Happy Autumn

Dear Friends,

A merry autumn to you! We've been enjoying very fine weather lately, with golden sunrises and sunsets, golden flowers, and golden birds enjoying the golden flowers, too. :)

My friend Heather has a lovely quote on her blog from Laura Ingalls Wilder about taking time to enjoy nature each day, and this is how we feel, too. This time of year we want to be outside and recharge our Vitamin D cells whenever we can~ If only they would STAY charged all winter!

We have been blessed to be able to gather a few pounds of elderberries up in Wolverine Canyon, and plums from my brother's tree~ with each harvest our hearts are filled with gratitude for the fullness of the earth this time of year. We want to be like the busy bees, who are working with all their might to preserve all the goodness from every flower that they see.

We treasure the light of candles that light the longer nights~

And clothes (and monkeys), fresh from the line~



Making a real fire to cook on (sort of)~

 
And playing with snails that we found at our new secret spot in Wolverine!
 

May this autumn bring harvests both physical and spiritual, as we take time to savor the love in everything around us.

Love,

Marqueta

*********************

"True Riches" by Napoleon Hill

1. A positive mental attitude

2. Sound physical health

3. Harmony in human relations

4. Freedom from Fear

5. The hope of Future Achievement

6. The capacity for Applied Faith

7. Willingness to Share One's Blessings with Others

8. To be Engaged in a Labor of Love

9. An Open Mind on All Subjects Toward People

10. Complete Self-Discipline

11. Wisdom with Which to Understand People

12. Financial Security

Occupation and Self-Expression

Dear Friends,

Oh, I hope that you all are having the beautiful weather that we have experienced lately! It is a chore to remain indoors for more than a few minutes when everything is golden and glorious. We found this little article in the "Mother's Magazine, August 1908", that we would like to share with you~

Occupation and Self-Expression
By Jeannette N. Phillips

The things that children try to do naturally, indicate what they like to do, and what they can do with advantage to themselves, if only right help is given. For instance, children of primary age are very fond of using pencils, colored crayons, or paints, of cutting things out with scissors; they try to create with both color and form. At first their efforts seem to result in haphazard only-- fingers won't go where they are expected to go. But set a little one at some definite line of "work," or simple occupation with the tools and materials mentioned above, give him wise direction, and he is happy, enthusiastic, patient, and does better and better. What is going on as he improves in the special work? Just what goes on in all forms of practice, training of muscles, eye, brain, development of new ideas about making his hands express his thoughts. As he grows older and is set at occupations in line with his maturer inclinations and abilities, the same thing goes on-training of the powers with which he is to work all his life. To this is added formation of the habit of trying to do, to carry out ideas as they assert themselves- of concentrating thought and purpose on some specific end. This is positive, definite self-expression, and self-expression is the key to honest, individual, satisfactory achievement. The quarrel between the child and real work in many cases arises out of the fact that the work he is required to do cannot even by courtesy be called self-expression for the child.

Many children of junior age like to put things in rows or piles-build things in their crude way: but interrupt a boy when he is busy carrying out some scheme of his own and set him a piling work, and he becomes rebellious. The difference between wood piled and unpiled does not appeal to him; he learns nothing from his task except to dislike work on general principles. Help him to find a reason for wanting the wood piled neatly, and he will do it as well as he can, improve as he progresses, then think of himself as an achiever, a victor. Children like to run about, like to do things that older people do, play that they are carrying on this or that kind of business or work. But tell a little girl to go for a package of cornstarch when she is wholly absorbed in managing a doll's tea party, and then, because she has no interest in cornstarch, the errand becomes a task. Time the errand rightly, show the girl that she is helping keep house, or that she is going shopping, let her choose which store to patronize or the kind of package that looks most attractive to her, and she begins to feel a little responsibility, she knows the joy of self-expression, and she has done something toward setting her mind into order-she can think better in the future. Children like to create, but give a girl a towel to hem, and the creative element is wholly obscured to her vision. Help her to make doll clothes, or simple Christmas presents for her loved ones-that is, she can mark out, cut, put together, "make something"-and she gets the muscle training, the eye training, the training for skill, none the less, and her work expresses her own thought and taste and wish-has a meaning. Moreover, she has learned what she can do by using her own hands and eyes and brain; she is willing to try some other form of work.

May we each find joy in our own tasks and find ways of making them more enjoyable, too!

Love,

Marqueta

"And the Lord God Planted a Garden. . .

. . . eastward in Eden;

. . . and there he put the man whom he had formed.

And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow. . .

. . . every tree that is pleasant to the sight,

. . . and good for food;

And a river went out of Eden to water the garden~"

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed,

which is upon the face of the earth,

. . . and every tree,

in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed;

. . . to you it shall be for meat. . . .


And God saw every thing that he had made,


and, behold, it was very good."

~(Scriptures from Genesis 2)~

Love,

Marqueta

All that Autumn Brings

Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for stopping by, and welcome to anyone who may be visiting us for the first time today!

As you can see, the sunflowers are as high as an elephant's eye right now, and we have much to thankful for at this time of the year. We have been the blessed recipients of produce from several of our neighbors, when we had felt sad at not being able to get a garden in this year.

We have also been learning about so many different wild things to eat, and to use as medicine, that our hearts are full as we think on how generous our Heavenly Father is to send these to us, free for the taking.

Lavender is a wonderful relaxant, as well as keeping moths out of woolens. Try a little lavender oil rubbed into your temples the next time you have a headache, and have fun experimenting with lavender in baked goods.

Moonwort (or Mugwort) is a nice digestive bitter, helping out the liver when digesting the heavier foods of fall.



Japanese knotweed has edible sprouts in the spring, and the roots can be dug in the fall and used as a source of the anti-oxidant resveratrol. It is also believed useful in the treatment of Lyme disease.

Hollyhock leaves and roots are soothing to the diuretic tract, and the green seed pods make yummy snacks.

If you are blessed to have raspberry plants, now is the time to harvest and dry them for winter teas. They are full of iron and calcium, and are a wonderful immune booster, as well as aiding the female organs in functioning properly. We like to mix them with mint leaves in an infusion.

And don't forget the old standby, garlic! Not only does eating it help fight the bad bugs going around, but you can also make it into a stylish necklace, as the Italians do!

The nights are getting cooler and cooler, with frost on the ground a few times, but the days are so beautiful and blue that we want to spend every minute we can outside, soaking up the healthful sunshine!


We hope to be moving sometime in the middle of October. If we do, we will have two autumns this year; September in Idaho and October in Missouri! We really want to be there in time to scout out the wild areas in the neighborhood and see what goodies Mother Nature has for us there.

May your family be blessed with peace during this harvest time of year.

Love,

Marqueta

Cute Baby Update

Dear Friends,

How can I resist sharing a few pictures of Rebecca with you today? I think we may have only a few hundred pictures or so of her, so I'll just share the very best :) .

Eskimo and Friend

The Sailor Sweetheart

"So there!"

Beautiful Dreamer

"Are you done yet?"

"There's that camera again!"

Gingham Girl

Sweet baby bubbles

I hope you've enjoyed our little Sweet Pea as much as we do! We're still busily trying to fix the floor in the bathroom (we have friends coming to our rescue this weekend) and getting ready to move. We've also been harvesting and preserving as many herbs as we can to have on hand for the winter months.

May you have a wonderful day!

Love,

Marqueta

Let's go to the Fair!

Dear Friends,

A happy September to you! We celebrated by holding our annual Doll's Fair (for the small dolls) today, and by tearing up the floor in the bathroom (we really know how to party, don't we? ;0) ).

The fair had to be held indoors this year, due to inclement weather, but everyone agreed it was a wonderful time!

~The art display~

~The beetle race~

~The knickknack booth~

~And a lovely ride for everyone~

~Of course, Elvis put in a guest appearance!~

~And so did a little Button Nose!~

~Aprons for sale~

And here is the no-less exciting "mending the floor" part~

~Miss Tasha helping to mend the "lovely" hole in the bathroom floor~

~And Evangeline took this picture of yours truly (seems everyone is a photographer these days!)~

~Of course we took time out to love the baby~

We didn't quite get the new piece of plywood cut to fit just yet (it's on the slate for tomorrow), but tearing up the old floor was quite enough of a workout for one day! One more reason we'll be awful glad to see Mr. Graham, (Who, incidentally, has announced that he has found employment in Kansas City! Yay! We should be moving sometime in October, after his initial training period has ended. Better get the rest of those repairs done, now!

We hope that you enjoyed our little fair~ really, we wish you all could have been here, too. We have a sneaking suspicion that Tasha Tudor was peeking at it from Heaven. :)

Love,

Marqueta