Along The Trail

bottled brew ~ not from a still

With the coming of fall comes the inevitable sniffles and coughs. Having become a (slow) student of the herbal world, I had some concoctions in mind to brew for this winter's medicine cabinet! In the end, I believe and have seen proof that we will be healthier and wealthier (though that term is used lightly!) because of it! So having scoured books and my favorite place for learning of herbs, I brewed up the first batch of remedies this week! Using Immune Booster herbs, I filled a jar 1/3 full with the herbs, then poured in hot water just until the herbs were covered. I then filled the rest of the jar with the glycerin.

With my crockpot set on low, I placed my lidded jar in the water, making sure to have a cloth under the jar to prevent it from breaking! Different sources had different lengths of time to leave the herbs in the water, so I just planned on checking it often! I would come and turn the jar to mix things around a bit, and would add water to the crockpot as it slowly evaporated. 

After 24 hours, the liquid was very dark and the smell was strongly herbal. These were the signs to look for! I decided it was good, so I used my straining funnel to pour the liquid out of the herbs (you could also use cheesecloth or something to do this!). 

    I threw the herbs away after squeezing all the liquid I could out of them! 

Now it was time to bottle the goods!

Using the same straining funnel, I poured the liquid into the glass bottle...

...and tried to take a picture at the same time. Dumb idea!!

  To use: a dropperful several times a day has been effective! And that, my friends, is how easy it is to brew a booster! Though the herbs can also be used in making a tea should you not have the ambition to brew! The kids enjoyed the tea (with sugar, of course!) until I got to brewin'!

Quite satisfying to care for my family in this way, and quite effective in helping them through these sniffles!

Do you brew anything (not talking about from the still out back!!)? I'd love to learn from you!

Laundry Days

Penniless college students; moms on a shoestring budget; earth conscious; people living on faith support! When times are lean, it's only smart to find ways to cut back.

For almost a year now, one way I have enjoyed saving money is by making my own laundry detergent. (Did you just roll your eyes? Yeah, most people do it to my face! I'm okay with it!) With five of us dirtying clothes faster than I can keep them clean, detergent was a costly part of our budget. For years I read about how to make it, how it would save money, etc. But I put off trying it because it seemed like too much work. What I'm realizing with much in life, however, is that unfamiliar doesn't mean hard!

Searching the internet will produce you many recipes, both powdered and liquid. I encourage you to search some out and give this whole deal a shot! Because I prefer powdered rather than liquid detergent, I have included a recipe I most use and love. (I got the recipe from Amanda Soule's popular blog!)   

Powdered Laundry Detergent

2 cups grated castile soap

1 cup borax

1 cup baking soda

1 cup washing soda

I mix these together with my hand in a bowl, then pour into a tall canning jar. This makes about 5 cups of detergent which lasts me about 25 loads, using about 1/8 cup per load. (lots of abouts there, I know!) The ingredients can be purchased in large boxes which make up several month's worth of laundry detergent!

Time for my next load to get in! Good day to you, friends!

picture pool

Looking on the bright side of things (ahem), I believe no one has gone swimming in the Whisper Mountain Flickr Pool because they don't know how or don't want to give up their precious (and it is!) time to figure it out. Alas, I've come upon a grand solution! I'm calling it...a tutorial! Ever heard of it?! Well, if you so choose to read on you will experience it! Oh, and in case you quickly glance through the images below and think it looks complicated, please know it really isn't! Writing something out and actually doing it are very different things;) Just wanted to clarify!

HOW TO ADD YOUR PICTURE(S) TO THE WHISPER MOUNTAIN ONLINE ALBUM (aka:FLICKR POOL)

STEP ONE: Visit I Went To Whisper Mountain Group Page! (the colored words to the left will take you there if you click them! They are friendly like that!)

 STEP TWO: Once you've arrived at the Group Page you want to "Join This Group". To do that you: 

STEP THREE: After clicking on the "Join" button as seen above, you will come to a window like this:Follow the directions in green above. If you do not already have a yahoo account it won't take long to create one! (**Note: if you are creating an account, when you are done doing that you will need to return back to the I went to Whisper Mountain group page! Just type the name I went to Whisper Mountain in the search box.)

STEP FOUR: After signing in/creating an account, you will come to a window that should be looking familiar! But there's one difference! You get the option to "add something" now!!!

STEP FIVE: After clicking "Add Something" you will come to a screen looking like this:

If you have just created an account you will need to upload your photos into your "photostream". (a photostream, by the way, is simply the stream of pictures you upload onto your account in yahoo/flickr.) You saw that on the page that came up after you were done creating your account. Uploading to your photostream is as easy as clicking "upload photos" and following the instructions given. When you come back to the page above, you then are able to select the photos like this: 

STEP SIX: When you have clicked "Add to Group", your pictures begin uploading. When they are done uploading you should see this:

 SUCCESS!!!! Well done! You should see your pictures in the pool!

Why do we hope you will take the time to do this? Because the more people see of Whisper Mountain Youth Camp and others experiencing it, the more they will want to come! And people coming is why we do what we do...Bringing people into the quiet so they can hear God's whisper!

May He be glorified through us and through your help in the pictures you upload!

Thanks ahead of time for taking the time to join and upload your pictures!