It's a Party - Thistle Farms Style

Last Tuesday these two amazing women came to my house to host my first (definitely not my last) Thistle Farms Home Party.  It's ironic that I would have a party like this because: (1) I don't want my friends to feel like they have to buy something when they come to my house, and (2) I don't spend money on body and bath products.  (I'm a buy-the-cheapest-lotion-at-Target kinda gal.)

But, this was not just any old home party.  As it says on their website, it's like 'Tupperware with a conscience'.  Here's what makes it different:

• The women at Magdalene House MADE these products with their bare gloved hands!
• The profits go directly to the women who made them and also benefit their partners in Africa.  (For those of you who don't already know, I've dreamed of going to Africa since I was five years old!)
• The women learn all kinds of valuable job skills while making and selling these products.
• They earn money while working at Thistle Farms, and it mentions on their website that any money they save will be matched!
• The women tell their stories of addiction and recovery, which is healing to them and uplifting to those who listen.
• You 'donate' to a great cause and you get some cool stuff in return.
• The hostess gets to pick one free thing.
• An extra bonus for the hostess - it motivates you to clean your house and remove from your dining room the disassembled half-painted table that's been there for months!

Having one of these home parties is a win-win situation!  To schedule one, just email Carole.

Note:  These thistle farmers gave me permission to take and post this picture.

Thistle Farms - Part Two

A couple of weeks ago I took my visiting teachers to Thistle Farms.  Thistle Farms is a social enterprise, where the residents of Magdalene House make and sell natural bath and body products to help fund Magdalene House.  (I took this product picture in my house - more about that another day.)

You 'get to' wear this very fashionable head ware when you tour the room where they make the bath and body products.  I'm not much of a bath and body product kind of gal - those are the stores that I NEVER go into at the mall.  I have to say, though, that I really like their products.  The lotion is thick and creamy, but doesn't leave your hands feeling greasy after applying it.

 

The first time I toured Thistle Farms I got goosebumps about everything that goes on there.  In addition to making bath and body products, they make paper!  I went crazy over the paper making room.  At first they used their handmade paper to make boxes for their lavender healing oils.  In addition to the boxes, they now use their paper to make cards, journals and bookmarks.  They even sell sheets of their handmade paper for all you scrappers and card makers out there!

Here's a thistle farmer showing off a journal.  I spent the morning with her, sewing signatures (groups of pages) into the journal covers.

These are the materials used to make the journals - copier paper for the signatures and hemp cord to sew the signatures into the journal covers.  The journals were for a special order and are not available online yet.

This thistle farmer spent the morning packaging up sheets of thistle paper to be sold to you.

Here are the bookmarks.  There are step-by-step directions on how to paint a thistle onto the bookmarks.  

You don't have to be a professional sewer or bookbinder or paper maker or painter to volunteer at Thistle Farms.  Everyone there is learning and growing together.  Contact me if you want to go sometime.  I'd be more than happy thrilled to take you!

Note:  All the thistle farmers (residents and volunteers) gave me their permission to post their photos.

Thistle Farms - Part One

Back in September of 2011 I taught a Spanish lesson.  I was a little rusty - it had been awhile.  I didn't teach middle school kids this time.  I taught about a dozen thistle farmers.  Right now you're thinking, "What!?  What in the world is a thistle farmer?"  You'll get an idea if you read about Jennifer below.

Click here to read about more thistle farmers.

Anyway, the thistle farmers didn't know what I was there to teach and eagerly asked, "What are you going to teach us today?" You should've seen the disappointment and the eye-rolling when I announced "Spanish". When I asked if anyone knew Spanish, most of them responded with the sentiment, "We don't need no stinkin' Spanish."

But, one lone thistle farmer started rattling off things like lavase las manos (wash your hands), lava las sábanas (wash the sheets), dame una toalla (give me a towel). We all know that learning language in context works much better than in a classroom. It turns out that she once had a Spanish speaking cellmate and she acquired some 'cell' Spanish.

Anyway, despite their reluctance, I forged on and promised them that we would have fun and that they would be able to read a short story in Spanish by the end of the hour. I kept my promise. By the end of class most of them were laughing and most were able to read a silly short story about a búfalo - see, you can read Spanish too.

Why am I writing about this now? I started writing it the day after I taught the lesson but never finished it.  Since then, Thistle Farms and the women there have become part of my life.  I thought some introductions were in order.

Apology Accepted

It appears that Mother Nature is trying to apologize for last night's fury.  She's so fickle!

We often have sunrises that look like this too, except they're on the other side of the sky ;o)

Sleepy in Nashville

Here's what went on during the wee morning hours here in Nashville.  I'm learning that warm air in January isn't something to get excited about.

Did I ever mention that the thunder in Tennessee shakes the house and rattles the windows?  I don't remember it doing that in other places we've lived.  Come to think of it, the washing machine is shaking the house right now.  Hmmmm...

Snow Day - Really!?

Hey all you friends who live in snowy places, are you ready for a good laugh?  Here's what last Friday's snow day looked like in Nashville.  It was even wimpier than some of last year's snow days.

Below is what a snow day might have looked like in Wisconsin.  After it snowed like this, we'd often see three snow plows in a row come tearing down the street for a quick and efficient clean up.

This is what happens when it continues to snow in Wisconsin and the temperature stays below 32 degrees for about 5 or 6 months.  We fondly called this Mt. Walmart.

Mystery of the Bizarre Statue - Solved

There's a statue south of Nashville to the east of I-65.  As you whiz by at 70 mph, it's hard to get a good look at it - but you see enough to know that there's something 'just not right' about it.  Here's a picture taken by someone who labels it as the 14th ugliest statue in the world. 

(source)

If you can get near the private property where it's located, it looks like this.  Yikes!

(source)

The statue is of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a lieutenant general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War.  He also has the 'great' distinction of being the first Grand Wizard of the KKK.

Patrick R. on yelp.com says it better than I ever could:

The Nathan Bedford Forrest Memorial...is probably Nashville's most appalling landmark. And I'm not only saying that because of the historical and racial implications--it's also aesthetically atrocious.

Forrest, who is best known for his work as a general with the Confederate Army and his role as "Imperial Wizard" of the KKK in the years following the Civil War, is depicted in this statue as a ghastly, screaming dwarf.  The horse on which Forrest rides makes the general look like a nine-year-old with a radically contorted face wearing a false beard and a skirt.

Black-eyed Peas

I must have been living under a rock for the last several decades.  Yesterday, I heard for the first time ever that it's good luck to eat black-eyed peas on New Year's Day.  It's a southern thing.

It seems that this southern tradition was a adopted from Sephardi Jews who settled in Georgia in the 1730s.  Now, isn't that surprising!?  It is "good luck" to have specific foods on your table for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.  One of the "lucky" foods is black-eyed peas.  This tradition apparently has been "a southern thing" since around the Civil War.

Next year I'm going to have to remember to make up a batch of Hoppin' John and to count the number of peas in my serving, which will predict the amount of luck (or wealth) that I will have in the coming year.  I also have to remember to leave three peas on my plate to assure that my New Year will be filled with luck, fortune, and romance.

Paula Deen, the quintessential southern cook, has a recipe for Hoppin' John that I think I'll have to try before January 1, 2013.  It looks kind of yummy, doesn't it?

Hoppin' John