Sad

Yesterday we lost our gerbil, Pippin. He had been very sleepy for several days but we didn't think anything of it. Yesterday morning he was hunched over, had ruffled fur, and wouldn't eat even if we tried to hand-feed him. We did some internet research and fed him porridge, which he ate a bit of. We tried to give him some antibiotics for wet-tail but he wouldn't take them. He just got worse and worse and in the afternoon he stopped breathing. He is in the freezer and we will bury him in our garden plot at Blackacre Farm but he really is in pet heaven with our cat Debbie. They are friends because 'the lion shall lay down with the lamb' ought to also mean 'the cat shall lie down with the gerbil'!

Cultures for Health Water Kefir Starter GIVEAWAY!

Wellness Mama is having a giveaway from Cultures for Health of water kefir starter! I have never made this but really want to! It is like healthy soda pop.

Spring Foraging Fun - Chickweed!

I just learned how to identify chickweed - lobed leaves, starry white flowers(buds in my case!), fine hair on one side, and lack of sap when stem is broken. It is a bit tricky to pick it out among all the other weeds, but not too hard. I just gathered enough for a batch of sun/moon powered tea. Right now I am drinking sun/moon violet tea (from dried violets a friend got me from a middle-eastern store) and the taste is SO superior to the boiled water version. Chickweed contains natural saponins (you can use it as soap) which break down bacteria (and some people say fat cells too) and other nasties, a general nutritious detoxifying herb.
Today I also made cinnamon rolls - the recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, but with stevia/erythritol and I added raisins. They were delicious!

Silly critter!

So I had seven garlic plants growing outside in a 5-gallon bucket, right? Well now there are only six, and a hole where one was. I think it was a squirrel or a rabbit. Mom says the squirrel with garlic breath is the guilty one, I say I can't catch a squirrel to check! I hope whatever it was leaves the rest alone, though! Oh, and I planted some parsley which just started to come up!

MadeOn DIY lotion bar kit GIVEAWAY!

Click here to enter a contest to win a $30 value kit to make your own lotion and lip balm! I'm so excited, I love making that sort of stuff!