lil builder alternative building kits

The "lil builder" alternative building kits were an absolute hit this year for Christmas! I had soo many requests from a show I did that I could barely fill the orders. As a family we had a blast building our alternative fairy town square. I will be putting the kits on my Etsy store mariefrench.etsy.com in a few weeks, I think they will be around $14.00. I have rock, and adobe block building kits available, and am working on cordwood, and cob construction...any ideas will be welcome, maybe even a leather teepee...All are made from recycled, sustainable, or invasive species....hope you and your kids like them as much as we did....here are the pics..Marie xoxo

more desert wisdom

just gotta share what I'm learnin....
use meat tenderizer on spider and scorpion bites, also on centipede and cone nose bits
lavender is a good deterrent-spray copiously...
cats allowed indoors and outdoors deters snakes.
Blind prickly pear cactus is a real party crasher, each little dot that looks well just like a little dot, contains over 200 small hairlike thorns, and the only way to get rid of them is by duct tape.
wolf berry is edible and makes a great jam
cat claw acacia will really wrap its arms around you and become a very bloody date...so watch out for it.
watch for coral snakes in spring seeps, creeks and along the Rio Grande...
to get rid of ants pour boiling water down the ant hole...a less offensive rid aide is to spray vinegar any where you see them-they went away for me.

flea collars on the animals keeps the cone nose away-remember spray lavender on your sheets, sweep under beds, check under covers...especially after a rain or during spring...these nasty creatures leave a huge welt and itch like crazy-try tea tree as well...on the itch that is...and kill them. their lethal cousins in S. America literally slowly degenerate your heart....
cats assimilate in 2/3 weeks as indoor outdoor cats...
always wear a hat, long pants, long sleeve shirt-white preferably light colors to reflect the sun...
drink lots of water
use chi lie peppers instead of pepper-they are healthier too.
shake out shoes and clothes laying on the floor you don't want any uninvited guests.....
wasps-don't aggravate-just point your finger at them and they will leave.
run from bee swarms-FAST
snakes back away-usually find them along fence lines, grass rocks, porches, flashing's, they like to follow steps and lie next to them...look where you walk!, and never put your hands or feet where you can't see.
wear flip flops or the like around the house so you don't step on scorpions, and other little critters.-I did and it hurt!
centipede sting-these monsters wrap their bodies around you and sting not only once but with all their legs...hurts like stepping on hot coals...use black pepper and meat tenderizer....and on that note.....Please feel free to email me with any more desert wisdom you might like to share.....marie

desert wisdom

You know sometimes we forget this wisdom that certain areas give us...so I would like to share some of the desert wisdom passed on to me.
Cats repel rattlesnakes-especially cats raised on roadkill rattlesnakes, left a bit hungry.
bring your small animals inside at night because they make tasty appetizers for mountain lions, coyotes, and owls...
to build a composting toilet just get a five gallon bucket, fill it with peat moss, go ...whatever and cover with peat moss, the compost it for non edible gardens...
Your septic is bound to go out so pee but no tissue in the toilet...please do flush your number two tissue....
use your plastic bags for insulation..
creosote bush is a great antioxidant...
remove your shoes before entering or your will constantly leave a dust trail.
you will have allergies your first year here-do to the dust....
water is precious need I say more...
Houses take forever and cost a ton to build-that's why you see so many trailers....
start your garden in the late fall-October/November....
and other than that....I don't know but I'll keep you informed as I learn more....xoxo marie

preparing for a desert Christmas

In the desert things are just different...First of all there are no regular sized trees here-At least not the kind I bought before. I will only buy trees that I can replant, and well the selection was rather sparse...We found our two foot blue spruce at the hardware store one of two places that carried trees...So you can get a peek at a small replant able tree-the blue spruce and our true blue desert tree, made from a piece of driftwood my husband drilled into a block of wood. I kind of like that one the best.....Happy holidays..xoxoxomarie

remaking grandmas earring in to a necklace..

Grandma lost her earrings , and I found one of them..so of course as a child she let me keep the pretty bling bling....I have had it all these years when it finally occurred to me to remake it into a necklace...So with the help of my friend filmmaker Sally Martin..we shot a workshop for expertvillage.com on the making of this particular necklace. If you want to know the steps involved in making this necklace the workshop should be up next week or soon thereafter. The site expertvillage.com is free so go have some fun learning all sorts of cool things from jewelry design to roping cattle....Here is a picture of the necklace I made from Grandmas lost earring......

and the turkey goes on and on...

I just wanted to share some ways that I used to reinvent the turkey from thanksgiving...

Turkey chili:
pulled apart some turkey meat
added a 28oz can of tomatoes with italian herbs
added an 8oz. can of red beans
added chile seasoning
all into a big pot
simmered for an hour or so and it was ohhhh so ymmmmy and easy to make...

Turkey tacos...
another simple recipe:

pull some turkey meat, put in a pan, add taco seasoning, and heat until covered and cooked...
put out some bowls of cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, grilled onions, and taco shells..wha laa ti daa......Enjoy remaking your turkey dinner....let me know what you come up with...

for the love of creosote...the plant

This lovely Native American pharmacy is loaded with antioxidants...It is even being studied for cancer treatment...Who knows.....If you dip the branch of the creosote bush into warm not hot water...it is loaded with vitamins and minerals....great for those winter coughs too...a little desert medicinal lore....here is a picture of this beloved plant...It smells great when it rains too..good as a potpourri, and air freshener..I am going to try it in the kitty litter box to see if it can help with the cats delightful smell.....

We have finally made it to Texas...our wild blue yonder experiment...Our experiment is how close as a family can we get to living sustainably..yet comfortably? Here are photos of our house in progress...Very slow progress. We are renovating an existing structure built from rasta block-aka recycled materials, adding water catchment cisterns(about six 1500 gallon tanks), a paper crete art and office studio, and a carport which will hold our solar panels as we are going completely solar...Now as this is an experiment we will of course have downfalls and triumphs...but each day at a time..
I am now renovating my etsy site to include crafting kits, and some pieces of the things I will create...
I am also teaming up with epertvillage.com and videotaping some of the art projects I teach and produce..again I am trying to go sustainable, and as it is a work in progress I am sure in time I will create more and more that is sustainable...
These kits, and supplies will be available on mariefrench.etsy.com
I am working on container gardens and container orchards here in the desert...we shall see, and I will keep you posted......
so all and all we'll see how creative we can be...any helpful posts and ideas are always welcome.....xoxxooo marie

just got to Texas!

Yahooooo! we just got here and my internet is now hooked up....However no camera..so I have to wait until I get my camera back-end of Septemeber, when my husband comes with the second rental truck...of course all that flea market shopping overloaded the first truck, and we couldn't fit everything in. So what is the first thing I am going to do here....CULL.....this fat New York rat has got to slim down to Texas cowgirl size....x0x0marie

long house reserve

What a beautiful place-I just had to share. I am moving next week so this will be my last blog until I reach Texas! lots of love...marie

labryinths

I love labyrinths...They are going to be the main thrust of my work, meditations, and practice. There is much significance in this symbolic practice, and I can't wait to learn more and more each day as the labyrinth teaches me. I am sharing how to draw the labyrinth from Contemporary Mazes and Labyrinths, By Jeff Saward. Enjoy...xoxo Marie Again using labyrinths is a great practice for attention. blessings...

lovliness

For lack of attention a thousand forms of loveliness elude us every day.
Evelyn Underhill

nature speaks

There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, to pay attention to the story. Linda Hogan quoted in Listening to the Land.

a day in the life of Sag Harbor

Today Margot, Juliette and I decided to take pictures of some of favorite things in Sag Harbor. As we are moving in two weeks we are going to take pictures of all of the different areas in The Hamptons so we can remember our times here, add a sense of closure, and say good bye...and you guessed it-focus our attention. Can you guess some of my favorite things?