It is done!

 

I have successfully completed the Family Herbalist course through Vintage Remedies!  Now onto the Clinical Master Herbalist Course

Today I am studying the Doctrine of Signatures and it is quite fascinating.   Simply stated the Doctrine of Signatures is a philosophy that states that herbs that resemble parts of the body are successful for treating that part of the body.  In addition plants that resemble animals can be useful in treating illnesses or wounds in relation to that animal.  For example snakeroot is an herbal remedy for snake bites.

Perhaps it is just superstition, perhaps not…the belief is rooted in the deeper belief that the Creator placed His signature in creation hence the name “doctrine of signatures”

It is interesting to note however that this belief seems to hold true in many cases.  In the case of the Elderberry, the berry cluster resemble the air sacs of the lung and it has been shown thrown various studies to be effective in shortening the duration of colds and flu. 

I will quick babbling and get back to studying….hope to see you next weekend at Northern Lamb and Wool!

Why I love Irish Dance

Tonight was our first night back to Irish Dance after a month off.  I nearly died.  Seriously, I thought I was going to leave a lung on the floor.  But I loved every minute of it!  Why?

Because I got to be someone other than mom, just for a little bit.  I really, really love being a mom don’t get me wrong, but sometimes… between the diapers and the tantrums and the emotional rollercoasters of puberty it is just nice to focus on something else for a little while.

Because I go with my son and daughter and we get to work on who we are together outside of the daily monotony of farm chores and dishes.

Because I sweat and all the anxiety and failures of the week run down and the movement helps me regroup a bit.

Because every once and a while there is a moment in the dance when it just flows and you seem to transcend time.  All that is there is the beat and the beauty of the gift that God has given you to move just so at just the right time and you feel almost as though He’s watching…. quite like a father watches His little girl twirl around and around.  He laughs when she laughs and no matter how she fails and fumbles….

He thinks she is quite beautiful.

So I guess in the end what I really love is how dancing makes me think of God…and how very much He loves us.

Funny huh?

Weaving!!

A ran into an old friend and she and her family kindly gifted me her mother’s Union rug loom!  

The warp is already on, I just need to tie it.   I am pretty excited to get started.  In return, I need to weave something on it for one of the brothers.  I can’t wait to get started.

I am a total beginner (epic failure even) at weaving but I am determined to figure it out!  Last night I put the warp on the Katie loom and it didn’t go well….

At first everything seemed fine until I tried to raise the heddles.   Then as you can see the shed is a mess ;(

If anyone can tell me what I am doing wrong I would greatly appreciate it!