gardens and balms

so yeah, it's been a while.  and there are lots  of updates, so please excuse me if i randomly jump all over the place.

the garden is once again in epic fail mode.  i have six tomato plants that have yet to bloom  pepper plants are the same.  and my cabbage.....  withered in 2 days in the heat.  did not matter that i watered, composted, lovingly talked to the little bastards darlings.  nothing worked.  so i'm thinking that i'm just going to borrow a tiller and green compost the plants into the ground.  i was going to expand the garden in the fall anyway, so i'll just do it sooner rather than later.  i'm hoping to have everything tilled and ready to go by early fall...  i want to get a nice big crop of garlic planted so it's ready for spring.  cause i loves me some garlic.

i'm thinking next years garden will have a complicated system of soaker hoses and prayer.

i won an AWESOME prize pack from mrs b's blog giveaway.  the box was absolutely filled with all sorts of witchy goodness.  by far my favorite thing that was included was a monster batch of dried calendula.  now i don't know if you've ever looked at calendula before, but wow this stuff is great!  i've already infused it into some veggie oil so i can make it into a diaper rash balm for manchild.  (it's needed, more on that in a second).  here's the basic recipe:

basic balm:

1 1/2 tsp beeswax pellets
1/4 c oil
5-9 drops of essential oil

small clean container
cmall clean can
saucepan of water
popsicle stick


place the pellets and the oil in the can, place the can into the saucepan that's 1/2 filled with water  set to medium heat on the stove and allow the heat of the water to melt the wax into the oil.  when the wax is melted, remove the can from the water bath with gloves and add the essential oil.  as you add the eo, concentrate on your intent for the balm.  allow the balm to cool slightly.  when the surface starts to solidify, stir with the popsicle stick and reinforce your intent.  allow to cool a bit more.  when the balm is cooled  but not solid, pour into the container.  label with the contents and the date.

so for "butt balm" i'll be using the calendula infused oil, but no essential oils (because of baby's sensitive skin).  i'll let you all know how it turns out.

poor manchild. not only does he have diaper rash, but he's teething, and has a pretty good head cold going gon.  but gods love him, he's still a happy baby.  his first tooth just roke through, and mercy is that sucker sharp!

princess is knee deep in puberty.  niff said.  she starts school in just three weeks, and is feeling the pressure of "end of summer" pretty hard.  it tickles me that she HAD to get all her school supplies "alice in wonderland" themed.  we both have major crushes on Johnny Depp.

ohhhh, balms, almost forgot, my favorite balm of all....  "nothing can bother me balm"

basic balm
2 drops lime peel eo(NOT to be used on children or pregnant mommas)
2 drips lemon eo
2 drops sweet orange eo

i love this stuff, always makes me feel happy.

i have more to write, but i need to organize my thoughts a bit more first, so i'll blog again later.  but i'll end this with a question to you...


what kind of balm would you make for yourself and why?

heather