Happy Late Birthday to Beatrix Potter!

Dear Friends,

Thanks to our friends at "Corgyncombe Courant", Diane and Sarah, for reminding us of Miss Potter's birthday, which was the 28th. Evangeline had begged us to have a tea party on that day, and we even watched "Miss Potter", without knowing that we were celebrating her special day!

The Hostess

We even had Peter Rabbit carrots!

As with many of you, we are enamored of both the stories and the life story of this incredible lady. She had such a great talent for bringing her animal subjects to life, as well as for painting and sketching nature in all its variety. Here is a sampling of her work.

Here is a little video that features some of Miss Potter's sketches, along with the song "A Perfect Day", which was used as the theme for the short movies which were made of her stories.



We're sure that Heaven hosted a lovely party, too!

Love,

Marqueta

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"I remember I used to half believe and wholly play with fairies when I was a child. What heaven can be more real than to retain the spirit-world of childhood, tempered and balanced by knowledge and common-sense..."

~Beatrix Potter

Let's Take a Trip to Utah!

Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for coming over today~ Pull up a fan and some iced mint tea, and join us while we visit a good friend and some family in Utah!

It's Rebecca's first long car trip, so Mama gets to ride in back with her and provide the entertainment that only mothers can give :).

We'll have to make a stop or two along the way, so we can stretch our legs and see the. . . "nature path"?




After we've passed the "Welcome to Utah" sign, we'll start a chorus of "Are we almost there?", until we reach our first destination; our dear friend Emily of "A Beautiful Life" and her sweet little family!




We'll visit for a few precious moments, and sadly depart. . .

But soon the children will be excited by the prospects of the family reunion at their Aunt Jennifer's place. . .

Which has the backyard we wish we had, with a pool, a trampoline, a playhouse, a little hill for sledding and sliding, a swing set, and lots of shade trees!



Oh yes, and lots of cousins!




We'll play until the moon comes up~


And then head homeward, where we'll be blessed to see this beautiful rainbow.


We hope that you enjoyed coming along with us, and that you are having a wonderful week!

Love,

Marqueta

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A something in a summer’s Day
As slow her flambeaux burn away
Which solemnizes me.

A something in a summer’s noon —
A depth — an Azure — a perfume —
Transcending ecstasy.

And still within a summer’s night
A something so transporting bright
I clap my hands to see —

Then veil my too inspecting face
Lets such a subtle — shimmering grace
Flutter too far for me —

The wizard fingers never rest —
The purple brook within the breast
Still chafes it narrow bed —

Still rears the East her amber Flag —
Guides still the sun along the Crag
His Caravan of Red —

So looking on — the night — the morn
Conclude the wonder gay —
And I meet, coming thro’ the dews
Another summer’s Day!

-Emily Dicksinson

Happy Birthday to Tasha!

Dear Friends,

On the 15th of this month, we celebrated the ninth birthday of our little Mama Bird, Tasha~

Who loves turtles and even made herself a turtle cake!

And even let Evangeline and Frankie (her baby birds) open one of her presents.



We are grateful for the sweet spirit that Tasha brings into our family, and wish her a lifetime of joy.


Today, we are going out to enjoy some fresh air and arnica :)


Blessings to you,

Marqueta

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"I believe we start to fail in the home when we give up on each other. We have not failed until we have quit trying. As long as we working diligently with love , patience, and long-suffering, despite the odds or the apparent lack of progress, we are not classified as failures in the home. We only start to fail when we give up on a son, daughter, mother, father, or self:" ~Marvin J. Ashton

Yikes! A Recipe for Comfrey Burn Paste

Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for coming by! We hope that you have had a restful weekend, and are ready to begin a new week. Welcome to any new visitors who might be stopping by for the first time.

We had a scary experience last week, of Evangeline playing with matches in the backyard. She managed to catch her frock on fire, but fortunately AnnaMarie saw her and put out the flames before they could burn her badly.


She ended up with only a small third degree burn where the dress had melted itself to her back (Bad, bad polyester blend! Remind me to use only natural fibers from now on), which is healing nicely, thanks to Dr. Christopher's Burn Paste recipe. We were caught unprepared, but fortunately had all the ingredients at the time Evangeline was burned. Dr. Christopher said to always have some made up ahead of time, which is a very good idea! You never know, especially with summer's fireworks, campfires, etc, when it will come in handy!

Here is the recipe: Mix equal parts liquid honey and wheat germ oil. Then add enough powdered comfrey leaf or root (you can use fresh, but it's a lot runnier) till you have a nice thick paste. This paste is applied quite thickly and covered with gauze and some time of plastic covering to keep it from oozing (it will anyway :) ). As the paste absorbs, you add more paste, but do not remove the paste already on the wound.

We have used this recipe for quite a few scary accidents, and have never been disappointed with the results.
It keeps well for a long period of time, but would last even longer with the addition of a little powdered slippery elm bark powder.

Here is a link to more information about herbs to use for burns~

We are so very glad that Evangeline's guardian angels were watching out for her, so she could be right back out doing what she loves best~



On another note, Jenny had asked me about oily hair and how often it has to be washed. I have read that the more often you wash your hair, the more your scalp will produce oil, from the dryness of the scalp. I know that women used to use a dry shampoo of cornmeal between washings; perhaps that would help absorb the oil if you wanted to start tapering off on how often you wash your hair. I'm sure it may take a while for the scalp to adjust, but I'm almost positive you would see results in time.

A blessed day to all of you, from all of us.

Love,

Marqueta

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If thou of fortune art bereft
And if thou hast but two loaves left
To thee, sell one and wit the dole
Buy hyacinths to feed the soul.

~James T. White

A Merry Independence Day Weekend

Dear Friends,

How nice of you to stop by! We hope you had a wonderful, not too toasty weekend~ Ours was actually quite cool, with temperatures in the 70s!

We had the special opportunity of blessing little Rebecca this weekend. She in turn had the special opportunity of wearing her great-grandmother's blessing dress, and a bonnet made from her great-great grandmother's handkerchief. Since she shares the name Mabel with them, she was truly an heirloom baby!


On Saturday morning, the children held their annual Independence Day Doll Parade. They went all out this year, decorating the floats and making gowns for "Miss Merry Hearts" and "Miss Nature".

Elsie Dinsmore portrayed Betsy Ross (although she lost her cap somewhere en route)~

And Sheriff Woody served as Grand Marshall (Shown here with the Modesty Cheerleaders)~

In the afternoon we decided to picnic in Wolverine Canyon, even though it was a bit breezy!

We went for a walk in the woods...

. . .And grabbed some dogwood blossoms to "play with". . .

(And horsetail)


(And sagebrush)

(And mushrooms)

(And sticks)

And saw pretty butterflies. . .

And waded in the creek to cool us off when we were done.

May you have a wonderful, blessed week, dear friends. Even though our house may look like it was hit by "Hurricane Frankie", we hope there will be plenty of time to clean when autumn comes!

Till next time,

Love,

Marqueta

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"Oh, sacrament of summer days,

Oh, last communion in the haze,

Permit a child to join.


Thy sacred emblems to partake,

Thy consecrated bread to take

And thine immortal wine!"

~ Emily Dickinson