Flowers, Fireworks, Friends And Fun!

Mark and I worked our butts off last week digging out an herb garden in the front lawn. We only had hand spades and it took four days. To be fair, Mark did most of the work, but I put in a lot of sweat and muscle too. The goal was to have it completed by the time our friends came over on Saturday to see the fireworks.


Mark started by digging the circle parameter and then he began the process of removing the grass. While he worked on that I carried stones from the lower back deck to a shade garden I made on the side of the house (I forgot to take a picture of the shade garden...next time).

I saved the sturdy mulch bags from the mulch I put in the shade garden so we could fill them with the grass and top layer that Mark was removing from the herb bed. 

We waited to work until later in the evenings when the temperature dropped a bit. It is just too hot to be out working otherwise . That gave us several hours every night until we lost the light. After four evenings we finally had a grass free area!

You can tell from that smile he is glad to be done with the digging!

Amazingly the plants that Gloria gave me were still thriving after four days in a bucket. You gotta love the resilience of herbs!

The next evening I planted the bee balm, lemon balm and placed the butterfly house in the center. We plan to pick up another herb at the farmers market on Wednesday. 

We felt like we were at the finish line at this point but still had to haul rocks from the lower deck behind the house up to the front lawn to create the border of the garden. 

The final step was adding the mulch and TA-DA! We have an herb garden, and just in time for our guests the following night. 

Saturday I decided to get a little patriotic for the party. I bought a big American flag to put on the light post in front of the house. 

And hung some flag inspired pennant banners on the back deck railing.

A few patriotic pinwheels in the box planters with the new lantana flowers, and we were ready to celebrate! 

We had a pretty big crowd and the fireworks show was awesome! I kinda wish I had taken pictures of everyone, but I was in the moment and just didn't think of it. I do however have pictures of the beautiful flower arrangement our friend Rcena made and gave to us. She is a florist at Flowerama in Springfield and super talented! Just look at this gorgeous arrangement! (and ignore the toaster and coffee maker. It was the most well lit area to take photos).

The ceramic pot looks like paper mache'. 

I love the way she weaved the grass strands!

The eucalyptus is a nice touch. One of my favorite plants. I just love this arrangement so much! 

I can hardly believe that tomorrow is the first day of July! Time sure does fly when you're having flowers, fireworks, friends and fun! 

~ Love & Light ~

Take It Outside!

One of the best things about the warmer seasons is being able to take your yoga practice outside. The fresh air, the sunshine and the open space really enhance the experience. It also breathes new life into your daily routine and gives you extra motivation to stick with your practice. 

I have an older mat that my mom gave to me years ago and it is perfect for outdoor use. It is a little dingy and tiny pieces of it shed off from the years of use, but that is one of the reasons I love it so much.  

Photo of this mornings yoga session spot.

If you are lucky enough to be out during a breezy morning take note of the wind on your skin. Let it bring a new awareness to different areas of your body. Really feel the sunshine nourishing your skin and spirit or the slight change in temperature when the sun ducks behind the clouds.

Take in the colors of nature...the bold green foliage of summer, the intense blue sky, maybe the oranges and pinks if you live in the South West, or the ocean if you're so lucky. Notice the people, plants and animals that make your area unique. Enjoy the time and be present to your relationship and perfect harmony with the environment. 

I like to sit my laptop on a chair and have a yoga class video going. I try a new video each session to keep things fresh. The sight I like to use is called DoYogaWithMe. The videos are free and they have a lot to chose from. 

My virtual instructor.

Being outside to do yoga really adds so much to the session. I love catching a whiff of the flowers on the deck or the scent of the river water. If the neighbor is mowing the lawn, I don't let the sound of the mower bother me, but instead enjoy the smell of fresh cut grass. Speaking of sounds...the birds singing, the wind rustling in the trees, children laughing at the park...these are all things that bring a smile to my face even if I'm in a challenging pose. Today while in savasana, at the end of practice, a bullfrog began to croak. This felt like such a blessing, like he was singing just for me. 

If you have the opportunity to take your practice outside I really encourage you to so. If you don't practice yoga maybe take your cardio. and fitness routine outside. I bet pumping iron in the fresh air must have some added benefit to muscle building! Give it a try... I promise if you do you won't want to go back inside.

~ Love & Light ~

Rainy Day Post

I'd like to be outside working in the yard right now but it is raining buckets out there. We have had so much rain lately! Yard work will have to wait. 

The herbalism classes I attended over the weekend were a lot of fun! Our teacher, Sasha Daucus, is such a neat person and I came away from the experience with a wealth of new information.

Herbal remedies made in class.

A glimpse of the coursework. 

Group photo of the Herbal Studies class.

The woman who hosted the class, Gloria Scarlet, gifted me some plant starts from her herb garden. I gladly accepted them, but as you know if you read this blog, my garden bed didn't work out due to it being full of poisonous plants. I enlisted the help of the husband and we are in the process of digging up a new herb garden bed in the front yard. If it ever quits raining I'll be able to share photos of our progress. I did get one cute snap of Mark digging out the parameter of the bed. :D

Working hard in the yard.

To add insult to injury, the garden space we worked so hard to clear out last month (the one that gave me poison sumac) yeah, it is already flourishing with new weeds, vines and poisonous plants again. *sigh* Of course I'm afraid to go near it, so this photo is taken from the upper deck. 

Frustrating to say the least.

Ok, so that's where we are with the plant situation right now. I'll get some better photos up once we make some more progress. 

We have a lot of fun things coming up this week. Tomorrow from 7:00pm-8:00pm on the Northeast side of Phelps Grove Park join Deva Kaur for POP-UP Kundalini Yoga...AWAKEN! Wednesday is the Ozark Downtown Farmers Market from 4:30pm-7:30pm. Thursday from 6:30pm-8:00pm is a Kirtan at Circle On The Square hosted by Beth Spindler and Friday kicks off the weekend long celebration at the Finley River Park called The Sertoma Duck Race. All kinds of activities will be happening at the park this weekend from live music, a car show, beard contest, the duck race, etc. On Saturday night when it gets dark (around 9:30pm), the grande finale will be the fireworks show! Also on Saturday, but unrelated to the events at the park, is the Springfield Area Herb Society Wild Edible Walks with Bo Brown. The group will meet at the commuter parking lot at highway 65 and Evans Road. At 9:45am we will carpool to Busiek State Park for the walk. The fee is $8.00. 

Whew! A busy week following the Summer Solstice! To keep you cool during all this activity why not try staying hydrated with some infused water. The following are fun combinations to keep your whistle wet all summer long! Just slightly pinch the leaves and berries to diffuse the flavor before adding to a glass of water. Sip & Savor. 

~ Love & Light ~

Close Encounters In Oz

So, Tuesday morning I decided to read on the back deck while I was oil pulling. After I sat down in my comfy rocking chair I felt something tickle my left arm. I looked at the area where I felt the tickle expecting to see a spider, but to my surprise I saw a teeny tiny alien...well, really it was a baby praying mantis but I always think of them as tiny aliens. You'll probably have to click on the photos to enlarge them if you can see him clearly.

Tiny alien perched on my hand.

He walked around on my arm for a good 5 minutes but he kept heading towards my hair, so I finally put him on the table. He stuck around for almost 20 minutes so I took some photos. 

He was so little my camera had a hard time focusing in on him.

He played on the table and kept pausing to check me out. He was as interested in me as I was in him. He kept trying to get back on my arm.

He didn't take his eyes off of me for long.

Then he decided to get a closer look at the book I was reading. 

Hey! I'm more exciting than your book!

See ya later! 

After about twenty minutes of scurrying around my timer went off and it was time to go spit out the oil in my mouth. I said goodbye to my new friend (using telepathy of course because my mouth was full of coconut oil) and said a little prayer that he wouldn't be gobbled up by a bird or a spider. I am really happy he stopped by to visit. (For those of you who noticed, yes I'm only on page 76 of The Earthbreakers! I told you I have a hard time with historical fiction but I admit, 76 pages in over two months is a reading record low for me...but I'm determined to finish it).

Below are a few photos of another slightly larger alien we encountered last year. Now that I think about it, it seems that these dudes have an affinity for me. I run into them more than the average person. If only I had pictures of every time I saw one of the guys...lucky for you I don't, so this post is drawing to a close. 

Mark spots the alien.

He enjoyed having his photo taken. ;)

The following info. is from Spirit-Animals.com:

If Praying Mantis has crawled into your space;

Usually the Praying Mantis makes an appearance when we’ve flooded our lives with so much business, activity, or chaos that we can no longer hear the still small voice within us. Taking a step back and some simple meditation would be in order here because the external din we’ve created needs to be quieted so that we can come back to our own truth. The Praying Mantis always comes to us when we need peace, quiet and calm in our lives.

If the Praying Mantis is your Animal Totem:

You have learned to take your time and live your life at your silent pace. You never make any movement without careful thought or contemplation. You know exactly where you are going and when you will get there. Even within this calm and serene environment you are capable of quick and decisive action when opportunity presents itself.

If Praying Mantis has come flying in your dreams:

To dream of Praying Mantis is to understand that your intuition is trying to guide you at this moment. All the gut reactions and instinctual emotions you have been feeling of late are trying to tell you something about the situation you are currently in. Trust your feelings and act appropriately. Retreat, pounce or be pounced on.

Additional Associations…

• Power of calmness
• Balance
• Patience
• Stillnes
• Silence
• Time of meditation
• Mindful
• Inner Reflection
• Stillness  in Healing or in Creativity
• Direct the body’s energy to empower the body.
• Awareness
• Intuition

Have you had any encounters lately? What animals are making an appearance in your life this year? I would love to hear from you!

~ Love & Light ~

The Other Side Of The River

The weather on Saturday evening was beautiful. Warm but not too warm and a perfect breeze. Mark and I decided to take a walk at the Finley River Park...the other side of the river.


From the park side you can see the docks on the water (click photos to enlarge).

Mark climbed out on the leaning tree to get a better look.

The bridge and the mill.

The park. It's actually really big and has baseball fields, a rodeo arena, picnic areas with grills and fishing spots. 

A couple out for a sunset float.

We are usually looking toward the east at sunset, so it was nice to see the light from the setting sun to the west shining on the water.

The river is home to many geese. I had fun taking pictures of this family play in the fading sunlight.

High up on the cliff, if you really look, you can see the back windows at Chigger Chalet peeking through the tree canopy. 

Look at all of those lily pads! At night the bull frogs begin to croak, and in the late night hours the owls begin to hoot and hunt for frogs and fish. 

It must be mushroom season. I have been seeing them everywhere.

TOOT! TOOT! Ship it on the Frisco! The red caboose is the first thing you see when you drive into the park.

Heading back to the car we noticed some graffiti and headed over for a closer look. 

Typical of the magical land of Oz, even the graffiti is PG. 

And that concludes our journey to the other side of the river. Don't forget Saturday the 28th of this month, will be the fireworks show at the park around 9:30. Our show is just as good if not better than the Fire Fall show in Springfield, and you don't have the crazy traffic to contend with either!

~ Love & Light ~