An Invitation:

 

🌿An Invitation:🍃

To begin May 2026 on a strong note,

I will be starting a month long

series.

You can join me.

The theme is to jump start whatever

you wish, be it a health goal, creative goal,

travel, spiritual... whatever.

I will be posting my progress and we all

can encourage one another along the way.

One month.

My birthday month and I can see no better way to

celebrate then to share life and uplifting 

moments with friends.

Evolving throughout the month,

I will share my story and weave for you

recipes, treasured finds, curious thoughts and dreamy

inspirational photos into each post to encourage you.

No pressure.

Just simple refined support.

Let us all imagine we are sitting here, sipping

lemonade, elderberry tea or something else

and chatting about life.

🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿

See you here tomorrow.

May the first, twenty twenty six.

R A V E N 

🐦‍⬛

M O N D A Y

 

Good Monday Morning!

Starting off with a vintage Herb Shed post....

Still relevant.

How was your weekend?

We drove to western Massachusetts to one of our favorite places for a hike,

a bit of lunch and a lot of de-stressing.

I found my favorite flowers blooming in a field and just had to take

my photo with them.

As a child I would lie in the grass amongst these flowers with the sunshine on

my face...green grass all around me.

One of my happiest memories.

I call them my birthday flowers because I see them right before.

Girls going for a stroll.

I also found this little Jesus hidden in the grass.

I swear, God knows just when I need a sign.

This was quite literal.

Came home to a quiet evening around the hollow.

It was such a perfect Spring day.

Mondays are for beginnings.

I choose to start with prayer time after setting up the house.

It is early rising time for me ( as the birds outside my window will

not let me sleep past 5:20am anyway).

I set intentions.

I make lists.

Then I start my day with positivity by switching on my

favorite music or podcast while I start morning chores.

Once outside, I am feral... it is hard to get me back inside.

My flocks and gardens are calling, the established gardens need some care,

I take frequent walks to see Lucy ( the goose) and sun bathe on the dock.

Today I am sketching out the new gardens that will be up against the fence almost

installed... we still have to install the gates.

I will be adding grasses and perennials in the new beds in the front.

Very much like this:

Filled with seasonal flowers for the bees.

Once it is close I will share photos.

Now it is just poles and wire... LOL!

But it will add to the beauty of the landscape.

I am off... to start my week, start my day...to live life as simply as possible.

To not let the chaos of the world creep where it does not belong.

A few days in nature & with those I love resets me.

May you all have a blessed Monday and a great start to your week.

xoxo

Raven

Saturday.... and finding your calm.

 

If this isn't the truth.....

Yes, yes & yes.

All of us, all of us are way too hyped up.

We lean into any 5 alarm fire video that comes across our

screens and then crave more so much we create

our own 5 alarm fires.

It is conditioning.

We have been conditioned over the years by constant 

news cycles that raise our cortisol so high we crash and 

look for the next high to feel something again.

Add in refined foods with no nutrition, lack of sleep and a sedentary lifestyle

 and you wonder how we DON"T get more ill than we already do.

Best advice?

Reduce your screen time.

I mean it.

You will find after the initial boredom that you return to

the real world of the here & now.

We are meant to have solitary thoughts.

Even be bored so that we can manifest creativity and whimsy.

So that we can see what is actually happening around us.

                                                       Let us talk about the aspect of food.

It's number one job is to feed your cells.

Not to taste good or make you feel better mentally.

Your market list is a direct reflection of what you are feeding

your cells.

Your meals should look like these... fresh as possible

from the earth, the sea... the source.

Made from single ingredients.

Nothing complicated here.

Fresh greens, seafood, eggs , fresh bread.

Remember back in the day when there was a local bakery

in town? Fresh bread, if not made at home was easy to attain.

Now it comes from a factory, riddled with chemicals that keep it forever

fresh ( those dates mean nothing btw...) trucked across the country.

Most of the world eats fresh bread every day.

It is not bread that is making us sick, it is what is in it.

Chemicals that make you crave it long after being satiated .

Buy whole fresh food, now is the percent time to do that.

The farmers markets are opening and what I do is buy a

bit more in season and flash freeze it for the winter.

( I have 2 bags of my blackberries from last year in my freezer)

Unprocessed is best.

And YES, I drink raw milk when I can get it-

usually once month or so I add it to our diet.

That and skyr ... a type of yogurt made locally.

great for the gut.

Now, I do not listen to others opinions on what I should do.

But I also don't invade other peoples lives by insisting

what I do is for them.

Here, on my blog I list what I eat.

By living a holistic, wholesome life I can only attest to what

I did, do and will do. 

This is the goal.

A healthy house for my soul to live in.

But as I stated above, it also takes a calm head.

For years and years , well....most of my life

I have existed in a pattern of intense overstimulation.

I could do all of the right things for my health and yet

I was always feeling like the sky was going to fall any moment

or some tragedy was imminent .

I never realised some of the people around me were

so intense that they instantly raved up the energy

as soon as they entered the room.

It was not my job to calm them.

But I tried...to no avail, surprise.

Now I focus on the peace in my life.

It is glorious.

I can manage whatever comes my way because 

it is a normal amount of energy.

I also built a healthy boundary system.

In this day & age....it is imperative to edit the noise.

We were never meant to handle every persons angst.

Nor were we supposed to stay quiet when absolute crap

is happening around us.

There is a balance I try and adapt to every day.

Saying no helps.

Choosing what battles (if any) I fight on any given day is key.

You know that you are correct because you have done your due diligence 

by looking at both sides of an issue, being open to new ideas but also

understanding where the lines are morally...

and some yahoo comes to your page to blow up whatever narrative they

do not agree with.

When your defend yourself, you are the villain .

Don't.

Just do not lower yourself.

This has happened to me and I can honestly say in the end

I was right  & they had to learn that they were wrong.

They still are....it may take a very long time too.

Not my problem.

I justify only to God.

Know that we are in the weeds as far as healthy communication goes.

The ability to hold a point that you do not agree with and not let it change you

but giving it consideration is almost nonexistent .

The leaders and news casters also lack this ability.

Because if we suddenly come together, we may actually see the 

flagrant abuse of the rights of the citizens.

Global law is trying to eat its way here.

Ummmm, this is America.

Once we get over ourselves and realise we are in this together

it will all fall into place, things will start to make sense

and we will rid ourselves of the filth in governments, healthcare and

every other industry.

Until then, I pray, unplug, like a wholesome life, advocate where I can,

give Grace and try and stay as calm as I can.

*********

One of the unusual things about me is that when my body

starts craving something I listen to it.

Recently it has been ham sandwiches.

Weird.

But not just white bread & ham & yellow mustard, no.

Gf sourdough, French mustard, pickles, thin dry baked ham with melted

cheese on top.

Funny thing is, I will eat it almost every day until my body says, thanks for that and I lose

the craving instantly.

Anyone else do this?

Here is the recipe to my latest version:

I omitted the whipping cream... because wth?

I also love baby Swiss or havardi dill cheese.

Finding your calm, eating for wellness and unplugging all contribute

to your basic happiness.

I have found mine and I do hope that you are all finding yours too.

* deep breath *

We will all be okay.

Blessings,

Raven

xoxo

Friday friends, here is some encouragement for you brave souls

 

Sunrise on the daffodils and the main coop & bee hives

Friday!

it is sunny but it is also still chilly...March temps.

That is okay.

I will take that big sunny orb any day.

Today is Arbor Day and National Picnic Day!

Lunch outdoors is a must and I just may add another

fruit tree to the property.

This weekend I get new fencing.

To the old me, that would not be a big deal.

This me, the one who lives for time with her chickens and gardens,

it is a huge deal.

My darling Orpington flock just can not stay out of my raised beds-

I swear they fly over the fencing like it isn't even there.

So this new grassy area will help me to rotate them out of the connected garden.

I will also add some new garden beds and a sitting area so

I can spend more time out there .

Pollypockets Baby is doing well.

isn't he/she darling?

They have been out off of the nest and expanding their area in the outer coop.

My job now is to support whatever she is doing and helping her to gain the

weight back from setting.

I am thinking that I may need this tiny coop for Polly as she

is such a great momma and setting is all she wants to do.

Perhaps a small personal home for her and her babies....

The lure of living a simpler life, a life with more freedom, with less stress,

allowing you to choose is so much more attractive to me than ever.

yes, I did give my children a holistic young childhood with

days loosely based upon Waldorf & Montessori styles of learning.

Then *the real world* came crashing in with the introduction of school.

As a young mom, washing cloth diapers and making her baby food it

was a challenge to push back- but I did .

You can feel it when the world starts creeping in.

Not helpful people, but people who just either

want to be nosey or who have agendas.

I encourage the young families to do so every day.

No one cares for your child more than you do.

Use instincts and do not let anyone bully or shame you

into doing anything that goes against your family values.

I have to be clear here...

There has been an underlying quiet push ( especially in my state)

to take as many rights away from young parents, home schoolers,

homesteaders and free thinkers who just want to be left alone.

The interest is not organic nor is it constitutional.

Yet here we are.

See that photo up there , of that small plot of land?

That is what most young families want.

As someone who lived this back in the '80's & '90's

it is tougher now.

I have that life again, but without the stress and Mrs. Kravitz'

in my life. I am so so grateful for it.

Paying it forward, by advocating for the next generation

is my jam now.

I am writing a book, a few articles for online magazines and I just

may have a few more plans up my sleeve.

In a world that wants to take over every aspect of your life,

the flex now is to uncouple from tech as much as you can.

Say no.

Gather with like minded.

Stay wise and open to learn.

Then craft the life YOU wish for your family.

( look to your elders, your great grands who paved the way

for you to be here with sacrifices and hard work )

Find your faith.

Live in nature.

Simplify.

And never give up because it is totally worth keeping

your integrity, your values, and your morals in a world

that values group think, the destruction of the family and

that lies about everything.

Yes.

For those in the back who are late to the party....

Everything you think you know is a lie.

No... I hear you....save your *but, ....*

everything.

Now you have two choices ( and it is a choice)

to either stay with the constructed narrative that is crumbling every day

OR be brave and start thinking like an independent person.

Without fighting, defending, hurling hate, being a  hypocrite .

Side note:

If the 50 years or so I am aware of has not brought about a resolution

to the injustices and wars that are created *to help*

 then perhaps they were never meant to.

Perhaps the narratives that push ideologies  are created to

divide and destroy and distract.

My own experience is that anything that proposes to make anything

easier or better usually does not.

 Appliances, automobiles, endless road work projects,

cell towers- everywhere but my cell service is still stinks.

Just a few companies who get our $$ by creating alternative

*green* products that do not work any better than what we had.

I am not saying that people are incapable of ingenuity

 but if you fix a problem

then you make less $$$ off of that problem.

If you build homes that last 200 years then you will be out of the

home improvement business.

 If you heal people with lifestyle changes,

drug companies will fold overnight.

They made us dependent - craving easier lifestyles and promises of

magical cures and products that ultimately hurt us all in the end.

Luckily, as I stated in the beginning of this essay.....

the young families are catching on.

Real lasting joy and worth comes from your own hands- not a hand out.

It comes from faith that in hard times you grow wisdom.

It is not promoted or trending and is often maligned by people

who lack the intellect or will to achieve great things.

If you are one of the called ... I am here for you.

Do not be discouraged.

You are not alone.

Kuttos to the independent thinkers.

The ones who question everything.

The brave.

The stubborn.

The determined.

The willing.

The trail blazers.

All willing to be dubbed fools in a world that glorifies

laziness, sloth and greed.

Be fearless.

👊

I am off to work on my fearless endeavours.

( you know, the things they told me that I could not do... 😉 )

It is Friday my friends!

Tuck that $$ in your car someplace and get yourself an ice cream.

xoxo

So much love,

Raven

Monday, Monday! Yay...let's start the week.

 

Good Monday morning!

Hi friends!

Yesterday was farm day but because it was dreary we 

scouted out new farms closer to us.

My goal is to hit as many farm stands as I can this year.

Shopping locally and with purpose is beneficial for the farms and

for our health.

Of course we always take the dogs.

We got a hike in on a new trail too , however I have been

doing this new thing of forgetting to take my phone with me

and leaving it in the house, car etc....

( It's like my brain is telling me something)

So no hike photos but I did get some of the farm

and where we ended up having lunch/supper.

This is what is available where I live now at the local farmstands:

I am a sucker for local carrots but none found yet.

🥕

Quite honestly I was hoping to find new chicken chairs.

What are chicken chairs?

All wooden chairs left by the side of the road in spring or fall.

LOL!

I change out the chairs in the coops every 6 months or so.

And I usually have great luck finding chairs.

Not chair season nor is it carrot season yet.

I haven't posted much about the grands lately.

Mostly because they are such busy bees now!

I can not believe how fast those baby years went by.

Rosie & Raphael are now gardening with momma.

And Cole is beginning his racing career.

( that is him on #838)

As any gramma, I could talk about them all day.

Just so proud of their parents for being such great role models.

Weekends are filling up now with activities and places to go.

Even with the sudden cold snap.

I am so happy when we can explore our beautiful area of 

New England.

More to come....

For those wondering about Polly pocket and her baby & remaining eggs,

I should have a solid update today.

She is all cozy under blankets and with a reptile pad nearby.

I will post tomorrow as the eggs are becoming less viable from now on...

We do have a sweet baby.

He/ she is just darling!

Pollypocket & her baby

I hope that you all have a wonderful week!

Mondays are for fresh starts.

Blessings & light,

Raven

xoxo

Texas sheet cake & see the good

 

Well good morning friends!

It is Sunday morning and I am still inside cuddled under a blanket 

at my desk writing.

It was once 80 last week and it seems to have taken a step back.

I have not been to the coops so last I knew, Pollypocket and her baby are

still sitting upon the rest of her eggs.

Sundays are slow around here. 

No pressing anything to get to.

I may make a hearty breakfast for us.

Or we may eat light and go to one of our favorite places for lunch.

Maybe we will walk a new path with the dogs.

Or just drive deeper into the countryside where there is no signal at all.

But I always start with prayer time.

Ever since March 2020, we have been poised for bad.

We accept it as normal now.

So much so that when good things happen in a string of blessings

we question motive and intent.

Listen, I am so guilty of this.

However we have been conditioned to see life this way.

Through constant narratives day in and day& out.

We become that.

We live that.

It eats us up and makes us ugly inside.

We lash out and blame others.

I wish it would stop.

The constant narrative is that bad is everywhere and that good

will never happen again.

No.

That is simply not true .

It is hard to change a narrative that has seeped into our very beings but I am

here to tell you that you can and when you do

live will suddenly make sense again.

Mother Nature is always correcting our mistakes.

We pave over a forest, after a while she begins to reclaim

that old parking lot.

God is always giving us hope.

The hope of tomorrow, another sunrise.

I am no expert in moving on, still trying to grasp the brutal

truth in all it entails,

yet I do know that undeserved goodness and Grace follow me 

when I feel most alone.

God.

Mother Nature.

Human Spirit.

You know by now I tout these as the miracles that 

are unseen in every darkness.

When hope is all but gone and we feel despair,

somehow we are gifted a beautiful reminder that

good things happen.

Good things are the normal.

Unforced, simple, wholesome.... are the normal.

It is only when we separate ourselves from

the light that the darkness can take hold and

allow us to believe that normal is anything but.

🕊️

I had been looking for this recipe for weeks.

I had wanted to make it for Easter but could not find it.

Pulling out an old cook book yesterday.... it fell out and I was so happy!

This cake is good for any event.

Any.

You can switch out the pecans for any nut or candy (chopped) you wish.

This was my go to birthday cake back in the day.

And the cake I weirdly made the day I came back from back surgery

and apparently made it with no knowledge of  doing so.

( Lol, I was left to rest by a friend who took my children to the park.

I was on a lot of pain meds that day.... one reason I never like to ever take them again.

The cake was all dressed up on the cake stand when the husband & babysitter came back.

Thinking someone had left it off for the family no one knew until

they saw the kitchen mess! LOL!)

Anyway, enjoy this cake.

It is delicious!

😋

If anyone needs prayer, just let me know.

I hope that those who I have been praying for are sitting in the

golden light of love they deserve.

You are not alone.

Blessings,

Raven

xoxo

Dutch Babies and some honest talk.

 

Time to move on...

from old friends, memories and ideas that no longer are 

present in my life.

I am a Taurus { May 18th} and as such I care very deeply

until I no longer care and I can no longer care so intensely

it even astonishes me.

I abhor secrets and lies.

I detest dishonesty and passive agressive auras.

I scar deeply when I find out I can no longer help

or that a cause is too far gone, such as losing a hen

or an idealistic viewpoint.

If I did not have faith & family I would just fade into

the woods, only to come out to shriek from time to time.

Sometimes we champion forward despite disappointment.

And sometimes we move inward.

I know that I am just a speck in this world.

I know that I am small in the face of how huge

the problems are that affect us.

No amount of me doing anything will get people

to take their health into their own hands and out of the hands of corporations

who only want your $$$. I can not make people shop local farms and 

drink raw milk anymore than I can get people to stop putting all poisons in

Mother Natures perfection.

I can not be a voice of reason when dearly loved souls abandoned

me because of perceived differences.

I will never convince people we have been systematically lied to

and still are.

I am not an online lurker who shouts and cancels and threatens.

I truly had peoples best interests in mind.

Yet here I am...

Drained and longing to find one rational soul who will 

understand what has just happened to us as I do and

move with me to heal beyond it.

An idealistic , romantic viewpoint but hey, that is what used to

drive me... the idea that good will win out in the end and 

love is unconditional- for even the broken.

* * * * * 

Move through the days with the focus upon the small.

The nearest and dearest.

Routines and tasks.

I understand women like Tasha Tudor more now than ever.

If your voice does not matter because you realised that 

it never ever did, then your only choice is to quietly move on.

In a world that is expanding globally, the hack is to live

as locally as possible.

Small town newspapers VS mainstream news

Local products VS box store

Thrifting well made VS cheap consumerism 

Landline VS cell

I often think of what my mother would want for me.... little Patti.

I often ache for her guidance .

So I draw from what I do know, from what I was shown to be correct

by her naturally good nature.

I have been disappointed for a while now.

Not in any one person really but in systems that allow

goodness to be destroyed. Beauty and truth to be tarnished.

In strife and chaos to shoehorn itself into families and 

relationships... all by design.

All over the globe the same patterns emerge.

Not a damned hero amongst us to save us.

Just us.

Just small me seeing it all and feeling very powerless.

Yeah, this is real and raw but needed to be said.

So many people are allowing  ugliness and soul filth to enter

their lives and they do not care.

Ignorance is bliss I suppose.

But I can no longer play any part in it.

It is the Pandoras box whose lid has been opened

and while people like me are trying to find ways to close it or warn others,

society turns their heads and waits for the next scrap of attention

from a system that hates them.

I am not giving up.

I am just sending my energies elsewhere.

I am focusing on what I can do.

I may not change one mind or convince people they have been misled

into believing that what is touted as benefiting them is actually engineered to harm.

We all have been deceived .

But I can wash a dish.

Or I can focus on myself & pray about the rest.

Right now I am working on goals that *experts* told me I could not do.

To which I say.... watch me.

****

I will leave you with this recipe I found on Pinterest.

I know of others who call it Dutch Babies but no matter the name,

everyone who I have made this for has loved it.

If you add powdered sugar and whipped cream it becomes a dessert as well.

Regardless, of what happens in my private life,

I will always have time for your prayers-

and,

 I will be here- writing my silly simple blog.

Come back if you wish.

Blessings,

Raven

🐦‍⬛