Frontier Culture Museum.

My Sister and I traveled to Staunton, VA this past Weekend. We had a terrific (and sweaty) time at the Frontier Culture Museum.

I stopped taking photos half the way through because (as usual) I ran out of memory on my phone. So I didn't get any photos from the German Homestead, the 1700's American Indian Hamlet, the 1740's American Settlement,the 1820's American Farm or the 1850's American Farm.

One of the most amazing parts about the Museum is that all the houses (except the Igbo Homestead and the 1740's Settlement) are ORIGINAL and were moved to the site.

I liked the design of the Museum and how you started at the Igbo (West African) Homestead and then moved to the European Homesteads before moving to the Americas. Each Homestead was isolated enough from the others, which made you really felt transported back into time.

I enjoyed seeing the differences between the layout of each Garden. Although, most were growing the same crops, each one felt very different.

We went at the hottest part of the day, when it was in the 90's. It made you much more aware of the ways houses were designed to deal with staying cool in the Summer and warm in the Winter.

My girls are too little to really enjoy it now. But, I can't wait to take them when they are older.

You can find more information here.

If you are ever nearby, I definitely recommend checking it out.

Daily Walk. A Discovery of a Hidden Playground in Our New Neighborhood.

For Pregnancy and Beyond. The Goodness of Red Raspberry Leaf Tea.

"Red Raspberry Leaf Tea" is a wonderful tonic for women during Pregnancy and afterwards. I drank it daily for my last two trimesters, during my most recent pregnancy. Did I mention my first Labor lasted for 20 hours and my second for only 5 hours?

I seriously think Red Raspberry Leaf Tea was big factor. (Besides Eating Dates).

I drank it sporadically during my first pregnancy and had very few Braxton Hicks Contractions. The second time? I had a crazy amount of Braxton Hicks. My uterus was revving up for the Big Show.

According to Susun Weed (herbalist extraordinaire and writer of the book Herbal for the Childbearing Year )....

Rubus is the best known, most widely used, and safest of all uterine/pregnancy tonic herbs. It contains fragine, an alkaloid which gives tone to the muscles of the pelvic region, including the uterus itself. Most of the benefits ascribed to regular use of Raspberry leaf tea throughout the pregnancy can be traced to the strengthening power of fragine or to the nourishing power of the vitamins and minerals found in this plant.

She lists the following; vitamin C, vitamin E, calcium, iron, vitamin A and B complex, phosphorous and potassium. That sounds like an awful lot of goodness, doesn't it?

Not only has Red Raspberry Leaf Tea been terrific during my pregnancies, it's been a life-saver with Menstrual Cramps.

A few years back, when I was subbing at my local Baltimore City school, one of the teacher assistants was having awful cramps. I lived half a mile away, so during my lunch break I went home and brewed up Red Raspberry Leaf Tea. She drank it and later asked me what was in it, her pain stopped so quickly.

Infusions are different than brewing up a cup of tea. The magic number is 7. If you are using tea bags, the ratio should be 7 teabags to 1 cup of water.

If I don't grow the herb, I usually buy it from Mountain Rose Herbs. They come in plastic bags, so I generally store them in mason jars or other glass jars.

How to Make an Infusion with Leaves....

1. Take two handfuls of cut-up leaves or three handfuls of whole leaves.

2. Put in large glass jar.

3. Fill to top with boiling water.

4. Put lid on
.
5. Steep for four hours or overnight in the fridge.

6. Pour into a mug, using a tea strainer to catch any loose leaves.


***I reuse the leaves 2-3 times by just filling up the jar again with boiling water.



Another method is to put several handfuls in a clean towel, tie up the towel with a string or rubber band and steep it in a large stock pot. (The second photo illustrates what I mean).

I've used this method during my pregnancy because I was going through so much tea. I frozen several OJ bottles full to drink during Labor. I ended up only drinking one of the OJ bottles but drank the rest during my Post-Partum recovery.


Can you tell I love my Red Raspberry Leaf Tea?




**** A Reminder, please check with your Doc first and get the okay, okay?

Settling In. Part 2.

One of these years I will finally paint the dresser we use as our "Landing Pad." I painted all the drawers before our last move (you know when I was pregnant and chasing after a 20-month-old). Obviously, I never got around to painting the rest of it.

One of these years.

My husband HATES this piece of furniture with a passion. But, it's very useful. First drawer is where we keep phone chargers, nail clippers and other random items. Second drawer has our address book, swimsuits and heat packs. Third drawer is full of the baby's cloth diapers and the bottom drawer has all of our gloves, hats and scarves. Where do you keep all that kind of stuff? I'm curious.

We have been putting our Key/Wallet/Junk Basket up high this time. Too high for our 14-month-old's curious hands (and mouth). One of her favorite things to do in our old house was to grab that basket and take everything out. ID's, pens, keys, sunglasses were scattered everywhere. Over and over again. It's new home is on the Driftwood Shelf I made with my Mama. So far, it is out of the reach of our Little Climber.

I am excited about our Wedding Certificate's new location. It's in a nice prominent spot in our Living Room. Perfect for whenever I need a reminder of the vows I made to Papa Bear and all the wonderful folks we have rooting for us.

I painted our giant Shoe Cabinet white. It was a big change from it's previous green incarnation. I hung the Collaborative Painting (Nye-Nye and I made right before she turned two) right above it. I think sometime soon, we'll be working on the painting again.

The nifty broom hook contraption finally got put up. The girls got it for Christmas, but there was not a good place in our last house. It's been a real hit with both girls! They both loving taking off the brooms and mop. My 14-month-old hasn't been able to figure out how to put them back up, but the three-year-old has become an expert.

The Garden.

How I LOVE my Garden.

It's itty-bitty. But, so thrilling to watch it grow.

My eight boxes of potatoes seem to do be doing well. It will be interesting to see how many potatoes will have grown (when I finally dump out all the soil).

The cucumbers have been going crazy climbing the fence. I just sprayed them with a mixture of milk and water to help fight some Powdery Mildew. I'm crossing my fingers that they will recover.

My beautiful cucumber plant in the front-yard appears to have wilt, so I will have to pull that out. I'm sad because it had grown so large and was looking so pretty. I'm not sure what I am suppose to do with the potting soil since I don't want to contaminate any other plants. Any ideas?

The zucchini plants have gotten massive. But, none of my 4 pepper plants have gotten very big, they should be getting enough light. 

It's time to tie up the tomato plants again.

And, okra! We have okra! I'm not sure when the pods need are ready to be eaten. But, we appear to have at least one pod that must be ready. 

The sweet potatoes in the front-yard are doing so much better than the back. I can't wait to dig them up this September.

And, lastly, my Amaranth. It's hard to believe I only planted the seeds 6 weeks ago. They are so tall already.

I swear watching my plants grow is as exciting as watching my girls develop. Every day is something new!

Settling In. Part I.

It's been almost two weeks since we moved into our new place.

Two very busy weeks.

Unpacking with a 1-year-old and 3-year-old has been challenging.

Many thanks to my incredible parents who watched BOTH girls for 4 days, while we moved. And, then watched the girls for TWO MORE days, while I had a migraine. Amazing Grandparents those two.

It is finally starting to feel like Home and I can tell that both girls are enjoying the new space. I adore all the light that streams in through the massive Kitchen windows. I get to look out constantly at our growing Garden and it makes me so happy.

Papa Bear was skeptical (at first) of my idea to make the Master Bedroom into the Girls' Playroom. But, I hated the idea of using the Basement as the Playroom. The light is wonderful in their new Playroom and the 3rd Bedroom makes a cozy Mommy and Daddy's Room.

I now have an entire closest devoted to all my Tinctures and Herbs. Such luxury!

We even have had people over for a low-key 4th of July Get-together. I grumbled all Morning while frantically unpacking and hanging things on the wall. But, I am so glad that Papa Bear pushed to have the party. It was so much fun.

Here are a few photos from the last two weeks...