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.