Monday, August 26, 2013

Foraging

I've aways been interested in foraging edible weeds and living off the land. This year I discovered that our neighbor has an elderberry bush. Excitement! Elderberries are amazing in so many different ways--the berries as well as the flowers.

I've picked a few and had grand plans to make jelly, but there's no way I'm going to come up with the huge amount of berries needed, so I'm going to make elderberry syrup, which is a cold/flu preventative and treatment for those illnesses.  The syrup is taken daily (1tsp for kids, up to 1 tablespoon for adults) for prevention and every 2-3hrs for flu symptoms. 

Combined with the Master Tonic languishing in my cabinet, the elderberry syrup will significantly add to the natural medicines available for my family. 

Pictures and tutorial soon!

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Childhood's End

The end of summer is near; Autumn beckons. School begins in four days, the kids have their backpacks ready to go, the meal plan for lunches is in the works and all is well.

Thursday  Em and I went to the high school to find her classes and talk to a counselor about graduating early. 

We got in and she received her new heavy schedule so she can graduate her Junior year, plus about 3 credits she'll need to do online.

It wasn't until later that I realized that graduation junior year means graduating next year. Next. Year. Say what?  That doesn't seem right at all.

As my girls have gotten older, there are some things wonderful about being able to have a conversation that doesn't revolve around Minecraft or Legos (little boys, obvs) but with all of that there are things I'm not too keen on.

Boyfriends.  Now, I'm not saying I dislike the boys, because I don't. What I don't like is the realization that Mom is no longer #1. My girls are on the threshold of their own lives, a life in which they will leave me and their father behind and live it their way. My time of raising them is nearly finished.

It's an exciting time for them, and for me, also. They have opportunities that I never had, especially with all the moving we have done and the larger schools. They definitely have received a better education than I did.

 There have been some hard conversations with both of our girls, moments that you *know* that if you'd been told when you became a parent that this moment would come, you'd have second thoughts.

Sometimes parenting really sucks.

Most of the time, though, it's great.

Like when school starts and my house will be clean again, at least for a short time!