Blooming February - Must be in California

The miniature peach tree on our front steps is blooming.  February here in California has been beautiful.  December and January nearly swallowed me whole with all the rain and fog.  I am happy to say I am beginning to bloom again just like the plants in my garden.  I love how connected we are to the earth and her rhythms.  
I am taking a year long herb class - "Cultivating the Herbal Medicine Woman Within" from Kami McBride of Living Awareness Institute .  The class has inspired me to transform our backyard into edible plants only.  I have been pulling up bushes and such all winter (had to do something outside during all that fog we had).  
This little lovely is Sambucus Mexicana - aka Elderberry.  Now she is just a baby, but will grow to 14 ft or so.  A nice bushey gal.  My family has stayed heathy all winter thanks to this plant.  You can make a medicinal syrup from the berries and flowers that target flu and cold viruses.  It is fun and easy to make and it tastes good. 

This fennel is left over from last year.  Self seeded this fall and is now taking over.  My kids love nibbling on this plant.  Good for digestion too.

This pomegranate self seeded from all the pomegranates my kids ate two years ago.  They would have contests to see who could spit their seeds the furthest.  We have four of them growing all around the house from the kids.  
I have two tea roses in the backyard.  I can't wait to harvest the petals and make some luscious smelling infused oil from these.  

I must say the back yard is looking kinda sparse.  We haven't planted the veggie garden yet.  But very soon it will be over flowing with lusciousness.
This picture is for Sam.  We are plant sitting his birth tree until his family can retrieve it.  It is growing happily in a huge blue ceramic pot.  It is just starting to bud.

Thanks for letting me share my garden.  My friend Shelby inspired me with her post on her garden.  Check out her ceramic button and wool roving shops on etsy.  She is one of the most heart felt people I know and a wonderful artist.

Rainbow Linen Flags

Looking for White - I Find a Rainbow

I love the way linen feels  and it's rich texture.  I've been thinking of making blessing flags out of linen.  I think the weight of the linen will hang nicely and the way it frays so lovely will look great on a blessing flag.

Not thinking I would be able to find all the colors that inspire me, I thought I'd find white or off white linen and dye it.  I didn't want new linen, I wanted to use discarded clothes and give them new life as blessing or spirit flags.

This is what I found in my favorite second-hand store - the colors of the rainbow!  I must confess, not all of these finds are 100% linen.  Some are 50% linen and 50% rayon mix.  I just couldn't resist some of these colors.  Although, after doing some research on rayon and how it is processed, I think I will stick with the linen.  Even though rayon is made with natural fibers it is processed using heaving chemicals.
Plus, I have found it doesn't fray as nicely as the linen. But, just look at these reds and pinks...
yellows and oranges...
greens and blues and teals...and purple and violet...

I am experimenting making linen blessing flags with a little more spirit in them then my last ones.  I love my other flags, but I want to focus a little more on the sweetness of life, and feel like I can add some beauty and love and peace into our world.

I will post some of my flags soon.  I do have a couple of my new linen ones in my etsy shoppe.

Toot-a-loo

Terry