Fuzzy Finds What, Exactly?

Hmm. A new blog.

I have a neglected little personal blog, the sad younger sister of one I had years ago that received all kinds of attention and regular posts. It languishes over at rootsome.blogspot.com, the product of our move away from Florida (and full-time ministry) into an old house in my hometown where I hoped to put down roots and thereby forget all the indignities which we suffered in our previous life. It's intensely self-focused, a little defensive even. That was what I needed back then.

It served its purpose, and still does-- about twice a quarter, when I want to write something for my kids to read someday or think through a difficult moment inside my brain.

But I have new reasons to start recording information online again, and I'm excited to open this little spot to record that journey.

I have two new passions of late, things I'd like to pursue further.

One of them is my new little vintage shop at Etsy, which gives me convenient license to buy things I love but don't have room for in my home. They say it takes time to build a clientele there, so I'm trying to cheerfully ignore the fact that I've yet to make a sale. :) If it works, I hope to be able to make a little extra money and joy by acting as a kind of Flea Market Shopper for folks who'd like to enjoy my finds. This is a fabulous part of the country to find great vintage items cheap. So, this address will be a place to chat about that journey, those finds, and about how I use vintage finds in our home-- in hopes that others will find it inspirational. (If the Etsy shop falls flat, I will likely to continue to babble about this, because I'm pretty adamant about using old things rather than buying newly produced ones, and pretty certain that my my vintage stuff is better-made/more long-lasting/more earth-friendly than consuming new stuff at Target/Wal-Mart/etc.)

The other is one that's surprising me, because of my suspicious nature. I am not one to take up a fad or be easily convinced that some new Thing is the Key to Health. I love cultivating a simple lifestyle for my family, but I have a healthy suspicion of what I think of as Health Food Store Babble. I usually turn a fairly critical eye on these things.

But a friend invited me to a little class on the use of therapeutic-grade essential oils, and I'm fascinated. For one thing, they're completely natural and very effective at cleaning your home; you can make all kinds of your own cleaning supplies, scrumptious air fresheners, insect repellants, and much more out of materials that are simply and purely derived from familiar plants. (ie, They smell awesome and won't fill your home with unknown chemicals.) As a gardener and mother of two precious toddlers, I really dig that.

The other side of the coin is the health benefits of using essential oils-- what I'm hearing is that they penetrate the cells of our bodies completely differently than other substances (like chemicals and medicines), that they connect with our brains in instant and mysterious ways, that we may be able to cure many of our bodies' illnesses-- minor and possibly major-- with these oils. I just checked out a book from the library that examines the uses of essential oils and aromatic plants in the Bible. It occasionally makes some pretty outrageous claims, but on the whole, it is absolutely fascinating. I feel like I'm being introduced to a whole new world of knowledge, and I need a place to record all the things I'm learning and picking up here and there. Why not do that online in a place where others may benefit from it too?

So I'm lumping all my current fascinations-- vintage shopping and decorating, gardening discoveries, home-care revelations, knitting adventures, and essential oil recipes and knowledge-- right here into one little blog. Fuzzy's Finds.

Perhaps someone other than myself will find it entertaining. If not, I'll enjoy jabbering and sharing photos with myself over here in this little corner. Like this little urchin from Eureka Springs, Arkansas, I'll keep relentlessly hunting down my treasures and bringing them home to this little blog-- whether they're appreciated by anyone else or not.