Zendala Dare #24

From The Mother Earth News Fair - Part 1

This was my third year attending the Mother Earth News Fair at Seven Springs mountain Resort in Pennsylvania. I have to say, it gets better every year! And it grows every year. There were so many excellent seminars and interesting vendors that I think I'm going to have to write about it in parts. This being Part 1.

We booked our cabin at Kooser State Park last January. It was the same cabin me and my sister stayed in last fall only this year there were six of us staying there. My husband and I, my sister and her husband, and our parents. It's a small cabin, but we made it work just fine.  Here we are (well, minus me - taking the picture, of course, and my husband who still had to work) on our arrival at the cabin Thursday evening.  We wanted to get there a day early to get all settled in, build a campfire, and just enjoy being in the mountains.

DAY ONE - FRIDAY

The fair started at noon on Friday.  We, of course, got their early.  I know from previous fairs that the best seating is had from getting there early.  I could hardly contain my excitement!  The first seminar I attended was on Perennial Herbs by Tammi Hartung.  I have to say, I really enjoyed her talk.  She spoke slow enough that you could take tons of notes (I like taking notes), and showed lots of pictures.  We learned about all sorts of different perennial herbs (of course), their uses, and how to grow and incorporate them into your gardens.  And while her book was gone by the time I made it up to the bookstore, it was definitely on my homesteading bookshelf wishlist.  I ordered it as soon as I got home, love it, and highly recommend it to anyone interested in perennial herbs.   My mom and sister both attended this seminar with me.

Next I headed up to a Crafting Herbal Salves seminar with Sue Morris of Sue's Salves, a fellow Pennsylvanian.  She gave a brief intro to making herbal salves, showed a great video of a walkthrough of her herbal garden, and also passed along her salve making recipe.  I picked up a piece of comfrey root, which she brought in from her garden.  I planted it last weekend, and to my surprise, it's already growing new shoots!  With the weather cooling off, and being past the fall equinox I hadn't expected it to do much of anything until next spring.  You can imagine my elation to see that new little leaf sprouting up from the ground, and only after a few days.  I suppose that just speaks to the healing power of the plant.  We later purchased some of her comfrey salve, as I didn't think I would have a chance to make some of my own until spring.  I've already used it for a skin abrasion and was amazed and how quickly it healed.  I'm sure excited to have this plant in my garden now.

My 4 o'clock seminar was on (Medicinal) Mountain Roots of the Appalachias.  Seeing a theme here?  I am currently completing a course in field botany online, geared towards identifying medicinal plants.  My main focus for the fair was to learn as much about these plants and their applications as I could.  How interesting to learn of all the plants locally available to heal us.  I imagine that this was something that generations before us already knew.  How quickly we forget with today's 'modern' medicine.  I didn't get to stay for the whole talk, though, as my husband surprised me with his early arrival!  We walked around for about a half hour as I acclimated him with the location of the various stages.

We finally ended up back outside for our last seminar of the day, Planting By The Moon, again with Sue Morris.  What a fascinating talk.  I knew that the moon influenced many activities here on Earth.  That was evident as I watched the changing tides during the few years I lived on the east coast.  Initially I would have thought that it was a bunch of hocus pocus, but it makes complete sense.  Afterall, if the moon can affect the oceans like it does, how could it not affect other living organisms.  We are 70(ish)% water.  I will be curious to see how planting by the moon changes the outcome of my garden from hear on out.

So there's our first day in a nutshell!  There was so much to see.  I was so glad that we had another two days to meander around the vendors between our seminars!

Zendala Dare #23

It was a very crazy and exciting weekend!  We attended the Mother Earth News Fair in Seven Springs, PA.  It was excellent!!  I have a lot to tell, but wanted to get my Zendala Dare #23 posted (late again!).  I pondered over this one.  For quite a while.  But have to admit, this is my favorite zentangle so far.  I went for a steampunk theme, inspired by Molossus for the bike chain and gears, then added my own pipes, etc.  I finished it last Friday night but didn't have a way to post it from the cabin we were staying in.  Oh well, better late than never.  Here are a couple others:

I will tell about the Mother Earth News Fair soon!

Mother Earth News Fair

It's finally here folks!  This weekend at the Seven Springs Mountain Resort in the southern mountains of Pennsylvania people from all over will gather to participate in all sorts of sustainable living activities and seminars!  This is the third year for the fair to take place in this area, and I'm super excited!  The past two years have been incredible.  This year they have extended the fair from two days to three days; Friday - Sunday.  There are so many excellent seminars I can't wait to attend.  And you can find something to interest just about anyone.  What I love so much about this event is that it doesn't matter your walk of life, we all gather with a common goal: To live life more sustainably.  To become part of the solution, not the problem.  To rekindle that fire for a simpler life.  To share in our experiences.

I'm even more excited for this year as my husband will be able to attend with me.  Not only that, my sister and her husband, and both of our parents are coming as well.  My sister attended with me last year.  But I'm really looking forward to having the whole crew there this weekend.

So if you have nothing planned for this weekend, and your in the area (or if your not), hop on out!  It's sure to be a grand ole time, folks!

Many Irons in the Fire, Zendala Dare #22, and Diva Challenge #86

Hmm....I can't remember what this pattern is called...

I'm a little behind on posting my (second) Zendala Dare #22 from last week.  Talking to my mom earlier this evening I told her that I wasn't just burning the candle at both ends, I felt like I was burning a stick of dynamite at both ends.  I just have too many irons in the fire at the moment and need to slow down.  While it may seem that taking on new "challenges/dares" would just be adding another iron, it actually helps me to slow down a bit and focus my thoughts, something I so desperately need right now.  Unlike many of my other creative ventures, I don't zentangle for anyone but myself.  And this week I had so much fun with the "monodala" dare that I had to decorate all three sizes of the template.  

What I like to call, "Zombie Eyes"

Triangle Variations

I then moved on to the Diva Challenge, to "break free" from the confinement of the lines.  I actually drew a string for this one, thinking that my "box" would be what I break free from, yet still stay within the lines of my string.  That, however, did not happen.  The string was completely disregarded, and this is what came out.

This one felt very organic!

My First Zendala Dare

...which is actually Zendala Dare #21.  But who's counting?  I'm still new to all of this, but thought, "this looks like fun!"  Somehow through my Zentangle searches I happened across The Bright Owl's blog.  The author puts up a weekly zendala template with a 'theme', so to speak.  So here are my attempts:

Lilly Bug

Welcome Lilly!  She is our newest addition to the farm.  And what a cute little bug she is!  Last September, when my sister and I attended the second Mother Earth News Fair in Seven Springs, PA, she purchased two Silver Fox does and one buck.  Lilly is their offspring from earlier this summer.  She is the blue variety, but they are often seen as black with the silvering developing as they grow.  They are an endangered breed of rabbits primarily grown for meat.  When I explain this to people, the most common response is, "Then why do you eat them?"  Well simply put, if they're not being bred for meat, then they are not being bred at all.

On our farm, we are working to be as sustainable in our food production as possible.  It is a process, and currently we can only produce a small portion of our own food.  But each year we are adding more and more.  Starting a rabbitry for meat is our next step.  Lilly is still a youngster though, and we're not planning on eating her.  She will be one of our breeding does once she is old enough.  She's just barely two months old.  In the mean time, I am phasing out of raising angoras.  While I love the fiber, they are a lot of work.  I have four at the moment, and plan to rehome three, keeping one.  Four is just too much for me right now.  Their fiber is fantastic being 3/4 English and 1/4 French.  If anyone is interested, please contact me.  Here's my girls.  They all have wonderful dispositions.  Especially the sisters.  And an angora or two is a great way to produce and harvest your very own fiber for spinning!

Mrs. Buns - 3 years old (mamma to Grey and Ginger)

Grey Baby - 1.5 years old (sister to Ginger)

Ginger Snap - 1.5 years old (sister to Grey)

This has been a tough decision for me.  I love all my rabbits.  But my initial intention was to sell Mrs. Buns offspring.  A few I did.  Three I kept.  And I still plan on keeping their brother, Runtdungus Fletcher.  He's my baby!  As I mentioned above, angoras do take a bit of maintenance, so please only serious inquires.  =)

Summer has gone fast!  I'm back to work full time now, which leaves a lot less time for the farm, garden, and shop.  Perhaps one day I will have more time, but for now we do what we have to do, and plan for future change.  It's all a process.  I'm enjoying the cooler nights (and sometimes days), but can't wait for the frosts of fall!  Autumn is my favorite time of year!  I much prefer the cooler weather.  Most of the garden vegetables have been exhausted, though we've still got a few things growing.  I planted some cabbage, onions, and cilantro earlier this month for (hopefully) a fall harvest.  I'm still trying to figure out what I can grow into the fall to extend our season.  Again...process.