March in Pictures

The beginning of March we finally got the right snow to make snowmen and Bug was thrilled, she had been gifted a snowman kit earlier in the winter and tried many times to use it but the snow was just not sticky enough.

Jenga

I am always on the lookout for new games at the thrift shops and found Jenga this time.
Bug started Ju jitsu classes, she loves just about anything to do with martial arts. When the little village we live closest too decided to start these classes I was so happy as it is only a 8 minute drive away. The majority of the activities they want to do are in the nearest city Leduc which is a half hour away.

We bought a fancy new 10 tray dehydrator that is going to save me a lot of work. First thing I made was paleo skittles and OMG YUM!! The Minions LOVED them so much and they are super healthy.

The main ingredient is baked sweet potato, then you add friut, and some coconut butter, puree and dry. We made blueberry vanilla, lemon lime and strawberry raspberry to start with and they were all keepers.

 This is what they look like before they are dried. I am experimenting with different flavors but so far everyone I have made the Minions have loved. Here is where I found the recipe Paleo Skittles

Gridding his Aura sketch

 King Connaher has been working toward his certification as a crystal healer and is a natural. He used the aura sketch he had gotten in the fall to create a healing grid. I thought it was a brilliant idea and showed it to a friend who agreed. I then showed it to the lady who had done the sketch and she thought it was amazing as well and asked to share his idea on her website which is connected to facebook and from there it was shared with our greater community on various facebook sites. We are all so proud of him.

Bug's mosaic bunny

 Bug made another mosaic project this time a bunny to add to our Ostara decorations

The Minions decorated the house for Ostara and his year they noticed how the Sabbats are not lining up with the seasonal shifts like they used too and we dove into learning about climate change. It is a subject that they have heard a lot about but they wanted to take a much deeper look at it this time. Minion lead learning at its best :) Daddy is a weather watcher and Grampa was by trade as part of his job as a Flight services specialist a weather man :) He would have been proud of them. Daddy and the Minions spent many hours watching documentaries and surfing the net looking at various old documents and sites. It is an ongoing quest with some very different ideas and so many sides but they have all decided that we need people to wake up to what is going on in our natural world before it is too late! Their Grampa fought so hard for the environment here in Canada and almost every thing that was put in place to keep it safe is being undone or is already gone. Our vast water resources, animal resources and trees are being destroyed at such an alarming rate that we are worried the tipping point has come and we are going over. Balance needs to be restored and my Minions want to help :D Sustainability needs to become everyones way of life not just some of us and the consumer driven lifestyle we are mostly all guilty of has to change to do that. 

We can and the Minions have learned all about different preserving methods I was gifted a book by my Mom for my birthday a couple years ago called Preserving food with out freezing or canning by Deborah Madison and it is full of time tested preserving methods. In the fall we put down many many jars of crabapples and have enjoyed the fruits of our labors all winter. The more we can grow and wildcraft on our own the less burden on the system we are and those resources can be used on people who really need them. I am a big believer in growing your own food and think that if everyone were responsible for producing even a fraction of their own food we would be in a much better place as a whole.

I added three new statues to my Goddess collection. The bronze cast Maiden, Mother and Crone.

 We decided to tap our Birch trees and make Birch syrup

We searched our woods for trees big enough to tap and found only four. We do have quite a few Birch in our woods but not that many are old. You need them to be at least six inches around so the tree is not hurt.

 Daddy and Bug found one that was just big enough

 Zed used to go out with Grampa and Gramma and tap the maple trees when he was little. Here he is passing on what he learned to Willowtree

Bug amongst the Birch

Bug using a hammer to tap the tap in gently

Bucket on the tap waiting for the sap to flow

We saw a lot of wild rabbit signs in our woods and some deer tracks.

We decorated Ostara eggs three different ways this year, coloring with q-tips, the shaving cream method and just regular dying. The shaving cream method is by far bugs favorite. 

Shaving cream eggs drying

Q-tip colored eggs

Finished eggs

Ostara bunny loot

King Connaher sporting his Ostara crown lol

King Connaher has an amazing sense of humor and is always down for a good laugh. He amuses his little sister greatly and enjoys doing it.

My Ostara gift from the minions, cute eh! We celebrated Ostara with an indoor egg hunt as we have three feet of snow still. Had a wonderful brunch and then went in to the city and spent the day with our community just hanging out and having fun.

Bugs birthday is in the beginning of April,  this year she got something very special for her birthday and she got it early. Meet Finnigan, Finn for short he is her new long haired miniature Dachshund puppy. Now King Connaher, Willowtree and Bug all have their own puppy and we are full up!! No more dogs in this house!!