Old Country Cottage

Together with my husband, I followed my heart and left big city life behind in Alberta to move to a country cottage in British Columbia a thousand miles away. Everything changed. Our surroundings, our work, our entire lifestyle – from the buzz of the big city to the quiet vastness of beautiful, natural, rural living. In the beginning, nothing made sense. Everything we knew was gone. It was quite uncomfortable, not knowing how our life was going to unfold and where we were heading. However, even though this huge transformation was challenging, we wouldn't consider going back. What is my life going to be like? What am I going to do? What is my next step? I asked questions, searching for answers. And then it came to me, one day, in meditation: "Write down what you have learned, what you know." I wondered: "What does that mean?" The response: "You possess the knowledge people are searching for. You need to spread the word." So, here I am, putting together all that I can remember, everything I have collected, studied and learned throughout my life – about plants, herbs, folk remedies, natural healing and the natural way of life. I am not a scientist. I do not have a PhD, MD or any other letters before or after my name. I have gone through life learning "hands on" methods. I don't look at problems of the phenomena called life as something outside of myself. I live it. My first experience with herbs was more or less accidental. As a teenager, I was very self-conscious about my looks as teenage girls often are, finding real or imagined flaws. For me, it was how the skin on my arms felt and looked like. One day, I grabbed a handful of stinging nettle and wiped my arms hard, wanting to punish them and myself for their imperfection. The consequence was quite painful, with an angry rash developing all over my arms. However, two days later, my skin was clear and beautiful. I didn't really understand the mechanics of this procedure, but I was delighted with the result. From that day on, stinging nettle became more than just an unwanted weed for me. I now know, it's a gift from nature to all that will use it. I started collecting herbs when my sons were born in the mid-seventies. The older boy often suffered from bronchitis and pneumonia, and was treated with antibiotics over and over again. As a young mother, I wasn't aware of the negative effects of overusing antibiotics. It went so far that, at the age of 4, my son's health deteriorated to the point where he had to be hospitalized for over 3 weeks. Upon returning home, his immune system was almost destroyed. He was on a liquid diet as his digestive system was very weak. He couldn't walk, he couldn't talk and he didn't respond to his environment. It took one month of intensive 24 hour care and the help of my wise grandmother to get my son back on his feet. Using herbal remedies such as teas and poultices, water therapy, diet, sunshine and a positive attitude, I nursed him back to health. Today, he is a tall, strong and healthy young man. He lives in harmony with nature, respecting its power.