Potions, lotions and emotions

It's all a bit quiet in blogland right now - and that is as it should be in this fine summer weather. Right now I am enjoying living life instead of writing about it - and so many things have been happening that to report it all would be too much of a task. So, a quick catch up here, and later on the gardening blog.
Anyway, i have been doing a bit of potion making! I have been inspired by The Holistic Beauty Book by Star Khechara - a fabulous book full of mouthwatering recipes for body lotions, face oils, scrubs, bath melts etc. The white stuff in the jar is vanilla body butter, made with coconut oil, cocoa butter and a vanilla pod - how bad can that be? I am sitting here smelling like a bounty bar - it is so delicious. The other small jar contains fragrant rose petals from the garden, macerating in organic almond oil, and is almost ready to be used as a base for more body cream and a face oil.
I have had a go with her Irish moss and soapwort shampoo, but, as it has to be made fresh, you really need to have plenty time to rub it through a sieve and rinse all the bits out your hair. Possibly not a good time is when your husband is heading out to work in 5 minutes and you have a 2 year old running around! It did leave my hair smelling and feeling gorgeous though, so i will pencil in a pampering session soon.

The jar at the back contains my staple nettle infusion. I make this up most days, sometimes I use borage, milk thistle or raspberry leaf for a change. Now, this is not your normal herbal tea bag type tisane. This is a full on brew - two handfuls of dried herb steeped in boiling water for four hours in a sealed jar. Just the stuff for the mother of a nursing toddler - especially one of advancing years (the mother, that is :))



Now this stuff is my new morning elixir - the green smoothie! After reading Green for Life by Victoria Boutenko I knew I neededto get more raw greens into our diet. I have to say I struggle a bit with salads - it takes so long to munch through even a modest portion of the stuff. Now I just add a large bunch of leaves - lettuce, chickweed, spinach - whatever I have that looks good - to a cocktail of fruity things and whizz it all up - delicious! We are already feeling some benefits from it - more energy and less likely to snack on sugary things. Also - well, I was going to include the word 'motions' in the post title, but lets just say things are moving along nicely;)
The recipe above was - 2 handfuls of an oaty seedy mix (I used the Food Doctor's porridge mix) " smaller handfuls of raisins, soaked overnight in 1 cup of water. In the morning I picked 2 spinach plants that looked as if they were going to go to seed and a wee handful of chickweed and added them with the oat mix to the blender along with 2 bananas and the remains of a punnet of blueberries - whizzed it up and enjoyed the thick creamy result.

And as for emotions - well, today my darling husband is going to hand in his notice at work - yes he is finally going to retire! It is a big thing for us, but more so for him. He has spent the last 38 years as a doctor, most of it in psychiatry, and has loved every minute. He took a long time to reach this decision, but now it has been made and by the end of September James will have 2 full time parents at home. Lots of exciting plans are being discussed - ideas floated and dreams dreamed right now. So many challenges, changes and good times ahead - will keep you posted. Who knows? this may mean I get the breakfast dishes washed before lunchtme!