Wetherobots.com
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
WoWaholics Anoymous
Hi, my name is Amanda and I am a wow-aholic. I have been sober for six days and 12 hours and I must say its been a great change. I have been sleeping better, dreaming more, reading like its going out of style and I have written 9,000 words in my, much neglected, novel. I even finally wrote a blog post about herbs. Lets hope I can survive the next 2 weeks until my subscription runs out. Your support in this would be much appreciated.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Herbs I Found in Paris (and a brief summary of there most comon usage)
While we were in Paris I found some familiar faces, herbs!
Gaillet gratteron, Cleavers (Galium aparine) - Galium is a small upright herb that is covered in tiny stiff hairs. Its tiny hairs make it stick to clothing and hair, which is where its name cleavers comes from. Galium's main action is a Lymphogogue; meaning it makes the fluid in your lymph system flow.
Aubepine, Hawthorne (Crataegus spp.) - Crataegus is a small tree in the Rosaceae family. We saw this one in the Jardin des Plantes, in full bloom. Hawthorne is most known for its action on the heart. Not only does it calm rapid heart beats, and lower high blood pressure, its also been shown to speed a sluggish heart.
Gingko (Gingko biloba) Gingko is the only genus in the gingko family, and has only one species. It is an amazing tree with unique botanical properties. Medicinally gingko leaves are used to increase circulation to the brain, increasing mental focus and memory. In Traditional Chinese medicine however the fruit is utilized and has completely different applications.
Narrow Leaved Plantain (Plantago lanceolata) - Plantain small herb often found along roadways and paths. It prefers compact soil and was called the 'white man's herb' by native americans, who noticed its spread by the boots of soldiers. Plantago is highly nutritive and is a very useful for wound healing as it acts as an antiseptic, vulnerary and draws infectious agents from wounds.
Framboises, Raspberry (Rubus ideaus) - Raspberry is a large shrubby plant covered with sharp thorns called prickles (thorns are part of a branch, whereas prickles are only part of the skin of the branches). Like all rubus plants the leaves are highly astringent (that feeling of dryness or puckering when you eat it) which makes them very good vulnerary's. Raspberry also tonifies the uterus and is used in pregnancy to strengthen the uterus.
Bourse a pastour, Shepard's Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) - Capsella is recognizable by its heart shaped siliques (seed pods). This herbs primary action is that of a vulnerary. It is extrememly effective, a dropperful internally can be enough to stop a major hemmorage and it often utilized by midwives during birth.
Celendine (Cheledonium majus) - Celendine was introduced to me first in an autobiography of Maurice Messigue, an herbalist from Gers, France. So when I spotted this specimen hidden in the woods among the nettles I was very pleased. Celendine is used only externally as its latex is caustic. The whole plant can be in a foot bath for pulling out toxins in the body. The latex can also be used to kill off worts, but be careful not to get any on healthy skin.
I also found a museum that had a small collection of botanical texts and prints, here is a line drawing of a strawberry plant.
Gaillet gratteron, Cleavers (Galium aparine) - Galium is a small upright herb that is covered in tiny stiff hairs. Its tiny hairs make it stick to clothing and hair, which is where its name cleavers comes from. Galium's main action is a Lymphogogue; meaning it makes the fluid in your lymph system flow. 
Aubepine, Hawthorne (Crataegus spp.) - Crataegus is a small tree in the Rosaceae family. We saw this one in the Jardin des Plantes, in full bloom. Hawthorne is most known for its action on the heart. Not only does it calm rapid heart beats, and lower high blood pressure, its also been shown to speed a sluggish heart.
Gingko (Gingko biloba) Gingko is the only genus in the gingko family, and has only one species. It is an amazing tree with unique botanical properties. Medicinally gingko leaves are used to increase circulation to the brain, increasing mental focus and memory. In Traditional Chinese medicine however the fruit is utilized and has completely different applications.
Narrow Leaved Plantain (Plantago lanceolata) - Plantain small herb often found along roadways and paths. It prefers compact soil and was called the 'white man's herb' by native americans, who noticed its spread by the boots of soldiers. Plantago is highly nutritive and is a very useful for wound healing as it acts as an antiseptic, vulnerary and draws infectious agents from wounds.
Framboises, Raspberry (Rubus ideaus) - Raspberry is a large shrubby plant covered with sharp thorns called prickles (thorns are part of a branch, whereas prickles are only part of the skin of the branches). Like all rubus plants the leaves are highly astringent (that feeling of dryness or puckering when you eat it) which makes them very good vulnerary's. Raspberry also tonifies the uterus and is used in pregnancy to strengthen the uterus.
Bourse a pastour, Shepard's Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) - Capsella is recognizable by its heart shaped siliques (seed pods). This herbs primary action is that of a vulnerary. It is extrememly effective, a dropperful internally can be enough to stop a major hemmorage and it often utilized by midwives during birth.
Celendine (Cheledonium majus) - Celendine was introduced to me first in an autobiography of Maurice Messigue, an herbalist from Gers, France. So when I spotted this specimen hidden in the woods among the nettles I was very pleased. Celendine is used only externally as its latex is caustic. The whole plant can be in a foot bath for pulling out toxins in the body. The latex can also be used to kill off worts, but be careful not to get any on healthy skin. 
I also found a museum that had a small collection of botanical texts and prints, here is a line drawing of a strawberry plant.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Getting back on Track
My husband and I had a discussion this morning and if the conversation had a name it would be "What the hell do we want to do with our lives and why are we hell bent on doing things that stress ourselves out and make us unhappy." Both of came to the conclusion that we are bent on finding the jobs we are trained for: him the Teacher and me the Herbalist. (and money, the necessary evil that it is) Both of us are happier when we have stress free jobs and can come home relax and be creative. He asked me if I still felt like an herbalist if all I had was my blog and made medicine for people when they needed. The answer I think is yes. Is this really all I need? Well maybe if I actually start blogging about herbs again :)
Speaking of pertinent entries, Think Like a Jillian has a guest post about the Gaia theory, you should check it out!
Speaking of pertinent entries, Think Like a Jillian has a guest post about the Gaia theory, you should check it out!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Slowly Coming back to Reality
So I know I promised many pictures of France, and much ado about Paris. Frankly this has not happened, mostly do to lingering tiredness, job hunting and various other stresses and distractions. Plus I have been pondering this blog which despite my initial set out to be about Herbs, Gardening, Green living and what not has ended up being more just.. well... stuff about me. Which I had pointed out to me also this week is typical for a blog, but not maybe all that interesting to the rest of the world. So I will spend today working on remedying both problems with a venture into herbs i met in Paris and then perhaps move on with more of what I set out to do which in affect is be informative about alternative medicine/living. Does that sound ok with everyone?
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