The Gardner's Secret Handbook

A free Ebook for your gardening education.

A great down-to-earth and easy-to-follow booklet on gardening basics and common problems.

blogger made me do it

I can't blame blogger for all my failures to complete the Every Day in May blogging challenge. But this is the second time in the last few weeks I've tried to post but blogger was out of service. So instead of blogging last night, I read A Symphony n the Dark: Hearing God's Voice in Seasons of Grief, by Barbara Rainey and Rebecca Rainey Mutz. I got in bed around 10pm and read it straight through in about an hour and a half (except for the times I had to stop and wipe the tears out of my eyes with my sheets).


These two women tell the story of baby Molly, born with an unexpected and inoperable brain defect, and of the Lord's upholding them through it all. It's written in a journalistic style, going back and forth between the mother and grandmother's perspective and it will break your heart and make you want to cling to Jesus at the same time. It will make you want to go hold your kids for a good long time, and I don't think I'll pass any opportunities to tell my children I love them for a while. This family (and the Lord's presence and grace in them) shows how to deal with the death of a child in such a meaningful way. After calling many Children's Hospitals around the country, consulting with friends in the medical profession, doctors (3rd and 4th opinions), and hearing that there was never a child with this disease who lived, they decided to take baby Molly off life-support in order to let her die with her family instead of in a risky surgery that would most-likely kill her. What an amazing example of leaving no stone unturned and making sure they would have no regrets at the end, and yet still submitting to the sovereignty of God and the realization that there was nothing they could do to save their daughter.

Part of me was hesitant to read it because it's hard reading. Even if I never find myself in such a sorrowful situation, it's likely I will have friends walking down that road. And this book is a great resource to know how to be a real friend to those who are suffering. I have a lot to learn in that area, but reading such intimate details of the life of one family who lost their baby girl has impacted me and I hope will help if ever we are walking in this valley with our children.

Rebecca Mutz, the mother of baby Molly, had a late miscarriage with her second pregnancy. Check out her blog to find out what the Lord has done for her family.

What I've learned in the last few days

• How to identify potato beetles and their eggs
• Where the cheapest U-Pick strawberry place in our region
• How you really can reduce your grocery budget by using coupons (::::embarrassed to admit:::::)
• New ways to make a ponytail look like you tried
• How to make an Herbal tincture for allergies- if you check out the link you will see the new dvd series, Making Babies. Can't wait for that to be released
• How to properly label chickens for sale (first big processing day is Saturday). I'm in the marketing department. Which beats being in the eviscerating department.
• Natural ways to rid your yard of ticks...they are terrible this year
• That a 12-year-old can do as much work- or more- as a mom of 32 years, and faster. Thanks, Molly!

 

Molly is staying with us for about a month, and she single-handedly washed, folded, and put away 5 loads of laundry today. Sorry, Mom. You can never have her back.

Four-year old privileges

She invited a group of princesses to her birthday party

and stayed in the dress all day

then spent some of her birthday money on nail polish- a first for my baby girl.

Where are they now?

For a long time I've wanted to do a post recapping some of the things I recommended. Some of my finds were great- others...well, read on. It's been so fun to go through old posts; I expect this will be the first in a series.

Recipes:
Black Eyed Pea Fritters- outstanding! Just seeing the picture makes me want to have them tonight. 

Cake pops- So good! And you can try Elana's gluten free version and let me know how they are!


Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day- Now that I am gluten-free, this is a less frequent treat in our house. But I do still make it every so often for my family and guests. And it turns out beautifully every time.

Projects:
Stamped Lampshade- Faded within several months. I think it would have worked well if I'd used craft ink (which is more permanent).


Products:
Oil and Spice Bath products- Still the only soap I buy, and they've extended their line to include lots of other products, including a new lotion I love. New website is:  www.OilandSpiceBath.com

Glass Straws - Well, I have one out of four left. In their defense, I broke two in the dishwasher (they slipped through the crack and got stuck and broke when I yanked out the bottom rack). The third one broke when it was left outside in the Tonka Truck (that was the end of glass straws in smoothies out on the back porch). If I had purchased them (vs. getting them for free), I might have asked them to replace the dishwasher-broken straws, but...maybe not. You can now purchase stainless steel straws from Amazon (4/$11) and we were given some plastic reusable Pottery Barn straws that we use all the time. I still use the glass straw every day with my smoothie, and I love the way it feels. I would like to get more, but for now, one is enough.


All Things Brite- My Etsy shop was a one pillow wonder. I may get back to it at some point, but for now I'm loving having time to make my friends and family things (and even that is sparse) without the pressing need to sell stuff and get it shipped off. It was fun while it lasted!


Around the house:
Natural cleaning solutions-  I still use only Dr. Bronner's as an all-purpose cleaner, and baking soda and vinegar for bathroom and kitchen cleaning. The kids don't clean the bathroom all the time...cleaning the toilet lost it's appeal (but they'll be back at it when they are a little bigger).

Homemade laundry detergent- I made this again after an extended break (and an allergic reaction to Tide) and was reminded how much I love it. I had wandered away from making my own because of health problems and it was just one more thing to do. But I am getting back to it and you can't beat the cost (even if you coupon). One note- I do find that using a stain-treatment (or Oxyclean for really bad stains) helps because this isn't a super-powerful detergent. But I use those things even with regular detergent, too.

Decorating with orange-  I did decorate our guest room with touches of orange, but my new living room has even more orange accents. Adeline's room is getting a few orange touches as well. I'd hoped to paint the front door orange, but it's not enough contrast with the 1960's brick. Hopefully I can show you a picture of that re-do soon.

Health:
Apple cider vinegar- Still a go-to product for health and my husband has been using it with some success in treating his seasonal allergies (after running through every over-the-counter medicine with no success)

Children:
Exclusive/Extended Nursing- I have no regrets about this and hope the Lord provides another opportunity for me to practice it again! Next time around, I will go about introducing solids in a different way, thanks to information from the Weston Price Foundation (and the book, Real Food for Mother and Baby). Mainly, no grains and lots of protein as first foods.