Crafting, cooking, playing in the woods. There’s more to life than work and school!
I’m over on Happy Healthy Family this morning sharing our list of 101 toy-free gifts for kids. Originally shared here in 2014, I’ve refreshed the list with new items and lots of links to our favorites, so pop on over for some fresh ideas.
It’s a wonderful resource to share with toy-minded friends and family as well, so share away!
You can find our list here.
Love,
Rachel
Our first frost had only come two days before, killing back the pumpkins, tomatoes, and cucumber vines. And then, surprising us even more than the blanket of frost: snow!
Pete and Sage were away when it began (driving through a snowstorm of their own in Minnesota), so it was just Lupine and I who raced to find our mittens and winter hats, then set off for the creek.
And desipte ourselves, we delighted in the magic of it all.
Perhaps “despite ourselves” is the wrong sentiment. Because the first snow always brings out our unbridled joy. I guess in saying that I meant: it’s only October! And I did some quick math and realized we had only a 178 day summer break between snowstorms. That’s less than 6 months! Mid-April and mid-October snowstorms this year. I don’t recall another season quite like it.
But honestly… who could argue with a little magic like this? Even if it is still two weeks until Halloween.
In less than two weeks, Herbal Adventures will begin shipping out to all of you who pre-ordered your copies. I’m so excited to share this book with each of you! It was honestly an absolute joy to create.
Since it’s been a long wait for some of you, I thought it would be fun to send out some bonus recipes now, to tide you over until the book arrives.
To receive your free recipes, simply pre-order your book, then sign up through the form below or click here for more details about what’s included.
I’ll send you access to the extras right away!
Thanks again for supporting me along this delightful path.
Warmly,
Rachel
We planted our first garden in three years this spring.
The magic of wandering up the hill to see what we might harvest for our dinner is a delight unlike any other. And the few sunflower seeds we planted on a last-minute whim have kept us (and a few friends) in bouquets all season long. Prolific wild things they are!
One morning last week Sage headed outside and returned moments later with a barn swallow fledgling that was trapped in our shed. A few hours later Lupine called from the chicken yard for everyone to “come quick!” – she had found a baby snapping turtle!
The turkeys chatter from the tree tops, the barred owls hoot in the forest, and sandhills wing overhead.
We leave town in a few days for another epic road trip, so our little garden will be on its own. We’re picking all that we can now, but the rest we’ll just let go. Lessons in allowing, I suppose.
Hopefully my chamomile will be busy self-seeding for next season while we are away, and perhaps our farmsitters will make good use the abundance of zucchini, cucumbers, and tomatoes that these four little beds are still cranking out.
As for next year, we’ve learned a few lessons in the garden as well. Like: planting in straight compost means too much nitrogen for peas, beans, strawberries, and so many other plants. (Oh, how I had hoped for an abundant green bean harvest! Next year.)
Also: hay bales compress and break down far more than you expect, and after a month or two your raised beds aren’t quite so… raised. It’s all good. The beds are still ridiculously productive just the same. (Even if we do have to reach down in to harvest.)
We’ll make a few changes next year, add a couple more beds, and give it another go. I can hardly wait.
Because all of these struggles are just a part of learning our way back into gardening. Of making it fun again. Which it is! That giant garden was a chore. This little one is a delight.
What a great lesson we have learned: you don’t need to do it all, but life is better when you get out there and do something.
What are you loving most in your garden this season?
I’m not sure what it is about these past few weeks. But I’ve been feeling it again. That creeping tightness in core, the prevalent worry loops in my mind. The worse-case-scenario brain.
So I’ve been mindfully slowing down and turning inward, and digging into the tips below. And I can say that for me anyway, these things help. Perhaps they’ll serve you, too.
This is a repost from last year that so many of you found helpful, so I’m bringing it to you once more, to help ease whatever transitions or hiccups you’re facing these days.
Are you prone to anxiety?
Me, too.
I always have been. As a kid I was anxious that I’d get a bad grade or that my house would burn down, that there was a monster under my bed or a murderer on the block. Oh, and tornadoes. Those were really scary.
I spent my college years worrying about school, money, my future, and if my little house in the country had securely locking windows. Then onto motherhood and, well, you get the idea.
When anxiety shows up it hijacks my day, robs me of sleep, and makes it feel like everything is falling apart – though I can almost guarantee you that’s it’s not.
But now, pushing 42, I’m finally getting a handle on it. Anxiety is no longer the order-of-the-day in my world. It’s a rarity, a call to action, an invitation to change.
I finally have some tricks up my sleeve so that when anxiety comes on strong I know what I need to do to get centered again.
And now anxiety has become little more than a great reminder to get things back on track.
Needless to say, if you are in a mental health crisis please seek care with a trained counselor. This is just my way of dealing with the day-to-day of an anxious mind.
Here’s my remedy. I hope it helps you.
No, it’s not always possible to dash off for a beach vacation when you’re feeling anxious or to take a break from your day-to-day busy life. But taking charge of your agenda but cutting some obligations off of your to-do list – even temporarily – can help.
Think in terms of the flu. If your body was sick, what activities would you have to cut?
Find the courage to cancel a visit, reschedule an appointment, or simplify a meal to buy yourself a little space to slow down.
This mindful practice can help you get centered and can put things back into perspective.
Sleep is vital as well.
When I’m feeling anxious I go to bed as early as I can and rest as long as possible. Grab some herbal tea, light a candle, and tuck in (without a phone or computer). Let yourself unwind slowly to welcome sleep.
Social media can be a nice way to stay connected with far-away friends and family but it’s also an anxiety bomb waiting to explode.
Disturbing images, sharp comments, and just too much baggage are all easy to absorb when we’re feeling out of balance.
Take a media fast until you feel centered again, or simply create some limits on how much time you engage there.
With apologies to my friends who own the coffee roastery, caffeine is a big contributor to anxiety.
I had another friend once confessed, “I just can’t drink coffee. When I drink coffee I instantly turn into a really nasty mom.”
I get that. When I’ve had too much caffeine I have a shorter fuse and am more prone to anxiety. It also depletes magnesium in the body which has a very direct effect on our anxiety levels.
Cut the buzz.
Wean yourself slowly or go cold turkey. It’s your call. I love homemade herbal chai as a caffeinated tea or coffee substitute. I make a big pot of it every Sunday but don’t add the milk. Then I can drink it for several days without having to make a fresh batch.
This, my friends, has been key in my anxiety management.
After discovering the effect magnesium has on my body, I’m certain that a magnesium deficiency has long been at the root of my anxiety (as it is for so many of us).
More than 80% of Americans are magnesium deficient – thanks to depleted soils, lifestyle choices, diet, and our health. (More on the reasons here.) Getting some absorbable magnesium in or on our bodies can be a game-changer.
I have prefer to get magnesium into myself and my kids two ways: internally and topically.
Magnesium is easiest for the body to absorb when applied topically, but if you are deficient you can use a combination of internal absorption and external application.
We love Calm. For an edible magnesium source it’s absorbable and clean. It’s also pretty sweet-tasting so I’m considering buying an unflavored bottle to cut a flavored bottle with it. Go slow with magnesium! Taking too much will result in epic diarrhea. You don’t want that. And please don’t ask me how I know. (Ahem.)
Magnesium oil is simply magnesium chloride that has been dissolved into an equal part of distilled water. No, it’s not an oil, but it is commonly called that because of its feel of it on the skin.
When you are magnesium deficient the oil tingles, itches, or stings after application as the body greedily absorbs all it can from the application. With continued use this sensation lessons until after a few days it feels simply like oil.
My kids hate magnesium oil. Hate, hate, hate. When they are deficient they can’t get over the tingly sensation and don’t want to have anything to do with it. To remedy this we take Magnesium Calm and apply a small amount of the oil to thicker skinned parts, like the bottoms of the feet.
To make your own magnesium oil simply boil 1 C distilled water and combine with 1 C magnesium chloride flakes. Stir to combine, cool, and transfer to a clean spray bottle. That’s it. For real.
Apply once a day to your belly or lower back.
Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) baths are also helpful, but not as good a source of magnesium as magnesium chloride.
Nature heals. Getting outside and away from the overwhelming business of our day-to-day life is a game changer. Biophilia, baby. Carve out even a few minutes to walk and breathe and be in nature and you will find your anxiety taking a back seat to your gratitude.
Whether that means a walk around the block, a visit to a city park, or a hike deep into the wood, find the green. It heals you.
The power of essential oils on the mind is profound.
When I was a new (anxious!) mama I created an essential oil blend for my colicky, rough sleeping (read: not sleeping) baby.
I was amazed at how well these essential oils worked not only for helping him fall asleep, but also for calming my anxiety. Enough so that I relabeled the blend for adults and offered it undiluted for diffusers and baths as well.
If you are stocking your essential oil kit for the first time or want to treat your anxiety with something you already have on hand, the following scent are tops for anxiety and can be found at your local coop or natural pharmacy:
Lavender – if you have only one single essential oil let it be lavender! Helpful for anxiety, sleep troubles, and skin issues lavender EO has countless uses.
Tangerine – a wonderfully bright and uplifting oil. Helpful for those prone to depression as well.
Ylang ylang – A complex, rich, floral oil for depression and anxiety. One of my favorites.
Always use essential oils properly diluted on your skin, or put them in a diffuser or bath. Never apply undiluted.
You weren’t meant to do this alone. Not parenting, not keeping a home, not the day-to-day grind of work and bills and life. None of it.
Find your people.
Call your mom, your sister, a friend, a counselor. Seek out like-minded people though a church, art collective, or parenting coop. People were not designed to be solo, especially during difficult times.
Get real about what’s troubling you. Money? Relationships? Impending doom? Sit with it and mindfully focus on what you can control to remedy the situation.
Make a budget. Have a difficult conversation. Ask for help.
Because at the heart of anxiety is usually a specific fear or group of fears for the future.
Saddle up and take it on.
You’ve got this.
Anxiety is usually one big game of make-believe.
It’s our imagination, hard at work, making up worse-case scenarios for the future.
Pull the plug on this self-defeating loop. Write a new story. One that you might not believe yet, but that you want to believe in. And then write it again and again until you begin to believe it.
And then watch it unfold.
Because if your anxiety can use your imagination, so can your optimism. Which story do you want to come true?
And while you’re at it, practice gratitude.
There is so much for us to be thankful for. But when we’re drowning in anxiety it doesn’t feel that way. We see messes instead of magic, lack instead of abundance, a cloudy future rather than a gorgeous sunrise.
Make a habit of practicing gratitude.
While you brush your teeth, while you wash your dishes, while you drive to work. Start with ten things each day that you are thankful for.
Because gratitude can change everything.
Some days there is barely time to get food on the table, much less to meditate.
But slowing down – even for a moment – can be a game changer.
Take a few minutes (before you fall asleep if it’s the only quiet you can manage) to sit or lay silently and focus on your breathing.
Begin with your palms laid across your belly button. Breathe deep and slow into the place behind your hands at the very bottom of your lungs.
Feel your roots and your balance coming back.
Breathe.
Now place your hands across your upper chest. Breathe fully into your upper lungs.
And feel your heart again. Yeah, it might make you cry. But that’s healing work, too.
Be well, friends. Here’s to an anxiety-free future for us all.
Love,
Rachel
Originally published in 2017.
After washing the dinner dishes last night, we pulled on our boots for a walk to the creek (some of us dressed more dramatically than others).
The sun was beginning to set, and the fields and forest were coming to life with evening song. We spied an expanse of vervain in an old sheep pasture in the distance, and set off to explore.
Do you know that moment when the sun has begun to set and the light is incomprehensibly warm and luminous in a way that only happens at that perfect moment of sunset and you feel glad just to be a witness to it?
That was the light as we stepped gingerly through the towering, volunteer medicinal garden. It was breathtaking. It was healing.
I felt awake and alive and full of light–in a way I hadn’t all day.
We slowed and savored.
There was time to marvel and just drink it all in. No where else to be, just the magic of now.
The hummingbird moth sipping nectar from a swamp milkweed; the snoozing bumblebees tucking in to the vervain flowers for the night; the mating monarchs winging past; the barred owls conversing in the hills–we stood in awe at it all.
And then Lupine started counting: 1… 2… 3…
Hide-and-seek. I’d be lying if I told you I was eager to play at first, but as I lay there in the tall grass, beneath the dancing vervain whose medicine is to help us to relax, release, and unwind, I did just that. My eyes twinkling and wide open as I hid, just barely stifling a laugh, I listened to her footfalls as she searched for me in the grass.
We took turns, each of us hiding and seeking before the sun disappeared behind the western hills.
At one point during our game, I found Pete lying in the grass, and both of us exploded in laughter.
Because, oh, my yes… laughter is medicine to my soul.
When the kids were younger writing here was an easier task.
There were lambs in the barn and homeschooling projects on the table; art on the easel and tea in my cup.
Lately though, I can’t bring myself to share the day-to-day like I once did.
In the early years of writing here, my children’s lives and mine were so intertwined, it was easy to share their stories and my own in one breath. As they grow older, however, their stories have become very much their own, and I am more selective about what I want to bring into this space–both out of respect for them and, indeed, respect for this fragile silence in which we may savor our time together.
I keep rereading that phrase: “respect for the fragile silence.” It feels deeply resonant right now.
With children 11 and nearly 16, I’m cultivating presence as a mother more than ever before.
And yet I keep circling back to this space, this blog, and wondering what I might create here in this new chapter of life and love and learning. I have more to give! Of that I am certain.
Life in our world is certainly not all herbal remedies, nor is it all homeschooling or peaceful parenting or kitchen magic. It’s complex, it’s rich, it’s messy, and delicious.
So I’m stumbling through, figuring out the gifts of sharing here–gifts for me, for my family and, yes, for you as well.
I am still strongly called to come here and share, so I ask you to bear with me as I stumble through rebuilding this space energetically, and determining what it may become. Determining just what it is that I have to offer.
Is this a midlife crisis, perhaps? Nah… it feels more like choosing a gorgeous new knitting project to cast on. Embracing the new while celebrating what came before. A transition.
A new season, if you will.
But perhaps before that’s all sorted out, we simply circle back. Back to the basics. To this day, to family, and the simple things that bring meaning and pleasure to our life.
Yes… that feels like just the place to pick this up again.
The mornings here have been thick with a blanket of chill fog. Today was no exception. We’ve pulled out the lap blankets again and snuggle up on the couch with hands around tea cups until our bodies and minds are warmed back to life.
I don’t recall the last time it was hot enough for a dip in the creek (by my standards anyway), though Lupine and I did take a wade in that spring-cold water earlier this week. It jolted me into presence, from the soles of my feet to the top of my head. Such good medicine.
I can’t help but feel that we’ve turned the calendar to September, not August.
It has the kids and I thinking of the upcoming homeschooling season, and planning our studies for the coming year.
Reminding me to slow down and savor late summer without rushing headlong into autumn is blue vervain. She is in full bloom in the pasture, and goldenrod is not far behind.
I keep meaning to pick a bit more vertvain, but the blossoms are wet with mist so late into the morning, and by then our day has come to life and I forget to hike to the creek again to harvest.
Perhaps today.
I will make a fresh tincture for stress, headaches, and anxiety, and would also love to make a flower essence of it, if the sun comes out today. Better yet, I’d love to set up my copper still and make a hydrosol of fresh vervain. That sounds magical, indeed.
And with that, a walk to the creek is calling.
Thorough the mist we go, physically or otherwise, then out the other side.
This weekend Sage and a buddy loaded their (several hundred pound) wooden raft into the back of our pickup truck and we headed to the Kickapoo Valley Reserve, an 8,600 acre nature reserve here in the Driftless. The event was a Traditional Wisdom Celebration and Rustic Raft Rally, and the two homeschoolers had spent the previous weeks designing, testing, and perfecting a river raft to enter in the competition.
The challenge: to build a river-worthy raft using only natural and biodegradable materials; then navigate 2 1/2 miles of winding Kickapoo river. Crossing the finish line, teams had to be on or in their craft, with at least 1/2 of their bodies above water.
We even enticed our neighbor Alan (a traditional skills enthusiast, maker, and tinkerer extraordinaire) to come. He gave the boys most of the logs they used to construct their raft, so we dropped off a schedule of events thinking the day might be right up his alley.
We were right.
And while we drove the 45 minutes to the Reserve from our valley, Alan arrived by bicycle (of course he did)! He departed at 4 am, as one does, in order to arrive in plenty of time for the 9 am start. (Despite biking, he still managed to beat us there by nearly an hour.)
From wood carving to willow weaving demonstrations; flint knapping to cold forging; beekeeping to maple tapping talks; herbal remedies to a pit-cooked traditional meal, it was our sort of day in every possible way.
Best of all, this is our community. We saw lots of old friends (and made a few new ones), and whiled away the day talking, learning, and doing.
By mid-day, it was time to launch the rafts! Seven teams entered in all.
The entrants ranged from hastily lashed creations (enthusiastically thrown together at the last minute by scout troops) to gorgeous peg-and-beam constructions carefully engineered in the weeks leading up to the event.
And off we set, some by raft, some by kayak and canoe. Departure was chaos, as a few teams tested their rafts for the very first time and were surprised by the true buoyancy (or lack thereof!) of their craft, but within a few minutes things settled out and the peace of the river enveloped us.
From a functionality perspective, Sage and his friend’s raft were in the top tier. These two were among few teams who managed to ride above (rather than in) the water, standing up and poling the length of the route. Along the way were clusters of family and friends, cheering on all the teams as they passed. It was a sweet scene.
A couple of hours after putting in, Sage and his friend (and the six other teams) crossed the finish line: cold, wet, tired, and happy. Prize money was involved, keeping everyone smiling right up until the chilly finish.
Then it was time for more talks and demos, more visiting with old and new friends, and an exquisite pit-cooked meal.
At last, it was time to head home. Nearly 12 hours after we arrived at the Reserve, we dragged ourselves back to the truck: dirty, well-fed, over-sunned, and over-tired.
We headed home and collapsed into bed… some of us still smiling from the events of the day.
Pete and I used to have this obsession with ice cream. I don’t recall when it started, but but for years we ate ice cream every night before bed. Every. Single. Night. A frightening amount, when I think about it. We were so addicted that if we discovered we were out just before bedtime, we would run to the store for more, possibly in our pajamas.
I know. We had a problem.
Finally, after stumbling upon an old hand-crank ice cream maker at a second hand store, we flipped our addiction to homemade.
And now? Well, store bought doesn’t hold the charm it once did. Our palates adjusted to the flavor of homemade – sans-refined sugar, and made with fresh raw cream. Even the kids reported (when tasting their once favorite store-bought ice cream after we switched to making our own) that the boughten kind was “way too sweet”.
Our kids deciding that less sweet = better? That’s a big win in my book.
Being able to control the type and amount of sweetener, the flavor combinations, and the quality of ingredients was a huge upgrade. And when we were off dairy we switched all of our recipes over to coconut milk (worked like a charm!) and kept our weekly churning dates going strong.
Plus the price of homemade is ridiculous. (Ridiculous meaning cheap.) We figured that even our brand new ice cream maker paid for itself after just one season of use; one summer of passing on the store bought organic ice cream we were so fond of. Find one second hand and it’ll pay for itself in a single batch! Add to that raising kids who have the knowledge of how to make a favorite treat from scratch (eventually without even a recipe) and the value keeps going up.
Which ice cream maker do I suggest?
Because honestly, I’ve tried them all. I might as well lay it all out there! (A few afflinks follow.)
Whatever you can find! Thrift stores are overflowing with ice cream makers. (I can’t explain this phenomenon.) That makes it affordable to experiment. If you don’t love it, donate it back.
I’ve had the oak barrel type that you put salt and ice into. They are charming, but messy, and require some pre-planning to be sure you have enough ice on hand. And if you’re buying new they are insanely expensive. Mine was $5 at a tag sale, but I eventually passed it onto my Amish friend after theirs was lost in a house fire. I haven’t missed it.
I also went through a collection of hand-crank plastic models I picked up at the thrift store. They were fun, but the quality of ice cream they made was hit-or-miss, perhaps because of their age (or our technique). While they’ll run you under $6 at a second hand shop, this type is also pricey online. If you find one for a steal snatch it up. It’s fun to have kids churn their own – with muscle power – rather than grid power.
Sage was gifted one of the ball-type makers which was really fun for occasional use. But it would never be our every week go-to. On a camping trip? Yes. When I wanted to shag them out of the house for a few minutes after dinner? Definitely.
But what I really wanted was a workhorse of a machine that I could fill and walk away while it worked its magic. So with great trepidation, I finally upgraded to electric. Based on reviews and the advice of my wise big sister, I chose this model, and I couldn’t be happier with it! Seriously. I am in love with this machine. So much so that I bought a second one when I found it at the thrift store.
The texture of our ice cream improve right off the bat, and several years in I’m still loving it. With a second insert in the freezer (found at the thrift store, of course) we’re always ready to make some ice cream.
Below are some of the ice cream recipes I have shared through the years. Don’t hesitate to modify them to suit your bounty or your palate! Mulberry-buttermilk, anyone?) I also heard recently that when you cut the sugar back in a recipe, adding a small amount of dissolved gelatin to the milk when you heat it will help the ice cream stay softer in the freezer. Who knew?
If you’re in the market for a book, we have thoroughly enjoyed this one. When Lupine was egg-free/dairy-free this one was a major hit, and a new book just hit the shelves that also looks promising.
Blueberry Buttermilk Ice Cream
Originally published in 2017.
There is a distinct possibility that I pushed myself a tiny bit too hard this weekend.
But I woke on Saturday feeling good (really good!) for the first time in more than two weeks. No vertigo, scant dizziness, and a clearness in my head, heart, and limbs that I haven’t felt for a while.
I couldn’t stop myself.
There were adventures to have and plants to find and roots to dig and remedies to make and a caterpillar house to set up and… you get the idea. I was alone for the weekend as well, a rare event indeed, while Pete and the kids were off on an adventure and I was in charge of farm and pets and home.
Mostly, I stayed home to rest. Which promptly went out the window at 6:45 AM on Saturday, when I set out, foraging basket in hand.
And what a morning!
I made wild rose flower essence, Solomon’s seal root tincture, and so, so much more. Partway through the day, though, and after a flurry of activity, I had to pull the brake.
On account of my overzealous day, the dizziness and brain fog had returned with gusto. I felt much like I had in the weeks before, and took it easy for the rest of the weekend to further recuperate. Darn.
Something like that.
But the vibration of all that goodness on Saturday morning was enough to carry me right through until Sunday. A day that I spent, a mug of nettle tea in hand, finalizing the very last round of book edits! One step closer!
Today? I’m still feeling ‘meh’ but that’s making me think die-off, which makes me thing this might have been the right path after all.
Either way I’ll be back here later this week, sharing some of the projects I was working on this weekend. After the fog clears!
Until then, never mind my spelling (it always goes to heck when I have Lyme), and I’ll see you soon.
Love,
Rachel
