3 1/2 oz coarse oats, nuts (peanuts are a good choice), dried fruits, seeds (sunflower seeds)
Garden Wire
Old tennis ball or similar, sliced in 1/2 & with a small round hole cut out of the top. Resealed by wrapping a length of wire around the ball and twisting the wire ends together, securely.
Garden String
Directions:
Put the lard in a saucepan & melt it gently over low heat, mix the dry ingredients together seperately
Add handfuls of the dry food to the melted lard and mix them toether. The dry ingreidients should be well-coated in the lard.
Insert wire which is a little longer than the mold into the center of the mold. Pack mix in around the wire.
Leave the seed mix in the molds to cool completely, then remove the molds, attach string to the wire and hang up high.
Remember if you start feeding birds that they will believe you will continue, so don't do it if you don't plan on continuing to feed them throughout the year. Hang high enough that squirrels and rodents can't get to it but the birds can. There are bird feeders available that sense when the weight is too heavy for a bird and will drop the squirrel.
You can also try any of the awesome ones on Pinterest (so many different ideas). This is a great way to start off spring, helping out
**Please note this isn't my recipe, I have had it in my collection for a few years and the journal I had it in was damaged so I don't have who the recipe came from. If you know please leave it in the comments and I will add the attribution. **
Welcome back to another week of Kitchen Witch Wednesday, Make sure to stop my our host blog. Mom's a Witch to see her post for today.
I was a youtube vlogger before I became a blogger. I found a great community on there that shared so many great things & gave great advice while motivating each other on our chosen paths.
One of the many great friendships I formed on there was with MsSophiaDawn (she's no longer on YT & she took her videos down). Sophia was a Southern woman who loved to explore her faith, her magic & her garden, & boy could she craft up a storm. She shared this little recipe with us and I have been using it ever since.
Ingredients:
1 cup boiling water
1 large glass dish
Parchment paper (as much as you want)
Newspaper
1 Tablespoon Saltpeter (vester)**** EXTREMELY FLAMMABALE ***** Use with caution
(optional) Essential Oils
Directions:
In glass bowl pour boiling water, add in the tablespoon saltpeter. Mix well allow to dissolve, then allow to cool. ( at this point you may add essential oils if you want). Note 1 tbsp of vester to 1 cup water, if you need more, make sure it matches this way)
Put paper in the cool water and let it soak well
Hang to dry about 1 hour. (away from open flame) ******DO NOT PUT IN OVER******
Welcome back to Kitchen Witchin Wednesdays. this week I'm sharing with you the tool I use to keep my hair clean. I have locs and I can't use the regular (I mean I guess I could but I don't like to) shampoos and cleaners for my hair. I don't always have the time or the funds to purchase the super expensive ones i love either, so I have gone back to basics with my most basic of hair supplies. And you probably have them in your kitchen already.
Doing hair rinses helps to promote scalp health & help to prevent further damage that is done by UV rays, pollution & our hair products. Since the scalp is maintained by blood vessel that supply it with protein & other nutrients, the best recipes will work on the scalp itself.
When I was younger I learnt that if you had light colored hair( blonde) that using lemon juice on your hair will bring out your highlights. I have since learnt that it's great for helping eliminate the extra oil from your scalp as well.
@deziner02 via SXC.hu
Highlight Rinse Recipe:
1 lemon with 1/4 cup water in a glass jar, shake well.
Use:
After shampooing, rinse your hair with this recipe then allow to stand in your hair for five mins. Rinse out with cool water.
Beer rinse for body & shine
Of course the most rumored & well known rinse of course is the beer rinse. To add body & shine to your hair, you can use a flat or stale beer to rinse your hair once a month. The smell won't last long so don't worry about smelling like a brewery at work ( you could also do it on say a friday night or the weekend so by monday the smell will be gone). The beer will add B vitamins & natural sugar to your hair which is what gives it the added shine. Ehow, has a great how to guide for making your own beer rinse & explains the science a little more.
Split End Prevention (do this 2-3 times a week)
Olive oil, use a few teaspoon of oil on your hair ends to seal them & leave on overnight. You can rinse out in the morning if you need to.
Use coconut oil on the scalp to help with hair growth & to help release hair so it won't tangle & will be less likely to split as well.
Sub Damage Prevention
Apply Sesame oil to help protect the hair. The sun can cause serious damage to the hair, especially during the summer months when we are running from ocean/pool to parties or a BBQ without covering out head. The sun can dry out hair making it prone to being brittle & breakage. Use the oil before going out, by massaging a few teaspoons (based on hair length, longer means a few more, shorter means a little).
Hair rinses:
Make hair rinse much like making herbal tea. Pout boiling water over a teaspoon of the herbs, steep for 10 mins, then strain. Massage into scalp as evenly as possible, allow hair to air dry. (You don't have to rinse the hair out) Use the rinse AFTER shampooing!!
Sage Rinse: helps to reduce oil buildup & promotes healthy hair. Use this rinse after shampooing for 3 weeks. Birch Leaf Rinse: Helps to promote a healthy scalp & is believed to help prevent hair loss. It also softens the hair & adds shine. don't use on blonde or gray hair, it will darken the color, Chamomile Rinse: Using the flowers, this rinse soothes & heals the scalp & gives hair a healthy shine, Can also be used to lighten blonde hair. Linden Flower Rinse: Best for dried out hair, especially for hair taxed by repeated dying or bleaching and is now brittle. Promotes scalp health & circulation. Use for six weeks for best results.
Deep Clean (Purifying Cleanser)
For a deep clean of my hair I use a apple cider vinegar rinse, the recipe I found here:
Can I say I was much like Chesca, shocked at how much gunk was still in my hair even though I washed it only a few days before. What she didn't say and what I learnt later is that you should wash your hair after doing the treatment. Since this treatment strips your hair you should only do it a few times a year. Chesca suggests twice a year, when i first learnt about it I did it every three months, by time I did it that last time my locs weren't in such a deep need, because of the next 'shampoo'.
Even if you don't have locs this is like using a clarifying shampoo on your hair, it cleans out the buildup of product that takes place over time. Once I really learnt about loc maintenance for myself I started doing apple cider vinegar rinse every time I washed my hair. And that's a simple recipe as well.
You simply need apple cider vinegar & baking soda.
Directions:
Many people I know will coat their locs or hair with the baking soda allow it dry a little (first make a paste with water)
then fill a bucket or tub with the hottest water you can stand, then pour in about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of cider vinegar (base this on the length & thickness of your hair, for longer hair go for more)
then starting with the ends of your hair dip then in the mix and continue adding more of your hair, the baking soda will pop & fizzle, once it stops add more of your hair, keep going until you feel all the baking soda is gone and no more reaction is taking place, make sure to get the front & back of your head as well.
Rinse, with plain water, then shampoo/ or co wash as necessary (co-washing is using conditioner to wash your hair instead of shampoo, some claim it prevents the stripping of hair & helps with growth.)
Information gathered from many sources, including my own experience. The herbal rinses recipes & information from the Complete Natural Healing group 7, card 15
So there you have it. These are some of the recipes in my arsenal for healthy hair. Have you done any of these before?? Have a favorite recipe?? Share in the comments.
Yes you read that right, this will show you how to make your own mayo.
Why would you want to when you can stop in any store a get one? Well
1) it's cheap
2) no preservatives
3) you can make it as organic as you want to.
Ingredients:
1 egg yolk (i used an organic egg)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice
Directions can be found here, I followed the directions here and my may came out perfectly.
It's actually a simple trick and really great mayo can me had, the only problem being that if you don't eat a lot of mayo you have to make only the one egg, and it lasts for about a week. Another trick is to use white pepper if your going to make this, since the black flakes show up and look weird, learned that one through trial and error.
I loved the recipe, how quickly it whipped up and finding out that mayo is the basis of almost all white dressings was pretty cool. So if your a fan of blue cheese or ranch making this and using some for that is so easy. The links to make dressings are also located on the page of mayo directions
Have fun and enjoy those sandwiches topped with your own mayo
Be Blessed
Today in the Northeast has dawned bright and dreary with ice storms and sleet raining throughout the day. As a ‘weather maven’ or follower of weather patterns this for me means that winter only has a few more weeks of a hold. I don’t need the Groundhog’s prediction to let me know that. I simply followed the rhyme:
If Candlemas be bright and fair
Winter will have another year
but if it be dark with clouds & rain
winter is gone & will not come again
Traditional Edwardian Saying
Today is a good day to pull out and bless all your candles for the year. Last night, I placed a Bride’s Bed with the God’s wand which I made in front of the fire place, I also did a small releasing spell and a meditation. I started at midnight and ended close to one, (the Goddess loves to talk). The how of making these items and the little installation ritual came from the Llewellyn Sabbats book.
To make the Bride Bed you will need:
blue and white cloth
blue and ribbon
some yarn
corn husks
cotton balls
a basket or shoe box top to make the bed
white cloth to act as bedding
beading for the goddess
wand or branches for the wand
Follow Patti's directions here on how to make your doll. My corn husks were fresh because I just purchased corn to make soup. I started at 1130 making the doll and finished just in time to go to the fire place by midnight.
To Make the Bed: I placed the white cloth in the bottom of the box lid, then placed extra fabric at the head to make a pillow. You can decorate it if you feel like with blue and white paint.
Installation Ritual: Place the bed before the fireplace or on your altar. Light the two white candles and your incense. When I placed the Goddess in the bed I repeated the words found in the Sabbat book:
"Welcome the Bride turned from Mother to Maiden
to rest and prepare fot hte time fo the seed
Cleansed and refreshed from the labors behind her
with the promise of spring she lays before me"
Then place the wand beside the Bride and say:
"How soon comes the Lord
how quickly he grows
the season will turn
before we know"
For my little releasing spell, I made the following: incense: equal parts: benzoin, sandalwood, and lavender powder Scented parchment paper: each paper was scented with lavender essential oil and peppermint essential oil.
On one paper I wrote all that I wanted to burn away in the fires of the forge, and the other I wrote all I wished to manifest this year. I burned the first list without reading it and told them goodbye. Then I summoned the Goddess as witness as I read what i wished to manifest then i added that to the fire, and let it burn.
In all my years I have never really worked with the Goddess Brigid for anything other than inspiration at this time of the year, but for the month of Feb I wish to work with her and get to know her a little better, since I haven’t gotten any visitations telling me to back off from her I'm guessing Morrigan is cool with her.
Meditation So I decided last night to do the regular meditation of visiting the forge, but this time the Goddess took over and man she wasn't what I expected. i sat infront of the Bride's bed, one of the candles seemed to dance more in the 'wind' than the other, and the incense smoke danced and wove it's way around the flame, as I gaze inside i found myself walking through my backyard in the snow, and before me was a bridge, below was a spring river with water so clear I could see the fishes as they swam, beside me were hooks and rope with netting, I knew this is were I placed all my wordly worries and fears. I placed them in the netting, hooked the netting to a line and lowered them into the water, where they would we washed away, and the heavy ones would be lightened for when i return. I turn to walk and noticed that this side of the bridge isn't a frozen tundra like the other-side behind me, there are green shoots, and small spring flowers, crocuses are pushing up from the soil, even with the small patches of snow. I can hear the birds within the deep forest and walk the path that seems to be laid out for me, it's a dirt path the goes deep within the thick woods, where massive trees guard the sides.
Soon I can hear the clang of the metal being worked and when I walked into the forge the heat hit me, and i saw a tall person wearing the gear of a metal worker, they had long blond hair braided back into a ponytail, and wore the thick heavy gloves, apron and boots of a blacksmith. The body shape from the back was the only way to tell that the blacksmith was in fact a woman (that and her blue ribbons around the white leggings, like the bows on a ballerina's legs), we are alone in the forge, and I walk closer. She turns with a huge flaming piece of metal to the anvil and starts working it. After a while she acknowledges me, tells me to grab a hammer and work the metal with her, i follow the rhythm she has set, she plunges the metal back into the fire, then into the bucket of water, and then works it some more. She doesn't talk as she works and I follow her lead, after awhile I stop working as she is now doing something more intricate and doesn't need my help. I realize she is carving something into the metal, as I lean closer i realize it's my name.
I stand up as she does the last letter, and puts aside her tools. She looks at me and I quickly tell her why I am there, she cuts me of and finishes with my hearts deepest desires what i wouldn't have said, not yet, when I stare, she laughs, a deep rich laugh, and I smile I can't help it. She talks and when I make a comment she interrupts and tells me " I'm not a child or a genie, I am a Goddess, I cannot be commanded or bent to your will" ohh oh, I look into her eyes, and feel the weight of her age, she looks young but she is older than time itself, there is something alien there in those blue eyes, something that has never been human, and sees way deeper than I wanted her to. it is then I notice the clangs of another blacksmith, and look up and see the God, his back is to me, but his forearms and shoulders flex with muscles, and a fissure of desire runs through me, she turns and smiles as she sees him, there is a fleeting expression across her face, I attempt to step closer to see what he is working on, she cuts me off. "You aren't ready to see what is there, yet". She then turns and leads the way out the forge, I walk beside her, her longer legs eat up the ground and she pulls ahead of me, as I walk I notice the changes around me, the green is brighter, the birds sing louder, the trees are beginning to breathe deep again and there is a warmer breeze. I realize She is bringing Spring as she walks, I run to catch up, knowing I have to keep up, somehow we are back at the bridge again " We have much work to do to complete your project, it may take a lifetime, but it will be done.." (she says more things I wish to keep close for now), but then commands me across the bridge, as I go to retrieve my line, she tells me to leave them there, as those worries are no longer relevant. I walk across the bridge and return to my backyard, enter my home, walk to where my body sits waiting and sink back in.
I have much work to do. How has your Candlemas been so far? Happy Imbolc!!!
I’m a big fan of the susatainable movement and homesteading. So over the winter one of the blogs I have been (obsessiveness) following mentioned the Victorian Farm, and I of course went looking for it on youtube and fell head over heels in love. I found this amazing Wassial idea and history from the recent show Edwardian Farm from BBC, I love watching Victorian Farm especially the Christmas special, but the shows are great at showing how we lived before and how our farming and domestic life evolved to a semblance of what we have today. I love reading the recipes that Ruth (the resident domestic historian) makes and shares.
Here is a Wassail Recipe
Heat a large container of beer or ale about 3 or 4 pints
1/2 cup(4oz, 100g) sugar
1/4 cup(2oz/50g) of mixed spice (cinnamon sticks, & whole cloves are best)
cut up 2 or 3 small sweet apples & add those
add 1 1/2 cup (1/2 pint, 300ml) of pineapple juice & orange juice
squeeze 2 lemons into the brew
place over a slow flame, before it begins to boil,take off the heat & whip up with some cream, allow to float on top of brew.
place into a large bowl. the more ornate the better
Wassail Ceremony
Go out to your trees, (especially apple trees, or fruit trees which is traditional) with a few friends. Wet the roots liberally with the brew, pass the rest around and when everyone has a glass, sing the wassailing songs.And saw "Huzzah" as you drink.
recipe from Winter Solstice by John Matthews.
here's too thee, old apple tree
whence thou may'st bud &
whence thou may'st blow
and whence thou may'st
bear apples enow
Hats full, Caps full, bushel
bushel sacks full
and my pockets full too!
Huzzah!!
As Yule went by they showed a new show and someone very nicely put it on Youtube and I have linked it here on doing Wassailing, and it's history. Peter and Alex noticed that their apple trees weren't producing as they should so they requested help in Wassailing the tree. I also discovered a new blog with an awesome wassial recipe as well (i also got the image from her, which i also found on bing)
Enjoy the clip, let me know what you think about it. if you want to watch the series and aren't in Europe check on Youtube under Edwardian Farm there are clips as well as full episodes loaded.
Today is major cleaning day for me, mostly i break down the house cleaning to one day each week.
Monday- Kitchen
Tuesday- bathrooms
Wednesday- Bedrooms & laundry
Thursday- Dining/Living Room
Friday- Floors
Saturday- Polishing, Dusting, Tossing Trash and such
Sunday- meal Prep, grocery shopping, ironing the next weeks cloths
I generally clean with green cleaners that I make myself or have bought & used and enjoyed in the past (yes I know it sounds weird that I enjoyed cleaning)
I sometimes change things depending how many friends i have had over and need to clean up after them or prep for their coming.
One of the best cleaners i have ever had was quite simple to make, Vinegar and water with lemon juice does so much, it bust grease on the counters, & brings a high gloss shine to windows. (and smells great too)
Heavy Duty Scouring Powder:
1/2 cup baking soda
1/2 cup borax
1/2 washing soda
4 1/2 tspn Essential oil
Make sure to label DO NOT STORE IN KITCHEN, product looks like grated Parmesan; also DO NOT use on grout as it is too harsh and can weaken it.
I am mixing the products because i have found that these work the best for me. Method has an amazing floor cleaner for wood, which is like a swiffer cleaner, and has re-usable pads that you can throw into the wash. There is also one for regular floors with a microfiber cloth for it also (they are different colors so you don't mix them up). they also carry a set of bamboo cloths that can be thrown away or even into your compost.
So thats just an idea of what my cleaning basket looks like, these aide in maintaining my home, and make cleaning a not so tedious task.
As always my loves, have a fun safe day
I have enjoyed learning about going green in my cleaning and i thought why not share what i know with you dear readers.
One of the things that has taken a little longer to get green has been the carpet in my home but it has gotten easier lately since i learned this recipe.
You can change the scent if you want to but i love the lavender scent ( to me lavender smells "clean")
Ingredients:
1 cup baking soda
1/2 cup lavender bud or bud powder
lavender essential oils
