Face Toner Wildflower Style
Face Toner
First, I would like to apologize again for abandoning my poor abused blog. I do try to keep it. But life gets in the way… This time it was my phone refusing to take pictures that shut it down. So now that that is sorted again, I hope to be here a bit more often though my time is very busy as I am presently studying and earning a certificate in herbalism through Cornell University.It has been hot. The gardens are suffering even the bees in their hive seem crankier due to the heat. It is becoming more concerning every year the heat. I remember when I was a child, I used to be jealous of Californian children in movies who didn’t have to wear winter coats over their costumes when they went trick or treating. As jealous as I was, I am not happy that that will be perfectly comfortable for any children I might raise in this lifetime. My berries are ripening too early. My vegies are ripening and fruiting at the same time. It quadruples my work to try to gather it all and preserve it all…. My berries are more than 2 weeks early this year. It is very troubling… The way and and how quickly the climate seems to be changing all of a sudden.
We have decided to open the B&B back up at half capacity. Later this week, we will put the updated page that shows and offers the room for rent back up. Updated due to new Covid policies. Policies we hope we can eliminate sooner rather than later, but policies that are in everyone’s best interests and that protect us as well as us. Normal, will return in phases. Here the current policies are the phase we are in here at the homestead. We are very cautious so we might not work for everyone for while. But we hope eventually we can operate as we once did open to everyone all the time.
On top of my work which has been interrupted by days of rain, and will be interrupted starting tomorrow for a week long festival of the Finnish god Ukko who seems to have stolen Thor’s hammer… For even more storms…. This is not good, as much as I love and respect the Finnish ancient gods. After the last few days that were also a festival to Ukko, I am a bit sick of him. Inside has been my domain due to the weather. I have been busy with my herbal studies, as well as maintaining my self care needs.
The jar in the photo, is face toner largely made from witch hazel. It also contains some Aloe, and lavender, a little Moringa to fight aging, and a number of other super star odds and ends. I am very proud of it and can’t wait to start using the little reusable towlets that I leave soaking in my homemade toner.
Other interesting things, because we are running at half capacity and may be for some time still we are talking about setting up a shop where you can purchase some of the odds and ends produced right here on the homestead. Nourishing, natural, homemade, handmade… We just aren’t quite there yet but we should get to it soon.
It was a wonderful experience to open up for our first guests in I don’t know how long… Over a year over the weekend. We look forward to more guests in the future.
Thank you for reading
And again I apologize for being a miserable excuse for a blogger.
Amanda of Wildflower Farm
Tags: ag, agriculture, agro, B&B, bath products, Central MA, craft, crafting, DIY lifestyle, farm, farm stay, farm wife, farm wife blog, farmer, farming, farmstead, handmade, herbal toner, Herbalism, homemade, homestead, homestead farm, homestead life, homestead made, homestead self sufficiency, homestead wife, homestead wife blog, homesteader, homesteading, housewife, housewife blog, inn keeper, inn keeper's blog, life style, massachusetts, new england homesteading, old fashioned housewife, old fashioned housewife blog, self care, self sufficiency, simple, simple living, simple way of life, skin care, toner, travel, wildflower farm
Wildflower Farm, is a small New England homestead, B&B and AirBnB, in the Baystate. We came out here 7 years ago, when we returned from the better part of 10 years as peripatetic aristotelian nomads, for my husband's post docs. Upon our return, we had a plan. We had a lovely home. Everything was so clear. Then, I got sick. Things I used to eat all the time during our travels elsewhere in the world and even here before I left almost 10 years earlier made me ill. It took a couple trips to the ER and a trip to specialist... It became clear, something had changed in the way food is processed in this country since last I lived here. Some off label things was inevitably going to be my demise.
My husband and I looked around to see the clear path we were on, had exploded in front of us. We decided we had to create a new path for ourselves. We put children on hold. We found a small piece of land with a house we loved in a rural suburb in a right to farm area. I began researching how to do it ourselves. Grow it ourselves, make it ourselves, survive on our own as much as possible. We bought the property, and began plotting a new course. One that didn't involve off label chemicals. Closer to nature, with a lot more DIY, gardens, and animals for the products they provide. We created a life we loved though it hasn't always been easy and has of course come with compromise with each other, and even with ourselves.
Our family thought we had lost our minds. What were we doing leaving the city? We had no idea how hard this would be. They thought we would be back in 6 months. That was over 7 years ago, now. We have been making it work. They were not wrong, it isn't easy. But has anything worth doing ever been easy? And for us, avoiding as much store bought food as possible was simply necessary so I could live given how sick I was getting.
Then Covid hit.... We were lucky to have this place. It has allowed us a lot less need for public use territories which has kept us a lot safer and spared us much of the risk others face daily. This place, has given us a privilege through this of great meaning to us. To be of use in a difficult time. We have been able to help friends family and even strangers in need when things couldn't be found on store shelves. Or money was tight due to not working, rent being due and a child at home, or some other draining situation. We are so very grateful to have been able to not be helpless like so much of society through this miserable time. Our families, got used to it some time ago, us being out here. They made peace with it the day there was no bread and they had to ask me for some. Or when fresh vegies were rotten due to supply chain issues but they could find plenty in my garden.
Wildflower Farm, was a place I dreamed of. One of those sweet pastoral dreams a city dweller grows up knowing will never come true, that became unavoidable when I became ill. I never expected to get to do this. I never thought I had what it takes to make this work. I have learned pacing myself is important, compromise is critical, hard work never ends, burn out is real so breaks are just a necessary evil.
We are not fully self sufficient, but we work hard in that direction as we create a new path through life for ourselves, always reaching to do even more ourselves and to get closer to the ideal we envision. We are however far more self sufficient than many in this world. 7 years in, we continue to learn and grow in this homesteading lifestyle. We welcome comments and advice and ideas and questions.
We welcome visitors from all over to our home with strict covid policies in place. We spend our time learning to live all over again in a more environmental and sustainable way though even there we are far from perfect always learning and growing doing better as we know better.
This little homestead farm is a magical place named for the New England wildflowers that grow all around. A place where a physicist, watches the night sky on clear nights with the aide of mirror and glass, and a woman, works endlessly in the gardens, the kitchen, and a variety of projects to create and to keep a very unique life style running and functioning. Wildflower Farm, has become so much more than simply a piece of land we can grow a few vegetables on. The longer I spend here, the more alive the land seems, the more I learn about it's function and the more meaning it has. My place in the universe and the next steps on our new path become ever more clear.
We welcome you on this journey with us.
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