At some point, I’d like to expand my territory to beyond MI again.  Sometimes I really miss the vagabond tour-head lifestyle, but do love the michigan scene as well.  Floyd Fest and Ridgestock would be really cool to attend because I’d be able to spend time with far away friends and family.

Fasting in January is a good thing. In addition to learning a great deal, the extra computer time in 2009 resulted in a little extra fluff.  During the summer months I attempted to fast 3x and failed with each try.  This time feels different.  It seems as though the likely human tribal/primal memory of fasting would be this time of year.  In the past I’ve always done the The Master Cleanser by Stanley Burroughs.

This time I decided to try some tea. There are various views on wether fasting with tea is a good thing, but this time it just feels right.  In the past I actually feared fasting on something withought as much body as the Master Cleanser.  This year I just picked a good time to dive in.  It’s my first day and I feel great.  I did do a laxative tea by Seelect. This is the first time I’ve done an intestinal cleanse on day 1.  This may have helped with the initial detox.

I’m looking forward to the increased energy happening right off the bat.  I plan on doing a long one this time. The vitality that ensues from this method of cleansing my body is the best feeling.  I look forward to what this fast brings along with the new year of 2010.

So I’m sort of happy that we let the weeds grow in some areas, because it allowed me to really get acquainted with the native plants in the area.  I’ve found that hummingbirds and honeybees (I’m assuming that this is a honeybee) absolutely adore milkweed!  We have at least one hummingbird that visits the milkweed blossoms several times a day.  It’s such a pretty sight to see.  They are such beautiful creatures. It’s really cool when you can be in a three to five feet proximity from them and see

Three days before 4th of July, Leaf, Jasper and I went out for dinner at a local restaruant in the town of Remus. After that we went for a stroll through town, and walked down the “alley” behind the local hometown health food store.  I wanted to go check things out over there on foot to see what wild things may be lurking down that path.  Just prior to this I had a long family conversation discussing the alleys of Detroit.  This is where I grew up, and by the time I was a teenager the alleys were gravel and dumpsters, with a few trailing weeds/garden remnants were left here and there.  I was told by the elders in that area that in the old days the alleys were grassy with two tire tracks down the middle and neighbor’s garden bounties trailing from the back yard metal fences.  We had a little of that going on, but not to the extent of the stories that I had been told.

When we approached the greenery near Hometown Health,  we immediately noticed blackberries, catnip, a very beauteous milk thistle and some honey bees feasting on motherwort. We then turned the corner and spotted a variety of things, some of which I could not recognize.  The property next door appeared to have been vacant for a time.  The new owner of this property happened to be in the yard at that very moment and greeted with a smile.  He said “You can take any of those plants home with you if you want.  I’m getting ready to cut all of this down within the next couple of days.” He mentioned that he recently purchased the house and that it had been vacant.  So we pulled quite a few of the motherwort stalks and several other items that I couldn’t identify.  We proceeded to clear out a decent size patch and gathered the pullings into a pile as a way of saying thanks for letting us take some plants from him.

We took the plants home and broke the ground for thier new homes.  The very next day while I was looking out the kitchen window I noticed honeybees feeding from the motherwort! I’m not sure if the bees I’m seeing are wild or are possibly from people in the area who have hives. Well, I finally got into doing some research on those little critters and it appears as though wild honeybees are having a rough time right now. You can read about it in this article if you are interested: http://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/25/opinion/america-s-endangered-honeybees.html

So I’ve vowed to cultivate a native plant landscaping scene on our property next year, which would be super good for the environment and can be pretty too.  It will be a fun research project and awesome to keep a nice habitat going for the local “critters”.  I’d also like to get into homesteading with endangered/heritage breeds of farm animals, but that’s another story.  My next post will be some pictures of the local sheep farm around the corner!  Those little guys are So cute!!

]]> http://www.blog.starsunflower.com/tutorials/make-a-reuseable-sandwich-wrap/feed 0 http://www.blog.starsunflower.com/jasper/a-day-of-fishing-and-boating-at-tubbs-lake-resort http://www.blog.starsunflower.com/jasper/a-day-of-fishing-and-boating-at-tubbs-lake-resort#comments Sun, 07 Jun 2009 15:32:24 +0000 Su http://www.blog.starsunflower.com/?p=167 Jasper and I had so much fun at Tubb’s Lake yesterday! It was a bit chilly and rainy, but jasper managed to catch a few fish! None of them were really keepers, but it was good fishing practice for him. I didn’t realize that he had already gained some casting experience from previous boating excursions with his grandpa Henry. We went on an excellent boat ride with Gary & Kim. I managed to get a few camera shots of some wildlife too. I’ve never taken pictures while moving in a boat. It took quite a steady hand and focus.


I just had to get a couple shots of the custom fire stations made from “reclaimed” washer bins and truck rims. The one that has a scavenged lawn mower base is such a hoot! They put the mower on the bottom so they could wheel the thing away when they cut the grass! Fun fun.

There are little clovers and renegade purslane happening in there too!

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You may click on the image to get a closer look at a portion of my cookbook collection.

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