Herbal Hangout

Bath salts

2009-08-13T10:16:00.000-07:00

there is nothing like soaking in a tub full of aromatic bath salts

I had some really sore muscles so I made a batch of bathsalts with a combination of eucalyptus, rosemary, (drawing a blank lol)....

will finish this post when I refresh my memory...

Herbal shopping online again and other randomness

2009-07-27T12:00:00.001-07:00

I

I made it to a Books A Million last week and had a fantastic dark chocolate espresso and found me a copy of an old favorite magazine 'The Herb Companion'

Just so happens I had my second order of the year from the San Francisco Herb Company on the way and it was delivered today :D

I have to go to walmart later to pick up some medicine so I thought I'd also look for epsom salts and get some more baking soda. I got some sea salt last week.... and I'm gonna use those things and my collection of essential oils to make some bath salts to indulge myself in. I also got some new 1 oz jars this time and some dropper caps so I can experiment with blending oils again. I also found some sprayer mist caps for the bottles which means I can make some room and body sprays!

I stocked up on my favorite jasmine green tea again as well as getting some Earl Grey tea that is positively delicious. I have a cup right now.

Other culinary treats in this order: cocoa powder, peppercorn mix, the ultra grade lavender which can be used in cooking.... baking, teas, etc.... a new mesh teaspoon

and one more essential oil for the aromatherapy cabinet: cedarwood

For my buddies on Xanga I've been trying to keep up with reading the subscription digest and I miss you guys. Am sorry I haven't had the energy to find more time to spend online, am still anemic and still taking those iron pills I swear I am.

I can't believe summer is almost over they start back to school here on Aug. 7th. We've enjoyed the summer activities we'vebeen able to participate in and it has passed in a lovely summer blur.

For my other blogs I hope those of you that visit the herbal hangout

and

islefaye's kitchen

will continue to stop by and check me out every now and then. I do promise to have some new posts between now christmas. I'm thinking I'll try to make a few herbal goody baskets for christmas presents. Would love to get more comments over there too if you find something helpful or something you like, or just wanna say Hi lol.

Oh yes last but not least I'm so looking forward to becoming a Grandmother in December :D! We found out last week...... it's a girl!!!

Also my oldest son, the Marine, who is going to be the new father :D, is still awaiting his deployment which should be soon and will likely mean he won't be back in time for the birth, but should be returning soon after.

Hope everyone is enjoying what's left of summer before it's gone!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

This years herbs, Sunday June 7th 2009

2009-06-07T09:53:00.001-07:00

Rosebud Salve

2008-03-30T14:27:00.000-07:00

This stuff is great for when my lips are trying to heal from those nasty cold sores, and for what the winter, dish detergent, and water conspire together to do to my hands... I bought 6 tins somewhere between 1995 and 1998 - gave 3 away as gifts and I am just now working on the last one and getting ready to order a new supply. So I googled it the other day and was so happy to see how easy it is to find now thanks to the internet!

Calcium and IBS

2007-10-06T19:38:00.001-07:00

Irritable Bowel Syndrome(IBS) is a nasty little disorder related to fibromyalgia. If you have IBS with diarrhea, you are not absorbing nutrients that you are putting into your body. I thought I was getting enough calcium and that could not possibly be the cause of my IBS. I eat a healthier, more well rounded diet than anyone I know. I tried so many things for the IBS I can't even remember all of them. Some of the things I tried helped some.... others not at all.

Then I broke my leg last year in a freak little fall that shouldn't have broken anything. My Dr.(bless him) sent me for a bone scan. My T-score was 2.1 which translates into 21% bone loss at age 43! That's only 4% away from a diagnosis of osteoporosis, and no I'm not post-menopausal. Then he put me on Fosamax (1xweekly) and Caltrate(2xdaily). Almost immediately my IBS went from a major 'can't live my life at all' problem to just an occasional irritant. It still flares up when I'm sick or on my period. But I am free to leave the house now when I have the energy to do so. I don't even have to worry about having accidents in public, ruining the seat of my car, or being banned from public places lol. So if you think you are getting enough calcium, think again.... just try it :) The Caltrate has all the other stuff that helps your body absorb the calcium. I hope this helps someone else that might be going through the same 'absolute horror' I went through for four years.

St. John's Wort

2007-10-06T17:53:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it can be hard to exist in this world without getting depressed. Anti-depressants don't always work for everyone, at least I didn't have good luck with any that I tried. One or two of these a day works better for me.

My favorite personal scent

2007-09-28T20:35:00.000-07:00

ok quit laughing. My favorite perfume/scent to wear is not actually perfume at all but two essential oils, 1 drop of each placed on my clothing. The oils are sandalwood and patchouli. This is something I probably wouldn't dare put on a nice dress or suit however, but for rugged down to earth denim/cotton in an unnoticeable out of the way place. When wearing jeans and using this scent I usually pick a spot down an outside leg seam to place the drops. If you wash all your laundry together and have a family they may not appreciate smelling like you and you might want to wash your scented clothes separately. The smell will fade out of the clothes, but it can take several washings, especially if you oops and get more than one drop of each oil on the clothes.

Lysine for Cold Sores / French white clay powders for Acne

2007-09-28T19:42:00.000-07:00

I am one of those unfortunate people who get those nasty cold sores caused by the HSV-1 virus which infects 40 to 80 percent of the population of the United States. None of the products or prescriptions available for treating cold sores worked for me. I finally discovered that Lysine taken internally inhibits the virus. So now as soon as I feel that tingly feeling in my lip somewhere that lets me know I'm getting one I take L-Lysine 500mg twice a day.

In the picture above you can see my jar of french white clay powders. I buy this by the pound(i think lol) at Frontier(see side panel for link). It lasts forever and is the best thing I've ever used for acne problems. I keep a wooden scoop in my jar to make it easy to scoop a little out. Put a small amount in the palm of one hand and using the other hand dribble a little water into the powders to make a paste, put this on the affected area or you can do your entire face every so often and leave the paste on until it dries(takes no more than 10 minutes). Rinse off with cold water.

Unstopping my head

2007-09-01T21:46:00.001-07:00

Sinus, Cold, Flu whatever the reason. When your head is all stopped up and you can't breath, here is what I do.

I set up a couple of essential oil diffusers around the house with
1 drop peppermint essential oil
3 drops lemon essential oil
3 drops rosemary essential oil
3 drops eucalyptus essential oil

to set up the diffuser, light the tea light in the bottom and fill the top with hot water, then add the oils. This recipe is an adaptation from a recipe in the book 'Aromatherapy, A lifetime guide to healing with essential oils' by Valerie Gennari Cooksley.

If your essential oils do not have a dropper insert in the neck of the bottle or an eyedropper type lid, you can use a clean straw to dispense drops out of the bottles, cutting off the end of the straw each time before moving on to the next oil, so as not to mix any from one bottle to another.

Chamomile for heartburn

2007-09-01T21:23:00.000-07:00

When my heartburn acts up usually 2 chamomile capsules sets it right. For more serious heartburn try 2 capsules twice a day.

A good book to get medicinal dosage information on herbs from is:
Prescription For Nutritional Healing, Written by a medical doctor and a certified nutritional consultant (James F. Balch, M.D., and Phyllis A. Balch, C.N.C.)
here's a link to that book on GoodReads:
Prescription For Nutritional Healing

Tea Anyone?

2007-08-25T14:29:00.000-07:00

My favorite cup of herbal tea is Jasmine Green Tea, No sugar, but some lemon please :).

Evening Primrose Oil

2007-08-25T14:28:00.000-07:00

I take Evening Primrose oil usually once a day/twice a day during my period and right before. It seems to help with the PMS and also keep my period pain from being quite so severe.

Cocoa Butter for Bruises?

2007-08-24T08:18:00.000-07:00

I had heard this before and meant to try it out. Did use it a little bit, a while back on my foot and ankle where I have bruises still from breaking my leg right above the ankle and twisting both ankles really badly. However the bruises cleared up on the left foot but not the right. I'm going to make a concerted effort to use this regularly and will let you know if it helps. Has anybody else had success with using cocoa butter to get rid bruises that just don't want to go away?

Recent Herbal Remedies

2006-09-23T16:32:00.000-07:00

Several Herbal Remedies used at my house lately include:

clove oil - for a toothache

calendula tea - made from purchased dried calendula - for pink eye

A recipe of several essential oils - for ringworm