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!

All-Heal Salve

Happy Sunday!  I spent the day making herbal salves from the different herb-infused oils that I made over the course of the summer.  I made two other salves aside from this one, but I'll save them for another day.


Here is the main ingredient:

A brief breakdown of the herbs used to infuse the olive oil:

Nettle - Urtica dioica:  Used as a specific for childhood eczema as well as other varieties of eczema

Horsetail - Equisetum arvense:  Used as an external wound healer.  Also strengthens hair and fingernails.

Violet - Viola papilionacea:  Soothing for skin irritations, including hemorrhoids.

Red Clover - Trifolium pratense:  Anti-inflammatory and calming for the skin.  Another specific for childhood eczema and also psoriasis.

Comfrey - Symphytum officinale:  Speeds up wound-healing.  Guards against scar tissue development.

Plantain - Plantago major:  Soothes irritation and infection.  Helps stop bleeding.

The end result is nothing short of super for your skin -- I have poison ivy right now and this all-heal salve not only helps with the itching, but it also is limiting the dermatitis that I'm causing myself by scratching! It's perfect for my hands for winter too, especially since my hands are always so dry from working at the restaurant.

I love salve.  It is my go-to for just about every nick, scrape, bee sting, etc. that troubles my skin.  If you've never made it before, I highly recommend giving it a go.  Most of the herbs are very easy to come by (especially plantain, a common "weed"!) for wildcrafting and then all you have to do is be patient while your herbs macerate, add some beeswax, and there you go!

My final result of today's hard work to be later listed on Etsy: