I know we all have more pressing and complex issues on our plates than poorly behaved deer, so I can only hope my rant blog gives you a diversionary guffaw…….

On our front porch sits my backpack sprayer unit already in use with a hideous concoction of rotten garlic water that even the deer find unpalatable. Usually this sprayer unit becomes a gardening accessory much later in the growing season as in when the snow is gone and the growing season has actually begun.

However this year, on the rare day when the snow has temporarily melted in some garden beds and before the next nightly snowfall, the deer have ripped up the beds and eaten all the tender young spring bulbs everything that remotely resembles a plant.

The carnage is one thing. The mess is another. Both provide me with an opportunity to practice my temper tantrum skills detachment. That is apparently what life gardening is all about. The pillaging behavior is unlike anything I have experienced before with our resident deer.

When I first stumbled on the damage (difficult not to since it looked like a back hoe had ripped through the gardens) I inspected the damage and considered the losses. Then I search very, very hard and found a few places where the deer had not found some spring bulbs . Naively, I figured these patches of Flower glory were safe. Then the deer found these places. The beds had been sifted for any shred of living plant material until they found these survivors damage was done, but there were a few spots where they had missed one or two bulbs and some places where deeper snow had protected some bulbs. This was when I got my sprayer going. Yes, to use a metaphor here, I basically shut the barn door after the cows had escaped the barn.

The last two days I have doused every garden bed with garlic spray. A brisk wind on both occasions meant that I got to wear this fragrant spray too.

Whenever I find a spring bulb they missed, I drown it spray it with particular care and hope for the best. I’ve even taken to spraying the snow where I know spring bulbs have yet to surface. (Note to grandchildren- Don’t eat the gray and odiferous snow) I also give a shout of thanks that deer don’t like Snowdrops or Daffodils. The Winter Aconite, Grape Hyacinth, Iris Reticulata, Chionodoxa and Crocus may have been deer appetizers, but there will be some color in the spring gardens. Here’s hoping anyways.

I am concerned for the honeybees that love these early Flowers as much as me. Will they enjoy the half dozen Crocus that survived the rampage even if they smell like garlic? These are questions I ask myself. I only hope the fragrance won’t put the bees off as it did the humans when I walked into to house last night. After their long cold winter the honeybees deserve all the nectar and pollen they can find. Me too, come to think of it- Thanks deer!

Last night at dusk as I wielded my sprayer, a large cohort of deer gathered in the hayfield below the gardens to watch my foolish attempt to slow their roll to wait for me to go into the house for the night so they could begin their evening feast. Besides slathering everything in garlic spray, I also gathered some of the lilac branches broken in the last ice storm and used them to protect the Hellebores aka Flower crack for deer.

This morning, fresh snow or garlic or something seemed to have inhibited the deer slightly, but they still managed to pull back the lilac branches to test nibble the Hellebores. Fingers crossed. It looks like the garlic spray was enough of a deterrent, but it’s early days.

Speaking of early days, in the early years the deer stayed out of the gardens. I would like to know what Elemental was keeping them in check and I would like to hire him or her back. Nowadays the deer break down fences, eat every fruit tree branch they can reach, wreck gardens that are literally a foot from the house, and do so much digging that someone might pay them for their excavating services. I try to convince myself that dealing with the deer now gives me a lot more opportunities to wring my hands meaning learning lessons, but do I ever miss those early days when for whatever reasons the deers were polite and well mannered.

It’s always something with life gardening and for me this season it’s deer. No doubt the arrival of the woodchuck in a few weeks will remind me that I should have been deeply deeply grateful when it was just deer eating the plant life. I’m working on it. I really am.

We are well into March Madness and I don’t mean the NCAA Basketball tournament. I mean desperate measures to navigate our sixth (sixteenth?) month of winter weather. I mean seeking relief from the gargantuan amount of snow we have been “blessed” with. I mean snow related crafting. In a word, I mean knitting.

With piles of snow everywhere and more falling hourly, there is just so much shoveling I can do. Sometimes everyone, even true New Hampshire natives like my kids, have to throw in the shovel and beat a retreat inside. For me that has meant making a beeline to my craft center ( that would be our entire downstairs) for 24/7 knitting. Just ask my dog. From morning until night I have needles going.

One snowy day this week, the snow was falling so fast and furious that the plow guy came four times. Plow guys tend to obliterate pathways with their snow moving, so every time our plow guy appeared, I went out to dig out the path for staff goddesses coming and going. The path to the Green Hope Farm office is now like a luge run with towering snow walls. Charming if you like that sort of thing.

But I digress. The real point of today’s blog is the end of my knitting needles. Pun intended. Knitting is saving my sanity during this interminable winter.

I have baskets on every flat surface full of projects. WIPs a new generation of knitters calls these “works in progress.” My husband still calls them clutter. In the baskets are sweaters for seven grandchildren, hats for anyone with a head, cowls for adult children and baby sweaters for pregnant women I accost on the street who’ve agreed to let me knit them something. When I get close to finishing a project, I need to have the next one lined up and the next one. The craft website Ravelry means I can find a pattern, buy it and print it out in under sixty seconds. Let’s not even talk about the number of woolly packages arriving at the farm. On the plus side, the sweaters that the grandchildren are wearing reflect this. On the negative side, so does my credit card..

But the point is, needs must and this is what I need to do to get through this particular March snow fest.

I think of a dear friend in Truckee, CA where they measure the snow in yards, and I wonder how she does it year after year. This pile up, crushing the snowdrops and taking out pretty much every shrub on the property is intense.

Fortunately this is a brilliant time to be permanently attached to knitting needles. A new generation of knitters is dropping gorgeous patterns faster than the snowflakes fall, and yarn purveyors have upped their game as well. A woman in town imports wool from the EU as an online business called The Woolly Thistle. Let’s just say I’m a big fan of Norwegian wool and leave it at that. I’ve also fallen for wool from a local mill, Junction Fiber Mill in White River Junction, VT, and have knit my way through many skeins of their Making Tracks colorways. I think I have almost alarmed the darling women who run the mill with the volume of wool I work through my fingers. I’ve also given my children a very twisted idea about what’s involved in a knitwear project. I thrust sweaters at them every time I see them, and they must think knitwear flies off my needles. They don’t know that I knit night and day and truly I am not that fast a knitter…….. just a long haul one. Anything to get to spring when I can replace my knitting needles with a trowel. Then I will be thrusting baskets of vegetables at my adult children, only because they grew up helping me weed the gardens, they’ll have a better idea of what’s involved in this bounty than what’s involved in a sweater.

Before I close I have just one other comment about March Madness basketball. I have listened to my extended family’s thousand hours of commentary about bracketology, UCONN’s chances of making it to the sweet sixteen this year, the lovely absence of Coach K at this year’s tournament etc etc……and I have done it without drooling, yawning or wearing a bored look. All I ask is that you too look bright eyed and bushy tailed when I talk about Chiagoo interchangeable needles, the best mohair for your money, Joji Locatelli’s latest pattern or how to carry three strands of yarn for colorwork. After all, what I get at the end of the NCAA tournament is a lot of tired blokes in need of a rest cure. What the extended family gets from me keeps them warm and woolly. And who knows, they may need this more than they know. April may be as snowy as March.

Last year a dear Green Hope Farm friend was diagnosed with cancer. Over the years, we have been in community with many of you as you have moved through this challenging experience. We have learned much from your grit, humor and healing attitudes. We have also learned much from your insights about Flower Essences that have supported you, and this is reflected in what Flower Essences we offer to others navigating this particular journey. We also have learned from the Angels and Elementals’ guidance about what Flower Essences we should make and offer for healing from cancer and why.

As this friend and I talked about her situation, it occurred to me to ask her if she wanted to share her experiences here on the blog. I was interested in how she was using Flower Essences to support herself, and I thought you might be too. She was game for the conversation. As we talked, I wrote down her answers as best I could then checked back with her for edits as I organized my scrawling notes. I also asked the Angels for their perspective which is included too.

This blog closes with the Angels’ discussion of specific Flower Essences to consider for cancer.

Molly: How did you feel when you first received this diagnosis?

Friend: At first I felt numb. Shocked too. I did not feel ill so I was surprised. It was hard to feel like I was in my body. I felt disconnected. I couldn’t think well. I tried to grasp the information from the doctor, but it was hard to pay attention. I was glad that a friend was there to listen too.

Angels: We formulated a Flower Essence remedy in Emergency Care that helps in this kind of acutely difficult situation. To routinely have a bottle of Emergency Care in your pocket or purse can help calm your electrical system’s response to deeply stressful events. This remedy also helps bring you back down into your physical body and smooths your electrical field so it doesn’t overload. Even to hold a bottle of Emergency Care at such a moment is good. Putting drops in water to sip is also extremely helpful. If you do not have Emergency Care, use any Flower Essence you have or seek out quiet time in nature as soon as you can. This will help you ground and calm your electrical system.

Molly: How did things proceed from there?

Friend: It was almost as stressful to tell family and close friends the news as hearing it myself, so I gave myself time to get used to the situation then chose my moments. Some of these conversations went better than others. Some people had strong opinions about what treatment I should pursue. I couldn’t handle their input. I just needed hugs.

Angels: It is the work of those around a person with a challenging diagnosis to be available to the needs of the person and put aside your own response so that you don’t offer a lot of opinions in order to feel better or more in control. This work is electrical- to ease the electrical burden of your friend or family member, not add to their burden with your own electrical knots of worry, anxiety or fear expressed in this case with unsolicited opinions.

This is one reason why we always encourage everyone in a challenging situation to work with the electrical tool of Flower Essences. Any group gathered operates as one electrical system, so the more each person works on their own electrical system, the more everyone’s electrical system is positively affected.

The more people understand this electrical reality, the more responsible they can be about their electrical system and its input into the electrical circuitry of any group.

When told this kind of news, you may feel flooded with thoughts, opinions and emotions. Be kind to yourself about this. Hearing this news is a very tough moment. Then take time to restore your electrical field so that when you respond to your friend or family member, your electrical system brings higher vibrations to the shared electrical field. This may be a matter of a few deep breaths before saying anything. Expressions of love even tearful love do not complicate this kind of situation, but other kinds of feedback can.

If you are the person sharing difficult news with family and friends, the burden falls on you to electrically prepare the way. This is not fair, but it is still the way it is. It is wise to wait until you feel up for the conversation. You don’t owe anyone this information. Consider having Flower Essences to share or to spritz in the room before sharing your news. This will dramatically ease the electrical situation in the gathered group.

Flower Essences such as Grief & Loss, Emergency Care, Anxiety, Don’t Worry, Bee Happy, and Golden Armor are some possibilities for this moment, but almost any Flower Essences will help. Think of this advance work as self preservation. We are not asking you to energetically take care of the group so much as setting up the interaction so you are taken care of.

If this is not possible, clear your own electrical field after you share your news. Make every effort not to leave the encounter carrying other’s energetic burdens. This is particularly hard for women to do as they are raised to take care of every group’s electrical system even when they are the most electrically compromised in the group. In fact this cultural pressure is why they are compromised. Flower Essences will support you in the building the habit of self care first.

If you have the enough time to prepare the way, the crew at Green Hope Farm is always ready to make Bespoke Flower Essence Custom Mixes for you. If there is not time for this advanc preparation, just share whatever Flower Essences you have available. Again, if this is not possible, after any gathering give yourself Flower Essences like Flow Free and Golden Armor to clear your electrical system of everyone else’s electrical charges .

Sharing this kind of news is very complicated work because family and friends often have the same fears and easily trigger each other into diving into lower vibrations. It is the responsibility of ALL members of a group gathering for any purpose to be responsible for the energies they bring to the shared electrical circuitry. We are not asking for perfection or for fake behavior but for honesty about how you are feeling. If you focus on raising your vibration as best you can then you will support the whole group.

Molly: Angels, what might this specifically look like in this situation of sharing difficult news?

Angels: First of all, loving kindness is the most important thing to bring to self and everyone else. This is a difficult moment for everyone. To be more specific, on receiving difficult news, family members can concentrate on breathing and on letting go of the first opinions that come to mind. They can consider how the person sharing the news might be feeling before offering anything but simple, loving words. They can ask how the person would like support. They can make the effort to be loving and uplifting. If this is difficult, taking a time out to collect yourself can be a game changer. The focus needs to be on not burdening the person sharing his or her news with your own issues. Flower Essences help support all of this as their work is to clear, untangle and release any energies that are not love.

Molly: Back to you dear friend, you’ve started into treatment. What do you want to share about this? How has it been?

Friend: A lot of everything. Sometimes I am thankful and I feel calm and sometimes everything is difficult. It’s day to day. I try to remember that cancer isn’t a death sentence. It’s an illness. I try to accept my limits and changing circumstances. Sometimes this is easier than other times. Humor helps. Going to the hospital is energetically tough so I take a Flower Essence mix with me.

Angels: People do a lot of energetic releasing in hospitals, but it is the rare hospital administration that knows this and has someone energetically clean their buildings. We see that in the future but not now. So it is good you take Flower Essences to protect your field from picking up other people’s energetic discharge.

Molly: You have a group of Flower Essences from us. Which ones have you felt called to work with?

Friend: At first it was all combinations. I couldn’t get more fine tuned than that. I took a lot of combinations. I didn’t pay attention to what I was working with. I knew whatever I reached for would help me. I know I took Recovery, Anxiety, Sanctuary, Golden Armor, Wound Healing, Be Fearless and some individual Flowers like Borage. The Sovereignty Set was very strengthening and helped me with difficult interactions. I keep the Flower Essences on my kitchen counter to keep it simple.

Angels: These mixes are a wonderful way to get support from Flower Essences. As the “upstairs” staff we’ve encouraged the “downstairs” staff at Green Hope Farm to create lots of mixes so that when you are in an overwhelming time you don’t have to be burdened by selecting Flower Essences. We are aware that even when there is not an acute crisis, this is an often overwhelming time to be on Earth, so we want support to be simple to access. Hence the mixes we have helped to create. Take for example a mix like Recovery. It is poised to help you immediately to heal from any challenge at hand.

Friend: I also had Green Hope Farm make several mixes for me. The thing I like about asking you to make mixes is that when I can’t think straight about what I need, you and the Angels can. I put a spritz top on my current mix and keep it my bedside table so that I use this before going to sleep or if I wake up in the middle of the night. The spritz bottle is comforting, and I will keep using it.

Angels: Taking Flower Essences at night like this is very helpful as your electrical systems are particularly receptive to the information of Flower Essences as you get ready to sleep.

We are glad you remembered that the entire staff at Green Hope is always ready to co-create a Bespoke Flower Essence Custom Mix for you. This is true for everyone.

Molly: Has the way you work with the Flower Essences changed as you move through this time?

Friend: Yes. As things have settled into a routine, I have been able to take more time to select Flower Essences. I feel more settled and able to do this. I still love the mixes, but I have also zeroed in on the Flower Essences for cancer and specifically the cancer I have. I decided to get all the ones suggested for cancer on the website and I am taking them. I am trying to drink more water and put my Flower Essences in the water.

Angels: Hydration is so important. Remember you are composed mostly of water. As Elizabeth in the Green Hope Farm office quipped, “Humans are hydroelectric energy systems.”

Molly: What has surprised you about this time?

Friend: I feel like myself. I am not just a cancer patient. Sometimes I even forget that I am ill. I have experiences of feeling whole in spite of this illness.

Angels: The truth is you already are whole and complete and one with Divinity, and there is nowhere you need to go or anything you need to become. Instead your work is to let go of any definitions that have led you to believe you are not complete and one with Divinity. The truth is the truth and you ARE one with Divinity. As you let go of these illusions and ideas of limitation, the veil thins and you experience your true Divine self more and more.

Anything that defines you as this, that or the other thing needs to go. Sometimes you see these binding definitions more clearly when your culture wants to pin you down and limit you with definitions like “cancer patient.” Ask for Divinity’s help to release these limiting ideas about who you are, because in truth, you are everything.

Molly: Thank you dear friend for sharing and thank you Angels for guiding us to freedom.

Angels: We stand ready with love and support always as you navigate challenges including cancer. We love you all more than you can imagine.

FLOWER ESSENCES FOR CANCER

Angels: The following list discusses Flower Essences that offer healing information for cancer of all kinds. Another way to get more specific in the Flower Essences you choose is to consider Flower Essences for the chakra where your cancer is. For example if you have kidney cancer, look at the second chakra Flower Essence list under topics on the Find a Flower Essence page. Green Hope Farm can make you a chakra mix for any chakra.

Aloe Ciliaris– Brings organizing information to your energy systems which in turn promotes harmonious and positively aligned cell reproduction and growth.

Burdock– Burdock is a deep, deep healer going all the way into the heart of any situation to bring healing light and a release of heavy vibrations that block healing. It also offers precious wisdom about discernment on the cellular level.

Celandine– This is a powerful energetic organizer that will help improve cell to cell communication. Equally important, Celandine offers information that organizes disorganized energy systems like cancer.

Christmas Bush– This one offers an enormous range of healing support. Its gifts of wound healing help release and mend wounds in the mental, emotional, physical and etheric bodies which greatly amplifies healing.

Ethereal Fluidium Super Glue– This one will help repair any energy breaches that prevent life force energy from fully flowing into your body. It will help the maximum amount of healing light and life force flow into your energy system.

Flow Free– This one helps move energy. It offers vital support for all the cleansing work the body does during cancer treatment.

Golden Armor– This beloved gives us energetic sanctuary, something that is so necessary during healing.

Larkspur– A powerful ally for course correction. Someone recently wrote Green Hope Farm questioning whether Larkspur was up to this task. Larkspur‘s emphatic answer, “Absolutely.”

Madagascar Periwinkle– Madagascar Periwinkle brings an X factor that can have a most significant impact on the outcome. It is a tool offering healing information from way beyond earthly realms.

Painkiller Plant– A tender Flower Essence friend helping with any pain involved in the healing challenges of both the illness and the treatment.

Precious Blood– A dynamo that remains cloaked in a bit of mystery, this one helps resolve generational wounds carried in the blood and in every way frees the blood to do its healing and life giving work.

Recovery– An absolute mainstay for support with any health challenge.

Sago Palm– Another Flower Essence that goes deep into the source of the energetic situation to resolve and set a brand new template of health.

Sovereignty Set– Freedom to do the healing work in an optimum energetic situation of sovereignty and inner composure and strength.

Wild Physic Nut– Offering a kernel of great wisdom about healing, this one is up to even the heaviest vibrational tasks needed for healing and release of the old.

Final thought from the Angels: You’ll see a lot of Zinnias in the photos because Zinnias bring joy and happiness. All Flowers want to lift you up into happiness, especially Zinnias and so do we.