Handmade Homemade Swap Party

Yesterday afternoon marked my fifth handmade homemade swap party, and goodness they just keep on getting better. Each swap party brings out the creative talents of my girlfriends, some sticking with tried and true creative talents and others stepping out of their comfort zones and trying something new. There was so much beauty, talent and love represented on the gift table, and it truly was beautiful.

Ten beautiful friends gathered in my home, each arriving with their swap gifts, food and an open heart. We ate, drank tea, shared stories, and then got down to the business of swapping gifts, and what fun it was. For this party every guest brought four gifts, and our names were put into a draw four times. When your name was drawn you headed up to the table to pick a gift. We continued this way until all the names were picked and all the gifts chosen. It was fun, exciting, and truly amazing.

I had plans to snap a few photos of the gift table and our gathering, but alas I was just having so much fun, and forgot to pick up my camera. The photos above are the beautiful, lovingly made gifts I have the honour of calling mine. I am so impressed with the gifts I received, and am so grateful to have them in my home.

Hosting these handmade homemade swap parties has become a beautiful ritual in the rhythm of my year, and they always leave my heart and soul full. Big thanks to all the lovely ladies who joined in, it was a joy to share the afternoon with you. And be ready, we will be enjoying our next swap party under the summer sun.

***Much gratitude goes to the lovely Amanda for sharing her own swap parties, and inspiring me to jump in and give it a go.

Choose Love

Choice. Everything you do is a choice. Everything. Can I ask you to choose love? Can I ask in these days of so much uncertainty, so much unkindness, so much emotion, to just choose love. Choose to see the good around you. Choose to see the good in people. Choose to smile, and be kind. Live in the essence of love. Let love light you up, let it shine from you, let it touch another person, another soul.

It's February, a month dedicated to love, let's be love in a big way this month, every single one of us. Let's share it in whatever way you feel called to do so. Send a card to a friend letting them know you care about them, make a meal for a neighbour, open the door for a stranger, say hello, smile, say thank you, help a mama with crying kids pack up her groceries at the grocery store, let someone go ahead of you in line, buy a coffee for a stranger, offer up a warm meal to someone who might not otherwise enjoy one, listen, really listen to someone's story, tell people how much they mean to you. Let's open our hearts and let the love flow. Let's shower our small part of the world with love, and then sit back and watch it spread.

Will you choose love? Will you spread it thick and heavy in your corner of the world? We can do this, come on, I dare you, join me.

Reflecting on the Darkness

Happy New Year!!! I hope you all had a wonderful time welcoming 2017, and are now settling in to this new year with an open heart, ready for what awaits you.

Around here I have spent quite a bit of time reflecting on the year that was, the year that marks the most difficult of my life. I have not shared any of the darkness that this year brought for many reasons, but the main reason was I didn't want to give it a voice in this space that brings me so much joy, and connects me to so many wonderful people. It was a hard year my friends, but as I sat reflecting over the last few weeks the darkness wasn't at the forefront, not at all, what kept coming back to me were the beautiful highlights of a year full of never ending love and support. You see every time a little darkness reared it's head my tribe of women and my family stepped right up, without hesitation, and lifted me up. Every single time.

Hugs, shoulders to cry on, someone to cry with, texts, love bombs, flowers, meals, someone to talk to, someone to watch my little man so I could squeeze in a little mama time, and so much more. These beautiful women along with my family, stepped up in so many ways to love and support me. When I look back over the year, I am amazed, and my heart lights up with love and gratitude.

It's that light that crowds out the darkness. It's that light that guides me forward on this journey. It's that light that reminds me that I am strong. It's that light that calls to me to continue to work towards my dreams and goals. It's that light that makes it possible for me to get up every day, and start fresh with a positive attitude. My tribe and my family are there by my side when I need them, but what they don't realize is that they are there in my heart every single moment, lighting me up and helping me find the magic in every single day.

So, yes, it's been a hard and difficult path this year, but it doesn't feel that way. Instead it feels like a beautiful journey, speckled with bits of darkness, that were easily wiped away with the love and support of my tribe and my family. I am forever grateful to have them all in my life, and appreciate beyond words how much they have all done, not only for me, but also for my little man, this year.

Receiving the Light

The Martinmas season is one of flaming our inner light, and sharing it with others. That inner light is always burning, at times it burns brightly, at other times it dims in the darkness. My inner light was dimming in some darkness, it was struggling to stay lit, fighting for the chance to shine, but that all changed late last week. Friday afternoon I walked out to the mailbox to find a love bomb. Have you ever been love bombed? Let me tell you it is amazing! In the package I found a beautiful note from a friend, with an inspirational quote and a small gift, a gemstone. It made me day, and if you guessed it flamed my inner light, you guessed right. My heart was full, full of love and warmth.

Little did I know, that first love bomb was just the beginning. Saturday I was love bombed again, this time in public, at my hair salon. Another beautiful note, inspirational quote and small gift from a friend. And yes, I cried, in public. What has followed in the days since are similar love bombs from my beautiful, loving, caring, and thoughtful tribe of women that I choose to surround myself with. Meaningful words of love and compassion, inspirational quotes, and small very meaningful gifts, all shared with me in an attempt to brighten my world at the moment. An attempt that has been fully successful.

I have never been on the receiving end of so much light giving, and I am overwhelmed, in a good way. As they shine their light on me, the strength of my light grows, and in that light I am finding my strength and courage to keep moving forward, to keep dreaming and manifesting and to shine my own inner light.

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To my beautiful tribe, you know who you are, thank you doesn't even begin to share with you my gratitude and love for the light you have been sharing with me. I am brought to tears just thinking about it. My deepest gratitude to all of you, I will never forget the beauty you have shared with me. It means the world to me. Love you all.

Community Supported Herbalism

I am so very excited to announce a new project at Life at Nature's Pace...Community Supported Herbalism, or as many call it CSH. Much like a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), a CSH offers the community a selection of herbal remedies and other homemade products through shares offered at various times during the year, and it allows us to share our love of plants, and plant medicine with people who are striving for a deeper connection to this earth, and community.

This is a project I have been thinking about for a while, and I decided it was time to jump in and give it a go. This first year will be small, just nine shares offered, but if all goes well, I will expand and offer more in the future.

If you are interested in learning more, hop on over to Life at Nature's Pace for more information.

Around Here

Hello my friends! How are you? I hope you are well, and that life has been good to you. I feel like I have been gone from this space for much too long, but I am here today, to check in, say hi, and to share a little bit of the fun we had in August.

August was set aside as a month of slow and simple days. There were no grand plans, just days stretched out before us to enjoy. And enjoy we did. There were weekly trips to cottage country, we went swimming in lakes, ponds and pools, we went hiking in the woods, we spent time with friends, we enjoyed a few family movie nights, we soaked up quiet days at home, we enjoyed play dates and parties at friends homes, and we stayed up late enjoying warm summer nights, outdoor fires and star gazing. It was perfect in many ways, and has left me feeling full and happy.

This month I hosted my first women's circle with my tribe. We gathered around a fire, and opened our hearts to each other sharing and celebrating the beautiful women we are. We crafted together, created the most amazing bath salts, and enjoyed food and drinks after. It was a soul filling evening full of love, and inspiration. These circles will continue monthly, on the new moon, and I know each one will continue to strengthen our connections and help us grow, both together and individually.

The gardens, oh the gardens. They are flourishing even in drought conditions. It has been tough keeping everything watered, but I managed and the garden is providing so much. It has been hard keeping up this summer with the preserving, but the pantry shelves and freezer are slowly filling up, and for that I am so very grateful.

My family has been amazing. My parents, and my brother and his family, stepping up throughout the month to give this single mama some much needed me time to recharge and reconnect with myself.  That time was a precious gift, a gift I truly appreciated, and I am grateful I can call on them when I need them.

And my little man. First of all, he isn't so little anymore. This boy of mine is growing like a weed, and changing before my eyes. He is full of life and keeps me on my toes, always my greatest teacher, he continues to teach me so much. Here and there little bits of attitude are showing up, a little stamping of the feet, and "okay" in that tone, you know the one, but we are working through it, reminding each other that love, kindness and respect are the things we cherish, and offering apologies when we treat each other in ways we shouldn't, because yes I am human too, and yes, I sometimes need to step up and say sorry. Challenges aside, we have a pretty awesome relationship, and every night before I go to bed, I check in on him, pull the covers up, brush a lock of hair from his face, and I smile, my heart full, and so very grateful to be walking this path with him.

So, my friends, tell me, how was your August?

Life is Full

Wow! It is not often, my friends, that you will hear me say I am busy, but this past week I was busy. Summer camp started on Tuesday, and runs Tuesday's and Thursday's for the month of July. Each day I have a small group of kiddos here, we walk in the woods, record nature findings in our nature journals, craft, play, read, and play some more. It has been so much fun this week, and I am excited for the weeks left to come.

On Saturday, I hosted my fourth swap party, a small one this time, with a few close friends. Beautiful gifts were made and exchanged, a delicious lunch enjoyed, and wonderful conversations and stories shared. It was a delightful afternoon, one that reminded me of just how blessed I am to have the most incredible tribe of women around me.

Sunday morning found me in the kitchen, with a group of ladies, for my Putting Food By workshop. We made jam, canned dilly beans and dehydrated kale. As we worked we chatted, drank tea, shared stories and laughed. There is something pretty incredible about coming together with other women in the kitchen to put the harvest by. It connects us to each other, but also connects us to the past, to the tribes of women before us, and that feels absolutely amazing.

Life is full right now, and it is busy, but in a good way, a way that makes my heart happy, fills me up, and reminds of just how much I have to be grateful for.

Welcoming Summer

We welcomed summer yesterday, in our backyard, with friends. Fourteen adults, sixteen children and three dogs gathered for a potluck, complete with bubbles, balloons, lots of play, good conversation, and lots of laughter. Mother Nature cooperated in full force gifting us the most beautiful hot and humid summer day.

There are so many moments I wished I had captured with my camera, but instead I choose to be present, capturing the moments in my heart, where they will be held with gratitude. It truly was a wonderful day, and there were many times when I stood still for a second and just took in the feeling of gratitude that ran through me as I watched some of my closest friends with their families enjoying my space and time with each other. Some new friends joined us too, new friends who I am sure will become close friends.

Summer is here, finally, and with the first official potluck complete, the planning now begins for more summer fun...a summer handmade homemade swap party, a women's circle with my amazing tribe of women, and more potlucks, definitely more potlucks. Happy summer!

Gratitude

If you look closely you will see a few great blue herons, we actually counted 10 in total....amazing!

~ for early mornings on my mat, finding my center and grounding myself for the day ahead

~ for walks around the garden, cup of tea in hand, birds singing in the trees, and the sun slowly rising in the sky

~ for a little man who wakes with a smile on his face, ready to take on the day

~ for beautiful days filled with sunshine and blue skies

~ for this land I call home, I feel connected, happy and content here

~ for the way my body feels after working all day around the house...sore and tired, but also alive and happy

~ for new friendships, for both my little man and myself

~ for flowers, homegrown and beautiful

What are you most grateful for today?

Kids Herbal and Wild Foods Club

Every Saturday morning for the month of June I will be gathering with a small group of boys to discuss herbs and wild foods. It was with much excitement that I prepared for our first session this past weekend, gathering supplies for their nature journals, working on notes and projects for us to do, and deciding just which herbs and wild foods we would learn to identify and use. As they arrived on Saturday morning they made themselves at home in the yard, running, playing and getting to know each other before we settled under the shade of a birch tree to learn about the dandelion and the violet.

They were eager participants and took off from our gathering place in search of both plants. They clearly remembered to ask my help in identification before picking and tasting the plants, and once identified they gathered dandelion leaves and violet leaves for our smoothie recipe, and taste tested violet flowers before picking some to take home to their moms and dads.

We finished the workshop as we always do here at Life at Nature's Pace, with a little free play. I am pretty excited about this series, and I honestly can't wait til next Saturday.

The Rhythm of the Earth

I find comfort in the rhythm of the earth, it never seems to let me down. I hold tight to the knowledge that no matter how cold and dark winter is, spring will come with it's light, colour and warmth. In the heat of summer when the sun feels relentless and the earth is dry I know that soon autumn rains and winds will show up bringing with it a vibrant show of colour. You see no matter what is going on, I can trust that Mother Nature will continue to move through each season, showing up as herself, no apologies, no regrets. The trees will bud, the leaves will unfurl, the lilacs and apple blossoms will bloom. The sun will shine, the rain will fall, and in between the wind will blow, and the skies will share the most beautiful cloud images. I don't have to hope these things will happen, I just know they will. It's magic, in a way, beautiful magic that never ceases to amaze me.

This week Mother Nature's magic took my breath away. You would think after 19 years on this land, 19 years of moving through the rhythms of Mother Nature, there would no longer be those moments of awe and wonder, but you are wrong. Yet again she took my breath away as I stepped into the woods on my neighbours land and the forest floor was covered in trillium. I am well aware that the trillium blooms this time of year, I look forward to it every single spring, but nothing quite prepares me for the first walk in the woods when the ground is covered in endless white. It is stunning, and always feels like such a gift.

I stood on this land, among the trillium, and instantly felt calm and peace. I breathed in the scent of spring that fills the forest this time of year. I looked across the woods, and as far as my eye could see the trillium grew. I heard the happy song of a variety of birds, and the drumming of a ruffed grouse. I touched the earth with my hand, and felt the power and strength of something much bigger than I.

Nearby, the chatter of my little man and his friend made me smile. They, too, see the magic and awe of the trillium, recalling memories of blooming trillium from years past, and finding beauty in each individual flower. Gratitude flows from my heart as I stand there among the beauty of Mother Nature, children laughing and engaged in the wonder of the woods, and yet again, I find myself wrapped in the comfort of the rhythm of the earth.