The Three R's

This mama bear visited our campsite in the Sierras after our dogs scared her up the tree. After a few hours she came down and was on her way. We were lucky to see three other bears during our trip and a mother deer nursing her fawn. Camping and being out of cell and computer range for two whole weeks is just what I needed.

Days were spent hiking, biking, swimming, reconnecting with my husband and just plain relaxing. Our tent has a mesh top and we watched the stars in the comfort of our sleeping bags.

I spent a lot of time thinking about my business and the direction I want it to go. I tend to try to do to much and get burned out. I'm an Aries so that may explain it! If someone asks why I don't have a certain scent of soap or lotion, I always need to make it and list it in my store, even tho that person sometimes never comes back to buy it. More often than not it sits in the store a long time before someone does buy it.

This is how I came up with the Three R's. You have always heard of reduce, reuse, recycle, my three R's are relax, reconnect and reinvent. Relax: is something I do not do as often as I should, but on vacation it felt so good to just do nothing. Reconnect: I am painfully aware how short life is and my goal is to reconnect with family, friends, and neighbors regardless of how busy we all are. So friends and family be forewarned, I will be bugging you to get together more! It's really easy to become isolated in our busy lives, but what's life about without, family, friends and neighbors. Reinvent: realizing that "less is more" I have decided to cut back on offering so many different types of products and only focus on the ones that I and my customers love the most. This will free up quite a bit of time so I can relax, reconnect and reinvent my shop and product line.

So if you don't hear from me or see as much in my store online, know that I am living my life to the fullest and enjoying it as much as I can which will make me refreshed and focused so that I can continue to make amazing organic eco friendly products. Also now I can spend more time trying to save the planet for my grandkids. ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE!

P.S. Don't worry I will still be making FACE FOOD.

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!

Back By Popular Demand

Rose Complexion Bar is back in stock. This organic bar is a labor of love. It starts with 100% Goat Milk from Nubian Goats (see post below). Nubian goat milk has high milk fat producing a super rich bar. Goat's milk is high in lactic acid which naturally exfoliates your skin. The organic oils used in this soap are infused with herbs and the most fragrant rose petals saved just for this soap. The oils are solar infused for six weeks and smell heavenly. Just before pouring the cold processed soap I add a generous amount of rose absolute, rose geranium, and palmarosa essential oils. The bar is then cured for about a month producing a gentle, long lasting bar. I love to use this decadent bar all over my body, try it your skin will feel the difference!

ECO LAWN MOWER AND WEEDEATER

My daughter's Nubian Goats bring new meaning to the phrase "will work for food". Besides furnishing us with delicious goat's milk that we drink and cook with, makes fantastic cheese, and super rich goat's milk soap, they are also tireless lawn mowers. Right now they are busy clearing the field of blackberries! The herd is very affectionate and love to go on walks with the kids.

On the curing rack is my favorite soap, a wonderful batch of my 100 percent goat's milk soap scented with neroli and rose absolute. Look for that to be listed again on Etsy in 4 more weeks. A long cure makes for a milder long lasting bar. Next up is East Meets West goat's milk soap. This is my next favorite soap, scented with patchouli, frankincense, myrrh, lavender, and lime, the scent is exotic and unusual. Customers who hate the smell of patchouli always love this soap.

Nature's Gold Rose Facial Oil

Natures Gold is made with the oil pictured in the post below. I bottle the precious organic herbal infused oil in a frosted glass 2 oz container, add a few fragrant rose petals, rose essential oil, vitamin E and viola this facial oil gives your skin a dewy appearance and silky feel. The oil soothes dry, damaged skin and the rose scent is uplifting.
Rose is an aphrodisiac since ancient times and this oil is also great for a sensual massage.

Nature's Gold

This beautiful infused oil is where it all begins. Most of Green Springs Bodyworks products start with this herbal infused organic olive oil. This jar is chock full of healing herbs and flowers, solar infused for four to six weeks. I lovingly pick and forage the herbs and flowers in the early morning preferably during the time of the full moon. I have been wild crafting herbs for over twenty years and I make sure to walk gently and only pick what I can use. It sometimes takes weeks to find enough herbs for one batch as I go to many different locations in the surrounding mountains so as not to deplete any one place. Often I come across herbs that I use for natural dyeing, I am also a fiber artist so it's great when I can also find natural dye plants while I am wild crafting!

One of my favorite herbs to infuse is St. John's Wort. Picked at the peak of perfection this oil will bless you with the most beautiful deep red oil that is one of my most prized healing oils. I usually harvest that in July but Spring arrived late this year so it may bloom later. I will post a picture of that oil when I infuse it. Well, I better get back to my garden, it rained heavily last night so I need to take advantage and get in there and pull weeds before the ground hardens. Happy Spring !

Guardian of the Spring

This majestic Ponderosa Pine stands guardian over the spring I posted about below. The picture on the left was taken at sunrise, the right was taken before sunset. This is the view we have from our bedroom window and is one of the reasons we chose to buy land 5 miles up a bumpy dirt road.
This beautiful tree is over 200 ft. tall and the bark smells just like vanilla.


A few years ago the dogs and I came face to face with a cougar walking up the road around 10am. He or she turned to face us and I just about had a heart attack, the dogs started barking like crazy and it bound over a fence and was gone in a flash. I have always wanted to see a cougar and finally got my chance, I just wish we had been safe and sound in the car. We routinely see coyotes, bobcats, red fox, great gray owls, blue herons and the occasional rattle snake and black bear. Living in the mountains can be hard and sometimes lonely, but thanks to our wonderful neighbors, both human and not, there is no other place I'd rather be.