Mother duck went out one day...

A year ago my mother unexpectedly left us. We wanted to honor her today. My sister, her family, Panda, and I decided to launch 66 rubber ducks into the mighty Mississippi River in honor of each year of her life (you can find her more eloquently written post about today HERE).  My other sister sadly lives out of state and could not join us.  

Mum loved the story about a cargo ship of rubber ducks that had tipped in the ocean several years ago. A huge flock of rubber ducks escaped and scientists have been using them track ocean currents ever since. Mum would gleefully report every sighting of them. We brought every sort of duck imaginable to the river today, and ended up having a few extra. There were big ones, small ones, pirate ones, angel ones, leprechauns.. You name it.. Mum always loved extras, so we threw them in as well. We didn't do a final count, but it was over 70 ducks. She would have loved this.

At first we gently placed them in the water, but they didn't want to leave the shore, so then we started lobbing them out into the middle where two great rivers meet. A spot sacred to the Dakota and Ojibwa tribes who once lived here. A sacred place of Peace. Mum loved this park. There was joy and sorrow, tears and laughter. Half the ducks decided to go up stream and the other half headed south towards the ocean.. Yes, she would have even loved that.

As they floated away, to join the sea or to be found and brighten the day of some stranger further down the river, we silently sipped her favorite beverage....

  and toasted our mother duck who has gone over the hills and faraway.

I love you Mum.

Faraway, but never forgotten.

Shine on...

Always shine.

Garden update

I thought a garden update was long over due. Remember this lovely picture of our raised beds??.....

 Well, lets just say months of bed-rest have done their damage and the toll is high.. Sigh.. Since this was taken I've snuck out and managed to tame it somewhat despite doctors orders, but my late master gardener mother would not approve. Of course she would also be out there weeding and threatening me within an inch of my life to get back into bed if  I knew what was good for me.. ;)

On a plus side we have SEVEN cantaloupes ripening in our tiny patch. Any day now we will be able to harvest these yummy garden gems.

Four of our five acorn squashes made it. I was going to rip out the vines, but I saw that one still had blossoms on it so I left it with fingers crossed we might get a few more squashes before the frost comes.

I had to ask for help, but Panda, Bear and I harvested a little over 3 lbs of sweet snap peas that I froze for this winter. 

And then there are the tomatoes.... Such a sad tale of woe and misery.  

My seedlings all rotted so my sister gave me some of the seedlings she was experimenting with this year (check her small pace container garden out. Its amazing!!). The seeds were not strong and both her and my tomatoes blighted this year. Oh well. Next year is a new year. I will return to my faithful Roma tomatoes and my sister will return to her prolific bumblebee tomatoes. We had several salads from our lettuce bed, but I think next year I will plant a smaller batch of lettuce. We harvested countless strawberries this year, and three of our 17 apples are making it to maturity.  Not a lot, but there are only three of us right now, so it might be just right. As the tree matures it will be able to handle more apples. 

Oh! Basil, how could I forget my basil bed?! I'm having Bear harvest my basil in small batches right now for processing. I plan on turning it all into pesto. Next year I will attempt to can our pesto, but this year I'm sticking with my tried and true freezer method. We will have at least 10 cups of pesto by my guesstimation when I am done to enjoy through the long dark winter months ahead.

As for me.... Still on bed-rest but finally have some answers and might be getting better soon. I might have to stay on bed-rest because my hips keep sublexing (popping in and out of their sockets due to my Ehlers Danlos Syndrome). The replacement castor came for my wheelchair finally so I might have a chance to get out and enjoy the end of the season a tiny bit if my health improves. Fingers crossed. There are still a lot of unknowns, but we are nearing the end and I can finally see the light at the end of this journey. Till next week. Shine on.

Mother's Blessing

Ahhh, I'm feeling so blessed today. Yesterday was my Mother's Blessing and I must apologize in advance for all the photos. I had a hard time weeding them down. A Mother's Blessing is a baby shower alternative based off of a Navajo tradition in a nut shell.. With each new child the level of commitment and love changes, grows, and mothers are born anew. I chose a Mother's Blessing instead of a shower because this is my second child, we really don't need baby items right now, but what I DO need most right now is support.

The invitations were simple yet elegant. My sister patiently cut each one for me. Inside was the standard invitation information, a short message about Mother's Blessings and a request to embellish a small piece of fabric that was provided and to also bring a small bead in lieu of baby gifts. More on those items later. 

The weather held! It was a tad hot and humid, but we were able to hold the Blessing out in the garden. I had my heart set on this and am so happy we were able to make it happen. Thank you everyone for sending  prayers and happy vibes our way. 

The trees were hung with white and yellow paper lanterns and all the decorations were in beautiful yellows and bumblebee type colors. My sister made a bazillion large paper flowers to hang from the tent.

The treats were oh so yummy with a strong lemony ambiance. Anyone who knows me knows that if there is tea at my house, there are yummy treats present. Tiny bumblebees made out of chocolate covered cherries were used as garnish on top of the lemon bars and lemon cupcakes.

And there was tea.. Four different types of tea, and a gallon and a half of lemonade infused with fresh lemon and mint leaves from the garden. Because of the heat we skipped  hot tea and opted for iced. It was served in jelly jars with yellow paper straws. 

To help fight the heat, everyone was given a cool mint Epson salt foot bath with rose petals (thanks to my brother in law who kindly poured them all). There were pairs of new flip flops  for everyone and a waiting towel at every seat. That way if someone wanted to go get more to nibble or sip they didn't have to put their shoes back on wet feet or walk across the lawn barefoot.

The fabric squares that were in the invitations (see, I told you I would get back to them), were strung up as prayer flags so the wind could catch the love and good wishes in each flag and send it out into the universe. Instead of letting them unravel in the wind however, I intend on preserving them in Badger's baby book.

A table was set up to make more flags, or help embellish a "bed rest" tray for now, when I go into the hospital, and in case I have to remain on bed rest again after the baby is born like I did with Panda. I intend to save the tray for my children to use when they are feeling under the weather in the future.

The beads they brought are to represent the women who came. My beloved inner circle of friends and family. I made a braided bracelet that they will be sewn on to and when I go into labor I will carry this with me. I loved the idea of a "Blessingway" necklace, but  the idea of anything around my neck in labor irritated me. Such lovely beads they all brought. I know who brought each and every single bead. They fit the women who chose them so well. I want to list them all, but there are so many and such deep personal reasons for each bead. This is truly a treasure of love.

As a parting gift to my friends, they all received a small lemon verbena soap in the shape of a bumblebee. These smell so heavenly that Panda actually tried to take a bite out of one. It was a BEAUTIFUL day. I could not have dreamed up  a more perfect way to help celebrate this new chapter in our lives. There was one last beautiful symbol the day brought to us...

Flitting in and out  of the overabundance of blooming flowers the spirit of my Mother came for a special visit on the backs of Monarch Butterflies. She so loved Monarchs and was deeply involved with their conservation. They have become a symbol of her for my sisters and I. The Monarchs have been strangely absent this summer. How beautiful and appropriate for them to show up on this most special day.  A 'Mother's Blessing' indeed. One came to rest beside me during the ceremony. I'm sure I felt my mother's hands on my shoulders as it flitted away. She knew we were trying for another child and was so excited. I wish she could have lived to meet Badger. It has been very difficult going through this pregnancy without her; however, I know she walks with me still.
Be well, and Shine On.

Missing in Action

    I'm sorry I keep disappearing. Things have been kind of busy around here. Lets catch up. Mostly my time has been spent in therapy with Panda, or at any number of medical visits. I'm back on bed rest. We lost our home birth again and are now considered extremely high risk. Without going into to many details I am now facing 4 very real, very life threatening issues, but that's depressing. Lets talk about more fun things. 

My gardens are blooming and quite beautiful. They are my bright spot, I mostly only get to view them from my upstairs windows these days.  Mum used to say that flowers are food for the soul.... My soul is very hungry right now, so it's a good thing my wildflower garden is so lovely.

It's been a battle of the thistles around here, and I tried to sneak away when I could.. But we may be at a point where the thistles just get to take over. See that behemoth in the back? That thistle was over 15 feet tall when I finally chopped it down the other day. I wanted to see how tall it would grow, but Bear wanted it cut down before it could go to seed (that party pooper). 

As for my veggie garden...... The thistles are thriving there as well. This is a before picture. I've since weeded and poured vinegar on the walking paths to help prevent any new growth. I don't think I will be able to weed again this summer so hopefully that will be enough.

 This is what it looked like after the weeding. It is about two weeks old, so things have grown up a bit since then. This year we are growing lettuce, basil, cantaloupe, tomatoes, snap peas, and acorn squash.

 As for the adorable picture at the start of this post? Well in two weeks Panda's best friend's Mommy is getting married and Panda was asked to be the ring bearer. I dyed the shirt because I could not find a purple toddler shirt anywhere for the wedding. I will be hacking off the bottom of a onesie to Frankenstein graft it on the bottom of the shirt to help it stay tucked in. I made the suspenders out of some fabric I had around the house using THIS pattern. 

And the hat I made using THIS pattern. Doesn't he look dapper? I'm hoping the wedding goes off without a hitch. Crossing my fingers that he doesn't try to jump out of the wagon they are planning on pulling the flower girl and him down the isle in (or have a melt down), but at least he is well dressed. I might be skipping Toddler Thursday next week as well, but hopefully I will have a different post to put up. This coming weekend is my Mother's Blessing (our baby shower alternative). I'm crossing my fingers that the weather will be kind and we can have it in the back yard. Actually, I have my heart set on having it in the garden, so please cross your fingers for us. It should be a lovely time and I hope to have many beautiful pictures to share then. Till next time, shine on. 

Toddler Thursday: Ocean

Our bin this week only was played with a few times. I submerged small ocean life animals into a bottle of cheep (blue) shampoo from the dollar store. This was a win because Panda hates slimy things but loves these little animals. In order to get the animals out he had to reach into the goo. Win for a new texture.

This week most of our plans were pushed off to the side in favor of things I could do while on bed rest. I spent most days leaning over the side of the couch while Panda worked on the floor next to me. We also blew a lot of bubbles. A good weapon of choice for a mamma on bed rest.

Next we washed the animals off and played a sorting game. We've been working on a lot of counting games lately.

 I pulled out the fishing game I made last year for Panda and we named the colors as he caught the fish.

 I made homemade edible play dough again using the recipe from our frog week. This time I added some crumbled graham crackers for a sandy texture. We explored a few smaller shells and pressed them into the dough to make imprints.  Panda really Really loves this play dough. 

I also brought his kiddie pool inside and filled it up with balls to make a ball pit. My sister loaned me several sea life stuffed animals that I also tossed in. The plan was to have a huge full body sensory play set up for him to work out some wiggles. After three days we had to take the ball pit away. It was sensory overload and I just could not keep chasing down the balls that were all over the house. So we just ended up counting these stuffed animals, talking about their colors, and quietly playing with them. Not a super spectacular week for us, but we made it through. 

 Soon we will be starting little lessons from Before Five in a Row, but more on that later.

Till next week, shine on.

Baby Moon

 I apologize in advance for how many photos are in this post. Getting ready for Badger to come we have been sending Panda to visit my sister for longer and longer amounts of time. Saturday Bear and I took advantage of this rare time for the two of us to be alone together and escaped for a day trip Baby Moon to Lake Superior.

 There is a hidden treasure we found a few years back. This staircase, off of an unsuspecting road., known only to locals, and then not many...

Descends to a living breathing world of  green things and rushing water.

One can't resist dipping their toes into it. Feeling life rush , swirl, and dance around you.

While a few families were taking advantage of the easy to access rocks and water upstream, I found this grotto and stared longingly down. Bear was worried about my belly and the 20 foot drop nearly straight down; but eventually he had to smile, shake his head, and give in.

It was paradise. This secret grotto, all to myself.

So many beautiful reminders of loss and rebirth along the trail soothed my soul.

Nature whispered everywhere. Soothing songs from a language before words. We paused on the shores of Superior to wave to all our Canadian friends.

And found a few treasures. Bear has been searching for a holey rock for years.. We found three.

Amist all the relaxation and beauty nature had one more parting message blooming abundantly. Forget Me Nots... And with reverence and gratitude, I wont.

Shine on.

Toddler Thursday: Beach

 Welcome back! If last week was a flop, this week was an incredible success. Panda LOVED this whole week. Our beach sensory bin is made up of crushed graham crackers for sand, whipped coconut cream and food dye for waves, a Lego shark (lovingly on loan this week from my nephew), a Tiki cup, ping pong beach ball, towel, and tiny bucket. For the last two weeks Panda has tried to eat real sand. I thought he would love the edible sand, but when I went to show him it was cookie he told me to spit it out , "icky!". At least it sunk in. He did love dipping the shark in the "water" and painting the table with it. Hooray for a new texture!

 Here are our books for the week. Starlight Sailor has such beautiful illustrations. I found that at Half Price Book Store! An awesome find. Summer also has incredible illustrations. I love Gerda Muller books. There is a book for each season.They are beautiful seasonal picture books with seasonally appropriate out door shots and activities. Panda enjoys flipping through on his own.

Panda loves looking at pictures. I made 10 beach themed flashcards with pictures I found on various free clip art sites. When we work on flashcards I say "Ssss, Ssss, Sun.. Sun! Buh, buh, bucket.. Bucket!" and so forth. This worked REAL well for Panda. To our amazement he actually tried each and every word. This is a huge success for our boy who often says no more than a word a day. Our cards are; Ball, Bird (seagull), Bucket, Fish, Sand, Shovel, Sun, Towel, Umbrella, Water. 

We made a Hawaiian Lei using flowers I punched out of craft foam and cut pieces of straw. Panda loves to bead things and he was only to excited to try this new beading kit out. Beading focuses him while working on hand eye coordination.

This is a simple color wheel I made for Panda out of cardboard. We talked about colors and worked on matching the clothes pins to the right colors. In hindsight I should have used clothes pegs instead but he loves working with the pins so much. It takes all his concentration and strength to open them and then clip them on, but it's still a good exercise.

 

Our last activity is counting shells. We are working on 1-5 right now. While exploring these shells we talked about textures for his word association. Bumpy, smooth, prickly. etc..  Panda surprised me with how long he wanted to explore these new textures. I could not get him to put the starfish down. The moment he saw it he grabbed it up and proudly announced, "Star!!". We had to compromise to get this picture. I told him he could touch the star while I took the picture. It was the only way to get him to put it down (smiles). We will wrap this week up with a trip to the beach (or if the weather is bad, a trip to the community pool). Shhh.. It's a secret. I hope you enjoyed this week's post. We sure did. Till next time

Shine on!