Fall is here

DIY Trash Crafts
Recycled Crate box play kitchen

we made these from so old crates that had been thrown away and some wood that had been left at the side of the rode. Along with a metal bowl for the sink and selves for storage from the thrift store ,even the paint had been found in the garbage . the only thing we bought was the hidges, handles, and nobs for the stove and faucet , i think we could have gotten them other way if we tried a little harder, like off of an old piece of furniture or something . we got a bunch of pots and pans from the thirft store along with salt and pepper shakers , a little tea pot , a toy kettle . its amazing what you can find at a thirft store if you just have patients and refuse to buy it anywhere else, try it!

Summer Gardening

yummy kale, the snails liked it too

Our vegetable garden was wonderful this year , though the tomatoes are barley starting to grow we have tons of squash and kale . Next year we will be in our new home with a larger garden and we'll also grow eggplants , bell peppers and chard! this was so much fun , i love to watch Eli find and pick the squash . we've sauteed them with herbs and grape seed oil, spirilized them and tossed them with raw pesto , and eaten them with hummus. As for the kale salads galore, raw kale chips and smoothies of plenty. how wonderful to eat from your own. It was also a learning experience in other ways, we gave thanks to to the apricot tree and squash plants for its gifts of fruit and recognized that the kale is a living being and thanked it for its sacrifice so that we may live.

natural birth control beads

My friend and amazing Douala Renea gave me this, (thanks again!) it was handmade by a midwife she new. besides being really beautiful it is also very clever, the way it works is really quite simple. you start from your first day of menstruation on the red bead and then move the black ring through the next 6 brown beans for then next 6 days of bleeding to keep track of them, if your period is shorter you can move on to the white beads as soon as you've stopped bleeding,( the white beads are your ovulation period) and continue moving the black ring , one bead for each day until you reach the next set of brown beads, the brown beads represent the time period in which it would be safe to be with your partner ( supposedly but nothings full proof). The black bead symbolizes when you could possibly start your period in which case you would just move your black ring on to the red bead ,but basically once the white beads end you should be safe until you start bleeding, or on the other hand if your trying to have a baby the best time to try would be during the day occurring on the white beads. Very neat, even if your not using this as a form of birth control or to have a baby, it a great way to become aware of your cycle and really yourself in general.

Here's how you make one , you'll need: * one red wooden bead

* one black wooden bead

*19 brown wooden beads

*12 white wooden beads

(of course you could use any color combination you'd

like)

*hemp string or other jewelery string

*some sort of ring to keep track of the days

( the one pictured here is made of some type of

black rubber to fit snuggle over and between each bead

though you could probably tie a little

piece of hemp string into a circle and use that)


start off with your red bead , then followed by 6 brown beads then all 12 white beads , then followed by 7 brown beads, then your black bead , then finally your last 6 brown beads and your rubber ring or whatever your using to keep track of the days . you can paint an arrow on the last brown bead pointing to the red bead to indicate the direction and starting point of the cycle like show on the picture. These directions are simply replicating the one given to me so can not vouch for the accuracy, but it was made by a mid wife, if anything do your own research. I wear mine doubled around my wrist, though it all depends on the size of the beads and your wrist but it can just be kept in your drawer or bag.