Herbally Healthy - Herbally Good

With the New Year shortly upon us, now is the time to begin thinking about how you will change your health and change your life. You can start by implementing all natural herbal health care products into your home, and removing those that contain harmful chemicals. You can help your body by drinking plenty of clean fresh water and by picking a healthy lifestyle of fun exercise and deliciously fresh whole foods such as local pasture fed meats, crispy deep green leafy vegetables and wild herbals such as nettles and dandelions.

May your New Year bring New Health to you!

Merry Christmas!

Don't Forget To Believe in All That Can Be....

Winter Angel

On this Winter's Solstice, let us find a space to be thankful for the blessings we have been given, to request peace for the world, to love one another and to look with joy toward the celebration of Jesus' birth.

Home and Heart

"And Mary Bore Sweet Jesus Christ, On Christmas Day In The Morn'."

A Few Of My Favorite Things - Part I

Okay, so the Julie Andrews song won't get out of my head. But, I thought it would be fun to list some completely random things that are my favorites in this beautiful world that we live in. Please comment and let me know some of your personally random favorite things!

Sanibel Island (I had to be dragged away from this magical island...I will return).

Early Renaissance Music For some reason, this genre really speaks to me. Perhaps it is the emptiness of the compositions, they leave room for personal interpretation and enjoyment. Unlike the 'wall of sound' of the Motown era, these songs are sparse and simple, yet rich as well. I like this. Sparse yet rich. That speaks volumes of good to me.

Tribal Bellydance and West African Dance Yes, I love dancing, barefoot (: Since I was old enough to walk I have been drawn to the rhythms and dance of Africa. When I am dancing, I am one step away from Heaven.

Art Is there anything more liberating to the soul than looking at art, making art, thinking about art? The whole creative process is such an exciting thing. I would surely cease being who I am if I knew that creativity were dead in the world. New things are being created everyday. So exciting!

Dimly Lit Rooms I don't collect shoes, no...I collect little table lamps (: I have always lived with little lamps turned on versus one big bright overhead light. (my husband likens me to a bat sometimes..but hey...it is easier on the nervous system. Bright lights overwhelm me.

1970's Music Was there ever a better time for good straightforward musical ballads? With real instruments and words that told little 4 minute stories, I could listen to 70's music all the time.

Bookstores I am like a kid in a candy store, no...worse...in a bookstore. So many little square packages of worlds unknown, just waiting to be discovered. And, magazines too. Save me! (Don't please).

Going Barefoot I'm sorry, I have never been a shoe person and I could never understand women who were. There is nothing better than the feel of the floor, earth, ground beneath the sensitive nerves that God gave us on our feet, to feel where you are at, what the temperature of the room is, and where you are going. Better yet is the first walk outside in the spring barefoot. Sheer delight. Now, running shoes? Sure, I'll take those (: (Although running barefoot on the beach is a pleasure all it's own). Listen to Michael Franks Barefoot on the Beach

Waking Up Really Really Early I have always been a morning person, an early bird. Now that I have children, it is imperative to the start of a good day that I get up while the sun is still sleeping. The earlier I can pull it off, the better the day! We're talking 4:00-5:00 a.m. ideally. Yikes, I know. Don't get me wrong, I still fantasize about sleeping in! I just know that the early bird gets the worm. It's true.

So: Tell me some of your favorite things I would love to hear them!

O Christmas Tree

Today is the day we go and cut our Christmas tree. We visit a tree farm about 25 minutes west of here and ride a horse driven wagon out to the fields. There, we run amok like children (with our children) among the trees to find the 'perfect' one. "Be careful", we remind each other, "they look smaller out here!" Our son helps his dad saw the tree and we drag it back to the horse and wagon and ride back to pay. Once the tree is safely attached to the car top, we have Christmas cookies and tea or cocoa and head home.

Our tree of choice is usually a Concolar Fir. Beautiful soft needles that are still strong enough to hold up ornaments, the tree has a lovely orange-y pine scent for the holidays and loses less needles than any fresh tree we've ever owned.

Whatever tree you put in your home, tiny, big, old, new, fresh or not...may you enjoy your tree day when it arrives.

And Tho' It Be Dark, We Are Snug

These December evenings, so inky black and all encompassing, always remind me of this Brambly Hedge illustration by Jill Barklem. She is one of our favorite authors/illustrators of children's books. Walking by old trees and big stumps, we often comment, "look, there's a 'Brambly Hedge sort of tree/stump!'.

May winter's snowflakes surround you with peace and may your Christmas preparations be merry!

Busy Tasks and Readying for Christmas

A Tasha Tudor kind of day!

Though your day be busy, in all ways, remember that love is the most important 'busy' of all.

My Favorite Winter Words

The Shortest Day

by Susan Cooper

And so the Shortest Day came and the year died
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.
And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, revelling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us - listen!
All the long echoes, sing the same delight,
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And now so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.