What Season?

Lately, (since August 1st) it's felt like September!  The summer seems to be running away very fast and the last few weeks have been temperate, windy, rainy, overcast.  It's a real phenomenon in my life experience.  As a tribute to the coming fall, I've put a picture of a cappuccino from scratch that we (famously and) regularly make here.  If you happen to be here and are curious, just ask and we'll whip one up for you:

That's Nutmeg sprinkled on the top of frothy steamed RAW Jersey milk and espresso (chocolate too) in a vintage Japanese made beer stein.  

They are so good.

ONTO MORE HEALTHY THINGS:

 And since "flu season" is coming, here's a simple home herbal tea to mix up.  It will cure colds, congestion, coughs, aches, pains, stomach ailments etc.  etc.  And almost all the ingredients should already be in your spice cabinet.   Just find the ones that you have, throw a tea together and feel better almost instantly:

1 Part Oregano (incredibly effective cold and flu remedy, intrigues the immune system promoting health and vitality)
1 Part Thyme (again, an amazing remedy for all things cold and flu, as above)
1-2 Parts Peppermint, Spearmint or Wintergreen Leaves (In case you didn't know, mint is an incredible plant.  We use it as a tea internally, also in a bath or rubbing a drop or two of the oil externally to remedy everything from aches, pains, headaches, anxiety, sleeplessness, sore throats, swollen glands, congested lungs, congested sinuses, allergies, etc.)  You can find it in most meadows, along side (relatively non polluted roadsides for health reasons) roads, in streams, on wet banks in the sun, etc. and pick, replant at your house or dry for year round use.

1 Part Ginger (Stomach ailments, good for the immune system, tastes good, sweetens teas, etc.)
Pinch of Cinnamon, Fennel Seeds or Aniseed (as a natural sweetener and cure all stomach ailments, lack of energy, immune booster)

You can always use Echinacea leaves or roots, home-ground Black Pepper, Cayenne Pepper, Lemon Peel or Lemon Juice, Onions, Horseradish, Garlic (or Garlic Powder), Sage and many more for all sorts of ailments.  


TEA RECIPE:  I boil water, then pour it over my herbs (in a mason jar on a very warm surface) to fill the jar, wrap in a towel and cover tightly with a lid keeping the essential healing oils in.  Let sit for 10 to 30 minutes in the warm place.  You can strain the herbs.  I take them internally because I don't want to waste any nutrients, but you don't have to.  


For pulling congestion or infection out of the body through the skin (from a localized area like the lungs or an internal ailment), don't forget about potatoes or mustard!  Slice or grate potatoes, pack onto skin, cover with a towel, bandage or ace bandage (hot is good, but it can be room temperature) and let it sit as long as you can.  Potatoes will pull any infection right through the skin.  I used it for mastitis and an abscess and it really really worked!  It burned, because the infection was bad, but it worked better than anything.  The fever decreased within an hour of application and continued to fall over a few hours.

For mustard, make sure you don't put it directly on the skin (for ground mustard powder made into a hot paste).  Fold the hot paste between a piece of fabric and apply to skin for 1 minute.  Then take off and wait a bit.  Repeat if necessary after an hour or so.  For regular mustard, heat it and rub it right in.  Put a hot towel over it.  Rest for a LITTLE WHILE like 15 minutes.  Rinse.  Reapply every hour until you start getting substantial relief.  Use topical remedies in conjunction with soothing effective internal ones.

Hope no one gets sick, but the seasons are changing and that's when my body is tested the most.

Love,
Grace

Cherry Tomato Harvest and Snack

 When our cherry tomatoes first came up, we were dying to have some fresh fruit of the summer.  We ran up to the grocery and got some pumpernickel bagels and made these awesome and nutritious snacks!

Immunobooster Snack:

Pumpernickel Bagels
Toast + Smear with whipped dill cream cheese (whip cream cheese, add fresh dill, herbs and celtic sea salt)  (or Greek Yogurt)  + Place Halved cherry tomatoes on top + Add diced garlic and a smidge of Celtic Sea Salt

AND

VOILA= an awesome snack that tastes good, is potent and perfectly in season.

Ahem, ahem, is this thing on?

So you see it?  Do you see the new layout?  I suppose you do.  Anyway, we just unveiled our new official logo and image (done by the one and only amazing graphic artist Mikael) for lynays, as well as combining it with the technical info on Heirloom Identity.  Our page has been in limbo as we unroll these image stabilizers.  Now we have one.  Hooray!  Sorry, by the way, if you got like 20 emails from us saying that we posted a new post yesterday.  Wups!  Hope it didn't bother you guys too much.  There's a lot rolling around the pipes right now.  Let me update you on it all.

We are about to unveil a video detailing a trip we will be taking this winter around the eastern and mid western part of the country and all of the details surrounding it.  Also in the video, you'll get a taste of some conspiring* friends, our bigger vision with what lynays is, what we hope it will be and a new sub-project that we pray will be a blessing to a bunch of people.  Keep posted for the video, it should be out sometime around the 23rd of August. 

It's been really apparent that it is time to move forward with our vision.  You may not know this, but lynays was born over the 4th of July week in the back of a truck in Northern New York in 2009!  I know.  Hard to believe.  But it's so much more than a blog, and our online store.  It's our ministry and you'll see why soon.  So we're getting serious and organizing our paperwork as it should be as well as stepping out to do some adventures and outreach that we really feel we are supposed to do.  I can't explain why, but it feels like something.

Pray for us and our mission in the future and guidance that we will honor Him in it all.

By the way, one of my bestest friends gave birth to a  most beautiful little girl this last week.   The baby's name is Ziva.  Congratulations Britney and Azariah (spelling?, sorry!).  Hope to see you soon!  Get lots and lots of rest...for the next 3 months.

And we will be changing a few things on the blog to make it easier to use, and look up old articles.  While you're waiting for all the excitement, check out our new tabs above!

Peace, Love & Lynay-s Forever

SEE THAT SEA Release: Wire Wrapped Pendants and Shells

SEE THAT SEA

Now Available!  Wire Wrapped Pendants and Shells on Etsy!

AND we are adding more wire wrapped items everyday.  They are all on a ribbon and/or adjustable hemp.  See pictures below!  Feel free to reserve the one you want or wait for it to come up in our shop.

 

Bones of Clay, Harnessed in Silver (Wrapped Shell)

 EXCALIBER

Lots of New Pieces and A Sneak Peak at Our New Series

News Headlines:

Sorry it took so long to blog again.

1.  Our camera lens broke, so we are in the process of replacing it, I'm sorry if the pictures are of a lower quality.  We are trying our best to keep the quality up.

2.  We have a lot of new pendants up on Etsy.  Click Here.  These include sea inspired coral, anemone and jellyfish creatures, encased in the magnifying glass.  They are surely fun to look at!

3.  In just a few days, we will be unveiling our newest series of wholesale jewelry.  First here on our blog, you can see a sneak preview of new pieces and the new styles of jewelry making that we are going to have up on etsy.

Diapers!!! FINALLY

It is amazingly difficult to coordinate 1.  Most of the diapers being clean 2.  Having time 3.  Getting around to doing this post.  But nonetheless, here it is!  The post I wished I could've read  before I had to spend hours online figuring this all out for myself.  :) I HOPE this helps you new mamas, or new to cloth diapering mamas. 

BRIEFING:  Okay.  1.  A diaper is cloth.  Any cloth.  The pee won't run out, they are absorbent and will feel wet when the baby is wearing a dirty one.  Encourages potty training!!!!  2.  You need a cover.  Because the cloth gets wet, you need a cover to keep the carpet, carseat, couch dry and smelling fresh.  3.  Covers can be bought on sale (I only buy them on sale) when stores or websites are clearing out inventory or companies are promoting a new design.  There are basic ones that aren't anything like the plastic pants of the old days, but are PUL, waterproof material.  They all work well.

COST:  $40
Full diaper system birth to 1 year old, our plan, our strategy-

$0-$4---24 gifted receiving blankets or receiving blankets from Goodwill, Yard Sales (!!), or Secondhand shops
$8---4 100% wool sweaters from same as above.  Makes 20 newborn soakers or 8 toddler soakers.  You will have plenty!
$4---Make your own carry bag
$18--3 PUL Soakers Just in Case
$0--Any gifts people give you.  Gift cards to diaper sites, etc.  These will let you experiment with products you wouldn't go out on a limb for.
$2-- Good dritz (safety) pins (Snappis are cool, but wear out after 6 months, no landfill waste for me.  What if I inherit that land someday?  I don't want to live on a landfill.)

COVERS:
You only need 3-4 covers!  Sometimes that is minimum, but we've only ever had a total of 4 covers and there are no problems.  No need to spend tons of money.

1.  Knitted:  Learn to knit, make some awesome covers from free patterns on www.ravelry.com.  Buy wool or alpaca, camels hair, mohair, angora, or lambs wool, always, as natural as you can.  My favorite is $9/skein.  One average skein yields 2 1/2 HIGH QUALITY soakers.  Can be sold for $30-40 easily...yes, each.
2.  Repurposed Sweaters:  Buy 100% wool, 100% Merino or 100% Lambswool sweaters from Goodwill with your saver card (makes it even cheaper), cut them up, sew to make 5 small soakers or 2 large soakers.  Very fast, easy, works well!  Very absorbent if you pick a nice thick wool.

WOOL/ Fiber knitted etc. SOAKERS ONLY NEED TO BE WASHED WHEN THEY GET POO on them or start to smell.  You soak them in Lanolin so that they repel the moisture.  It's so cool!!!

3.  PUL:  Polyurethane, waterproof, lightweight, not one size fits all typically.  That's okay, they're more affordable ($5-14 each).  When they get dirty, hose them out, dry them off on your pants, reuse.  Easy.  GREAT FOR HIKING.

4.  AIOs:  See explanation below in the ALL IN ONE section.  

 Your prime tool:  A BIG bag to hold your diapers, or a drawer or whatever.  We seem to be very mobile and this works really great for us.  I made it, patchwork granny squares all crocheted together.  Scarf through holes in the top as handles.

 The WHOLE shebang:  Diapers, Liners, Doublers, Covers, Wet Bag, Holding Bag, etc.









FLAT DIAPERS:
The idea...  Flat diapers are the original cloth diaper.  When sewing wasn't available, cloth was wrapped around the baby's bottom to soak up pee and keep the mess off the mama.  You have to fold these up.  They are very large pieces of (cotton) fabric unfolded.
My opinion...  I love them!  They dry super fast on the line, stay soft, are free or insanely cheap, can be used for anything, very versatile.  Don't look like a diaper.  Easy to hand-wash!  By far my favorite to use on the trail, camping, on the road, etc.

Exhibit A:  I have about a dozen of these great, vintage, handmade diapers.  They are extremely long rectangle strips of fabric that you fold up as a great and versatile diaper.  I was introduced to them by my grandmother who used this style back in the late 50s and early 60s.   I've never seen these on any of the diapering sites, they're totally unique.  By the way, they're EASY to make.  1.  Tear flannel  2.  Serge ends  3.  Catch poop.

Exhibit B:  I  have over a dozen receiving blankets that I fold up as you'll see below, into a fantastic absorbent diaper.  Like I said, most everyone can get a-hold of receiving blankets for free or dirt cheap.



Folding Process:  Origami Fold...Sounds hard, a 3 year old can do it.

PREFOLD DIAPERS:  

The idea...prefolded, and sewn together so you don't have to do a lot of folding.  

I SAY...these are convenient, durable, etc.  take a lot longer to dry than the others because of the many layers vs. 1 layer thing, but it doesn't bother me at all.  This is what we started with.  They're a great trainer diaper for newbies.  These are organic cotton, unbleached and are really really affordable.  They are made and sold by small time producers, so less worrying about sweat shops and slave labor.  Which I tend to worry about...not excessively of course. 

Laying Flat:

 You can always add a liner on the inside or out for extra absorbancy.

 1.  Pull to ends together, one overlapping the other.  2.  Fold the narrower part up to be even with the back.  3.  Fold in tabs.

There are tricks and tips that help enormously, but would be too lengthy to get into here.  Maybe we'll do some videos in the future.  If you demand it.

Classic Gerber Birds Eye Pre-Folds:

This is your mom's diaper system of the 70s.  Gerber produces these uber-affordable, accessible birds-eye tri-fold prefold cotton cloth diapers. 

CONS:  
 1.  They are thinner than any of the other diapers
2.  They may be bleached cotton standard, though I think you can get them unbleached.
3.  Made and manufactured by a huge corporation that is probably using sweat shop labor and under cutting higher quality products made at home by people locally.

PROS:  
1.  They are pretty cheap, you can buy them or ask for them as a gift and most people will be able to get them easily.
2.  You can buy them at almost any store that sell baby stuff (a lot of good diapers must be bought on line or at a specialty store.)
3.  Don't take a long time to dry.

I SAY:  We have about 2 dozen of these.  They're great, if and only if you put a thick insert in.  Any padding will work.  Strips of cloth, tri-folded washcloths, etc.  Otherwise they're too thin.  We didn't buy them.  They were given to us and have been a tremendous help to our diaper stash.  I probably wouldn't buy them myself because they are contributing to the breakdown of local, stable economies.  :(
 
ALL IN ONES or Modern Diapers:

 Ahhh...modern consumer geared ingenious convenient options.  Or are they?

The idea...These diapers are hybrids between disposables and cloth diapers.  They're fully reusable, but don't have as much bulk as your typical cloth diapers.  No folding  necessary, just shove your insert in the pocket and you're ready to go.

I SAY...We have 3 BumGenius! AIO's  (Diaper covers with inserts) and extra microfiber cloth inserts (around a dozen).  They are great.  Though we don't use them in the ordinary way.  Consumer culture found it's way, as it always does, into the trends, even if the trends are to conserve.  Sounds like an oxymoron.  It is.  Your small infant poops around 12 times a day, or mine did.  You need AT LEAST 12 covers for 12 poops, and you'd better be washing them one after the other in the washing machine or by hand, or you won't have a diaper cover to put on the baby.  We use our flat or prefold diapers, put on the baby like normal and the BumGenius! diaper cover only, unless we put an insert in for overnight sleeping.  They're kind of expensive ($15 a pop)  and the company wants you to have as many covers as inserts.  You can spend a lot of money or a tiny bit on cloth diapering.  It's up to you.  We love the versatility of the one size fits all cover.  We've used it from day one till now (1 year plus) and it still fits great.  So the covers are great, as covers.  The stains come out very easily.  However, BumGenius is pretty big now and I wouldn't be surprised if Gerber owned them.  Stay away from big corporations.  They tend to ruin our local economies by outsourcing all the labor to cheap, or slave laborers in other countries.  I don't want to be a part of it. 

 1980s style Pre-fitted diaper:

Our parents used these.  They are pre-shaped.   Extremely durable.  Many layers, take longer to dry, don't always catch the poops because you can't fold in little gussets.  Not my favorite, but it works.  This one is unbleached, all organic, WAHM (work at home mom) made in the USA.  Cool!  Around $15 each.  Labor costs money.  We have to deal with it.  We only own one of them, but it's really easy.  Mike likes it!

What about storage for dirty diapers?  1.  Take off diaper.  2.  Put poop in toilet (if clumpy)  3.  Put in wetbag.
We used a bucket for a while, but it's not that necessary.  Wetbags can be expensive.  In that case, use a bucket or whatever you can.  Plastic grocery bags work.

How do I wash them?  However you want.  Machine is easiest.  Conserve energy and wash by hand.  Line dry, or dry in your dryer.  Use natural soaps, no cheap stuff.  Stay away from brighteners and Phosphates (you'll see them in the ingredients).  I make my own detergent.  It's insanely cheap.  Cheaper than buying even the cheapest and it's eco-friendly and non corrosive.

What about wipes?  We use cloth reusable wipes.  Baby washcloths are really cheap and work awesome.  You'll probably get tons from your baby shower, or load up at yard sales for pennies.  Throw them in with the diapers when you wash them.

What about stains?  Line dry your diapers.  The sun bleaches the diapers.  Don't use bleach on your diapers.  This can really hurt your baby's bottom.

OUR BAG THAT HOLDS IT ALL and the wetbag beside it.

SOURCES:  Get your cloth diapers from these awesome retailiers (there are SO many good ones online.  A lot of WAHMS serve in the diaper manufacturing industry):

www.diaperware.com
www.greenmountiandiapers.com