end of an era

today our dog Bonnie died. Clyde died in May. They were our cute bestie Jack Russell Terrier brother and sister.  She was 16, which is a real long good life for a pup. I knew this would have to happen someday, but everyone's really sad.
When i first realized that the dogs would have to die someday (as in realistically, a day that was approaching) was August of 2010. That's when i started getting nervous about phone calls or emails from my mom. But it was almost a year after that clydey passed and almost another year now for bonnie.

i wrote a poem/song about it.

once the dogs die, who will my mom feed
once the dogs die, who will she come home
who will walk on the lawn and sleep on the porch
when they are gone.

all dogs go to heaven.
and i still miss grandma all the time.
so this is the end of an era. and therefore, the beginning of a new one.

little valentines

I made these cuties, they are for sale on my Etsy. I will make more if/when these sell!

xoxoxo

Some Thoughts and Some Decisions

Dreamcatcher web, Hemp and Bamboo Cord, feathers ive collected as I travel 

I'm going against my better judgement right now and putting on water to make some more coffee. Maybe ill just make tea instead once it boils. But these cold indoor days got me in a constant state of warm beverage drinking. Im either incredibly productive or incredibly unproductive everyday.

SO, it is pretty much set that i am leaving NY in the second week of February! Unfortunately my funds are really low and i am stressing about this. But at the least i know i can go out West and not have to spend money, and maybe since i have time i could even make some.  I met Emma and I think her and i are meant (by the powers of the universe) to take this trip together.  But now I know i have less than a month to get ready for this and that's really no time at all!

i applied to a permaculture internship starting in May in New Mexico. This is it- 
 it is a bit of money, but given that its 6 months long and that includes food and lodging, it works out to be about 333$ a month, which is affordable (for a normal working person, ha!)

Raspberry Leaf extract, wildcrafted and made in Oregon

Pouch/Wallet. Can be used for Herbal Smoking Blend or Rolling Tobacco, Or  everyday wallet
Upcycled materials, machine sewn and Hand Finished.  This was a custom order.

SO anyone that is in any position, it would help me greatly if you bought something from my ETSY SHOP! there is a link to it at the top of the page too!


these pictures are of some of the items you will find for sale at my shop.








I noticed that a lot of the people i went to High School with are living in NYC or Brooklyn and i wonder how so many people can afford to live there and are even attracted to the urban lifestyle. Part of me gets it, everything is accessible, there is a lot of art and music and you don't need a car. There is just something about living in cities that seems so disconnected even though everyone is so close to each other.  At the same time I think it really is possible to make sustainable choices in an Urban lifestyle.  And i never thought i was going to own a car, and now i got one (even though its temp OOO out of order) cause it was the most practical mode of transport in Oregon. You can always make your own sprouts and ferments.  I just need to live somewhere that i can grow my own food, and be able to turn around in a circle and be surrounded by nature all around.

I decided on the peppermint tea and it was probably the best decision for all of us.

Any and All Leads on the next few months on the west coast are greatly appreciated!
love to old friends, new friends, and friends i have yet to meet!
xoxox

Lucid Dreams and Everything Keeps Coming Back to New Mexico

I have been experimenting with sleeping with Mugwort close to my head. I have sewn up little dream pillows with Mugwort and other herb blends, to put under your sleeping head and entertain you with more vivid and lucid dreams. I have been sleeping with these herbs near my head every night and the results have really been remarkable, i need to start writing them down.

last night i had the first dream where i had a dream in my dream. In my dream i really thought i was awake and was placing together evens of my day and realized they didnt make sense, and i had this overwhelming feeling that i had blacked out for part of it. Cause in the waking world Dana and I went to Joanna and Ike's for wine and board games and i came home and went to bed a little drunk. In my dream i thought i was awake and recounting the events and terrified about how i could not remember what i  did when i got home. Then in the dreamworld i realized i was still dreaming and that was why i was having the  chunk of time i couldn't remember feeling. So then I woke up from that dream but was still sleeping.
When i moved onto the next dream i was in a really large grocery store getting ready to go on a road trip to Montana with Ryan Howe and Ryan Naideau and Howe somehow scammed buying potatoes for less then they were marked by weighing them as something else on the 'weigh your own produce scale'. I thought about how i had 60.00$ left on my food stamp card (which i do in real life ) and that i could contribute it towards the road trip. I thought for a long time about shoplifting something like an avocado and decided at the end not to.
When i woke up it was 9:00am.

Dream Pillows i make, the herb blend is in the shell, I've been keeping that shell on my headboard at night. If you want a dream pillow you can buy one on my Etsy or contact me !

And New Mexico! all the signs keep pointing me to New Mexico. If my life was a movie you would all be laughing at me right now for not seeing my own foreshadowing. In August i found a pile of blank New Mexico postcards in a free bin in Bellingham, Wa. I took them all and came up with (in my head) " The New Mexico Project" where i would send them to friends i havent talked to in a while enjoying the irony that I wasn't in NM and wasn't really heading there. I'll mail one to you if you want!
So NM coming up:
1.I am interested in natural building and find the Earthship Biotecture in New Mexico, and my friend Jess works there and she's offered for me to visit her out there whenever

2. I am in NY and want to go back west soon and i dont want to fly. Dana comes home and says her friend Emma is driving to NM at the end of february.

3. I am trying to figure out what i am doing this year, pursuing all my common interests and i am always on allofcraigs.com (you might get addicted) and search "permaculture internship" and
this is the first thing i see ! if you dont want to click the link, i will just tell you it is what looks like a really badass permaculture interny in NEW MEXICO.

4. also, my car is in Colorado. Emily invited to Moab, Utah, short or long term. both really close to NM. So that whole region is really just aligning for me right now, and even though its not necessarily where i thought i was heading it seems like it might be where i need to go.

I could write another billion things about all the synchronicity and weird little fate-ful that happens to me.
So i don't know, maybe that is where i will find myself.

here are some pictures:

High Falls, NY

Foraged last year in California. Black Trumpets and Chantrelles

Turkey Tails, also last year California. 

homes and homelessness

a small excerpt of the many places i have called home.

Bubble Pie Honey Wagon at Crater Lake at sunset. This baby was my best friend.  August 2011, Oregon.

I live in this trailer for part of last February 2011. Three Springs, North Fork, CA. I moved out when a better trailer (read: with electricity) became available. This beautiful message was already there when i moved in. From that Jason Anderson song, right?

View from the front porch of the Herb Pharm Intern house. Slow onset of warm weather and no shyness of precipitation. April 2011,  Williams, OR

This was my first home in California. The Monkey Cabin, at Three Springs. Monkey is asleep on my bed. The first cat i ever really loved, she died this past April at almost 20 years old, she was as wild as they come.  North Fork, CA August 2010.


Trying to remember to let everything fall into place, while simultaneously looking for a feeling that used to exist where i am now but currently doesn't. 

The Owls Say

I've been meaning to set up an Etsy account for over a year now, and now that i finally have i am realizing how much work it really is. So, it's coming together slowly and i am working on every day. Starting this has been encouraging me to make more, do more, and spend most of my days creating and brainstorming.
I'm a long term subscriber to D.I.Y (do-it yourself) ethics, and while my relationship to the community that   first introduced these ideals to me has changed, my lifestyles have continued to be influenced by these principles.
At this point, i can't really envision myself living the typical working life where i am defined by whatever job i wind up working, or working just to make enough to live somewhere and work. There is so much i want to do and see and explore that i wonder if it can all be done in one lifetime.
So i started this Etsy to hopefully make some money making the crafts i make with the skills i've learned and help support myself and my travels!
So please check it out and support when you can and tell other people about it, i will keep putting more stuff up, and if not from me, check out the many amazing artists also vending through Etsy!

thank you!

and here's a little treat :

 $4.00 at Twice Blessed Thrift Store








    Blueberry Maple Frozen Yogurt!


                                                                                   

 
 homemade whipped cream too!

WWW.THEOWLSSAY.ETSY.COM is my shop!

Sauerkraut! and not being part of an oppressive food system that wants to keep you sick and broke.

Of all the wildlife in my wild life, perhaps wild fermentation is most favorite, most magical wild love. I am awed by the processes that take place, right in front of our eyes yet invisible, that turn cabbage and salt into crunchy, tangy, good for your tummy sauerkraut!  I made my first batch of sauerkraut many years ago, but didn't really get the hang of it until the summer of 2010, when Dana and I realized that it only took one short week (or so) to create batch after batch of this lacto-ferment. 

For anyone just learning about fermented foods, there are some basic concepts that can help us understand the versatility and importance of incorporating these foods into our lives. First, if we look at the American food system and standard diet, we find processed, imported, nutritionally dead foods. We find a system where 'junk' food is cheap and 'healthy' foods are expensive. This means poor people eat poorer quality food and rich people eat food of richer quality. Since diet is one of the main factors in preventing disease, we find that this system is structured to keep those with less money in poorer health and increasingly more dependent on anti-biotic type drugs.  

Second, the process of fermenting foods is an ancient practice that can be found in varied cultures. Fermenting foods preserves and prolongs, it adds nutrition and helps digestion by breaking down complex proteins, sugars, etc into their smaller, easier to digest kin. this is how people survived. they didn't import their food or put another animals genes into it  or fill it up with chemicals. The types of bacteria living,yes ALIVE!, in fermented foods help keep us healthy. 

Okay, now on to the process i used, and the pictures!

Ingredients:

fresh head of organic cabbage 

sea salt

Juniper berries

Caraway seeds

garlic

black peppercorns

you will also need a vessel for your kraut to ferment in. I use gallon size glass jars. Like empty pickle jars you can get at a deli or bar. Also usable- food grade plastic buckets, ceramic crocks. Not usable- metal, stainless steel, non food grade plastic. 

there's my jar! i love glass jars.

me in motion, thank you 10 second timer. 

 If you have a food processor with a grate plate i would suggest grating your cabbage in there. If you have the patience to hand grate then i would do that! If you have neither, you can finally chop up your head of cabbage. Take off the big outer leaves and set them aside. I cut off the bottom, but i chop up the core and put it in. The more surface area of the cabbage you expose, the easier it will be for the water to come out it, which is desirable for making sauerkraut. I also like to hand chop for a slightly less uniform kraut. I like the occasional large crunchy chunk and not all stringy pieces. Experiment, be creative, and do what feels good for you.
As you chop the cabbage, move it into a bowl ( or your fermenting vessel) and sprinkle sea salt on it. The salt pulls the water out of the cabbage. This liquid is the brine that will keep the bad bacteria/molds out of your kraut and let the good lacto-bacilli flourish.  I would guess i used about 1-2 T of salt for one med. size head of cabbage. But the best way to do this is to add a lil bit at a time, knowing you can always add more at the end.  Once i've chopped and salted all of the cabbage i let it sit for a little while.

I returned to my bowl of salty cabbage and mixed in my Juniper berries, crushed garlic, caraway seeds and black peppercorns. You don't have to add these, or you can add something else. I bought a small amount of Juniper berries and Caraway seeds from the bulk bin at the Co-Op and i think i spent less than a dollar on each.

 Smush your cabbage and goodies into your jar and press down so the liquid rises to the top. I take the cabbage leaves i set aside earlier and place these on top of the kraut.

 

If there is space in your jar, like it mine, take another smaller jar that will fit inside, fill it with water, and use it as a weight to press down on your cabbage leaves. Then tie a cloth around the top. Store it somewhere that remains at a steady temperature and out of direct sunlight for a week. Then taste it! ( we arent up to that part yet!)

fermentation mama

Of  course i can't talk about kraut or fermentation without highly recommending Sandor Katz's Wild Fermentation !

there's a lot more than kraut recipes in here. also, the most comprehensible writing on how badass fermentation is. 

thanks! xoxo

Headed for an Earthship

photo from http://freedomthistime.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/earth-ship-bottle-wall11.jpg

So yesterday i applied for a month long internship at Earthship Biotecture in Taos, NM. Earthships are off the grid homes made of natural and recycled materials like old tires and glass bottles. I found out about these from my great friends Kevin and Sheila, who rode their bikes from New Mexico to Oregon this past fall. They visited our mutual Jess, who has been involved with the Earthship Biotecture and is in the process of starting her own project. I got in touch with her and applied to the internship, for May 2-30, and she assured me that a lot of people would love free labor so there are plenty of opportunities. After fillling out the application, I felt positive for the first time in weeks about the way my plans for this year are unfolding.

SO then today, i went to the Kingston Salvo with Dana. It was a last minute decision to even go and then it was a last minute decision to even look at the T-shirts. AND then There it was!!!

for 1.99! the exact same place!

this sort of stuff always happens to me! thank you universe for synchronicity, signs, and letting me know when i'm headed in the right direction!

Now, i just need to figure out what i'm doing until May.

thank you Yogi Tea!

a little guidance during this period of transition....

More Adventurous

2011 was a great year for me, possibly even the best so far. It was filled with new states, new mountains, new friends, new skills, new thoughts, new kisses, new secrets, new feelings. Since it's been so long since i shared, here is what last year looked like for me.

January- Housesitting in Southern Humboldt, California. Dana and I were caretaking for friends on a Hawaii vacation. We stayed in their awesome/adorable off the grid cabin and took care of their goats, chickens, dog, cats, veggie garden, and made a lot of food and ferments.

February- The Lost Coast, Humboldt County, California. This beautiful beach was thirty minutes from us. We took many day trips out this magical beach where the ocean is powerful and constantly eroding the coastline, leaving it pretty much unable to be developed, and hence lost.

March- I went back to Three Springs Garden and Community in North Fork, California that I interned at when i first came out to California is August 2010. We got a lot of snow and the power went out for a few days. I explored the land a lot more on this visit, we had a lot of really sunny days too. I left here with a tan.

April- I start the Herb Pharm internship in Williams, Oregon. You can see the beautiful Siskiyou-Kalamath mountains still covered with snow. I met 13 awesome, amazing women and we studied Herbalism together for this 9-week internship. 4 days a week doing farm work, medicine making once a week, 3 nights a week with varying classes such as seaweed, mosses and lichens, body systems, botany and weekly nutrition classes, and plant walks every other week! It was really intense to say the least but this experience has been hugely influential !

May- Chamomile harvest! ! You can see everyones cute little faces hiding in the flowers! We picked chamomile all day for 2 or 3 days, so much fun! Beautiful weather and everyone was giddy from the flowers. If you've got Herb Pharm Chamomile tincture recently, we probably harvested it!

June- I decide to stay in Williams, Oregon after the internships ends. I admit i decide to stay for a boy. I also spend my time wildcrafting and making tinctures, cooking, babysitting, taking care of chickens, and starting a fall veggie garden. Here is me with sage i found growing wild!

July- Everything is growing! also, I get a car, we named her Bubble Pie Honey Wagon!

August- Crater Lake, Oregon. Josh and I go to incredible, magical Crater Lake! We just decide to go one morning spontaneously and we pick the best day just by chance! This kicks off my month(s) of traveling. Also in August- Eugene, the Oregon coast, Olympic Forest, Bellingham, and back to California!

September- Yellowstone Park, Wyoming! So September turns out to be pretty rough for me. By the end of the month i find myself driving to Montana, Wyoming and ultimately Colorado with some of my new west coast besties, that encourage me to get the heck out of town (and also go on Furthur tour!). I see Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah (and BUFFALO!) for the first time.

October- Southern Oregon...October is filled with a lot of new friends and keeping busy, but not very many pictures. Here is one of a dreamcatcher i made. The weather is beautiful the whole month and im getting ready to drive back east!

November- Garden of the Gods, near Colorado Springs, Colorado. I leave Oregon with new friends Seth and Jesse in early/mid november. We are rocking out and having the best time ever until my car pretty much breaks down. But, before all of our fun comes to an end we take Bubble Pie Honey Wagon on one last adventure. I gave Seth a haircut in the parking lot of this place that came out pretty bad but was really fun. Jesse stays in Colorado Springs, Seth flies to DC, and i fly back to NY. BPHW is currently in a storage unit in Boulder.

December- Italy! Florence and Tuscany! The Leaning Tower of Pisa! So I went to Italy with my Dad and Sister the first week of December. I turned 25 there. My first Europe trip and also my first family vacation with Dad in a long time. Overall, this was a great, beautiful trip. Florence was overflowing with ancient art and architecture and 10 days was not enough time to take it all in! I had the best time when we got out of Florence and went on a tour of Siena, a winery, and Pisa. By the time we got to Pisa it was getting late, so we didn't climb it, but here is what it looks like from the ground.

After Italy, I am back in NY hanging out with Dana all the time, bopping out, rescuing dogs, and watching Sex and the City on VHS. We rang in the New Year with dinner at Jacob's, looking really cute!

So that was 2011. I think 2012 is only going to be better. I'm unsure about a lot of things, and feel pretty lost, but If 2011 taught me anything, it's to enjoy everything I do, and trust the universe, that my path will reveal itself as long as I follow my heart.

Happy New Year!