The sun is peeking its head out from behind the gray miserable clouds...I must admit that it does look pretty outside.  We had quite a bit of snow fall last evening.  This morning some Amish neighbors drove down on a big sled pulled behind two large team horses.  The children seemed to be enjoying themselves.  I just might venture out this afternoon to our little sledding hill behind the barn...if the sun would just come out and stay for more than 15 minutes!

The boys finally have a harness for Snickers, our wether goat.  This weekend they will build him a sled to pull.  Now, that will be fun!   We'll see how well he is broke. 

In other news...my children are passing around a nasty bug.  It strikes for around 24 hours and causes them to vomit and run a low grade fever.  They fall into a deep sleep for around 8 hours and wake up feeling better.  This is how I have been treating them...

Clove & Ginger Tea - boil water and add a tablespoon of cloves, a fresh chunk of ginger root, and a cinnamon stick.  I also threw in a sprinkling of dried elderberries in the last batch.  Strain after 30 minutes and drink warm.  Make one quart at a time.

Olive Leaf & Lemon Balm Tincture - Olive leaf is a natural antibiotic and antimicrobial.  It is also antiparasitic and antifungal.  It has been used to fight bacterial and viral infections succesfully.  Lemon Balm is relaxing and soothing.  It is also antispasmodic, which makes it nice for illnesses that cause vomiting. 

After the illness runs its course and they want something to eat, they recieve a kefir smoothie, made with bananas.  If that stays down, they get a bowl of tapioca.  Visit my site for a great tapioca recipe.  It is listed on the Food for Thought page.  www.fromfieldsandgardens.com  I have been mixing homemade banana yogurt into the tapioca.  It is delicious.  After any kind of illness, the best thing to do is to load up on probiotics!  Homemade yogurt is great, but kefir is super! 

**We are checking into possibly adding some Icelandic sheep to our farmstead this spring.  Does anybody have any experience with Icelandics?  Savannah wants a small fiber flock.  She tried spinning last year at a festival and was hooked!  I have also heard that you can milk Icelandics.  Any advice would be appreciated!

Shalom!

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Posted by dlynthomas

I just recently discovered kefir and we love it! I have been looking locally for grains but can't find any. I found your site and saw you sell kefir grains, but are out of stock right now. Do you know when you will have more?
I love the idea of making my own kefir instead of buying it from the store.

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