Recently, my friend Wildcraft Diva and I were discussing the fact that Horsechestnut trees, Aesculus hippocatanum, are not a trees native to my area. We have the Ohio Buckeye, Aesculus glabra, of that tree and shrub family. WD and I are in the Springfield Sanctuary Apprenticeship together. Sarah, our mentor, had assigned the task of making a cell wall strengthening salve from horsechestnut bark, and I was talking to WD that since that wasn’t a tree I had, I might experiment with Ohio Buckeye. She immediately volunteered to send me some of her bits from her stately, old horsechestnut tree that grows in her gardens! The package just arrived…
I was tickled pink she included a couple bars of soap she had crafted. It smells heavenly and I can’t wait to try it! If you look around her blog, you will find that she has experimented quite a lot with horsechestnut.
We have also been sharing recipes for wild foraged edibles, and I had asked her in an email if she had cattails available. Well, what I call cattails, she calls bulrush and we had some miscommunication going on. She thought I wanted her to send me one for pressing in my stillroom book, so she included one! lol! Actually, I had some good cattail recipes to share… :) Don’t you just love the differences in language usage? I know I do!
Now how to press that in the stillroom book…?
This photo shows how much horsechestnut conkers and Ohio buckeye trees buckeyes look alike. The buckeyes or the ones at the top of the photo. We carry them for good luck! I am going to crack one of each open to look at any difference or similarities I can discern….
I had another wonderful package arrive. Again, from a member of my SSA group. Charlie sent me a rowan cross to help guard against pixies…
She also included a wonderful handout sheet she had written for a talk she gave at the Springfield Sanctuary Herb Festival on amulets and talismans.
“ Rowan has been used for centuries to stave off and repel magical or malicious attacks. The berries (being members of the apple family) have been marked at the base with the sign of the pentagram, a sign of protection.”
“ Red threads were also sometimes tied around children’s necks to give them protection against witchcraft and to protect them from being carried off by faeries, symbolically binding the child to the here and now. “
“Knots make effective amulets because they are believed to catch evil spirits”
This gift came from Charlie as I had recently posted a query in our Facebook group, the Typsy Herbwyfes, (Springfield Sanctuary Apprenticeship), about herbs for protection. We have a problem with ghosts at my daughter’s home. We even had a paranormal investigation team come in two weekends ago with a Medium. The team worked for 6 1/2 hours and for now, all is quiet. They are suppose to come back to share the rest of their findings when they are through sifting through them. I will tell you that we heard many ghosts and spirits over their electronic voice machines and saw things also.. Maybe more on that after we receive the report, but for now, do you see what I see in this photo? Click on it for a better look.. this was taken with infrared in the pitch black basement…
Click on these next two photos for another look.. enlarge them or manipulate with your photo program..
My dear friend Debs, responded to my query with a wonderful handout she had done about herbs for protection also. I never posted about it, but she had recently shared with me an extra copy of a wonderful book she had!
Coincidently, Sarah had included an Herbal Energetics handout in this months lesson. It included anointing and smudging herb usage, as well as for cleansing bad energies etc. Isn’t it wonderful how the Universe conspires to help us in times of need? With a little help from our friend! xxx
So a big shout out of thank you to my friends, WD, Charlie, Sarah and Debs! Love you gals xx
Now here is your dose of cute. Dylan’s Werewolf snowman
He told me he had a great idea, one day. To make ink out of blueberries. I just happened to have some in the freezer so we whizzed them in the blender!
And of course, he has been my maple syrup making buddy!
Herbal and Honey Hugs to all who visit Comfrey Cottages xx
7 comments:
Your Dylan is quite the snowman maker..very clever!..And, a pretty cute maple syrup helper also! xo
Awww thanks Sherri xxx I sure do enjoy him! xxx
Very interesting :)(not just because I was mentioned). Love the pixie chaser! But try as I might I can't spot the ghostie...think I need stronger glasses.
Well, the ghostie isn't real clear..you can clearly see the face only, of what looks like a little boy with dark curly hair. There is a face to his left and lower too, but you can't see the features as well. If I figure out a way to make it clearer I will. :) If I had one of those fancy photoshop programs I could do a better contrast.. We were so grateful to get the pixie chaser! Michelle promptly hung it up in her kitchen area:) xx
I can confidently say that Roman cross is very effective. I didn't have a single pixie in the house from the time I made it.xxx
That's rowan nor roman - damn predictive text on my phone making assumptions again!
We hung it right in the middle of my daughters kitchen, Charlie xxx I detest that predictive text on my phone too. Makes me look like I am looney if I don't check well before hitting the send button... xxx
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