Snow is a comin'

There is snow in the forecast for this weekend. The idea of it fills me with glee! Snow! It helps that Sunday is my day off, and we've finally retrieved the last of our things from the storage unit, way the heck on the other side of town. I can cuddle up with blankets, warm tea, and good books, and my sweetheart and just relax. Now comes the real work of going THROUGH all those boxes. Some of which haven't been unpacked since I left Tucson a year ago. Clearly things not necessary or useful in daily life. And probably not very appropriate for van living. But what of the boxes of old journals from my teen years, and the box of poems and stories, and the tub of photographs. How does one get rid of those?

I do hope it snows on sunday. I think I'll make a big pot of buffalo stew with the grassfed bison meat from Rocky Plains in Dacono, Co. Cooked with ginger, maybe some astragalus and burdock, and maybe even some of the dried hawthorn berries I dried this week.

On herbal notes, based on Kiva's recent post about Chokecherry's not so famous but utterly useful properties, I made up a pint cold brewed bark infusion this morning to sip on through the day. I have had a recent bout of some digestive troubles this week, I'm guessing from a mistaken overdoing it on the magnesium, and aggravated by a bit of green chile soup which was too hot for my guts at school last night. The chokecherry bark infusion felt so cooling and relaxing to my hot and irritated digestive system. That cooling, soothing feeling stayed with me all day, long after I had stopped sipping that infusion.

I was going to go for the peach leaf brandy this morning, but in the dark with my darin asleep in the bed still, it was too difficult and too loud to find. I went for the jar of cherry bark instead, which was in plain sight.
The smell of fresh ground cold brewed cherry is downright heavenly. Like sweet almond baked treats. Delicious! Not bitter or astringent, just soothing and relaxing to an irritated system.
Thanks Kiva!

I read Matt Wood's chapter on Wood Betony in the Book of Herbal Wisdom this morning, and feel pretty strongly about that herb for my thesis at the moment. I have two weeks more to decide, but as of now, that is it. I'm really disappointed that the 100 seeds of Stachys betonica that I planted this spring never came up in the garden. I so wanted to get to know that plant on a more personal level. For now, it's dried commercial wood betony for tea. Phooey! If you or an herbalist you know happens to have this plant growing in your garden, and has some to trade or sell, I'd be very grateful to try a little.
Culpepper talks a lot of its use for wounds, and I'm thinking of making an oil soon for salves.

I also got the herbs for the Chinese formula, "Womens Four Things", dong quai, peony root, rehmannia and ligisticum, which is used to aid in menstrual disorders including blood and chi deficiency and stagnation. I'll be making up a batch of this traditional formula for experimentation this month, and I'll be sure to write about my experiences with it.