More From Auld Mary, The Yarb Woman

Hey guys! Pardon the strange title. That is my official name when I do my herbal things. (I got it from a Little House book so blame them!)Okay, here I go! As I have already stressed my love of God's blessing in the way we can use herbs, I won't bore you by repeating it. But here are some of my latest accomplishments (or scrapes. You decide)

I undertook the task of making an all-purpose scrape, bruise, bump ointment, because as we all know, there are countless opportunities to use such a thing, and it is alot of fun to make. Or so I thought. One batch of burned herbal oil later, I have discovered that you must be very particular with a gas stove. You can't heat oil directly on it, so I decided, 'Ah-ha! I'll make a double boiler!" so there I go making a tidy little double boiler out of a pot with a glass bowl nested inside. That batch burned too. We were treated to a very suspicious-smelling fragrance all through the house though! (Yuck!!! :p) The reason? All the water had steamed out of the bottom pot. So I made a slapped-together version of a double boiler, and babysat the oil, and finally had the proper thing finished. I used equal parts of St. John's Wort, calendula, and comfrey in vegetable oil. (I burned all our olive oil! Shame on me! I hate wasting!)Anyhow, after straining the oil from the herbs, (or vice-versa) all that was left to do was add beeswax, and pour off into a glass jar. Voila! There! I have my first first-aid ointment.
Next I'm off the make cough drops. I just got a recipe online, and if they work, I'll post it! But here comes the one that absolutely cracks me up. It is a remedy for all the convenient little sores, burns, sprains and things that the children show you by the dozens at choretime! ;) Anyone should have the ingredients to make it. Ready? Mama's Cure-All Remedy
cayenne pepper
vinegar
garlic oil
strong peppermint oil, etc.

You shall probably get the idea by now. Make it smell bad, and sting, and soon enough there will be no more convenient ailments from the little ones! Isn't that brilliant? A lady at church told me about it. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed reading about my little mad-cap experiments, and I hope I don't blow anyone up anytime soon!
-Rachel