Here's a lovely recipe from our website - perfect for fall. :)

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Recipe courtesy of Kristine Farley of herbalmomma.com

Here's what we have been doing for at least a decade. We love to have it on
Sundays in the fall and winter. That way we all get our immune boost for the
week.

A-1 tablespoon each; Pau D'arco, Echinacea root, Cinnamon stick, Cloves (whole), Dried Ginger
Add to a quart of water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes

B-Add to above; 1 tablespoon each; Hibiscus flowers, Orange or Lemon peel,
Juniper berries, Rosehips.
Let steep for 20 minutes.

C-Strain & add apple cider or frozen apple juice concentrate with water. (1 gallon total)

D-Add 1/2 cup honey & lemon juice.

Serve warm. Yum!!!
Healthy Blessings,
Kristine ~ Herbalist & Mother of Many
Handcrafted Soaps & Herbal Products
www.herbalmomma.com

It's soo quiet out there - what's everyone doing??

To get things moving, we're doing a $5 flat-rate shipping sale over the weekend. Flat rate $5 shipping on ANY order (unless you spend more than $100 - then it's free!). From now until Tuesday, Oct. 10th. :)

It's a beautiful autumn day here! breezy and cool. Eucalyptus is in the still. We're working on last-minute stuff to finish our classroom before fall - most notably, a walkway, which we just realized needs to be completed by Tuesday the 17th. EEP! Weekend construction projects, here we come....

I love it when so many things intersect so beautifully! Since I'm starting to learn about natural dyeing, I'm extra-glad that my still is copper. Copper, in various forms, is used as both a mordant (color-fixer) and dye for wool, silk, etc. - and, it is a metal, so it occasionally reacts with the chemical constituents of various herbs I put in it. So....when I clean out my condenser, I just throw a little vinegar in it, and pretty soon I have a beautiful blue-green solution that I save and use as a mordant and dye. And sometimes, when I distill things, I open the still (the next day, after it's cooled), and find the herbs on top a bright, BRIGHT green color. Like, technicolor green. It's happened to me with lemon balm, various mints, and today, Lemon eucalyptus.

So....today I happened to have a few pre-mordanted silk scarves on hand, because I've been playing with flower pounding (bashing flowers into silk to impregnate the silk with colors and the flower imprint. It's easy and HIGHLY addictive). I took the beautiful leftover (already-distilled)lemon eucalytus leaves with green "stuff" on them, and did some imprinting onto a couple of silk scarves. I took another scarf, and just wiped down the inside of the still - the scarf is now a GORGEOUS bright green color. Last, but not least, I saved a gallon of leftover lemon eucalyptus "tea" (the liquid left in the bottom of the pot of my still), and I'm going to take that home and try doing some dyepot dyeing with both silk and wool, using that.

I'll post pics later, but it probably wont' be until tomorrow. We're teaching a "Lovin' Lavender" class tonight, so it will be a very long day at work for us.

Here's a pic of our still, if that helps you visualize what I was doing. :)

Anyone interested in natural dyeing? (It's herb-related, right?) :) That's what I'm doing at home today, for fun. :) I posted more about it in my blog, but also wanted to put this link here too - it's some really cool and amazingly beautiful blog entries/photos all about natural dyeing.