A Happy Belated Mother's Day

Dear Friends,

A happy late Mother's Day to all the mothers out there~ I have been very blessed to have a mother who taught me to love the Lord and His natural creations, and who has helped me in so many ways. I only hope that I can do the same for my own children throughout their lives!

I promised to tell you more about honeysuckle, peony, and rose blossoms. They are all wonderful to dry (of course from pesticide-free plants!) and then use as an infusion during the summer months to help keep us cool. Honeysuckle is great for sore throats and colds, and all three types of blossoms are chock-full of antioxidants, which are so important to consume in this day and age! We dry them in our Excalibur dehydrator, or in paper bags, if it is warm enough and not humid. When the weather is hot, you can make a sun tea with them by placing them in a wide mouthed jar, about a handful to two cups of water. We like to serve it chilled, and sweeten with powdered stevia.

We've just uploaded another video about the edibles/medicinals in our yard, and once you stop laughing at how our faces are frozen on the preview, we hope that you learn something new from it. :)

Till next time, dear friends,

Love,

Marqueta

Spring is for Babies (and Dancing)

 Dear Friends,

We have been enjoying the many baby birds that are around our little cottage this spring. We've counted at least four robins' nests in the yard, as well as a cardinal nest next to our neighbor's.

We have been gifted with a new little kitten from the fairies~ We found her under the front of our house, and have been feeding her with a kitten bottle for the past three weeks. Life is full of fun surprises!

 

Rebecca loves her babies so much, she decided to make them really pretty with ink~

"Much better!"

AnnaMarie and Audrey had the once in a lifetime opportunity of performing dances and singing with over three thousand youth from our church. It was a lot of tiring work, but they loved it!

Tasha missed out on the dancing, but had fun watching the show~

We've been harvesting mulberries and pine pollen this past week, and have been stocking the freezer with as many goodies as we can while they last. We've learned that you can't wait longer than a couple of days when things are ready to pick here in Missouri, or they'll be gone with the wind! :)

We're working on putting some more videos on YouTube for you, and hope to get them up soon.

Love,

Marqueta

p.s. Remember to smile, Remember to say a good word, and Remember to remember only the good!

Here We Go a-Maying

 Dear Friends,

A merry, merry month of May to you! The whole air is full of perfume at our cottage, with honeysuckles and roses blooming in the woods, and peonies blooming in the yard (all of these flowers are medicinal, by the way, so be sure to harvest and dry some before they're gone!)~

 The lambsquarters are big enough to start harvesting now (we get just as excited about our weeds as we do our garden plants), and we've been eating salads of lettuce, arugula, endive.

(Lambsquarters)

 Tasha has been busy stitching a new gown for her Kathleen doll (who adores peonies!)

And Audrey is working on a fanciful dress for her Elsie doll~

 We had lots of buckwheat pancakes today, since buckwheat is gluten-free and reported to benefit the pancreas (and they're pretty tasty, too, especially in the shape of a cat!).

 AnnaMarie designed our May baskets, which were delivered to the neighbors bright and early in the morning,

 

And here is our May Queen for 2012, Miss Tasha Graham. She made the crown and scepter herself!

We hope that you had a fun May Day celebration as well, dear friends, rain or shine (we had both!), and this month proves to be one of many blessings for all.

Love,

Marqueta

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"May Blossoms"

Silently, graciously, cheerily now,

April's sweet blossoms are leaving the bough,

That each tiny leaflet hid deep in some spray,

May timidly peep out, and whisper,

"'Tis May."

~Mattie T. Koerner

A Nature Outing

 Dear Friends,

A happy weekend to you! We hope that it is a time of wonderful memory-making, as well as relaxation, for your family.

There are wonders all around us, if we take the time to seek them out.

Two days ago we decided to take an excursion to a nearby wildlife conservation area, to see what Mother Nature was up to. At first it seemed like nothing exciting was going to happen, but then we passed a pond full of bullfrogs, who screamed at us before leaping to safety. How could we help but laugh and wish we had our pond full of screaming frogs?

We loved seeing all the birds who were nesting in the area, and Evangeline wanted to camp overnight and wake up with a snuggly goose next to her!

 We saw beautiful waterlilies,

 A snake who had just swallowed his dinner. . .

A funny crayfish castle~

Our first hemlock in bloom (definitely NOT queen anne's lace!)~

 

  

Lots of pretty butterflies~

 Beautiful lakes and ponds~

 ~And mulberries!

We left feeling refreshed and ready to go back home and fill in a few pages in our nature journals.
 We'll be back soon when the elders are in bloom!

And lastly, we just had to make one more fun graphic. This one is for you, Jane!

Love,

Marqueta

Fun Graphics For You

Dear Friends,

Here are some more fun and/or silly graphics that we made for you. You may put them on your blog, or anywhere else you like. Have fun!

Love,

Marqueta