Clean.

Vintage Camper.

Just a quick note to say thank you for all the good words about the Babywearing Celebration. As of this morning Didymos is on board also.

Please spread the word! The more the merrier for this little online festival. If you have any suggestions on other baby carriers to request donations from do let me know!

~ Rachel

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When I was growing up we spent countless weekends and several weeks each summer camping in our Starcraft pop-up camper. It was the easiest way for my parents to get us out there - often - with the most comfort and ease for meeting their needs. I lived for it (My sister? Not so much.) and I grew into a passionate camper and paddler as an adult.

I am now definitely a tent camping person. I like the lightness, the mobility, the simplicity, and the connection to the earth. And a tent is affordable. But since we became parents we just don't camp as often as we use to. It seems more complicated now. (It isn't, but it feels that way as we stack ourselves like cordwood in our tiny tent.) We like the idea of a standing-height space in case of a middle-of-the-night kid crisis or perhaps a place to hang out if someone feels funky. We like the potential of an indoor space.

So we decide to "manifest a camper". Really. That was our conversation. Something we could use as a mobile cabin, something that could double as my LuSa Office in the driveway when the kids are rowdy and I can't get any work done, something that we could park in the woods for the summer and have our own little nest to come to.

And then it happened - Poof! Like that.

 

For the cost of a half tank of gas we are the new owners of a 1960's hard side camper. It's pretty sweet. It was a gift from someone we'd never met. They even cooked us lunch and invited us back anytime to camp.

 

 

The outside cleaned up beautifully. The inside? I'll hold off on interior pictures until I have some "after" shots to throw into the mix. But it's going to be sweet. You just wait.

Thank you Peter, Dawn, and Nina for the wonderful gift!

Safe Babywearing Celebration

There are few things I get as passionate about as discussing as parenting. I love being a mama. I love talking about birth, children, parenting, and the nuances of how-we-do-it-around-here.

One aspect of being a parent that has been nothing short of an absolute joy is my choice to wear my babies. Babywearing is so simple, and yet so powerful. It has changed my life.

Only recently has Lupine truly moved out of arms and requested that I pick up a stroller to cruise her around town in. I obliged, and we're happy to roll around on our errands now, but truth be told I miss the closeness of her on my back or chest, snuggled in close as we talk and connect throughout our travels.

There has been some unfortunate news about babywearing safety recently. The truth remains that babywearing is an ancient, traditional parenting practice - like breastfeeding and cosleeping. And like cosleeping when done properly baby wearing is inherently safe.

To help us refocus on the connection, health, joy, and ease that comes from wearing our little ones, I am hosting a Safe Babywearing Celebration in April (April 12 - 16). We'll discuss safe babywearing, carriers, different positions/holds, share stories, and I'll host plenty of babywearing and baby carrier giveaways. The week will be sponsored by some wonderful folks donating their carriers and resources (including Ergo, Moby Wrap, and Tummy 2 Tummy with more coming on board everyday).

Bring all of your friends. I can hardly wait!

Edited: Baby K'tan and Kangaroo Korner are now on board as well. Thanks to all sponsors.

Creating a Nature Table

Do you have a Nature Table in your house? A simple collection of both natural and human-made treasures, a Nature Table gently connect us with the seasons. It is not a play-place, but a quiet reminder inside of what is happening outside and our connection to it.

A branch or piece of wood and a cloth are plenty to get you started. You can add some wooden and woolen animals and a human figure or two if you have them. We've created some just for this purpose and also use the kids' playthings. Then, as you and your children explore outside the collection will morph and shift with found objects added to the table. Ours have been an ever-shifting display of flowers, stones, branches, nests, leaves, and nuts.

Until this winter we've always had one on a medium sized side table in the corner of our living room. It was irresistible to the cat who loved to jump up on it and knock everything onto the floor and so was usually in some state of tattered disrepair. We reorganized our space this winter and temporarily retired the Nature Table, but we've missed it!

Yesterday I spent some time organizing our exploding shoe collection by the front door. I hung some old IKEA shoe boxes on the wall for the kids and decides to create a mini Nature Table on top. This serves a double purpose of limiting clutter on the top of the cabinet and giving the kids a daily peek at the Nature Table.

The space we have to work with here is very small - which is perfect for us to help keep the collection from getting out of control or becoming another play space for the kids. Today it is simply a silk and piece of driftwood (thanks, Anne!), Mother Earth, a bunny, a lamb and a sheep. At bedtime last night Lupine and Sage slipped away and I found the animals and Mother Earth lying down, asleep on the silk.

We've enjoyed this book for ideas through the years, but really your own inspiration is all that you need. Some great Nature Table starters for Spring are:

~ Seasonal flowers from your garden or a flower shop

~ Bowl of sprouting wheat grass

~ Forced flowering branches from a crab apple tree

~ Light green or pale yellow silk or cloth

~ "Root children" dolls

~ Felt or wooden eggs

~ Lambs and chicks

~ Bird's nests

I will post photos of the table as it shifts through the seasons. Will you share yours? I've created a LuSa Organics/Clean Flickr pool just for you! Pop over and upload some pictures. I can't wait to see what you have to share.

~ Rachel

This Morning.

The sun is shining on our frosty yard. We all slept - all night - without a peep.

Ears are happy, kids are happy, parents are happy. I'm off to the yarn shop and then to a friends to sew today. Thanks for all the emails and comments wishing us well yesterday. The magical treatment in the end was St. John's Wort oil. Amazing. (Thanks Andrew and Carol for the tip.)

Hooray for natural healing and smiling kids!

 

Home Remedies for Earaches.

 Sage woke this morning at 1 AM with a painful earache. He is at the tail end of a virus and it has settled out in his ear. He moaned and cried until 4:30 and then only slept until 7:00 before the tears started to flow again.

Many people reach for antibiotics when their child has an ear infection. I understand why. An ear infection is not only painful for your child, but it robs the whole family of sleep and is close to your child's brain, making it scarier than, say, a leg ache.

We were blessed with some good advice from our (mainstream) pediatrician when Sage was a baby. Her daughter, prone to frequent ear infections, became her antibiotics-for-ear-infections guinea pig. The physician experimented with antibiotics for her child's ear infections: half of the time she gave them to her, half of the time she didn't. The result? She no longer prescribes antibiotics for ear infections. She found no difference in average healing time with our without the meds.

And the use of antibiotics - for anyone, but children in particular - should be done with great care. The implications of every dose of antibiotics is massive. Sage's colic, for example, began one day after we chose to administer antibiotics to our baby when he spiked a fever at 2 weeks old.

Antibiotics don't discriminate with what they kill and your (or your child's) entire system is cleared of the beneficial bacteria that keep us healthy. Antibiotics have their place, but are serious medicine for such small, sensitive systems.

With any ear infection, seek consult from a naturopath, homeopath, or physician who shares your perspective. We called our homeopath/physician and her recommended remedies for his care. It is now 11:00 and Sage has napped and is feeling 90% better. 

Our earache remedies follow:

~ Garlic Willow Ear Oil: You can purchase this at your coop or make your own. To make your own, crush three cloves of peeled garlic. Add 1/3 C organic olive oil, and gently warm. Do not simmer. Cover and allow to infuse for 15 minutes. Strain. Place four drops of warm (not hot or cold) garlic ear oil in each of the child's ear. Always treat both ears. If you have access to mullien flowers they are a wonderful addition.

~ Onion Compress: I know. It sounds weird, but works great. Cold or hot onion compresses work beautifully to draw infection from the ear.

Hot Onion Compress - Saute 1/2 of a medium onion in 1 Tb olive oil. Cool slightly. Divide and wrap in cotton flannel and place warm compresses on both ears. Allow to cool before removing. These can be held in place with a washable hat. 

Cold Onion Treatment - slice onion into 1/2" pieces. Wrap in gauze and place on both ears. Top with a tight hat and have your child wear as long as they will stand for it, up to two hours.

~ Homeopathic remedies: There are several options available. Your choice will vary by you child's symptoms. We use our favorite homeopathy books (this one and this one), but there are also online resources if you don't have a homeopath in your area.

~ Warm lower back: Chinese medicine connect kidneys and ears. Keeping the kidneys warm with a hot water bottle is comforting.

~ Ginger-Lemon-Honey-Echinacea Tea: Pound a 2" piece of garlic with the butt-end of your knife handle. No need to peel. Place in a pan and cover with 4 C water. Simmer. Add 1/4 C echinacea flowers and remove from heat. Steep for 15 minutes. Strain, add the juice of 2-3 lemons, and sweeten with honey (use maple if you child is too young for honey).

Feel well!

Fitting In.

The survey that many of you participated is was so much fun. It gave me perspective as to why you are here: what you are seeking and what you get out of your visits to this place, day after day.

So why do you come?

For softness. For inspiration. For a break from the day-to-day of messy reality. For a silver lining. For a positive perspective. For a new perspective.

Its interesting... that's much of why I come here too. Writing these posts provides me with the same gift, but through my own life. Pretty sweet.

And there is one more reason you come here. A profound need that you expressed time and again in the comments of the survey. You come her to belong.

You are hungry for community.

Connecting with like-minded souls ("fitting in") is a basic human need. Those of us who have chosen a non-mainstream path might not find this connection in our communities or extended families. And so we cast a broader net and in our own town or we log onto the internet to find a place where we belong. We find a place to feel normal.

And me? I am seeking the same. While my town provides some of that community, you also help me connect with more and more people with similar values. Similar priorities.

I am happy to be here to give you a place to feel normal, or a place to try on new ideas to see if they fit. A place to fine tune what your normal looks like. All of my ideas won't fit, but some may light a spark that will take you in a new direction.

This is a family-centered, organic-lifestyle, local-food-eating, low-impact, peaceful-parenting, homebirthing, co-sleeping, extended breastfeeding, homeschooling, non-circumcising, non-vaccinating, do-it-yourself, make-it-yourself kind of normal. If even some of these ideas resonate with your heart you have found community here.

Many of you are strangers, yet you expressed a feeling that we are friends. You want to have tea and let our kids run wild together. I feel the same way. And really, that's the power of community, wherever you find it. Feeling connected and supported, even among strangers.

Thanks for letting me share this peek into my life day after day and holding a space in your day for the thoughts I share.

A New Sewing Studio.

As you know I had the pleasure of an entire day at home - alone - yesterday. Pete took the kids on an adventure and while I had planned to spend the day sewing I couldn't face my sewing corner of the family room. So cramped, so dark, so chaotic.

I evaluated the space and realized that the insanely messy and underutilized "homeschool room" (an extra bedroom) could be transformed before the kids came home. Don't be startled, but there's a before picture coming.

Behold the transformation!

(before)

(after)

That's the same view, people! I rocked it. (Coffee for breakfast and ice cream for lunch didn't hurt for high-speed working.)

I painted the closet to match the room and installed floor to ceiling shelves, using what we had at hand. With all of my fabric in the same place for the first time I feel incredibly inspired to create.

 

Now all I need is some art hung on the walls and we'll be set. The whole room was put together with things we already had. Sofa table we don't use anymore became sewing tables, extra dining room chairs became sewing chairs, old bookshelves became project and fabric storage.

 

I can't tell you how excited I am to start sewing here.

Ice Cream for Lunch.

I had a whole day alone yesterday. In my own house. Alone.

In the quiet.

I kicked some serious butt on a house project (I'll share that with you tomorrow), but I thought you might appreciate my lunch:

Homemade hot fudge (ala Bittman's How to Cook Everything),

 

vanilla ice cream,

 

and salted cashews. I sat outside in the spring sunshine and smiled my way through the entire bowl. Thank you Pete for this magical gift of a day just for me!

This Morning.

The boys slept in. Lupine and I got up together early for some tea and sewing. These quiet moments are among my favorites. They are the memories I hold. So small, so perfect, so magical.

 

 

 

Homemade Chai.

I started making chai when I was 16. My best friend's mom Usha always seemed to have a fresh pot on the stove. (This was before coffee shops and grocery stores picked up on chai and it became a overly-sweet Americanized packaged beverage. It was completely unprecedented to my palate.) I was obsessed. 

I asked her to share her recipe and she laughed. Recipe? There was of course no recipe, but she made one up to give me a jumping off point.

In the twenty years that have since elapsed that recipe has morphed and unraveled to a new point of no-recipeness. In fact, the photo at the top is rather pale for chai because the batch I had on hand to photograph was made with Nettle leaf instead of black tea. 

But I digress. 

I've done for you what Usha did for me. I made up a recipe to give you a jumping off point for your own journey. There are countless different ways to make chai. This is just my version (thank you, Usha!).

Homemade Chai

2 tsp Cardamon seeds or 2 T cardamon pods

1/2 tsp whole peppercorns

1/2 tsp cloves

1" x 2" piece of fresh ginger, smashed with the butt end of your biggest knife's handle (in a pinch you can substitute 1 scant tsp dried ginger)

1-2 cinnamon sticks

 

Bring 6 C water to a boil with the spices. Cover and simmer for 10 - 20 minutes, depending on how spicy you like your chai.

Add 6 black tea bags (or see variation below for kid and mama friendly Nettle Chai). 

Remove from heat and steep for 10 minutes. 

Remove tea bags. At this point you can strain the tea, though I often leave the spices in (I like my chai well spiced). You can add milk to the whole pot (approximately 4 C) and warm gently. I often make a big batch and then just heat the milk separately. This way the tea can stay on the stove all day without getting funky. 

Sweeten with honey (my favorite in the variation below), agave (my favorite with black tea), or sugar.

Nettle Chai Variation

As an alternative to black tea, I just stumbled upon this chai recipe that replaces the black tea with nettles and raspberry leaf. Nettle is a fabulous source of calcium and minerals and a great cleansing herb. Raspberry leaf is a wonderful tonic for pregnant and nursing mothers. And both are local and free if you pick your own. A great way to fulfill your chai craving without the caffeine.

 

Omit black tea, adding instead 1/2 C dried nettle and 1/3 c raspberry leaf (or more of just one if you don't have both). Proceed as above.

Take your pick. Both are lovey!