FOR THE LOVE OF... * TANSY *

Wild Crafting in Suburbia....

2011-09-14T17:06:00.000+10:00

Today I finally got up the nerve to go foraging down along the busy street for some of the red clover that I have noticed growing so nicely along the road in the past few months......

Well, I was kinda convinced to do so by my friend, who insisted I should come for a walk as I have been saying I should go foraging down there for ages and I just never seem to get around to it.

Today the beautiful spring sunshine was a great lure.......and along with my faithful little helpers, we managed to gather quite a bag full with some funny looks from passers by in cars......Yep...that looks about enough for today.....

I'm so glad I went and my little helper here even managed to find some end of season lilli pillies to feed me! A wonderful walk indeed. Later today I plan to taste my very first red clover tea!

Herbal Blessings to all, Hugs ands smoochies xoxox

Herbal Ally - Challenge #12 - Make a Salve

2011-07-06T16:27:00.000+10:00

This challenge was to make a salve using our herbal ally oil we made previously. I did not have any beeswax and was unable to get a hold of any for a while there, then a friend kindly gave me a few of the sheets of beeswax from her candle making kit.

I was at first unsure as to whether or not they were suitable and kept putting it off with worry as to whether it would work but after finally finding a great site online where I could order, the people were going to be away until the very day I happen to be booked to go away myself. I sent an email asking whether this would be suitable and they confused me a little more with quality etc. They did tell me however that about 15 sheets would be a kilo so I thought as I had never made a salve in my life and I really was a first timer that I would just go ahead and give it a whirl anyway. I figured at least if I stuff up I am not wasting the more expensive quality wax anyway.

So armed with my instructions courtesy of James Green, I set to it. I had to do a little creative maths to work out the amounts as I did not have a whole cup of tansy oil handy and I really did not have enough time to make some more as my slow cooker is busy with some Rosemary oil right now.

With the intention of using this salve as a rub for sore muscles, or rheumatism I set to it and I learned a valuable lesson through trying new things. This is what happened....

I grated up one sheet which I estimated to weigh just under 50g then measured out half a cup of the tansy oil. I added about 2/3 of the wax and put it on the stove on low heat and waited.

I then did something on instinct (my lesson here) I added some powdered cayenne pepper to the mix (I now worked out this is a no no, I should have put it in the oil and strained it, which I am sure you all know but hey I'm new to all this!)

It melted away slowly and then I tested a little in the freezer and it was a little runny, so I added just a little more wax and waited again.

This time it was perfect and I poured it into a small jar, I do not have any salve containers as yet and then poured the left over into another jar. The smaller portion quickly set, the other was a little slower.

It was really interesting watching the salve set and seeing the lovely colour emerge as it did so.

It was all a bit magical really! Watching it creep up the glass second by second!

Until finally it was all set! And while I was most proud of my very first, lovely consistency salve! I had to have a good laugh at myself when I picked it up and saw the cayenne all nicely settled on the bottom! Never mind! Of course my first salve will be just for me! I rubbed some into my hands and my hands felt so soft and lovely afterwards! A fine first effort and a lesson well learned! Even if I do say so myself! Its been a great day for lessons for me today! :-)

I shall use my little jar of salve with love!

I am so looking forward to getting more wax and some little jars and tincture bottles as I have also found some suppliers that are affordable to me! .

I am glad I finally took the plunge and had a go!

And really cannot wait till Spring when hopefully I will have more time to get back into my herbal ally adventures once more!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxo

Absent note....

2011-07-06T10:13:00.000+10:00

I find myself feeling really guilty about my lack of posting here and more so my lack of spending real time with my herbal ally this past couple of months. Of course, I am always thinking and planning and trying to fit things in but life seems to be catching up with me and not leaving a lot of time for the things I want to give my attention.

For those who follow my other blogs, which are also neglected but not as much as this one has been. Its because my family and friends I don't see all the time want to keep up with us that way and of course my crafting is something I must do to keep sane. Its not that I don't love my herb blog, its just I don't feel I have had anything beneficial to post about lately.

I would however like to thank the lovely ladies of The Crones Gazette for my first issue which was a delightful read. I loved and enjoyed every bit of it. Dear friends, if you have not subscribed already you should do so! Its awesome. All the things I enjoy and love rolled into one magazine! I can't wait for the next issue to come up. The only improvement I could think of is a handheld version. I love my books. LOL Seriously though the articles are so good I think I will print it out to keep. I will try and write a little more about it when I have more time available.

As it is, the guilt of spending this time online refreshing my blogs has left me feeling more guilty as I have so much that needs doing in my garden and indoors right now. Will try to catch up more often in the future. Hope everyone else is getting more done than me.

Herbal blessings to all. Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Not much time for my herbs this week....

2011-05-09T18:09:00.005+10:00

but still managed to do a little gathering of dandelion roots, mint, wormwood, tansy flowers, and basil. I have managed to get some mint dried and some elder flowers (late bloomers) too. The others are hanging in small amounts as Im not sure what I will be using them for yet. Wormwood like Tansy is considered a bit toxic so needs to be used with caution. I however of course plan to try it! How else will we ever learn?

I have been feeling very neglectful to my studies of late and have not had the time available to be with my herbs as much as I would like. I do however have some new reading material, some bought and some on loan. So hoping to find the time actually read them. Life just seems extremely busier than usual lately, and juggling children, homeschooling, my own studies and crafty pursuits is proving a major challenge. So, just muddling along and trying to tackle one thing at a time. This week looks like being even busier with several outings on the table so will see if I can manage to catch up or not.

Hope all is well in everyone elses world! Hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxox

Still alive....well some of us are....

2011-04-28T12:51:00.000+10:00

Some people bring back souvenirs when they visit new places.....me? Well, I came back with some nasturtium and violet in slurpee cups! Yep I am very resourceful! LOL AND check out the great big bag of FREE Wool! Ahhhhhhh.....things that make me go Mmmmmmmmmmmm.

I have been very remiss in my studies of late, although I have been trying to keep up with a bit of reading here and there. After a very long trip came home to find most of my baby seedlings had not survived the cold change in the weather. :-(

BUT and there is a very big but here, nature and the faeries have fixed this little problem by self planting as per usual in the vegie patch. I noticed that though some of the seedlings I planted did not make it and all of my baby Tansy plants were gone.......the garden is full of a gazillion little Tansy babies AND basil and even some sneaky coriander. So I guess I will make do! I mean even IF the tansy did not self seed, I have enough growing here to last me a lifetime.

I have not had time to complete my herbal ally writing task, though I do know what I have to write. I have been truly blessed with hearing her song! So hopefully I can fit it in soon!

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods. Herbal hugs, xoxoxox

Meditation attempt: Take 2

2011-04-06T17:17:00.000+10:00

Twice today, I attempted to meditate with my Tansy only to have a certain young man, ahem, lets call him Mr Bossy, try and stick his nose in.

The first time was quite by accident, I was standing in the morning in between all of my Tansy and closed my eyes for a moment and simply breathed in, my vision was inundated immediately with a bright white pulsing impression of Dandelion.

I have to admit, I was slightly annoyed. You see, he has been making himself known to me in a very strong way this week. I had given my dandelion vinegar to my daughter who moved this weekend and had planned to make more. Seems he was a bit impatient with me. I have been a little unwell and in my usual fashion when it comes to my own health, I was ignoring ALL the signals, messages, promptings.....what ever you want to call it.......that I guess he just got a tad indignant so decided to make himself heard in a big way.

When I opened my eyes I noticed that he was simply everywhere, pretty much competing with the Tansy, thats for sure. I looked at the grass and thought OH MY, if my man decides to mow this before I can get to it, I am going to have to kill him. Not that I would really do that but can you see what I see?

These dandelions are huge (please excuse the mess!) and I am thinking that this time I will manage to get some roots to dry. Its raining today, on and off, so I decided to start with collecting some leaves and flowers with the thought of making a vinegar and some infusions. Of course I went inside and got waylaid with the kids lessons and went to make a coffee when I get this indignant "Don't you drink that!" in my head. "Drink some dandelion tea! You know you need to!" "Yes I do know, but I would really like to drink this coffee right now, I will get the dandelions later!" "NO NO NO NO....NOW!"

By now, you are probably thinking.....what a nut job.....but this really is normal for me, arguing with little voices in my head! This little voice was not shutting up .... Bossy little man!

So off I trotted and collected lots of small leaves and some flowers, came inside and made my vinegar, and an infusion and then drank my coffee! I explained to his majesty that I would drink him later but for now I was having my damned coffee.

Fast forward to the afternoon, I have been shopping and returned and once again went outside and sat this time in the middle of my garden next to one of my Tansy bushes. I asked for a little peace and guidance and closed my eyes. I was partly sitting under a bush and holding her leaves in my hands talking to her and then I began to quiet and slowly breath.

Immediately rushes of green came into my mind and then....you guessed it....he was back. Showing himself in lovely colours for sure but this time I was ready. In my mind I spoke to him and thanked him for his caring but pointed out that I am hopeful to hear Tansy sing for me and she is not going to do this if HE was there nagging all the time. I assured him that I would deal with him later. And yes I would eat him too. Reluctantly he left me for a bit and I was able to relax and bond a little with Tansy and almost but not quite put him from my mind.

These ones are growing around a bunch of garlic!

All the time I am wondering, why is he being so forceful and demanding. I have never seen so much Dandelion in my yard before. It is popping up everywhere, even in the concrete cracks, amongst the garden, under the tansy and all through the grass.

And so, I went inside once more and I took some garlic and an onion and I fried him up and ate him for lunch. I stored and labeled my vinegar and left the infusion on the counter to drink later.

Oh Mr Bossy Boots........ you are rather lovely! But tomorrow you really must allow me a little time with Tansy okay?

So today, my friends, I leave you with Dandelion Blessings! Bossy ones to boot! What a delightful herbal spirit! Bossy but sweet!

Much love and light to all.

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Simply Tansy.....

2011-03-30T21:19:00.000+11:00

I am unable to do my meditations as yet due to a lot of family business happening's, there is just no time for quiet time....I am hoping to get started next week! :-) For now I have had to console myself with just a few shots of things as they are......simply growing without much interference!

So looking forward to some pre-planned garden time next week.

Herbal Blessings xoxox

Quick catch up

2011-03-23T12:47:00.001+11:00

Namaste lovelies!

I woke up with the worst sludgy head this morning! And after doing a little reading on Coltsfoot and On the links for our herbal ally meditations. I found myself nodding and yepping (this is pretty much how it works for me anyway) and wondering how on earth I as going to pull this off to get the full benefits!

You see yesterday I was all ready for it and squelched through the mud to find a spot amongst my Tansy and I sat and I breathed, and my breathe was a bit blocked, so I leaned right in and breathed in really hard, and then my precious dog noticed me and stood just aside and thought she would bark really loudly at me...followed by arrrooorooorroooooooooooooooo because I was not listening and all. Seriously, I had just begun to connect and it was rather distracting! I totally burst out laughing and that was it for the day.

Today my breathing is not at its best and my head, like I said is sludge. I have been sipping on my herbal tea remedie and trying to relax and take it easy. A hard feat when you have things to do and don't feel like doing them.

So I decided to try some of that "retail therapy" everyone goes on about...considering I loathe shopping (unless its crawling about an op shop, even then my focus is short lived), I totally visited the book depository and ordered a few books...LOL...yep...that took me a whole 5 minutes and I was done.

I ordered.........

Culpepers Complete Herbal (astounded at how many there were to choose from but I went with the one that had the English Physician and Family Dispensary thrown in instead of the nice one with the pictures)......and yes I know its all free online but I like a REAL book to stick my nose in.

The Herbal Medicine Makers Handbook (James Green)

The complete Herb and Handbook for the Dog and Cat (Because I really would like to make my own medicines for my pets)

Healing Wise (Susan Weed)

and one for the kids

The Seaside Naturalist (We are learning about the ocean and I did order this ages ago but it did not show up so I ordered it again)

and I did feel a little better! But so so tired. I am thinking I may go and lay down and read a little more and then go outside into the garden and do some planting if I can lift my self up of course!

Hope everyone is having a lovely week!

Herbal Hugs and Smoochies xoxoxox

Dandelion Delight......

2011-03-19T21:03:00.000+11:00

I have been having some fun with Dandelion's this week......I have to admit that I never really took much notice of them growing in our garden. I mean occasionally I would collect some leaves for salads but for the most part I just went with the store bought salad mix so did not bother.

This week after noticing several popping up in my garden, I thought it was high time I collected some to make some vinegar....unfortunatley most had already seeded so I gathered the leaves and then went up in the bush foraging for flowers. I found a grand total of three so added them to my vinegar.

Later I thought, I should try some cooking and after googling a bit and not being satisfied with the recipes I found, decided to go ahead and just make one up.

Introducing Dandelion Delight......(my version of a dandelion pasta dish)

One Onion (halved and sliced)
2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
1 bunch of dandelion leaves
a little extra virgin olive oil
Greek yoghurt
nutmeg
sunflower seeds
Spagetti or pasta

I simply heated the oil and sauteed the onions and garlic till they softened. Add in the dandelions and cook till just soft, throw in some sunflower seeds and cook for about a minute. Remove from the heat and stir in enough yoghurt to fully coat then serve it onto your pasta or spagetti. Sprinkle with nutmeg and enjoy!

My children all tasted this and said it was nice but they preferred to eat the meat sauce. My vegetarian daughter arrived home and ate hers then said it was lovely but the spinach tasted a little different. I told her that was because it was dandelion and she nearly died as she has been worried I might feed her Tansy, lol.

I overheard her telling her younger sister later "She could feed me dog sh*t and I would think it was ice-cream!" I guess I am going to take that as a compliment! LOL After re-assuring her that the dandelion was very good for her she was happy to say that she did enjoy the dish and that gee the "pine nuts" gave it a nice crunch! Oh dear, I really must teach this girl to cook, she is almost ready to leave the nest!

Hugs and smoochies all xoxox

Challenge #9: Review and Vinegars Part 2

2011-03-12T11:11:00.000+11:00

Although my Ally is considered to be toxic by most, I decided to test this theory and jump in the deep end so to speak. It has been an interesting week and I would like to share my findings with you via my journal pages...... (four weeks after making the vinegar)......

7.3.11 (morning) The Vinegar is now a warm golden colour. There is a distinct smell of Tansy mixed with the strong vinegar smell and it is quite pleasant. Dipped my finger in to taste and it tastes quite nice too! Not as strong or bitter as an infusion. The vinegar mix seems to compliment the Tansy giving it a golden smooth taste. Once gone from the mouth there is a slight drying feeling that leaves the mouth feeling clean and fresh. I will take some with water tonight. I am feeling quite "aware" for sense of a better word, but that is not unsual for me lately. You could say CLEAR feeling. I learned this week that Tansy is also good for cleansing the kidneys so feel vinegar might be a good way to attempt this if you had a kidney problem.

(evening) Tonight I strained the vinegar and bottled it. I don't think it would be a good herb to keep in the vinegar as it would get too strong. Indeed I found this when I again tasted the vinegar around the actual leaves by swirling it around in my mouth. It was far stronger than my initial taste and no so pleasant after all. Much stronger than I initially thought. Kind of sour. I added 1 tablespoon to a small glass of water and it is much more palatable. Still drying but less so than on its own. I still don't mind the taste. I was feeling a little sleepy but now feel wide "awake" and aware.

8.3.11 Took vinegar in water before dinner. My appetite was not so great but I found myself quite hungry later and snacking on a chocolate biscuit. Not something I would usually do at night. I also had trouble sleeping as I was once again feeling wide awake and more aware maybe. Had some soreness in the tummy which alleviated later. Then some very slight spotting.

9.3.11 Tummy a bit sore and uncomfortable this morning. Was awoken early so not much in the way of sleep last night. Thought I'd weigh myself as ACV is said to aid digetstion etc.........Took vinegar a little late today. Forgot probably as I was so tired. I was worried that I would not be able to sleep but did not want to miss my dose so took it anyway. It did not keep me awake, exhaustion won out and I was asleep by 9.30pm (early for me). I awoke early the next day and noted that I must have had a nose bleed during the night, just in the left nostril. Congealed blood so could not have been drastic but it did remind me that it had happened a couple of days before as well and I had not noted it down. Not sure if its related to the Tansy or not.

10. 3.11 Took my vinegar before dinner again and felt quite energetic but again developed a tummy ache.

11.3.11 Menstruation started this morning, still sore in the tummy. Lost a little weight. Very uncomfortable feeling all day. Felt compelled to take vinegar earlier in the day. Not sure why, maybe I thought subconsciously it would help. It did not. While it did make me feel more awake it did not help with pain at all which by now felt more like kidney pain than period pain. Although I feel really heavy in the lower back so it could just be that. Ended up caving and taking pain killers (also unusual for me but I have quite had enough).

12.3.11 This morning I still feel uncomfortable. Today I am changing over to morning doses of the vinegar to see if it makes any difference. I will continue on with this experiment till Tuesday if I can giving me four days on mornings. Although if this pain gets any worse I may consider stopping.

Something I realised this morning too was that when I take the vinegar or infusion my face tingles a bit just after. Not for long but its a distinct tingling feeling right up into my scalp. Followed by the still feeling or coming "awake" .

Since writing in my journal this morning, I actually feel a bit better. I have not taken any pain meds today and am wondering if I do have a chill in the kidneys as I do tend to walk around with bare feet all the time, indoors and out and it is getting cooler here. My floor is tiles downstairs and I remember my mother in law always telling me off for walking bare foot, especially around "that time of the month" she swore it caused all sorts of problems in the nether regions! Who knows? So see I am not entirely ruling that theory out and blaming my beloved Tansy for my woes.

Another note of interest. My flow is quite normal, not too heavy considering I have been taking the Tansy everyday. I thought it would cause a heavier flow. Interesting!

Also..after rereading what I have written over the week about feeling awake and aware, I am reminded of the stillness and the absolute calmness that comes with it. You may remember my thoughts on drinking the strong infusion that made me feel a very horrible "nothing" .....again I strongly feel that this herb would make a distinctive difference to someone who is feeling hysterical or suffering from depression. It definitely has a calming effect to it immediately after drinking. Having said that, I do wonder how one would administer it to an hysterical person though. Perhaps with a few drops of tincture under the tongue? NO I won't be testing that one on myself! LOL I have been known to be excitable at times but hardly hysterical!

I have been enjoying watching my Tansy seeds sprout daily. This was taken a couple of days back and now the seedlings in the back (seed raising mix) are bigger than those in the front (dirt from my chickens coop). One has to wonder what is in that particular mix? The seeds in the cotton wool have also sprouted and are a darker green than the others. Some in the chicken dirt are now beginning to grow some newer leaves which are a little more triangular in shape!

Will try and take some more pics as they grown out! I have to take my boys away overnight during the week and I find myself dreading to leave my babies! Our weather is so unpredictable I am scared they will dry out!

Now at the risk of boring you all with my wandering thoughts, I shall leave you in peace! My daughter wants me to make her some soup! Have a lovely weekend all! Keep safe and may your days be filled with Herbal Blessings!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxoxoxox

PS.....For anyone who enjoys art, pop over to my other blog Karisma and Kids and check out my daugthers Mother Earth picture. Mother is on my mind a lot this week with all her grumbling and weeping! Praying that she finds it in her soul to settle!

WE have seedlings! Yay!

2011-03-08T18:06:00.000+11:00

Just to let you all know that my little sprouts are definitely Tansy! Yay! There are at 10 wee plants in that first lot now AND my other newer batch has 8 teensy tiny little plants! Seriously they are so tiny you could be forgiven for missing them and I won't take another picture as it would be hard to see them! LOL! Excitement much? I have been jotting my excitement down in my journal. :-) My seed raising pages are in an autumn theme as its Autumn here now!

Today I wrote myself a to do list as I have so many things on my mind that I was getting boggled. In the process of me "doing" so much we did not get any homeschooling in today. The boys however had fun playing video games and playing in the kitchen with food colouring, bi-carb soda and vinegar! We found an old stamp book that was mine when I was a kid so they are now wondering if any of the "ancient" stamps are worth anything! LOL

I think I was being a bit unrealistic for one day and proved it when I had visitors (twice) and only got a few things done........

I started some garlic oil - which I plan to try leaving in the sun and on the window sill. (please don't look at the dirty window-how embarrassment!)

I also mixed up some Yarrow, Elder flowers and Chamomile and made some vinegar and a small tincture too! The tincture looks kind of green and the vinegar yellowish. Not that it shows the colours well in the picture! Interesting! Pretty murky as my chamomile was quite ground!

I dried a batch of my basil on very low heat in the oven, as I have loads of it right now......

Was going to also make a vinegar with the fresh leaves and flowers but I did not have a small enough jar so will do that another day.

I have tried out my Tansy vinegar and I have been drinking it in water at night. It still has a distinct claming effect, like the infusion and tea and tastes quite nice. Now I am back to my to do list! Yikes I think it might take me a week! LOL...My girlfriend nearly fainted when she read it and saw it did not contain any of my normal daily chores!

Have a lovely day! Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Elder Reborn....

2011-03-07T22:06:00.000+11:00

Some of you may remember me having a moan a few weeks ago when I had to rip out a great deal of Passionflower which was suffocating my Elder tree. (I posted some pictures over here) Well, half the main tree had died and broke off and I was left with a patch of bare sticks.....

This is how she used to look!

I was really upset as now is the time we normally get berries and I was looking forward to getting a bigger batch this year. But as nature would have it and father sun was finally able to shine upon this space, things once again began to bloom.

I have been very excited this past couple of weeks though watching the rebirth of so many fresh leaves and branches. They are springing up everywhere, from the cut back sticks to new shoots in the ground!

Nothing like a bit of herb loving to get things back on track again! Hugs and smoochies all xoxox

You might like the pictures in this post too.....(In the night garden).....lots of my herbs in these ones. :-)

Herbal Ally Challenge #8: Starting Seeds......

2011-03-06T15:56:00.000+11:00

Tansy can be grown from root division, VERY FINE seed or simply by cutting back an established plant to just above ground level. The plant will in this case just re-shoot and continue to grow a fresh new season of Tansy for you. It is an extremely hardy plant when left to its own devices therefore if you just want one plant, I would suggest this method of trimming back (before seeds appear) and enjoying the easy regrowth. These two regrew in about 3 weeks after cutting back the plants.

Now if you are anything like me and entirely (well mostly) reliant on the faeries taking care of things. You might just end up with all three happening at once and a lot of Tansy on your hands!!!! Never having started Tansy from seed before, I opted to let a couple of my established plants keep their flowers and dry up in the heat. Last week I went and collected some in readiness for planting this week.

The Tansy seeds are harvested from the dried flower heads. The seeds, as I mentioned are very very fine and tiny. Quite hard to see. There are also quite a lot of them in each little flower head!

For my first batch, I decided to collect some soil from inside the chicken coop as it is very rich. I used an old egg carton and simply sprinkled seeds on top and watered once daily. This was on the 1st of March. On the 4th I opted to plant another batch using seed raising mix to see whether the sprouting time differed. I also decided to have the boys plant some on wet cotton wool to see how long this would take.

The weather conditions of course (as seems to be the habit lately) were not ideal. We had one super hot day, one humid day and then cold but dry winds, then rain and cold, then more dry winds. As you can imagine the soil kept drying out quickly so I have been watering them with just a little water twice a day.

This morning I was very excited to see one tiny little bit of green emerge from the first batch. I was unsure at first if it was Tansy as quite frankly there could be any seeds blown into that lot from the garden. But then, I saw another and another, 3 in all and one just so happened to have the tiny seed casing attached to its leaf. I was surprised that the leaves are roundish. Will wait and see what happens.

Fingers crossed that this really is Tansy and I am not just in a state of wishful thinking! Either way its fun watching everyday for signs of life. If it is, I am interested to see how soon the leaf will change as each leaf tends to uncurl normally much like fern. Here is a baby that the faeries grew......

Ahhhhh New Life! It always makes me smile! Have a wonderful week everyone! Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Challenge #7: Oil Infusions

2011-03-03T20:43:00.000+11:00

Well it took me a little longer to get on with this challenge. You see I ran into a little problem in the fact I was not quite sure how I was going to wing it. I did not have any spare jars that I could use outside for weeks, or a double boiler OR a small crock pot.

I finally got out to the shops and saw this little mini (sort of crock pot) fondue pot and after deliberating with the shop assistant over whether it would work or not, brought it! It only has one setting so she assured me it would work fine.

My next obstacle was arguing with my youngest child over WHO got to use it first. He came running armed with a bag of cooking chocolate ready to go! LOL It is after all a chocholate fondue set and came along with all the trimmings and chocolate molds as well. He was just a little bit excited! As you can see, I won this time and he got to make a cake with chocolate icing instead.

I opted to just chop the leaves as I did not want to make it too strong. I spent a lot of time thinking about what I would use the actual oil for and ended up leaving it in the pot for around 16 hours turned on. It was warm but not hot so I began to wonder if it actually worked or not. Does it need to get really hot or boil using this method? This is the very first oil I have ever made so I was not too sure. I opted to leave it there for longer but turned it off.

The smell was more like the virgin olive oil I used than Tansy, although the kids said they could smell it. Maybe I am too used to the smell now that it does not seem as strong?

Anyway, when my husband came in from surfing this morning, he had injured his leg. Thinking it was a pulled muscle he tried some tiger balm but an hour later it felt worse. I happened to think about my oil sitting there waiting to be strained, wondering if it was ready, and him whinging for a massage when I remember reading that Tansy was good for Rheumatism, well what the heck I thought, lets give it a go. So I scooped some out, did not tell him anything and went ahead and massaged his leg with the oil.

He felt better and went out again in the afternoon only to have it get worse. Once again I massaged it with the oil and he got up and said it felt much better. Not sure if it was the oil or the massage but he is asking for just one more before he goes to sleep tonight in hopes it will be better by morning. So this batch of Tansy oil will be set aside just for sore muscles etc.

I am thinking I will not make much in the way of Tansy oil, with all the vinegars, tinctures and such I don't want to have an overload that won't get used. I will however try to make some oils outdoors with other herbs.

I have started one lot of seeds this week and plan to start some more tomorrow. I plan to give some away if I end up with too many plants. Our small yard currently has Tansy in every stage of growth here. I am planning on starting the second lot with a different soil to see if it bears any difference.

Herby hugs all round xoxoxoxxo

Intruder alert!!!!

2011-02-28T16:46:00.000+11:00

Can you spot the intruder in this picture?

My plants are notorious for invading each others space!

I had planned on posting some pics and thoughts on my seed hunt today but my computer is not complying and there is a bit of a storm starting up outside! Think I shall go out and dance in it! :-)

Hugs and smoochies all xoxox

Herbal Ally Challenge # 6 - Tinctures

2011-02-23T08:18:00.000+11:00

Wow! Thats all I can say! After comparing the vinegars to the vodka based tincture, I can see after a week, (ok I could say after 2 days) just why a lot of people opt to use alcohol over vinegars when it comes to making medicine.

I have not opened either of them yet and have been shaking the alcohol one every day or so but I noticed in the first couple of days just how quickly you could see the change in colour and the strength of the brew. Its not so noticeable in the picture but the tincture is far darker in the light. I opted not to grind the herb due to its already strong reactions in water. I chopped it a little smaller than the vinegar lot though.

I opted to make only one small jar of the tincture rather than several. Reasons being that we are not likely to use so much of it and also the fact that we don't have a great supply of alchohol in the house. I had to pinch that bit from one of my daughters who had bought it for a party. I am currently thinking on whether to buy some more just to make medicines or stick to the slower method of making vinegars. Not sure as yet. Also we have a limited supply of jars which are all full at the moment. :-) I have put the word out for friends and family to collect some more for me.

I am really looking forward to trying out the medicines, unfortunately no-one else trusts the Tansy like I do! So they are not so keen to try it. My plan to drink some more infusions did not pan out this month when my cycle started earlier than I thought it would. So maybe I will just be taking a drink here and there.

I did sneak a taste of the Oregano vinegar I made and it tastes AWESOME! I plan to start using it later this week. Then I shall have a free jar to make some more with Rosemary.

Big herby hugs xoxoxox

And theres my earthquake .....(insert very sad face :-( )

2011-02-22T12:05:00.000+11:00

I knew something was going to happen, last night the feeling of absolute stillness around me, the concern and worry that something BIG was coming! Praying that we would be safe.......Well, it did not hit us, but all around us big winds last night and just now a huge Earthquake just hit our neighbours in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Sending out loving energy for the safety of all over there. My blood is running cold right now. :-(

I really dislike this new "feeling" stuff when Im awake. At least when I used to just dream about it, I could forget easily. And I still don't feel right! I hope nothing else happens today.

Please add the City of Christchurch to your prayers or healing webs today. Much Love xoxox

If I am awake, why is it that I feel so sleepy?

2011-02-21T20:20:00.000+11:00

Today has been an unusual day for me. Well I guess its been unusual for a while but I am only just "feeling" it more right now. I have been feeling a little odd for a while now. A strange vibration which started in my feet months ago and found its way up into my body, suddenly stopped for a couple of weeks.

While it stopped several things changed inside me I guess. I don't quite know how to describe it. Its like I am wide awake and everything around me is quiet and I can hear all the little sounds, the ones you don't normally notice. It kind of feels a little like Im in a dream, everything around me is not quiet real. Sometimes the air feels quite thick and I can actually see it! Weird.

My emotions are running up and down and as I try to understand why and I find myself wanting to step away from humanity as I am noticing more and more how horrible peoples actions and words are. Sometimes I wish I could just be like that, not caring, not feeling or oblivious to how ones words or actions effect everyone around them. But then the thought of that leaves me feeling that I would rather die. Don't worry, Im not suicidal, that would be a cop out. I am just a little fed up I guess. I am coming to the realisation though, that I must have been wearing blinkers half my life. You know, always seeing the good in everyone and blotting out the bad stuff?

I try to keep all this to myself generally, I try not to let all the emotions and feelings I pick up from others get me down. But sometimes, I feel like a balloon thats about to burst, the pressure gets too high and it hurts. (Just re-read that to myself and had a giggle, someone pass me a pin!)

Today has a been a day of others emotions bringing me down. Strange animal behaviour in our house making me wonder if something bad is about to happen. (the bird, the rats and the dogs have been a bit odd) I feel like something is coming but don't know quite what? A big storm? An earthquake? Hmmm, something is not quite right. Is it something in the wind? I burned myself and it hurts a bit but I am healing it quite well. I don't have energy to give it right now (now thats an interesting theory, please excuse my confused mind, but I was just thinking I don't have the energy to put towards this pain or burn, go away and I swear its healing itself already). Amazing!

Anywho as my writing looks like its right up there with my confused mind right now, Im going to shut up and go crawl into a hole or something. And no, I have not been drinking, there is another damned thing I can't enjoy anymore. I seem to have suddenly developed an aversion to alchohol! And I did so enjoy a glass of wine! Grrrr!

No, I think I shall sit and focus on love and light energy healing. My children are giggling loudly right now and some birds are singing in the dark outside. There is always a reason to smile hey?

Thanks for listening,
Love and Light xoxoxox

Well that was interesting.....

2011-02-17T09:13:00.000+11:00

TY I have had a rather interesting evening and morning on your behalf. In the "asking" I found a lot of confusion which left me wondering if a) you were even sick OR b) your going through a major spiritual upheavel right now. B was winning outright and I was a bit wary about passing on the answer herb wise because of this. I did get an answer but it was less clear so to speak. So I found myself arguing with the answer (my bad). The other problem was that there were two answers and I was not sure if it was just my arguing that caused this or you may need them both.

Anyway, this morning, still undecided as to whether I would pass on the message or not, I ended up feeling compelled to do something I don't normally do. I did a bit of a reading with my Angel Oracle cards. Quite a lot came through, I won't post it here, too personal I think. But definitely brings back the theory of B being more dominant for you right now.

At the end of the reading I "asked" again and loud and clear "Burdock" Why????? "something about your liver dear" apparently you have given it a bit of a beating in the past. (Don't know why I did not just ask why in the first place).

Now, that said, I don't think you really NEED anything herby other than a balanced healthy diet and sorting out the B problem. Once that is sorted everything earthly will fall into place nicely. The herb I chose for you was Chickweed because of the high protein content. Obviously it also won't hurt you to add more dark green leafy things to your diet.

One last thing. Apparently you are able to do this as well lovely. You don't need to ask me. Ask them yourself. You just need to quiet your mind and listen to the answer.

Woops it happened again...

2011-02-15T12:15:00.000+11:00

So I was a little worried about someone the other day and "asked" what might be helpful to them. The answer was Comfrey. So I have spent a bit of time reading up on this herb to see why. In Australia it is not recommended for medicinal purposes. However, upon reading, and reading and reading some more, I can't for the life of me understand why.

Here is a small section relevant to why I believe this herb was suggested....(Information from Isabell Shipards..How to use herbs in your daily life).

Comfrey acts as an emollient and is very soothing, inhibiting further damage to tissues, stimulating the production of cartilage, tendons and muscles. It has been esteemed as a blood and flesh builder.
The dark green colour of the leaves indicates the richness of chlorophyll with a molecular structure closely resembling our blood. Chlorophyll acts as a catalyst, to promote healing within the body of man and animals, and is a valuable blood purifier. Scientific research shows that chlorophyll helps to rejuvenate old celss and promote the growth of new cells . This action, together with comfrey's allantoin properties (a cell prolifierant) provides us with a very powerful herb.
Allantoin is one of the elements that make comfrey unique. Allantoin is also produced in the allantois gland of the umbilical cord (the link between mother and developing baby, which feeds the embryo) for promoting rapid cell growth. Mothers milk is also rich in allantoin (which stimulates rapid growth of the new baby) and then the element fades out. This process also takes place in other mammals.
Allantoin is a leucocytosis promoter (increases white blood cells) that helps to establish immunity from many infectious conditions.

Dear Someone (you know who you are), I hope this is of help to you. I am not suggesting you take my word, but it would not hurt for you to further research this yourself. It was your mothers worry coming through to me that allowed me to get this message. I am just passing it on. This is just a very teensy part of the wonders of this herb. Along with scientific back up AND numerious "miracle cure" stories that came with it. First and foremost, if you want to be well, then you must demand it and keep a positive attitude that you will be well. Remember your faith and trust in the Angels to help you get through this. (I suggest you read, Doreen Virtues " Angel Medicine" ). Love + Light = Healing! From this end I am sending loving light every day. Take care lovely! mwah xoxoxoxox

More reading....(thanks Sarah)

Herbal Ally - Challenge #5- Vinegars Part One

2011-02-12T13:59:00.000+11:00

This week our challenge was to make a herbal vinegar with our Ally and do some reading on the subject. This is all new to me. I was unable to initially get ahold of the books Kristine suggested we read, but she has since kindly sent me the chapters to read so I have now caught up. Thank you! I now have yet another book added to my wish list..(he he...I think my hubby might just stop my book allowance at this rate).

It was however very interesting for me to go a searching on my own as I read many differing opinions and accounts on how it should be done etc etc. I did make my first vinegar and rather than grinding the dry herbs I just chopped them up. (My dried Tansy is pretty strong so I think it will be ok). I also heated the vinegar in this case.

In my excitement of thinking how to use it, I could not resist going ahead and following Susan Weeds advice of strolling through the garden and snip snip snipping. I came back with some lovely Catnip and flowers AND a hoarde of Oregano flowerheads. I made a small fresh Catnip vinegar and a large Oregano one with room temperature vinegar and stored them away in a nice dark cupboard.

After finally reading James Greens chapters though, I have learned that I will need to use these ones quicker due to fresh vinegar infusions not keeping as long because of the natural water content in the leaves and flowers. Thats ok though. Like I said, I am learning so I will just make some MORE! I have plenty more outside to snip and dry. Next time I plan to dry the herbs and grind them.

I plan to use the oregano vinegar on salads so it should get used pretty quickly. I read somewhere that the catnip vinegar is fantastic for mentrual pain so that won't go astray in our house full of women and as for the tansy, well Im not 100% sure on that one. Although I am happy to ingest it myself I am still wary about feeding it to others. So maybe I will just eat it instead of the infusions one month or I may use it when I get the feeling that I need to. We'll see!

Aside from reading up on vinegars this week. I have found a pile of recipes using Tansy over at Pagan Wiki and A lovely write up by Culpeper which I have linked to in the Side bar for anyone wanting to check it out. I just loved the writing of Culpeper in the old language. I ended up printing off the section on Tansy and fancying up the writing to stick it in my journal.

Have a wonderful herby weekend all. Hugs and smoochies xoxox

Can you say Emmenagogue?

2011-02-12T08:50:00.000+11:00

I can, I have been practicing! hehe! I have also been taking notes on this word and YES even writing in my journal.......so I thought I might share a little for those who are interested......

For those not familiar with what it means....Emmenagogue = A fancy word meaning to bring on and increase the menstrual flow.

Tansy has for centuries been used (considerably on the sneaky) by women as a means of birth control or to "bring on the menzes".

I have read numerous accounts now of Tansy Tea (being made with the dry herb) being drunk anything from one cup on the day before to a cup a night for a week prior to your due date as an effective means of keeping regular and avoiding an unwanted pregnancy. Also having the effect of a consistent and heavier flow.

Unfortunately, it was also used as an abortifacient for those who had left it a little too late. In these cases, either a strong tincture or an oil was used. Depending on the dosage and situation and of course the persons own body symptoms would determine whether it actually worked. (These days it is recommended that if you try this method and it does not work, you should immediately seek a common abortion as the side effects are high to the baby).

In some cases where too strong a dose was prescribed, it is said, that women unfortunately died as a result of it. It is therefore not a recommended method by "most" today. Now, I have been unable to back up or find any actual evidence of these people who died so am a bit unsure of the accuracy of this claim.

I am very ashamed to say that many years ago I did try this method. Although I was unaware exactly what I was ingesting at the time. I was prescribed extremely strong doses of a tincture which were increased to even higher doses over the next two weeks. It did not work and at this stage I gave up. I wonder if it was because I did not want it to work? I was co-erced into taking this action and it was not really my choice. In fact I am very much against abortion once a pregancy is confirmed unless the mothers health is in danger. That aside, I did it and am not proud of it. I prayed a lot at that time for the safety of this unborn child and for protection. I guess it worked.

Not being influenced by what I know now, I had no idea as to just how dangerous it apparently was to me or my unborn child. I have since learned via much reading that it can cause birth defects and or death to the mother. Both of us came through it with no major side effects, again leaving me with dubious thoughts as to the accuracy of this claim. I also developed a very strong aversion to the smell of flowers for a very long time.

Now I will not tell you the doses used, although I do remember mine and I have found various other accounts of how it is done. It is readily available online to those who really want it. Like I said, I don't agree with it. I do however have no problem with people using it as a preventative so I am going to do some experiments this year with taking the tea myself prior to due dates. Just to see if anything changes.

In order to heal....one must first feel the pain......

2011-02-09T12:43:00.000+11:00

This thought runs around in my mind often. If you have read the page "why herbs" you will understand why. Pain reminds us that we are alive but it also warns us of problems that need facing, wounds that need healing, love that needs nurturing.

Today my hands are hurting, not because I am feeling someones pain, but because I just took a great deal out of my garden. I am feeling pain on the outside from pulling passionfruit vines from every nook and cranny, unwittingly getting cranky as my Elder tree emerged, broken in parts, but mainly missing most of her leaves etc due to being denied sun for so long due to the passion of this vine who seems to think it owns the yard. I am praying that she will heal enough and with sun, now grow from all the smaller shoots in time for the autumn berries to appear. I live in hope and try to keep a postive mind as negative thought brings nought but negative action or results.

I stopped my guilty thoughts for that very same reason. I apologised to the plants as I ripped them out but reminded myself that they were being very non productive and destructive in their own way. I feel pain on the inside as I detest the thought of harming ANY living, even when it is necessary. Today it was necessary. And I take it as a sign that none of the bees and wasps flying around me and none of the other bugs or spiders crawling over me bit me that it was ok.

To get at these plants I had to go through one of my beloved Tansy shrubs. Today I thanked her for growing so well, for guarding the other plants but noted that her time had come to do some good. I cut down all the long shoots to just above ground level. As those who have been folloiwng will know, we have had some shocking heat conditions this past week, so if I did not harvest this plant now it was going to go to waste.

Indeed many of the lower leaves were not good to keep. These I placed aside for the compost where they will help break down other things. The good leaves I sorted into size. Some to dry, some for cooking and some to press. The flower heads cut off and saved, some which were dried for seeds, some to add to my jar of already dried flower heads. I even saved the long stalks which I am thinking to use for something else. No waste at all!

I made my tansy vinegar yesterday afternoon and hid it away in a nice dark drawer. Its the very first time I have made a vinegar infusion so I hope it works! I am looking forward to trying it out.

Oh and a big thank you to those who sent healing for my boy. Yesterday I took him to the doctor as he was not looking so well in the morning. The irritation is just in the outer ear which is fantastic, the herbiotics obviously did their job and the doctor said that if he had not gone in the water he probably would be fine. He gave him some drops which I am finding hard to get into the child as her prefers my herbal ones. LOL. Now I just have to convince him on the whole "heal thyself" theory. We can all do it, we just have to want to!

Happy Herbal Dreaming everyone! Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Challenge # 4 - Impressions

2011-02-07T20:14:00.000+11:00

Ummmmm.........the dog ate my home work!!!! Well......almost! She did kind of slobber all over it and stick her head in every two seconds or so to ensure I stuffed up! Thats my dog! Always gotta be the centre of attention!!!!!

Seriously though, its been a pretty tough week with sick kids, shockingly hot weather and a pure lack of quality time. Everything I have attempted has felt really rushed this week. Add to that my complete and utter lack of knowledge when it comes to drawing/painting etc. Well........

Excuses aside, this would be the picture she helped with........chalk pastels........

One late night I had a go with some oil pastels too.......

Ok now I am cheating......I think I showed this one already.......lead pencil.......

And then there were these paint prints....I really want to have a go at water paints but am feeling a bit insecure........

And of course my title page......haha...drawn in water colour pencils but too scared to wet......

And as most of my diary so far looks a bit like this........

Please excuse coffee stained paper on the side....I have been drinking a lot of the stuff to keep me awake!!!

I think I better get off the computer and put some of that well learned knowledge I have acquired into writing!!!!!

Other things I have managed in between life this week. ......

Several infusions, both to drink (fresh and dried herb) as well as a stronger batch of bug spray. Loving the smell of that stuff round the doors. :-)
Stressed out over losing one of my pot plants but managed to keep the other three alive. Damn weather!
Pressed some more leaves ready for a little something I have in mind.
A bit more research, learned some interesting facts I will share later.
Started a list of unfinished or not satisfied with myself challenge efforts (like this one with Impressions as I feel I did not do what I was supposed to!) I plan to do them again later when I have more quality time.

Managed to almost cure my sons ear ache with Golden seal (herbiotics) and garlic/mullein ear drops only to have him relapse after swimming in the ocean! Feeling very guilty about that one! Yes I co-erced him to swim yesteday as it was Championship day at Nippers! Very Very annoyed with myself!

I am only beginning to learn but trying to keep the faith in myself is sometimes hard. Planning on giving him hands on healing before bed tonight. That tends to work for me better.

Many blessings to all, heres hoping this week is a healthier one all round. At least it has finally cooled down a little. Happy Herbals hugs xoxoxox

I did it...Yay...

2011-02-04T19:42:00.000+11:00

I finally worked out how to centre this blog a little! In true unschooling fashion I DID IT ALL BY MYSELF! Go me! If only you knew how technimilogically challenged I am...my kids are far more advanced when it comes to computers or indeed anything that requires plugging in and switching on and off again! LOL! And at the risk of having them all roll their eyes and get annoyed with me, I thought I would try it by trial and error. (I don't suppose I ever told you that my husband writes computer software for a living? No...you can imagine the flack I get around here!)

I have no idea how it looks to the rest of you but with all the little widgets and lines here it looked way over the sides to me SO I played with the HTML until I got it right and then I noticed a widget on the side with nothing on it and went ahead and deleted it! To my horror my background disappeared (see I told you..Im hopeless!)

So off I went to find and copy the text again, all the while thinking I would have to redo everything I just did. I had one of those moments where I thought Oh well, lets just try this.....And it worked! Yay! It worked. Yes I was so excited for myself......I thought I'd share! hehe!

Does it look okay? Should I make the writing darker or make any other changes?

I also added an about me and Why herbs page if you want to check it out.

Hugs all, have a great weekend! xoxoxox

Interesting discovery

2011-02-04T12:26:00.000+11:00

Yesterday I was feeling a little down. The male testosterone in this household seemed to be flying around on a high and all three males had their tempers unchecked and of course this got me feeling extremely horrible. Inside and out. I do believe it was a result of this extreme heat wave we have been having but still it did not sit well either way.

Even going out into my garden was a dismal visit. The poor plants are suffering terribly, my avacado tree practically curled up in horror. Some of the vegetables withered and died. One of my potted tansy plants is not looking too well at all. I don't know if it will make it through. Funnily enough out of all my plants, for the most part, my tansy is coping quite well. (The ones in the ground that is). Indeed when my man came out to see where I was he asked me why there was so much "bloody tansy" in the garden! "You cannot possibly be planning to drink ALL that????"

With malicious thoughts running through my mind, I replied sweetly that no I would not probably drink all that, but it would be useful for other things. Obviously NOT for repelling flies who this week and in this heat seem to be thoroughly enjoying sucking on the flower heads with much joy! But yes other things....insert thought bubble (Now get outta my garden before I bite your head off! GRRRRRR)

So anyways, where was I? Oh thats right, my discovery.....I once again drank some tansy tea, this time fresh leaves again. Very refreshing and did lift my mood a little. After drinking I realised something or had a light bulb moment so to speak.

This week I finally received my "A Modern Herbal" set and I had read an account that Tansy was once used for Hysteria, this fact is not in my other books and it got me thinking. The feeling I felt when I drank the stronger dried herb feeling. The absolute, nothingness, bland dead feeling.......that is what you feel if you take anti-depressants. If you have ever taken them, you would understand. Its horrible and something I opted not to take when suffering depression because I believe that pain is better than feeling nothing. Anyway at the risk of me getting side tracked I won't go into that. The effect of the dried herb was pretty much instant by the time I had drunk the whole glass. That wash of nothing feeling, like a blanket falling over you and stilling everything.

So I guess what I am saying here is that Tansy has the ability to be a CALMING herb, well at least to me. I have been getting some pretty strong messages from the universe this past couple of weeks, promptings etc. I was prompted to drink the tea when I had not planned to and so nicely reminded of my compassionate side when I was having dismal thoughts yesterday of all ways via a facebook message, which I cannot quote word for word as it appears to NOT be there any more STRANGE....but it did pretty much remind me about LOVING all beings, animals, plants, humans alike despite their actions etc etc etc. I had to laugh as I am generally conscious of this fact and I was a little (okay a lot) off track with everyone elses vibes getting me down.

Anyway If I happen to say "The dog ate my homework" this week, you will know why. This heat wave is knocking us all rotten. I have managed to do 2 drawings this week (once with the help of a dog who thought she could do a better job with my pastels) and that is it so far. I find myself praying for rain. We had a little last night but not enough to make a puddle :-( My daughter and I did however, run outside and dance in it! LOL!

Mid cycle infusion...

2011-02-01T13:14:00.000+11:00

As I write this I am sipping on an infusion of dried tansy. I dried the tansy this week taking a few days only. I am currently mid cycle so thought it would be good to see the effect when not troubled by womans business like before.

I am feeling very hot, (the weather is getting hotter this week), my body is calm and relaxed and I feel positive of mind. I found myself craving coffee when I had the urge to instead take a cup of tansy tea. So considering the dried herb was handy thought I'd give it a go. It is the middle of the day here and very much summer!

As with last time, I opted for a 5 minute infusion of about a teaspoon of dried herb as I do not want it to be too strong. Keeping it a safe level for drinking.

The colour immediately is darker yellow than the fresh leaves. The smell not as inviting. And now you may think Im strange but even though I blessed this plant repeatedly before, during and after drying and before drinking, it seems to have lost its energy or life force. Now I know it is supposed to be better medicinally if the herb is dried but it does not feel right to me.

My immediate reaction is the taste is that it is slightly bitter compared to the fresh leaf infusion. Not entirely unpleasant but not as sweet. It has a stronger drying effect once swallowed, my tongue has gone quite dry giving my mouth a rather clean feeling. This is less noticeable towards the end of the cup. The last couple of mouth fulls were rather bitter.

I feel kind of heavy all over after drinking it. Not sure I like it this way.

Quick catch up

2011-01-31T17:59:00.000+11:00

Zaks ear seems to be responding to the garlic oil and herb -iotics. Phew. Going to back it up with some licorice tea tonight.

Yesterday I potted some Tansy in three different stages of growth. The smallest took to the shift the easiest. Standing up nice and tall this morning. The others looked a little put out so I gave them all some extra water and loving attention. I am planning on bringing the smallest one indoors to our front learning room to see how it fairs being inside and also with more human contact.

One will go near the back door and I think the other one can go out the front to keep this one company. We have been suffering a bit of a heat wave so everyone is getting a bit wilty on and off. Even the humans!!!

She has been out there for a week now and is supporting lovely new growth. I am going to move my plant stand outside to put them on and maybe get some more potted herbs going.

The flowers and leaves I brought inside are drying up beautifully. The flowers are all stored separately in a jar ready to use and the leaves will soon be chopped ready for my infusions.

Did my first sketch today with lead pencil of a tansy leaf. Realised I was being a bit too fussy, so made myself stop and just rough sketch it. I also attempted to use Photo shop and realised I have no idea so gave it up as it way too hot to sit at the computer today.

I refrained from any Tansy "study" yesterday and today as I was busy reading about licorice instead. I am trying very hard not to over do it as I know I will lose interest if I get to in depth for too long. Study has never been my good point. My mind is too airy fairy to sit still for long. With that said, I need to outside! Have a wonderful week!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Licorice, garlic, mullein, golden seal....too many choices!!!!

2011-01-30T12:50:00.000+11:00

Well my earache cure did not work! More than likely because the child stopped drinking his tea after the first batch and only told me later that he had in fact tipped it out. Great! So as one can imagine last night was a doozy of a night. Not only with him but with his brother as well, who must have eaten something ick as he was throwing up!

So, I ended up doing a bit of hands on healing until he went to sleep. For some reason I kept getting the word Licorice in my head. So this morning I did a bit of research and lo and behold it is recommended for ear aches. Mind you, so are a lot of other things, but for some reason I think Licorice is what will work with him.

I had also been thinking on garlic a lot but was a bit worried about it burning his ear (we usually use it raw). So anyway I went off to the local health food store and picked up some licorice root and was about to buy some echinacea to try and boost his immunity a bit when I asked the fellow who worked there about ear drops. He of course had no idea but luckily for me there was a naturopath on hand who did. Not only did she find me some ear drops (Garlic and Mullein with a little yarrow thrown in) all made up and ready to go but she also suggested a natural antibiotic tablet instead of the echinacea which contained golden seal (another one I had been wondering about). Looks like a lot more study time for me!

So hopefully, this will get him back on track! Amazingly the garlic drops helped immediately! His ear had been feeling very full and blocked and it cleared it a little. The look on his face was priceless! (seriously I had to catch him first, he did not want them in his ear!) I left him happily munching on a bag of soft licorice, a yummy back up plan!

Do you see what I see? (Insert shocked face here!)

2011-01-29T21:17:00.000+11:00

So there I was outside ~~playing with my phone~~ playing with the dogs because clearly I am attentive at all times where my pets are concerned! When I just happened to notice an Intruder..........An intruder that is NOT supposed to come near Tansy!!!!

Of course I had to get a little closer and see what was going on.....I was all like " hello fly....don't you know you are NOT supposed to be messing with my Tansy?" And since he did not respond, I thought I would give him a little poke......

He seemed to be enjoying himself so much that he did not even mind, so I poked him a little closer......and even moved the flowers a little thinking he might fly away!

But NO, this fly had decided to "stick" around literally. Of course the whole time my mind was ticking over with the why is this so question, when I began to wonder if perhaps the flowers had actually poisoned him? Perhaps he was high on tansy pollen? Who knows? It does not seem to hurt bees! It does however kill fleas and lice, so maybe has a strange affect on flies too? How cool does this picture look? The buttons look all shiny (LOL myself and technology just mosy along, no idea how it came out this way......)

It really should have looked more like this one....the flowers look fuzzy on top.......

I took a couple more pictures and then had to give it up as my furry friends were getting a bit impatient!

This fly attraction was cutting into serious throwing the ball time! And Miko seemed to think it was now time to give the cat nip a trim!

Please do excuse the fuzzy shots, I took them all except the one of Bella on my phone.

Hugs and smoochies allxoxoxox

OpShop (thrift store) score.......

2011-01-29T09:48:00.000+11:00

Yesterday afternoon I stopped at an opshop really quickly to see if I could pick up an old pot for dying in. While they did not have any pots I did find a couple of old books.......

and would you believe it? Both of them gave Tansy a mention. Not having time to sit and be fussy, I bought them both for $4.50. Now while the information was not anything I did not already know, I did so love the pictures.......

One of the books has all drawn pictures and the other has photo's or pressed plants as pictures........

And while my other herbal books are STILL not here, I guess I shall have some fun getting to know these two! Old recipes, old medicines, beautiful pictures! My only gripe, someoneripped pieces of pages out of one them!

Ear aches......what to do? (Advice appreciated)

2011-01-29T09:38:00.000+11:00

So today my youngest has an earache! Of course in usual child fashion, he did not tell his mama until it got really bad. Why? Because last time he had an ear infection, he was not allowed to go in the ocean for a month.

This month he wants to get up close and personal with the ocean, therefore, he refrained from mentioning it till it really hurt!!! Silly boy! So here I sat concerned and wondering, will we have to make that trip to the doctor? (an extreme rarity in our house!)

Last year he had a really bad infection which ended up being treated with 2 lots of antibiotics and ear drops. The doctor seemed to think that the sand at the beach had aggravated the already stressed drum and banned him from the beach and swimming pools for a long time.

One thing I do not like to mess around with is ears. I have had children with burst ear drums and it is not pleasant. I do however not like the thought of having to give them anti-biotics if I can get out of it.

I know I have not gone into my explanation of how things work for me healing wise but in short, I can basically feel in my own ear what he is feeling, to a certain extent. I feel like there is fluid build up and pressure pushing outwards. Giving me the urge to reach my fingers into the ear and pull something out! Water in his ear? Bulging ear drum?

Anyways, last night I sat and thought "what shall I give him?"

I could feel the fluid build up in my ear and immediately thought of a soothing oil. However, I thought I would consult the books and Yarrow was one I had not tried before. It said if you put some mashed yarrow in the ear drum it will help. I called him and handed him a small mashed portion which he immediately placed in his ear with some cotton wool to keep it firm and warm. He noted after a while that it did not really make any difference and later discarded it in favour of some ear drops. (We have also tried garlic cloves previously but if the ear is already quite sore it tends to burn so I opted not to use that this time).

I also in my own fashion thought to make some soothing tea. 2 teaspoons chamomile, 1 teaspoon of yarrow, 1 teaspoon elder flowers, a few fresh torn leaves of lemon balm and 3 teaspoons of honey wondering the whole time if he would actually drink it!

He actually quite liked it. He drank one small glass hot and then took the rest of the pot up to his room in a sippy cup! LOL! I was hoping this mixture would make him sweat out any germs during the night and soothe away any pain. He did sleep but woke in the morning and said it still hurts, but he is keen to try drinking the tea mix as he felt better when he drank it.

So I will see how it goes today and whether or not it helps. He has been taking paracetemol as well for pain.

Anyway, any advice from those of you with more herbal experience would be much appreciated. I am going mostly on instinct rather than knowledge. :-)

Herbal Ally - Challenge #3 - Research

2011-01-28T13:20:00.000+11:00

This week our herbal ally challenge was to research our ally as much as possible. For me this meant basically reading over and over what I had already dug up. Tansy is not proving an easy herb to study as far as printed information goes. In fact I found myself looking to much older herbals to even find her mentioned at all. I have been lucky in the sense that my favourite herbal does happen to include a bit of positive information and I am eagerly awaiting the delivery of Maud Grieves " A Modern Herbal" Vol's 1 and 2 and The Scots Herbal (Tess Darwin) to compare and hopefully find out more.

Tansy or "Tanecetum vulgare" has also been known as "Buttons" or parsley fern and is a member of the Aster family. Originating from temperate Europe and Asia, she is a perennial plant. Living long, indeed as her name, which is believed to have evolved from the Latin word Athanasia meaning Immortality, suggests.

Her actions include...Astringent, Anthelmintic, Carminative, Digestive, Tonic, Vermifuge, and Emmenagogue. Primarily being used in times of old as a vermifuge (to expel worms from the body).

While de-worming was the most commonly known reason for using Tansy as medicine, it is less known that despite her also being used as an Emmenagogue (to stimulate menstruation etc) she was also drunk as a tea to stop hot flushes of menopause.

Other medicinal uses include: (as teas, tinctures, poultices, powdered and simply with fresh leaves)

Urinary inflammation
gout
an infusion as a wash
for freckles
acne
bruises
sprains
knotted or varicose veins
coughs
colds
rheumatism
skin problems
sciatica
ringworms
lice
scabies

Taking a fresh leaf of tansy and placing it in the shoe has been credited with stopping leg cramps, fevers, and infections of the plague.

While these days Tansy is not recommended for "eating" purposes, in days of old it was actually used quite a bit. Mainly for preserving meat in the days before refrigerators but also to flavour vegetables, meat, sausages, stuffings, puddings, cakes, biscuits, mayonnaise and alcohol. I have managed to round up a few recipes of old so will have a go at cooking them and let you know how it goes.

In the garden, Tansy is one of natures best helpers. Repelling flies, fleas, lice, ants and moths from ones vegetables and fruit, she also makes a wonderful addition to the compost as she breaks down vegetation due to her rich potassium levels.

Her leaves and flowers are used for infusions, cooking, teas, powders (eg. flea powder) and poultices. The flowers can also be used to make a yellow dye for wool which I intend to try out soon.

Harvesting and growth in my own back yard can happen year round. She grows well in all temperatures and conditions and seems to thrive no matter what stresses she endures. A very hardy plant indeed. I hear she will lay dormant in extreme cold weather and reappear in spring. Its never that cold where I live so I cannot personally vouch for this.

I will go into more details on various uses in seperate posts as I learn more. For now I am gathering as much personal knowledge as I can and concentrating on learning from my ally myself not just relying on printed info. I am really looking forward to reading about everyone elses Allys' as well.

Hugs and smoochies all xoxoxox

Aligning the senses.....

2011-01-27T10:05:00.000+11:00

As I become more and more up close and personal with my beloved Tansy, I find myself addressing all of the five senses as a natural course of being. I only became aware that I was doing this as I sat down to write this catch up post.

I noted that my first action was to take a deep breathe and I found myself searching out her smell. Not too hard to find as I have her surrounding me at all times lately. I have been spraying the strong infusion I made around doors, drying flowers separately from leaves, planting her in pots. Standing amongst plants taller than myself, inhaling her scent at every turn.

I have even been carrying her around with me where-ever I might go.....

I have been touching and feeling the texture of her leaves, the softness of an open flower, the smoothness of a newly budded flower. Taking deep breathes through this slowly drying pouch of flowers and one small leaf....keeping her near me at all times.......

I have been listening very carefully to try and catch her song, noting that while I have been calling to "her" that I keep sensing a very strong male spirit? Is she in fact a he? Or maybe non gender specific at all?

And while others around here have on occasion have begun to complain about her presence and her smell, which is apparently a little over powering! I find myself becoming one with this beautiful plant, loving her smell, the shape of her leaves, the happy feeling I get when I hold her. Longing to taste her again, knowing somehow that it is not the right time.

I feel a little like I am floating in water, gently bobbing up and down as she invades me through each of my senses which I feel will only still once all have aligned and settled into complete knowing, a merging of our spirits.

Sacred Plant Medicine - divine messages..

2011-01-26T07:38:00.000+11:00

While I was not able to find much in the way of "Tansy" reading this week at the library, I did pick up this book called Sacred Plant Medicine (The wisdom in native American Herbalism) by Stephen Harrod Buhner. It has been accompanying me on beach trips this week and is quite an interesting read. (It has surely been a week of multi-tasking!) Books I need to read often have a way of falling into my hands, and this book was no exception. I did not seek it out or think to read it, it just somehow ended up in my huge pile of books that made it home with me.

I am about half way through the book and was surprised when the author started talking about herbal allies and more so the relationships between people and herbal or plant spirits. He talks of the plants calling or singing to a person when you need that particular plant medicine.

This particularly rings a chord with me as I had absolutely NO background in herbs or knowledge of their uses before a few short years back when I began feeling the urge to administer them to people who were sick and somehow knowing which ones I needed. At the time I was very open to "listening" to these urges and not quite knowing how to explain it away, put it down to instinct. (OR I would find myself running for my herbal bible and trying to validate my claims scientifically because I really could not just say "Oh I just know now could I?" )

Probably all a bit strange and out there to the average person, but true none the less. I have found myself almost blurting out very small parts of my experiences several times only to shy away for fear of scaring everyone off with my strangeness. I won't go into it now as it will take a long writing to explain, I will promise to write an explanation later as yesterday I had a message through my Earth Magic cards......(a small section of my reading)....

"You are in a place now where you can take risks with your feelings, and even more important, take risks with the truth of who you are- the truth you know in your heart and soul. You no longer need to be subjected to your conditional fears of letting others know who you really are.

Yes others may judge, evaluate, criticize, and perhaps even put you down. These are very real possibilities. Yet by trusting that you have the strength to deal with these reactions- rather than responding adaptively and always playing it safe - you can more confidently allow yourself to be vulnerable. Always holding back from expressing your truth can create an illusion of safety, but armed with your trust and your faith, you can choose to be vulnerable and share your authentic self with the world."

So there you go my lovelies! I shall be "outing" myself with pure trust in the fact that if you are still reading this, you may even be interested in getting to know the "real' me, the one that holds back for fear of being comitted or something! Are you ready?

Hugs and smoochies xoxox (yes hugs are a very big part of who I am!)

Whispers in the night.......(a song)

2011-01-24T08:07:00.000+11:00

Shhhhh....

Silent Whispers in the night...

Can you hear her, sweet delight?

Do you feel the gentle breeze....

As she shakes her ferny leaves?

Tender feelings wrap around...

Hear her song, a gentle sound.

See her flowers light the way....

In the moonlight, time for play!

When the sun begins to rise..

Then she opens up her eyes...

Reaching out towards his rays...

Joyous dancing, happy days!

If you catch her when shes free,

And you love her tenderly....

No dilemma shall be faced...

For you will love her gentle taste!

Shhhhh

Herby Ally - Challenge 2 - Infusions

2011-01-22T09:15:00.000+11:00

Our challenge this week was to make several infusions with our herbal ally to drink each day and record our findings and feelings as the week went by. This was of course IF we had chosen a SAFE herb!

And it seems according to all and sundry out there, MY beloved Tansy is NOT considered a SAFE herb! Indeed, as I found out this week, she is so rudely not even mentioned in many a herbal book!!! Most of what I have been reading online and in some of my own books basically suggest that we do not ingest Tansy as woman have been known to die from ingesting her. A scant few as it was, but still enough to decide that one should no longer use her as she is not safe!

Me being me of course thought "but why????" Tansy has been used safely for centuries in many cultures. The fact that she contains thujone rendering her "unsafe" for consumption had me researching a little further. All I could come up with really was that I am now wondering if the pharmaceutical companies have something to do with this "unsafe" finding? I mean who is going to BUY de-worming medicine if one can simply pick it from the garden?

From what I can gather, thujone is considered by some to have the ability to make you "high" or hallucinate. However, after reading a scientific study, as far as I am concerned, this theory is up in the air! There is no actual proof that this is true. It is merely an assumption. Also unless you have some chemical lab set up and are going to extract huge amounts of thujone from your plant and mix it with other substances, I can't see what the problem is.

Next, the women that died as a result of ingesting Tansy were trying to relieve themselves of unwanted pregnancies. They probably were taking extremely strong doses. Like any medication, taken in copious amounts, ones body is going to shut down. One also could have an allergy to any plant and die as a result of ingesting a small amount. How many people die from peanut allergies? I don't see them banning peanuts!

So with all this in mind, swirling around in my head, and other people warning me to be careful etc etc etc......I decided in my usual fashion to consult the little voices in my head (Yes, I am weird, did you not know that already?), and of course the plant itself. Yes, I talk to plants too...don't you? I always thank my plants when taking from them! Its only polite you know?

1st fresh infusion - 5 mins only

We decided amongst ourselves, that I would make a very quick infusion using fresh leaves. I chose four smallish sized leaves which would have made about a teaspoon if chopped. I did not chop them as I thought to make a weaker infusion. I went with the instructions in my companion book Isabella Shipards, "How to use herbs in my daily Life" to infuse for 5 minutes only and drink. (She also has an account of someone she met who drank Tansy tea on a regular basis with no ill effects!)

Quite weak, pleasant tasting, no sweeteners required

I have recorded my findings in my journal. I won't share all my feelings here as it is quite long winded. I will share however, that I was pleasantly surprised that it tasted quite nice. It was like a burst of cooling freshness in your mouth followed by a quick drying sensation. With this in mind, one would think I would keep going for the week, but unfortunately I had forgotten an important factor. My menstrual cycle. I could not remember if or when I was due and did not want the Tansy interfering without knowing first.

I did have some spotting the next morning and was feeling a little unwell (unrelated). I have been experiencing heavy bleeding the past few cycles so did not want to help it along more. Therefore, I decided to skip the "tea drinking" experiment and save it for another time when my body was more co-operative.

I decided instead to infuse some of the dried herb in a stronger dose and see what happened. I made batches of 2 hours, 4 hours and even 24 hours. The colours changed from yellows, to dark browns. The smell of course became stronger, but not unpleasant to me.

first few minutes

12 hours

When I breathe in the vapours is does not make me think of poison at all. Reminding me of the reason I took an interest in herbs in the first place. I was following my instinct. And so I will continue to do so.

Now having said that, Fleas have a bit of an aversion to the smell! I will be spraying this around the dogs bedding and anywhere they try to move in!

I am strongly of the belief that Tansy is a SAFE herb if used correctly. Of course I will proceed with caution but I will be trusting in my instinct and taking my cues from there.

If you would like to take part in the Herbal Ally challenges or read about some other herbal allys....please click here!

Can I have some more days in the week?

2011-01-21T08:01:00.000+11:00

And more hours in the day please?

Even though I have been getting up early and some nights staying up rather late, I keep running out of time!

This week has been rather hectic to say the least and several things have come up that made my time scarce. When I have been home I have been on the go constantly....

I did manage to make one shopping trip to an op shop and the art supply store which was just up the road from the wool shop so of course I popped in there too!

I scored some new jars at the op shop for $4.....which have come in very handy the past few days....

I picked up some decent water colour paints.......

Love the way it all stacks together for storage.....

Now I just need to learn to use them!

Next week, hopefully next week!

I visited two different libraries and was rather disappointed with their herbal selections. One would think Tansy did not even exist! Most books either did not mention it at all OR had scarce information! Thank god for The Book Depository, I have a couple on order so am looking forward to getting them. I also borrowed some books on how to use water colours and how to paint botanical's. Hopefully this helps! Otherwise I will have to stick to drawing!

I have been reading a lot, making notes and I have been making some infusions, I have however not been ingesting the tea this week due to health concerns much to my annoyance! I intend to repeat the infusions in a few weeks when hopefully I can focus more. Will post more about this in my Infusions post.

Have a wonderful day! Hugs and smoochies xoxoxo

Taking things a little slower.....

2011-01-18T10:26:00.000+11:00

This week has found me a little bit obsessive over my herbal ally challenges. I realised yesterday that I am going to have to tone it down a bit and pay attention to other things in my life as well. In fact I am going to have to get a little more organised! This is never an easy task for me as, you see as soon as I free up some time or space, I find something else to fill it with.

Last week I was able to focus a lot of time and energy as everyone else was preoccupied. This week my youngest started vying for attention and wanting to go out. Yesterday, I literally had to remove the herbal book from my bag and tell myself NO you are going outside to play not study! We did stay out for most of the day and then when I got home I crammed in quite a bit.

I fed the kids lunch, pulled down the bunches of drying tansy and saved a good basket full which I aim to start using for some infusions for flea spray later today. Then I thought I better get cracking on my journal. You see I have been keeping two other notebooks all week as I did not want to mess up the journal. I was being very fussy about decorations etc, when it dawned on me...this is MY journal...I should be writing in it. So I filled a few pages, yes all last night. I did manage to feed my family but they ate a little late! (For those just meeting me, I cook vegetarian and meat meals due to a divided family on food). Although we had bbq last night, I prepared vege kebabs, meat, potato salad, tossed salad and corn on the cob. All fresh so time consuming to prepare. Cooking can take from 1/2 to 4 hours of my time a day).

My tea supply for a few days, hanging out with some fennel which my daughter has been munching on!

So far this week.....I have read lots of "facts" about Tansy. Read a fair bit about thujone and looked up various other words relating to the scientific side. Of course everyone paints Tansy as being a dangerous herb. I don't agree. In fact I drank a cup of tea already with no terrible side affects. Me being me, the scientific side is going to be a hard one for me to study. I prefer to go with my instict and own experiences. I have however, downloaded some scientific reports to have a read of (heres hoping I can concentrate long enough to learn something).

So besides making tea, I have been gathering tansy and keeping her around me as much as possible. I plan to pot some and bring it inside to see if it growns indoors as well. I did my first drawing, from memory rather than trying to copy the plant with water colour pencils...........

This has since become my title page in my journal. I almost attacked it with water and brush but did not like the effect on the stem so left it as is. I was later chastised by my oldest daugther who informs me this is how water colour pencils are supposed to look. But I spent a bit of time with detail here people I don't want to blur it out! LOL (My book, my book!)

Things to do this week: (I won't show you my real list, you might faint, so just my Tansy time list)

Visit the library and round up a few books
Buy some jars and bottles (I don't have any spare)
Round up a dye pot
Buy some water colour paints (I love drawing with the pencils but can't seem to make them paint nice).
Practice my painting skills
Infuse/Infuse and Infuse some more!
Bake some Tansy cookies
Pot some tansy for indoors

I think I am going to have to give myself a limit on things to do each week as I also need to keep up with the housework (we have a large household), the vegie and herb gardens, the children, the homeschooling, the business accounts, getting Gem ready and outfitted to start University (college?), the pets, friends, homeschool group each week, excursions, my knitting/crochet/cross stitch pursuits, cooking, LAUNDRY, my man (he also needs attention occasionally or he gets grumpy) and keeping my sink shiny!

Are we tired yet? I thought so! Yep! The thought of it all is leaving me feeling a tad overwhelmed. So I shall try very hard to take ONE thing at a time! Wish me luck! For now, I am going to drop everything, take a trip to the library and maybe do some crochet! (So says she, who fully knows if she finds any good books where her nose will be all afternoon!)

Hugs and smoochies xoxox

Drying Dilemma's

2011-01-16T17:37:00.000+11:00

Well, I have come across a wee problem with my drying process! I always dry my tansy outside like this on the small clothes line. I did not however take into account our nutty weather. It was drying nicely and almost ready when all the flooding up north and then down south hit.

In the middle here we are suffering from extreme weather changes but most of the time it is extremely hot and muggy and unfortunately the air is switching from moist to dry rapidly. We have even had a little night rain! :-(

LOOK What has happened to some of the Tansy....BOO HOO! It is going mouldy! I have to admit to being just a tad disappointed. I have a little over that I dried last year but for some reason I had grounded it. So probably won't use that just yet.

While I was pondering on whether to burn it or throw it in the compost, I decided to pick off some of the flowers which looked fine and store them.

With this weeks challenge being infusions with dried herbs I was concerned, obviously I won't be drinking this lot! However, waste not want not. I am going to get rid of the nasty bits and try and save the rest. I will infuse it and make flea repellent! YES I will! And for tonight I shall make my infusion with fresh tansy instead.

Lucky for me! There is plenty more outside!

Mother Nature! Please calm down so our days may go more in tune with the seasons!

Herbal Ally - Journal cover

2011-01-16T10:00:00.000+11:00

Well I finally got my journal cover (almost) finished! In typical fashion around here and probably because I opted to choose the time consuming cross stitch path, I was interupted by numerous other things and did not think I would even finish it.

I had far too many ideas but ended up keeping it quite simple. I used an old skirt that I picked up in an op shop for the background colour and scraps of material from a skirt my daughter made me for xmas. (Ashlee kindly helped me with the sewing as I was running out of time and had too much else on yesterday). She was a bit bothered by the fact that the fabric scraps were a bit small. I insisted on having a lining which ended up being a little small to fit, causing no end of frustration I'm sure. As a result the strip on the outside ended up on a bit of an angle. But as I wanted a bit of a frayed, rustic type look anyway I decided to leave it that way.

Here is the "almost" finished result..........

The cross stitch section took me a few days to complete....I frayed the edges of the Aida to give it a more whimsy look just like Tansy! I love the little worm on the T and the butterflies too.........

Now this is the part that is not yet finished.........

I used some more of the recycled brown paper that I used to make the prints last week and screwed it up to give it a crinkly effect. The flowers and leaf were pressed on paper between my heavy herbal books while I was still undecided what to do. They dried up quite nicely. I am planning on having this little card laminated and I will attach it with a ribbon so it can be removed and used as a book mark.

For the most part I have really enjoyed making the cover. I would have liked to have given it more time though. I think some time management is in order but that is really hard to achieve at our chaotic house!

Now I am off to do some gardening and begin on the next challenge. Making some herbal infusions!

Have a great Sunday all. Hugs and smoochies xoxox

Getting started with the journal project

2011-01-12T20:13:00.000+11:00

On Tuesday, I thought I'd better get started with covering my journal and was thinking about ways to do it. I thought long and hard about how I would like my book to look, keeping in mind I would be keeping it for a long time.

My first thought was to cover the journal with tansy leaf prints! Never having done this before I pulled out the paint anyway and started having a play.

The first print came out a bit dark and I did not really like it on the white paper.

Then I decided to screw up some brown paper and try printing on that! I have to admit it was not really up my alley but I still gave it a go. My test run again was not really what I hoped to go for. I left them to dry and kept on thinking...should I have another go and make it a bit more tansy plant as a whole looking? Hmmmm! Although the idea of trying that is appealing and I will do it later. It was not really what I thought would suit my journal.

Then, I kid you not...I spent the next hour or so surfing the web looking for the perfect font, that I could print, cut out and decorate and stick on the book. Let me say I became a little frustrated! This was becoming NOT fun! I waded through the scrap booking bits and bobs. I even tried drawing my own but my heart really was not in it!

It was about this time in my usual fashion that the light bulb went off in my head! What do I love to do? What would really make it mine? Of course, how silly of me! So, I pulled out some different supplies.....

Grabbed the necessary equpment.......

And got to work........so um if I don't turn up for a day or so! Well you know what I am up to!

:-) THIS IS FUN, THIS IS VERY FUN!!!!

Today I have also managed to squeeze in some photography moments with my Tansy and my fur babies who were most helpful! I am really looking forward to getting this book started. I have so many ideas! Indeed in my spare moments I have been reading reading reading!

Now I must away to my stitching before I get too tired. Hugs and smoochies everyone! xoxox

Choosing my herbal Ally

2011-01-11T08:14:00.000+11:00

Choosing my Herbal Ally for this year has had me in a spot of dilemma for a few days now. When I first read about Herbal Ally's over at Dancing in a Field of Tansy, I thought "what a fantastic idea". I could not wait to choose an ally and get started.

However, after reading how to choose my ally, I pretty much came up with a blank. I am certainly a long way from becoming a herbalist. My interests indeed stem from what I believe are recovered memories from a past life. Sometimes when I "ask" for advice, a herb will pop into my head and I just know its the right thing to use AND how to use it. Then I will get all gung ho and study the herb suggested just to make sure it really is safe to use!

In the end it came down to two choices. I first thought of Elder as I know the possibilities are endless. The whole plant is a dream and I thought it would be so much fun to work with...however...(and here is where the typical ME comes into things.......my instinct came to the party and started pushing me in the right direction. You know? The one I did not particularly WANT to take but felt compelled to do so. The one towards.....

TANSY

Tansy has been niggling at me for years. She creeps in, taking over vast spaces in my garden. Growing in the most strangest places. Carefree and abundant despite the conditions!

My very first tansy plant was purchased for no other reason than that I held it and felt compelled to take it home. That tiny little seedling soon grew to a massive plant and seeded itself and spread itself around my not so large back garden. I have to admit, I wondered what on earth to do with it all. Each year I became more and more annoyed at the "waste" of too much of this beautiful herb ending up in the compost (where by the way it does a fabulous job of breaking things down :-)).

Of course I had no idea at the time why I bought it. I was going through a stage of just trusting my instinct and going with it unconditionally. I did quickly learn that she was wonderful for keeping nasties bugs away from my vegies! I tried to keep her under control, digging up small plants and giving them away. Moving her around to more suited spots etc. But this year for some reason she got the better of me and took over.

But why choose "Tansy" as my herbal ally? I asked this question of myself numerous times over the past few days. My brain told me it would be too boring. There would not be enough uses to keep me interested all year. But then, I began to remember a certain smell, one that took me many years to get over, one that made me nauseous and I remembered where it came from. One that at the time, I had been ingesting in rather strong doses for about a week on prescription from a herbalist many years ago, it made me really sick but did not work in the way it was supposed to. I guess subconsciously I have something against this herb. Something that I intend to change to a more positive light.

She brings with her much more of a challenge in learning how to use her safely. She comes with a bit of a reputation for not being a "safe" herb even though she does have her own healing benefits.

Yesterday as I tried to decide which herb to choose, I was constantly drawn to researching more and more about her. I dreamed about trusting my instincts again. Today I went out to the garden, waded through her fronds in various growth stages. Determined to hold onto the idea of choosing Elder Flowers, cutting down some flowers and leaves.

Holding them, breathing them in only to get drawn once again to the Tansy surrounding me. It was slightly windy and the smell of her leaves was quite strong in the air. And somehow she managed to creep her way into my basket as well. :-)

So my friends! TANSY it shall be! It may not be easy but I guess it is a journey I am meant to begin! Now I better get started on that first assignment. Decorating my journal!

Do you want to join in too? Click on the first link up the top of this post to see what to do! And then click here to see what you need to get started.

Got Flu?

2009-11-23T09:25:00.001+11:00

With all this crazy changing weather, its not unusual to find a few people coming down with the dreaded lurgy...aka the flu!

Now if you are very norty like moi, you will drink copious amounts of hot coffee (in my case, double strength). Now this is not really good for you, but coffee is good for flu and does help if you drink it straight away.

A much gentler and better remedy however, is this.....

Take equal amounts (about 1 teaspoon each) of dried herbs....

Yarrow
Elder Flower
Peppermint

Steep in hot water, then add honey and drink. This remedy works best if you take it straight away when you feel the symptoms coming on. If you already have the flu, you can still drink it but will need to drink it often and at night add some Cayenne pepper to make you sweat it out. Yarrow tends to have that effect anyway so don't be too concerned if you can't stand the Cayenne.

Whenever I get sick, I tend to follow my instincts and add whatever I feel my body needs. Recently I felt the flu coming on and had a very sore throat. I made a mix of Yarrow, Chamomile and honey. Drank about two cups before bed and woke up fine the next day. All symptoms gone.

Now of course chicken soup and the good old fashioned honey and lemon works too! It just takes a little longer to take effect. I remember my grandma feeding me very hot lemon and honey water just before bed when I was a child. It does make you sweat out the germs and the honey of course has many healing benefits.

The problem with flu is that it tends to dehydrate you, even if you do not sweat. A good way to re-hydrate is to drink some of that Lemon Balm tea I posted about the other day. It is full of vitamin C and helps. However, any fluids help. Soup, juice or even water. The more you drink the quicker you get better.

Now having said that, I have just been informed my little man is feeling sick. Must go and make him some tea!

Have a great day all! Hugs and smoochies xoxoxx

Lemon Balm - (Melissa Officinalis)- Anti-viral - CURE ALL

2009-11-18T09:34:00.000+11:00

When I first discovered Lemon Balm, I had no idea of its medicinal value. I had literally walked through the nursery picking up herbs and asking in my head...Yes or No! This one was a definite YES. I took it home, planted it and pretty much admired how easily it grew and enjoyed the wonderful aroma it emitted when the breeze passed by.

For two years it pretty much took care of itself and I only once had the urge to use it as a poultice for a cold sore. (Intuitively at the time). I often thought about drying some and using it like potpourri as the smell is just divine. I remember sitting by it outside and feeling really happy when enjoying the aroma as it floated by. Not unusual though! I always feel happy when my garden is blooming and I have a chance to just "sit" out there!

So, as I mentioned before, quite a few people I know both personally and in the blogsphere, have all been suffering from anxiety, depression or other related ailments. And lately this wonder herb has been on my mind a lot for some reason. OK, its been a bit more than on my mind. It actually got to the point where I suffered a bit too much anxiety myself this week. Not sure why or where it came from but after almost allowing myself to have a full blown panic attack last night, I decided it was about time I addressed this post. So I finally took the time out to research it a little more and came up with some rather interesting results. There are so many things it is useful for, that this post might go on forever. So I will give it to you it basic point form.

Helps with digestion.
Strong Anti-depressant (Can also assist with dyspepsia that is associated with anxiety)
Calms nerves (butterfly's in the tummy)
Breathe freshener (hehe! could not resist throwing that one in! Personally I prefer Fennel!)
Contains vitamins A, B and C

A little exert, from the book " How I can use Herbs in my daily life?" by Isabella Shippard.......

Lemon Balm has featured for: Flatulence, colic, poor digestion, vomiting, headaches, migraines, to ease griping pains, ulcers, nervous upset, nervous heart disorders, mood swings, gout, Arthritis, loss of bladder control, vertigo, herpes, fevers, diabetes, bronchial catarrh, influenza, coughs, colds, female complaints and uterine pain, menstrual irregularity and infertility, insomnia, senility, reducing high temperatures, Alzheimer's disease, palpitations and heart disease, shingles, high blood pressure, candida, cancer, and to help stimulate the spleen, thyroid *, pancreas, kidneys, liver and gall bladder.

(* Lemon Balm may interfere with thyroid treatment...DO NOT take this herb if you are taking any thyroid hormones!)

Externally, leaves can be used for insect bites, cuts, boils, shingles, cold sores, to stop bleeding, and sun spots.

Lemon Balm is recommended as a calming tea for the nervous system and is safe for all ages, it is even used to soothe crying babies.

DOSE: For Tea, steep 1 heaped teaspoon of chopped fresh leaves to 1 cup of boiling water, in a covered container (important as we don't want the volatile oils to escape). Drink 2-3 cups daily!

(Okay, as I had not tried this before, I took the liberty of steeping some this morning myself! I found it quite weak and would probably make it a little stronger for myself. It tastes very mildly of lemon so pleasant to drink! You can add honey to sweeten but I did not find it needed any sweetening at all. I had a slight headache which has cleared nicely! I intend to take it for a week and see how it goes. I have enlisted another guinea pig to try it out too, one who happens to be suffering from depression/anxiety and who is not taking any other meds. We will call this person Lucy for future reference. If you also decide to give it a go, please let me know your results as well. This one is new to me so I would love to hear if it works on a larger scale. Keeping in mind you need to take it for at least two weeks to get full benefits.)

You can serve this tea chilled and mixed with apple juice to stressed children or teenagers. (The apple is mainly for taste). You can also give them the normal tea. Its is quite safe.

For depression you can mix equal amounts of lemon balm, lemon verbena, lemon grass, and a slice of lemon. (Sniff deeply the vapour rising from the tea and then drink) OR you can just drink the lemon balm tea several times a day.

Obviously, if the tea does not agree with you. Don't drink it. And if you are taking any medications, please consult your doctor first.

Herbal Lore

2009-11-15T07:05:00.000+11:00

A few years ago now, something strange happened to me. I was feeling extremely despondent, lethargic and pretty much run down. (I know, I know..large family and all..its going to happen occasionally). But anyway, I became quite frustrated with myself.

I was standing at the kitchen sink one day and pretty much reached meltdown stage. I raged in my head and even despaired, "What the hell is wrong with me?" Immediately, the word "Potassium" popped into my head. I was a little shocked to say the least. Firstly, as it was not a word that I would think about anyway. Secondly, I wondered where on earth it had come from. And thirdly, (Karisma hangs head in shame) I had no idea what it was.

Now it was not the first time something like this had happened to me, but it was the first time it related to myself and the first time I got such a specific answer. So anyway, I googled Potassium and found that I could get it in Bananas or Potatoes. But I would have to eat an awful lot of them to help me at all. So I visited the local health store and purchased some pills. Amazingly, it helped and after a few months I had the urge to stop taking them and I was fine.

I found that I was able to "ask" for others as well and learned quite a bit about herbs in the process. I would sometimes doubt myself as certain websites would say one thing and others the opposite. I began to research more and more and even started growing a lot of my own herbs at home. I began using more and more fresh herbs rather than the store bought ones and drying the excess ones as well for later use. Mostly herbs I would use in the kitchen but also medicinal herbs. I bought many books to compare notes and managed to find one very special book that goes into far much more detail and covers many many more herbs and foods which are vital in healing.

Of course I kept this pretty much to myself. It sounds a little crazy right? But crazy or not, I have learned over the past few years, that if I do not listen to myself and trust in my instinct, things go wrong. So crazy or not, these days I do exactly that.

There are three herbs that I would recommend everyone either grow in your own garden or keep dry on hand. And they are Yarrow, Chamomile and Lemon Balm. For various reasons, all three of these herbs have popped up on a regular basis and have worked amazingly well. Yarrow was one that I had never heard of before that came into my head for someone else. I researched it extensively as I was very dubious. Now I am so happy that I did.

So why am I telling you this? Well, because this week I have been very drawn to my Lemon Balm. It has for some reason, grown very big and strong this year and seems to be reaching out to me as I walk past it. I had learned a bit about its properties before but had forgotten about it. It was one of the herbs I initially planted for some unknown reason when choosing my original herb garden. I knew we needed it, but not why!

I have been pondering on several people in particular and quite a lot of people in general that all seem to be suffering from the same ailment these days. Not so much asking how to help them as they have not asked me to, but wondering why its happening and what could be done about it as a whole. So rather than offer these herbal remedies up to anyone in particular. I figured I would just post some of what I have learned about each herb once a week and let you all make the decision whether to try it or not for yourselves. Starting with remedies that I have tried and that have worked for me.

I will also aim to add links to sites I have found accurate and useful and tell you where to buy that book I mentioned. Thus far it is the best book with far much more information on herbs than any other I have come across and I have bought or borrowed many from the library over the past few years. Anyway I will try and post about Lemon Balm later today. Im off for a bike ride this morning!

Hugs and smoochies xxoxox

Flight to Freedom - Written June 11, 2008

2009-11-14T16:53:00.000+11:00

Theres a fire burning in my soul.
Its yearning to break free.
With words and pictures on my mind,
And sounds that only, speak to me!

And while I try to fathom why...
you watch me silently.
Beyond the veil that most can't breach
You hear my silent plea!

A purple whirlpool from my dreams.
Surrounding me in blue.
Begins my journey to your world.
A journey that is true!

I raise my life up to the sun-
I beg you, set me free.
Through your warmth and ambiance...
Release this pent up energy!

Beware this day, my dragon comes,
Be watchful for her birth!
A burning flame will be undone,
unleashed for all its worth!

The spirit wolf my guardian.
The eagle who is me.
Together climb this mountain,
To forever set me free!

Karisma

Just Imagine....

2009-11-13T13:38:00.000+11:00

You were born as a tree.......

Starting out as a little seed, lovingly planted....or inadvertently dropped by someone who may have been careless. Nature takes its course anyway and there you are, encased in the warm damp earth, nice and cozy......safe......you could stay there if you wanted, after all.... nothing can hurt you, but as nature planned, you wonder if there is something better out there.... curiosity gets the better of you!

Something warm and intriguing reaches down from above, enticing you to feel its love. You slowly begin to reach out. Its not easy. You sprout, small buds, you stretch with all your might and finally one day, you break through the surface and feel the warm rays of sunshine. Its a little daunting at first, but the sun coaxes you out with promises of what may be and you take the plunge!

At first you have no idea of the dangers you will face, what you will learn, the challenges you will happen upon. You are innocent and unaware of anything but the suns warmth. You are weak and unprotected. If you are lucky, the one that planted you will protect you, nurture you with water, food and love. You will grow strong roots and begin to grow tall. You will stretch your branches towards the sun's warmth and embrace what is so easily yours.

If you are not so lucky, you may struggle to keep your hold to the earth. You may suffer but you will soon learn to fend for yourself.

You will learn there are many dangers to be watchful for. Father sun is not always so loving. Sometimes he is rather harsh. Sometimes there is no water, no food. You face many dangers under this sun. Dehydration, famine, wind, storms, disease, and many many predators that may just eat you or trample upon you or pull you from the ground as though you are nothing. This world is a scary place!

From instinct your soft stem becomes hard and you grow stronger, it may take a little longer than if you had been nurtured by that loving hand. But alone through pure will, you still make it and soon enough you start to grow many branches, reaching out to learn more. Your leaves burst forth, seeking for knowledge. You grow big and strong. With each leaf, you grow a new understanding of this big world and hope that you find your place in the scheme of things.

Again if you are one of the lucky ones you will stay healthy and bear fruit. This fruit will be collected and replanted to extend your family. Hopefully, your knowledge will be passed down, building a firm foundation and more strong trees. You will be at peace with who you are and your purpose on this planet. Because you know, you are good and you are taking your place in the cycle of things that are meant to be.

But life is generally never that simple. Perhaps you will get sick. Perhaps you will bear too many leaves and they may weigh you down, making it hard to cope. You may struggle to hold up your branches and eventually they may break. You may become so laden down that you lose them all and become bare. You may even give up and simply die.

Now you could keep struggling until this happens or you could make the decision to drop some of those leaves, starting with the ones that are withered. Letting them fall to the ground as lessons well learned. You could take from them the knowledge that you have gained and use it to strengthen your roots, mixing them well with the earth to sustain and feed you. Leaving room for new growth. Helping you to grow even bigger and stronger until you are able to support yourself and understand that everything happens for a reason, that every hardship you come across and conquer makes you the tree you are meant to be.

You would cast aside the broken branches you no longer require. Throw your seeds to the wind where they, like you will regrow. A forest will be born. You will stand together and protect each other. You will thrive together.

If you were a tree, you would accept this as the way of things. Being a part of mother natures plan would come naturally to you. As humans we could learn an awful lot from a tree, if only we would listen.

Namaste

2009-11-13T09:53:00.000+11:00

If you have somehow found your way here already! Welcome! I am in the process of setting up this little corner as a space to write down things I would probably not share on my regular family blog. Some of the stuff that goes on in my head on a daily basis that I may or maynot have had the time to write down.

If you know me already, you also know that my life if very full and hectic. I am on the go 99% of the time with little time to take out for quiet time or to stop and breathe as I like to call it. So writing can be a challenge for sure. Just getting here this morning to write this down has taken me hours. I have been interrupted no less than 10 times by children wanting or needing something, relatives dropping by, being distracted when I noticed the floor needed a clean (so I stopped to vaccuum), making a start on ridding myself of excess books that have somehow taken over the house, lifes little dramas in general and then I remembered what I was doing and tried once again!

I probably will not post here as often as my other blog but hope to find time to as much as I can. I may write something meaningful at times or NOT! It may just be a random thought for the day.

Life can be so confusing at times for most of us. But we learn so much every day. This blog is intended to share some of my thoughts, lessons I have learned, things I wonder about and maybe some of my mad dreams which currently I keep on a private space. Lets just see where it takes us.

Namaste and Blessings to all. Mwah xxxx