Soothing baby bath

I use one of my stockpots to bathe the babies. The smaller the baby, the smaller the stockpot. The sink is too low for me... and the deeper water covers their shoulders, keeping them warm and getting the scent of the herbs up close to their noses.

To hot water I add, a sprig of fresh Thyme, a Sage leaf, a two inch piece of Rosemary and three drops of Lavender. It calms a cranky baby down and they go right to sleep.

This is Frederick James Haxby, almost 5 months old and adorable.

Remember never to leave babies alone, even for an instant, seconds later Freddie wanted to suck his toes and could've slipped down in the deep water.

Cold Remedies

This will kick your cold out the door.

8 oz of V8
2 Tblsp of chopped garlic
2 Tblsp of Lemon juice
As much Tabasco as you can handle

Mix, heat, drink as warm as you can handle. Drink at least twice a day.

Also, a dropperfull of Echinacea twice a day and rub Vicks Mentholatum under your feet and go to bed with socks on.

Beautiful Mint

Today, my husband and I took a canoe ride down the river looking for herbs. I found an island covered in Wild Mint (Mentha canadensis). Very powerful tasting and after a leaf of that and the flower off a Chamomile (Matricaria Chamomilla) plant, I felt very grateful to be a gatherer and a healer. Butter and eggs (Linaria vulgaris) covered a meadow and the miraculous Stinging Nettle (Urtica Dioica) clung to the banks. Try Stinging nettle tea for an energy drink instead of the usual colas. I use my sissors and never touch the plant. from picking to cooking, cutting it into smaller pieces till I have a big pot full. Cover it will water and then bring it to a boil. Once it has boiled for a few minutes, shut it off and let it cool till you can strain it. If you don't like the taste, add honey and drink it like hot tea, or as an iced tea.

The Meadow

In the spring, the Meadow is covered in Camas and sweet new grass, and as the weeks pass others take their turn, Northern Bedstraw and Forget-me-not, to name a few. Then the horses move in to roll in the dust of a high desert summer. Scraggles remind me that the bulbs and seeds remain, a promise that they will return after the deep winter snows have buried the earth for it's rest.

The Meadow changes constantly. Change is the one thing we can count on, we choose the direction, but change we must. Change can be graceful, a learning, an emergence. Change, and the growth that results, can be welcomed or resented. Intuition can ease the path ahead or ego can run over it, running roughshod, and paving it unevenly and potentially causing harm to those that follow.

Our aging is a gift. We should be grateful for gifts.