WHO COULD HAVE KNOWN...

That my creative energy would return and I wouldn't even realize it.  Since August I've felt like a new person.  After turning 40 last year I fell into this nasty little funk and had no energy to write, craft, or even spend that much time in nature.  My summer began pretty poorly but before I knew it I was busy making cards, knitting, baking; all of a sudden I feel good again.  All I want to do is spin fiber, knit, poke around the garden - is it some kind of weird rebirth?  Who knows and who cares right?  As long as I am being productive and enjoying myself.
So my blog share is really just about what I've been up to.    Let's start with my garden:

PEAS: didn't turn out due to the insane heat we experienced this summer.

TOMATOES & ASPARAGUS:  stolen by one of natures creatures, likely deer and rabbits.

CUCUMBERS: due to my raspberry bush being grossly overgrown it swallowed up my cucumbers so I couldn't get to them without being attacked by a hoard of wasp (I learned my lesson about how closely I plant things).

STRAWBERRIES: looked healthy but didn't produce a single strawberry because of the early spring and refreeze we had.

APPLE TREES: still not producing apples.  I learned from an organic farmer that it's because I purchased the large apple trees and not the dwarf.  Apparently it may not produce for 3 more years.

PEANUTS: didn't grow - don't know why

BLUEBERRIES: deer ate them all down to little nubs.

LAVENDER: one bush died and the other is doing ok.

So what did turn out perfectly?  Shallots,  beans and raspberries!  This is the first year to plant shallots and beans and I've planted a raspberry bush a year for the past 4 years.  Thanks to my friend Teresa over at Homestead Notes (growing, writing, creating) and her advice on what book to buy I learned when to harvest the shallots and beans so not only did they grow well I was able to harvest them before they rotted.  My raspberries were in a happier mood than last year, producing and producing and producing lots of yummy fruit.  They must love heat!

And speaking of feeling creative, productive and having such an awesome friend, Teresa sent me a wonderful little package of goodies this past weekend.  The package included a recipe for pumpkin pineapple muffins, 3 little cloth bags with gifts inside, a pretty handmade card and this:

Colorful, interesting fiber to spin!  The pinkish fiber is cotton and the silky looking blue fiber is tencel.  I've never spun either so I'm looking forward to seeing how it spins.  

Thank you so much Teresa for the wonderful package and for knowing what I enjoy so well.

Now I'm off to knit :-)

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RENAISSANCE PROVES THE PEOPLE DON'T WANT A WOLF HUNT

Howling for Wolves had a booth at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival - Pet Fest Weekend - on Saturday, August 18 and Sunday, August 19 and the response about the Wolf Hunt is exactly what we all expected.  People do not want the wolf hunt/trap this November and they were very eager to sign the petition demanding that it be stopped.  Out of the hundreds of people that passed by the HFW booth I personally only came across 3 that were in support of the hunt/trap and their responses went exactly like this:
"The wolf is a son of bitch, they'll kill your animals for fun and won't even bother to eat their kill." (false - wolves have been known to get into a feeding frenzy where parts of a kill is wasted but that is very rare)

"I don't understand why you don't want the wolf hunted, their numbers are out of control and pretty soon they'll start attacking people." (false - our wolf population hasn't been counted since 2008.  At that time the numbers were a little over 2900 and the count was based on the discovery of scat, tracks, depredation and seeing wolves in the wild.  Why does the 2008 count not represent accurate numbers?  Imagine counting the poop of your dogs.  One dog can poop several times.  If my dog take a poop 6x's does that mean I have 6 dogs?  Tracks are also misleading because wolves can cover the same territory several times.  Seeing a wolf in the wild and identifying it as such is very difficult.  Most people confuse the coyote with the wolf.  Same goes for livestock depredation.  Wolves get the blame for livestock kill when in fact a coyote is responsible.  Now here we are in 2012 and with the loss of habitat, road kills, disease, poaching (one of which was recently prosecuted and written about in the Star Tribune) and controlled legal killings by certified trappers, farmers & ranchers - how many wolves actually exist in Minnesota today?  We aren't sure.)

"Trapping doesn't hurt a wolf.  Their foot goes numb in the trap and it is virtually painless so please stop telling people that trapping is inhumane." (false - an animal in a trap doesn't cry and bleed when no pain is present.  Wolves have been known to chew off their own foot to get free from a trap.  The man arguing that wolves feel nothing when trapped claimed the wolf chews its own foot only because there it has no sensation.  He said a wolf wouldn't chew off its foot if it had feeling.  For those of you who wonder if this is true... Aaron Ralston cut off his own arm to free himself when his arm was trapped by a boulder while out hiking.  He said he experienced excruciating pain while doing so.  A wolf and a man will remove a body part not because it doesn't hurt but because the desire to survive and be free is greater.)

For the record, does this look painless to you?

http://howlingforjustice.wordpress.com/

One person did ask me if Wolves were native to Wisconsin because they believed that any species that were introduced to an area shouldn't be protected because they are a non-native species.  

The reintroduction of a wolf is not an introduction.  Wolves existed across the United States and were driven to the brink of extinction.  Minnesota is the only one of the lower 48 states that retained their original wolf population, the other states like Wisconsin needed a reintroduction of the species, which has fought their way back to good numbers.  

I came across a couple of hunters that were against hunting the wolf.  They were big deer hunters but think hunting the wolf is very wrong and they were happy to sign the petition requesting it be stopped.  Although I'm not a hunter I could identify with those two men for several reasons.  I come from a long line of hunters.  My family loved to hunt deer, waterfowl and small game like rabbit (some still do).  One of my earliest memories is seeing deer strung up in the backyard on our family property in Bemidji Minnesota.  There wasn't any "sending" the deer off for processing back then, the women in the family took care of that.

Being against wolf hunting has nothing to do with being against hunting in general.  My grandfather taught his children and his children taught their children that trophy hunting, which is the real reason people hunt the wolf (and bear), is for cowards.  My grandfather killed a bear once in self defense and he made it clear that he never felt good about it.  He believed as does the rest of my family that if you can't utilize all of what you hunt then you have no business killing it and although many hunters see hunting as a sport, my grandfather didn't, he was a man who lived off the land and that didn't include killing animals for their skull and pelt.  Minnesota's wolf hunt is about money, pure and simple (isn't all destruction of biodiversity about money) and Howling for Wolves is working diligently to stop it.

One of Howling for Wolves volunteers educating visitors to the booth on why the 

wolf hunt isn't necessary.

Our mama wolf showing the littles ones that there is no such thing as the "big bad wolf."

Let's not go back to this Minnesota:

My daughter as a peasant girl working at the Renaissance (I just had to throw this one in because I think she's so darn cute in that peasant girl outfit).

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RUNNING OUT OF TIME...

That is all I kept thinking about today.  We are running out of time to save our wolves.  The hunt begins in November and although it seems like a lifetime away it's really just around the corner.  The leaves are already beginning to change from a bright green to a dull yellow which means fall isn't far away. 

Once the leaves begin to drop it won't be long and we'll be hearing about all the dead wolves being dragged into the DNR for inspection; not looking forward to the pictures that will emerge.  It is hard to comprehend how someone can save an animal from the brink of extinction and then shout "hey, they bounced back, now let's kill 'em."  It is insane. 

Well, we are doing our best to stop it.  As I told my daughters - if we sit and do nothing, the hunt/trap season is sure to happen, if we get up off our asses and try to make a difference then maybe the wolves will have a chance.  Here we are getting off the couch.  We spread ourselves out on Summit Avenue in front of the Govenor's mansion (since the Governor does have the power to stop this hunt/trap).  This fight isn't over - we'll be handing out information on the hunt and how you can help stop it at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival during Pet Fest weekend (August 18 & 19) so if you are in Minnesota make sure you drop by.
 (check out the press release about the protest at the Governors Mansion HERE)

My daughter Maya

Howling for Wolves founder Maureen is in the red jacket on left (awesome lady)

My daughter Yana

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MINNESOTA SHEPHERDS HARVEST

We hit the great Shepherds Harvest Fiber Festival over Mother's Day weekend.  Lots and lots of fun things too see; angora rabbits & goats, llama, alpaca, and sheep.  We ate fried pickles dipped in horseraddish sauce and fried walleye.  The Shepherds Harvest and the State Fair are the only two places I'll eat fried anything. LOL!
Here is Aiyana learning how to spin.

One of the many angora rabbits.  This one is a french angora just like our bugs.  I never let buggsies coat get that thick though which is why I don't have much angora to knit with.

Lots of fiber supplies.

Middy enjoying the animals.

How sad is this.  I've dreamed of having an alpaca farm and yet I can't tell you if this is an alpaca or a llama.  That's ok though.  After learning about all the work involved with these little creatures I won't be buying livestock anytime soon.

This is called skirting.  I'm not entirely sure what that means since we missed the demo but there was a sign on the side that said "skirting."  My fiber lingo, unfortunately, is very limited but... I'll get there some day.

I'll blog about what I purchased next : )  Lots of fun stuff.

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TO PIERCE OR NOT TO PIERCE...THAT IS THE QUESTION

I recently took my 16 year old to get her nose pierced.  The response to having actually allowed my teenage daughter to pierce any part of her face other than her ears is quite interesting.  I'm the cool mother to  my daughters friends and those working at the piercing shop but among other mothers whose teen daughters now want their noses pierced after seeing my daughter, I'm not so awesome.
I remember my own mother had rules about such things.  I wasn't allowed to pierce or tattoo anything, I wasn't even allowed to wax my eyebrows or dye my hair, but that's a whole other topic.  I got my first tattoo when I was 18 and managed to hide it from mom until I was 21.  I got my nose pierced when I was 26 and displayed it proudly (it took me that long to stop fearing the wrath of my mother).  I decided when my children came along that I'd be a little bit more open minded.  I would never sign for a tattoo but I think nose piercings are really cute (and luckily not permanent).

I also like ear piercings.  In my husbands culture babies get their ears pierced within 3 days of birth.  Since  midwives and OB/Gyn's aren't really accustomed to that practice I had my oldest child's ears pierced down in Mexico by a family friend when she was 6 weeks old.  Our second child had her ears pierced at 8 weeks old by our pediatrician.  When our last child came along I had decided I'd let her decide if and when she wanted her ears pierced.  Well, shortly after turning five she said she wanted earrings like her big sisters.  I made her wait until she received her vaccines and told her if she could take the pain of the vaccine then I'd let her get her ears pierced.  So, she took the three shots like a trooper and we got her ears pierced.  She did NOT take the ear pain experience like a trooper but she loves her earrings and made me promise she'd never have to take them out :)

As for my 16 year old...

Yesterday she says "if I'd known this piercing was so high maintenance I wouldn't have done it" (referring to the number of times she has to clean it every day).  I guess we'll see how long it lasts :D

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COUNTING THE YEARS...

It is hard to believe that today is the fifth anniversary of my mothers death. I remember when my mom would count the years after her own parents passed and now here I am doing the same. After losing my sister, watching my mother die was the second hardest thing I have ever experienced in my life and can only hope nothing equally as painful ever comes my way again. 

The death of a loved one is life altering in so many ways. I remember after my mothers third heart attack and struggle with breast cancer I'd try to imagine what life would be like without her. It was a defense mechanism in a way. If I prepared for the loss then maybe, just maybe, it wouldn't be quite so painful. Of course I was wrong. No one is ready to lose someone they are so attached to.

One of the biggest internal struggles I had after my mom died was trying to decide how to honor her life and mourn the loss. We have somewhat of an eccentric family (you may have noticed that already by some of my posts :). My mother was raised 7th Day Adventist but ran screaming from the church when she was 18 (not literally, just figuratively). By my own choice I've had lots of experience with Lutheranism, Catholicism, Judaism and Buddhism. Before my mother died she shared with me what she had settled on as her spiritual beliefs and they didn't involve religion. She wanted to be cremated and didn't want anyone coming to mourn her that wasn't a presence in her life when she died.

While sitting with a Hospice Chaplain it came to me. My mother believed in God but she didn't care for religion. She loved nature in all its forms (she could identify every tree, plant and wild berry by name), she raised her children to value all living things and she cherished all the childhood memories she had of her families experience with the Native Americans.

I decided I wanted someone from the Native American community to help me say goodbye to my mother, someone who understood how our family felt not only about my mother but about the earth, its inhabitants and the feeling of loss; but I had feared finding such a person wouldn't be easy. Of course, in traditional Michelle fashion, I marched over to Franklin Ave. in Minneapolis and started looking for "the" person. It should be of no surprise that I was met with a lot of skepticism. It isn't easy going into the Native American community asking someone to conduct a service for your dead mother and it certainly wasn't easy for the Native people to grasp such an idea. As usual though, everything worked itself out. I was very fortunate to find the person I was looking for in the form of Clyde Bellecourt.

Clyde is one of the original founders of AIM (American Indian Movement), a civil rights organizer and a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe here in Minnesota. It is ironic really that he turned out to be what I call my "savior" in the midst of everything I was going through at that time because I had read about Clyde and AIM many times over the years. Clyde, we had discovered, was a friend of my daughters God father. He graciously offered to do a "Wiping of Tears Ceremony" for our family and moms closest friends, all that he required in return was a can of tobacoo (a specific type) used to carry prayers and wishes of our family to the Creator and to cleanse us of any spiritual negativity. Clyde, his niece and great nephew performed the ceremony together.

Again, another odd coicidence, I chose the Minnesota River Valley as the location for the ceremony and it turned out that the Native Americans lived along the river valley prior to Euro-American settlers arriving. We love that particular area because my mother would take our children there for long walks and to teach them how to identify medicinal plants and wild berries. Did she know it's history? Probably.

During the ceremony it was the first time I really felt at peace with all that had occurred. Clydes niece had prepared a bag full of juniper for me to burn in the days after the ceremony to clear my heart and my home of any sadness. We concluded the ceremony with every individual present releasing a single monarch butterfly into the sky. It was a good ending to what had been my mothers life. When I was little my mother told my sister and I the story of how a Native American woman saved my great grandfathers eye sight when he was just a boy and then there we were with Clyde and his family, them helping us heal and move foreward.

I am eternally grateful for what Clyde and his family did for me and my family five years go. There isn't a day that goes by when I think of my mother that I don't think of Clyde, his niece and nephew too. It is the kindness of others that have helped me live with my mothers death to this day.

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THE CANNING EXPERIMENT, PLUS!

I haven't found much time to blog lately but I hate just leaving the place to gather dust so I thought I'd post a quick one. I've been pondering the idea of deleting the blog again. The reason being, I think if I have to struggle to organize time so that I can get on here and write something then maybe it just isn't something

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BUCKET LIST: BOUNDARY WATERS CANOE AREA

On July 10 my family and I took a trip to the Boundary Waters in Ely, MN. This was our 2nd time visiting the area. The first time was in February this year for a dog sledding trip and this time around it was for some canoeing. I've always wanted to (#1) canoe in the Boundary Waters and (#2) swim in one of the beautiful BWCA lakes but neither my husband or I could read a topography map very well, much less use a compass so... we got lucky.

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ART TO HELP THE GRAY WOLF

My daughter Maya and her friend Kim have started a new blog called GENERATION OF THE WOLF. They plan on using the blog to share their thoughts about wolves and to sell their drawings in order to raise money for the International Wolf Center in Minnesota.

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WILL THE LANDSCAPER FIX THIS? OR DARE I WONDER, IS OUR BEEKEEPING VENTURE DONE?

Hard to imagine that within hours of "fixing" our backyard water issues the yard is once again flooded. After going to bed with this:

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LANDSCAPING, ISN'T IT FUN!

Our water issues are solved... at least I hope so. This is the first time we've ever used a landscaper and I'm glad we did. Since we moved into our home the backyard has been one big pain after another. First we had to remove numerous dead trees and way too many buckthorn to count, second was the rock. Rock, rock,

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MN RALLY DAY: LABEL GMO!

We had a good turn out at the rally for the right to know. Lot of great speakers and creative signs. I was surprised at how many people are TRULY dedicated to this cause especially on Saturday when it was only in the 20's, we were all freezing our butts off, but... we were all happy to be there fighting for what we believe in.

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BUCKET LIST: WINTERGREEN DOGSLEDDING

When you make travel a family event you need to find the perfect place. One that not only provides entertainment but SAFETY. I've always been amused by dogsledding, just didn't have the nerve to try it. All I could think about is how cold those mushers must be. I like winter, but not to the point that I want to sacrifice warmth for entertainment. Plus, my only reference for dogsledding are the movies I've seen and

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I FINALLY DID THE NETI POT

For over a year now my friend Angie has been trying to convince me to try the "neti pot." I had read a little bit about it several years ago but the thought of running water through my sinuses brought back bad memories of the time I almost drown, 

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I almost forgot to blog "HAPPY NEW YEAR" to all of you in cyberland. I cannot believe it is already New Years Eve. I'm not one for cocktails or clubbing, the hubby and I don't care for alcohol and big crowds, so we are hunkered down at home for the night with the kids. Possibly sitting up til midnight to watch that ball thingy come down in New York City (not sure exactly why we do that).

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

I hope everyone out in cyberland has a beautiful Christmas and a joy filled new year!

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UNDERSTANDING TERMS ON A LABEL ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH ANYMORE

Organic
All Natural

Those terms on a label seem pretty clear, right? Don't be too sure.

Over the years, struggling to understand ingredient lists, reading what I can on how things are processed, whether or not something starts natural and remains so after processing, how products earn their "organic" labels, so on and so forth, I've learned that just being able to read a label and know what the ingredients are isn't good enough anymore.

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TAKING A BREAK

Hey bloggers!

I've decided to take a break from this blog for a while. I'm back in school studying aromatherapy (AGAIN)... this time I'm actually getting a degree in the program instead of a certificate and therefore will be able to use it for consulting and writing purposes. Woohoo! I'll actually know what I'm talking about.

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DOs & DON'Ts on a RESUME

One thing that I learned in college that stuck with me more than interview etiquette is how to put together a resume. You'd almost think my professors beat the "protocol" into me because I've become a very nit picky person about how resumes make a potential employee appear to potential employers. I've put together a list that doesn't include what lots of other sites have covered. These are just the things I think that most people either don't know or are confused about when they put their resume together.

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BEE DRAWINGS BY MAYA VALADEZ

Check out the cute little bee drawings my oldest made for me.

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