Boho Girl

This morning I am sitting here snuggled up in our big green chair. The blinds on all the windows pulled up, front door to the mud room/dining room open. Cool breeze tickling my cheeks. Flowers in bottles and vases and pictures surround me. Some from our yard. Some from our neighbors. Some from a local flower shop. My mother in law is here visiting and I hear her sipping her black coffee while tickity tacking away on her laptop, catching up on some of her work. She is here to take care of me, to take care of us while I am recouping from surgery (will share about this in next post). Cedar is still sleeping upstairs in his bedroom. He’s been sleeping longer these days, growing taller each morning. We got him a new puppet a few days ago and are anticipating opening his door with this monster puppet when he wakes. He’ll have a new friend this morning. I don’t remember the last time my heart felt this at peace. Not only my heart but my mind…quiet. Quiet mind. I wasn’t sure if that was possible for me. Being a bit more unplugged has helped with this but so has less television and more toes in the grass and fingers in the dirt and inviting interesting neighbors over for dinner last minute and sinking into their stories.

And I have some stories to tell you. MMMmmm…yes, I do and I will in the next post but for this morning, I wanted to share with you a few images from tiny corners of my world right now.

Oh, and all but one of my dreads have been combed out. Finally combed the remaining few out last week before surgery. I am savoring one. My tiniest dread underneath. I will carry my favorite bead on it. I just had to keep one. Just one.

I hope you feel the peace I am sending out to each of you. Deep breath…slow and clear and fresh…exhale…and Om.

fireside dinner in our front yard, taken a few nights ago

I’ve been feeling quiet lately.  I think its just all part of this movement flowing through my life.  A movement of cocooning and healing and being mindful of where I put my energy and what kind of energy I allow into my life.  Its been so so good for me to keep it simple and present. So so good.

Here are a few things that are filling my heart with flutters these days…

Dreaming of the new yellow house we’ll be living in this coming July and how I want to a create a nourishing, earthy, calm and inspiring space for my family and visitors.  Amused at how excited I get about dreaming up and designing a home.

Researching what it would be like to have chickens and goats.  There are some pretty darling homes you can build for them!  We went to an animal farm in Victoria, BC last year and got to sit with baby goats and cuddle and pet them.  It was there I learned that if you decide to have a goat in your family, you should have two because they need the company.  Hmmm…just like us, yes?  A lot to learn and a lot of work but its been fun to imagine the possibility of extending our family in this way. ; )

Looking into a studio space for me to put in our new backyard this Summer.  Something barn shaped and wide with lots of light.  My husband surprised me by purchasing this eBook because I want to experiment with painting furniture.  I love love to explore antique shops and oh that furniture from Anthropologie and Sundance makes me swoon.  Can you imagine doing that kind of stuff yourself?  I know.  I can too.  So, here I go.

I have fallen in love with using words for decor.  So far I have “Read” for our library/office.  “Dream” for our bedroom and “Gather” for our kitchen.  It adds such a fun touch.  Also loving the idea of poetry on a wall.

Whole Food Meal Plans is my saving grace these days.  At the end of the week I get a list of 5 recipes that I use for dinners, a few deserts and a fun weekend food project with a grocery list to gather up the goods for the next week.  Every single meal has been mouth watering…and I mean that and I am PICKY.  Usually when I try a particular way of eating and follow a book of recipes, I only like a few.  But oh my…last night my husband and I were talking about how brilliant Nicole and Alex are.  Seriously.  Drool worthy meals and healthy too.  But the best part is not having to plan out my own meals because I’ll be honest with you, that is NOT my forte.  I love to cook but the planning bit is not my gig.

Loving and embracing the rhythm with my son.  His language is exploding and imagination widening and its so fun to be brought into his world.  His new found independence is a trip to witness.  Just the little things like gardening together or me being able to work in the yard while he rides his bike around me.  Being together but doing our own thing.  Its a groove I am really cherishing these days.

The other night I moved the chairs and fire pit from our backyard into our front yard and it shifted the energy of time together around the fire.  Its now something we can share with passersby or our neighbors rather than being so closed in.  I notice we spend a lot more time out front than in the backyard anyways.  So, opening up space like this felt really good on our hearts.

Would love to hear about what is making your heart flutter these days…

some beauties from lauren’s shop, photo by lauren

The winner of our most recent GIVEaway is Tania who wrote:

“i am intrigued by the comments and the love that flows here on this site. your generosity is always a blessing to others. love the love and the care that has been stitched into these sacred projects.”

Congrats, Tania, you will be contacted by us soon! Your kind words were felt deep.  Grateful.

Also, Lauren wanted to gift the rest of my readers a discount of 15% in her shop this next week. She was so moved by your sharings and felt heard and seen as a conscious artist. Please just add the code BOHO15 when checking out.

Deerskin & Antler Ring:

This ring was made with ultra soft deerskin and a ~naturally shed~ deer antler button. It was sewn with natural fiber sinew. It is not adjustable but it will stretch a little.

Forest Sprite Pouch:

Keep your treasured finds, sacred herbs, crystals, or other talismans inside this pouch to carry the medicine with you. This pouch is made with deerskin and sewn with natural fiber. It measures 2 x 2 3/4 inches.

The artist, my deer/dear friend Lauren handmade these beautiful treasures. I cherish the ones she made for me (that is my hand in the photo above and I have a pouch as well) .  I feel their gentle deer medicine when I have them close. Lauren has been so very mindful about my connection to deer since I wrote this post and shared with her their impeccable timing of showing up on certain days in my life. So, we thought it would be appropriate to share some of their gentleness with you as many of you have written so touched about deer and how healing they are.

Edited to add:  Note from Lauren in response to a few questions and concerns…

These buttons were made from naturally shed antlers. I do not support deer farming and I will never buy any hides from any mass produced company that kills deer for their skins. I have been given many hides to work with and I honor the animal by giving thanks for its hide, and by putting it to good use as it does carry the energy of the animal not the energy of the person who skinned it. Most of the hides I use I was given by other medicine people, that were blessed in ceremony… a couple of hides I exchanged for from a local Native American woman who owns a trade post. When I run out of hides I will not be making more products unless I am given more because like you I do not want to contribute to any animal’s suffering. When I am given something that use to belong to an animal I do not feel bad using it to share the good energy from it… I feel honored to work with it and keep it’s energy flowing in my works. It would otherwise go to waste because I use 90% scrap pieces, which is why there are no large items in my shop.

{Lauren has graciously offered all of my readers a 15% discount in her shop.  Please just enter BOHO15 when checking out.  Thank you, Lauren!}

GIVEaway Rules:

• Winner receives one Deerskin & Antler Ring and Deerskin Pouch
• To enter, please leave a comment
• One comment per person, please
• Comments will close Thursday, April 12th at 10am
• Winner will be announced by evening on Thursday and will be contacted by both Lauren and me.

cedar digs into my basket of hats before heading out the door these days.

Have a magical, holy, enchanting, sacred Easter weekend!

spending time with nicole and alex

I am noticing that when I have time away from Cedar, whether it is when he is napping (which is very rare these days) or when he is in his woodland preschool 3 days a week, I carry this unnecessary guilt around that unless I fill this time with housework or house projects, that I am being too indulgent. I am not sure where that pressure comes from. Its not coming from my husband, although given a hormonal day, I will think it is. My husband has his own business and he works from home in an office downstairs, so we are fully aware how hard he works from morning until evening with mini breaks in between to play with Cedar or practice archery out back. It is important to me that my husband knows we honor and appreciate his efforts to support our family so well and it is important to me that he views my nurturing Cedar and our home and our bellies as an equal effort of contribution to our family’s well being. I lived on my own for so long supporting myself, as well as had my own business after we were married, so getting used to not contributing financially to my family can play a bit of a mind trip on me and my self worth as a woman.  I know it won’t always be like this  because I have some projects on the horizon but at this stage in our journey of wellness and of nurturing Cedar, it needs to be for the time being.

It is good for me to remember that the moments I take for myself are not only for myself but are for my boys too. Meaning, if I want to sit for an hour to browse online for wisdom that interests and fulfills me, then I will be a more present mother and wife. What I am learning about myself as an Introvert, is how crucial alone time is for me and being a mother of a toddler and a wife of a stay at home working husband, alone time is more precious to me than it has ever been in my life. I cannot always fill my alone time with cleaning and picking up the house or grocery shopping or errands. This can feel so very draining for me. So I am trying to rethink and balance my new-found alone time while Cedar is in school three days a week for a few hours. I am most recently wanting to give myself permission to allow some of this time to go towards activities that fill my soul. And this is perfectly okay and good, so good for Cedar and my husband to witness. Part of why I am sharing these feelings in this space is to shoo the guilt away and to grow deeper into an awareness of my needs.

Today I chose to spend some time online, which I don’t do often these days and when I do, it needs to be with an intention or I get overstimulated or spiral down with comparison gremlins. I was on the couch and my dear husband suggested I sit in our mud room-turned dining area. He said there was sun shining in there. He even pulled the table and chair out for me just right. My heart warmed at this gesture because he could easily resent this time of hush for me but rather, he supported and encouraged it. So, I snuggled under the sun and spent time on my friend Nicole’s website: Whole Food Meal Plans (see photo above). I joined her and her husband’s program (they are new sponsors) and I am thrilled to begin with their recipes and natural health ideas next week. So far this past hour browsing their program, I have already learned so much from them and have been led to other blogs/sites with food and natural product recipes that feel so doable to me. I am a newbie at making my own salves and tinctures and mists from what surrounds me in nature. I am a huge supporter of purchasing my friend’s and sponsor’s natural products but seem to notice I have not been confident enough to make my own. Well, that is going to change and I feel so supported by the blog community in regards to this shift in my life living here in the Pacific Northwest surrounded by nature’s medicine.

Heal-All (Prunella Vulgaris) around our home

My friend was over the other day and pointed at all the Prunella Vulgaris growing around my house. I had no idea their healing properties! Remember I shared that this is my year of the Deer…of gentleness and healing for me and my family? Well its so fitting that these precious Prunellas are surrounding us in a purple cocoon of wellness. They are also referred to as Heal-All or Self-Heal.  Of course they are.

{important correction!  just found out from an herbalist friend of mine that this plant is actually called Lamium Purpureum (aka Purple Nettle)!  see?  we are all learning together in this space.  and this is a beautiful lesson for all of us how important it is to check with experienced herbalists when harvesting our own plant medicine.  Lamium has its own healing properties that our family needs.  so truly, its perfect}