Friday, October 26, 2012

Friday in the Garden

I've been puting around my garden this morning, checking on my plants.
 I've always been fascinated with herbal medicine and native wildlife, 
so I try to grow as many medicinal and native plants in the yard as I can.
 Yerba Buena - Satureja douglasii
Unfortunately my Yerba Buena looks a little sad. :(
I think he might need less water, and room to spread around.
Before the conquest, many Mexican dishes that now call for cilantro originally used a wild mint, like this one. It's antibacterial and great for tummy aches, just like European mints.

 White Sage - Salvia apiana
This is the kind used by many indigenous people as a sacred smudge. It's also wonderfully anti-bacterial and makes a great disinfectant. You can treat pink eye with it!!

           I LOVE my new boots. 
Impractical for gardening?
 Maybe. 
Fabulous? 
Absolutely.
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Thursday, October 25, 2012

This blog has a Polyvore account. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Otomi Spirit

If you haven't already noticed, I've got a spanking new Polyvore account of the same name attached to this blog. I love Polyvore as a place to get new ideas, and share my own ideas with creative people. :-)


Otomi Spirit by lanuevabohemian featuring sam edelman booties
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First Post!

Hello! Welcome to La Nueva Bohemian. :-)

This is my first blog and first post ever, so I'm a little nervous.

Let's see . . . .

This Month

I'm decorating the house for Halloween, prepping my Dia de Los Muertos shrine, and trying to come up quick and unusual costumes. I'm thinking the kids and I might have fun making felt animal masks to wear to the upcoming community Halloween party. I see lots of tutorials around for making Fox, Owl, and Bear masks but I think I might like to try my hand at a peacock mask this week. 
Expect lots of photos soon!

Last weekend my boyfriend and I went to our friend's apartment in SF to see singer/songwriter Jeremy Messersmith perform. It was splendorous! I've been listening to "Violet!," "Beautiful Children," and his cover of "Call Your Girlfriend" over and over today.
http://jeremymessersmith.com

Today I had my bi-monthly acupuncture appointment to help stave off those winter bugs and chronic headaches. I'm a big believer in acupuncture. 
A really big believer in acupuncture.
It's cured me of really debilitating IBS that I developed in college and helped me with weight gain, chronic depression and anxiety. If you've never tried it, I urge you to give it a shot.

While it might not be common knowledge, acupuncture isn't just a part of traditional Chinese Medicine. The Indigenous peoples of Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. have been practicing their own forms of it now for thousands of years using everything from cactus prickles to carved bones as needles. That isn't to say that ALL Native American peoples have a tradition of acupuncture healing, but many do. I know of at least one Azteca/Mexica tradition involving acupuncture being a sacred medicine gift from Grandmother Eagle. In the barrios, you can still find Hispanic and Latino folk healers called sobradoras and sobradoros who practice massage, "bone-setting" (a bit like chiropractry), and Mesoamerican acupuncture.

The needles do tingle a bit sometimes, but a wave of calm and sleepiness usually comes over me as they go in. I tend to nap on the table while getting my treatment. If you really are scared about the needles, rest assured, a lot of practitioners have special acu-pens* to use instead when working on wiggly kids and the squeamish grownups.

*(Imagine Doctor Who's "Sonic Screwdriver").
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