schooling and tea

Well, for as crazy as I was going with my fiber fanaticism, it did come to an end and not by choice. Part of training to be a naturopath involves other co-requisites like human anatomy and physiology, and so that is now taking up my life. Don't get me wrong -- I absolutely LOVE A&P. In fact, it is one of the only studies that I can easily and happily read the textbook in.  Yes, I am talking about those boring textbooks that cost way too much and have 1000 pages in them.  Somehow (thankfully), I love my A&P book.  It also happens that I love learning about the human body, so I think that that definitely helps. Regardless, not having time to play with fiber has been challenging.  I spent a good hour and a half last night knitting further on my fingerless mitts I've been working on, and boy, did that feel nice! It was definitely a treat to be touching mohair and silk, that's for sure.

On a separate note, I've been making lots of teas! They've been an absolute blast to make, and they're super fun to drink, too.  Here are a couple of pictures of my latest teas that I've added to the Apothecary section in my Etsy shop.

Women's Nourishment Tea

Immuni-Tea

Lemon & Lavender Relaxation Tea

Fiber

Fiber has all but taken over my life. I spend nearly every waking moment either spinning or knitting, though I do find that my yarn stash is growing, which means I need to knit more than spin! Ever since the truly cold weather hit here in MI, I have turned into a complete hermit, typically only stepping away from my fibery-fondness to do basic things like heating the kettle for tea and such. It's great.

We also found a suitable stud for Mel, our REW French angora.  His name is Archibald and he is a Cinnamon French.  We anticipate new, fluffy, fiber-filled babies toward the end of March. I can barely wait! Mel is a proven doe, so I am hopeful that she doesn't kill her litter like I've heard other bunnies doing.

One of my most recent projects in the fiber department has been a triple plied yarn of two different colors of angora (Elise is well-known in our household for growing different colored coats after each shearing) and metallic sewing thread. I plan on putting it in my Etsy shop just as soon as I get it skeined up and take some decent photos of it.

In the meantime, here is a little teaser shot.  You can't see the thread as well as I had hoped through the camera lens, but in person it is lightly glitzy and totally feminine.

and a little close-up...

I hope all of you are well, happy, and enjoying the season!

Elderberry Syrup -- The Recipe

The local artisan market went very well and I sold two bottles of my elderberry immunity blend syrup.  I am almost finished with my own syrup, so I figured I should make some more, and by popular demand, share the recipe!

Elderberry Syrup -- Immunity Blend

Ingredients:
1/2 c. dried elderberries
3 c. filtered water
2 Tbs roughly chopped ginger
15 whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp dried and chopped echinacea root**
1 tsp dried and chopped astragalus root**
4 Tbs raw apple cider vinegar
2 c. raw honey

**Both echinacea and astragalus are optional in this syrup as the elderberries do a great job at being antiviral, but they do add some serious immune-boosting properties, and that's why I like to use them!

Instructions:
In a medium-sized pot, add all of the ingredients except for the honey and vinegar.  Slowly bring to a very, very light simmer -- you shouldn't see any little bubbles that are typical of a simmer.  Decocting the herbs in this way preserves their medicinal qualities.  Decoct for approximately 1 hour and then use a potato masher to mash up the contents.  Strain out the plant material and let it cool (it is important that it cools completely so that you don't destroy the beneficial qualities of the raw vinegar and raw honey).  Once cool, add the honey and vinegar and stir to combine.

For adults, take 1 Tbsp every hour when ill. For maintenance, take 1 Tbsp per day.

For children ages 6-12, 2 tsp hourly when ill or 2 tsp daily for maintenance.

For children 2-5, 1 tsp hourly when ill or 1 tsp daily for maintenance.


Enjoy!

Elderberry Blend Immunity Syrup

'Tis the season for colds and flu ... what in the world is a girl to do?



... Make elderberry syrup, of course!

The recipe I made is a classic elderberry syrup but with the addition of a couple other immunity-boosting ingredients.  I found some great, concise information on the herbs through Mountain Rose Herbs and thought I'd share them here.

Elderberry --  Elder is touted as one of the strongest anti-viral herbs. "It's flowers and berries have a long history of use in traditional European medicine...Elderberry's real claim to fame is as a cure for the flu.  Israeli researchers have developed five formulas based on elderbery fruit that have been clinically proven to prevent and ameliorate all kinds of influenza..." (mountainroseherbs.com)

Echinacea --  Echinacea (specifically angustifolia) "is herbal medicine's first choice of treatment for colds."  It works specifically through stimulation of the immune system.  "...administered in times of need, this helpful ally can assist the body's immune system in treating a wide range of disorders". (mountainroseherbs.com)

Astragalus -- "...research shows that simple preparation of astragalus...stimulate[s] the immune system in several ways.  It increases the number of stem cells in bone marrow, and encourages their maturity into active white blood cells. [Astragalus] appears to help signal the white blood cells known as neutrophils to migrate to places they are needed to fight infection.  [Astragalus] stimulates the "germ-eating" white blood cells known as macrophages, activates T-cells and natural killer (NIK) cells, and increases the production of immune globulins.  Usually taken with a variety of other herbs, astragalus...eases chronic respiratory infections..." (mountainroseherbs.com)

It's hard to not just drink this stuff for a little pick-me-up during the day.  It is so darn tasty! I decocted the herbs with a variety of mulling spices to come up with a mouth-watering, natural tonic for boosting your immunity. How perfect! It's good for you and it goes down easily, too!

preparing for the local artisan market

This upcoming weekend is the local artisan market here in Grand Haven, MI.  I've got lots of things to bring along (namely, nearly everything) in my Etsy shop, plus a couple of new things that I finished up over the past week and a half.  Some are not posted yet for sale, so I am going to consider this as an exclusive debut for these new knitted items. 

Aanka

Lisianthus

Bellatrix -- in cherry

Bellatrix -- in white

We had a super fun time with these photos I think especially because there were rabbits involved.  Who doesn't like rabbits, anyway? 

what I've been up to

It's been nearly a month since I've posted! How does that happen so easily? I love to try and keep this blog up-to-date, but lately it's been rather challenging.  I am hoping to get some pictures up soon of some new knitted items and such, since that's been half of the bulk of what I've been up to.  The other half has been entirely dedicated to accomplishing my field work for school.  Let's just say that I've done many, many reflexology, therapeutic touch, and polarity sessions within the last month.  This past weekend was my final weekend at school before a holiday break though, and the majority of my assignments are just reading lots of books, which I can do rather quickly, which is good. That means more time for other things like knitting and spinning and enjoying the holidays with my family!

This past weekend, we spent the majority of the school days learning some basic techniques of connective tissue massage.  I got to use all of my new techniques today on a friend who was very ill with an awful headache.  Connective tissue massage, plus some herbs, some hydrotherapy, and therapeutic touch and my friend was actually fidgeting after being sedentary and so uncomfortable for such a long time.  I love being able to help the people I care about to feel better naturally.  I look forward to more amazing experiences like that!

wild turkey & deer

There are several things that I've always wanted to try but have never done, including butchering and tanning animal hides. Well, yesterday was my birthday and, happy birthday to me, I got to try both! Warning, if you are at all squeamish, please don't finish reading this post!! 

The butchering was on a wild turkey that a friend of mine hit with her car while on her way to work.  As someone who doesn't care for waste, I decided to go and get the turkey to clean it and use for meat.  In school, I was always the one who would happily dissect any animal and wouldn't be disgusted by it, so I knew that this chore of cleaning a turkey would be very similar.  It did help that I didn't have to kill the turkey myself as there would have been a lot more emotion involved, regardless though, many prayers and chants of thanks were said to the turkey for his life and to the Earth Mother for providing this turkey for my family.

Klaus was a little unsure about the process, so he stayed away.

Preparing to gut.

After it was all said and done, I had 9.2 lbs of fresh turkey meat to go in the freezer plus a carcass, head, and feet to go in the crock pot for turkey stock.  In addition to the edible portion, I also salvaged a large bag of beautiful feathers, two huge wings, a fan of tail feathers, and a turkey beard. I feel pretty darn good about turning this amazing roadkill that was just going to rot (and feed other wild creatures, of course) into something that I could use. Humans waste so much, especially with the animals we kill with our cars, and I am happy to represent a different generation of folks who appreciate and use as much of the animal as possible. 

As for the deer, another friend of mine, Stephanie, shot a beautiful doe with her bow and was generous enough to give me the hide and the head for learning and use purposes. I've been really interested in learning the ways of Native Americans and how they preserve hides, so I used the method of tanning called "brain-tanning".  I used this tutorial as my guide to tan, and so far, so good! The hide is currently balled up in it's tanning solution for another 2-3 days, so I will have more updates as soon as I get to see the results of the labor.

deer brain

cooking the brain

Skin side up of the hide

Smearing pureed deer brain into the hide.

I hope that the hide turns out all right! We have a lot more work to do once the tanning period is over--lots of "working" the hide to turn it into something supple and not stiff.