perfect. Makes me wish I had leftover Salmon more often!

We've also been walking a lot more as those rays grace our days. Minda and I (& Cricket) walk to the mailbox both to send out and again to pickup. Coming home this morning, we had to stop and pick some wildflower bouquets. Doesn't Min look cute? She had just finished watching "Fiddler on the Roof" the night before and came upstairs this morning en-kerchiefed!

The evenings are glorious displays of color. Greens, blues, lavenders, pinks, oranges, and yellows. I'm not usually awakes when the sun is going down (I still like to be in bed before 9) but, when I am still up, I do so love the Evensong hour.

At the bottom of our driveway is a hill that is tall and wild with a muddle of weeds and flowers ~ God makes it seem less of a mess and more of an orchestrated chorus during this magical hour. Moments like this make all feel right in the world.
Are you finding your summer full of delights?

Together Again

Who would have thought 2 years ago that God would have connected me to a someone in such a round about way... I'm so thankful He did. Sara and Matt were 2 of the founding members of our small group, so of course we had to have them come since they are back from tour! We had everyone bring some fried chicken, and we made Potato Salad (a Vegan one and a regular), Tabouli, Watermelon Salsa with Flax and Grain Chips, Mint tea with lime, and Homemade ice cream!

Sara brought this awesome salad (that I had 6 helpings of)! It had Hemp seed in it. My first encounter and they were yummy!

Our Ms. K is off to Gabon in the morning. We love this girl so much. She and Sam have blessed us beyond imagination since we have been in Bozeman. She is getting to fulfill a life-long dream by going to serve the orphans in Africa. How exciting that God is not just the dream giver, but also the fulfiller of those dreams!!! Please keep her and Sam in your prayers.

Of course there was the testosterone side of things too. :o) Bags - in the cool of the day, with an incredible view, but they only had eyes for the prize! We have no yard (just forest and hillsides), so we set up on the deck!

NayNay taking her 'turn' at the deep freezer! Grampa would be proud!

I just made vanilla last night, but I sauced some of the rhubarb from market for a topping - Cassia told me that Rhubarb sauce is for store bought ice cream, home made can stand on it's own 2 feet! heehee

The reward of the Crank!! Delicious!We kept our Footprint lighter last night as well. Everyone used our picnicware and kept the same cups (thanks to glow-in-the-dark stars with their names on them attached to each one!) So at the end of the night, the only thing we tossed were the glasses and forks. One small (10 gallon) bag of garbage with well over 24 people here! I wish you could recylce the plastics we had to toss, but I'm going to be looking for picnicwares in those arenas too, as well as more cloth napkins, so there isn't even one bag of garbage to toss at the end of the night!

J invited a couple he recently met to come hang with us and they did! Kristine and Mike came and even got their game on! Kristine had the guys worried that they would no longer be Lord of the Bags! I hope they'll come again.

Thaw

I'm still doing the raw food challenge. With the coming of sunshine there is greater desire to eat raw. When it was still snowing and 34 degrees outside for some reason I didn't crave a chilly smoothie over a hot cup of coffee! This was part of dinner last night. A 7 grain and mushroom "tortilla" (brushed with EVOO) with green onion, tomato, cucumber, orange bell pepper and avocado slivers (with pink sea salt sprinkled sparingly) and a green smoothie made of apple, peach, mango, strawberry, banana, spirulina, wheat grass, barley grass, wheat sprouts, jerusalem artichoke, lemon, and flax seed. I know it looks and sounds gross, but even my kids want some when I drink it!

The sunshine has been working it's wonders in other areas too! The woodlands are greening! We have a pair of eagles that have chosen to nest on our hillside. When the sun is warm they circle on the wind currents and call to each other. Tofer has the hoop set up and has been out there shooting baskets every shiny afternoon when school is finished. Nimbal-O and he sat and chatted with one another yesterday.

Cricket and I and Cassia had hoped to walk along the creek and get a bit of exercise, but it is still to deeply entrenched in snow.

Little by little winter is losing it's grip on the mountain. It's raining today and we are hoping it is diminishing some of that frozen depth at the creek side. I'm sitting with a cup of peppermint tea watching the drizzle. We just finished PSAT tests and have one more week of school before we are on our 3 month break! I'm going to do dishes and then work on curtains for our bedroom (they've been in process for months). Life is good.

Really Clean

I love how the house smells when it is clean! However, it probably isn't the scent most people think of when they think 'clean'. There is no pine, no amonia, no lemony wax smell that greets you when you walk through the door. A little over two years ago all chemical products were purged from our home. What isn't made here, we make sure is safe for the enviorment - and for us. In the end, the house smells just plain clean without competing scents.

Here are some of my favorite home and body cleaners:

Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Magic Soap! Great for hair, clothes, dog... it comes in a vaiety of scents, but this is my long time standby. I also like the lavendar and the tea tree. Another of Bronner's creations, but this one is for hard surfaces. I do dishes with this, clean our floors, kitchen counters, etc... It's not soap, but it does have suds. Amazing stuff ~ SAL Suds. Nature's Gate has come a long way. Their new scents are luscious, but this is one that I repeatedly find myself gravitating toward. Madarine Orange Patchouli. My other fave is Grapefruit Wild Ginger. Natural Antibacterials.

In the dishwasher I use ECOS Wave powder tabs. I tried making my own dishwasher soap, but it just didn't get the dishes as clean or disolve well, so I am doing the next best thing ~ non-toxic, plant-based, free of phosphates, chlorine, petroleum chemicals, 100% biodegradable and the containers are easily recycled.

That's really all that isn't homemade around here. Here's a link to many of the recipes I use for glass, toilet, shower, carpet, & wood.

One wasteful product that I have not been able to get away from are dryer sheets. In the summer, I try to let things dry on a line, but winter and the static are BEARS where I live. Grizzly style - if you know what I mean?! Dryer sheets are toxic, however. Gives new meaning o "killing me softly", eh? Unlike some, I could care less whether any scent is left on the clothes, just keep away the static creep and crackle! The only natural alternative that works is Mrs. Meyer's, I've found. I reuse the sheets several ways. 1st use sheets are saved in a pile on top of my dryer. When there are 2 per load for the remaining loads, I begin putting 2 - 1st use sheets in for a 2nd time to make up the equivalent. After their 2nd run I save them in a container for dust cloths, computer screen wipes, & over the top of a cloth as a 'swiffer' for the hard floors. Mrs. Meyer's are biodegradable.

It's cleaning day here. I can't wait to smell it!