Why I walk barefoot in the rain, in the winter

Wind ripping on my scarf, rain pelting my face, clad in snow pants and heavy rain coat, I make my way gingerly along the trail in my bare feet.  Since it's January and I haven't gone barefoot in months, I don't have callouses yet, and I step carefully over sharp rocks and broken shells.

Despite the cold and sensitivity in my feet, walking barefoot feels good.  I need contact with the earth right now, because I crave grounding and comfort.  I always get this when I'm out in nature, but I'm experimenting with removing the layer of insulation on my feet after reading the book "Earthing: The most important health discovery yet!"

The book is very fascinating and talks about how putting your naked feet (or hands or any other part of your body) on the ground every day can improve your health in dramatic ways, reducing inflammation and helping people sleep better.  It has to do with the electric charge of the earth affecting your body.  I won't explain it here, but read it if you are intrigued.  I've been doing this for a week, even when it's almost freezing, and it feels great.

So after I received some horrible news from my dentist and being terribly upset, I cancelled all my plans and headed west to Bowman Bay, one of my favorite places in our area.  Usually visited by many people in nicer weather, this time it was deserted - thankfully, because I didn't want to deal with people staring at the crazy woman walking barefoot in this weather.

Can you see why I love this place so much?  Ragged cliffs, sandy beaches, eagles (can you spot the eagle in the picture above?), tide pools, awesome views, salty air, twisted Madrona trees, shells, sea weed... What else does a girl need?

Shifting gears, but still talking of beautiful things: my son and his baking.  My 13-year-old boy is on a cake-baking-trip.  He does it all himself, without any help from me, except the occasional "Mom, where is the vanilla?", or a panicked "Oh, my god, Mom, we are out of butter and I need one more stick for the frosting. NOW!!!"  

So I help him search or call the neighbors to borrow butter, and then I take photos of him.  I can't eat the cake because I don't eat refined sugar, but I sure help him admire it and show it off.

Talking of creativity: I'm up to my ears in fiber.  Wool fiber, that is, not the dietary kind.  My project "From Sheep to Sweater" is moving along at a rapid speed, all the spinning is done, and I started knitting!!!  

You guys, you really should go to my membership page and become a patron, so you can watch the movies I made about the process.  It's so fun! (And it's worth the $1 a month).

Also, I'm gonna put up a tutorial and recipe on making the awesome lotion bars below (sooooooo easy!!!), so you can make some as Valentine's gifts.  It will be on my membership page soon.

I'll leave you with different scenes from our week.  

The first one shows Eva, Steve and Yoda relaxing after a long day of doing firewood.  Eva's reading is really taking off, so we have her read to us while we spin, knit, cook, or relax.

The second picture shows the sunrise when I pulled into the kids' school parking lot.  If you're stuck in school all day, you might as well be in a beautiful location.

The last picture is from Chuckanut Drive, on my way back home from Bellingham.  We live in a gorgeous area, don't we?

How are you doing?  How are you keeping yourself grounded?

Do these people ever work? Well. Yes, we do.

Here's one of the reasons I love living where we live: Besides the fact that our spot (also called "the American entrance to the Alps”) is gorgeous, lush and wild, it's only a one and a half hour drive to the East to reach a completely different ecosystem – the Methow Valley, called “the East side” by locals. 

It's like entering another world. Instead of the moisture-loving, towering cedar trees we are used to, the East side sports majestic pines that prefer a dry climate. Instead of ground covered with ferns and moss, the East side grows grasslands and heat-loving alfalfa.

My family loves driving over Washington Pass and descending into the Methow Valley.  We did just that last week, because the highway over the pass is closed all winter, and as soon as it opens, we're on it.  It helped that it was a rainy day here, and we knew that as soon as we crossed over the pass, the sun would shine.

And shine it did.

Washington Pass

We hiked in a place called "Pipestone Canyon", a gorgeous little valley with dramatic rock formations.  It's a haven for rattlesnakes in the summer, but we figured what better time to explore it than now, when it's not too hot and the rattlers won't be out yet (hopefully).

Another favorite place to explore is Patterson Lake, where we tried fishing (no luck), fought the waves in our inflatable kayak, and hiked up Patterson mountain, where wildflowers bloomed their little butts off, and dramatic cloud formations made me swoon.

And now here's the thing: If we drive one and a half hours to the West, we arrive at yet another completely different ecosystem: Puget Sound, where saltwater and islands create another magical playground for exploring.

Last week, we headed that direction as well.  Bowman Bay is one of my favorite places, with a charming backdrop of cute little islands, hikes in all directions, beaches, sand, pebbles, and driftwood to play with.  And a sandy puppy loving everyone up.

If you look at these pictures and think, "Do these people ever work?", I can tell you:  YES!  We work really, really hard!  In fact, I'm writing this early in the morning when my kids are still asleep, and I already milked the goat, checked the other goat for more signs of labor, fed the chickens, cleaned out their coop, fed the ducks, weeded the garden a little, and put away dishes.

Steve left at 5am to work.

The day has many, many more chores in store.  So if you read my blog and look at all the pictures showing us goofing off, and if you are wondering how we could live such a life, here is how:

We choose to live simply.  We homeschool our kids.  We prioritize quality time with family.  We know that our children will grow up very, very soon, and we want to give them experiences that will shape them, and we believe that time in nature, time with us, will do that.

Our kids work hard, too.  They have to help on the homestead, learn to be disciplined, take leadership and initiative on projects.  They deserve down-time and fun times.

This week, I will leave you with random images around our place.

Eva collected acorns, shelled them all herself and made a feast for the squirrels, which she set out on a plate, decorated and put in front of a cedar tree (in case a fairy or two were hungry as well).

On a walk to one of our wild creeks, kids and puppy explored the sand bank.

Yours truly milking the goat, while at the same time teaching the puppy that it is NOT okay to put her nose into the milk bucket.

Eva saying good morning to the puppy, who is trying to gnaw on her bone while also giving her friend a high five.

Me saying goodbye to the two goat babies I grew really attached to.  I sold them to a good home, knowing that I can't keep every baby goat born on the homestead.  See the heart on her back?  

PS: I published a post on why making cheese is so much easier than you think on the Molly Green Magazine blog. Read it here.

Bliss, Beaches, and Beauty

I took the kids camping for a couple of days.  We all needed a change of scenery, and we sure needed a change of the yucky, damp weather.  Instead of days and days of rain, we got sunburnt, buried ourselves in the hot sand, and cooked bacon on an open fire.  We explored several beaches, hiked to a lighthouse, collected crab shells, piled seaweed, played with sun warmed smooth rocks, and one of the members in our family got a lot of knitting done at the beach, and didn't even feel guilty about not getting any home schooling done.  What's not to love?  Steve worked during the day (like, you know, for money), but he joined us in the afternoon.

This is at Bowman Bay, one of my favorite places in the world.

Kai and Luke are doing 100 pushups each a day.  Steve got them to do it... I don't know what the deal is.  It's a guy thing.

There is even a playground at Bowman Bay.  Play with a view.

Walking through a wetland to get to Lottie Lighthouse.

After Eva fell flat on her face, the boys comfort her as we take a rest, with a view of Deception Pass Bridge.

Hiking through enchanted forests with the smell of roses wafting through sun warmed air with the sound of children's laughter - how many cliches can I put into one sentence?

That's Kai and Luke out on that point.  If you look closely, you can see the Olympic Mountains way in the back.

I love this sun hat I knitted for myself.  It really works.

Steve joined us in the afternoon.  Eva loved having Daddy around.  I did too.

Amazing rock formations at Deception Pass Beach.

And when we got home, I got greeted by my lovely roses, who had exploded into bloom while I was away!