Sleeping With A Sunflower

Thursday appears to be filled with potential. I'm all for it, and have my mental list of things to do that I need to rough sketch onto paper to ensure they get done. Otherwise, good thoughts will remain as such. My windchimes on my backporch sing out and call us forth to be present with the day.
Library trips with my boys are always fun. Never the same, we dive into the front entrance, run like deer for the children's room, make a mad dash to swoop down on books to take home, run a relay type sprint through the sections I've marked out to check out stuff I have my eye on, pile in @ the circulation desk to sign out, and then off to wait for the bus to pick us up to come back home. Oh wait, that was our experience yesterday. Not every day we go is like that. Once a week we make an appearance, pick up what we need or catches this momma's eye, and then head out if the draw to work on puzzles or browse through the reference section doesn't keep us inside. Its funny how when its not summer, my boys will linger in the library, looking at books, working on puzzles, maybe color a picture, make a valid attempt to look up books-with my help-on the library's online catalog, and walk through the aisles of books in the main section. Yeah, gotta check myself again. That would be my preschooler who does that; my little one isn't quite to walking and doing all those things yet but they're in progress.
I found a book a week or two ago through the online catalog, which you can access from home just as well as when you're at the library. Sleeping With a Sunflower: A Treasury of Old-Time Gardening Lore, by Louise Riotte. I was looking for material to use for my preschool homeschool ideas and saw this title. Flipping through it yesterday when we got home, I'm finding a move back through time. Sources older than I, a blending of traditions to come together in this wonderful book. When to fish, according the phase of the moon, making jellies & jams, recipes, bee keeping, companion planting, sundials, etc...only to name a few, as the book is jam packed full of wonderful information. I love finding pieces like this, as it brings back the older, most commonly used techniques of working with the land and its resources. Nature and those who respect her, working together. My Utopia.
As the book is sectioned by month, I move into the months of June, July, August, & September. Reading about things to do, techniques to apply, recipes to try here at home, and ideas to catalog for future reference and application. I hear the cardinal pair calling to each other just outside the window as I write this post. Calling me to my day of fun filled adventures; as it will always be with the two men I'm raising. So, I leave you with a recipe from this wonderous book and a quote from a following page.

Pashofa

1 lb cracked corn (white cracked corn can be bought at many grocery stores)
2 quarts water (add more as needed)
1 lb fresh lean pork (meaty backbone)

Wash and clean corn. Bring water to boil and add corn. Cook slowly, stirring often. When corn is about half done, add fresh pork. Cook until both meat and corn are soft and tender. The mixture should be thick and soupy. Cook about 4 hours. Add NO salt while cooking; each individual should season food according to his/her own taste.

"Sleeping with a Sunflower: A Treasury of Old-Time Gardening Lore." p 108

"The leaves of orange bergamot (Mentha citrata) slipped into the wallet will attract money."

Have an enjoyable experience today.

~Momma