Bone Broth in Process
Years ago Ramon told us that his grandfather in Mexico only drank broth, never the meat. “The broth will make you strong,” he said his grandfather told him. “The meat will weaken you.” Of course, we Americans do pretty much the opposite, eating primarily what we would call the choice parts of the meat. Recently a once-vegetarian… Read more »
When the earth liquifies and the pond is the vineyard, and the vineyard, the pond.
When the Earth Turns to Water and Goats Die Last week our goat Gaviota died. She had sustained a deep puncture wound in October that became infected with an antibiotic-resistant e-coli strain. We went through a regiment of cleansing and packing the wound with Manuka honey laced with lavender, cinnamon, and oregano essential oils, all which… Read more »
Soil saturated by the recent rains.
Crystallization Period and Spiritual Fruits We are in the period of time that is called crystallization period, when the fallow earth is most receptive to the cosmic forces (January 15-February 15). The El Nino rains, which have already graced us with almost 8″ of rain this month, have brought inwardness and quiet for Donald and me— and yes, for the goats… Read more »
Kondo's book among a future project.
Meditation on Space: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: the Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, by Marie Kondo (Ten Speed Press, 2014), is truly magical in its meditation on the space of your home. The tiny book can easily be held in your hand like a manual of… Read more »
BDANC Meeting in Ukiah on Saturday.
Farming and Associative Economics For the first time, I understand something about “associative economics”. The term has hung in my mind like an acronym that you don’t remember the words to and don’t quite understand. Since it is often associated with the English magazine Resurgence and the Schumacher Institute, I figured it had to do with… Read more »
Animals help bring the balance too! Photo by Cristin McDonnell
Silence and Technology Our neighbor is running a leaf blower as I begin writing this. The noise is distracting— or might I say, my annoyance of it distracts me! It reminds me of an incident earlier this last week when a patient pointed out the ongoing barking of a neighborhood dog, a sound I hadn’t… Read more »
Cheers to a healthy 2016!
Weight Loss & Lavender: Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions By: Cristin McDonnell If your New Year’s resolution is to hit the gym in January, lavender will not only aid in weight loss, but will help you keep the weight off. Here are 3 reasons why. 1.) Drink Lavender Green Tea: Doing a teatox has become a trendy way to… Read more »
Post nostalgia debris.
Nostalgia and The Other Side of Christmas We left our aging yellow labs alone in the house for two and a half days right after Christmas. Ramon checked on them several times each day, letting them out and feeding them. Why we didn’t think about what they would do, I do not know, considering how they wait, beaver… Read more »
Lavender Chips
Lavender Chips by Cristin McDonnell This is an Armenian recipe for chips called lavash. The recipe for lavash is from allrecipes. I found a recipe for the lavender seasoning at Discover Lavender, a blog for cooking with culinary lavender. When I saw that the recipe included dried seasoning, I went ahead and came up with my… Read more »
Manger SceneManger Scene
Manger Scene Another Christmas story from earlier years. My sister and I called the nativity the “manger scene”. We would get the set out of the attic for the first Sunday in Advent. The scene had the holy family, of course, and an assortment of angels, but also a cow, donkey, two sheep, and a… Read more »
© 2026 Patricia Damery.
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