A few more little gifts

Here are a few more Christmas gifts.

Lucy got in on the crafting a bit, too:



She did her first watercolor painting this month, so I thought of a way to share that with some of our family and friends, a little stocking stuffer for the readers in our life (these are a few of them; we made many).



Next is a little present I made for her. She loves to play with drawstrings, cords, knots, and buttons, so I made her a toy full of them. She loves the button I added as a last-minute whim; it's huge and made of shell and cold, and must feel good on her gums (don't worry; it's on there very well!)



And here is a gift for a friend who holds his tension in his shoulders. I had read a lot about goldenrod this fall, and had read somewhere that goldenrod oil is good for aches and cramps and particularly for shoulder tension. So I decided to try my hand at making a salve. This was our first attempt, and it came out great! I had about 2/3 of a pint jar of goldenrod oil, and one block of beeswax (slightly more than an ounce), and decided to just use them all and hope for the best. Andi melted the beeswax, mixed in the oil, and put it in the fridge to hasten the set (we made it the day we planned to give it; Christmas Eve!), and it worked. It smelled lovely, looked beautiful in its thrifted container, and felt nice when he tried it on his hands. We've yet to see if it works on his shoulders.



More to come!

Don't try this at home

My latest experiment in herbal remedies has been making goldenrod tea and goldenrod oil. If you'd like to learn how, too, read Lisa's excellent post here.

This, on the other hand, is how not to do it.

Go for a walk in the twilight hour, and fill the basket of your stroller with goldenrod in the dimming light. At home, drop the heap on your kitchen counter to deal with later:



Get your baby out of the stroller and put her on the floor to crawl.

Note with mild interest, "hmmm...wonder why the cat's so interested? Does it smell like catnip?"

Return later to notice this:



And this:



Yup, there were 5 bees in there. And that one on the floor? Not so happy.