Eggs, Ears, Blossoms, Boots, and Li'l Fairies

On Monday I am going to have a really neat historical musical post full of ghosts and strings and old woodwork to share with you. For now, more dresses and trees and daily life...

Yesterday was the Easter celebration and egg hunt at Garden Fairies Preschool. Teacher Jacquie sprouts wheatgrass in their baskets (okay she was a little late this year and it hadn't sprouted yet, but it will by the time the actual Easter day rolls around!) and the parents all bring naturally dyed eggs. My friends Jen's were so awesome- she wrapped tulle and netting around them and dyed them in turmeric water (beets and cabbage are also great plant based dyes).

On a mission!

God bless Graham. Who got Mycelia up and ready for school that morning and remembered this dress that I thrifted for Easter back in the fall. (Look how well her cuts have healed. They're practically non-existent today. Kids' bodies are so amazing!)

Nesha knows that sharing is caring.

In fact all the kids did a great job of filling the baskets of those who hadn't found a lot.

Sweet baby Sriya! And Jacquie's fantastical and extensive garden taking shape back there.

Goody bags, balloons, and a potluck. Happy, silly kids.

I continued with the Wildflower Hills/Lisbon girls theme. Also perfect for Easter. I wore the pink dress again, with my killer little gray crochet sweater vest, vintage white lacy granny cardigan from "the bins", and ever-present burgundy riding boots. (The Lisbon girls reference is to The Virgin Suicides, Milla pointed out in her comment on my last post how reminiscent my outfit was of that film. She and I are also big fans of the novel. It is one of my favorite ever. Read it. And watch the movie. Again).

(Okay I know you can see my black tights through the dress, but they just don't make  slips this short! And then sell them at the thrift stores I frequent. Which brings up a good question- does it even matter? Like when people are like "I can see through your skirt", it's like "Oh shit! So you found out my secret- I have legs" What do you think? Are you careful about that?).

These photos may be sunny and bright, but by the end of this little event I was feeling horrible. I had had a sore throat for a few nights, and during this potluck my right ear started to hurt. My ears are my Achilles Heel. I had lots of ear infections as a kid, and that has had two major effects on my life. One is that I now have lots of scar tissue in there and my ears don't drain properly. I have to put alcohol drops in after swimming or showering to dry the water out, or else it builds up and I get a headache. The second is that, since I was always put on antibiotics right away, my body never built up immunity to that kind of infection, so I am still very susceptible to them. (I swear I learn how to spell a new word every time I blog! Words I use in speech commonly but never write. Suseptable? Nope.)

The last time I had an ear infection was right after the car accident last year, while I was still dealing with my head injury. Then I had a high pitched ringing in my ear (which also seemed to electronicize sounds while simultaneously creating an echo effect) for weeks afterward that an acupuncture treatment finally cured. And the time before that was right after my miscarriage the year before, while I was still bleeding and grieving. No fun.

And you guys, I become a TOTAL BABY when I have an earache. I revert to my most pained child self. I throw fits, I cry every half hour, I snuggle up with my beloved old Bunny, and I want my mama (all things I did last night as the pain worsened). I just hate it more than anything. Ever. So as soon as I started to feel the pain yesterday I began to brainstorm what to do, that very day, to get it gone before it became a full-blown infection. I took lots of echinacea tincture all day (infection fighting AND immune boosting), put garlic/mullein drops in my ears, I cut an onion in half and warmed it in the oven and held it to my ear (Snopes.com says that onions do not draw out infection, but I swear by this remedy), I took oregano oil, I massaged my ear and neck and lymph areas with St. John's Wort oil, I took two hot baths in Epsom salts, I did the Neti pot, and a eucalyptus steam. I also used the St. John's Wort oil (which is my most used herbal remedy ever, we make it every summer) to massage my belly in a counter clockwise direction. This is an old folk remedy from many traditions that gets the digestion going. My herb teacher Kami McBride talked about the importance of keeping digestion moving whenever illness is present, and I always pay attention to that now. Which is why I also had some hot peppermint tea! And I stretched out my neck and spine a lot too.

I feel a whole lot better today. I am soooooo relieved. Graham made some delicious chicken soup and very spicy green salsa. Feeling loved and taken care of are such important aspects of healing :-)

*Thanks to Jen for not only making those beautiful eggs, but also for taking these last six photos! She is Nesha's mama and also the gorgeous woman in my latest Etsy listings*