They lined the entrance to the city in great anticipation. Mothers with little ones running around, dancing with excitement, old men shuffling to claim their spot to see this miracle-working man.  They were waving palm branches, laying out their cloaks for His donkey to trod on. It was a celebration fit for a king.

And the noise. They shouted, “Hosanna!”  Such joy, such hope.  Were they witnessing history? Was this the day when He would finally rise and overthrow the Romans?  Finally.  They must have thought their days of oppression were over. Their King had arrived. Surely He would take His rightful place. Redemption had come.

Over the noise and chaos, the religious leaders challenge Jesus. “Tell your followers to stop shouting, ‘Hosanna!’  Only God is worthy of worship.”

I think smugly to myself…those “religious” people, they missed the Messiah again.

But Jesus answered, “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!” (Luke 19:40)

And there it is.  I can be replaced.

By rocks.

I shake my head. Can it be?

I thought He needed my worship.  Seeing these verses as if for the first time, He speaks.  He desires my worship, but if I don’t – if we don’t – well, the rocks will cry out.  All creation worships Him.  It is silence to our ears, but He hears.

I am humbled.

I don’t want to be replaced…certainly not by rocks.

I am in awe, that rocks can even cry out!  What an amazing Creator!  I take Him for granted, this one Who is ever near, ever interceding for me.  Yet, somedays I miss Him.  My lips are silent.  Forgive me.

Hosanna!  Redemption has come, and I praise the One who became sin for me that I might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor. 5:21)

Still.  I feel dry. Disconnected.  I want to hear Him, to know Him, to see Him.

Then I remember Martha. Busy doing many good things. Yet missing the most important. And Mary. Who chose to stop. To sit at His feet and just be quiet. Staring into His beautiful face. Though there were many other people in the room (for He was followed by a great crowd everywhere He went), I suspect Mary saw and heard no one else but Jesus.  All because she CHOSE.

To be still.
Stop her busy hands.
Take a moment for herself to breathe.
Shut out the world’s distractions.
Close her mouth and open her ears.
and LISTEN.

I think she knew. These were sacred moments. Cherish them. He wouldn’t be with them – at least not physically – for long. Others through the ages would imagine. Dream. Of sitting with Him. Face to face. Hearing His voice. Feeling His embrace. His breath as He hugged and greeted her. And yes, His praise for choosing the ONE THING.  The better part.  And it was not taken away from her. She would remember His words, cherish the memory and be glad she stopped doing good things.

I too have the choice…to quiet myself. Stop doing and just LISTEN. Just BE with Him. These too are sacred moments, and they are mine for the taking.

Recently I came across a different recipe from Dana at The White Silk Purse.  Love the idea of keeping it in the canning jars and having a more concentrated formula to work with on laundry days.  This is definitely on my to-try list when I run out of my current batch!

The chickens are now residing in a new home.  My challenge was not wanting to keep them cooped up.  They were fine to wander in our yard and the lot next door, but they started wandering a whole street away.  If we kept them cooped up in a chicken yard or the coop itself, we would be buying even more feed.  My husband reminded me that this wasn’t what we were aiming for…the cost of feed, due to the cost of corn has been steadily rising.  So, a good friend with lots of land and animals took them a few months ago.  I’ll admit, I miss them. A lot.  But it is probably for the best.

I started working part-time to supplement our income.  Our oldest got married on 12/31 and I even picked up an extra part-time job over the holidays to help with the wedding expenses.  Working more meant I was less available for my family.  Even though the boys are young adults, I still like to be available to them.  I also found us eating out or more convenience foods, since I didn’t have time to cook from scratch.

I was so thankful the extra job ended a few days before the wedding!  Now we’re entering a different season with one child out of the house and another graduating high school in a few months.  I’m looking forward to getting to some creative projects around the home and getting our little garden going again.  This is a great time of year to grow lettuce, kale, swiss chard and broccoli.

The older I get, the more home-focused I become.  I sometimes look back and wish I had really valued my role as a homemaker when my kids were younger.  As I move toward having an empty nest, I’m also looking forward to growing in personal areas and learning new skills that I might pass on to my daughter-in-law and hopefully, grandchildren.  I’m blessed that my husband doesn’t want me to go out and find full-time work.  We are quite content with my part-time job that is worked mostly from home.  A perfect fit for us during this season of transition.

I’m also looking forward to growing and learning from other bloggers and those who visit this blog.  I’m committed to giving more and living more purposefully, with more faith in the coming year.

So, the past month or so I’ve been learning more about herbal medicine and being more systematic in my approach. I’m attempting another herb garden, and ordered some quality dried herbs as well. With prices rising on everything, I really want to have my herbal medicine cabinet well stocked within the next few months.

My mulberry tree has grown a lot and I realized today I have lots of ripe berries ready! Mulberries are pretty fragile, so I need to use them soon after picking. So, this morning I’m looking up jam and cobbler recipes. Yum!

Hopefully, I’ll have some photos up of my creations later today.

I now have a new appreciation for the challenges of city living!  I enjoyed the culture so much there, but it did make me realize the things I’d miss if I lived in the city.  Things like my backyard chickens, a garden, etc.  Now I know there are also many plusses to city living, but having space to weave and create, grow my own food (or at least try!), and stock pile needed items are important to me.

The fall leaves were beautiful!  Loved the North End – the smells of Italian cooking, the sounds of the neighborhood, and of course the amazing pastry shops  Yum!

The time away gave me opportunity to journal, think and dream.  While I’ve maintained some of my new “simple” habits, I’ve let plenty slide.  Plus, there is so much more that I want to do!  My boys are now young men – while I’m still technically homeschooling, my 16 year old is pretty much schooling himself and will soon attend the local community college through dual enrollment.  I am now juggling working part time with my other responsibilities, and I am realizing now more than ever that time management is really key to living a more self-sustaining lifestyle.  Unfortunately, time management is not one of my strong suits, so I’ll be looking to learn from others in the days and weeks ahead!

I’d love to hear your time management tips!  Feel free to join the conversation

Regarding more pics of my Union Loom — I’ll try to take some, but it is hard to really tell how to assemble it with just photos

Now about the flies in the chicken coop.  The Diatomaceous Earth continues to work great!  As for how to mix in feed, I’m afraid I’m not very scientific.  I just sprinkle some in the feed container (maybe a tablespoon or two) then add more feed with a bit more sprinkled again, finishing with more feed on top.  The DE also worked great in getting rid of carpenter ants that made a NEST in the top of the coop.  There were hundreds of them up there last week.  I thoroughly dusted the nest and top area of the coop where the girls roost and have their nest boxes.  Within a couple days the ants were gone.

I’ve been busy adjusting to working a part-time job, while still homeschooling, and working around my suburban homestead.  To address some health issues I’m exploring more traditional cooking via the book Nourishing Traditions.  Interesting this is, this way of cooking/eating totally fits in with a more simple, sustainable lifestyle, but more on that adventure later!

I literally crawled toward my backdoor, wondering how long it would take my teen sons to notice I wasn’t in the house (of course, it was one of the few times I didn’t have my cell phone in my pocket).  Thankfully, my oldest saw me through the glass door and came to my rescue.  I’m usually not a huge wimp, but I haven’t hurt this bad since I was in labor!

After getting settled on the couch (lying down), and calling my husband, I realized that I needed to calm down so my muscles could relax.  I sent my son to the kitchen to make an ice pack, then to my essential oil and herb stash for things to calm my nerves and muscles.  Lavender oil is very relaxing, so I started with that (as aroma therapy).  I’m so thankful I made some infused Arnica Oil a few months ago!  I’ve been using the infused oil with either peppermint or a blend called Pan Away, and it is helping a lot.

It has been really hard to not do anything for two days, but rest is the most important thing after an injury.  I’d say I’m about 50% better now (36 hours after the initial injury), but I suspect I have a long way to go.  I have been researching the best herbs to use to speed healing, and I’ve also been sure to drink plenty of water and fresh juices to give my body living foods that absorb quickly.  Unfortunately, I have been less than diligent to make infusions and tinctures.  I have a good supply and variety of dried herbs, but I put it all on the proverbial back burner.  As soon as I’m up and around, I’m definitely going to get to work!  Many remedies that would have been helpful for this injury (and a more minor one my son has), take time.  In fact, that’s part of living a more simple, purposeful life — slowing down, planning ahead so we will be prepared and not as dependent on running to the store, able to bring healthy, healing alternatives to my family, etc.

I have been learning a lot as I’ve researched the best herbs to use for various injuries and ailments!  One thing about being steadfast at home, there is always lots to learn.

Soon we’ll head to Arkansas to visit my mom, who was not able to attend commencement.  I’m looking forward to spending time with her in the garden.  She says they have over 100 hills of potatoes.  Guess I know what we’ll be having for dinner

The garden is changing as the days are very hot and getting more humid.  Out went the broccoli, kale, and lettuce.  The onions have been harvested and are waiting to be chopped and frozen.  I have watermelon, eggplant, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers seedlings in the ground and the tomatoes are really growing and starting to produce ripe fruit.  The yellow pear tomatoes are delicious!  When I get home, I plan to get some seedlings started, and try getting bush beans to grow.  It may be a bit late, but I’m willing to take my chances.  I’m really working at increasing our food production this year and figuring out how to keep stuff growing and feeding us year-round.

I recently had someone notice a simple little coaster I crocheted for my desk.  Seemed only natural to whip one up with some left over yarn rather than throwing away that last bit.  Plus, now I don’t reach for a paper towel to serve as a coaster.  What I realized in my conversation with my friend is how much I am changing in my attitude toward consumption.  What once was a challenge, or something I had to really think about when it came to living more simply, is starting to become more natural.  Yea!  Of course, reading other blogs reminds me of just how far I have to go, but it is still good to realize that we really ARE creating a life that is slower, simpler, and more satisfying for our family.

Several of us realized we were in the same boat when it comes to our gardens — we are very late getting our next crops in.  We are all novices at this, and it would be easy to get discouraged.  Instead we encouraged each other to plant those seed anyway – the worst that can happen is we don’t get any produce, but we most likely will see some yield, even if it’s not what it could have been.  So this week I’m pulling the spent broccoli plants, adding some compost and planting squash, zucchini, and cucumber seeds.  I’ll keep you posted on the progress!

Another thing we talked about while our knitting needles clicked, was how we were each doing on our storage/pantry planning.  It was neat to hear what others were doing, and to be reminded to stay on track.  We also discovered there were some items we each needed and are going to do another bulk order together soon.

I recently finished reading the book “Independence Days – A guide to Sustainable Food Storage & reservation” by Sharon Astyk.  Sharon has done an excellent job of blending practical tips and recipes, with the story of her own journey and the results of her own research regarding food and the decline of natural resources.  Even though the information wasn’t necessarily new, it was still a good reminder for me to stay on track.  I also picked up some very useful tips and feel better armed to encourage others that they too can start stocking up for an emergency.  By the way, there are lots of good reasons to stock your pantry that have nothing to do with the world as we know it coming to an end!  Job loss, rising prices, and natural disasters, are a few that come to mind.

One of the things I know I should add to my pantry for long term storage is beans and legumes.  Problem is, I don’t know how to prepare them!  Once again, my friends came to the rescue.  Cooking beans is something that a couple of us have done a lot, whereas myself and one other friend were pretty clueless.  After making some notes and pulling a recipe book off my shelf, I am ready to incorporate this power food into our diet.  Even as I type this, there is a pot of black beans out in the solar oven!

When I first started thinking about the idea of some key ingredients to moving toward a simpler, more sustainable lifestyle, I really didn’t have friendship on the list.  However, I realize that in a society where we’ve either moved away or lost touch with many of our older relatives that can teach us these skills.  So, I definitely benefit from the support and information I receive from “friends” who write great blogs about their journey, and friends here in my community who are so willing to share both their failures and successes so we can each get a little further toward our goal.