September has lent us some wonderful inspiration for drinks! We have been enjoying our exploration of Elderberry this month with Elderberry Spritzers! I threw my no soda at home caution to the wind and got some sprite and added Elderberry concentrate- ohhhhh my said the boys!
I think . . .we may have found some wild elderberries pokeberries on our little road trip to the Eco Art fest last weekend, though they look a bit different then what I remember- I need to check with Kristine and see what she thinks, for now I have them in the fridge to do some dyeing with. Be on the watch for a wee little micey that Kristine will be giving away on the Herbal Roots. Oh those little micey are so tricksy and they begged for something to snack on so this month there is a special little wooden elderberry to accompany the mice!
***-update thanks to my mama friends they helped me identify these as pokeberries definitely not the same, I had a nagging feeling that I needed some help on this one- I happened to be going out to my mama's for dinner and told her my mis-identify and she said let's take a walk and we went to the woods and found some Elderberries together, here is what I brought home, as you can see the winged friends like them too!. The first picture is the remains of Elderberry and the rest are Pokeberry-poisonous- yikes! Thanks all for your help.
Vintage mini teapots make for lovely nighttime teas next to the chiminea fire also. We have gotten into the habit of spreading out the blanket, making a little spot of tea and laying down outside for a while before bed- I love September nights!
Last night we mixed it up a bit and warmed up some hot apple cider, lit a fire and told some ghost stories! Our favorite of late is Tailypo- a creepy old Appalacian ghost story. How can you resist a story about a little furry creature, a cottage in the woods, and 3 dogs named Uno, Ino, and Cuptico-Calico! I could not resist making a little wood Tailypo- he is resting on my computer till someone decides they are brave enough to adopt him! If you are not familiar, here is a version of the story or you can get the Paul (I adore) Galdone version.
Hope your September nights are lovely- do you have any good ghost stories to share? I am heading away from computer land tomorrow and would love to hone my storytelling skills with the youngins around the many nights of campfires- hopefully my friends won't mind their kiddos gettin a dose of scary stories!
