Spring Projects

Such a busy weekend and now the week begins again.  I'm trying to catch up on many things (visits to blogland, included) but Beau does not make it easy to spend much time on the computer.  The above photo is rare - usually she lays across the keyboard instead of posing beside the screen.

This is what it looks like when I try to get my Inner Temple homework done:

Beau's distracting lounging aside, I was able to work on a few projects this weekend.  I made a batch of herbal all-purpose cleaner.  I use it on my counters, floors and everywhere.  Plus, it's cheap to make and I love infusing it with all that herbal goodness!  I've posted a 'quickie' recipe on my FB profile (in the comments of the post that mentions the cleaner) but I'll post a proper recipe here the next time I make a batch - which should be soon because my mother, neighbour and a friend each made off with a bottle!

Also I picked red willow on Thursday with my smudge/meditation group and again on the weekend for my own use.  It's such a versatile plant, and grows like a weed here along the river.  Red willow has Salicylic acid  (think Aspirin) and can be effective in the relief of headaches as well as other inflammations like arthritis, fevers, etc.   

It is the inner bark of red willow that is traditionally used as an anti-inflammatory and a smoking material, either mixed with tobacco, or by itself in a ceremonial pipe.  However, with all the work involved in peeling the outer red bark off a branch and then peeling the inner bark, it seemed a shame to me to toss the outer  bark just because it wasn't as favoured.

The outer bark can be smoked, mixed with tobacco, if you are a smoker.  I don't smoke, but I do like the sweet, woodsy scent of it, so I've mixed some into my smudge mix and also mixed some into my little bag of tobacco that I use as an offering when I do my wild harvesting.

The leftover willow wood is heading for my garden, where it will be used as stakes for plants this year.  One especially nice piece may even have the makings of a wand as it fits so nicely in the hand.  Time will tell...

Image found HERE.