All natural shake powder

Ok don’t get me wrong, I like the taste of slimfast after I add fruits, and sometimes veggies to it, but I don’t absolutely love the ingredients list on the back of the can.

I like knowing what is going into my meals and where that food came from. Sadly slimfast had been the only meal replacement drink that had agreed with me of all the ones I had tried. I tried quite a few natural ones. I think they had too many added vitamins or something because I would always feel really horrible after drinking them.

So I went on a quest to make my own. I did a bunch of research and found I had everything but the chia seeds.

My slimfast shakes were normally around 150 calories because I would use less fruit and lower calorie nut milk like unsweetened vanilla almond or almond coconut milk.

I did not want to up the calorie intake from shakes due to the fact that I usually eat something small every 2 hours in addition to a shake/smoothie in the morning and one at night before bed.

Slimfast, the powder alone, is 110 calories. I decided I would throw everything together and then hope it came out to that or less, so I might add more fresh fruits to the mix.

Now I did not want to add powdered fruit, as I already put fruit in my shakes, I felt it would take away from the texture if everything was powder. I did however, really like the idea of getting more veggies into my shakes. Lately it has just been a handful or two of spinach when it fits the flavor.

So here is what I came up with:


The mix I concocted includes oats, chia seeds, beets, yams, pumpkin, carrot, a green goodness powder mixture (there are like 9+ ingredients in it and I can’t find the list. You can get it at the Herb Pantry though)
I made 13 servings worth of this mix. Each scoop is 2tbsp and is approx. 21 calories (yes, you heard me)

Now this does mean each serving is also only .75g of protein, but I am ok with that, since once I add a banana to the mix, that bumps up the protein to about 2g, which is what slimfast has.

I really like this mix because it is really versatile.
I could add carob or chocolate powder.
I could add nut butters for added protein. (I don’t want the extra protein unless I need it at the time)
I could add spices like cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, nutmeg, etc..
I could add powdered honey
I could add green tea powder, other tea powders, flax seeds, etc.. The possibilities are really endless.

Now they have this pbx powder stuff that looks interesting, but since peanuts are the worst nuts for you comparably, I decided not to get any of it.

Almond flour would be good to add if you do not already use almond milk in your shake.

I made my shake today with a whole banana instead of half, blueberries, yogurt, and almond coconut milk. It ended up being about the same amount of calories as my slimfast shakes would have been, but with more goodness.

Now the texture is going to be different of course, but I honestly did not mind it at all. Anyone who has put powdered oats in their shake will know what I am talking about. The flavor is great and did not taste like leafy greens at all really. You don’t taste the beets, only the light sweetness.

I am honestly quite happy with how this little experiment turned out. Now I just need to come up with a neat name for it instead of just calling it my shake mix.

I would like to note that I did opt out of adding a soy, whey, or hemp protein powder intentionally. While I could easily get my hands on any one of those, after reading up on the pros and cons of them, I felt it best to leave them out. Now pea protein is one that was interesting to me after reading about it, and I might try that one in the future (probably from sprouting, dehydrating, and powdering my own peas) I will update you on that if I do decide to try it.

For those who wish to try making this mix, here is the recipe I used:


Oats I used 1/2c of the normal quick one min oats. Powdered it came out to 14Tbsp.
Chai seeds I used 1/8c which came out to 6Tbsp + 1tsp.
Green powder mix I used 1Tbsp + 1tsp
Pumpkin powder 1Tbsp
Yam (about 1/8 of a yam) powder 1Tbsp
Carrot powder 1Tbsp (I cannot recall how many carrots this was dehydrated, but not many, like 1-3)
Beet powder 2Tbsp (about 1 beet)

I did dehydrate all the veggies myself except for the green powder. Eventually once my garden is growing again, I will be dehydrating more greens to make my own green powder mix.

I also want to mention how inexpensive this is to make 13 servings compared to spending $7 per 14 servings for slimfast. If you use the $15+ mixes, this will be an even greater savings. I have not yet done the price breakdown, but you can see from the above, it does not take much.
The bag of chia seeds I got for like $6 I could make like 18 batches of the above with, and it is the smaller bag… Oats are cheap to buy, as is everything else on the list. Just something you might want to know is all.

Let me know if you try it and your thoughts on it. I want to know what awesome things you add to your shakes!

Tending to the garden

We all know gardening is both a joy and hard work. One thing that I have struggled with lately is getting my garden watered properly while I have been sick with a cold.
My husband will help me water it from time to time, but not always.

Since the hose burst, it has to be done by hand, which means many trips to the spigot. It is a bit harder on my body while I am not feeling well than using a hose would be. Being so close to the end of the season, I had decided not to buy a new hose until next year.

I am still watering my garden, just not as often as I would like. I had hoped the rainy days would continue but of course during this time the temperature decided to heat back up again.

I would have put wine bottles into the ground but the water would have dried up within a day I am sure, and I would not have been able to refill them so easily without the bottom being cut off. Usually it is a battle of spraying the dirt out of the neck before refilling. Seems like more of a hassle to refill bottles that are not cut, than watering the garden by hand.

Sadly I do not have a self watering system in place for my current garden, but I do hope to implement one next year if possible. Doing so with a larger garden would make things a lot easier. Even if only part of it  is self watering through watering wells, pots, etc, it would help take off the load.

I have a sprinkler system in my back yard, though it does not reach the slope. I do not see a drip system being possible for next years plans so I am coming up with other ideas like wicking beds and such.

Some of the tomato plants look a little wilted but are otherwise fine. I see a little acorn squash growing, though no others for pumpkin or butternut yet. The zucchinis are doing great. Most of the beets are growing wonderfully. Peas/beans are flowering.
All in all my garden is doing just fine despite lack of the proper watering.

I have still been able to water my indoor plants. My ginger is really taking off. Lettuce seems a bit hard to grow indoors. I wonder if the temperatures fluctuate too much for the little lettuce heads. Either the heads die off or start to bolt. I think it just gets too warm and our AC unit has problems keeping the place cool even with the fans going.

Watercress has died off but I do believe I was able to get a few seeds that will hopefully germinate later.

I started a mushroom growing experiment. I took the stems of two types of mushrooms, button and the brown topped ones I can never remember the names of, and put them in some moist soil. I have them in my crafting room on the windowsill in 2 liter plastic bottles with a big hole in them.

They appear to be decomposing, which I am not sure if that is part of the re-growing process or if this is a failed experiment. I read somewhere that you could grow them that way but I am not so sure as of yet.
I wanted to try growing shiitake mushrooms but those are hard wood mushrooms I believe, which means they grow on decomposing logs, not in soil.

In any rate if it does not work I will most likely get a mushroom growing kit in the future.

As for the outdoor garden area, I will give it lots of love via coffee, tea, and other yummy things as a thanks for their patience with me while I am ill. I have already put a little coffee out there for the squash.

Whenever I make coffee I make just a little extra that goes into a cup that I put into my garden later. I also save the grounds as well as you already know.

Thankfully even with as bad as I have felt with this cold, I can tell it will not last as long as others have. A testament to what good herbal remedies can do for ones body.

Gardening and baby humming birds

This is what I have in my kitchen near my espresso machine. I have an open container to store coffee grounds in as I use them, and a old ziplock lunchbag that I put dried used tea leaves in. It is not a lot right now, but over time it will be very useful.



I have also started saving eggshells again that I will later grind up.


My little kitchen garden is doing fantastic. Avocado tree, ginger, bok choy, watercress, onion, and romaine. All but the watercress were propagated from fruit stand or grocery store scraps.


This yellow crookneck is getting so big! Now everything I read says to harvest when the skin is still soft… But mine has never really been soft, so to be honest I am not sure when it needs to be harvested. I will most likely be picking it tomorrow after getting some feedback.


The beginnings of my compost pile! The boys mowed the grass and piled it up for me on top of a box that is laid flat. It towers closer to 4 ft tall… I will most likely be scattering it a bit more as I add more things to the pike so the pile is not too high.


Look at these two incredibly cute baby hummingbirds! They are quite the delight to have on the little urban homestead.

Look at those beans grow! I love vined plants. Now if only the bugs would stop chewing on the leaves I would be happy.
Beets are all sprouting up as well though it is too bright to get a photo of that until they are larger.
Carrots are not looking promising. I think the bugs may have gotten to the seeds. We shall see.

Being that I am pagan I wanted to go into a little more depth as to why I have been posting about fertilizer so much. For me, it is respectful to give offerings to the Gods, and the spirits of the land. In my past garden this was usually done by putting out seed for the wild animals to eat. I do not want the seed I have to sprout here as I did in the last house, so I have not put seed out until I can get the non-sprouting kind.
My bird can be a semi picky eater and I would put out what was not eaten. Waste not basically.

To me fertilizing and nourishing the plants is also an offering. A  show that I am here to care for the plants, for the land, and to be a steward. I am giving back to the earth and helping it grow healthy just as it helps me.

Now while I do give offerings other than this, I do feel that the act of taking care of your garden, the act of making your own fertilizer, and showing dedication to your plants is something that speaks volumes to the genius loci. The spirits of the land.
I help them and they help me. It is a working relationship. As I get to know my new land better, they will get to know me and may even teach me a thing or two about the secrets of the land.

I work with them rather than against them. I very much enjoy getting to know the plant spirits, animal spirits, and in general the local spirits as I enter a new territory. There is so much one can learn if only they are willing to listen and be patient.

The grand old silver maple in my yard has to have the most personality of all my trees. I picture her as a happy old woman, who much likes to tickle my cheeks with her leaves and give me encouraging pats on the head as I water the garden. She seems quite delighted with me. While it may seem strange to notice the personality of a tree, I assure you it is actually quite a normal practice for myself and many others.
It has already been proven that plants do in fact speak with each other. Just because we do not always regularly speak with them, does not mean they do not talk in their own way, and are not listening.

It has also been proven that talking to your plants does in fact help them grow. I know this to be true personally myself. Music is another thing that helps plants grow.

The biggest thing with communication would be patience and the knowledge that communication will not happen as I am talking to you now. It will happen in other ways. An impression, a dream, a sway in the breeze. If you are keen at picking up these signs you will know what they mean.

I had two deaf friends growing up. I did not speak sign language myself but I still understood what they were saying. I eventually learned some signs and we could communicate a little better through their teaching me. I think this is no different than that. You are learning the communication style of something that does not speak like you, but that does not mean you cannot communicate with it. I would not change some of the wonderful experiences and conversations I have had with some of the plants I have grown for anything.

I feel very blessed to have my new plants so happy to have me living here. I feel very welcomed in my new home. Some may take a little more time to warm up to me, but the welcome I have had is already quite heartwarming.

Fertilizing and growing the natural way

This is my first year at my urban homestead. With Autumn on it’s way I am prepping my land for next years gardening adventures. I have been thinking a lot about what goes into good garden soil.
I like making my own natural fertilizers and I am still experimenting with different blends.

Right now what I have to work with is a bit of old coffee grinds, egg shells, used and dried tea leaves (leave it in the bag or on a plate if loose leaf, and let it sit until it dries. It can then be dumped into a storage container) As well as veggie water/broth from blanching veggies.

I hope to this year start my compost pile, though that will not be ready for planting come Spring I do not think with how long it takes to transform into something usable. Still, it will be great to have in the coming seasons.
I will be piling up the grass clippings for the start of my compost pile.

If had a larger garden this year, and could have bartered my fresh herbs and veggies, for some aged chicken, rabbit, cow, etc manure to add to the compost pile, I would have. That is something I may look into once my garden produces a little more than my current small garden does.

I would also love to use things like seaweed and kelp in my yard but would rather wild harvest if I could. I will most likely see if I can find someone in the PNW coast that would be willing to dry some out and send it to me for my garden. I’d prefer to know where it came from rather than not.

I also would like to gather some willow leaves and stems to make a “tea” for my garden. That will most likely be on my wildcrafting to do list in Spring as I do not think I know anyone who has a willow tree growing in their yard.

Another thing I need to look into for Spring is picking up some rooting liquid (as my attempts at using honey have been a fail for that) and the other things you need to root cuttings. I find plants I wish I could take home with me all the time. I think I need to get into the art of rooting. It seems simple enough but I have not had success with anything from cuttings so far. I also have not tried it the proper way yet either. I am always looking for an alternative way to do something.

Pest control is another issue I need to tackle next year. I have a big problem with earwigs, ants, pill bugs, elder box bugs *which are a hybrid bug*, stink bugs, and I believe that is it for the ones I have a big problem with here. A friend of mine makes his own natural, plant safe, earth friendly, bug spray that I think I might have to give a try. He says it will work on the box elder bugs. Considering they are really going after my big silver maple, I have to get rid of them. I won’t use commercial pesticides, though they would not work on the box elder bugs anyways.

Garden plants to get list

While my seed bank is growing, there are many seeds I want to plant and want to experiment with.

I figured it might not be a bad idea to make a list of those seeds or plants so I can share some of my plans with you all.

This blog will basically just be a list of those seeds/plants that are on my list of “to gets” for my garden.


*Warning the list is long and ever growing* I do plan to rotate crops that will not fit all at once of course.

Fruits:
Thornless raspberry
Wineberry
Salmonberry
Plum
Rainier Cherry
Golden Delicious Apple
Another apple type (Something like fuji or gala that would do well in zone 6)
Muskmelon (Like cantaloupe)
Honeydew
*Other melons I have yet to discover
More grape varieties. I have 3 now, I want a few more types possibly.
Orange
Service berries
Dew berry
Salal
Porcelain gem vine *Edibility still questionable*
Peach
Nectarine
Asian Pear
Huckleberry
Blueberry (3 varieties)
Elderberry
Honeyberry
Wonderberry aka sunberry
Jostaberry
Mouse melons aka Mexican Gherkins



Veggies:
Artichoke
Miners lettuce
Snap Peas
Brussels
Asparagus
Mushrooms
Spinach
Potatoes- Brown, red, gold, yams/sweet potatoes
Garlic (Has to come from a certified nursery here or it could cause white mold soil rot)
Cabbage
Kale
Sorrel
Celery
Banana peppers
Jalapeno
More winter squash varieties
Rhubarb
Horseradish
Sweet onions
Glass gem corn


Herbs/Plants/Flowers:
Cleavers
Pineapple weed
Lemongrass
Bee balm aka bergamot
Red clover
Aloe Vera
Burdock
Ginseng
Comfrey
Wood Betony
Goldenrod
Vervain
Tea, Camellia sinensis
Passionflower
Damiana
Gardenia
Goldenseal
Jasmine
Day lily
Watercress



That is the list so far.  I am always looking for new things to add to the list of things to try in my garden.
Now keep in mind some of these are experiments to see if they will grow in my zone and elevation. Just because they normally don’t grow here, does not mean they won’t… At least that is how I see it. Lots of people grow tropical plants in green houses. If I can get certain plants to do well enough, I can save seeds and replant. When I replant them they should be a little stronger with each season. Basically acclimating the plant to the land as much as you can. Kind of like domesticating a wolf… If you want to think of it that way.

Grocery store gardening experiments

So I like to grow things from fruit stands, and grocery stores in addition to harvesting wild seed, transplanting, and buying seed from nurseries.

One thing I have not gotten around to trying is growing plants from the bulk foods section. From what I read it is sort of a hit or miss thing. I was reading about different beans, since now is a good time to plant them where I am at, when I thought about the fact that I have a bag of 13 bean soup from the bulk foods section of Winco.

I found another blog post from someone who had decent success in growing from these beans. Some of them were a little slow to germinate, but otherwise they seemed to do fine. I had not really thought about growing dry beans until today. I am all about green beans, peas, and sugar snap peas (My favorite) but I do love to cook with beans when I can.

I thought this might be a good way to get some more experiments in this year. I just repurposed a to go container into my new germination station. I think this one is going to work better than the tupperwear one I had, but I will have to see if the little round vents cause it to dry out too quickly or not.

I put two of each bean type in the germination station with the peas having a few more since they are in halves. The peas only have a 50% germination rate from what it would have been due to them being split. I figured it could not hurt to have a few in there rather than just two halves.

Now is a good time to be direct sowing the seeds,  but I would rather them germinate here and I transplant them later, than put them out in the garden, and keep watering a spot that does not grow anything.

My husband of course makes the comment “So do you need salt water to grow Navy beans?” Lol

In addition to my bean experiments, I also packaged up 90% of the seeds I had dried. The packets are really small but perfect since I don’t always get a ton of seeds for one plant. I printed out 4 of them on one sheet of paper.

I consider these seeds to be “experiments” also as I have not tested them out yet.

I picked some mallow cheeses “Seeds” which I almost feel is pointless as they grow all over, but figured it couldn’t hurt to have them anyways.

Mallow is related to the Okra plant and has a similar mucilage to okra when chewed or cooked. The green cheeses (which I did not harvest as of yet, I only harvested the dried brown ones) taste more like mini okras, while the leaves have the mucilage when chewed, it does not have that fleshy texture of okra.

Mallow has a lot of health benefits and I harvested some of the young leaves to dry out for teas later. I have not had them in a tea before and hope that drying them will not make my tea all slimy later haha. Mallow is used to thicken soups if that helps give you any idea on things.

Given the stress all my poor tomato plants went through, I only harvested one speckled roma tomato. It is the first time we have had one of those. I think I like it better than the normal roma tomatoes, either that or I just like the taste of it coming fresh off the vine.

I did save the seeds from that and they will be ready for drying tomorrow. I just scoop the seeds into a container and swirl them once a day. They have to ferment so the “anti sprouting” coating that is naturally on the seed will come off.  I then fill the container with water. The seeds that float are bad and will not sprout. Those I let run off. The ones that sink are good seeds and I keep those for planting later.

I have more tomatoes that I can save seeds from that are ripe and ready to be picked as soon as I get to drying the speckled roma tomorrow.
Next year I am sure they will be much stronger than the ones I moved into the garden.

Gardening really is all about trial and error. I actually enjoy it when I am not freaking out over my plants. Thankfully my tomato plants actually strengthened up without anything but water really. I did add some water to them that I had used to blanch some bok choy, and lambs quarters for freezing.

I like to make my own fertilizers. Basically I use coffee grounds, left over dried tea leaves (which my garden seems to always favor when I had used them in my container garden), left over veggie water, left over water from boiling eggs, egg shells, and things along those lines.

I will eventually start composting once I look into getting some smaller bins for it. That will be a new fun thing to learn. I like knowing exactly what is going into my garden and will not use harsh chemicals in it.

Speaking of the water I used from the bok choy… I forgot to mention that I only used the outer leaves and left a few inner leaves of the two heads I got, so I can regrow it. I also got these from the store.
They are already growing back. One is in only water, the other is in soil. The one pictured below in the water also has some watercress growing next to it that I had separated from the original mother plant I got back in June. They taste like radish greens.

A lovely nature walk

I decided to go on an impromptu nature walk today with my family. I made a promise to myself that I would get out more often in nature.

My sister had been wanting to see me before she starts classes again so I thought this might be a good opportunity to invite her, her boyfriend, and my brother along.

The trees provided some nice shade from the heat of the sun on a 99 degree day.  We found a spot near the river that had a nice breeze. I harvested some mugwort flower heads to save seeds from near the river.
Funny enough my brother said the exact same thing that one of my best female friends did when I last took her on a wildcrafting adventure “Mugwort? That sounds like something out of Harry Potter” The comment always makes me giggle.

One of the wild plum trees were full of ripe fruits that I picked for freezing. I didn’t pick as many as I could have due to my chest freezer being out. I hope to remedy that in the near future.

I also passed a tree with a wasp nest that was the size of a large grapefruit.

On our walk I also gathered plantain seed heads. the flowered tops of the gumweed plant, and some ripe bittersweet nightshade berries (poisonous plant) for seed saving.

I love bittersweet nightshade. It is a beautiful, magickal plant. It sprang up in my last container garden randomly and I was sad to see it go. I am trying my hand at saving seeds from it much like I do my tomato plants. Nightshades are related to tomatoes. I could not find any other information on how to save seeds from them so I took that as being the most logical way to do it. I am always doing some kind of new plant experiment. This is just one on the long list.
**I do not recommend anyone try anything with any plant in the nightshade family, unless they know what they are doing, and wear gloves.

When I got home I decided to harvest some lambs quarters seed heads, some mint flower heads, and 5 strawberries. Four of the five strawberries ended up in the freezer for later smoothie making, the other ended up in my mouth *yum!* Nothing beats garden fresh fruits.

I have another nature adventure planned in the coming week from the sounds of it. This year I am taking note of what is in season each month so I can better prepare for the next year.
I have a good idea of what is in season, though knowing which locations are harvestable is another story. It can change year to year, or location to location depending on climate conditions, along with a long list of other variables I need to take note of.

Believe it or not I actually like this practice as well. It helps me better understand the plants. I can see what growing conditions they prefer if I ever plan to have them in my own garden. I notice new plants. I can see what the plants look at in various stages of growth, which helps for proper identification at any point of the growing stage.

I find so many new plants just by studying the ones I already know and what grows around them.

Now that everything is set out to dry, and the garden is watered, I think it is time for a cup of jasmine green tea and maybe a movie.

Kitchen crime scene

Oh man what a day it has been. I have pretty much decided I will forever be peeling paint off my skin and my razor blade when I shave lol. Thankfully paint flecks don’t quite look like dandruff in my hair that I might have missed in the shower.
 
Today we had planned on putting the cabinets back up but instead turned our kitchen into a crime scene from Dexter. As we were looking at things, I absolutely needed to paint the cabinet with the range that we could not get down so easily before the others go back up. We sort of just decided to prime and paint them all at once, since it did not take really any more time. The whole kitchen would need to be taped, and drop cloths laid down and taped down anyways.
Honestly the hardest part of it was laying the tarp, taping it down, using the plastic roller with the tape pre-attached on one end, and not letting it stick to itself. It took longer to tape it all than it did to actually paint it.

Taped up and primed.

I used the spray paint gun in the house, hence the plastic also being on the ceiling.

I let it dry for a few hours and then sprayed on the base coat. Below photos are still just of the primer.

I finished glazing, and clear coating the one larger cabinet I didn’t finish yesterday due to spilling a bunch of glaze on the tarp, and being done with it. I also primed and final coated the pantry. Primed a couple more doors. Basically making progress.

Of course I ran into an emergency gardening situation today early on. The past two days my tomatoes have been wilting. They got so bad today I panicked. My brother and husband agreed to help me till another area to move them to. I think even though they are full sun, our full sun is a bit too strong for some full sun plants. I noticed this with other potted plants I had before that were full sun, but could not handle direct sunlight for as long as they said they should. Because of this I will be moving them to a more shaded area and cross my fingers.
I do very much find humor in the fact that in tilling said area, we found a piece of concrete that looks like a tombstone. We decided to prop it up and make it look even more as such. I find it amusing that I will be planting my wilting tomato rows in front of it. I really do hope they make it.

Photos were taking as it was getting dark out. It was also windy, so the tree is blurry due to movement.

The  running joke today was that we had turned the kitchen into the murder room, then we were digging the grave in the back yard for the body. Guess my urban homestead garden may end up being a bit like one of the books I am writing. The book is based off an idea, that sprung my painting “Funeral Home for the Strange and Deranged” though the book has a different name.

It got too dark to get the tomatoes moved. The holes for them have been dug though. I will be moving them into their new home carefully tomorrow. I am thinking I might also bring some of my dried used tea leaves I have been saving for the garden, as well as my dried used coffee grounds. I think they might like a bit of those in the soil.
Thankfully the center stalk is still healthy looking on all of them, it is just the leaves and off branches that are weeping. As long as I can get to it in time, I am sure they will survive. Staying positive! I refuse to admit failure with them.

On the bright side though, my grape vines are doing wonderfully. They are quite happy in their new large temporary pots. 

I was sad it got too dark to continue in the garden, even though at midnight I was exhausted, with the way I am I would have kept going until the job was done.

The ride home was nice. The wind brought scents of damp earth, straw bails, corn fields, cows, and the threat of rain that has yet to come. It is Spring, not quite yet summer, and it feels like both Spring and Autumn to me. I like being closer to corn fields, horses, and dairies.

General rantings and shop related updates

I have not written in my blog in awhile and figured I might take the time today to make a post. There are a lot of things on my mind and a lot of things that have been going on recently. For one, my shop has been invited to have a booth at the Rapture Party on Dec 10th at the Shredder in Boise. It always makes me happy to be thought of when people think of what vendors they wish to have at their event.
Been working on some mini book earrings and necklaces.

I have also been working on spirit vessels but I do not have pictures of those currently. I came to the realization that I make lots of items for my shop but almost never make anything for myself. Part of that is due to not having enough proper storage. Yet another reason I want a large wooden treasure chest is to help store some of those things I want to make and keep for my own use.
I have been painting a little, mostly for my shop sign which is not all that elaborate given the amount of time I was given but it will do. I am outlining a new painting I think I am going to do. Sometimes I like to jump right in and start painting, other times I like to do an outline and then mull it over in my mind for a few days before I actually pull out the paints. I think it is going to be a snowy scene. I am really excited for the snow to come this year. It has been so cold outside I think snowing would bring the temperature up a bit. It can be too cold to snow you know. I hope to go out and take photos of the town and untouched snow blanketed landscape once it actually snows and snows enough to stick.
As much as I am anticipating the snow, it is kind of sad that as soon as the weather gets cold I want to go out and wildcraft things that have gone to sleep for winter, or get inspired by gardens. I do dislike that I cannot have an in ground garden here. Container boxes is what I can do and that is about it. I have been seeing some really inspiring indoor gardens that I would do if I had the space and or if it would not make things feel very cluttered. If I can reorganize things in my house (which need organizing anyways) I may try out some of the indoor garden ideas I have seen. The main problem I am worried about is that what happens if the herb gets too big for the indoor container? having to keep transplanting to larger containers *may* not be possible. I will think over possible ideas for awhile and see if I don’t come up with a better idea.

Started writing a second story. I have not finished the first one but it really needs organizing which is a pain and I have been procrastinating it. I don’t want to get writers block so I have to keep up writing and am doing so with my second book. This one is based off of some of the ideas I had for the Funeral Home for the Strange and Deranged painting I did that was based off of a story idea I had long ago. I changed a few things but it won’t effect the painting at all, just the story. I have about 60 pgs written in the book so far. I may have to go back and revise some things to make it flow better but otherwise I am happy with the story so far.


I have most of my Christmas shopping done. This year, like most, I am buying and making presents. I have a few I need to ship out as soon as I get the last portion of one finished so I can ship them all out at once. Just making Christmas presents and making new shop products and preparing for a booth can be kind of crazy at times. Funny how it seems to always go the same way when preparing for a booth. I don’t mind one bit though really. I would rather be doing 12 things at once then having nothing to do and being bored as hell. In between all of this I had a wonderful day filled with divination, crafts, and tea with a friend. I got my snake bones back and made some spirit vessels with them today. Took awhile to get them cleaned but well worth it for the tiny little bones. I hope to find more bones in the future when I go out on my bone collecting and herb wild crafting adventures.

Sewing machine is kind of on the fritz right now so I haven’t really been able to sew much of anything. Was not fun having it stop working in the middle of a project I really wanted to get done and would rather not hand sew the rest of it.

I did have to take my products out of Alchemy Spa since they are going through some changes and I believe are going to be switching locations possibly. My products may be put back up at some point in the future but for now they will only be either at booths or online.
While picking up my products I also gave my brother an early Christmas present and got him his first piercing. He was quite happy about that :) Teenage boys are very hard to shop for in my experience.

I am not so into the Christian aspect or some of the rowdy people who come out during Christmas, but I do like the snow, and the holiday season, Yule celebrations, decorating, and presents. Oh and can’t forget good food and family surrounding you. I would attempt to make a wreath for my front door but sadly we aren’t allowed to put anything on our doors or windows. I do however have my tree up and decorated and it looks awesome. If I really want to I can always hang a wreath inside the house over the mantle.

Started watching Grimm and Once Upon a Time, two new series that came out on tv recently. So far I am really liking both. Watched some new movies too that I really enjoyed. I am just waiting for the second Sherlock Holmes to come out so I can watch that.

Well, have a lot I still need to get done. So I am going to end this blog for now. May have more to update on later.

Sick but still productive

I caught a cold this weekend which is not a lot of fun but has not stopped me from getting some things done that I have been needing to work on.

I have been getting a bit more writing done in my book.
Got about 7pgs written the other day.
Not quite as much as I usually do when I am sick, but it is a start.
I am hoping to write more soon.
I have around or just over 250pgs written now which isn’t too bad.


I have also the past two or three days been working on a rough draft of a painting I will be doing.
It is so interesting to see how each piece I add to it makes the whole thing evolve into something more or different from what it was when I started.
I would post pictures of it but I cannot yet considering I have been requested not to understandably by the person who commissioned me to paint it.
Mostly so that a specific someone will not see it before it is finished.
I haven’t started it on canvas yet being that I wanted to make sure that the colors would not clash once on the piece since there are a few which I cannot name.
Wanted to make sure I got the brush stroke pattern that my client and I liked for a few portions,
And basically so I could see how it would all be laid out and not in pencil.
I don’t mind doing the bit of extra work and think it will be worth it in the end to do it this way rather than find out something just isn’t clicking that would be hard to fix later.
That way when it comes time for canvas, I can know where everything goes and how it is supposed to look that would make everyone happiest.
I never want to paint something that someone is only moderately happy with,
Especially if it is something they have come to me to paint for them.
It is their vision, their idea.
I am just putting it to canvas as best as I can see it
to give them a physical representation of that vision.


I finally got what I think will be just about all I will be able to edit from the photos we took from the Dec 2010 photo shoot I did with one of my friends.
Her camera was malfunctioning so it would say it was getting clear shots, show clear shots, but in reality it was really blurry…
Most of them I could not fix at all, which is really sad, but oh well.
I did get some of them fixed up and edited.
(my editing skills are horrid haha but I made do… A few of them I had help with :)
I had a lot of fun on that shoot and going through and editing a good handful of those pictures tonight makes me think about the next shoot and what we will have planned.
Hopefully with a better working camera next time.
I might be able to fix up a couple more of the pictures, but so far I think I have about 14 out of I think it was 103 shots we took.
Which really is not that many shots for a typical photo shoot but we were kind of on a slight time cap and it was a spur of the moment thing.
If we had taken more, it would have just been more to throw out most likely so its not a big deal that we didn’t get many. Just wish more of them would have come out clear.
It was more for the adventure and a good time than it was for the shoot this time.
I only had about 30 minutes to get ready and leave from being in PJs to fully made up.
Don’t know how I did that one when you count in that I had to also piece together my dress as well….
Katie (photographer and my model for part of the night as well) was quite happy with the shots that did come out.
That made me happy since I really liked a few of them and hoped she would too.


During my relaxing I watched some shows/movies.
Ghostbusters (always a good choice)
Gingersnaps (love)
Iron Man 2
(first time I had seen it, thought it was hilarious. Especially the coconut line)
New Vampire Diaries (one of my favorite series)
New Nikita (really starting to like this show more and more)


Not too recently but a month or so ago I saw the Grindhouse movies.
Death Proof
&
Planet Terror
(Loved them both)


I have been slacking on my Apothecary work but there isn’t a whole lot I can do in my shop right now until I can pick up more supplies at some point to make more products.
I always feel antsy when I go long periods of time between making things.
I am a crafter and an alchemist.
I need to keep busy in some way or another…
I know I am writing and painting, but its not always enough for me to only be doing a couple of things. I need many things to keep my attention and from being antsy.
Which I have been feeling recently when it comes to my shop stuff.
I want to make more tree of life pendants and possibly some herbal massage oil soon if I am able to.
Just not sure what kinds yet.
I hate it when I feel like my shop is kind of dead at the moment.
Its not super dead but it could be doing a bit better than it is, I just haven’t been able to do much work wise on it recently to get the word out there about it since it is still newly open to the public.
Its a slow growing process that has been giving me a lot of good feedback on my products thus far which is great but I would like to bring in more repeat clients, new clients, and sales, just need to do a little better marketing which takes time and effort.
Once I am feeling a bit better I might look that over again.
Being that I make my own products and run the business by myself solely;
it can be hard to do everything at once.
Sometimes things take longer because of this but I expect that and have no problem with it.
I am patient, most of the time ^_~

I still have a BOS that I have yet to finish and post up…
Mostly due to the fact that I am not sure what to do with it.
I almost don’t want to do anything to it at all since I like how it looks now but maybe it does still need something in the center of the oval?
I really don’t know.
I have been mulling it over for awhile now and have not come to a conclusion as to what I think it should look like once it is finished. I still love where it is going but the only thing I could think of that I would want in the middle of it I do not think I could do. I am thinking of other ideas so that the book will not be laying around my house forever and I can get it listed in my shop soon.

This is currently what the book looks like.
It has a detachable wand on the front left side of the cover near the spine as you can see in the picture. The wand which is maple, book, and book marker, were hand made.
All the flowers and vine like stems were gathered by me and are real.

Anyways, this is long enough and I think I shall go make myself a cup of tea.
Echinacea elder tea is helping with my cold.
I was happy to find I still had half a box in my cupboard.
I really like the stuff and drink it even when I am not sick.
^_^

My Tea Collection

So it seems I have quite a love for tea...

I have found I have many varieties in my ever growing collection of tea...
So much so that I really should have my own cupboard for my boxes and bags of tea.

Since I am always posting up here or there that I am drinking it, 

I figured I would type out a list of all the teas I have so you have an idea of what it is I like to drink.

I find my favorite brand of tea is Numi brand tea. I also drink teas from the stash brand often.
There are a few others that aren't worth naming aside from the loose tea I buy from the local co-op.
I drink some teas with sugar, some without, some with honey.

Honeybush
Which is one of my favorites, I like to drink it with sugar added, brings out the honey flavor

Jasmine green tea
Another favorite, use sugar in this as well

Chamomile
I usually drink this without any sugar but occasionally I will add some in

Chamomile Nights
I love it because it has Lotus flower in it ^_^

Mint Medley
Is the mint tea I have on hand right now aside from my dried fresh mint from my garden.
I prefer mint to peppermint but I do like this tea.
I drink it without sugar.

Green Tea
I drink with sugar

Ooolong Tea
Which I drink with sugar

White Rose Tea
I do not drink this one as often so I do not currently have a preference on how I like it

Forever Fruits Tea
One of the few teas I like with fruit in it.
Its a fruity minty tea.
I drink it with sugar

Papaya Mint Tea
It does not taste like the fruit since it is made from the leaves.
I drink this without sugar.

Orange Pekoe Black Tea
With sugar

Magosteen Superfruit Tea
Which I am not a big fan of but I have it

Red Roobios Tea
With sugar

Jasmine Myrtle Tea
With sugar

Peppermint Tea
which I drink without sugar
I am not a hue fan of peppermint as opposed to mint

Moroccan Mint Tea
which I have yet to try but have it in my cupboard

Chamomile Lemon Ginseng Tea
With honey

Bergamot Assam Black Tea
Have but yet to try

Chinese Breakfast Blend Tea
With sugar

Other various green teas... there are a bunch..

Morning Rise Breakfast Blend Tea
With sugar

Gypsy Cold Care Tea
With honey, not my favorite tea

Echinacea Elder Tea
I highly recommend.
I drink it with honey

Echinacea Complete Care Tea
I do not like this one...
I am not a fan of any sort of black licorice tastes.

Acai Berry Tea
I dont drink it often but when I do its with sugar

Blueberry Tea
In my cupboard but not really for my drinking.
I am not a fan of it but others in my house are.

I honestly probably have more than 30 different teas. That is not counting any that I may hand blend from herbs I have on hand. Some herbs I love to use are red rose, and lavender.
I do not like teas with orange, spices, licorice, most fruits, vanilla,
and a few other things I can't think of off hand.

But yes, that is my tea collection currently.
As I said before it is ever expanding.

I have also made my own Lavender Mint herbal sugars to use with the teas.
The sugar tastes especially good in the orange pekoe and the mint teas.
Sadly I am pretty close to out of the sugar now and since my plants are gone for the winter I will not be able to make any more until they start blooming again and I have fresh plant material.

I would like to mention that another alternative to sugar that I use in my tea is Agave Nectar.
It is light, delicious, and works very well in tea.
I am not a fan of stevia or any artificial sweetener.
I have found agave nectar fits the bill for a natural sugar/honey substitute.
You can find agave nectar in most stores, co-ops, and health food stores that carry food products.
I suggest anyone looking for an alternative to give it a try.
They have both light and dark nectar bottles.