It's a beautiful morning on the mountain, cool and very still, not a leaf stirring. There are birds singing and a dog adding it's comments once in a while. The sun is just beginning to peak up over the mountain behind my kitchen window. It's been daylight for some time, but it takes a while for that lazy old sun to get high enough to see it.
I'm sitting here with my second cup of coffee, finished vacuuming while it was cool. We have enjoyed a couple of nearly perfect weeks now, in the upper 50's at night and around 80 during the day. I could take this forever, but it will change.
I have been collecting lavender buds, and calendula flowers, this latter one is slow going, and now, thanks to my sis backing me up, made a trip to a liquor store for a bottle of vodka to start brewing some tinctures. A tincture is just brewing your herbs or flowers in a closed container for 2 weeks, with vodka or 90 grain alcohol, shaking daily, to extract the oils and healing properties of plants. I am starting with lavender, then will do sage and whatever else my recipes call for. Mostly, I want to make healing salves. Will keep you posted on results and recipes.
Do you suffer from headaches? I have some ideas that are natural for you today. Shades of Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman. Willow Bark is great for tension headaches, brew 2 teaspoons of powdered bark in a cup of hot water for 10 minutes, and drink up to 3 cups per day. Simple, and no side effects. For migranes, use powdered feverfew, an 82 milligram capsule as needed through the day. These can be found at Mountain Rose Herbs, and I have found that my local health food store has a wall of herbs in containers, you can buy as little or as much as you need, and they are very reasonable, in fact the hyssop I bought a few weeks ago cost less than 25 cents for several ounces. And of course, no postage.
A friend in Maryland sent me a book this last week, called "For The Love of Stray Cats," by Father Joe Breighner. It's a very sad, and funny and insightful read, well worth checking out. Amazon sells it, it seems pricy but I think it's because the money goes to charity. Maybe your local library could find it, maybe not. It might be a Kindle thing too, have not checked that. But if you can find it, do take time to read it, you will learn a lot.
Still picking zucchinis and trying to use them up. Found a good recipe I am sharing. If you are not a zucchini fan, you could use broccoli, cauliflower, mixed vegetables etc instead. And I substitute feta cheese for the cheddar, so you can tweak this a lot of ways, I would add sauteed onions and garlic too.
Start by putting 1 tablesoon of olive oil in a skillet, heat, then add 1 cup of brown rice. Stir until the rice toasts and turns a golden brown. Add 2 cups of broth, chicken or vegetable, your choice. Cook about 20- 25 minutes, til most of the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and stir in one smallish grated zucchini(or something you like) , along with salt and pepper to taste, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and 1cup of grated cheddar(?) cheese. Stir well, cover and set aside for 5 to 10 minutes. Supper is ready.
Wishing you a good week, filled with family and friends.Take care, stay well. Read those labels and contact companies with your questions. How else can we get them to make changes?
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