The last five weeks have flown by, and I have been less present here, yet more present in the season. We have been taking advantage of the extended light, which will reach it’s apex with Litha on Sunday. We take some time morning and evening to walk our garden area, pluck out weeds, and find joy in watching its growth. We have managed to get out and about (we tend to be homebodies) spending time with friends who are always a balm; especially as we have been assisting our daughter who is navigating crisis.

I have been an proponent for mental health since our daughter first began to struggle as a pre-teen. This experience shaped how I now walk the wise woman road. I have been awed by her strength and resilience over the past 14 years, and as we all know, adult life can sometimes throw us for a loop. For someone who struggles with mental health those challenges can be amplified and push you into fight or flight.

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Our peonies are about to bloom. The ants that protect their delicate buds from other invasive pests have been doing their job, and I expect the delicate petals to begin to unfurl over the weekend. This got me thinking about the legend of the peony.

I am envisioning the ants as little coping mechanisms, that support the flower giving it the strength to bloom. They bloom slowly, their fragile petals gently unfolding one at a time, they are discovering the world anew. I see the magic of healing and a new start. Their long thick stems will begin to slump and need to be supported to stay upright. That is much like a parent navigating mental health with their child; boosting them up to give them support so that they too may bloom, and stand strong on wobbly legs. Once again, I am so proud of how she is utilizing support and coping skills to manage this time.

In the realm of the spiritual, the peony emerges as a harbinger of transformation. Its gradual unfurling mirrors the blossoming of the human spirit, each layer a step towards enlightenment. This flower beckons us to embrace change, to let go of the old and welcome the new with open arms. It whispers to the soul, reminding us that growth is a gentle unfurling, a dance of becoming. In the presence of peonies, we find solace in the ever-turning wheel of life. Flowerchimp

Living in the Northern US we get an abbreviated season warmth and light, and for anyone who suffers from depression, you know that light is paramount. It feels like a blessing that one of her favorite sabbats is Litha, where we can be outside, pick flowers, have a bonfire, and catch fireflies (they just came out for the first time of the season last night!!) For some ideas on how to celebrate mid-summer check out my post below.

Get out this weekend and enjoy!

Until next time,

“Your life matters, and you are not alone. If you are experiencing thoughts of suicide or a mental health crisis, free, confidential, 24/7 support is available:

• Call or text: Dial 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

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Hello friend! My name is Amy. I am so happy you have stopped by 🍃 If you are new here, a warm welcome to you! This space is where I am learning to walk the wise woman road by returning to my true self through seasonal living, reflective writing, nourishing food, intuition, and resilience. Rooted in the rhythms of the earth and my lived experience, these writings are an invitation to slow down, listen inward, and remember what nourishes us. If this resonates with you, I invite you to subscribe and walk the seasons alongside me.

Over Memorial Day weekend, our farm’s kitchen was all about chive flowers. A staple that I make each year is chive flower vinegar. It is a simple recipe that is perfect for a summertime salad vinaigrette. I fill a mason jar with chive flowers, and fill it up with white wine vinegar. I let it sit for 2 weeks in a cool dark place, agitating it whenever I think about it, then strain off the flowers. We are then left with a beautiful pink infusion, easy, peasy!

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I then came across a great website called Rhubarb and Lavender. It is such a fun website that has recipes inspired by themes. Both of the following recipes were inspired by Lord of the Rings. So Fun! From there I made a chive blossom compound butter that I served with these cheddar scones (that I substituted chives for the green onion). Not only easy, but beautiful!

My chives are the first thing in the garden that are in abundance and with the remaining flowers, I am going to try a chive flower salt. The nice thing about all of these recipes is that they make great hostess, housewarming or holiday gifts.

I’d love to hear what you are making right now!

Until next time,

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Hello friend! My name is Amy. I am so happy you have stopped by 🍃 If you are new here, a warm welcome to you! This space is where I am learning to walk the wise woman road by returning to my true self through seasonal living, reflective writing, nourishing food, intuition, and resilience. Rooted in the rhythms of the earth and my lived experience, these writings are an invitation to slow down, listen inward, and remember what nourishes us. If this resonates with you, I invite you to subscribe and walk the seasons alongside me.

May is the start of blooming season. All of the work that we have done listening, cultivating and tending this year is now ready to burst forth in the colors of flowers and tender leaves. This emergence comes in phases, different times for different species, and not every bloom is perfect. Here in the Upper Midwest, a last minute frost can affect the bloom and is always possible until Memorial Day! Some blooms struggle to open, or drop their buds in the process. This is okay, it is all part of the process and health of the plant.

This emergence is not only present in the flora and fauna, it is a part of our journey as well. We find ourselves beginning to correspond to what is happening in the natural world around us and that is an imperfect perfection in and of itself. Imperfect is the name of the game. Do not be discouraged if you do not quite feel into the season….yet. Don’t worry, it’s not just you. There are so many distractions tugging at our attention every single day that it can make us feel off balance. The best way we can support our blooming is to give ourselves permission to release the need to arrive fully. We can breathe into small signs of our ripening into the season and not have to be at our peak in this moment.

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Don’t Discount the Moon

The moon has affects on tides, animal migration, and our health. Following the moon cycles has a rich history in agriculture and spiritual symbolism. The moon cycle completes every 29.5 days. On Saturday 5/16/2026 we will have a New Moon in Taurus. The new moon is the first phase of the lunar cycle where the moon is positioned directly between earth and the sun, so the lighted side of the moon faces the sun, and the moon is not visible in the sky.

Journaling Where You Are

I have had an off and on relationship with journaling. I love the idea of it and I always feel more grounded when I do it, yet I just can’t seem to keep up with a regular practice. I have an established morning routine. My mom gave me a copy of The Artist’s Way years ago. I have attempted morning pages many times, and it just doesn’t fit in that routine. Recently, my daughter has become an avid journaler, and she inspired me to try again. Now, I am doing my ‘morning pages’ as part of my less busy evening wind down routine. Guess what?! It’s been a perfect addition!

What I discovered through this process is we need to bloom where we are, embrace our imperfectness, and instead of trying to rigidly implement new steps into our growth, mold them into what works for us. After all, it is our journey!

Some journaling prompts to support your blooming process or plant seeds during the new moon for blooms to come.

1. What small signs of blooming am I seeing around me?

2. What habits or stories that I tell myself do I need to leave behind so the next chapter can truly begin?

3. If there were no barriers and I am dreaming big, what does the next chapter look like?

4. What makes me feel fulfilled and happy? How can I build more of this into my daily life?

Until next time,

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Hello friend! My name is Amy. I am so happy you have stopped by 🍃 If you are new here, a warm welcome to you! This space is where I am learning to walk the wise woman road by returning to my true self through seasonal living, reflective writing, nourishing food, intuition, and resilience. Rooted in the rhythms of the earth and my lived experience, these writings are an invitation to slow down, listen inward, and remember what nourishes us. If this resonates with you, I invite you to subscribe and walk the seasons alongside me.

Family has always been paramount for our dad. He approached raising us instilling a sense of wonder, love, dedication and a tremendous generosity of spirit. Whether it be twilight walks to the local ice cream parlor for root beer floats, splashing our feet with the hose as we ran around the brick patio in the backyard while he watered the flowers, or his love for holidays, we never question his unconditional love.

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Dad and I can always talk about anything, and he always listens before offering his sage advice. He and my mom were true partners, and her loss has taken much from all of us, but no one more than my dad. Not only were they best friends, soul mates and parents; my dad new the true meaning of ‘for better or worse’. He took care of my mom for the 35 years she had MS, and worked tirelessly to keep what I can only say is the most positive outlook of anyone that I have ever met. He has served as a roll model to his children, grandchildren, and peers. I have modeled my love for family around his example.

Travel was a special gift that my parents gave to each other until my mom’s disease took that ability from them. I am waxing philosophical here as dad is currently experiencing a trip of a lifetime, and this adventure is so well deserved. He and his brother are currently walking in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. He has approached this trip with the energy of someone half his age (almost 80, and walking strenuous tours daily). I’m not even sure I could keep up with all he’s done and seen in the last 5 days! I can tell from the picture’s that he is sending that the trip is awe inspiring.

Dad is an amazing story teller, and hearing him weave his life experiences is always riveting. I cannot wait to hear the stories he has to tell when he returns home. Love you Dad!!

Until next time,

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Hello friend! My name is Amy. I am so happy you have stopped by 🍃 If you are new here, a warm welcome to you! This space is where I am learning to walk the wise woman road by returning to my true self through seasonal living, reflective writing, nourishing food, intuition, and resilience. Rooted in the rhythms of the earth and my lived experience, these writings are an invitation to slow down, listen inward, and remember what nourishes us. If this resonates with you, I invite you to subscribe and walk the seasons alongside me.

Wonder is a complex emotion that contains elements of surprise, contemplation and joy — and, most important, a heightened state of consciousness.1

How are you cultivating wonder in your life?

Focusing on working around our homestead brings me joy. This past weekend we planted 7 new trees, mixed 42 cubic feet of amended soil and planted 6 blueberry plants. I love heritage planting; putting something in the ground that will grow, develop and bear fruit year after year. It is a little mark that we leave for future generations, and tending those plantings year after year is fulfilling.

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I have always considered myself a life-long learner and this year have joined Sharon Blackie’s Nostos Institute. I was originally scheduled to go to a retreat Sharon was hosting at Broughton Sanctuary in February, but circumstances prevented it. Now that Nostos has launched I look forward to the opportunity to go in the future. What a treasure this education is! Learning about the ancients in philosophy and depth psychology has ignited a fire in me that can only be described as wonder. Check out the link below:

Nostos Institute

Nostos, the art of enchantment, and the cultivation of the mythic imagination

‘At a time when many feel spiritually unanchored, disconnected both from organised religion and surface-level wellness culture, the Nostos Institute provides something rare: a rooted, intellectually rigorous and deeply imaginative path to personal and collective re-enchantment. We’ve developed a unique and alchemical blend of philosophy and depth psycho…

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2 months ago · 12 likes · Dr Sharon Blackie

Another way that I explore wonder in my life is through celebrating the seasonal changes on the wheel of the year. The end of this week brings the first of May, May Day or Beltane and the lighter half of the year is here! Check out my post below for some history of Beltane and some quick ideas to honor the day.

Check out the rest of the posts from the A-Z 2026 Challenge below:

A is for Attention (4/1/26)

B is for Boundaries (4/2/26)

C is for Care (4/3/26)

D is for Daily Ritual (4/4/26)

F is for Food (4/7/26)

G is for Garden (4/7/26)

H is for Home (4/9/26)

I is for Intention, J is for Joy (4/10 &11/26)

K is for Kitchen (4/13/26)

L is for Listening (4/14/26)

M is for Maintenance (4/15/26)

N is for Nurture (4/16/26)

O is for Outreaching (4/17/26)

P is for Patience (4/18/26)

Q is for Quicken (4/20/26)

R is for Roots (4/21/26)

S is for Stewardship (4/22/26)

T is for Tarot (4/23/26)

U is for Understanding (4/24/26)

Part of the Blogging A-Z 2026 Challenge

Until next time,

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Hello friend! My name is Amy. I am so happy you have stopped by 🍃 If you are new here, a warm welcome to you! This space is where I am learning to walk the wise woman road by returning to my true self through seasonal living, reflective writing, nourishing food, intuition, and resilience. Rooted in the rhythms of the earth and my lived experience, these writings are an invitation to slow down, listen inward, and remember what nourishes us. If this resonates with you, I invite you to subscribe and walk the seasons alongside me.

A couple of years ago, I read Valarie Kaur’s book See No Stranger. It was a powerful book, and I was spellbound by it. One particular image that stuck with me and blends beautifully with everything from social justice to walking the wise woman road is the idea of ‘breathe and push’.

“Loving ourselves is a feminist intervention: it is choosing to care for our own bodies and our lives as a priority. In all of our various labors— making a life, raising a family, or building a movement—we can care for ourselves by remembering the wisdom of the midwife: breathe and push. We breathe to draw energy and power into our bodies and let joy in. We push through fear and pain to become our best selves. And in the most convulsive moments of our lives, we can summon our deepest wisdom and find the bravery to transition from one reality to another. Laboring in love is how we birth the world to come.”

The process of tending to ourselves, our families, our hearth and home, is first felt as a quickening. A little flutter of wonder for what we can build and nourish. As we move through the phases of life, our experiences and resulting resiliency place us on the wise woman road. It is a new beginning of sorts, transforming us into who we will become. “The woman who is willing to make that change must become pregnant with herself, at last. She must bear her third self, her old age.”1 Now, I’m not saying that midlife is synonymous with old age, but a new quickening for our third phase.

As we first sense this quickening of our third phase (perimenopause/menopause), we find ourselves awakening. We may start to turn away from the high-stress path that had us jumping through societal hoops with career and child rearing in favor of more intentional tending to ourselves. As we start reducing the external noise, we may begin to gain clarity and hear that lovely inner voice of our intuition. Where does this wise woman’s road lead to? It leads to the birth of a new understanding of our role in the world around us. How exciting is that?

As Valarie said, we must breathe, and push.

To read through my A-Z so far:

A is for Attention (4/1/26)

B is for Boundaries (4/2/26)

C is for Care (4/3/26)

D is for Daily Ritual (4/4/26)

F is for Food (4/7/26)

G is for Garden (4/7/26)

H is for Home (4/9/26)

I is for Intention, J is for Joy (4/10 &11/26)

K is for Kitchen (4/13/26)

L is for Listening (4/14/26)

M is for Maintenance (4/15/26)

N is for Nurture (4/16/26)

O is for Outreaching (4/17/26)

P is for Patience (4/18/26)

Q is for Quicken (this post 4/20/26)

R is for Roots (4/21/26)

S is for Stewardship (4/22/26)

T is for Tarot (4/23/26)

U is for Understanding (4/24/26)

Part of the Blogging A-Z 2026 Challenge

Until next time,

Hello friend! My name is Amy. I am so happy you have stopped by 🍃 If you are new here, a warm welcome to you! This space is where I am learning to walk the wise woman road by returning to my true self through seasonal living, reflective writing, nourishing food, intuition, and resilience. Rooted in the rhythms of the earth and my lived experience, these writings are an invitation to slow down, listen inward, and remember what nourishes us. If this resonates with you, I invite you to subscribe and walk the seasons alongside me.

The kitchen represents the pulse of our home. It is a living, breathing thing with memories that have steeped into its walls. It has seen both hard and joyful times and holds us in a comfortable embrace. Oh, how I wish I had an old-fashioned cooker or a fireplace in our kitchen! When we have company, it naturally becomes the location where everyone gathers, drinking a glass of wine or beer, snacking on tasty treats, and all chattering at once like eager kids on the playground.

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That time is the most enjoyable time of the gathering. It’s the truest time, with everyone animated and sharing openly. It conjures pictures in my head of clans huddled around the fire, telling tales. This picture illustrates how important and comfortable this time is, and how it feels simply like a natural component of our social interactions.

Tastebuds was born

Years ago, a small group of friends got together after being inspired by the movie Julie and Julia. We were a group who all enjoyed cooking, and had yet to attempt to cook together. We began as 4 couples and committed to cooking a 4-course meal together from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. That night was the start of something that has lasted for approaching two decades, and is a big part of all of our kids’ early memories.

That first night, we began to create bylaws for how our cooking club would function. We’d meet every 6 weeks or so, choosing a different chef to focus on. Each couple would be responsible for one course and bring all of those ingredients with them. Here is what was different from other cooking groups. We would then we would all cook the meal together, from start to finish. When the kids were all small, we’d chat while having a glass of wine and chopping onions, cook the kids dinner, feed them first, and then set them up with games or a movie while we started preparing our meal. We began to call ourselves Tastebuds.

Inevitably, we wouldn’t sit down to our first course until we’d settled the kids in bed at 9 pm! Ah, to be young (and I mean us)! I can tell you that as the years have gone by and our various nests have emptied, our dinners now begin in late afternoon and are completed closer to 8 pm!

A few years in, we added a fifth couple, and we have cooked menus around individual chefs, types of cuisine, events, and themes (one menu was the 7 deadly sins)! Many of my best memories are intertwined with this group, and the simple act of gathering together in the kitchen bonded this chosen family.

This is the story of how a recipe box set me on my path in the kitchen.

The Meandering Muse

The Recipe Box

Fall is not only a new start, but it is also a time for reflection. How has the year gone so far? What am I harvesting right now, and what seeds do I want to plant for next season? This got me thinking…..Life is a recipe, but one without instructions. It is just one where you add a bit of this and that and toss in the flavors that you desire…

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9 months ago · 5 likes · 1 comment · Amy Ray 🍃

To read through my A-Z so far:

A is for Attention (4/1/26)

B is for Boundaries (4/2/26)

C is for Care (4/3/26)

D is for Daily Ritual (4/4/26)

F is for Food (4/7/26)

G is for Garden (4/7/26)

H is for Home (4/9/26)

I is for Intention, J is for Joy (4/10 &11/26)

K is for Kitchen—This post

L is for Listening (4/14/26)

M is for Maintenance (4/15/26)

N is for Nurture (4/16/26)

O is for Outreaching (4/17/26)

P is for Patience (4/18/26)

Part of the Blogging A-Z 2026 Challenge

Until next time,

Hello friend! My name is Amy. I am so happy you have stopped by 🍃 If you are new here, a warm welcome to you! This space is where I am learning to walk the wise woman road by returning to my true self through seasonal living, reflective writing, nourishing food, intuition, and resilience. Rooted in the rhythms of the earth and my lived experience, these writings are an invitation to slow down, listen inward, and remember what nourishes us. If this resonates with you, I invite you to subscribe and walk the seasons alongside me.

I’m posting this a day late as my thoughts of this post changed yesterday. Energy is quite a double edged sword isn’t it? I’m writing this coming off a crazy work day that sapped our energy like a sponge. It can happen when an emergency situation happens in the veterinary field; the cortisol push get’s you through, then your energy is sapped.

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This got me thinking that energy is not only the stored up potential of seedlings ready to burst through, or what we say amplifies a busy day. Energy is vital, and it is more than the fight or flight response that happens in stressful situations. It can be a good night’s sleep that propels you into a new day, or a gentle thrum under the surface that fills you with warmth. It can come from a good meal, interactions with a friend, or as a result of doing something you love, to name a few.

What got me thinking yesterday, is above all else, your energy is something that needs to be protected and nourished. Sure, there will be the unexpected that happens. However, if we take the time to take short breaks each day and set boundaries, we can protect ourselves from the mental fatigue that winds up. It will allow us to be more proactive in our responses, instead of reactive, which tends to even further drain energy.

The Good News is if you have been slowly incorporating the habits we have discussed on gratitude, journaling, breathwork, staying grounded etc. you are already beginning to do much of what you need to also protect your energy! For reference here are a few key posts that give tips that can be used to protect our energy.

The Meandering Muse

Staying Grounded

March is always a time of excitement. The longer days inspire grand plans for the outside. Visualizing this year’s garden to be. What we will expand and how we will nourish our souls as we move into the seasons of growth. The hardest part is staying grounded and not getting too far ahead of myself, perhaps inspired by having just ‘sprung forward’ wi…

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3 months ago · 5 likes · 3 comments · Amy Ray 🍃

The Meandering Muse

Winter Listening Rituals

“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” — Vincent Van Gough…

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5 months ago · 10 likes · 14 comments · Amy Ray 🍃

The Meandering Muse

Mindset & Menopause~How to Feel More Like Myself?

This season of life does not happen all at once. It is a journey and can be a long one at that. But with journeys also come incredible growth. Beneath the surface, we are slowly emerging into who we will be in our next phase of life. Getting there is a marathon, not a sprint, but it can be quite exciting to ponder what comes next when we come through …

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7 months ago · 4 likes · 2 comments · Amy Ray 🍃

If you would like to see where the A-Z of tending has led us so far, my posts are listed below.

A is for Attention (4/1/26)

B is for Boundaries (4/2/26)

C is for Care (4/3/26)

D is for Daily Ritual (4/4/26)

F is for Food (4/7/26)

G is for Garden (4/7/26)

If you enjoy my free content, consider buying me a coffee to support my work!

Buy me a coffee☕

Until next time,

Hello friend! My name is Amy. I am so happy you have stopped by 🍃 If you are new here, a warm welcome to you! This space is where I am learning to walk the wise woman road by returning to my true self through seasonal living, reflective writing, nourishing food, intuition, and resilience. Rooted in the rhythms of the earth and my lived experience, these writings are an invitation to slow down, listen inward, and remember what nourishes us. If this resonates with you, I invite you to subscribe and walk the seasons alongside me.

April begins a month of tending. I am excited to participate in this year’s A-Z Challenge once again. Getting started with the letter ‘A’ feels like perfect synchronicity with this month’s theme. What better way to tend ourselves and the world around us than by paying attention?

You might wonder what attention has to do with tending? This season is not only for tending our gardens and feeling in sync with nature, it is also for reflecting on the quiet work that we did during mid and late winter and to train our attention to tending to ourselves.

humanity’s greatest potential lies in our ability to pay attention. Everything we think, create, remember and love relies, most essentially, on how we were paying attention in the first place. Before your great idea was born into being, it was first conceived by your attention. The world is bursting with meaningless stimuli. Expressions, movements, objects and experiences all lie dormant until they are brought to life with human attention. This is precisely why two people experiencing the same event can swear to have lived two wildly different realities.

Traumas and tragedies are, in part, searing stories of pain and of darkness—but they are also invitations to open ourselves in ways that we have not previously been opened. The mechanism that does this hallowed work of transformation is gratitude. The change begins when we choose to shine the light of gratitude into the darkest recesses of our minds. Psychology Today

With so many competing stressors; from high speed digital content to 24/7 news cycles inundating our attention spans, the average person’s attention lasts only 47 seconds.1 So how can we get our focus back?

Re-train yourself to really listen. Have you found that in conversation, you will latch onto a comment and then spend the next several seconds creating a response to it in your head, while missing the end of the interaction? It is not uncommon for any of us to want to present our points concisely, however, as a result of this we aren’t truly listening to begin with. Our attention is turned on ourselves and our response instead of being fully engaged with the speaker.

Focus on going back to the basics when it comes to listening. Minimize distractions (yes, silence your phone), pay attention to body language, don’t interrupt and be comfortable in silent pauses, and make your listening judgement free. When you are focusing on the act of listening, your attention will not wander.

Gratitude is important because it trains our attention. Why might this be? When we begin to utilize a gratitude practice, it stems from noticing what is around us and how it makes us feel. Not only does gratitude focus our attention to the here and now, it also gives us the opportunity to tend our minds.2 It takes us from a outlook of lack to one of abundance.

A couple of simple ways to hone attention and tend to yourself.

Over the years I’ve incorporated a couple of steps into my morning routine that help me focus my day.

• While I’m in the shower and take a brief moment to bask in the hot water, I close my eyes and list everything that I am thankful for that morning. Sometimes I simply start by expressing gratitude for having hot water to bask in.

• When I go downstairs and pour my cup of coffee, I stir my creamer in, counterclockwise (as I have to think about that), and I say almost as a mantra; release. This is a cue for me to release all judgment for both myself and others for the day ahead. (A powerful trick I learned 10 years ago while my daughter was in DBT).

These two simple steps at the beginning of the day are a way to focus my attention and tend to myself. I find beginning my day this way makes a huge difference! What ways are you paying attention to what needs to be tended as we enter April?

Check back later in the week, and I’ll link the notes for letters B-D here 🍃

B is for Boundaries (4/2/26)

C is for Care (4/3/26)

D is for Daily Ritual (4/4/26)

If you enjoy my free content, consider buying me a coffee to support my work!

Buy me a coffee ☕

Part of the Blogging A-Z 2026 Challenge

Until next time,

Leave a comment

Hello friend! My name is Amy. I am so happy you have stopped by 🍃 If you are new here, a warm welcome to you! This space is where I am learning to walk the wise woman road by returning to my true self through seasonal living, reflective writing, nourishing food, intuition, and resilience. Rooted in the rhythms of the earth and my lived experience, these writings are an invitation to slow down, listen inward, and remember what nourishes us. If this resonates with you, I invite you to subscribe and walk the seasons alongside me.

Spring is officially here! I feel this time of year throughout my body. The change of light energizes me and it’s almost as if the thawing ground, first herbs and bulbs bursting forth inspire my body to come out of its hibernation. I am craving a new lightness and freshness in my space and on my menu. Early spring brings a gentle medicine. Our bodies naturally begin to crave greens, hydration, fresh herbs, and lighter broths or soups. These are foods that awaken us both body and soul.

Cultures throughout the ages have celebrated the return of spring after a long, harsh winter by eating the first new greens they can find. Native Americans took advantage of fresh, wild plants to supplement their winter diets of dried foods; foraging in woodlands or near streams could bring in an entire meal in some cases.

Mushrooms often sprouted with the renewed moisture of spring; experts had to hunt for this very nutritious, but dangerous food. Women hunted dandelions, wild onions and leeks, ramps, chickweed, poke, and wild mustard (or a related plant called “creasy greens”) as soon as possible since many of these plants get more bitter as they grow older. Even young, tender leaves and shoots can be bitter, but these wild plants are very nutritious and have long been considered a tonic to wake up the liver and kidneys after a long winter diet of dried starches (like beans and pumpkin) and meat.1

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As Spring rises pushing warmer days through the earth, we are beginning to put our plans in motion. This weekend we will seed spinach, radishes and kohlrabi in the garden to jump start our growing season. We are still a few weeks away from foraging the first wild ramps, asparagus, nettles and stalks from our massive rhubarb plant. These early crops whet our appetite for lighter fare soon to grace our kitchen table.

I made one of my favorite spring meals yesterday, Asparagus, Fennel and Spinach soup. It is a must try!!

If you are in an area where spring is in full bloom, I highly recommend harvesting and cooking with nettles.

This herb is a food. Our bodies know how to use the nutrients because we’ve co-evolved with plants—and nettles grow all over the world, so most of us have ancestral ties to this plant. We are evolutionarily familiar with one another. Nettles, like many green herbs that are suitable as food, are easy to digest and assimilate. I think of nettle as an ally that cleans up our inner waterways: the lymph, blood, kidneys, and bladder.2

This recipe is my go to for nettles but I think I’ll be trying several from the article in footnote 2 this season!

What special spring meals are you looking forward to? I’d love to hear in the comments, I’m always looking for new ideas 🍃

If you enjoy my free content, consider buying me a coffee to support my work!

Buy me a coffee ☕

Until next time,

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Hello friend! My name is Amy. I am so happy you have stopped by 🍃 If you are new here, a warm welcome to you! This space is where I am learning to walk the wise woman road by returning to my true self through seasonal living, reflective writing, nourishing food, intuition, and resilience. Rooted in the rhythms of the earth and my lived experience, these writings are an invitation to slow down, listen inward, and remember what nourishes us. If this resonates with you, I invite you to subscribe and walk the seasons alongside me.

This week marks the Spring Equinox. It is when the daylight hours are equal to the hours of darkness once again, now tipping the scales toward longer days and the growing season. We are coming out of the time of deep listening, rest, reflection, and beginning to emerge; much like the tender shoots that are beginning to press through the thawing soil.

As Wisconsin will never be go into spring gently, we began this week with a blizzard and will end it at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. I can’t wait to see what growth will be inspired by the warming temperatures later this week!

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A Light exists in Spring
by
Emily Dickinson

A Light exists in Spring
Not present on the Year
At any other period —-
When March is scarcely here

A Color stands abroad
On Solitary Fields
That Science cannot overtake
But Human Nature feels.

It waits upon the Lawn,
It shows the furthest Tree
Upon the furthest Slope you know
It almost speaks to me.

Then as Horizons step
Or Noons report away
Without the Formula of sound
It passes and we stay —-

A quality of loss
Affecting our Content
As Trade had suddenly encroached
Upon a Sacrament.

Marking, important seasonal days by elaborate rituals or celebrations is not a requirement, and an overwhelming thought for many. Feel free to go all out, and know that a simple recognition of these seasonal markers without adding to our already overly long to-do lists, is just fine too! We can take a cue from the listening and stirring we did in the last two months, and simply add a moment of acknowledgement or reflection.

Simple Seasonal Activities

• Plant some seeds: *tip: if planting wild flowers or a bee/butterfly garden, consider broadcast planting. This is the process of just sprinkling these tiny seeds over the area and gently raking them in, then watering. Easy, Peasy! You can also start some seeds indoors if the weather is still too cold.

• Open windows: now is the time to air out your house, even on a cool day open your windows for 30 minutes, it’s a huge boost to mood to move fresh air through your space.

• Build a bonfire….or heck just turn on your fireplace and set intentions for the new season.

• Take a walk: even if you just stroll around your yard, take a few minutes to listen to the birdsong, see new buds bulging or watch squirrels scurry around.

Whether you celebrate with a party, or just take a moment to acknowledge the day, Happy Spring!

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Until next time,

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This feels like a full circle moment. Ten years ago, I participated in the 2016 A-Z Challenge. The theme was mostly around our family trip to Spain. At that time our daughters struggles were coming to ahead and a mere six weeks later she was hospitalized for the first time. This is when my words began to dry up as we began to navigate the road to her recovery.

Now, ten years later, we are all stronger and have learned humbling life lessons. I began to dabble in this space three years ago, a new place away from my Blogger days, yet it was very comforting to be here, like I had arrived home. Maybe, because I had developed a broader life view, having found resilience I did not know I was capable of, and still staying true to what have turned into the pillars of this space.

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2026 A-Z Challenge will surround April’s theme, tending.

Instead of 26 days in a row of posts. I will be doing a weekly post with a reflection on the word of that day, a journaling prompt and a small tending practice that you can do. The rest of that week’s words will be in the form of photos and short reflections to notes.

The words for this year are:

A is for Attention (4/1/26)

B is for Boundaries (4/2/26)

C is for Care (4/3/26)

D is for Daily Ritual (4/4/26)

F is for Food (4/7/26)

G is for Garden (4/7/26)

H — Home

I — Intention

J — Joy

K — Kitchen

L — Listening

M — Maintenance

N — Nurture

O — Outreaching

P — Patience

Q — Quicken

R — Rooted

S — Stewardship

T — Tarot

U — Understanding

V — Vitality

W — Water

X — Exchange

Y — Yield

Z — Zenith

I can’t wait for you to join me for this fun exercise in April!

To check out this year’s challenge and all of those participating, click Blogging from A-Z in April

Until next time,

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Hello friend! My name is Amy. I am so happy you have stopped by 🍃 If you are new here, a warm welcome to you! This space is where I am learning to walk the wise woman road by returning to my true self through seasonal living, reflective writing, nourishing food, intuition, and resilience. Rooted in the rhythms of the earth and my lived experience, these writings are an invitation to slow down, listen inward, and remember what nourishes us. If this resonates with you, I invite you to subscribe and walk the seasons alongside me.

March is always a time of excitement. The longer days inspire grand plans for the outside. Visualizing this year’s garden to be. What we will expand and how we will nourish our souls as we move into the seasons of growth. The hardest part is staying grounded and not getting too far ahead of myself, perhaps inspired by having just ‘sprung forward’ with our clocks. Here in the northern US, we won’t really see visual emergence until later next month, but what is emerging is not only the stirring of the sap runs and the few early flowers shyly poking their head up through the still snow-covered ground, but also keeping the nourishing pace of late winter myself.

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March is a time that I call mud season. Snow melts come, intermittent rain, and then of course, more surprise snow, always bookended by beautiful ‘false spring’ days. I have been getting outside with loppers and, for the first time, on my own with the chainsaw, usually reserved for B’s projects. I have been removing volunteer bushes, ‘trash trees’, and masses of grapevines that have woven their way around what seems to be everything. It is such a good feeling to get out and clear things. It allows me to visualize the summer garden, and the future home of a chicken coop (oh, I have missed having chickens!) It makes our land look less overgrown in areas that we are manicuring and better highlights what we have let go back to the wild. It is the perfect time for this work as the leaves have not come out, and I can see clearly what needs to be done. As a bonus, I have tons of grape vines to craft into garlands!

So, I guess you could say that early March is the month of emergence before emergence, and a glimpse of April’s theme of tending, done in fits and starts between the unpredictable weather of the month. The trick to staying grounded is without letting emergence tip into urgency (a real challenge for me!)

What can we do to stay grounded in a time of building energy?

Firstly, we need to stay grounded in our bodies. Keep up with our daily rituals, whatever they may be. Focus on what fills your cup.

• Take a walk, noticing what’s around you. Chorus of birdsong, little green shoots popping up through the mulch, how the sun feels on your face.

• Stretch before bed, especially for those of us on the wise woman road, little aches and pains can be greatly eased by stretching and aid in the sleep that is so important.

When our nervous systems are soothed, we are better able to plan and appreciate the season without blowing through it in a frenzy.

Secondly, when you decide to take on a new task, sit with the idea for 24 hours before starting. I am horrible at this! I tend to get an idea and implement it in the same breath, going at it much like a bulldozer. By taking that 24-hour beat, we can approach our exciting ideas with more intention.

Finally, pace yourself, finding your rhythm versus the ‘I’ve got to get it done, now’ mindset is what fosters expansion. Try not to get too caught up in the momentum, remember the quiet months we’ve just come through, and our intention of a slow roll into the season. There will be plenty of time in the months ahead.

How are you approaching the emergence of spring? With Ostara next week, we will reflect on the traditions of the season on the wheel of the year and move forward with what rhythms were important in late winter and what we will take with us into spring.

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You may also like:

The Meandering Muse

Emerging in Rhythm

We have had intermittent weather, some days warm and spring-like, yet as I listen to the gale blowing outside, I am quickly reminded that we are still in the depths of winter. Yet, subtle shifts are still happening all around. Late winter seems to be loosening. It’s a soft nudge. The light is lingering in the evenings, and I’ve seen the first wisps of…

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4 months ago · 1 like · Amy Ray 🍃

Until next time,

Hello friend! My name is Amy. I am so happy you have stopped by 🍃 If you are new here, a warm welcome to you! This space is where I am learning to walk the wise woman road by returning to my true self through seasonal living, reflective writing, nourishing food, intuition, and resilience. Rooted in the rhythms of the earth and my lived experience, these writings are an invitation to slow down, listen inward, and remember what nourishes us. If this resonates with you, I invite you to subscribe and walk the seasons alongside me.

women have long been weavers.

weaving love through our households,

literally through knitting, quilting, making clothes, or

simply by stirring harvested herbs into the meals that sustain.

we tell the stories of our ancestors,

weaving the strands of time so that lessons and wisdom may be dispatched.

these shared stories build community and connection, a common ground from which to support and encourage.

the resulting bond reinforces the strength needed to stand, resist, and protect.

life’s tapestry, interconnected, as we navigate the wise woman road.

Last year’s IWD post:

Until next time,

Part of International Women’s Day with , , , , &

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Hello friend! My name is Amy. I am so happy you have stopped by 🍃 If you are new here, a warm welcome to you! This space is where I am learning to walk the wise woman road by returning to my true self through seasonal living, reflective writing, nourishing food, intuition, and resilience. Rooted in the rhythms of the earth and my lived experience, these writings are an invitation to slow down, listen inward, and remember what nourishes us. If this resonates with you, I invite you to subscribe and walk the seasons alongside me.

Subscribe now

We have had intermittent weather, some days warm and spring-like, yet as I listen to the gale blowing outside, I am quickly reminded that we are still in the depths of winter. Yet, subtle shifts are still happening all around. Late winter seems to be loosening. It’s a soft nudge. The light is lingering in the evenings, and I’ve seen the first wisps of chives starting to poke through in the garden. I feel more awake, energy building, and I feel grounded as the tree roots expand and the sap rises; a little energetic push toward spring.

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Just as we began to stir in February, the awakening and emergence of March is becoming known. It feels like a quiet expectancy, not urgent, a readiness just waiting to break through. I find myself searching the ground, waiting for the first green tips of hyacinth to pop up and marveling at the plumping buds on the trees.

At the end of last year, I began using a monthly theme to highlight and combine what I see as the main pillars of this space. I want you to join me as we walk together the wise woman road, this beautiful rite of passage we undergo, as we become ever more seasoned matriarchs living our lives out loud and following the wheel of the year. I am excited that these first couple of months of the year seem to be building naturally upon one another. I love wrapping my writing in the embrace of seasonal shift.

Emergence can show up differently in all of us. It may feel like an awakening. Energetic, ready to get back outside and move! It can also feel like a craving. Enthusiasm for the freshness of spring, while still wanting to be warm and comforted, like emerging from a cocoon. Listen to your body and follow its cues. As the weather tends to be all too temperamental this month, some days you may feel like getting your hands dirty and digging, and preparing your garden. Other days, you may want to curl up with a good book by the fire. Both answers are right! Do you feel your energy returning, or are you not quite done with winter yet?

Rhythm is the right word for the season. So much of the world around us moves at a fast pace. Demanding reinvention, or new grand ideas. What if we settled into emergence as a rhythm? Why not protect new ideas like seedlings and nurture them?

A small practice for this month:

Take a few moments this week to find a quiet space. Utilize your breath (my breath technique chart is in this post) and notice one place in your life where something feels ready for a little more light. Jot down what comes up and set it aside. Come back periodically this month. Each time you are drawn to revisit it, add a sentence or two. At the end of the month, you will have a seed planted, and we can look forward to April’s theme of growth and tending. 🍃

If you enjoy my free content, consider buying me a coffee to support my work!

Buy me a Coffee ☕️

Until next time,

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Hello friend! My name is Amy. I am so happy you have stopped by 🍃 If you are new here, a warm welcome to you! This space is where I am learning to walk the wise woman road by returning to my true self through seasonal living, reflective writing, nourishing food, intuition, and resilience. Rooted in the rhythms of the earth and my lived experience, these writings are an invitation to slow down, listen inward, and remember what nourishes us. If this resonates with you, I invite you to subscribe and walk the seasons alongside me.

As late winter can feel like a slog and seasonal eating a bit of a drag, I’m including a seasonal recipe that really highlights the flavors of winter in a fresh, light way to stir your taste buds for Spring.

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This salad can have any variation that you choose. It would be great with some diced pears! I said that it serves two, this is a large meal size salad and could easily serve four as a side. An easy time saving tip is to purchase pre-cooked beets. I get a package of vacuum sealed beets from Costco that are perfect to add to salads!

To read February’s other posts on Stirring:

Until next time,

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Hello friend! My name is Amy. I am so happy you have stopped by 🍃 If you are new here, a warm welcome to you! This space is where I am learning to walk the wise woman road by returning to my true self through seasonal living, reflective writing, nourishing food, intuition, and resilience. Rooted in the rhythms of the earth and my lived experience, these writings are an invitation to slow down, listen inward, and remember what nourishes us. If this resonates with you, I invite you to subscribe and walk the seasons alongside me.

It is late February, have you noticed a gentle tug? A stirring deep in your gut, anticipation for what is next? Sometimes this can feel exciting, or in converse, a little anxiety-provoking. This is the stirring of spring deep within you, getting ready to emerge through the soil of your mind. All the seeds of gratitude and reflection we have planted during the quiet listening of January, and the inner-stirring flame lit by Imbolc, are just beginning to germinate and are readying to poke their tender shoots through.

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As a gentle challenge to yourself, take a couple of minutes to page through any journaling or jots about your days that you have done so far this month. If you haven’t done any, no worries, just continue on with the challenge. From now through the end of the month, write a couple of sentences each day beginning with:

I keep noticing….🍃

As we move forward into the spring, any recurring themes will guide us toward areas where we want to grow. Areas of growth can be things you have already been working toward, entering a new phase, or something that has been coming up repeatedly and moving forward from your subconscious. Maybe you aren’t quite ready for this change. Honor that, it’s perfectly fine to feel some reluctance. The end of this month is a good time to acknowledge fears and be grateful for what is emerging without needing to define it. Acceptance of the idea gives us a soft landing space when it fully emerges, like a meadow of tender grass, lush and untouched.

What themes do you find coming up? I find this gentle immersion into the year a steadying force, and goodness knows we need it with the world around us. Even if things like goals or ideas aren’t what’s coming up for you, utilize the prompt. Just answering that one question is a way to process the constant, rapid-fire, disturbing information that we are bombarded with every day. Taking time to note your feelings on the page is like taking a deep breath. It can help to reduce the cortisol hit and interrupt the fight-or-flight response that we find ourselves in.

Here in the Northern United States, we don’t really see spring most years until early May, so for next week’s recipe, I will raid some of my favorite late winter recipes that are lighter and may be more in sync with other areas that are starting to show the first signs of blooming.

If you would like to catch up on February’s theme of stirring:

For my Seasonal Stirring guide:

For the start of my year-long series on food as medicine:

If you enjoy my free content, consider buying me a coffee to support my work!

Buy Me A Coffee ☕️

Until next time,

Hello friend! My name is Amy. I am so happy you have stopped by 🍃 If you are new here, a warm welcome to you! This space is where I am learning to walk the wise woman road by returning to my true self through seasonal living, reflective writing, nourishing food, intuition, and resilience. Rooted in the rhythms of the earth and my lived experience, these writings are an invitation to slow down, listen inward, and remember what nourishes us. If this resonates with you, I invite you to subscribe and walk the seasons alongside me.

A decade ago, a handful of fellow bloggers and I participated in a course on food and culture through MIT. It was an eye-opening course that more deeply informed and gave voice to what B and I were doing here on our farmstead.

Have you ever walked through a fluorescent-lit grocery store and felt a bit like you are having an out-of-body experience? Aisle after aisle stacked floor to ceiling with endless choices of food that is pre-made, highly processed, and filled with a list of ingredients that you need a degree to understand. As this month’s theme is stirring, I thought maybe I would stir your thought process on a concerning paradox. We have never had more food available, and it’s never been less nourishing.

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In the 20th century, beginning with WWII, we began to see the snowball effect of industrialization in our food. Processed foods like canned meats, melt-resistant chocolate, and powdered juice became a part of military kits. In the 1950’s and 1960’s, we began to see chemicals and the beginnings of genetic manipulation for crop growth, and the mechanization of factory farming. Nourishment began to take a back seat to shelf life, efficiency, and profit. What this led to was seasons of sameness with foods available in those fluorescently lit grocery stores, whether in season or not, and our increasingly fast-paced culture, which led to less time in the kitchen.

It is alarming that, as a result of how our food is produced, stripping it down one nutrient at a time, a reliance on processed foods, and a generalized lack of food sense, our children are now expected to have shorter life spans.

As we travel the wise woman road, we begin to reflect on the teachings of our ancestors. Food has not only been a part of survival, but the nutrients are medicine, and the process of making and eating food together is the glue that has held families and communities together. This does not mean that our ancestors had it easy; they worked hard, and feeding their families was only a part of a long day’s work. As we travel this road, it is time to reclaim our intuition and utilize the valuable knowledge that comes from it. Listening to our bodies and using our senses: taste, smell, satiety, and our energy after eating. Returning to ancestral wisdom restores trust in our body, supports healing without guilt, and empowers us.

What returning DOES NOT mean

We do not have to be perfect or grow all of our own food, and we do not need to reject modern life. Instead, we need to bring our attention to our food systems, research our history with curiosity, and have a willingness to slow down.

I invite you to try something this week. Choose one meal and eat it without distraction. Chew your food intentionally and notice the taste and texture. Then notice how your body feels when you are done, without judgment, just take a moment to check in with yourself and notice.

In this series, over the next several months, we will go in-depth into our relationship with food & listening to our bodies, seasonal nourishment, and ancestral kitchens.

Until next time,

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Hello friend! My name is Amy. I am so happy you have stopped by 🍃 If you are new here, a warm welcome to you! This space is where I am learning to walk the wise woman road by returning to my true self through seasonal living, reflective writing, nourishing food, intuition, and resilience. Rooted in the rhythms of the earth and my lived experience, these writings are an invitation to slow down, listen inward, and remember what nourishes us. If this resonates with you, I invite you to subscribe and walk the seasons alongside me.

Subscribe now

If you enjoy my free content, consider buying me a coffee to support my work!

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February Stirring Guide

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Imbolc arrives on Sunday and does not announce itself, it comes in quietly. It is the time when a new season is not quite ready to begin, yet the light lingering longer begins to stir something. This is a season of small flames being lit to symbolize the returning sun and what new growth is yet push through the still frozen ground. At Imbolc, we do not rush toward spring; we tend what is waking, trusting that rhythm will hold us while the stirring finds its way.

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My word for the year is Rhythm and I think now is the perfect time to break that down a little. Spending time listening in January allowed me to slowly and intentionally create a rhythm for the year, a pulse that will be my guiding light: daily rituals, seasonal cycles, breath, nourishment, and rest. Rhythm is a steady practice and with Imbolc, a first stirring of the year begins to move within that rhythm, propelling me forward.

My ideas are beginning to warm, they are not quite ready for germination, but gently readying to break through. I am looking longingly at seed catalogs, not quite planning, but dreaming of the garden to be, my hands itching to get into the soil. As a result, February is also a time for patience and paying attention to that rhythm of the year that is rooting me.

As we move through February, we will start an ongoing discussion about food as medicine. How to be aware of our food systems and with that knowledge some easy practices to expand your kitchen wisdom. I will also share a February stirring guide, and a favorite recipe for the month.

If you enjoy my free content, consider buying me a coffee to support my work!

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If you’d like to read a little more about Imbolc, you can look my previous posts below.

Until next time,

Hello friend! My name is Amy. I am so happy you have stopped by 🍃 If you are new here, a warm welcome to you! This space is where I am learning to walk the wise woman road by returning to my true self through seasonal living, reflective writing, nourishing food, intuition, and resilience. Rooted in the rhythms of the earth and my lived experience, these writings are an invitation to slow down, listen inward, and remember what nourishes us. If this resonates with you, I invite you to subscribe and walk the seasons alongside me.

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