Let's Stalk Wild Edibles!

Dear Friends,

We have been blessed with over 10 inches of snow in the past few days, so we have had to unpack the snowsuits to go out and play! Hopefully it's a little warmer where you are, and green things have begun to pop up all around. We believe that the Good Lord has placed these things here to nourish and cleanse our bodies after a winter of indoor living and heavier foods, and that we should learn to recognize and take advantage of them. Plus, they're free for the taking! How budget friendly can you get :) ?

We found a plethora of instructional videos on YouTube about locating, identifying, and using wild edibles, and thought we'd share a few with you to inspire you this spring. The flavor and intensity of nutrients are so highly superior to grocery store salads, even the organic ones!

My children really like watching Sergei Boutenko, so we thought you might, too~ Enjoy! (Oh yes, you may have to click the "Pause" button on the PlayList first)














Love,

Marqueta

O April, Welcome Home!

O April, welcome home! The stirring earth
Is scrubbed and scoured, fresh clean with rain;
You are the hope of beauty and the birth
of life from death-come, welcome home again!

~Anne Mary Lawler

Dear Friends,

Mother Nature is playing her yearly April Fool's joke on us, pouring down rain, hail, sleet, and snow! Surely the earth is indeed being scrubbed and scoured by her efforts.

We have had a wonderful week of visiting with family, and last weekend we had the special treat of receiving a visit from dear Emily of "A Beautiful Life", and her beautiful little family. What a gift from God to have kindred friends! We hope to be able to do it again, and to someday meet many of our blogging friends.

Look at us glowing! :)

Emily's girls found Pink Street Elementary quite entertaining!

We also had a birthday celebration for this little cowboy, who turned three on Sunday~


March 31st was Mr. Graham's last day of work, which will leave him more time to seek out new employ (and to play with his children!). We are feeling blessed to be where we are at this point in our life; that something great is just around the corner.

May each you and your families feel the joy of spring, of new birth, and especially this time of celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Love,

Marqueta

Welcome Spring!

Dear Friends,

Thank you for coming to our home today~ Do you like Liberty's new spring gown (He borrowed it from Elsie Dinsmore)? He does not appear to be too sure about it!

Saturday was such a sunshine-filled day, we thought we'd go down to our favorite pond (which was still ice) for a nature walk, and to see if the cottonwood buds were ready to pick~

Last year's cattails are still full of fluff!
If we'd remembered a shovel, we could have harvested their roots to bake like potatoes.

Although it was a little breezy, it was still perfect picnic weather (no yellow jackets, flies, or ants :) )!

The ice on the edge of the pond had formed many beautiful crystals.

Have stick will travel~

Watching the geese on the river~

Meanwhile, back at the cottage, the hens have been picking up on egg production, giving Frankie a chance to play Little Amish Boy :)~


And the packing continues, with no word yet on any new jobs (But still plenty of faith that we'll find something soon!). We're going through fabric and clothing, and really wishing that rag-pickers still existed~ We'd be wealthy, indeed! We can't help but think what the Ingalls family would think, if they were here helping us sort our possessions. Would they be happy for us that we have so many material possessions, or would they pity us for all the work we've created for ourselves? :) To think of not having cds, tapes, records or dvds, nor a computer, printer, and accessories, or boxes of family photos to organize and keep in a safe place! Nor all the appliances that they would not have known what to do with!

We hope in our move to be able to cut back on many possessions, as nice as it is to have them. We remember what Thoreau (or was it Emerson) said: "Our possessions possess us". It is so true, isn't it? It truly IS a gift to be simple and free!

We'd like to share this little bit of a story that we have been enjoying in the "Mother's Magazine", June 1879. It seemed to apply to us at this time!

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"On a lovely morning late in April, four Virginia children were out in the woods enjoying their Saturday holiday from school. Their mother, Mrs. Chester, sat at her sewing machine, looking through the open doorway at the hill-field . . .The balmy, bracing air was grateful to inhale; the singing of the birds, and the chirping of the frogs, combined to cheer and animated. But there were tears in Mrs. Chester's eyes as she gazed upon this cheerful scene. She was thinking how "the cares of this world" choke out the "good seed" scattered by the heavenly Sower in the human heart. Oppressed by the mountain of perpetual duties and wearisome tasks, which loomed up before her mental vision, she exclaimed in her depression, "I will look to the hills whence cometh my help," and added, in the exercise of faith and hope, "My help is in the Lord which made heaven and earth." "In Him will I trust."

. . . "She now reverted a little more courageously to the huge pile of outgrown clothing, which must be altered and handed down from the older children to the younger ones, and ventured to recount the whole number of new suits each would require, in order to be made comfortable for the summer. Though a delicate woman, Mrs. Chester possessed indomitable energy and a cheerful disposition, and it was her wont to look on the bright side of everything. So, cutting and basting, she sang, in a brave and hopeful strain;

'Do good do good there's ever a way,
A way where there's ever a will-- a will.'

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May we all be like Mrs. Chester today, and look to the Lord for our strength in whatever our cares may be.
Blessings to you all, sweet friends, until next time~

Love,

Marqueta

Curing Spring Fever

Dear Friends,

Since the weather has been so nice the last couple of days, and the forecast is calling for more snow, we thought we'd take the chance to get out and see how our favorite nature spots were doing.


We had hoped to find some nettles peeking up down by the Snake River, but everything was still asleep . . .

Except for the monkeys at the park, of course!

After playing and picnicking for a bit, we decided to go to Wolverine, where we were sure that the watercress would be available for picking!

Watercress is full of vitamin C and other nutrients our bodies need so much after a long winter; just be sure to pick them in a clean area!

We hope that this cottonwood tree survives being munched on by a porcupine~

Farther up the canyon, the creek still lies covered in snow and ice~so beautiful~

AnnaMarie went looking for adventure, and found. . .

Lots of burr babies waiting for a ride!

Evangeline looks pretty happy with the rock she found!

And we found this pioneer girl named Tasha among the rabbit brush.

Tonight looks like a good night to try out potato/watercress soup with watercress salad, and tomorrow we'll try juicing watercress with our carrots and have watercress sandwiches for St. Patrick's Day Tea! That should boost our immune systems, eh?

Thanks for your friendships and sweet spirits; we pray that you are having a wonderful spring-like week, as well!

Love,

Marqueta

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The Country

"Would you be strong? go follow up the plow;

Would you be thoughtful? study fields and flowers;

Would your be wise? take on yourself a vow,

To go to school in Nature's sunny bowers.

Fly from the city; nothing there can charm:

Seek wisdom, strength and virtue on a farm"

Happiness is . . .

A sweet gift of a vintage apron and book from dear Suzanne of Blueberry Cottage~

We love the sunshiney colors!

The ground being soft enough to harvest Jerusalem Artichoke tubers~

So good and they taste like water chestnuts~ Yum!

Hearing the girls practicing their piano, without being told, all throughout the day~

AnnaMarie and Audrey have both learned how to read music by themselves!

Dear Friends,

It is snowing a blizzard outside our door right now, but we've had nice sunny days to enjoy, and we are told the temperatures will be up in the 50s next week. It looks like springtime, indeed!

Thank you so much for all your offers to come help pack~ We think we've gone through every book and paper in the house now (whew)! I have to keep reminding myself what a blessing it is to have such creative, active children, and so many wonderful books in our library to choose from! I wouldn't want it any other way. Now for those wonderful piles of clothing . . . . :)

We've been letting the computer have a break every other day, and have found that we actually have more time to go through and read all the things we've been meaning to for so long now! What a concept! We hope that your blogs don't feel too lonely if we can't visit every day; we do think of our friends many times throughout the day, and wish you well this half-winter/half-summer time of year.

Love,

Marqueta

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"Company.--A man is known by the company he keeps. We take on the thoughts, feelings, and characters of those whom we select as companions. On the same principle, a boy is known by the books and papers he reads, because our thoughts and beliefs and characters are formed by what we read as well as by our company. Parents should look well to what they admit to their homes, for by the trashy novel, the tale of bloody adventure or the obscene book, the child may be led to receive the false in view, to love the low in morals, and the vulgar in thought and language, while yet in the home where from parents and friends he hears only thoughts and words of purity and truth. Watch then the mails, for they bring life or death, blessings or curses."

Mother's Magazine, May 1879