Monthly Archives Jul 2010
Friday's Flowers ~ Going Backpacking
July 30, 2010
I'll start by saying after a full morning of taking care of everyone else's needs I'm so happy to be sitting down for a few moments to write. Ah... I relish this first hour of the afternoon. I feel Friday's Flowers drawing to a close. Participation has dropped off in ...
Sweet Stuff ~ Blogs to Read
July 27, 2010
I've been putting off this semi-regular Sweet Stuff link post. I find they are a lot of work to pull together and I'm not sure how helpful they are for readers. I'm thinking of ways to make linking to blogs both fun for me to write and interesting and relevant ...
Herbal Insect Bite Relief
July 26, 2010
My herbal knowledge, whatever little I have, is mostly in plants for the skin. You probably already know about comfrey and plantain and this is a simple recipe using those herbs to make a poultice or paste to relieve itchy insect bites.
Friday's Flowers ~ My Summer Melancholy
July 22, 2010
Most of the flowers blooming in my yard this time of year are either purple, yellow or white. I didn't necessarily intend it that way (in years past I've spent time planning my perennial beds) but as certain perennials have died and others have taken over those are the colors ...
Easy Science
July 21, 2010
My most recent post at Simple Homeschool, 4 (Fun) Basic Elements of Backyard Science is published today and I encourage you to read it if you'd like a bit of lighthearted insight into how we teach science. I've been working, very slowly I should add, on explaining our family's approach ...
Gone Swimmin'
July 19, 2010
I've noticed a trend in the blogs I read both in the posts themselves and confessions buried in comments. Burn out, over-work, stress, busy living. Here's my confession: I am coming off from a month of that myself. Unfortunately, I feel in good company (like I mentioned above). The intensity ...
Friday's Flowers ~ In My Backyard
July 16, 2010
I'm now going to break my own guidelines for Friday's Flowers and post photos this week of my flower garden - outside. But I have a good reason, three in fact. The painted lady butterflies (Vanessa cardui) have been visiting our butterfly bush (Buddleia) and Echinacea this week and I ...
When The Boy is Away... The Girls Will Play
July 14, 2010
This past weekend we took a whirlwind trip up into New Brunswick to pick up Laurent from my parents. We were supposed to meet in Maine and be hiking Mt. Katahdin with them (and a bunch of other people) but the rain and thunderstorms thwarted those plans. So instead we ...
Summer Skin Care & Homemade Deodorant Recipe
July 10, 2010
My first batch of homemade deodorant was based on a popular web recipe; this time around I made a few more modifications, enough to call it my own.
Friday's Flowers ~ Cool Blues
July 9, 2010
It's been a very hot week in Maine, triple digit days with humidity and no A/C. I'm not complaining, it won't last long but it does tire one out. Early this week before the heat hit I cut hydrangeas for our table bouquet. Each day it seems another head of ...
Summer "Shoo-Fly" Soap
July 8, 2010
Summer Shoo-Fly is so named as the essentials oils were chosen for their insect repellent properties. Unfortunately, it didn't appear to repel insects but it had a pleasant summer-woodsy scent. This is not a recipe but the list of ingredients I used for making this soap. See my How to ...
A Vegan Summer CSA Menu Plan
July 8, 2010
I never know from week to week exactly what vegetables will be included in our weekly share. This summer I made menu prep (from a seasonal csa share) easier by creating a set menu plan each week that I just "plug" the vegetables into.
A Very Berry Weekend
July 7, 2010
Weekends like this start innocently enough. An e-mail sent from a local organic farmer and friend, private invitation only, "the strawberries are ready for picking." It came in my inbox while we were on vacation so the picking had to wait till we got home. And it had to wait ...
Gaspe vacation photos ~ The Sky
July 6, 2010
As promised here are the rest of our photos I wanted to share from our trip. Only this time the focus, quite literally is on the sky. Usually when we camp we are deep in the woods somewhere tucked between mountains. As lovely as this sounds it's nearly impossible to ...
Gaspe vacation photos ~ People & Places
July 4, 2010
It's taken me a whole week to finally finish going through all our vacation photos from our trip to the Gaspe Peninsula. This first set of photos is of people and places, not everything mind you, just a few of my favorite shots. morning chess with papa The next set ...
Friday's Flowers ~ Red, White & Blue
July 2, 2010
This weekend is fourth of July here in the States. Being that we are Canadians we don't make a big deal of this holiday but have always appreciated Damien getting a day off from work! Despite the fact that we're not big flag wavers I was inspired to pull together ...
A Day of Summer Colors
July 1, 2010
Summer is a season of no-holds-barred, unapologetic and flamboyant colors. (Is it possible to use more adjectives in that sentence?) Perhaps if I lived in the tropics I would become immune to this feast for the eyes. But living as I do in Maine, a state where winter hangs on ...
