Creative Heart's Sweet Retreat Registration is OPEN!

February 23-25, 2018

Residence Inn by Marriott KCI

Kansas City, Missouri


To register contact Meredith

mereburgess@ gmail dot com

February 2017 Retreat Information

Mark Your Calendars!!!

Our 2017 February Retreat is set for

February 24, 25, 26!!!


Registration will open September 1!!!

Check back for more details!!!!

February Retreat Registration is OPEN!

*****UPDATE!  The Retreat is FULL!****

If you would like to add your name to the waiting list, we will notify you just as soon as a spot opens!





Hello ya'll!

I thought I would just pop on here and remind you our February Retreat registration is OPEN!

If you put your name on the Pre-registration List, your payment is due September 1!

After September 1, I do not hold any spots!

It is first come, first served!

We have a few new faces on our list this year!!

Welcome to our retreat and we can't wait to meet you!

If you'd like to hear more about our Creative Heart's Sweet Retreat, please do not hesitate to ask!

This is one of the highlights of my year (if not THE highlight, but please do not tell my family!).

Such a laid back, fun group, hotel, and atmosphere!!!!

We have a blog. . . .CreativeHeartsRetreat.blogspot.com

Not much posted there right now, but I am about to hop on over there and give it a little update!

You can also find me on Facebook. . .it is so easy to update there!  Just look for my page
Facebook.com/MeredithBurgessCTMH

We have some really cool tshirt designs this year!!!  YAY!!

And loads of fun planned!!!

Yay for February!!!!!!!!!

I heart spring

Have I mentioned spring is my favorite season?
I'm sure I have :) 

I love the greenness. . .the newness. . .the warm sunshine. . .all of the pretty blooming bushes, trees, plants, and flowers. . .new baby animals. . .something about the renewal of spring and the anticipation of warmer days that just really gets me going!
Here are just a few spring pics!

 Cabbage!

  throwing out the Deer repellent.

Who knew they didn't like mint? 

 The deer mowed down our strawberries.  

You can still see a few blooms!

 Some of the flowers we picked up at the greenhouses last week!

Can't wait for some warmer nights, so I can get these in the ground and in their pots!

 The munchkins playing on the porch.  

I believe this girl is going to love gardening this year!

 Showing off their mushroom.

 Helping clean up around the pool in town.

 Riding the gator with her Papa.  

One of her very favorite things to do!

 Watering Gram's flowers!

 Stopping to smell the roses at the greenhouse! 

 Hard to get pics of this kid these days. 

He's playing around at Gram and Papa's here.

 Such a sweet girl in the morning. 

Can you spot the fungus in this picture?

 Taking a ride on our kubota.

 The boys planting our new trees.  This one is a Tulip tree.  

We also planted a Sugar Maple and a Gingko.

And this is the bread I was talking about yesterday.  These were our first two loaves!  You can see, we couldn't even wait to take a picture before we had to try it!  Nothing beats warm, fresh baked bread smeared with butter!

Traditional Food.

Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon.

This book has forever changed my life.

I know that is a bold statement. . . but it has.

A few weeks ago, a friend recommended this book to me. I jumped on Amazon to look it over and I and snagged it right on up.  I did some digging around and came upon a few other books that intrigued me as well and I snagged those up too. I will list them below. Fortunately, I am an Amazon Prime member and I didn't have to wait very long for my books to arrive. Because patience isn't one of my best traits.

I dug right on in to these books and I haven't put them down since.

They are basically recipe books.  But oh so much more.

They look at nutrition and health from an entirely different perspective. One that totally makes sense to me.  I have been having tons of problems. . .what I would call old age problems. . .but I am hoping I can "fix" some of these problems, just by changing our eating habits. Which needed to be fixed anyway.

What impressed me the most about the book is the amount of old knowledge and wisdom in them.

Knowledge that is getting lost.

I love knowledge. I love to learn new things and I especially love practical knowledge like this.

I have to admit. . .some (or a lot!) of the recipes kind of gross me out.  Who would think to boil chicken feet?  Not this girl.  But when I mentioned this to my mom, she said, "oh, yeah!  My grandpa used to have us suck on chicken feet and they weren't bad at all." 
FYI. . .there is only one mention of chicken's feet, but it stuck with me! 

Anyway, even if you do not adopt the practices mentioned in the book. . .they are a wealth of information.  And really, who can't benefit from eating less processed and more whole foods?  

Here is my favorite recipe book out of the bunch

From Scratch by Shaye Elliott

I've tried several of her recipes and they are all spot on and delicious! I've made three batches of her wheat bread already!  It is super easy! I've never been a bread maker.  I'd make rolls once or twice a year, but that's it.  The rolls are super time consuming.  This wheat bread is SUPER SIMPLE and DELICIOUS! She also has a great blog, The Elliott Homestead.

the Nourished Kitchen by Jennifer McGruther
This book is a little bit more out of my comfort zone.  Some of her recipes sound really interesting and I can't wait to try them!



Our garden is growing like crazy and I can't wait to harvest our first vegetables and use some of these recipes.

Right now, I am focusing on gaining knowledge and making little steps toward a more traditional lifestyle.  This is a big undertaking. It takes more ahead of time prep (like a day or more ahead of time) and that is tough for me. But probably really good for me too. I'm so bad about planning ahead for meals. I will do good here and there, but there are many nights that it is five o'clock or after and I have no idea what we are going to have for supper. I'm hoping (and so far it's working) this will make me plan ahead and be a little more organized!

I just wanted to share with you how much I have been enjoying reading through these books... you just can't believe the amount of knowledge in Nourishing Traditions!  The recipes are in the center of the page. . .and there is a side bar on each page that is where the history of certain foods and preparation methods are. And a few facts you probably didn't want to know about items we eat.  :(

Happy Reading!  

MB





 

Spring Fun.

We enjoyed a good old campfire cook out. 

There's not much better than a campfire in the spring. Or fall. Or anytime as a matter of fact. 

Hot dogs and S'mores.

Such a treat!

The weather was nice.

A little cloudy, but perfect for a campfire!

Brady is becoming such a pro at building fires. 

He did such a nice job.

The hubby built us some log stools for Brady's birthday party and they sure do come in handy.  

Beats sitting on the ground for sure!

Nan and Pa came over and joined in on the fun.

Such a nice evening to share with the family!

I used to say fall was my favorite season and though I still do love fall, I think I have to say spring is now officially my favorite season.

I haven't been the best at this blog thing for quite some time. . .if I ever was really. . .I've had a renewed interest and hope to be sharing more with you all. . .but I feel as if this has happened before!  We shall see!!  Happy Spring!

Creative Heart's Sweet Retreat 2015

This is absolutely ONE OF THE VERY BEST weekends of the year.

This year, it will February 27-March 1.

Same Place. . . Residence Inn by Marriott KCI.

We love this hotel!  They treat us right. . .AND it is close to so many things!  

Registration is OPEN!  

I only have a few spots left!

If you would like more information, please send me a message!  

Every year is an absolute blast!!!