dabbling with scents

i’ve been dabbling in perfumery lately. a few months ago, i had several conversations with someone through etsy who was looking for natural lilac lotion which led to several discussions on alternatives for scenting the lotion. she took a liking to lilac scents (and who wouldn’t, it’s so intoxicating?!). lilac essential oil is very rare [...]

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The Resourceful Re-Purposed Sock

(Note from Robbyn/thebackforty: Today’s wonderful guest post comes from the writers at the homesteading blog Grow The Changes. Welcome!) For a change, when you sort through the second hand clothing bins, or the bottom of your own drawers and closet for unwanted clothing, look upon this under-utilized resource, not as clothing gone out of style, [...]

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Building a garden

Creating gardens has been a hobby of mine for as long as I can remember.  I’m pretty sure I learned it from my mother.  We moved often when I was growing up, usually into a house owned by someone else.  One of the first things mom did when we got to a new place was [...]

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Incubator part one

Recently we built and started testing an incubator made from an old refrigerator we got for free. I have always wanted an incubator but truly they are expensive for the small Styrofoam box style when purchased on line or in a feed store. Over the next two, maybe three weeks, I am going to document [...]

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Fighting the Normality of the Suburbs

I’ve asked a few different bloggers the question “How do you Not Dabble in Normal?”  Over the course of the next few weeks I’m going to share their answers with you in the hopes that we’ll all learn something new and perhaps get a different perspective on normal and the folks who choose a slightly [...]

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Frank u berry mush

I posted this picture a week ago on my blog, and I am still getting questions about how my berries come out of the freezer in berry shape, and not mushy.  And since I am pressed for time (milking two cows instead of one) I thought I would kill two birds with one stone and [...]

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Family Medicine Chest: Mullein

The family medicine chest will be an ongoing series on the fourth Thursday of each month. This month, As a request, I’ll be writing about mullein. Each month, I open up my home and teach a Herbal Study Group. We read about the particular herb, taste it fresh and dried, make infusions and teas to [...]

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Mineral Rock Deodorant

Recently, I began “test-driving” a hygiene product I’ve heard about over the years but had never tried…the “rock” or “crystal” type deodorant. I’ve heard opinions on the purported health risks associated with other sorts of underarm antiperspirants and deodorants, namely calling into question the healthfulness of the active ingredient, aluminum, for long-term users.  I know [...]

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Tree Grafting 101

A couple of weekends ago I attended a fruit tree grafting workshop. Brian Campbell, a fruit tree grafter and beekeeper from Vancouver, flew in to teach the course. He brought with him a nice variety of scion (grafting) wood as well as the root stock for us to use during the  workshop. He’d sent a [...]

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Encouraging all writers

As a whole Not Dabbling In Normal tries to stay away from all political and religious topics. However, there is one controversial topic we all decided we could break the “no writing about rules” for and that is NAIS. The National Animal Identification System.  Below is a message that has come into my email from [...]

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