Skijoring with the huskies

Here is a picture of the dogs taking a break while skijoring at Hyatt Lake yesterday. Hyatt Lake is located outside of Ashland Oregon in the beautiful Cascade Siskiyou National Monument. It is one of our favorite places to play year round. We love to ski around it in the winter, take the canoe on it, bike around it, swim across it, dog sled, hike and run around it. We are sometimes rewarded with a view of ospreys and eagles soaring high above.

Cabin Fever

I have had a serious case of cabin fever since the beginning of January.
We moved to the mountains 20 years ago because we love the snow but hadn't had any snow since Christmas Eve. While the East was getting dumped on, here in the Green Springs all we were getting is rain. Because of Global Warming we have really noticed a difference in our weather. In the past snow would stay on the ground for weeks at a time, but in the last few years it's only a few days. So I have been keeping busy doing things like taking inventory, organizing, ordering supplies, and getting ready for taxes and filling orders. Friday it finally happened! We had a nice snowstorm followed by a sunny Saturday. Hurray for sun! We headed up to Hyatt Lake (pictured above) to ski around it. The views are breathtaking with Mt. McLaughlin visible most of the way. It was an easy 10 mile ski around the lake, and then it was the dogs turn. We love to skijor with them so we hook them up to our waists and they pull us until they are tired. Today we will do it again but this time we will go to Buck Prairie and bring the dogsled. I am off to make blueberry pancakes and coffee, pack a lunch and head up the mountain. Life it good!

TIME FLIES WHEN YOU'RE HAVIN FUN

Can you believe Suka is 6 months old already? He is almost as big as Tenaya pictured with the beautiful blue eyes. He loves to chase her around their fenced in yard. Sometimes he grabs a hold of her tail while they are racing around! They have worn a racetrack into our yard and Tenaya is so fast the only way Suka can catch her is if he takes a short cut.

I am almost done wild crafting Arnica, St. John's wort, and Elderflowers. I made a beautiful soap using St. John's Wort Flowers that I will post in a few days. I also made a nice salt bar that is a goat's milk soap bar with dead sea salt and French green clay. It smells amazing.
I still have many soaps, potions and lotions to make for my markets and shows. Visit me in Jacksonville Oregon Labor Day weekend for the Arts Festival. Then it's time to gear up cause Christmas is right around the corner. Time sure flies!

GREEN SPRINGS - LIVING UP TO OUR NAME

Twenty five years ago we moved our family from Cleveland, Ohio to the mountains of Southern Oregon to a small community called the Green Springs. Back then it consisted of loggers, hippies, and back to the landers. For the most part everyone got along because we were all somewhat isolated and depended on our neighbors. We purchased 10 acres and began living our dream. We built a small cabin with logs killed by beetle infestation, grew our own fruits and vegetables and tried to walk gently on the land. I learned how to garden, spin, weave and make soaps, lotions and potions, and was commitment to eating organic and out of necessity we reduced, reused and recycled.

Fast forward to the present. My goal is help others go organic and eco-friendly , and make every attempt to save the world for my five grandchildren, and future generations. I now market my fabulous skin care products and call my business Green Springs Bodyworks. My products and packaging are eco-friendly and most of the ingredients are organic. What I do not grow or wild-craft, I try to purchase locally. I trade a local vendor face cream for his wonderful organic olive oil. Our butters are purchased from a sustainable women's co-operatives. We offer a $1.00 refund for recycled containers and I usually go home from the markets I sell at with a big bag of returned bottles and jars. Last April I decided to spread the word further on the Web. My products can be purchased on Etsy, Artfire, and here on the blog.

Unfortunately the bigger Siberian Husky pictured died right after Christmas. Here is a recent picture of Suka our newest member of the sled dog team. Tenaya, his big sister is three and loves her newly adopted companion.