Rootstalk - Part Two

Saturday -
This morning I decided to try a green smoothie for breakfast along with my oatmeal bar. It had strawberries, bananas, kale and spinach in it and was really quite tasty. Then I am off to my next class which was speaker Jim McDonald. He spoke to us on topical potions, poultices, and a way to make some very easy fixes for cold season and such. He was quite a character as he would act out some of what he would tell us, but had some really good info for all to learn. He was cooking onions for a poultice and then some white sage for a steam inhalation which made the room smell quite lovely.


After his class I was to go off to an aromatherapy class but hunger pangs won over again. This time I tried a vegetarian sausage with sauercraut and it was surprising good too.  By the time I finished eating and looking around at the vendors table and finding more things to buy, I decided to go back and lay down before the party got started at 8pm.
I had found a beautiful skirt, top and scarf to wear to the Masquerade ball tonight and my friend Pam, bought a skirt she was gonna wear.

Once we all started getting ready for the party to begin, snacked on what munchies we had brought with us, here comes the band of drums and tamborines up the path right towards our campsite. This puts a face to who had been keeping me up at night.

Funny how now I am enjoying the dance and music along with everyone else. This was to start off the evening festivities and boy was it an awesome way to do that. They are called the Samba Ja band.

So here we are decked out for the festival and off we go.

I did not get Cheryl in this picture as she was off having one of the fabulous massages that a couple were doing up at one of the vendor tents. I had a half hour massage earlier today and it has helped me be able to have a good evening without hurting.

Just before the bands on stage began, Pam and I went back to our favorite clothing vendor and she bought another skirt, I bought a pair of pants and MaryJane Butters saw us with our skirts and thought they were so cute she found one she loved as well.


Aren't these the cutest skirts?  I could have bought up the store if I had more money to spend. Everything is ruffles, layers and just funky cool.

The vendor would not let us leave until she took our picture so she could show off how her clothes look on others. We had so much fun looking at her pieces. Check out her website at avatarimports.net. I bet you will find something you'll like too.

Out into the food court the music has started and lights are coming on everywhere. But first a bathroom break. Can you tell what fun is about to begin? Isn't her costume too cute?

Pam and pussy cat?

me, April, Cheryl, Robin

tea pavillon

So many of my pics did not turn out as I had a new camera and could not figure out how to make the flash work every time.  This is the tea garden where you can get free hot or cold tea all day long. The lights are so pretty.

People were in robin hood hats, fox hats, gowns, capes, animal faces, you name it all the wild came out tonight.

I did'nt stay up long. Had some a piece of vegetarian pizza, an advil and off to bed to get ready for the ride home in the morning. I did not hear the music all night long this night.

Sunday -

We are up before the sun comes up, I go and take a nice shower, we begin to take down our campsite and I wonder off through a nice path to find the cart to come and take us back to our vehicles. Once he arrives and we load up his huge trailer and the back of his van we are off to the back forties. He says we are the second people to be leaving. Pretty good we got out before the rest of them strirred. With over 1,000 in attendance, I did not want to be in that kind of mess.

Once out of the woods, back into Salem, first thing I do is stop at Starbucks for a latte and a bowl of oatmeal. From there it is just a few hours until we are home.

I hope that they will have an annual event like this as it is so informative, calming and just plain fun. Hope many of you will think about going if you enjoy learning about botanicals and back to a more natural way of living then this is the place to come.

Rootstalk - Part One

Wednesday -
There were five of us girls from our local farmgirl chapter who went off to Rootstalk for an adventure in back to nature. It began with a 4 hour road trip that would take us to our first overnite stop where we were staying at Robin's folks home up in Drain, Or. Their beautiful spread on a hillside with wild berries and pines abounded. We pitched our bedrolls out on the driveway thinking we would enjoy the night stars. Before we even had sat down to a wonderful, filling dinner Robin's folks put together for us, dad tells about a bear they saw a week before just down across the yard. So guess what? Yep, we all moved our beds into the garage although we did leave the door open for the fresh air,we felt like we were not so much bear bait. Yeah, right. We laughed well into the night with silly stories.

Thursday -
By early morning after a splendid breakfast feast, we hit the road to Salem which was another hour and a half away, and were the first campers to arrive at Rootstalk. How excited we were to think we could have first pick of our camp site and begin enjoying the vendors wares early on.

We were greeted by this nice gal who was given orders that no one was to enter the grounds until 2pm so she allowed us to park at the side of the road until opening time.


We pulled out our chairs, munched on goodies, chatted with others who came from afar and waited for 2pm to come.
Nearing 2:00 we had several cars behind us and the road was not very wide for allowing the vendors and larger trucks to get by us, and it was not easy to see what was around the bends, so I think they let us in a few minutes earlier for safety reasons.
This is a first for Rootstalk so there will always be kinks that need worked out.

Well, once inside we were instructed to unload our vehicles onto the side of the road near the registration area. Then someone would come by and load up our things into their vehicle to take us up to the camp site. So I went in the direction they sent me to park my truck while the other girls road up to where we were to be deposited on the side of another road. The parking lot they sent me in my truck, and Cheryl in her car, was way down in the back forties and if you needed a body adjustment or not, you got one. We were driving through an open field of holes and tall grasses. We were then instructed to walk back or wait for sometime before a ride came to take us back up the hill and that it would take us only 15 minutes to walk it if we chose to. With the steep hills ahead of us, we began our first hike, but knew it would take us probably 30 minutes to get back up there. One unhappy traveler decided he would not park that far away and proceeded back up the hill and gave us a lift to the top. Thank you Grant.

Once back up to the registration area, we caught a ride on a golf cart, which we had to hang on to for dear life from falling out the open back, and we were taken to our camp site where the girls had been dumped and were busy hauling everything to a spot where we eventually set up camp. It is close to the bath and showers and near the pond and just down a path not far from all the activities.

By now we have all worked up a good sweat with loading and unloading our tons of stuff, and with the humidity in the air, we were off to hit the showers and then hopefully to find something to eat as it is now close to 4:30 and we had done nothing but snack since breakfast.

Well, I'm not a health nut by any means, so finding food I could eat and know it would fill me up was a bit of a challenge. Octopus, anchovie pizzas not my thing, cabbage wrapped strange veggies, not my thing, aahhh..... cafe latte won my heart. It did'nt hurt that I had crackers, cookies and yogurt back at camp.

The night comes on and we settle into bed listening to some of the singers and musicians playing beautiful relaxing music as we drift off to sleep. But...........lo and behold, hours later I am awakened with someone shouting like they are looking for their kid, and then it starts this beating of a drum and others chanting or something. It is as though I am in some far away place like the Amazon or such and the natives have started a ritual of some sort. At first it is kinda cool music to the ears and then when you're hopeing it would slow and come to a hault, it only gets louder and louder and louder and lasts well into the wee hours of the morning.

Friday -
Morning is here, the natives have gone to bed, we climb out of our tents and I am in search of an eye opener so I'm off to retrieve my latte then back down the hill, through a beautiful path of wild berries and wild fern and flora, to the outdoor amphitheater to see speaker Kathi Keville talking to us about medicinal herbs for sustainability. Some of the gals have joined in for yoga, but I am too sore for this this morning. I take notes for an hour, then it is off to another class.

I have come to see speaker KP Khalsa. He will speak about the holistic healing system of India. It is about the practices of every aspect of a person's health and lifestyle.

Here we are to learn about the ancient healing wisdom of Ayurveda. I have learned that my Dosha is that of a Vata, a swan. I have the body of a weak and frail structure, I am of creative character and I crave sugar. Boy, he sure knew what he was talking about. Had me down to the science of all being.
After tasting some very strange things which were passed about, that are good for you,  I just had to go find something to wash my palate once the class was over. But first I was going in search of some real food to stay my hunger pangs. I managed to find some quinoa with shredded pork. YUM!

Around four I went to sit on the side of a hill to listen to speaker Wren Davidson who told us about 12 master healer herbs we probably see on the side of the road or our own backyards. She told of their healing properties and how to collect the plants themselves.

Afterward I shopped at some of the vendors booths where I found a nice walking stick to help me up and down the hills and I found a sample of some pain reliever to apply to my back and arms, which by now are hurting really bad, so it was back to camp and early to bed.
Sleeping soundly for awhile, I am once again awoken sometime into the late hours with beating of the drums. Yep, well into the wee hours of morn. These natives aren't sleeping tonight. I tried the ear plugs that I found at the medic tent earlier on. I tried covering my head with a pillow but nothing worked to quiet the sounds, until I discovered I had brought some Advil PM. Oh what wonderful stuff.

                             Stay tuned for some more adventures tomorrow.

busy,busy, busy

As some of you know we have been very busy around home. After 20 gallons of paint, the outside of our home has a new coat for winter. I think I actually found the dark chocolate I was wanting before.

Then there is the 10 gallons of sealant I have yet to finish for the decks. I am trying the new stuff called Restore. Not an easy texture to work with and with so much to do it is taking me a few days to get it done. It is very messy and you are constantly dipping in the pan as it only covers about two feet at a time. Nothing like paint itself.

My pictures are not very good, kinda blurry. I think I am due for a new camera. But here is how it is looking so far. The green is actually a tile green (looks teal here) which darkens as it dries to almost a deep forest green. I needed it to look like I had grass under my feet.  I'm tired of dirt or snow. I think it adds warmth to the house. Hubby is not so crazy about it. But like I told him, I could always throw a rug or two down and he'd never no the difference. Not sure what I should do with the beams under the roof. Should I paint them, leave them alone, and if paint, what color?

I was afraid to do the brown as it would darken it too much underneath. Green may be funny looking from below. Help, I'm thinking I should leave it alone.

Today I am taking a break from the porch. The second coat will have to wait until tomorrow. Besides, it isn't very warm outside today, at least it's a good enough reason for me. I have been organizing my bags that will be going on my trip to Rootstalk. We will be leaving next Tues, spending the evening in Drain, Or. then going into Salem the following morning. Then the fun begins. I plan to take as many pictures as I can. So hope to have some wonderful things to share when I get home.

I will be home for only three days before I am off the the beach for a week. I sure hope the weather holds up and it won't be too cold while we are there. I sure enjoy riding my quad on the sand.

Hope your summer has been a pleasant, fulfilling one. It is always  nice to get caught up on the larger projects that need done.  Did I mention, there is still lots of outdoor furniture that needs redone. I'm sure I could find an extra paint brush or two around here somewhere.

Now I'm off to see what you have been doing this summer.