Goodbye Mary Travers

It seems like a lot of celebrities have died this summer, but so far none of them really affected me with much more than a tinge of sadness, (and sometimes annoyance for the overdone publicity) until this evening when I read that Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary passed away.

When I was a kid I used to listen ad infinitum to the album Peter, Paul and Mommy. It was a collection of children's songs including Puff the Magic Dragon and The Marvelous Toy. I loved that album so much that as an adult I purchased a compact disc of the music as well, I am listening to it now and thinking my childhood wouldn't have been the same without it. I used to sit in front of the record player and carefully set the needle on the record, the speakers would crackle for a moment then spring to life with music. I remember the record had an olive green label in the center and that when it was dark it was hard to see which side the record was on, so sometimes I would have to flip the record over to play "the Marvelous Toy" side rather than the "Going to the Zoo" side, since you had to play Marvelous toy first cause that was side A. I could sing any song from that album at the drop of a hat, they are so much a part of who I am.

The minute I said Mary Travers had died out loud, I started in on my favorite song, "Leatherwing Bat" I hadn't heard the song in a few years, but I could almost sing the whole thing from memory. Hearing that Mary is gone really affects me. I don't know what else to say except thank you for all you gave me and you will be missed.

Ally, Ally in free...

Summer is an impossible time to start projects. Especially large cumbersome and scary ones like starting a business, there are just too many distractions for serious focus and responsibility. The sun is out, go out and play. That said summer is a great time to gather herbs and resources and look around at farmer's markets.

So as summer winds down I find that I am left with a large plate of things to do, but it isn't so overwhelming because I have basket loads of herbs and veggies, I have half of the major equipment I need including a blender, a gram scale and an tincture/oil press (I still nee a mini fridge, a proper grinder that can powder herbs and a (wishful thinking) new computer for business purposes) I could also use an industrial kitchen with a gas stove, a heavy duty counter, a percolation unit and a distillery, but that could be pushing the limits of the word 'need' at this point.

I started, and amazingly finished, a batch of comfrey oil. I had to powder the herbs which was a fun process and startlingly loud, I had to use two different blenders in small batches. It got kind of dangerous with all the powder in the air so we had to go find our dust masks in the basement halfway through the process. I let the oil sit for three weeks (it's usually just two, but I got busy so it got an extra week) and then I got to use my brand spanking new herb press! It's so shiny and new, though its quite a lot of work to use it, our hands and wrists were aching and that was only two pressings! I cannot imagine when we are processing several batches in a day. I hope I have a more efficient set up by then.

Also, a cautionary tale about popping pimples. Sean, my love, popped a pimple on his eyebrow and it got infected and his eye swelled up. I had to give him the witch doctor treatment, you can see him here with clay mixed with plantain leaves, and whole boiled bee balm leaves on his eye. (I also tried boiled carrots) The best treament turned out to be french green clay with echinacea and st. john's wort tinctures mixed in and applied to the area like a plaster. This pulled all the fluid from the area around the eye and didn't get leaf juice in his eyes so much. Though it didn't look quite as cool.

I just hit send on a large (the largest) order of herbs and some other supplies (cocoa butter and wax) so production should start soon. Now all I need is labels and some more tins. I will buy those of course at the last possible second just to cause myself a little strife, but also because I can only stretch the budget so far so fast. Luckily it looks like I will be putting in more hours of paper flower making soon, and then aNeMonE will be opening the new Downtown store in Octocber, so I will be back to retail as well! Fun, fun and more fun!

Field Trip!

Went on an unexpected trip to Priest Lake this morning, to deliver some flowers to a wedding. Sean and I woke at the crack of dawn and were on the road by 5:47, we arrived at 8 or so and made a bride and groom happy :)

It was kind of chilly this morning so we didn't want to go swimming, but we did find elderberries in bloom, elderberry flowers, which was strange since most of the elders were in full berry, Mullien and St. John's Wort! I could have gotten some Tansy as well, but I forgot to grab some before we left our gathering site.

So without further ado, pictures:

Me picking some St. Johns Wort

St. John's Wort, closeup

Elder Flowers

Elder Berries in front of the lake

I picked these elderberries and the only place we had to put them was an old blackberry jam container we had in the trunk. It was clean and everything...strange. Next time we go out to the woods I am making sure I bring scissors, paper bags and of course my camera. I was almost completely unprepared today!

Oh and we also stopped for breakfast at a lovely little cafe called Ardy's in Coolin, ID.

Amanda's Herbal Apothecary, Batch 1

I received two gallons of grape seed oil and a brand spanking new oil press in the mail this week (the press would have arrived on the same day but it was delivered to my parents neighbor), so I have begun the process of processing.

I have been gathering Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) all summer from my mom's, bosses and friends yards so I had plenty to start a batch of oils macerating. I decided after my last batch of oils that I should powder the herbs first. This was a much more involved, loud and hazardous prospect than I would have believed before. At school we only did small individual sized batches, but i was planning on filling a half gallon jar with herbs and oil! We used half of a garbage bag full of whole leaves of comfrey, it took two different blenders to get the leaf down to powder and I don't know how many small batches that was; at least ten. The blender was way noisier than I anticipated (my poor parents were trying to watch TV in the next room) and the powder that came off each batch was sort of noxious, we finally got smart about three batches of blending in and grabbed some face masks. And still after all this only managd to fill the jar a thrid of the way through! Whew~

We decided we'd had enough and poured 1200 ml of the emerald green oil over the lovely garden green powder, shook it up to make sure all the particles were covered, and then we left in a hurry because that was hard work!

I think I may ordered the rest of the herbs in powdered form, it's not that much more expensive to have them do it for me and my time is somewhat precious. It took a good hour for one third of a half gallon jar of powdered herb and I am just not sure i want to deal with that every time!

Picture to come, I forgot my camera ;)

Lightning storms and backaches

This long weekend started off with a bang (more like boom) the lightning was so close and the storm lasted so long and brought in a much needed cool breeze. Three days of below 90's temperatures and I feel like a person again. I have brain space, I am less exhausted and I am in touch with herbs once more. I always forget how much heat affects my brain. The only thing that could have been better was my back could not be killing me. Then again pain is a lovely reminder to slow down. Take it easy stop trying so hard. Lay down and rest for awhile.

I only took two ibuprofen and that was to go to work on thursday. My bosses are the coolest people ever and let me stay home thursday afternoon and friday and I am feeling much better. Ice and kava. Motherwort leaves; valerian and dandelion roots. Epson salt baths with rosemary and geranium and lavender essential oils. Beer and water and naps. These are my medicines and these are my loves. Without them my life is bland and painful and tense and stressful.

Just woke from a nap with my husband (of eight years today) and am planning on making a chocolate mousse. Three more glasses of ice cold water and I should be able to do so.