i have been away for a long time but even before that i had lost the original purpose of this blog.

as a family we are trying hard to reduce our footprint. often times i am asked how i do this. i chose to start this blog to share some of the tricks that i have learned and share the journey of so much more that i plan to learn.

we have been more focused lately on reducing and i am trying to get back to finding more ways to repurpose and recycle.

so much has changed this year in and out of our home that we are reassessing how we consume and what is really important to us.

i've started this blog so many times. the last of which was in may when my grandmother would have been 90! it was one year ago today that she passed away.

she has been an inspiration for me since the beginning...for as long as i can remember.

i tried to write a post for her when she died but we were all so busy getting ready for the celebration of her life. i did write a few words for her funeral. i have wanted to share this but i really want it to be just right! rather than never get this post done...i'm getting it done. one of the many things my grandmother wasn't was a procrastinator (clearly and sadly i am) she didn't have the luxury of not getting it done.

I wanted to share some of the stories that I have heard many times either from her or from other members of the family. And some of the ways that grandma shared with us throughout our lives.

family was grandmab s number one priority. this sounds really cliche but it's true. she really gave so much to her family, not only her love and time but countless things that she created. clothes, toys, dolls, doll clothes, christmas stockings, crocheted ornaments, tree skirts, pillows, curtains, slip covers, costumes, sweaters and blankets, just to name a few. she never really looked for praise for what she created; it was just what she did. what she was most proud of was the fact that she and grandpa were only children and as of now they have 22 descendants! she mentioned this so often. now this is what she shared with everyone. she loved to talk about all of us and what we were doing. this is what she was most proud of.

grandma spoke often about her mom who died when she was thirteen. she missed her so much. grandma always said how talented her mother was. if you visited grandma's room you may have seen the incredible quilt that her mother made hanging on the wall near grandmab s bed. (we think it was what her mother was working on when she died-the quilt top was done). grandma never had this completed, she never did quilting and i don't think she would have ever spent the money to have it done. she gave it to my mother many years ago and a few years before she died for christmas we had it completed for her...she loved it. she said that so many of the fabrics in the quilt were from dresses that her mother had made for her when she was a little girl.so overwhelming.

grandma learned very quickly to keep house for her father and herself. she grew up very fast. she told of when she was very young she learned to sew. she would make something and show it to her father and he would suggest that she could do it better and she would go and tear out the stitches and try again. grandma found that she could do it better. this seemed to carry through grandmab s life. everything that she did was so well done. she had so many challenging skills and made them seem effortless.

one of the many dresses that grandma made...she made four of these holly hobby dresses at the height of little house on the prairie for her four lovely granddaughters with matching dolls to match to color of each of our hair with dresses to match our dresses~bonnets too. seriously~we were the luckiest kids to have her! this has been one of my daughters favorite dresses for years as it was one of mine. she has been wearing it to laura ingalls wilder day for the past 3 years...she will still fit in it for a few more years to come!

recently I was making a list of all grandmab s talents and tasks when she was raising her family. here are just a few; sewing, knitting, crochet, cooking, baking, canning, keeping house, gardening, needle work, drawing, and singing. she did all of these things while working a full time job and keeping house in the 40s and 50s with four kids and none of the current conveniences. grandma hung the laundry and made many of her kidsb clothes and toys and ironed everything...no permanent press then.

it seems that they always had an extended family member living with them that needed grandmab s care and attention too. she cared for her grandfather and her mother-in-law lived with them too and her father all of them nursed by her until the end... my grandparents didnb t have siblings but they had many great friends. they also took care of them when they could by taking them to doctors, caring for their yards, driving them where they needed to go, doing their banking, making meals.

grandma also had an aunt who was seven years older than she was (no need to look this up, grandma always mentioned it). her aunt alma was like a sister to her and I think that she helped through so many challenging times and she loved her so. when I was growing up grandma had so much to share with her grandchildren too. she was still working, she still took the time for us even though she was probably very tired. i remember that we rarely had a sitter when my parents went out, we would stay with our grandparents. we spent so much time there. she would color with us play cards, board games, walk us through the woods for ice cream. We would pick snapdragons down the street for her and admire her large selection of pansies that my uncle would always get for her every year for her birthday-she was proud of this too...said he had done that since he was a little boy.

grandma was such a good cook. some family favorites were buttermilk pancakes, potato pancakes, corned beef and cabbage, chop suey, turkey coquettes, i would like to share just a few more stories that we heard so often.

grandma had a great sense of humor and she loved to laugh about these. one of the stories that we always teased my grandparents about was how they met. the story is that grandpa picked grandma up on the corner in front of the library. she would very quickly tell you that was not the case. they were properly introduced.

my girl wants to add a story that she has heard so many times.

" Grandmab s ears were very ticklish. When her grandchildren stayed over on nights when their parents went out on the weekends, when they woke up, they would crawl in on their hands and knees to their grandparents bedroom. thinking they were so quiet but they were so noisy. they would go on each side of the bed and climb up and start tickling grandma and grandpa. it was a tickle fight, they would all get tickled and laugh out loud. i bet it was very fun. but i wasnb t born to know that yet. but when i saw grandma i did tickle her ears my mom taught me her ears were ticklish. the end."

i apologize for all of this lists, grandma did so much over her 89 years, i could find no other way to share it all with you. we are so happy to have so many creations remember her by. and all of our very sweet stories.

i was very fortunate that we lived so close to my grandmother almost all of my life and that she lived so long...so many great memories and experiences that we all shared with her. i was so thrilled that my daughter spent so much time with her and loved her so. i was also so blessed to see how much joy our girl brought to my grandmother. they really adored each other. for the first four years of my daughter's life we picked grandma up every week and took her shopping, we really enjoyed these days together.

grandma we miss you so. we know that you were so tired and missed grandpa so much and suffering without being able to see and create for the last 7 years of your life...such a cruel turn of events. i'm trying hard to us some of the many goodies that you left behind for me to use to create. i'm so happy that i have finally learned to sew on your machine that dawne has graciously let me borrow and using your needles to knit and teach helen so many of your talents. i so hope that we can make you proud...thanks for all that you gave to all of us. we love you.

i still need to find some older photos and post them, this is one thing that has been holding up my post. i will update the post when i find them. hope those that knew her will enjoy this and for those who didn't and get through this ridiculously long post thank you. she was really an inspirational woman. those who think that we are busier and have more commitments than women from the past only need this to remember that maybe this is not so!

another thoughtful idea from soulemama

it's so challenging to know where to begin....well if you don't know about squam art workshop (saw) then please go and discover. it is held at the rockywold-deephaven camp-rdc in holderness, new hampshire.

amazing!!!

i found this dreamy retreat last year when soulemama was blogging about speaking there. i was so fortunate to go and i know it sounds ridiculous but i really had a life changing experience. thank you elizabeth for your vision, persistence and the amazing teachers that you invited.

it was so lovely to see my dear, dear friends that i met last year. i've been so looking forward to seeing them and oh we had so much fun and laughed so hard...so good.

many new wonderful friendships have begun on this trip too.

my favorite shepherd was there too. if you don't have a favorite shepherd...you will soon...i just love susan gibbs from juniper moon farms can't wait to take our family there for a trip. my daughter has decided that she really wants to be a farmer, i asked her "don't you want to be a shepherd" and she said "no i want to have all the farm animals". there you have it...why limit yourself!

the weather was also wonderful. we had the perfect combination of sunshine and rain the temperature was just right! the weather has clearly been very warm in new hampshire this spring because the water temperature was beautiful. many of us took a lovely swim. the water was so clear and very deep, so nice.

this was the view from my bed. one morning we decided to sleep in just to enjoy the sound of the rain on the water...so soothing, what a perfect choice we made!

as if the location, classes, teachers and attendees were not enough...every night we had entertainment.

one night we heard a little from all who came to teach and from jenny doh.

the amazing jonatha brooke played two nights for us...so amazing...what a treat!

we were so fortunate one night she shared 2 brand new-unrecorded songs with us...looking forward to hearing those again real soon we hope...they were both so powerful.

the multi-talented lizzy house spent an hour learning an unbelievable gaelic duet with jonatha and went up and sang for us. her grace and talent were as always inspiring.

we also heard a great story from jenn lee who will be teaching a storytelling class at squam in september, she has participated on the mainstage of the moth if you have never listened to the moth podcast, you should. there are some really great true stories on there.

almost done here...

we also heard from jess and casey who are ravlery! they told about how it all began. they are a classic comedy duo with a really great story.

last one for now i promise...this is how it is though...all of this and more...

stephanie pearl-mcphee the yarn harlot also held court one night. it was amazing to watch almost everyone in the playhouse knitting and watching a "comedy" act...can't say that i've seen that before.

much more to come soon...

~sweet dreams and moonbeams

well this isn't how i thought i was going to begin my blog post about squam!

i'm just now overwhelmed with the desire to share what i just a few moments ago while chatting with my husband discovered about myself.

i have some strong beliefs about happiness. the most primal to me is that you choose to create your own! i've met many people along the way and have learned this to be so. we can be slung so much negativity, but we can really choose how we respond to it.

what i learned about myself just now is that i feel the calling to help people learn to choose happiness!!!

i haven't figured out yet how i'm going to make this a reality...i just now know that i will!

i also learned

~ i really enjoy being around creative people

~ i really enjoy seeing the process of making something new and beautiful or something old beautiful

~ i love the energy that is present in this environment...safe, nurturing, positive, encouraging and supportive

~ i realized that i'm not an especially creative or a talented artist

~ more importantly i've realized that i'm comfortable with this revelation

~ i've learned that i can still enjoy the process of creating without the pressure or need to create something extraordinary.

~ i can create for the enjoyment of the process, the opportunity to learn something new and for the experience of being with very talented, creative and supportive people that love to create and express themselves beautifully.

~ most of all i've discovered that i want to be the supporting, nurturing, calm, caring person that i know i am and that can be the amazing gift that i give to my family, friends and others that i meet along the way

that is what i'm thinking now.

i'm going to write another post about my second amazing adventure to squam. hoping to have it out this afternoon. thanks to all that have inspired me and help me to come to this conclusion.

~~~sunshine and happiness to you today

i love all these photos that i see on so many blogs and in magazines with the beautiful distressed paint on old or old looking furniture but it makes me very concerned. i'm all about saving the old but want to make sure that it is done safely. i worry so much about kids and adults being around potential chipping and dusting lead paint. lead poisoning is too common and very scary.

if you live in a house built before 1978 or purchase painted furniture that you believe has been painted before 1978 you should assume that it has lead paint and take these precautions.

first try to find someone to come and test your house for lead paint. It costs a few hundred dollars but it's so worth the money. the man that came to our house did swab testing and sent the dust samples to a lab. he also took some paint chips and also sent them to a lab. he did soil samples, sent them to a lab and water samples also to make sure there was no lead in our pipes. he also had this gun that he could point at painted areas and tell us if they had lead paint. this was amazing. i had him check several of our dressers that i was unsure of their age. he was really a wealth of information. we were really lucky to have someone who was so passionate about helping people find all the lead in their house and help them control the impact.

this website seems to have very good information. self help, inc. lead abatement program this website also seems to have good information on home lead testing from the minnesota department of healthhere are the risk factors for lead poisoning from the mayo clinic here are some of the complications that can arise from lead poisoning from the mayo clinic

here are some other tips that our lead inspector gave us:

lead is usually released in location where you have chipping paint or where to painted surfaces rub. so windows and doors and painted drawers are especially vulnerable. we had some windows in our old house that were near where are daughter played that we chose to never open for this reason.

have your children tested annually. our inspector has been working very closely with a pediatrician in our area and he told us that the government acceptable level is anything under 10 micrograms (a microgram is one-millionth of a gram) in a deciliter (1/2 cup) of blood b can cause damage over time, especially in children. he let us know that they keep moving the number down, he believes that very soon it will be moved to 5 and his belief is that is where it really should be.

he also let us know that when having kids tested it was best to have the blood sample come from their arm if possible. sometimes it is hard to get a clear reading from a blood draw from a finger.

children and pregnant women should not be in the house when you are working on the lead abatement.

you must always do the cleanup with soap and water. we would often clean our work space several times with soap and water (changing the soap and water often) to make sure that we were getting all of the lead dust.

never dry sand any paint that has lead or chance of lead, always wet sand there are these great sanding sponges that we use all the time and wear a hepa filtered mask~we purchased a few respriators they weren't real expensive, considering we have been working on the house for 3 years we would have spent a fortune in dust masks without the same protection or comfort.

always vacuum with a hepa filter.

lead dust is heavy and falls rather quickly. this is good to know that it isn't like drywall dust that takes a long time to settle. i'm not sure how long you need to wait to do clean up, but not as long as with drywall dust.

we had a window seat where are daughter played that had lead paint on it, our inspector suggested that we paint over it again to cover the lead and then also cover that with contact paper so that we would not have any paint chipping.

our inspector noted that we had paint in our basement. His suggestion was that we never have our daughter down there and that we have specific shoes that we wore down there and left them out of our living space.

one thing that our pediatrician suggested is that you should never use hot water from the tap for cooking because if you do have any lead in your pipes it would come out with the hot water vs. the cold.

sorry to welcome some of you to our world of lead neuroses. i really felt that i needed to share my information. i am not a lead specialist. please contact a professional and/or consult the links that i have included for more information. my list is just a suggestion of some additional precautions that you might take when considering lead abatement in your home. lead poisoning is very scary and serious. please take time to make sure that your family is safe.

hope this helps raise your awareness.

be well.

i will edit the photo next time i make this smoothie. i took a photo from sometime back and can't find it.

i had a smoothie similar to this a few months ago when i was feeling a little dizzy after yoga. i didn't think that it was going to be one of those things that i couldn't stop craving but it is. i've been working on this post for a while. i was trying to perfect the ratios so that i could share.

the original was pretty simple - peanut butter, a few bananas, ice and chocolate soy milk. i am trying to kill some of the sugar in the chocolate soy milk. but this is a quick recipe that will work for many of you.

here is my modification

2 medium organic bananas

2 tablespoons of navitas naturals cacao powder or 2 tablespoon of green and blacks unsweetened cocoa

1-2 tablespoons of yummy local honey

2 tablespoon regular organic peanut butter or all natural peanut butter & company dark chocolate dreams (peanut butter with dark chocolate) depending on how chocolaty you would like

a few hands full of ice you can add more if it's not cold enough.

westsoy plus plain organic soy milk-unsweetened (i look at my box of soy milk now and it says less sugar, i don't know if i had one that had no sugar now?) to cover all the ingredients, more if it will not blend

this recipe is enough for 4 people.

now this recipe is not low-fat or low in sugar but it is a nice boost in the afternoon and now that it is getting warmer, it is also cool and tasty!

it seems that others have been experiencing the same banana nut craving because i have seen at least 4 other posts on this as i have been working on mine. i haven't had a chance to try them yet, but i will share two that are very pretty and i think will be really popular for little ones.

one is for peanut butter cups from the marvelous maya at her blog mayamade.

the other is for banana butterflies from the brilliant betz at her blog betz white.

i've mentioned that i'm reading animal vegetable miracle by barbara kingsolver and bananas are at the top of her list for foods that are not for us to be eating given where we live and all the energy it takes to get them here. i'm sorry to be encouraging them now. i promise to find a local seasonal food to share very soon.

enjoy!

{this moment}

a photo~an extraordinary moment~no words~pause~savor~remember...

on our walk yesterday morning my husband and i started with sun before the storm clouds moved in.. we really enjoyed all the color that is erupting. seems so green here, so much growth, it's almost overwhelming how it all happen at once.

i know these "weeds" in the grass make some people crazy...but i love all the texture and variation of color.