new shoes

bought my daughter her first pair of proper shoes today. She seems quite impressed, however I think she still prefers bare feet. Just like her mum ; )

st john's wort oil pt 2

Its taken me a while to post a follow up to my St John's Wort Oil post, and unfortunately its because it didn't work out this year : ( I can't decide whether it was lack of sun, too few flowers or just bad luck but it failed to change colour. Luckily, inkeeping with the makers mantra, heres some I made earlier. I still have this left over from last year and although it isn't really useable any more, it only keeps for about a year, it still has some of the colour. Its so magical to watch the glorious yellow olive oil turn this deep red. Its such a shame it didn't work but I guess it goes to show you can't always predict what mother nature is going to do. I'll try again next year.

I'm expecting much better results for my berry liquers; blackberry vodka and hawthorn brandy this autumn. Yum! At least they don't rely on the sun for success!

a day with the goddess

today I am spending the day making jewellery, tending my herb beds, sorting through fabrics, and generally enjoying the silence that only occurs when my daugther is at nursery! I don't really get the time to think when she's around, except about where we're going what we're doing and when she last ate, slept etc so its lovely to just be able to take time out and slow things down a bit. Its a beautiful day too which I am sorry to say have been few and far between of late. Hard to believe its august...

my etsy shop is now well and truly up and running and I've made my first couple of sales. I have a added a fab little widget on the side bar too. it's really exciting starting something new, although I now find I'm getting a little OCD about checking the internet! Still, I have lots of ideas so I will have plenty to ocupy myself over the next few months coming up to winter.

my herb bed is looking great! my mint plants have florished, I had to get rid of the nasturtiums (they went a bit mental) but everything else seems to be doing ok. it'll be lovely to be able to harvest from it before the winter sets in. I am making the most of the sage and lemon balm for my jewellery and I'm also using cranesbill which grows wild pretty much all over my garden. It has such pretty leaves perfect for pendants.

  

I have been going through some of my crystals today too. I cleansed them under the full moon a couple of weeks ago. This piece of rose quartz I bought for my daughter's room, it has such a calm, loving energy about it.

I have also bought a piece of spiderweb obsidian recently which is so beautiful. I'd never seen it before but felt so drawn to it when I saw it. Its a wonderful piece to use for meditation and grounding; it also looks amazing. It doesn't photograph well as its so polished but you get the idea. Its so nice to hold.

A day of sunshine, a little rain and a beautiful sunset. A good day x

life is what happens....

Getting my etsy shop up and running has taken up quite a bit of my time so I've had very little time for the garden. Thankfully, due to the unseasonal (or very seasonal depending on how you look at it) rain we've had the plants seem to be fending for themselves. My herb bed got very overgrown so I had to move some bits around but the new long boarder looks so colourful. There's so much to keep on top of but as with everything at the moment, you have to do what you can when you can.

As far as this blog, I have about 4 ovedue entries to write and I'm sure I'll get round to them eventually. One thing at a time, one foot infront of the other, more haste less speed, etc, etc, etc.

when did you last.....

....smile at yourself in the mirror?

Can you count the things that make you happy? Are you one of them? If not, why not?

I am so grateful for the things in my life that make me smile; my baby girl, my partner, my crazy cats, my friends; the hardest thing for me to admit is that sometimes I can make myself smile, just by being me.

 

They say it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile. You could argue that by being solemn you're giving your face a workout but take a moment to realise how good it feels to grin from ear to ear.

 

A smile a day keeps misery at bay, try it!

cream tea on a sunny day

a welcome moment of calm in one of my favourite places.