Honey, Herbs, and Woolens

Today was an exciting day. Well, for us anyway. We got out of the house. That makes any day exciting, no? The country kids and I all donned our best farm tour clothes and traveled down the road to buy this:

We also got a brief farm tour from the spry 78yr old farmer who raises natural beef, spanish meat goats, broiler and laying chickens, and (obviously) honeybees. He had kind eyes and was a father to 8 children and our conversation was pleasant and easy. I told him of my farm dreams and he told me how he started farming with 500 meat goats, and how he lost 100 broiler chickens in two nights to some unknown predator last year. He caught a mink a few days later, but didn't have the heart to dispatch it, and so drove miles away to relocate the rascal. A genuine individual, he was.

I can't wait to use this raw honey in some of  our soaps. You can get info on all the benefits of raw honey here: http://www.reallyrawhoney.com/healthfacts.php

I also got a shipment of some herbs I use in our soaps and salves:

I already have others that I've grown and dried (a very humble assortment) here myself, and am expecting more in the mail any day. Love herbs. Love crafting with herbs, Love growing herbs. Frankly, it just makes me feel good to have these God-given natural healers in my pantry. I love expanding my knowledge about their healing properties and can't wait to expand my own herb garden this year.

We also loaded the van with several Salvation Army bags and were able to drop them off this morning. It sure feels good to get rid of clutter.

As I was going through old clothes to look for Salvation Army donations, I came upon a sweet pair of woolen pants I had hand-sewed for Ava when she was a toddler. Hand-sewed, because we were in Minnesota at the time and I did not have my sewing machine with us. These were made from a pretty wool sweater I had reclaimed from a Salvation Army years ago and used as wool longies for her because she was in cloth diapers at the time. Though Charlotte is not in cloth diapers right now, I felt they were just the right size and would keep her chubby little legs warm on our journey to the farm this morning. If you want to make your own pair, it's really easy. I found a tutorial here: http://sewingdork.blogspot.com/2009/08/how-to-make-wool-soaker-pants.html#comment-form

What a cute blog this woman has, and lots of great sewing patterns as well.

Here's a picture of our Charlotte wearing her woolens:

and another, just 'cause I like taking pictures of her :)

and here's Ava, 4 or 5 years ago, in the same pair:

What's better than hand-me-downs?

Homemade hand-me-downs

And just for fun, Ava insisted I wear this blue ribbon in my hair today. "A present for you, to make you beautiful, mama."

Blessings on your Friday,

Elizabeth