Lisa Zahn

I wanted to do another post today because I don't like my last post's title showing up on other people's blog feeds. I'm not much of a swear-er, you see. For more, read the two posts below, also made today... :-) Lisa

I just saw this video. You have GOT to watch this. This is my state. This is our country. I am crying. http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/99433/incredible_documentary_footage_of_mass_arrest_in_st._paul/ Everyone with a blog out there, post this link. Everyone email it to your contacts. This is bogus. 284 people doing nothing, NOTHING, but sitting on a lawn and attending a concert. Cops in ugly.black.riot gear. It is all too clear in this video.

Yesterday I was awake at 4 a.m. Today it's 5 a.m. I think my subconscious is waking me so dang early these days because it's the only bit of quiet alone time that I get. And I really like quiet alone time! It's also a good time to finally clean and re-arrange the living room. Here's a picture. Just don't look into the dining room next door. I didn't take a picture of that. How are you feeling about the latest financial news? And the government's latest "big plan" to take over all that lovely debt? Well, if you want a different perspective from the rosy-ish one the mainstream media presents, check out Friday's post at The Automatic Earth . I don't know who's right. Maybe somewhere in between the positive and the negative we'll find the truth. All I know for sure is I've been reading The Automatic Earth for a year or so now, and they've turned out to be right over and over and over again. Bummer.

How's that for some random topics thrown together? It's all about what we're up to and what I'm thinking about. Things have seemed overwhelming around here lately, but I'm starting to get into the fall groove and find those little pockets of rest that keep me going. Actually, our life is pretty tame compared to others but I think my busy-ness tolerance level is fairly lightweight. I don't like to do much running around. We keep our kids limited to one activity a season or year. I try to limit my driving around in general. Still, we've ended up in two homeschooling co-ops this year, Elijah started karate, and Rose is in a very nice girls choir called Choristers that is sponsored by St. Cloud State University just blocks from our house. One of our homeschooling co-ops is more focused on fun and field trips. That group of families meets on Monday afternoons. This week we met at our new library (got to take a photo and post it--it's gorgeous, though I don...

Yesterday I was sitting out on the patio reading and enjoying the glorious weather. I was also feeling bad for the hens, stuck in their run. I have been imagining lately that they're not so happy all cooped up as they always are (pun intended). So I decided to give them their first taste of freedom. It was like watching your toddler walk for the first time. I sat back, gave them some room, and in no time out they came. They didn't get much further than the compost pile, right outside their coop, and every time I came near they ran back inside. But hey, for an hour or two they got to stretch their legs and eat some bugs! As a side note, I have been reading "The Martha Years" books, a fictional series about Laura Ingalls Wilder's great-grandmother Martha, daughter of a Laird in Scotland. They are written by Melissa Wiley and are a delight to read. More to feed my "Little House" obsession! Also, in tracing my family tree on Ancestry.com I am related to ...

I spent all day yesterday on a farm in the beautiful Cannon Valley of southeastern Minnesota, about two hours south of home, at the 3rd Annual Holistic Health and Herbal Education Festival , run by my teachers and fellow herbalists Lise Wolff and Erin Piorier ( Erin's great Minnesota Herbalist site here ). It was foggy and raining the entire day, starting with my 6 a.m. start from home and lasting well past my 8 p.m. arrival back home. But we had fun anyway! And I learned a lot in the four workshops. I'll write more about it on my Herbalist Lisa Zahn blog but today I'm working on a couple of herbal articles I've been asked to write for the online magazine Hen and Harvest (yay!), so for now I just wanted to share a couple of pictures.