Wholesome Handiworks

07/14/2025

☀️GOOD. Morning.☕️

Don’t be fooled…. I am NOT a morning person.

🌄 But somehow, when on trail, nature takes over… I am up JOYFULLY with the sun and feel overtaken with calm, beauty and gratitude.

Hmmm…. How to recapture this EVERY day??
Maybe I should start sleeping in the back yard?! 🤣

☀️

07/12/2025

Take the time to soak in the colors, textures, aromas, and even flavors in your travels….

Embrace the and express for the smile, the calm, the refreshment, the nourishment each tiny experience brings 🙏🏻♥️🤲

It’s easy to become obsessed with “crushing miles” on your hike. It’s also easy to forget to look up and around (while trying not to trip or lose sight of trail markers!)

But look what I’d have missed…..

🫐 The sweet taste of ripe and juicy flanking the trail side

☀️ tart simply bursting with sunshine

🌱 the delicate blooms of a plant popping out of the forest floor

💧The earthy scent and feel of soft moss under my hand while collecting water from a babbling stream

These pics can’t do them justice…. But do you feel your blood pressure coming down nonetheless?

Get out there and start noticing for yourself!

07/12/2025

Simply stated…. Harriman ROCKS!! What a FUN place to hike - and boy oh boy - are there some rocks!!

Smooth balds at the top of the hills, monstrous deposits and glacial erratics, and lots of craggy spots to scramble up and down. Even the shelters are cut into the boulders or hillside, with walls comprised of stacked rocks!

Incredibly gorgeous, challenging and wildly FUN !!

07/11/2025

The past few months have been challenging…. And I’ve found that sometimes, the only thing to break out of the funk is to CHALLENGE oneself even harder!

How is it that physical and mental exhaustion, pain and discomfort in the backcountry can bring such a POSITIVE high, and ERASE most of the mental anguish faced in front country life?

Nature is NURTURING, Walking and Sweating is CLEANSING, feeling Gratitude (for a trickle of brown water, a cool breeze, a tart wild berry, a spot to sleep with no rocks) is HEALING….. God is GOOD!

This was my very first 3-NIGHT backpacking trek. And included my longest single day mileage thus far - in brutal heat and humidity mind you! My friend (and hiking sensai) Andi joined the Outdoor Vitals 100 mile hiking challenge (done “stacked” or in sections.) This was my first chunk, totaling just under 25 miles! I’m so refreshed, invigorated, and PROUD of myself!!

04/29/2025

HOORAY! The *Tinton Falls Earth Fest* was really fun (despite the wind and rain LOL!) I met so many really nice people and discovered a bunch of great organizations!!

I’m excited to link as many of them as I can to the WH website to share their work and causes!

And this week I’ll be working on digitizing MY “presentation” - loading the graphics, articles, tips, lists, resources, etc. - and posting to my blog site!! STAY TUNED!!

04/26/2025

🤩 WIN THIS!! Stop by my table TODAY (4/26) at the Tinton Falls Earth Fest…. Simply SIGN UP to my email list to get entered into the RAFFLE!

- Handmade Oatmeal-Coriander she’s butter soap bar
- Handmade Oatmeal-Honey 3-in-1 whipped soap sample
- Soap saver bag
- Custom Wholesome Handiworks MUG!
$30 value!

(Drawing will occur after the Fest, winner will be notified by text or email no later than Tuesday 4/29)

04/23/2025

This Saturday... Come visit RACHEL and her table presentation at the Tinton Falls EARTH FEST!!

"Think global, and ACT LOCAL" when it comes to the environment... Rachel will be sharing about the personal and environmental benefits of "naturalizing" your yard - even how to become a Certified Wildlife Habitat!

Bring the kids for a fun, educational, and wholesome experience right here in your local community!

01/27/2025

This made me smile!! I just love fun, simple, yet catchy songs that teach the Bible :-) Wouldn't it be wonderful to bring some of this back?!

"Noah" is a gospel song composed by The Jubalaires, a gospel vocal group formed in the 1930s in the United States. The song was recorded in 1946 and is part ...

10/31/2024

The finished product! There’s something so peaceful and gratifying about arranging some flowers 💐 ♥️

A spray of vibrant frames the fiery bouquet. Tucked in for texture are some (which dry to a lovely shade of beige) Some mixed nuts and add interest to the containing my lovely finds!

I set the “leftovers” in a tiny thift store juice glass of water, joining the herbs that live on the kitchen windowsill 🌻🪴

10/31/2024

up the last bit of
Feeling so for the the beautiful colors and textures so vividly displayed in my own back yard ♥️

And look at the who hitched a ride!

10/16/2024

What did I SIGN up for?! A truly amazing time is what! BIG thanks to my hiking sensai for showing me the way, keeping me safe and helping me build confidence!

10/16/2024

Adventure was calling! Just got back from an amazing hiking trip in western Maryland / West Virginia! Incredibly beautiful weather and scenery, met delightful new people, and got a much needed break that did my body and brain even more good than I’d hoped!

Here is the Paw Paw tunnel (which served as our FINALE actually!)

This tunnel is an old, now decommissioned part of the C&O railway and canal that bypassed the wild curves of the river in this area…. A mile or so of darkness blasted though solid rock in the mountain! Free “air conditioning” inside ;-) What a feat of engineering created by hard working men, dynamite and donkeys!

&orailroad