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May 21, 2013

Unplugged…

Did you know that Facebook is losing millions of followers a month?  
I read this a few weeks ago and it really hit home with me.  Of course they are saying it is because users are migrating to other social media platforms but I beg to differ.  I think there are many of us that simply enjoy being away from it after realizing how much simpler life is without it.

For the last few months I have barely been on a computer other than to post to the Fan page and write on this blog.
It. has. been. fantastic!
I found that I just haven’t missed FB at all.  I still share photos of Lucas I take with the cellphone daily via Instagram but the time I spend reading everyone’s feeds has dwindled to about 5 minutes a day.  I have learned a few things from living “unplugged” these last few months…or at least as “unplugged” as I can get since I have to be online for the studio.  
Let’s face it..there is a big difference between going online and being a fly on the wall in others lives everyday versus just popping on to make a quick post and leaving the computer behind.

Things I love about being off the social media more often:

  • My family and friends have my (for real)…full attention.  No time being buried on FB.
  • No comparing of anything…if you don’t see your “friends” lavish vacation to some beautiful destination you will never be able to go to…or their new this or that…or parties/dinners/anything you missed…I could go on…but basically “out of site out of mind”.  With your focus off of what everyone else is doing you begin to only focus about what YOU are doing.
  • You find new passions and talents you never knew you had.
  • Not sitting behind a device on a “social media” site that is the furthest thing one could ever get from being “social”.  You officially have more useful “time”.
  • I SEE my friends more.  Actually SEE them.  Love that!
  • Life gets so simple with out FB.  Truly more stress free.  How is it that social media is this little hidden stress most of us aren’t even aware we have? Weird.
  • My kids get to learn by my example that one doesn’t need to be on FB to be “part of the world” and still be very happy.

Things I hate:

  • It seems that most now think that when something big happens in their life that posting it on their “wall” somehow means everyone now knows the big news.  New houses, babies,  jobs, marriages etc… you name it…if it goes on someones wall they instantly think all their friends must know.  So if you see a friend weeks after they do something big and you don’t know about it they are normally testy and will be like “Well I posted it on FB!”.  I find myself just wishing for the good old days when friends actually…called each other with big news.  Actually connected for real. We have become lazy…posting it on a wall is the easy way out.
  • I would totally delete my personal FB account BUT there are many reasons why an FB account is still required.  Sharing photos of the kids with family members states away, keeping up with birthday’s (my favorite feature but I do still miss them….just not as much as I used to.),  being able to message my friends I know are still on alot,  keeping an eye on my own kids social media accounts.  All reasons I will never delete my account and who knows…maybe one day I will feel like going back to being more active.
  • I do hate missing my friends big news.  Makes me sad….I actually love connecting with people for real.  Not just online.

Long and the short of it?
You will probably NOT find me on my personal Facebook page much this Summer.  
I may drop a photo in here or there…
I may stop by if boredom hits…
But for the most part I will be out in the world…or in my back yard…playing with my kids and hanging with friends at our Summer gatherings.
I am going back to “the good old days” before technology took over my world, or at least as “back” as I can go.  I still have the studio and clients to work with after all.  I really don’t mind the blog though…or the Fan Page.
I think it is because it is a core group of you that I love getting to gab with about our joint interests.
Gardening, food, family and whole living.  Yes…I do love that part of the web:-)
This isn’t for everyone and I have no problem with those who love FB…I am just not one of them.

How about a peek from the gardens last week?  They have changed big time in just a week.
My outdoor “Dining room and living room” are coming right along.  The compost for the flower beds surrounding them comes this week and they are going to be gorgeous when they are finished!  Already we all love sitting out there everyday…watching the birds eat and the garden grow…gabbing with the neighbors.

Believe it or not these spaces are so large now I had to take these pictures from the second floor just to get a good picture.
More to come next week!  It looks totally different already!

PS~FB friends…don’t get mad if I miss any part of your life.  I am simply not spending the Summer on FB as much as possible.  I highly recommend it;-) Call me!

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May 19, 2013

How about some fabric softener?

I am the first to admit I have an addiction to fabric softener.
I normally am not a big fan of stinky stuff…. perfumes kill me!  Instant migraine.  BUT I love a good laundry softener.  It has always left my clothes smelling so much better than just using basic laundry detergent.
When we threw out all of the household chemicals a few months ago out the door went the softener.
I knew the softener would be one of the first things I would have to replace.
Online I went to soon I had tried a few different recipes. I finally settled on this one as my favorite….

Ingredients:

6 cups of water
3 Cups of white Vinegar
1 bottle of your favorite scented Organic/Paraben free hair conditioner (because what is the point in making your own products if you aren’t going to take the crap out of them?)
Favorite oil (I always go for Lavender because I love the stuff)

Some directions have you just adding the water with the condition…others have you adding HOT water…
My favorite way?
On the stove.  Start by heating up the water and vinegar to a boil.

Turn it off and set the pan to another burner.
Add in the conditioner and oil and stir it all until it is nice and blended.

Once it is all blended together and cooled down a bit I pour it into jars.

All done!  Simply use it the same way you would any liquid softener.
You will find it will clean out your washing machine as well!  It really clears the yuck out of a washing machine!:-)

Posted inLife,My family,Product Love
  
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kim - Can’t wait to try this!!!May 19, 2013 – 9:51 pm

May 10, 2013

Krista’s Lemon Balm Cookies!

I have TONS of Lemon Balm growing this year so when Krista brought out her Lemon Balm cookies last week at the Whole Living class I was way over joyed…
Like “ate 6 of them” overjoyed…the girl who really shouldn’t be eating gluten but hey…sometimes you just have to cave in.
While my arms did give me grief the next day it didn’t stop me from making a batch for the kids.
I try to keep home made cookies in the house at least once a week.  Since I buy limited amounts of what could be termed “junk food” I tend to make ours.  It always tastes better and I know for sure what the ingredients are.
A pretty big deal to me and cookies are so fast and easy to make!

This recipe is super easy!  I do recommend a double batch though because…..ummmm they disappear fast!

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup of softened butter
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon fresh chopped lemon balm (or 1 tsp dried)
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon oil (I opted to use a heap of grated lemon instead)
  • 1 1/2 cup of flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Mix it all together in that order….poof!  Yummy cookies!
Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

*** a few changes I made:

  • I added rock crystal sugar to the top since they tasted so much like sugar cookies!
  • For a thinner cookie drop down the baking powder by a teaspoon…fluffy cookies use the 2 tsp.

Enjoy!:-)

 

Posted inDessert,Life,My family,Recipes
  
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May 7, 2013

This place has “gone to the birds”

Literally.
You may remember our mother bird and her 5 little eggs on our front porch wreath…

When she decided to build the nest on the door I was thinking “No way are those eggs going to survive this crazy house FULL of kids running in and out of that door everyday.”
We limited the door usage…I even cleaned out the garage so it wouldn’t be so embarrassing to leave the garage door open in hopes the kids would opt to use it instead of the front door.
As the weeks have gone on we have added ANOTHER mama bird and nest up in the corner of the porch!  Now when I work on the porch potting plants I am never alone and always being given a song:-)
Today I realized the birds where swamping the front porch…I mean like 10 of them!
I figured something was up and feared the worst.
I gently opened the door and found a little miracle…

Now keep in mind…the door was open for just a few minutes and it was like something out of “The Birds” movie.
Mama and papa do NOT want anyone near their babies and I get it.

So FYI friends and family…if you come on the front porch my attack birds may just get ya;-)
Just come around to the back door or through the garage…lol
Now to wait for the second nest to hatch out.
So fun to watch!

Posted inLife,My family,The Gardens
  
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May 6, 2013

Time to get down to some real “Whole Living”

Most who know me know I am kindof deep into the “real food” scene these days…
I despise boxed food and the crap they are trying to pass off as “healthy” at the grocery store.
If there is one thing I have learned this year it has to be the power of natural healing via what we consume.
Since ditching the corn, soy and gluten (I am still a “cheater” from time to time) I have not only managed to heal my joint pain but an added bonus has been the disappearance of chronic, daily migraines/headaches.
I kid you not.  I used to have bad headaches everyday.
I was living off of what we jokingly called “mommy crack”…aka Excedrin Migraine.

Really all I did was stop eating anything from a box, add in lots of raw foods during my day and I now try and drink 60 oz. of water a day.
Gone.  I haven’t taken any kindof headache pill or even an ibuprofen for a month now! ibuprofen First time in years!
Once you experience that sort of healing/pain relief and realize it all has to do what you put in your mouth you can’t help but to become an evangelist of sorts.  You try not preach it…but it is hard not to.
It just feels like nothing short of a miracle.
A year ago I couldn’t even hold my camera without being in crazy amounts of pain because it was to heavy!
I am sold.
I finally get it.

I totally believe that there are those of us out there that are highly sensitive to whatever the heck they are putting in our “food” now.
How many times do people have an ache or pain/illness and just cover it up with a pill and say “fixed”.
Big pharma runs the U.S. in a big way.
More people die every year from taking prescription medications than from illegal drugs.
Every person I have watched as I grew up who took a “maintenance” prescription of some sort has ended up with some horrible side effect from those drugs and in turn are prescribed another and another drug to treat the new symptom.
It is crazy to me.
Food.  That is my medicine of choice for as long as it can be.
If I can put something different in my mouth and be healed…I am there.

So here is the funny part.  I don’t miss a thing!
I don’t crave crap food…or dream of it or feel jaded in any way.
The food I eat now has such great taste and better flavor I actually feel like this is a great thing that happened.
Granted.  I do love to cook.  This may really suck for someone who hates cooking.
I do make just about everything from scratch.

By nature of this journey I have been on for the last few years I have become this photographer of sorts for my local farmers.
I even managed to be blessed with getting to photograph our local VABF (Virginia Association of Biological Farmers) conference this year.
I have learned all that these amazing farmers are willing to share with me (camera always in hand…lol!).  There are things about your food supply only those closest to creating it can tell you…Teach you.
If you do not know where your food is coming from I can tell you it is time to introduce yourself to a farmer.  They will tell you stuff about the big grocery suppliers, FDA and local inspectors that will make your jaw hit the ground and your stomach do flips.
The stories will make you angry and awaken you to the real issue of lose of our freedoms within the food world.

When I first took a tour of Forrest Green Farm I fell in love with this chunk of heaven!
I mean…hello!  AMAZING.

The farm is so peaceful…

It’s that kindof place that you step out of your car and your soul just goes “awe……peaceful.”
When I heard about Krista’s Whole Living class I just knew this was something I needed to do.
The choice was do I go back to college in the Fall or take her 6 month class?  Her class was a clear winner.

Topics like:

  • Teas, Tinctures, and decoctions
  • Wildcrafting
  • Harvesting of herbs and preservation
  • Vinegars & oils
  • Seedling and crop intensives
  • Herbal Honey’s
  • Cordials/Liqueurs
  • Fermented Foods
  • Poultices with herbs (why and how)
  • Ways to Pickle (canning/pickling/fermenting)
  • Diagnosis, Treatment, Formulating, Ongoing analysis (medicinal herbs)
  • Jelly
  • Yogurt, Cream Cheese, Kefir making (thank God because Lucas is a Kefir addict!)
  • Grinding your own grains/bread making
  • Cosmetics & personal care with herbs
  • Mustard making
  • Bone Broths
  • Cough syrups and elixirs
  • Smudge making
  • Green Cleaning supplies
  • Salves and lip balms
  • Gardening knowledge of all kinds
  • Harvesting of root herbs
  • ETC…….

Sounds like it was a class designed just for me!  Doesn’t it?!?!?
God bless them for sharing this knowledge with others.
I will now be spending 2 glorious Sunday’s a month, surrounded by like minded new friends, learning everything and anything they are willing to teach me.
Yesterday was our first class and I learned so much I couldn’t possibly share everything BUT of course my camera was never far.
Because it is my better half and has an excellent memory recall when I forget something.  So much to remember each class and I don’t want to forget a thing!

First off…you know it is going to be a good day when it starts off looking like this.

We started off learning the how and why of herb use for medicines.  I have a vast knowledge of herbs but so far the knowledge is more culinary rather than medicinal so I was loving this part!
We went and harvested Stinging Nettle to dry.
And yes…it does sting.  Ouch!!!

Check out that view from Krista and Rob’s front yard!  Can you imagine waking up every morning to that?

We headed back and learned a ton of good things and then they spoiled us with a marvelous lunch!
Can you believe the salad alone?!
OMG!  Who knew?  I knew you could eat some flowers but no idea you could eat all of them Krista used!

After eating far too many Lemon Balm cookies (I will share that recipe this week for sure!)
It was time to move onto learning about Catnip and harvesting it for a tincture (hence the 100 proof Vodka…nope didn’t get to drink it;-))

Then it was time for some Tincture making!
Time to break out the Vodka and Brandy…no drinking though!  It simply pulls out the “good stuff” out of the herb as it sits in it for 6 weeks.

Oh and Lemon balm!   I almost forgot the Lemon Balm tincture!
And we made a ground ivy (which I thought was a weed but apparently NOT!) oil.
I learned so much I know there is no way to share it all…
How about just a lovely bunch of photographs of Krista’s amazing herbs.
FYI…They sell just about every herb you can dream of out there!  Totally worth a visit to their store!

Posted inFinding Happy,Gardening Chronicles,Life,My family,The Gardens
  
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Robin - Awesome post, Tisha! I’m a total believer in the whole food regime. Krista’s class sounds amazing. I wish I’d heard about it sooner. Please keep posting what you learn. I love your pictorials. :) May 7, 2013 – 9:14 am

Sara - What an incredible opportunity and so inspiring. Thank you for sharing so much.May 7, 2013 – 11:46 pm

Tisha - She is incredible! The great thing is if you are local to the Richmond/Charlottesville area you can visit the farm and she is a wealth of information! She is always offering classes and holds this one every year! If you miss this year there is always next :-)
You guys know I can’t post without being crazy picture heavy…lol! Such a disease! I am sure I will be posting after each class! I still need to post the Lemon Balm cookies! Hopefully I can do it during the babies naptime today :-) May 9, 2013 – 10:51 am

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