By Lynn, on January 12th, 2012%
Clever it should be, never enough thyme, but I know I cannot say “gotcha” with any of you! You know us here too well! You know our love of herbs and creatures and all things garden, so you must also know, just by reading today’s post title, that we took a little time to process and package up some dried herbs that were gifted to us this past week!
Michaela and John help me strip thyme leaves from the dried stems. The smell was slightly lemony and oh so heavenly!
It was fun to do this, I must say, and I reminded the kids that this is what families used to do daily, just as part of their work and survival, and yet we read in old books and hear in stories from our great-grandparents that it was a bonding time, a pleasurable thing.
“What in the world did they talk about?” asked John.
“Well, they talked about life,” I said, “including their plans for how they’d manage in winter and what they would eat, how their animals were doing and just life.”
John changed the subject to 401K’s and I couldn’t help but laugh, thinking that my children had no idea what it was to sit and talk about helping livestock give birth or storing food through winter, and I am sure that Laura Ingalls did not talk about a 401K while helping Ma in the kitchen. Sigh. I think, though, that my kids probably have more knowledge than they realize about “the old ways.” Their own Pa always provided enough venison to last through the winter, and their Ma sure loved gardening and taking care of rabbits and storing herbs.
Three pretty bottles with three pretty homemade labels now sit in the spice rack. Isn’t it sweet to have things around us that are not just pretty (though pretty they are!) but remind us of sweet friends?
Thyme is a lovely herb, if you have not grown it. It used to thrive in The Wild Little Garden where I had several kinds of thyme. It ran away from where it was planted (exactly what I wanted) and danced between the stepping stones, giving off its delightful scent whenever I’d walk through.
In closing, I wanted to share something that I’ve learned from homeschooling. It is so very easy to get caught in a trap of thinking things must be perfectly staged. You know — like the homeschool magazine covers that showcase “perfection”: 10 children, posed pyramid style, all in homemade clothes with a featured clip of them singing perfect harmony the most recent song they wrote, and mom and dad telling of their most recent addition to the farm and how dad makes all of their furniture from wood off their land and mom makes all their food from scratch and sews all of their clothes from thread she made from plants and animals around their home.
Let me say right now, no offense intended. The point is absolutely, totally not to bash that lifestyle! I would love to have it myself! The point is just that some of us (picture me raising my hand) can get caught up in thinking that if it cannot look like that, then I cannot do it at all. But folks, life happens. Life is sometimes in T-shirts and messy hair. Life is sometimes throwing out a sock after a year because you never did find the matching sock. And then finding it the next day. Life is busy. Life is just what we squeeze out of it. Sometimes we can carve out perfect moments, even if the scene does not look perfect! And that’s one of the things I learned to do.
So it was that I pulled out the card table (because the kitchen table is currently the victim of a standing and staring spell) and “last minute” called John and Michaela to “please help me for 5 minutes” with something. Nothing staged. Nothing fancy. Nothing that will make a magazine cover. And yet, it will live in my mind as one of our perfect moments together.
In your homeschooling, look for the perfect little do-able moments that you can carve out of what may seem like a big, jumbled up, busy mess!
Enjoy this day!
By Lynn, on January 10th, 2012%
Dear Friends,
Do you ever cry in your sleep? I did last night. It woke me up. Ah, do not think I am sad, but just understand that sometimes in my dreams I can see what might have been. It is so real, I could touch it. But I know, even in my dreams, that it did not work out that way. So I dry my tears and go back to sleep. It mostly involves my children and a few other dreams that I had for homelife and hearth.
My garden. I cannot say I have cried in dreams over my garden, but I guess my garden will always live in my heart. I also know that God’s creation of fertile North Carolina earth is beautiful where ever it is, and I can plant a garden somewhere new someday. Still I miss my garden and the time I spent poking around in the soil and breathing in the beautiful smell of pure dirt.
So it is that I am appreciating a wonderful gift today. A gift from a friend’s garden. ‘Twas a basketful of harvested herbs, representing another’s work, dreams, and time spent outside laboring away in one of the most beautiful little gardens ever. My children and I will sit down with this mass of thyme and a mass of dried dill. We will strip the leaves and get lost in the smell of a garden again.
When my dear friend handed me the basket, it was so much more than dried herbs. It was a sharing of her own hard work. It was an “I’m sorry that things did not go like you wanted them to.” It was a hug. It was faith and hope. She offered me to come putter around in her potting shed any time I want to. It was friendship.
Drying tears. Drying herbs.
Thankfully I kept the beautiful little glass spice jars with their perfect cork tops, purchased last year for a co-op about medicine in Colonial times.
The pretty “medicine tool box.”
Medicine.  And pretty medicine containers . (I spent hours on those steps. )
Anyway, will be sure and show you the finished product and share some fun pictures of the storing!
Now, as promised, I put a few more ALICE ornaments on THE ALICE TREE to finish up CHAPTER 4.
Nearly bedtime (or way past). Long day spent working, shuttling kids, doing paperwork, making pins and cooking. Tired? Yes. Content? Very.
Yesterday we read Chapter 5. Today we will read Chapter 6. So stay tuned for the next ornaments to go on THE ALICE TREE.
John Tenniel ornament.
Enjoy this day! It will be another busy day here, but I am trying to just pursue JOY. Here’s to JOY.
One joy dispels a hundred cares. ~oriental proverb
Joys are our wings; sorrows our spurs. ~Richter
Men do change, and change comes like a little wind that ruffles the curtains at dawn,
and it comes like the stealthy perfume of wildflowers hidden in the grass. ~John Steinbeck
Here’s also to change.
By Lynn, on October 25th, 2011%
I say, dear friends, there is nothing like botanical anything for skin and health. Unfortunately, one of my sweet children (who shall remain nameless here) brought me a cold from school. Yeah. It can truly make one look and feel tired and run-down to have a cold, no matter how much sleep you get.
Herbs, I was thinking. An herbal infusion, to be exact. So I called the carpenter to see if I could come harvest some weeds botanicals from my old yard. Of course. (But I thought it would be polite to ask, and I also needed to make sure no chemicals had been sprayed on my yard, especially since part of the flower garden has been mowed. )
Think I could be a flower child?
I put a mass of dandelion leaves and plantain, with a little bit of mint, into the teapot. I poured boiling water over it. I let it sit for a while. I added honey.
Drinking an herbal infusion from my little Japanese teacup was just the ticket. Am I all well? Nah. Not yet. But, I think I got some minerals that I was needing.
I will say that being in The Wild Little Garden, mid morning, all by myself, took me away to another place. A place I used to go. A place of meditation. Upon first inspection I was wondering where all the dandelion leaves were. Seems I used to have so many dandelions and now there are none? I got closer to the ground. My mind slowed to a healthy pace and I began searching. The more I looked, the more I found. Then I began to see creatures. A large black beetle. Little ants going about their duties of working, storing, working, feeding… I remembered again how close you have to be to the ground to really see what is not so obvious when you are big and tall and walking around with your head in the sky. I was reminded how we have to get quiet on our knees and really dig when we are praying. It doesn’t come instantly. It’s not a rushed thing. It’s one of those things where the longer you are there, the more you glean. Well, enough harping. I must get busy with the day.
Enjoy this day!
By Lynn, on June 14th, 2011%
Dear Friends,
A happy morning to all! The days are busy here. So busy. I work. And I work some more. I ferry children around. I pick children up. I wash clothes and hang them on a rack to dry. (No dryer yet.) The blog calls. I get as far as two steps in the direction of the computer and life calls a little louder.
There’s really not enough time to make things or paint these days. There is some time, of course, and I love it. I get lost in it and just think and think and think. It might be nice if I did have more time for it, but it’s all okay, mind you. I am not complaining, though at any time I feel I could come here and write a virtual book of all that’s happened. I am just trying to explain to you, and myself, why my journaling is a bit disjointed. I am looking for my track. MY track. The track on which I am supposed to be running. The track that feels right. The one that feels like Lynn. It’s there I know, but it’s still a bit hidden. When you pluck yourself out of an almost 24-year-old situation, I suppose it’s normal to feel a bit “off track.”
Isn’t it hilarious that the title of this post is “what I meant to say” and I still don’t know what I’m saying? The point, actually, was that I meant to say more yesterday. Last night. Late last night. But I had to close my eyes and go to sleep, finally. You know that does have to happen at some point.
Enough about me.
One word. Infusion. I went by The Little Wild Garden yesterday and picked the makings of an infusion: bee balm, dandelion, plantain, lavender, lamb’s quarters, mint. The scent of all these herbs of my “old” little yard carried me into a peaceful place. (Ahhhh. Where ever my track turns up, there will be plants there. It’s gonna take awhile.)
I poured the hot water over the plants, into a pretty, heavy teapot and sipped from a little Japanese cup all day. Feels right. Right track.
I worked on some things, added to my A Bit of Birdsong to-do list. Might I say now, that I do love my current schedule? I do. I really do. It’s a bit of a change, but it does feel right. I get up around 7 a.m. I start the coffee and then feed Annie. When Annie is done gobbling up her food, we walk. Then we come home (see I called it home). I fix a cup of coffee and I sit and look out this huge window that I love. (Feels like an extended vacation at this point.) I love to people watch and bird watch. And there are lots of robins and mockingbirds here. Love them both. Lots of little robin nests.
I have my quiet time. I work on my crafts and around the apartment. I am free until 10 a.m. at which time I work. I work from 10:00 to 2:00. Then we are free for the pool or whatever else. The kids love the pool, and I love sitting out there and reading and writing. At 6 p.m. it’s back to work. I work the second half of my split shift, from 6 to 10 p.m. Then I have free time and quiet time again before bed. The day seems long in a good way. And I LOVE being home to take my breaks right here. I can put in a load of clothes. I can walk to the mailbox or the recycle center and drop some things off. I can even peep into my corner art studio and dream for a couple of minutes. And I can sip on my infusion.
I thought you might want to see the factory in England I’ve been hanging out at. It’s where the bunnies are springing to life left and right. Yes indeed. I’ve met some factory friends there. I have it really, really good compared to them. We do have fun talking! They cannot believe what life has turned into in the year 2011. And I cannot believe all I did not know about their daily work.
So, I will close for now. I still am not sure I said what I meant to say.
My Dear Mother~~ I am going back by those recycle dumpsters today. I promise not to fall in. I cannot say if I’ll take a garden rake with me. Or a steel crate to stand on. But I will be careful. Your girl, Lynn
Enjoy this day!!
PS — My oldest son is 23 today.
By Lynn, on April 26th, 2011%
My Dear Friends,
There was a bountiful harvest this morning, fresh from The Tame Little Garden.
Now. I could tell a big fib and say I grew the bananas and the strawberries in my office, but I bet someone would see right through that. So I’m gonna stick to the truth and tell you that I grew only the chives.
Yes, the chives came with me from the old garden, The Little Wild Garden, a little garden that has a lot of me in it–a lot of my sweat, dreams and some of my heart. And many creatures that I encouraged to take up residence there. These chives started as babes, were separated and planted in pots, ready to sell at the farmer’s market, but that’s a thing of the past. Now, I have two pots of chives in my bright office window.
Did you know that chives belong to the onion genus, or Allium? The “hot” smelling oil in these plants contains sulphur, which is a good germ fighter. Chives have not traditionally been used as heavily medicinally as onions and garlic, simply because they do not have as much of this oil. Still, it’s there, and in The Tame Little Garden, chives are my sulphur-rich herbs.
I love that I can grow chives inside. It’s one herb that will do okay inside. They do need full sun, so they need a very sunny window, and they like to be used. Leaf blades can be cut down to about 1 inch from the soil and used in soups, salads, as garnish. When cold weather arrives, it’s best to put the pots outside and let the foliage be killed back by the frost. Bring them in again and they’ll come back out.
In other news, a name for my little cottage is still floating around in my mind. I worked out at the gym again tonight, and last night, so that’s three nights in a row, folks! What are we going to do with me? My my my!
The gym had several people already there when we got there tonight. Sometimes Michaela and I have the gym quite to ourselves, but then sometimes there’s lot of people there. Tonight, actually, there was a very pretty, trim, fit, muscular, (did I say pretty?) lady on the treadmill, and she had on real workout clothes. I was dressed in high-water gray sweats, bright pink Valentine’s day socks, and an assortment of T-shirts and tank tops. Thank goodness the tanktop was long. And that’s all I’m gonna say about that. Except that I was also wearing my running shoes from 1987. But I did smile. Yes, you can always wear a smile. No matter what else you happen to have on. And just for the record, she had a smile on too. And so did her male exercise partner. I didn’t pay much attention to his clothes. Mostly because I figured if I didn’t pay much attention to his clothes he wouldn’t pay much attention to mine. At that particular moment, I felt like I’d be more comfortable if I also had a poncho on (for obvious reasons) but that might just attract more attention, so I crossed that thought out of my mind and went on riding on my exercise bike like I was there all the time, and where had they been, by the way.
Have I ever told you how much I like having a public blog on which to pour out thoughts and ramble on?
On that note, I shall depart to my bedroom chamber and take up where I left off in my book, which is a secret book until I decide to tell you all about it.
I hope you enjoyed this day.
By Lynn, on March 12th, 2011%
The Reformed Little Wild Garden is coming along. If only I didn’t have to stop to work. And cook. And eat.
The carpenter had a dumptruck load of mulch delivered for me. I love that man. Even if I do have to threaten him with a frying pan every now and then.
Even the rabbits love the carpenter. Because he lets them live here. Rent free.
And he even tolerates me saying things to him like, “Honey, I cannot believe you wanted all these rabbits.”
“Yeah, right,” he says loudly. At least he smiles when he says it.
Have we ever had such a springtime crop of chickweed? I think not! Part of me wants to let chickweed take over the yard! The neighborhood! The world! I just know it would draw in more garden fairies. Does it not look simply enchanting—the view under this bench? But The Little Wild Garden is going for a more refined, even reformed look this year, so out the chickweed went. Good thing the carpenter has rabbits that I can feed the chickweed to. I think I need to make a huge infusion and freeze it into “chickweed ice cubes” for summertime use. It’s such a cooling herb. What do you think?
The violets are lifting their sleepy little heads after a long winter’s nap. They look like lovely swans.
Violets. Be still my heart.
And more violets.
I’m off to bed. Be thankful. And happy.
By Lynn, on November 17th, 2010%
It’s a bit sad that this time of year doesn’t last longer. I love the falling leaves. I love the colors. I love the feel of the air, and the temperatures that are just cool enough to call for long sleeves and yet warm enough for a picnic or swinging in the tree swing.
Michaela and I are trying to walk Annie together. Many times I walk Annie by myself in the mornings, but lately I’ve felt it would be good for us to walk as a family. Even Joseph went with us on this walk.
The dying hostas make a bright yellow display along the border of one of my flower beds. Yeah, it needs weeding, but I try to enjoy it anyway.
I stepped outside and was greeted by brightly colored brick steps. The neighbor children love to come over and help Michaela decorate the steps and sidewalk.
(Mama, if you are reading, I know you are not crazy about the pokeweed plants, or at least you weren’t last year, but maybe I’ll have you convinced before too long.) If you look closely at these pictures, you’ll see our little “pet” mocking bird. He doesn’t fly away when you walk under the arbor. Michaela tells me that he sits very quietly and watches her go by when she comes in from playing.
The mocking bird is one of the reasons that I let the pokeweed grow up over the arbor like I did. The birds love that thicket feel that it creates.
The mocking bird seems to have claimed it as home. That makes me happy. I guess it’s my wild side, but I think the pokeweed is pretty whether a mockingbird likes it or not!
Lately the butterflies have been making one last attempt to visit all the flowers before it gets cold. The Clara Curtis mums are just about completely gone, but there’s still enough color and allure to draw in the insects by the dozons.
If you don’t have Clara Curtis mums, I highly recommend them. They spread, but not so badly that you’ll hate them, and they are beautiful come fall.
Pokeberries: poison and medicine, all at the same time, though I still have not reached the point where I’ll use them. Maybe some day.
I love the way the pokeweed stalk has curled into the arbor. It is so large!
More rosehips gathered for winter tea.
If you have any fall color still hanging around, enjoy it! It’ll be gone with the next few big winds.
By Lynn, on October 22nd, 2010%
Dandelions greens
Tiny plaintain leaves
Arugula leaves and flowers
Garlic chives
Mint
Basil
Feta cheese
Crackers
Newman’s Own Ranch Dressing
Sunflower seeds
By Lynn, on October 20th, 2010%
You must wonder what in the world I mean by consolable. If you typed pediatric ER notes, especially, you might have that word bring to mind images of screaming, inconsolable children, with a doctor trying their best to check ears, nose and throat!
I had to laugh as I went back through John’s medical records. I was looking for tidbits that the surgeon and anesthesiologist might need for their notes going into surgery. I found something I had forgotten about, but quickly remembered as I read through the doctor’s office notes. John was an inconsolable child around doctors.
12/12/95: 18-month-old white male appearing tired, crying and irritable on exam. Patient remained quite irritable after exam was concluded.
3/19/96: 22-month-old white male, crying, irritated and screaming on exam.
4/22/96: He is irritable, but consolable by mom. Abdomen: Crying and firm.
4/3/97: Well appearing male, clingy during exam and difficult to examine. OP – unable to examine due to patient’s noncompliance.
6/12/98: 4-year-old white male, angry and clinging during eam.
All this from the same child who had to be put on a papoose board for tooth examination, all the while screaming that eveyrone in the building was a dummyhead, and telling the dentist, “You are the biggest dummyhead of all.”
So, yeah, I had one of those children. When we emerged from the exam area into the waiting area, every single eye would burn hot on us wondering where I went wrong. I wanted to yell out, “My other children are not like this!”
Of course, those years are long gone and John is a stellar patient now. Due to dehydration from being without food before surgery, his veins were superhard to stick, so it took five attempts to get his preop IV started! The doctor finally had to do it. John was so quiet, so good about it. I wish all these doctors from his toddler years could have seen him!
Fall dandelions.
I so appreciate all of your well wishes and prayers. I am very grateful that the surgery is over and that John did so well. The doctor was extremely pleased because he was able to use wires instead of a plate. Right before surgery, the surgeon reiterated to me that he would love to go with wires but really felt that he would not be able to because the bones were so unstable. Needless to say, he was even more pleased than we were about how the bones went back into place during surgery.
I have to say, I’m pretty consolable myself this morning!
I am trying to get back into the swing of my routine. School work is a bit behind this past week. My handbag is full of receipts that need to be put into the checkbook, where we’ve eaten at the hospital, filled prescriptions, etc.
In the past couple of days I’ve been reading enthusiastically about herbs. I’ve had some time to sit and wait during appointments. I’m starting with “simples” again, or using just one herb at a time and learning all I can about that one plant. The dandelions in our yard are coming out with such vivid green-ness and looking so good for you! I’m starting with them.
Enjoy this day.
By Lynn, on October 16th, 2010%
I wanted to share some information about the last Betsy Ross co-op we had, where I co-taught, focusing on medicine in the 1700s, especially herbal medicine.
First, though, let me share that my son will have to have surgery for his arm. The bones have already slipped out of place again and are causing him quite a lot of pain. While the doctors are in to repair the radius with a plate, they will go ahead and do a carpal tunnel release. Apparently there are structures (can’t remember if the doctor said bone or just swelling) putting pressure on the carpal ligament. Anyway, we’ll be glad when the surgery is done. I realize it’s not major surgery, but anytime it’s one of your babies having surgery… Well.
Here is the “medicine box” I carried to the co-op. Can you imagine? It is full of all sorts of herbal tinctures and powders, vinegars and soaps, etc. I think the children were at least intrigued by it!
At this point I have to thank my sweet friend, Marqueta, of Sweete Felicity, because I recently received a wonderful, delightful package from her, full of the work of her harvests and herbal knowledge! The medicines above fit into the herbal medicine box perfectly! In addition, the comfrey leaves she sent, mixed with some goldenseal, helped to cure one of the bunnies of an eye infection.
Other things in my medicine box included rosehips, chamomile, parsley, and mustard seeds.
I had black walnut powder for all manner of illness and my little boxes full of headache remedy or nausea remedy.
Can you believe the headache remedy? Yes, since walnuts look like brains, they were considered to be a medicine for the brain, including alleviating headaches. This approach to using plants for medicine is called “The Doctrine of Signatures,” meaning that God has put a stamp on each plant, telling us what it is good for. Since the walnut looks like a brain, it’s good for the brain. One thing interesting about this is that many nuts contain choline, which is super good for the brain. Nuts also contain a good kind of fat, which the brain needs to stay healthy. Also, think about aloe. Have you ever seen the inside of a piece of aloe? It looks like ice, and true to that, aloe is good for cooling burns. There are other medicines that fit this doctrine, and they actually work!
One of the things I try to do when I teach a co-op is to make a set of laminated cue cards so that I have something easy to follow for talking to the kids, and also as a review tool for Michaela to use here at home.
If anyone is interested, I have put links to my cue cards on The Healthy Homeschool website. Bear in mind that these cards contain information about what might have been used in the 1700s and not necessarily what would be a good idea now!
The children get a whiff of what they might have smelled like after a treatment proscribed for muscle strain.
I had each child draw a slip of paper from a bag. On each paper was written the name of an illness or injury. The children then found out what their treatments might have been in the 1700s!
I hope the children enjoyed it as much as I did. I know one thing. It was sobering for both the children and adults to answer this question: “Would I still be alive at this age I am now had I been born in the 1700s?” There were at least three parents and one child who would have already been gone if it were not for modern medicine.
The next portion of the co-op was a fair where the children were allowed to display things they had made! It could be food, crafts, or even things they had put together as a collection. Just as in the Betsy Ross story we read, money was the prize. Each child got a replica of a piece of colonial money!
Following the fair, we had a time for devotion and then we learned about history, playing a game where the children had to line up with cards holding the names of well known events or places (colonies).
The children formed a human timeline, putting things in their proper order. This was a good review me, too!
The co-op marks the end of our time with Betsy Ross and the Revolutionary time period, at least for now. Now it is on to Homer Price and depression/early post depression era.
I must get busy working. I’ve missed quite a few hours with doctor appointments this week and there will be more to come in the next few weeks.
Enjoy this day!
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About Lynn
I am the mother of four delightful children: a 23-year-old son, a 20-year-old son, a 17-year-old son, and a bright and bubbly 13-year-old daughter. I share an apartment home with my 17-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter. My little home on the internet is called Rose Cottage because of my love for gardening, roses, and all things romantic and Victorian. Welcome.
I'm a North Carolina girl and I love sharing North Carolina links and information. I do medical transcription from home. My hobbies include making sweet little dolls from clay who are named and have their own stories to tell. I also make old-fashioned brooches. These are for sale in my Etsy shop.
For 13 years continuously, I homeschooled some or all of our four children, but the time came that our homeschool had to be closed. It was the end of a beautiful chapter in my life. I will always be a strong supporter of homeschooling and I will continue to review books and maintain my homeschool website, The Healthy Homeschool. The Players
Lil Ol' Me
Son Daniel, 23
Son, Big Joe, 20
Son, John, 17
Daughter, Michaela, 13
Annie Fatso Beagle
My Symphony
To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never. In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony.
William Henry Channing
1810-1884
What You Do Sow a thought, reap an action.
Sow an action, reap a habit.
Sow a habit, reap a character.
Sow a character, reap a destiny.
Contact Me 
I would  for you to leave a comment, but you can also e-mail me at lynn AT thehealthyhomeschool.com
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