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!

The post Unplugged… appeared first on On Bramble Hill.

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!

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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!

The post Krista’s Lemon Balm Cookies! appeared first on On Bramble Hill.

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!

The post This place has “gone to the birds” appeared first on On Bramble Hill.

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!

The post Time to get down to some real “Whole Living” appeared first on On Bramble Hill.

After that first year we knew that our family would probably never go back to traditional education.
Over the years it has just been our normal.
When I first started I thought you had to do this thing the same way they would get in school.  Right?
Sit at a table…lesson plans…curriculum’s…homework (isn’t it all “home”work when you are home?)…tests.
With a short few years I learned that wasn’t how my children learn.
We have merged into what I lovingly term “relaxed homeschoolers”.
What does that mean?
We definitely aren’t hardcore, by the textbook…grades, testing, lesson plan type of homeschooling family.
We are definitely not hardcore unschoolers…no textbooks, no tests ever, no lessons to even plan, let the kids do whatever they want.
We are somewhere in the middle of the extremes.  That is what “fit” my kiddos.

For years I worried that by being so relaxed I was somehow messing them up but it just fit us.
After all I have always let them lead the way on their education.  Haley didn’t read well until a few years ago but I knew she would get it in her own time….and she did.  They have a voice in what curriculum’s they want to learn from, what co-ops they would like to join, what sports and so forth.  We listen.
We have made this homeschooling thing a family affair.  They are active in their education and making choices.
So when Adam decided he wanted to go back for the last 9 weeks of 5th grade last year and make sure he wasn’t missing anything I was terrified he would be missing pieces and parts of education he would need.

Long story short he went back…
Loved the kids and teachers BUT hated the traditional learning method because he felt like he had already studied just about everything they put in front of him.  Down to the Science book he had already read and completed.  He was bored.
Math was his one spot he was a bit “behind” and even with being “behind” he was going to be put in the gifted program for it the following year.
He came home declaring he shall never go back…ever.
He felt if he stayed in traditional setting he would loose all freedom to learn.  His words.
When you have grown up being allowed to fall down rabbit holes learning about things that interest you….well that is when “real” learning truly begins.
Socially?  Always the comment that will garner the most eye rolls from any homeschooling family.
Why?  Because we are ALWAYS socializing.  Everyday.
Many of us live in our cars, on field trips, in co-ops, art classes, dance, Minecraft class (yes there are even HS classes for such things), etc….
Oh sure…there are those homeschooling families who do this to isolate their children from the world and teach their own ideologies but it’s been my experience that is a group we seldom, if ever, see.
Why?  Because those aren’t the reasons we homeschool…like minded folks find like minded folks.
I don’t believe in isolating my children or sheltering them from the world,  actually we do the opposite.
These kids have experienced more of “the world” than any of their traditional school counter parts.  Can you say 40,000 miles on my van in a year?
They can have a good conversation with anyone they come across.  They do act older than their school counterparts somedays…but I am not sure if it is that they “act older” or they are just in a much calmer state since they are around calmness most days?
I am no pro in that department…just an observation.
Haley’s birthday party was a straight split down the middle of homeschool kids and traditional school kids.  She gets along with both just fine and values all of their friendships.  Homeschooling hasn’t “socially stunted” them at all….BUT we have made sure to give them tons of interaction with other kids.  Maybe that is the key to raising socially successful homeschoolers?
Making sure they have those opportunities to get out into the world often.

If I had to sum up my favorite reasons “why” I love homeschooling it would look something like this:

• It’s relaxing for us…no waking up at 6am and doing a mad dash to get everyone ready and out the door.
• Not spending 2-3 hours a night on homework after not seeing them ALL day…I would feel like I missed so much of their day.
• Watching my kids decide they want to learn something and figuring out ways in which to learn it.
• Family time…I really “know” my kids.  Really.  I am with them everyday all day.  They know all about me too.
• Their ability to bond with Lucas even with such an age gap.  Wouldn’t happen so well if they were away all day.
• How well we all get along.  Kids are best friends (this is not the norm but for us…it is)…no fighting.  It’s peaceful here.
• No rebellions (yet)…again it may come one day but there is just nothing to “rebel” against.  We listen…they listen.
• Being able to foster the talents they have.  Extra lessons in art, dance, computer programming etc…we have extra time.
• Friendships with other moms going through the same.  I have met some of the most amazing woman.  Seriously amazing.
• I learn something new….right along with them…everyday.

That about sums up why and how we are still doing this homeschooling thing.
Come on year 6!  It’s gonna be a good one!
Now to order our end of the year tests we have to do for the county!  Such a slacker!  We are normally finished up by now

How about a picture from last weeks homeschool “Arts in the park” day for South of the James group?
Each child picks an “art” that they bring to the park and work on or share with the others.
Adam is my computer guy so I asked him “What do you want to try and work on?”
To which he answered “I want to make a map.”
So cartography it was…and yes we had to Google to find out what map makers are called and we fell down a rabbit hole learning about map making.  That is the way homeschooling goes.
Random and fun

The post Year 5 coming to a close… appeared first on On Bramble Hill.

Oh sure…I wish for a few less wrinkles…
A body that could manage to lose some weight.  Good Lord I eat fantastically healthy and the fluff is just stuck.  I call it the “I am officially 40 flab!”  That no matter how many sit ups there is nothing that works.  All good I am even ok with it.
It would be lovely to know what I am going to do with the rest of my life?  But does anyone at any age really know that answer?
What if the “rest of my life” is only a few weeks?  Why waste it on a life I am waiting on when I already have a perfectly great one?
Mid life crisis?
I am most definitely going to have one of those…perhaps even two!
I think it is a right of passage written down as part of a must do “bucket list” somewhere?

The thing about 40 is it will make you sit at the top of that “mountain” and ponder the past behind you and the world in front of you.
It is not to be helped it is just how it is.
So the past…
I wouldn’t change a single thing.  I learned something from every life experience, mess up, tragedy and miracle.
Along the way I managed to do one thing extremely well.
I managed to learn to find “happiness” even on those most craptastic days.  Because we all have craptastic.
Trust me…I have had more than my fair share of them.
But somehow…
still happy…
still smiling…
still fighting the good fight that is “life”…

A few weeks ago I received an e-mail from a company who was seeking out “happy” people to help others learn how to be…well happier.
They said when they googled the word “happy” I was someone Google insisted was very happy.
Why thank you Google….I am!
And not in that fake, cheerleader type of way….in the “the sun is shining why wouldn’t I smile?” type of gal.
How is that for a legacy?  I will take it.  There are soooo many worse things that a gal could be known for.
A few years ago it would have been only photography…now it is so much more.

As the Spring has swung into full gear I am receiving countless e-mails, texts, calls and FB messages from friends and family wanting to share their gardens, healthy recipes and living.  Things they have started doing from listening to my rambles.
I want to change things.
I want my children to have the knowledge to grow their own food and if not grow it “source it”…cook it…preserve it…NOT live off of shopping at big box shops with crappy rows of crap food.
I want more for them 20 years from now.
The only way I know to work towards that is to share things as I learn them, do them…
“Be the change you want to see…” and all that jazz.

I have this voice…and some will always find it annoying…but I say what I think and  attempt to listen twice as much as I talk.
At 40 I think life is really just starting.  Right?
Granted my parents only lived 15 years past my 40 and according to the insurance companies that makes my stats for living longer not so good…after all how does one picture themselves as “old and grey” if they never saw their parents “old and grey” as the example?
The answer for me is “I don’t”.
That leaves me with this thought…always… “If I really only have 15 years left…what must I do with those years?”
Some think this a morbid take but since I view death not as an end but just the beginning it doesn’t really bother me.
We all die.  That is it.  No one gets out of this place alive.
So as always…I do what I always do…live everyday the fullest, happiest and best I can.  Thankful to be here.
I give kisses to my family…hug others often…and well my “list” is long of reasons and hows I am this way.
Figured I may just start sharing some of my “lists” .
Maybe it will brighten someones day?
If you need a copy for you ridge just go to the Fan Page and click “download”…print it out and stick it on the fridge.
Enjoy…I am off to bed…I have some celebrating with the family tomorrow!

The post The “big one”… appeared first on On Bramble Hill.

So my sweet client of course wants those pics…especially now that he is no longer that little fella
I go and dig out the hard drives from storage.  Yes..that is plural.
I have at least 10…ok maybe 20.
And the only one I really trust to still work is the very first one I ever bought in 2003.  It still works like a champ.
Trust me…they don’t build them like that anymore!
Anyhow…
I turn the darn thing on and get lost.
I tumble through the years of my own family and friends…

I started this love affair with my very first digital dslr (a Nikon D100) when Haley was around a year old.
I used the money my mother left to me when she passed away.
I always called it “her last gift to me”.
By far the greatest gift she ever gave me.  That and a good camera “eye”…she was a great photographer as well.
After tonight I have to say the last decade of my own family/friends images has left me with that feeling of…
“Good Lord I have had such a great life!  How did I get so lucky?”
I think I have been to every family/friends birth of babies, weddings, birthdays, snowdays just part of their life….me and my camera.
Perhaps my biggest gift to those I love will be these images…
Years and years…going onto to a new decade…of sweet images.

Here is my advice.
Take pictures.
Lots of pictures.
Keep them.
Save them.
Treasure them.
In the end it’s the images that will be left because your babies will be grown.
Images can capture a lifetime.
The good, the bad and the random.

PS~ I still haven’t found my sweet clients session.  Tomorrow I start on hard drive #2…fingers crossed I will find her sweet little fella somewhere on a hard drive that still works.

The post A stumble down memory lane…. appeared first on On Bramble Hill.

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I took little man to the park today…
He is so darn tiny compared to those big old trees.

The cars are now yellow and I am hosing off the porch every morning hoping Lucas won’t touch it than rub his eyes….
That never ends well. Not long now though and it will just be perfectly lovely minus the yellow

The post Green is my favorite color… appeared first on On Bramble Hill.