12 Herbs Project

I have been inspired by a certain person on youtube, Pagyptsian, who has decided to work with 12 Gods and Goddesses, one for each month. This got me in the mood to do something similar but with herbs instead.
So for each month I will be working with one herb through that month, and hopefully I will be able to grow that herb and have a closer connection with it - that's if the herb doesn't die..

I have been trying to figure out which herb I should work with for each month and I don't want to work with a herb that would be difficult to grow in my area. And as I am forgetful at times and stupidly haven't actually noted anything down of what I have learnt about herbs before I think it would be best to go back to the more simple herbs.
To be honest I don't think I have really took the time to look at the simple herbs and see what they are useful for and if there is any other history with them, like basil, I don't know much about it because I see it everywhere and I have thought I knew more about it.

So these are the herbs that I am gonna work on throughout the year -

January - Basil
February - Dill
March - Chives
April - Thyme
May - Parsley
June - Oregano
July - Mint
August - Sage
September - Rosemary
October - Fennel
November - Tarragon
December - Borage

Monday Memories: Sage Bundle

This is my first time in making a sage bundle, pleased that my sage has managed to stay alive and grow for me to make this.
The only problem is, I forgot to put a paper bag around it and find a more dry place for it to be in and within that time it has pretty much shrivelled up, oops.
Guess that is my lesson that I needed to know, at least I have more sage to work on :)

Monday Memories: Sage

Normally when it comes to me and herbs they end up dying for some reason (lack of sun/water or too much sun/rain, or the puppy trying to eat it). So I am very happy to see that this little herb is still going and growing strong :)

The Green Eyed Owl

I had heard that TipToeChick was opening her online shop, TheGreenEyedOwl, so I thought I would go and check the shop out. At the moment she is selling tinctures, capsules and dried herbs but has mentioned that she is hoping to expand that in the future.
I mainly wanted the dried herbs, as I noticed it was going to be cheaper buying from her rather than buying from the UK which would have came over £20, while from her shop the total was coming to $25 (£15). The only worry I had was the shipping, so I emailed her letting know what I was wanting to buy and which country I lived in and she replied soon after with the quote of $13.95 (about £8), so I rushed off back to her shop and placed my order.
That was on the 1st February and it is now the 15th February and I have just received my parcel from her, so it has taken a good two weeks to get here. Which in my opinion is not that bad considering I live in the UK and she lives in America.
Overall I am so pleased with what I ordered and how the delivery was and the communication with her was. I will be ordering from her again when I start to run low on these herbs.

What I ordered: yarrow, nettle, elderflower, mugwort, motherwort, rosemary, dandelion leaf, dandelion root, Irish moss, st johns wort, comfrey leaf, calendula, benzoin gum (powdered), echinacea, marshmallow

What I've created: herbal heat packs

Finally found the camera that had these photos on to which I can show you what I made a few months ago. My mum helped me a lot with these as I am rubbish at sewing and could not understand how to get the sewing machine to work, there is too many things you need to thread through to get the thread to actually work and when I did mange to get the thread through all the right areas it still didn't work as I didn't put it through the right area or something like that..Very confusing but I will get the hang of it.

I wanted to make these for my two mum -in-laws and tired to find the scent and material that suited them the best. That bit I find the worst right now, choosing the scent for other people, matching it to their personality and such but I think I did a pretty good job this time. My favourite has to be the lavender and mint..I would never have thought that these two scents would work so well and they do, they just seem to balance each other and yet they have that twist to them.

I hope to make more of these in the near future, when I have found out how to actually use the sewing machine! :)

Goals for 2010

So its nearly a new year, cant believe it. Time has gone by so fast it doesn't feel like it should be the end of the year, only the beginning.
I know I ain't done that much this year, only learning, researching and finally starting to understand who I am.
So what I am hoping will happen in 2010:

• Find and understand even more about myself
• Start making more body scrubs, bath bombs, bath oils
• Learn how to make soap, body lotion, herbal teas
• Learn Ogham, rune, I ching divination
• Understand more about my path
• And finally get my herbalism course finished!

There is thousand more things that I want to achieve, but I feel like I should start small..Ok the list doesn't seem small, but believe you me this is a small list!
I have chosen these things because I feel these take up the most energy, and I want to get these "out of the way" so I can restore my energy and feel better about myself, instead of regretting that I never did these.

Catch up on things

Well the cravings seem to have calmed down now lol, as I am reading the other books more now.
Just finished Hedgewitch in the Cauldron of Avalon by M. Sylvan Saille it is a good book, and it doesnt confuse you with all the information as it is only a 100 pages long, I am wondering if I want her other book. The nice thing about her books is that they are handbound, which makes it a little bit more special (imo).

Anyways enough with books otherwise I will get the cravings back :P

It seems to be getting more nice outside with the sun blazing atm, 3 days in a row without rain and it feels so lovely but at the same time annoying as I hurt more in the sun, plus Im ginger (Ginger + sun = BAD)..
Also I need to get started on doing my herbalism course, I know I dont have a deadline for it but its been nearly 2 months and I havent even touched it >_<, and its only the first 3 lessons.

Aswell as that Im trying to get back to doing some spiritual events/work on youtube as that was my main intention on making that channel - to help others in understanding more about spirits. One problem is, all my knowledge seems to fly away everytime I touch "record". So I think I should write the basics down for each video lol. Even though I never wanted to do that as I feel like Im a robot =/

Well Im going to go and charge my batteries up for later on (when its more cooler) so I can go for a walk or something like that.

So speak soon :)