The whole is greater than the sum of it's parts...Butcher Salt

 Butcher Salt

While visiting Joy and Don a few weeks ago, I spotted this fabulous box with the most wonderful contents!

Simple ingredients for sure...

Sea salt, rosemary, marjoram, sage, and thyme all blended together....

All wonderful on their own, but together...ooh, la la.

I took pictures, already planning on re-creating the blend.

 Cast of Characters

Once home I planned it all out...

French Grey Sea Salt

Fresh rosemary from the gardens of Parisienne Farmgirl, Angela

Dried sage from my own gardens

Thyme

Marjoram

All nicely ground up in my coffee grinder

This was easy peasy....

I just did the math as per the original Butcher Salt

99% sea salt

.3% rosemary

.2% thyme

.2% sage

.1% marjoram

And of course, tweaked it to my liking.

Which means a tad more rosemary and sage.

Cause that's how I roll.

This stuff has been used on beef, chicken, veggies, and even a salad or two.

I only wish I had something as sweet as the original container to store it in.

Nothing like galvanized and wood for a beautiful presentation.

PS...this company also makes a Gardener's Salt and a Fisherman's Salt..

Now on my to do list!

Anything new and exciting going on in your kitchen?

And for those who might be interested in how life is going here...

I would have to say pretty dang good.

I am still working part time.

Planting an itty bitty garden with a new rose bush and a couple flats of snapdragons, as well as some herbs and tomatoes.

Wanna see a pic?

Or two?

Knock Out rose and snapdragons

I have loved snapdragons in my gardens for many years...so bright and cheery!

 Herbs going in right smack in front of the snaps

Chives and chamomile

Tweaking the front porch....lots of hostas going in this week

Loving Jesus,

Loving people,

Cindy

Bits & Bobs

 Me and Ivy June

We had our first weekend away in 5 years last week!

Off to the burbs of Chicago to visit our dear friends, Joy and Don.

Ivy is one of Joy's precious granddaughters that I could not hardly wait to get my hands on!

 Ivy, Derek, and Chelsea

I have known Chelsea since she was an itty bitty 4 year old.

What a joy to see her again with her precious family!

 Parisienne Farmgirl Angela and me

Ang is Joy's oldest daughter and has recently moved to a farm just on the inside edge of Illinois bordering Wisconsin.

Though we are in touch via FB and blogging and the occasional e-mail, it had been too, too long since we had seen her and her wonderful family!

Angela's farmhouse kitchen

 Homey and sweet

For real, I could have just taken pictures all weekend.

Amelie and legos

Just get a look at those toes

And the petticoat sticking out of her dress!

 Joy & Don's beautiful yard.

I could sit and look at this all day.

 panoramic view

Crunchy pea gravel beneath our feet

Cozy fires outside in the evenings

Sipping wine, laughing, loving...

Ivy June and Joy

On Saturday, after hanging out at Half Way Farm with Angela and her family, we came back to Joy and Don's for some front porch sittin'.

Chelsea stopped by to give us one last hug and grams Joy got to snuggle with Ivy.

 City porch

While on our getaway weekend, Joy and I hit the teeny flea/farm market just a few blocks from her home.

It is a tradition for us.

Coffee, throw on some clothes, and head out the door.

Brisk, cool morning, especially at 6am!

Yes, we get there early...while the vendors are still setting up!

I had been looking for some rockers for our city porch but had not found anything yet.

The flea market had a couple possibilities, but they were pricey, dark brown, and had new cushions.

Pretty much, no.

I would take my chances back home at the area garage sales.

However....that would not be necessary.

When we pulled up on Sunday afternoon, there sitting on our front porch were two large vintage wicker rockers.

After  bit of inquiry, my dear friend Homemaker Ang fessed up.

I had sold these very same rockers to Ang a few months before actually losing our home nearly 2 years ago.

I had totally forgotten even doing that.

Even though I had seen them on HER front porch for the last 1 1/2 years, it never crossed my mind that they used to be mine.

She had covered the cushions in different fabric, and I never even recognized them.

Personally, I think that was the mercy of God.

Such hard memories to look back on, and perhaps this was a blessing in disguise.

And then God began speaking to Ang....

And she obeyed.

 Picket fencing around our city porch

And now the rockers belong to me once again...

And they sit on our city porch, surrounded by a sweet picket fence Pete built for me and installed just in time for Mother's Day!

 Vintage galvanized milk box

One of my finds from the little flea market....

hand stenciled with our address by Joy just a few hours before we left the burbs.

I asked our postman if it could be used as our mailbox, and he said yes!

How cute is this???

 Ollie, Fuzzy, and Sophia

With spring really here, we needed to invest in some screen doors.

The cats can't get enough of sitting there, gazing at a strip of sidewalk and the side of the garage!

So...there ya go!

Bits & bobs of my life the past few weeks.

Life is still good.

And I am still learning to...

Love people,

Love Jesus,

Cindy

Truth seeker...and continuing the journey

 Farmgirl and KrisAnne Hall

I had a chance to hear KrisAnne Hall speak at a local bookstore a couple of weeks ago...

WHAT a life changing experience.

"KrisAnne  is an attorney and former prosecutor, fired after teaching the Constitution to TEA Party groups - she would not sacrifice liberty for a paycheck. She is a disabled veteran of the US Army, a Russian linguist, a mother, a pastor's wife and a patriot.  She now travels the country and teaches the Constitution and the history that gave us our founding documents.

KrisAnne Hall does not just teach the Constitution, she lays the foundations that show how reliable and relevant our founding documents are today.   

She presents the “genealogy” of the Constitution – the 700 year history and five foundational documents that are the very roots of American Liberty. 

One cannot properly understand or interpret the Constitution without a firm grasp of its very foundation."

I am excited about what I learned that evening...things I had NO idea about.

Stuff I should have known years and years ago.

Stuff we all should know...

As for me...I continue to be a truth seeker.

 Duck eggs!

We are finally getting some raw milk here!

Bought a milk share and along with it have the opportunity get get fresh duck eggs.

Uh, yeah!

These yolks are so huge, you really only need one egg for breakfast.

Huge...and rich.

The yolks are far thicker than even a free ranged chicken egg.

Delicious.

 Sophia

So...we bought two different sizes of cat harnesses....

the small one for Sophia and Fuzzy and the medium for Ollie.

We will be taking the medium one back, and grounding Ollie and Fuzzy from the yard.

They were not in those things more than 10 seconds when they pulled the rope taunt and slipped right out

Sophia remains free to go out (well, as free as the harness will allow)

unless she pulls the same Houdini act as the other two.

Ain't nobody got time for dat.

Herbs...finally

Yes, it is finally spring here....for a little while anyways.

We are expecting frost this weekend..just in time for Mothers Day.

It's all good tho, as I only put in cold hardy herbs, and not very many of those.

LIFE UPDATE:

Life is good.

Still working part time.

City living is better than I could have ever hoped for.

Fun gatherings every 2-3 weeks with our kids here at our little city house.

Visiting with our dear friends Joy and Don in the Chicago burbs next weekend.

Greatly anticipating a week long visit from our oldest and her family the first of July.

Yes...life is good.

Once again I am...

Continuing the journey....with fresh paths.

Loving Jesus, 

Loving people,

Cindy

spring is only a date on the calendar here...

rosemary/nettle shampoo bars in the works 

My dear friend Nicole and I have been soaping!

Well, Nicole has a soaping business, and I have been hangin' with her and getting inspired.

Two weeks ago we worked on a double batch of rosemary/nettle shampoo bars, and i must say...

the house smells heavenly!

Also in the works is a new deodorant recipe we have been tweaking.

I think we almost have it right where we want it...

 Nicole's apothacary

Inspiring!

Nicci likes to work with herbs and natures own ingredients....

clays, teas, and essential oils.

Coincidentally, so do I!

 Motherwort

Yeah...so much for spring here in west Michigan.

Rain, cold, snow, sleet, hail, more rain, more cold..and a itty bitty peek at the sun.

And that was just yesterday.

OK....exaggerating just a teensy bit.

There was actually no hail yesterday.

The rest is all truth.

In spite of that, I went outside yesterday with my camera to see what was what.

Pretty sure this is motherwort.

What I'm not totally sure of is what to do with it.

I mean, I know what it can be used for...

just not sure I'm goin' there.

your guess is as good as mine!

My mystery clump(s)

Scattered through a portion of the back yard are these clumps of somethin' or other.

Definitely not quackgrass or crabgrass.

Perhaps some type of hyacinth?

I guess time will tell, cause I sure as shootin' don't know right now.

Hopefully we will get a glimpse of spring before summer arrives!

Meanwhile, I'll just keep on...

Loving Jesus,

Loving people,

Cindy

Digging deep....and burying myself

Michigan in March...our backyard

Been digging deep into who I am.

Seein' some ugly in there,  for sure.

Crappity crap that comes to the surface when you least expect it.

Gah!

Where did "YOU" come from,  jealousy?

Anger, frustration, irritation...YOU still in there, too?

Bitterness....I thought YOU were long gone.....but no.

All buried deep, but coming up for air like a swimmer gone down too far.

Breaking thru...gulping and gasping.

For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.  O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Romans 7:22-25

Still coming to repentance....and it is good.

Sitting at His feet...

Loving Jesus,

Loving people,

Cindy

Aging gracefully...the year of living dangerously

The year of living dangerously

This year I turn 60.

I can't explain how my insides can feel like I am maybe in my early 20's.

And my outside says "nuh, uh."

I would LOVE to come here and brag about all the wonderful things I have accomplished in my 60 years on this earth.

But...I haven't done all that much to brag about.

Instead, I want to tell ya what I WANT to yet accomplish with the time I have left on this earth.

I have narrowed it down to just two things.

Love Jesus (more)

Love people (more)

That's it.

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.  And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;  bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part.  But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.  For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; BUT THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE.

Loving Jesus,

Loving people,

Cindy

ps...there might not be anything "graceful" about this whole aging thing for me...know what I mean?

Soft as a baby's....

castor and extra virgin olive oils

I have been using coconut oil for years to remove my daily eye make-up and I loved it, but I was never really happy with my whole skin care regime in general.

I have been looking for the perfect method for my skin type, which is dry to normal, and there are myriads of answers out there.

However, wanting to stay as natural as possible without the use of harsh chemicals or unpronounceable lists of ingredients really limits the options!

I kept coming across the "oil cleansing method" also known as OCM.

After reading the comments and testimonies of those who have been using it, I thought I would give it a try.

That was a little over a week ago, and so far I am loving it!

Crunchy Betty's blog has lots to say about it...(along with many others)

http://www.crunchybetty.com/nitty-gritty-on-the-oil-cleansing-method#

The jist of what she says is simple science...

(I have to trust she is telling the truth cause I totally failed "Simple Science" in high school.)

like dissolves like

There are several types of oil that can be used, but since I have an abundance of olive oil in the house, and it is recommended for all skin types, that is what I am using.

The other important oil in the equation is castor oil.

Seems that castor oil is the most effective at cleansing and dissolving the ickies on your face and is highly antibacterial to boot.

It can also be very drying.

 So depending on your own skin type, you can figure out how much of the castor oil is really needed in the "formula" you create.

Since my skin is especially dry in the winter, I went with 1/4 castor oil, to 3/4 olive oil.

So far it seems to be just about right.

I started out making just a small amount....

perhaps just enough for a weeks worth of nightly washings.

I can then adjust the amounts as I see how my skin reacts.

If, after I am finished with my oil cleansing, my skin seems a teensy bit dry, I simply take a couple of drops of my same oil formula, and apply to my dry spots, being careful to rub in gently.

Right now, my skin is soft as a baby's bum.....for real.

From the looks of the comments on Crunchy Betty's blog post (604 comments thus far!), it seems that the OCM is not for everyone.

But I gotta tell ya....

I think I read thru each and every one of them...

and I betcha 90% of those who tried it loved it.

EVEN those with some serious acne issues.

Tell me what ya think....

What skin care regime do you use?

Are you happy with it?

Can you pronounce the ingredients?

If not, then maybe you'd like to give the OCM a try!

Let me know if you do, eh?

Loving Jesus,

Loving people,

Cindy

ps....coconut oil, oddly enough, is not recommended, as it can be very drying...weird, right?