sun-shiney friday the 13th

What a whirlwind of a week. Did anyone else feel like things are getting way busier with spring finally arriving?

We had a break in the weather here... It's been pretty nice all week-- today was PERFECT and sunny. And tomorrow? More of the same! I think Matt and I will bike into town for the farmer's market and see what there is to see. 

Last Sunday was Easter [as though you'd forgotten so soon]. Since many of my Navy friends don't have family close by, we ended up going sailing and eating burgers instead of having a "nice, sit-down meal with family." We set out after church, headed for a nearby island.

It was GORGEOUS. 

The island we explored was very small, with just one mile of trails according to our maps. I did wonder, however, if islands like this would be good places to harvest medicinal plants in the future... Maybe not super practical, but if I can get out every once and a while, I could have access to places that see a lot less human traffic. 

It didn't rain on us for herbal Tuesday! Phew!

We started the day harvesting dandelion flowers.

I might have gotten distracted by chickens. This is Birdie, and she is clearly giving me the EVIL CHICKEN EYE.

We brought our freshly harvested flowers indoors and the boys got busy making sugar cookies. To which we then added the petals of the dandelions.

They were surprisingly delicious. And yes, we made two batches, one of them gluten- and dairy-free.

One of my fellow apprentices brought in some nettle / cedar soap she and her husband were experimenting with for farmer's market this summer... Call me one happy guinea pig!

We headed out to the field, sugared up and happy. Well, really, we headed out to the ocean, sugared up and happy.

We talked about the nutritional and healing benefits of seaweeds, brown and red and green. 

The frustrating thing is that we cannot harvest seaweed right off of the beaches here because there is too much pollution in the water. 

Fucus!

Edible, but not really eat-able... If you catch my drift. Kind of gross texture...

In addition to seaweed, we explored the creepy-crawly underside of rocks at low-tide. Ocean cockroaches hid under this big rock. Totally gross!

Our next stop was my FAVORITE. I claimed it, it's mine, I just need the Washington State Department of Parks and Rec to let me build a house there. It was amaaaaaazing. An abandoned homestead, an old fruit orchard, a rope swing, a marsh, rocks carpeted in luscious mosses, incredible views, absolutely NO sound of traffic... 

I dream of living in a place like that someday.  

We lingered on the moss bed.

Today I went with Natalie and S to harvest more dandelions. We visited a local farm, but since the soil gets tilled up every year, the roots were puny and hardly worth our time. 

So we abandoned that endeavor, had a lunch of egg salad and rice cakes in the sunshine, and hit some garage sales. 

My loot included a few mason jars, some binoculars to donate to some missionaries who've requested them, and a stack of eight books for only $30. Um, jackpot!

I am putting off applying for the midwive's assistant workshop I'd like to attend. In the application, they ask you to list your "midwifery experience." And I just don't know what to write. 

:/