A Happy Birthday to Tasha

Dear Friends,

Yesterday we celebrated the eighth birthday of our Tasha. We celebrated by going to pick cherries at her Grandma Cherie's, and feeding peanuts to two squirrels that live in Grandma's yard (Too bad we didn't get pictures!).


Tasha hinted that she would like some nature-related gifts, and received quite a few. We think her favorite is the telescope that is supposed to allow her to look at the craters on the moon. She and Audrey stayed up as late as they could last night, waiting for the stars to come out, but alas, the mosquitoes drove them inside before it was dark enough!

Today we'll be out in the gardening, catching up on gardening, picking peas and maybe harvesting some "weeds" to experiment with in the kitchen!




Till next time,

Love,

Marqueta

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"Cleaning your house is like pruning a tree. The house and the tree are both alive. You take care of the debris first, then stand back to look at the true form~and that clarity, that original vision is what happens in the mind." ~Anonymous

"Climbing Over Rocky Mountain"~an Ode to Wolverine Canyon

"Climbing Over Rocky Mountain"

Climbing over rocky mountain,

Skipping rivulet and fountain,


Passing where the weeping willows quiver

Passing where the willows quiver,



By the ever-rolling river,


Swollen with the summer rain,


The summer rain.



Threading long and leafy mazes



Dotted with unnumbered daisies,



Dotted, dotted with unnumbered daisies;





Scaling rough and rugged passes,



Climb the hardy little lasses,


Till the bright sea-shore they gain!



Scaling rough and rugged passes,


Climb the hardy little lasses,

Till the bright sea-shore they gain!



Let us gaily tread the measure,


Make the most of fleeting leisure,


Hail it as a true ally,


Though it perish by-and-by.

Hail it as a true ally,



Though it perish by-and-by.

Words and Lyrics from "The Pirates of Penzance", by Gilbert and Sullivan

Blessings From the Garden

Dear Friends,

Welcome today to Merry Hearts Cottage! It is a beautiful, hot day. Just right for hanging clothes out on the line and picking a few herbs and greens to eat and for medicine.


We had a friend come over yesterday, and walked her through our weedy yard, showing her the names of things we have growing here that are good for man and beast. She was especially impressed to learn that burdock is not only edible, but quite tasty!

We decided to experiment eating red clover blossoms, since we have an abundance of them this year. Usually we just pick them and bite off the juicy, sweet petals, but we thought we'd try something more substantial. We made a pesto out of the blossoms and leaves, pureed with olive oil and salt, which would make a nice sandwich filling or pasta topping. Then we made blossom stir-fry, by picking the freshest blossoms, removing the leaves, and frying them in red palm oil with some onions, nutritional yeast, and an oat-flour sauce. Yum! They were a little chewy, but good.


The last thing we made was a sort of GardenBurger out of dried, powdered red clover blossoms mixed with soaked wheat, blended with water till mushy. We added parsley, onion powder, and salt, and baked them in the oven in muffin tins. When baked till crispy, they were actually addicting!

Audrey's Clover Burger

Who would have thought that all this time we could have been taking more advantage of the healthful plants that the Lord has provided, in medicine and in food? There is so much to be learned on the subject. We are intrigued by the title of the book From Crabgrass Muffins to Pine Needle Tea by Linda Runyon. It looks like a fun read, so it will go on our long list of books to buy. We'll let you know when we do!

Oh, dear friends, may you be blessed with all you must do today. Let us all allow the Lord to carry those burdens that seem to much for us in this life. He is more than able to carry them all, and only awaits our asking.

Love,

Marqueta

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For the Beauty of the Earth
by Folliot Pierpoint

For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.

Refrain

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the beauty of each hour,
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light.

Refrain

For the joy of ear and eye,
For the heart and mind’s delight,
For the mystic harmony
Linking sense to sound and sight.

Refrain

For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild.

Refrain

Goodies and Garlic~

Relax!

Dear Friends,

We've had so much fun discovering the new local flea market here in town, we thought we'd share a few items we found.

The first booth we encountered was run by an elderly gent with a "Two bits buys anything" motto. How, then, could we possibly resist this homely little ceramic potato dish, especially when it had my name (at least my initials) on it?

And these nested tins? And especially this Tasha Tudor book?

Now for the hard part: keeping to our rule of "For everything that comes in, something must go out." They DID mention that they buy and trade, at the flea market. . . :)

In the garden, we've been harvesting our garlic scapes (The pretty little flower heads they grow) to use in pesto, salsa, etc. It's a super yummy garlicky treat that's not as strong as the bulbs. We wish that every month could be like summer, when we feel like we live in the Garden of Eden, going outside and picking food fresh for the table!
But then, we'd miss the anticipation of watching things grow from seed in the spring, or reemerging from last year's growth. Plus we'd have so many flies and mosquitoes going outside would be life-threatening!

May you enjoy your beautiful day, wherever the day takes you. May the Lord lift you up in your trials, as you lift your eyes up to Him.

Love,

Marqueta

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One form of heroism-the most common,
and yet the least remembered of all-
namely, the heroism of the
average mother.
Ah! When I think of that
broad fact, I gather hope again for
poor humanity;
And this dark world looks bright
. . . because whatever else it is not full of,
it is at least full of mothers.

~Charles Kingsley

It Was a Merry Fourth

Dear Friends,

How lovely to see you today! We hope you had a wonderful weekend, whether you celebrated Independence Day or not.

AnnaMarie surprised Mr. Graham with this patriotic breakfast~

The small dolls held their Independence Day parade on the third, while the tall dolls had theirs on the fourth.

No parade is complete without horses!

And a video of the Tall Doll Parade

Mr. Graham took the middle girls and Frankie to the local parade, which was lots of fun, too.



After all the parading was over, we took a drive to Wolverine Canyon with my mum and my brother's family, where we happily harvested burdock for eating, and bee balm and nettles for medicine.


The girls discovered a surprise amid the junipers:

A Fairy House in the Woods!

May you have a merry day,

Love,

Marqueta

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We can't all be Washingtons, but we can all be patriots. ~Charles F. Browne