Metal Working

This isn't my thing, but it is the man's thing, I want to share what he has accomplished and what I have learned by just being around it.

He built his forge using an old propane bar-b-q, he made the ash infused cement which, to my understanding, acts the same as heat brick. It is a coal forge and he rigged a blower from an old air mattress pump and a light dimmer switch so he can adjust the air flow appropriately. He is on the hunt for an old wine barrel or whiskey barrel so he can quench the metal after heating it. He has yet to forge a knife, however, he cut, shaped, sanded and sharpened a knife from an old chunk of metal he had. It was a painfully intricate process. Haha!

This weekend was the man's birthday and I was supposed to allow him time to tend to his forge, I failed. We spent the whole weekend doing other things. This was also supposed to be my time for glorious learning so I could give you all these wonderful photos and knowledge. (The photo provided is our kids, and family playing in his work space)

Once he has the quench barrel, he has several leaf springs that are, apparently, excellent forging metal. His next project is a knife made from an old lawn mower blade.

Do any of you awesome readers partake in metal working? Do you follow specific techniques, free hand or by the books? Is it a hobby or are you taking commission for pieces? It's a lost art I would say, but it is a very awesome thing to know, ya know for the zombie apocalypse.

Thanks for reading! See ya next time.  

The Herbal Journey

I was meant to be a healer...

As far back as my memories go I've had a deep desire to help people feel better heal. Shame on me for not realizing how many options there are in terms of healing. I grew up thinking I would be a doctor, my whole life I had strove to be in the medical field, it just makes sense to me, I understand illnesses and the body. Fast forward to college and I wasn't even a semester in when I knew medicine wasn't for me anymore. I took up advertising HA! I figured out quickly, in college, I was excellent with people. Long story short; dropped out of college, joined the military, had a sales job, and now I have my work at home job, I listened to the powers that be and realized herbalism is my calling.

What the heck are am I talking about, right? I'm talking about using mother nature to heal illness, injury, mental and physical! I want to use everything, roots, bark, flower petals, leaves, stems and nuts. Holistic treatment or alternative medicine treats the "whole" you. Spiritual, physical, and mental...rather than "you have a headache, here's some Tylenol" we get to the root of the problem (which is probably stress of some sort).

Speaking of Tylenol: 

I want everyone to know that Tylenol originates from the willow tree. I also want you to know that Willow [tree] will cause far less damage to your stomach than Tylenol or any of it's sister pills. We all know someone who has stomach ulcers because of a medicine. We all have watched the advertisements on television for drugs and their side effects. How many times have you heard the side effects list for a drug and thought "holy cow, I'm better off with my initial problem"?

I won't even go into the ridiculous amount of money we shovel out for "healthcare" and "medicine".

I am also not encouraging you to give your doctor the finger and start searching the closest patch of growing plants to treat yourself. I am encouraging you to stick around and read about natural treatments, allow me to share my knowledge of herbs and the benefits.

If homesteading and self sufficiency is my dream, then herbal medicine knowledge is a must!

The Homeschool Journey

I was a horrible student. 

Not in the sense that I acted out, didn't study or talked too much. I was a horrible student because I didn't learn in the manner that public school educates. I excelled in classes that made me use my hands and did terrible in the normal classes, with the exception of "Language Arts", I have a knack for that. I thought I would never excel at anything. Turns out, I just learn differently. 

I watched my sister, 7 years younger than myself, experience an even lesser education than I had. They watched sponge-bob regularly, who knew that show was even remotely educational. 

When I became a mother I started the search for education options for my teeny tiny human, no seriously, I was pregnant when I began the hunt. As my oldest grew closer and closer to school age and my financial situation becoming worse and worse, I began to settle with the idea that she would go into the public education system. Oh the disappointment I felt; my life was a mess therefore giving my child the best was not an option, so much disappointment. One day, I sat in my awful job loathing every passing second and I had a customer who offered me a job as his office manager working from my home. I would be lying if I told you I hesitated, I jumped all over that chance to be home! I began researching like a crazy person for home schooling options, laws, material...etc. I began buying resources and slowly implementing educational pieces to our normal day. I've tried the structured method, where everything happens at a specific time. Let me be frank, I have a job that requires me to be on the phone, with as little distraction or noise as possible, that time specific schedule went out the door within two weeks, it was completely impractical and even more impossible to fully implement into our routine because I am constantly leaving the room.

I do take a Montessori approach to education and we learn everything through play. There is, really, not a moment of the day that I am not educating my children on something. With that being said I take a much more lackadaisical approach to education than I thought I would. (I promise to have another post with our routine) There have been many tears shed throughout this journey, it has been hard on me, some times I feel like a failure, I feel like it is way too hard, I have no idea what I am doing. Yet, every day I wake up and educate my children on something. My youngest is really into the Egyptian Pyramids and the ocean. My middle child is into artistic things and astronomy. My oldest child is into all things earth, science completely fascinates her. My children are 4, 3 and 3 years old (we're in birthday season, so everyone is slightly overlapping) "What about the 3 R's?" you may be wondering. Well, we work on those things daily, my kids love learning the sounds of letters, they hate writing, they love counting as high as they can (we practice counting by playing hide and seek), they hate counting objects. I don't have a fancy degree, I'm not always available, but my children are learning (about things I never imagined a tot to learn about) and thriving and enjoying life. Homeschooling to me is about obtaining the best education possible while spending time as a family, it's not about tests and homework. It's open, honest communication, it's about building excellent character and being awesome every day at everything we try and trying everything!

Thanks for reading, see ya next time.