Time for a rant!! [AKA, I forgot to publish this..]

Edit April 2011: apparently I neglected to publish this post when I wrote it back at Christmas time. For your enjoyment, may I present:


Step right up folks! I am reading a nice selection of books this Christmas break and several of them demand attention.
So Much More, by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin
Quivering Daughters, by Hillary McFarland
Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller
Perelandra, by C. S. Lewis [again]
The Science of God, by Gerald Schroeder

[Admittedly the last few are kinda waiting to be read....]

The first two books demand to be read and talked about. So Much More, by the by-this-time infamous Botkin sisters, has been both strongly recommended and strongly denounced. Quivering Daughters, which really isn't an argument to So Much More so much as it is an attempt to heal those hurt by patriocentricity, has also been rejoicingly and critically received.
Supporters of So Much More always preface their recommendation with a variation on 'if you are a feminist, or afraid to have your views challenged, or unwilling to submit entirely to God's plan for your life, don't read this book because you won't like it'. This is a method which I have encountered numerous times and it is beginning to anger me rather a lot. There appears to be NO way to argue with it. It is the single most effective way of stifling criticism that I've seen......feel free to disagree with us, but if you do we will know that you're a rebellious feminist.



I am swiftly working my way through Quivering Daughters. I think I'd recommend it to ANY young women raised to believe that patriocentricity is correct...also any men out there who either are incensed at patriocentricity's influence, or are whole-hearted supporters of it.
Hopefully a more thorough review of QD later; right now I am up in arms over So Much More.

I haven't read the whole thing yet, really couldn't stand to....have been taking dips out of it here and there with my customary lightning-speed reading.

Just a few things that stood out to me....

In the first chapter:

 'Don't read this book at all (I would rephrase: "You won't like this book....") if you have a bad attitude toward your father and if you are trying to keep your distance from him. Many girls enjoy having "space" away from their fathers. That space is dangerous.'

[-So Much More, page 6, emphasis mine]
It goes on with the same sort of warnings I mentioned earlier.

They do say to check what they say against Scripture.

I become irked at the constant assumption that women in earlier times were happier because they were unfeministed [word, hehe]. The first mention of this recurring theme occurs here.... 'The lifestyle and worldview we present ... was lived before, when women were much happier.'  Really? I fail to see how anyone can judge whether a whole set of people in another time is more or less happy than now.

There's an interesting comment about 'extreme measures' which I'd like to contrast with one in Quivering Daughters.

We believe that in a day of extreme apostasy and judgement, extreme measures are exactly what's called for, and that a drastic step in the opposite direction is exactly what we need to take. 

[page 8, emphasis in original]

From QD, talking about moving away from patriocentricity:

'...it feels like you are going towards another extreme. Consider, however, that you are on a line, with patriarchalism on one end and, as an example, secular feminism on the other. Because your starting point is an extreme, to move toward balance initially appears like rushing to another extreme.'

[Quivering Daughters, page 159]

So Much More utilizes a number of testimonies from young women who are introduced in the beginning of the book. Almost all of them started out as feminists; most of them started out sincerely wanting to serve God [but in what they later came to believe was the wrong way: by going to college, becoming a lawyer, or conducting business]. This gives me great hope that someday I, too, may be like these young women and realize that I am trying to serve God in the wrong way.

Fathers
The entire book is geared exclusively towards daughters and their fathers [which has been used as a criticism, because mothers are rarely if ever mentioned]. Every chapter is headed 'Daughters, Fathers and ___'.  There is very, very brief mention made of the plentitude of difficult circumstances that could prevent this relationship....what about a father not having a job that his daughter can help with? [Geoffrey Botkin, in a special appendix, says that fathers should consider getting a new job or risk losing their daughters. I'm sure my dad would be happy to hear that.]

Good grief:

'Our fathers...are even supposed to represent God to us. This means that are dads have the tremendous responsibility of being accurate reflections of God's authority, as well as providers of the security and love that God created us, as women, to need.'  

[page 17, emphasis mine]
There's a lot of concern that a daughter who grows up equating her father with God will have deeply twisted perceptions of God if her earthly father was abusive [EMOTIONALLY and spiritually, not just physically].

Men's and women's roles
Oh now we get to the good stuff, the stuff that will keep you up at night.

'Every woman's life is built around men and men's role and leadership in some way.' 

[page 11] [They go on to say that, for instance, feminist Betty Friedan spent her life furthering a man's agenda: Karl Marx.]

'As we stated before, every woman is, by nature, a man's helper. You are a helper, no matter your age or marital status.' 

[page 42]
That's funny, isn't it? I thought a woman was her HUSBAND's helper.


Courtship
Their take on purity/etc was predictable, and less strident than I envisioned [included all of a page and a half telling girls to not beat themselves up if they have previous sins in their past].

Courtship, on the other hand, proved a truly unpleasant subject.

I've read several opinions on courtship and this one has the heaviest emphasis on extensive input from all involved parents and other adults.....no mention made of when this heavy-handed approach might give way to the two people actually doing it THEMSELVES....one would presume that two 30-year-olds interested in marriage would still have to be under the leadership of their parents. That looks like this:

First stage: friendship [sure].
Then, if the young man thinks the young woman may be his intended bride, he discusses it with his parents [paraphrasing here, from page 241].

He then approaches the girl's father without informing the girl about it. 

Lovely, isn't it?

The father then finds out all about the young man. If the young man obtains the approval of the father to begin courting, the daughter is consulted as to her wishes [finally!].
Then they go off courting, with marriage being the expected outcome. Theoretically any party can bow out at any time, but......

We still find our emotions entangled and disheveled under the most protective, sensible scenarios, and some people who court let themselves become just as emotionally devastated as people who date, if the courtship is called off. 

[page 242, emphasis mine]

Splendid....glad to hear that if I court someone and then become attached to them and then they DUMP me [as an example]....that if I am upset, it is MY FAULT.....my fault for letting myself become emotionally devastated. This is carrying it a bit far, but I'd like to take it to the conclusion of.....if a wife loses her husband of thirty years in a car accident, she LETS herself become emotionally devastated?

No, they don't explain that comment away. It is right there, boldly discounting any person's pain. I know how to take things in context.

In the interview with Geoffrey Botkin, he talks about the 'bride price', which we are to assume he intends to require for his daughters. He states that without the bride price, daughters were financial liabilities to families. [The bride price, apparently, involves the son-in-law giving money or estates to the father-in-law, who then passes the money along to his daughter, the bride.] Since the girl's family would then never get the money, I fail to see how that makes daughters any less of a financial liability. Mr. Botkin then states that he would hate to see this made into a formula 'with dollars and cents attached to it'.


College
This is perhaps their most revolutionary concept. I think they fall short of saying that going to college is a sin.....they just attack every possible motive for attending college.

'A mature young Christian friend of ours...feels like she has won, because she exited with a degree and what she thinks is an intact soul. What she doesn't know is that the college is laughing at her, because it knows it is the real winner.' 

[page 144]

There is much mention made of parents sending their daughter off to college...packing her away to a university...sending her out into the storm....etc. There is no mention at all made of what to do with a daughter who WANTS to go to college.

[Edit, April 2011: the manuscript ends here :P I think I remember getting extremely frustrated and depressed over the whole thing right about when I started to tackle the college question, and abandoned it. ]

Friday the 13th

Interesting times :)

I had to rise at an unseemly hour in order to go to this craft show with my mom. I didn't want to go but had to in order to get to class on time. It was in an old grange, filled with middle-aged ladies and holiday crafts. I was outta there in about ten minutes. Went directly to culinary class.

After that I rendezvoused with Dallan [we'd previously arranged all the details] and started walking towards downtown. Fortunately the rain let up for most of the time. Eva had planned to join us but she called in sick alas. It seems like a lot of people were sick about three weeks ago, they all recovered, and now the next batch is ill. I do hope everyone is recovered by the show....

Anyways, we pottered around town for a while. Actually pottered is not really the right term, we walked quite briskly. On the train tracks, sometimes. Hit most of the literary spots in town: library, The Book Bin [used], Borders, Grass Roots which is celebrating their 38th birthday today. Actually the festivities were supposed to pick up around 6, so it should be quite lively over there about now :) Grass Roots is the splendid independent bookstore in town, a local legend.

There was a nasty sticky bit of business involving transportation. But we worked through it and I am glad to be off my feet, we must have walked over a mile.

Let's see. What else is new. C++: yeaahh, it would REALLY help if my programming book were more recent than 1997....lol. Found a good tutorial online at cprogramming.com and got the classic Hello World program to work!!!!! Awesome!!

NaNo: started working on it again! I still loathe my NaNo Stats page though....hehe.

Theatre: our rehearsal on Wednesday was good. We had a certified Awesome Techie on audio. Am still trying to work out the issues of feedback. And the receiver takes 6 AA batteries in its mouth and goes NOMNOMNOM then ooops low battery.

Theatre consumes my every thought. It's getting obsessive. I look at random attic-stuff and say 'OOH! Audio cables!". Today at the craft show I spied a STAGE at one end of the Grange. Small, but serviceable with two entrances and a curtain. Mmm.

And AWWKKH I just remembered that I don't have the music for tomorrow's dance practice....argh....

Today was Talk Like A Brit Day! [heh..as declared by me :) ] I talked posh at intervals, lol.

could you please take a number and wait for the next mood-change?

ooh wow. Meh. Grahgh. Rowr.

Facebook status as of this afternoon: Bethany can't decide whether to be ticked off, happy, satisfied, excited, sad, in the throes of cold wrath, depressed, or what. Welcome to being a teenager. Factor in school, parents, school decisions, and you get something remarkably close to...eh..something. Crud crud crud.

It's been an interesting day. I got up all ready for a nice light school-load and a pleasant day. Tootled around on the computer for too long and got told off by my mom. I diligently applied myself to my studies for the next two hours. Pwned my bio homework through Monday; reviewed for the College Composition test; reviewed biology, took notes, tried to read notes, with limited success; lunched late. Mum came home. I tidied the kitchen, even doing the dishes as a tasty little extra to appease mom who was appeasement-worthy by this time.

Had a conversation about the scholastic plan. I think the worst part of school is trying to decide what to do. The trouble is always with me. I am not self-motivated enough to study and pass lots of CLEP exams [thus relieving the monetary angle of things]. I am going to have a "wasted year". We cannot afford to send me to college without alternative methods such as CLEPs. I am not self-motivated enough....you get the picture. I am spending too long on theatre stuff and Facebook. I would do school if I were told what to do [insert 1000-word discussion on the pros and cons of this, that and the other option. Including stuff that we discussed last year.] Why the dickens would I want to take Spanish I at a high school when I could be getting credit for it at college? I could spend three hours on Facebook if I were allowed to. Well what should I be doing? I did my biology didn't I?

Drat. I'm not trying to berate my mom. I'm sorry for loading this on you all....but then, what else are blogs for. Jest so's you know, this post may or may not be up here very long.

Eh. Biology is going well. Fungus. [Kendra, I will post something on the discussion board SOON! :) ]

Oh drat again. I just remembered some other schoolwork I could have done....

So you don't feel to sorry for me, please note that I did a grand total of about 3 hours of school today. That's a lot more than usual. BUT WHAT THE DICKENS AM I SUPPOSED TO BE DOING???!

Had thoughts concerning C++, computer programming, and such. I was reading along in a writing manual when I came to a chart of...."WOW! Computer terms, defined! Ohmigoodness! Cool!" Who cares that they're ten years old....bits and bytes. Haha, nothing above a KB was mentioned. Oh, these are the days of 200 gig hard drives...

Made a fire. I <3 style="">

Am reading Great Expectations again. I tried to read it at the tender age of 11, and failed. It's quite good. Now I must just convince my mom to let me finish To Kill a Mockingbird on my own.....

Oh splendid, I get to be busy tomorrow! [In other words, out of the house...] Dance rehearsal, and then off to Eva's for the evening. :)

Woow I hate the telephone. Every time it rings I jump and sweat breaks out and my heartrate speeds up. I don't know why, I'm not waiting for a call or anything.

I am considering participating in NaNoWriMo. Hm. I do have a story started, does that count if I finish it off? I really don't want this story to wind up in Unfinished Stories, much as that blog needs fodder...I'm working on typing it up even as we speak. My tiny handwriting is a major pain to read. I really, really like this story. But it needs m a j o r work. For one thing the hero is being set up with the wrong girl. For another, there is a mystery/thriller aspect which intruded itself, all unwanted, into the plot. For another...oh why spoil it? ;)

Ah. I just looked up the website and found started stories don't count. :( Oh well, I shouldn't have much trouble coming up with something...after all, it's quantity not quality and I do have plenty of that lol.....

I am really really excited!!! :)

award!

I've been awarded the awesome Lady Brainsample who regales us with tales from the far frontiers of stage life...a fabulously geeky-cool person! :) :) thanks much!

The Rules
1. Copy the Kreativ Blogger picture and post it on your page
2. Thank the person who gave it to you and link back to their blog
3. Write seven things about you that we don't know
4. Choose seven other bloggers that you would like to give the award to
5. Link to the bloggers that you choose
6. Let the winners know that they have the lovely award.

Seven things you may or may not know about me:

1. I'm reading The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy right now: Bk. 1. I finally know what all the fuss is about. You can bet I know where my towel is. For as long as I can remember I have maintained that the towel is the peak of man's invention. I could not live without towels.

2. I'm a doomsteader. Another words [to quote Pogo], I garden, save, scrimp, and expect the worst and am very happy doing so. :)

3. I fancy myself a connoisseur of esoteric music: right now [check out my playlist] I'm listening to a fabulous song by a Swedish group, Garmarna.

4. I can speak a bit of French, and I can read it pretty well.

5. I'm in touch with someone who can provide me with an XLR-to-standard 1/4" cable converter for theatre business. btw, I love theatre business! =)

6. Sword-fighting/fencing is one of my favorite things to do, but I'm really bad at it.

7. I think cloaks are the some of the most awesome things ever [right behind towels....how about a cloak made out of towel material? It could happen...probability two to the power of ten hundred-thousand to one against and falling]


Seven people to award this to:

Olive Tree
The Reluctant Dragon
Gwyniver
Bracie
Tinydancer
Bekah
Earwen

And oh yes, I'll try and post about today SOON! :)

tomatoes! and tags!

First off: Thanks to Cavender James, my awesome 30th follower!!! Woot!

And check out the two new polls in the sidebar. One on what you wanna see more of, here at A Selection of Varied Topics [other than, well, a selection of um....varied topics], and the other is on where all my beloved visitors/followers are from.

Yes folks, we are rolling in [and on?] tomatoes. Yesterday at the farmers' market I bought two whole flats of Romas, and our bushes are producing too. Last evening I had a grand slicing and squeezing and simmering. There were two huge pans [no. Cauldrons. They demand to be called cauldrons] simmering on the stove. I couldn't resist quoting "bubble, bubble, toil and trouble" as I stirred the gurgling contents of the cauldrons [I like saying that word] with a too-short spoon, at great peril to my hands from flying tomato sauce.

A side note here: say the word "dweeb".

Yes of course out loud. Right now, sitting in front of your computer screen.

Now that your parent or sibling has said "Huh?", you have broken into embarrassed laughter, and have become pretty fed up with me, I shall explain. 'Twas at one of the famous get-togethers of The Big Three [Eva, Dallan and guess who], whilst we were trying to think of an insult for the play-script we were writing. It came up that "dweeb", while manifestly inappropriate for a production set in the 30s, is nevertheless a very fun word to say. Try it. [Oh wait, you already did.]

Now that we've got that out of the way, we can move on to more pressing business, such as Tags. I've been tagged a grand total of three times in the last couple of days: Rose gave me the "hopeless romantic" tag which I did a month or so back but I don't mind doing it again :P And Olive Tree and tinydancer both tagged me the same day, hehe, with the "3" tag. Three favorite characters; one pic of each; three things about them; shall we be overeager and tag three people?

So! Hopeless romantic first. I'll repost some of what I did before. And really, Rose's answers are identical to mine almost all round, and better phrased :), so go check out her post!

What two qualities do you want most in your future husband? Being able to apologize when he's wrong (something I struggle with) and, definitely, being a survivalist. I think that's going to determine a lot of things, in the coming years.

Is there a fictional character you see as a model for your future husband? Hmmm. No. Well, maybe Flagan Sackett, from Louis L'Amour's western novels. [Since I wrote this a few months back, I've figured at Aragorn is pretty awesome...]

Where do you want your wedding? I don't know...garden? Top of Mary's Peak?

What are your views on courtship?Nice idea. Don't know if it's going to happen.

[here's what Rose said, which sums it up perfectly] I think that courtship as opposed to dating is a very good idea. It seems much more family oriented, instead of just couple oriented. I'd like to get to know his family well, and i want him to get to know my family. Of course a couple of "dates" on our own would be fine with me.

What are your views on your first kiss? [Again, here's Rose.] Well, i'm not so sure i like the "wait until my wedding day" idea. I mean, it's a nice idea and if my future spouse wants it that way then i'll probably agree, but i don't really care for that. I'd really like my first kiss to be right after he says "Will you marry me?" and i say "Oh certainly you most wonderful man! I'd go to the ends of the earth and back with you!" Or something like that. Knowing me i'd probably just say "Yes" and burst into tears. So yes, the first kiss when i get engaged, and then wait until the wedding.

Do you have or want a purity ring/locket? Nyet. I'm not married. I'd feel sort of hypocritical wearing a ring on my ring-finger. I hope I can stay pure without a ring!! Mmf.

Do you have or want a hope chest? Why??? A nice collection of seeds, towels, cook books is far more practical! When I'm on that ranch in Montana, I won't be wantin' no fancy carved chest!

Will you wear a veil at your wedding? Natch

What kind of wedding dress do you want? Hm. Medieval?

What flowers do you want in your bouquet?Lavender and roses and wheat.

What do you want to name one of your daughters? Anne--my middle name.

What do you want to name one of your sons? Husband's middle name

Do you believe in the 'knight-in-shining-armor' view of courtship? Erm...sort of. But I'm no princess and I don't want a prince. Let's say more the 'cowboy with one hand on the Bible and the other on his six-shooter' view.

What music do you want to play at your wedding? Theme from Lord of the Rings! And probably country. Yes, definitely. And something hoe-down-ish for the party. Ahem, there is more I could say in this vein.

Are you a hopeless romantic? I wouldn't say so. Hopeless country western romantic, maybe so!

And I tag [um]

Kendra

Olive Tree

Bracie

On to the "thr3e" [sorry, couldn't resist] tag!

I've got too many favorite characters to choose between.

Here's Anne Shirley

1. She accidentally dyes her hair green [trying for a nice raven black, of course]

2. She's terribly poetic

3. In the movies she's played by the lovely Megan Follows who is perfect for the part

The three chickies in "Ballet Shoes"--Pauline, Petrova and Posy Fossil

I could cheat and just put one thing about each of them.

1. Posy is the wonderful dancer I always wanted to be.

2. Pauline is prob. the most like me, she's a fabulous actress

3. All three girls go to dance and theatre school during WWII

I just found out there's been a movie made, I want to see it so bad!!

Benjamin Martin, memorably played by Mel Gibson in "The Patriot":

1. Law-abiding farmer

+

2. Nasty plundering troops

=

3. Epic warrior

...need I say more?

That tag goes to

Ophelia

Bracie

Equus Delirus

Hmm, sorry Bracie, I just realized that I tagged you twice....I'm not going to change it now though! :)

Other stuff: I got someone to agree play the villain in "Two Tophats and a Spy"!!! Yayz!! Our other actor fell through. Rehearsal Saturday.

Went to the library today. Never, I repeat, never, read the opening chapters of "The Stand" whilst standing in the library. Every person who passes you while coughing [and there were several] will add to your mounting paranoia. GULP!!

I can't believe only two people commented on my last post!! Especially the "reader input requested" bit at the end. I really do want to hear your camping stories!! Post post post!

I think I'll make the "comment on random topic" thing a weekly event. We'll call it Reader Wednesdays. [Sort of stealing Kendra's idea here, hah]

a little better...

I'm feeling better today!! Guess 'twas not the flu after all, but a mere dastardly cold.

J. William's book November came in the mail today [an advance copy, as friend of the author :) --it won't be available for sale til late fall] and I was extremely excited and read the whole thing at one sitting [propped up in bed with a supply of tea and bran muffins and tissues for me nose].
'Tis excellent!!! I shall be promoting it more as the release date draws near :)

Where are all my lovely followers coming from?? Yay! You're the best....thanks! My dashboard is filled to bursting!

And there'll be some awesome Medieval role-playing going on starting tomorrow over here....join me!!

summer dreams of winter

I'm feeling sort of dreamy this morning...I've been reading Lenore's lovely blog and that is influencing it... :)


I woke up at 8:45 this morning and was too comfortable to get out of bed for a while, smelling smoke--it was nice at first but got unpleasantly strong when I got up.

Off to farmers' market; the sun popped out at last and made our weak Oregonian eyes hurt! hehe, usually don't have to make that joke til winter.



And the title of this post----well, it's been quite chilly lately and I got out my red wool plaid skirt again, and last night actually considered wearing a jersey or whatever those thin sweaters are called, to the play: which was very good, again. I think last night was a bit better; I could tell all the actors were less nervous tonight, though. There was one bit where Phillip (onstage) had a terribly funny expression on his face when he was looking at one of the actresses (as he was supposed to), and she cracked up, and one of the other girls in the scene was trying hard, and the entire front row of the audience (including me), who all know the cast very well, were laughing.....whew! Fun stuff. But they were able to continue without much trouble, fortunately, and it was supposed to be a comical part of the scene.

Oh right, title: I guess I've just been thinking about winter recently. But I do not want summer to end!! Pretty soon we start seeing those loathsome "Back-to-school!!! REJOICE!!!" ads in the stores. They make my dad (a teacher) particularly unhappy.



There is yet time! And melons!!

The figs are pretty good, too.

At market we bought a bag of lovely soft green ones, and did not even get done with our next errand in town ( going to the Asian market for chocolate-hazlenut spread) before they were nearly gone. Back to market!



At last we are nearly done working at my grandmother's! Woot! The entire summer has been taken up with painting and cleaning and nail-pulling (not really. but it feels like that.).

Tis really rather lonesome in town this week, except for the theatre goings-on; one of my four dear friends is out of state, and is going to college in Michigan this year, and another is busy with relatives/camp all week, and my other two have grandparents staying through the weekend, and I just left a message to see if we can get together next week before we head off to the coast, but they don't get phone messages very quickly. Alas.



And I really must take some time to make a new header for ole bloggie! The generic green swirly thing at the top of this one is less than original!



I have decided to persevere and read A Tale of Two Cities. My mom was reading it out loud to me earlier in the year, but we never got very far. I can read very fast, and one does need to re-read Dickens' complex sentences to discover exactly what the subject was verbing adverbally to the object! So far it is going pretty well; I've heard it is so very good, that I really must read it.



I updated my "favorite things" list, in the sidebar! There's a poll about halfway down, as to where you'd rather go on holiday in Middle-earth.
Aha! the mail just came--I must venture forth and see if it includes Countryside magazine--then out down the street to pick wild plums--

my bookshelf, and the herbal teas I drink

Ah-ha! I haven't posted in a while! I've been keeping up with everybody, though. ;)



I got into a rather heated online debate; I discovered this site, arwenvseowyn.blogspot.com, and got quite het up over Eowyn's reputation being put into doubt. Know first off that Eowyn is one of my favorite characters from Lord of the Rings, and I and several of my friends rather dislike Arwen/Liv Tyler, at least in the movies. I came into the blog's comments section with an indignant bounce. You can check out the excitement here and here. In retrospect, I probably got overly upset!



Now let's move on to a more soothing subject: plants. And in particular herbs.

I love plants. Herbs, trees, vegetables, flowers. The way they look, the way they smell, the way they taste. I've been able to identify wild plants for as long as I can remember; we have a video, I believe, of me when I was about 3 years old, going around saying "This is an onion...a dandelion...(etc.)" Once a few years back I was in a park with some friends, and we were walking and I spotted a COPPER BEECH TREE, and was totally freaking out with excitement because you hardly ever see beech trees here, and they're so pretty!
When we got to England two years ago, well, I recall the bus ride from the airport to our town, and being so thrilled at seeing all the British vegetation by the side of the road.
A year or two ago I became positively obsessed with finding out exactly what species of wild yellow iris grew in the Gladden Fields. (It's Iris pseudacorus, btw--you wanted to know that, you know you did!)
Anyway, suffice it to say that I love plants.

Favorite medicinal herbs: too many to name.
Sage; and mint; ginger; pennyroyal (more on that later); mugwort of course; yarrow; lemon balm mint; anything in the mint family, basically.

I've got quite a few herb books; but stay, let's detour into my bookshelf. Downstairs, by my desk--the less-read fiction books are upstairs. We have more books in our house than anyone I know.
Yes: One shelf of fiction and one of non-fic. Redwall books (I have practically the entire series, including an autographed one I bought at a booksigning by the author); Lord of the Rings, two editions. I've got one edition that my dad bought in the 70's, in Texas. And two or three companion LotR sorts of books, Letters of Tolkien, Unfinished Tales, Book of Lost Tales I and II, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, movie guides and behind-the-scenes, The Tale of the Children of Hurin, and quite a few other Tolkien things.

The Shakespeare Stealer trilogy--historical fiction. Jane Eyre; James Herriot's Dog Stories; Great Expectations (I AM going to read it, really!); Watership Down, Tales from Watership Down, The Plague Dogs (by the same author); a selection of Agatha Christie mysteries; a lot of Rosemary Sutcliff hist. fic. ; That Hideous Strength, by CS Lewis; The Man who was Thursday, by GK Chesterton; some westerns; The Irish R. M. (hilarious, and very lucid); probably a mushy Louisa May Alcott or two; and my dad's and my collection of antique Pogo Possum comic books.

We move into non-fiction. We start out with a bang with 5 herb books: general things, women's health, Indian herbology, how to grow. On to self-sufficiency: various manuals from the 70s including the splendid First Time Farmer's Guide, and survival (The Worst-case Scenario handbook), and a few others. Livestock: Guides to raising chickens, goats (I used to read those for FUN!! I am not kidding.), Natural Goat Care, Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable, which ties everything together and brings us back to what I started out to talk about: herbs!

I've been doing herb teas since I was about 12, more or less. That was also when I started getting "political"--which I use as a collective term for various general opinions and thoughts classified in my head under keywords as follows:
organic, Monsanto, Ron Paul, The Presidensity, food, farms, feedlots, alternative medicine, methylparaben in shampoo, preparedness, Campaign for Liberty, the Constitution, survivalism, doomsteading, Countryside magazine, vaccinations, 2nd Amendment rights, and other hot topics which most people would not call politics at all!

My sometimes unconventional views have resulted in some interesting discussions with my friends, particularly at sleep-overs--we mostly stay awake talking about world politics, conservatism, and our favorite foods, and of course catching up on celebrity gossip (i.e., our favorite actors and actresses in Lord of the Rings and Narnia), and have usually solved all the world's problems by day-light!

Right---tea---! I am not getting off topic!
So anyway, pennyroyal. It's considered toxic nowadays, because many years ago a woman wanted to have an abortion the "natural" way and drank several ounces of pennyroyal essential oil. She died. Essential oil is the very last thing to drink a large quantity of, I think even mint oil would make you deathly sick.

I believe this is just about the only case of recorded toxicity of pennyroyal, but nevertheless it got on the bad list. I've read enough about it to feel informed. I've drunk pennyroyal tea on occasion, for cramps or colds or such. Even I have shyed off recently though. You don't want to mess with your liver. But oh the fragrance!!!

Mugwort is related to wormwood. It's very bitter but I love the taste, and the smell just takes me back to holidays in the mountains. And it's supposed to promote dreaming, as I've said before. I've also heard it can make you sleep less deeply, which is not so awesome.

In early spring (about February, here) I'll go out and hunt up the first green stuffs, mint and green-house sage and plantain, and lemon balm sprouts and make a bright green tea. This often coincides with the beginning of dandelion season (I love dandelions!), and I eat dandy greens and poached eggs from my own hens, and I really feel good.


This post has turned out to be less about herbs and more about general life! Which is the way my conversations go, pretty much. Here on Dandelion Farm, as I like to call our little corner of the Pacific North-West.

reading

I just finished a Western by Louis L'Amour--excellent. I've read a few of his books and really enjoyed them, but they mostly didn't seem very "deep". This one ["The Sackett Brand"] was so different! It was a follow-up from "Sackett", a traditional Western where the guy gets the girl and they live happily ever after, just like all the other L'Amour books I've read. But in this one the girl [now the hero's wife of a few months] is murdered. That didn't become evident til about half-way through the book and I was just so surprised, and sad. The rest of the book becomes Sackett's personal quest for justice and vengeance.
Anyway, if you like Westerns, I highly recommend it!


My dad just came by and said that "our home is our campsite". We get all the fun of camping without having to crouch in a measly tent. Food can be cooked outdoors, but we've got a refrigerator. There's wildlife outside. In fact we've got everything except the tent!