~ Samhain ~

Ash trees have lost their leaves;

Only their keys

Hang dark and stark

Like the silhouette of inverted bats,

With thin witch-finger branches

Clawing up

Into a deepening azure dusk.

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Today, I went out to our local car boot sale and later, a supermarket, dressed like this:

Off to get the broomstick

I enjoyed it so much! I think there's a little touch of a thespian in there somewhere! What I found interesting though was the range of reactions from people when they noticed how I was dressed. 

Most, I am glad to say, smiled; some asked me where did I get my hat....one lady sang it to me :~) Others laughed and delightedly said how much they loved how I looked ~ that made me happy * There were a sad few who looked in derision, scorn and had cross, unfriendly faces, and one pretty lady who said she liked my hat then laughed nastily? I felt strong enough to take it today or I would not have gone out looking like this, but it did make me wonder what their lives must be like that they reacted that way. It made me think of all sorts of reasons and excuses for them. Maybe they are having a really hard time. Maybe they are ill. Maybe someone they love is ill. Anyway, I send them love and hope they find happiness.

My favourite one was a little boy in the supermarket who turned to his mum with huge eyes and whispered "Mum, there's a witch" :~) I had such a pleasant little chat with him, which made my day.

                    

        

~ Happy Samhain ~

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My Box of Feathers and Wabi-Sabi

The wooden box, table, wooden bowl and mini woven mat were all thrift shop treasures :~)
The book I had to order from Amazon as I could not wait for it to 'turn up'!

One of my boxes of feathers, feathers I have taken years to lovingly and delightedly collect, has had a moth attack. At first there was that awful feeling, with a sharp-breath intake and a slow-release sigh of "ohhh nooo" because, of course, each one is unique and cannot be replaced. There can be an 'instead of' but not 'the same as'.

As I sorted through them though, a whisper of a thought gently overtook my initial alarm....."Wabi-Sabi".

I've only recently discovered the term Wabi-Sabi ~ thanks to this lady, but it is how I have always lived, finding beauty in the signs of aging, and from childhood onwards, filling my home with worn, smooth pebbles, driftwood silvered by the sea, broken shells that used to be homes now treasured and rejoiced in by me and my family; well used and previously owned chairs, tables, cushions and clothes all with their secret stories teasingly shown on their scarred and scuffed surfaces leaving us to wonder at the tales they could tell.

As often happens if I allow myself to be open to magic ~ as Wabi-Sabi came to my mind, I found this ~

a heart~full reminder ~ and of course, it was all alright. The damage isn't that bad and birds are incredibly generous with their feather~gifts, so I will always have a plentiful supply. 

As I wrote this I was happily interrupted by a vast storytelling of crows flying with great purpose and dramatic cawing over our house towards the West. MM and I ran out to watch them and would have loved to know what they know and what their arcanum business was.

~ A month of Haws ~

Oh beautiful October how I am loving this summery autumn you are gifting us ~ thank you*

The Rowan berries are in full orange fire
and the air is biting into an Autumn crisp;
while the light is sliding from its warm summer pink
to the cooler blue of shadowy fall.

Twice this month I have collected, simmered in cider vinegar and water, mashed and strained through a sieve, the meditative process of making hawberry ketchup. The picking and de-stalking are reminiscent of sitting as a child with my nana on her peaceful doorstep, shelling peas we had just picked from her abundant garden.

Red haws

blue sky.

A willow basket

made with love to hold 

these berries

~ little capsules of heart medicine ~

It is an excercise in patience to mash the cooked berries through a sieve, but listening to this, which makes it summer at any time of the year, and this which must surely make anyone just want to dance made it purely pleasurable. Many berries have to be picked to make up a weight of 500g which, as a ketchup fills just one bottle, but the taste is so good that it was worth the effort of doing it twice, so we could have two bottles!

I heard that if you turn the bottles upside down when you have poured in the hot sauce, it makes them self sterilize, so that is why these two are rather a sticky looking mess :~)

Cold busting ~

My Man had sneezing fits all day Sunday. He has allergies, so sneezing is fairly normal, but when they went on for so long, we decided he must have a cold. We had noticed many people coughing and spluttering in town last week, so he most likely picked up the vicious little virus then.

I have loved herbal medicine since I was a young teenager, so home remedies have always been my first choice. One of my favourite things to do is make my own infusions, decoctions, tinctures, creams, syrups and lotions, with our kitchen often being transformed into a working apothecary.

Sunday evening, and again today, I made my cold busting concoction. I have evolved it over the years to include:

:: A decoction made with fresh root ginger, cinnamon sticks and dried liquorice root.

:: Tinctures of Echinacea purpurea, elderberries, (this is one I make myself), and myrrh (we only need a few drops of this one - it's POWERFUL!), with mullein leaf if there is a cough present.

:: Freshly squeezed lemon juice, cider vinegar, honey and a small pinch of cayenne.

We find it potent, warming, comforting and it works so well. My Man's sneezing had gone by Monday evening and his sore throat had cleared by Tuesday evening.

It satisfies something old and deep in me to be able to help my family and our sweet little dog using our herb and essential oil friends. We control MM's high blood pressure with a lovely herbal tea mix that I make up, as well as acupressure and the yogic alternate nostril breathing.....oh! and I give him craniosacral treatments too! 

Four of my favourite books to refer to are:

Bartram's Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine

Acupressure for Health: a Complete Self-Care Manual

The Fragrant Pharmacy

Aromatherapy an A-Z