HERE NOW IS THE ANCIENT ELDER BUSH THAT I FOUND LAST FALL AND WAS allowed/ALOUD TO PICK THE BERRIES FROM FOR THE MOST FABULOUS JAM EVER! I HAD NOT HAD IT BEFORE~~~YUMMYYYY

I don't have a good working camera besides my phone camera. I wish I had zoom for this one. As I drove up for a closer photo of the bush/tree I noticed another enjoying this wonderful ally!

This simple action, me coming along to briefly to enjoy this most wonderful creation just happens upon another wonderful creature being as still as possible, and watching me.
                                    (I now officially know the JOY of happenstance)

I was sooo close to him. Very cool. We were kind of head to head really. This subtle feeling has stayed with me through my busy morning. I didn't even think of it again, because I had to go about my business.I just rounded the bend off to my morning job. When I got home and checked my email there was the photo and I was again ecstatic and went to work to publish it.

My intention was to share a visual identification of how Elder Bush looks in winter. I really didn't get a good look at it last fall while busily picking them beautiful berries. I was just so excited that the folks there shared the berries with me. The only others using the berries were the birds and I was sure to leave bunches for them by the home's front window because the house residents loved to watch the birds and squirls eat the berries. There were quite a lot of berries. The human women of the residence's father had been known to make wine when they were children from that same bush, so it was a part of the family and they were excited for someone to show an interest. I was quite honored. I gave them some of the jam as a thankyou. :D

Can you see him?

Here is a close up of the base of the Elder Bush. It is beautiful, isn't it?


 

                                                              ©Allisonians Please ask me for permission to use my photos or writing

Plant of the Day; marshmallow, mallow. This is the question and the answer. Here's my dried plant from this summer. I am going to work it into a cream with cleavers, or maybe in a facial mask form. I won't know until I get to start playing with it.

Have to work for a little while so I have my things ready to work on just as soon as I get home. :D


©Allisonians Please ask me for permission to use my photos or writing

PHOTO IS MINE~MY HYDRANGA TWIG TRANSPLANTS. {the parent plants are right behind them not in photo} I found this article from Kiva Rose and wanted to share it. It's About Herbal Diversity. By Rena A.D.

©Allisonians Please ask me for permission to use my photos. THANKS~~~

Design Thinking For The Creative Herbalist

   "I don’t have the answers. But answers don’t matter all that much: it’s the good questions that count. Ask yourself the powerful questions. Question your assumptions, evaluate your frameworks.
    Most of all, design who you are from your heart’s passion and values. After all, you’re the creator of your life, legacy & practice." Rena A.D.

In The Know presents. Do You Have a Wheat Belly/ i.e. processed wheat/ And A Wonderful Yummy Brownie Recipe

Mocha Walnut Brownies

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Dr. Davis

If you haven’t already signed up for the Wheat Belly newsletter, please do so (left navigation bar). This was the recipe that we sent out recently. For anyone who hasn’t yet signed up, I reproduce it here.

Richer than a cookie, heavier than a muffin, brownies are ordinarily an indulgence that leaves you ashamed of your lack of restraint. Have one . . . or two or three, and you will surely pack on a pound of belly fat.

... But these mocha walnut brownies, as with other recipes I provide, will not pack on the pounds. With no wheat to trigger appetite, nor any readily-digestible carbohydrate to generate blood sugar highs and lows, you can have a nice brownie or two or three and nothing bad happens: You don’t send blood sugar sky-high, don’t trigger formation of small LDL particles and triglycerides, you don’t trigger appetite, you don’t gain a pound of belly fat. You simply have your brownie(s) and enjoy them.

Serve these brownies plain or topped with cream cheese, natural peanut or almond butter, or dipped in coffee.

Ingredients:
8 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate (100% chocolate)
4 tablespoons coconut oil or butter, melted
2 large eggs, separated
½ cup coconut milk (or sour cream)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups ground almonds
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1 cup chopped walnuts
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder (or plain dried instant coffee)
Sweetener equivalent to 1 cup sugar or to taste (e.g., liquid stevia, Truvía, erythritol)
Preheat oven to 350º F.

Melt chocolate using double boiler method or in 15-second increments in microwave. Stir in melted coconut oil or butter.

In small bowl, beat egg whites until frothy. Add egg whites, egg yolks, coconut milk, and vanilla extract to chocolate mixture and mix thoroughly by hand.

In separate bowl, combine ground almonds, coconut flour, walnuts, cocoa powder, espresso, and sweetener. Mix thoroughly.

Add dry mix to chocolate mix and mix together thoroughly. If dough is too stiff, add additional coconut milk, one tablespoon at a time.

Place mixture in 9-inch square baking pan and bake for 25 -30 minutes or until toothpick withdraws
dry. 3 cheers to this yummy treat! hip Hip ha-ray x3

Evening Primrose Work; Here now are my Evening Primroses

Well I just wrote a post on this and it got eaten by the mean pc'er hick-up computer nonsense that makes me go blah~~~. So, I think what I was saying is too personal. So, my thanks to our old departed friend Dave for this last wonderful gift. I found these primroses on the corner of where he lived, loved and was loved in his short beautiful life. Thank you Dave! We miss you!
I have been harvesting these little darlings since last fall. They are in abundance there on the corner of our friends now very say house. It is the shadow of our love for him now. Finding this treasure brings a new way of remembering our love for David. :D

I will post the photos of the plants I transplanted to the earth in my out-of-door garden asap. Cheers :D

©Allisonians Please ask me for permission to use my photos or writings. Thank you!

AND THE INFAMOUS DAN DE LION ROOTS FROM MY BELOVED GRANDMA MAE'S DAN DE PATCH; THE RASCLY LION :d

I DRIED THESE AS THEY ARE IN THIS PHOTO.

IN TACK

©Allisonians Please ask me for permission to use my photos

JANUARY TASKS;

PENDING;
1. PLANT LIST OF COMMON AND LATIN NAMES;
WILL DO ASAP.

2. I have made cedar oil double infussed,

 3. and I tryed the cream recipe with quite a lot of substitues. I love it, but it did not turn out together, it separates and I know why. So, I will publish my comments on that asap too.

4. Dug up dandelion roots, as they were covered and entangled in construction this fall. The earth is very wet as well, and this makes for easy digging. :D

5. I also transplanted 18 evening primroses I found BY CHANCE LAST FALL and have been weeding(tee-hee) the road side edge of them ever since. They are spectacular (my longterm goal is to distill them to make the oil of primrose myself! YUM). and I cut and planted 50 if not 100 hydranga clippings. I know it isn't the typical time of year, but the earth is really wet and easy to transplant.
Photo is of the Evening Primroses. I even have a tiny 1x1 pot with one in it. :D I'll take a photo of that one with the others that I brought inside asap.

My favorite saying of the week;
ASAP (:D)

©Allisonians Please ask me for permission to use my photos

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE BEAUTIFUL COWLITZ RIVER AND MISTER GOLDEN SUN~~~ 3 CHEERS~~~

©Allisonians Please ask me for permission to use my photos. THANK YOU~

emulsifying wax

links;
http://www.teachsoap.com/emulsifywax.html

Glycerine and it's substitutes; Thank you eHow! 3 CHEERS :D

Here's the link;
http://www.ehow.com/info_7808773_glycerine-substitutes.html

I needed this info.

Glycerin is used in beauty products as a humecant, meaning it attracts moisture when applied to the skin. It also acts as an emulsifier to bind all of the ingredients in the lotion to make a creamy, smooth mixture. Glycerin is naturally created when lye soap is made. Coconut oil and lanolin should be used to replace glycerin in lotions. Use one half part coconut oil and one half part lanolin instead of glycerin to equal the same amount of glycerine that is needed. Coconut oil acts as a humecant to attract moisture and lanolin acts as an emulsifier to create the smooth texture. Together they give a similar effect as glycerin and can still be referred to as natural products.

Read more: Glycerine Substitutes
eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_7808773_glycerine-substitutes.html#ixzz1i5870M78

I am a Proud new Apprentice! 3 Cheers and here is my guide to success for this day Today:

‎©Allisonians PLEASE ASK MY PERMISSION TO USE MY PHOTO. THANKS~

49: INTUITION
A: Trust your intuition. It is true and accurate for this situation.

50: FOLLOW YOUR VALUES
A: Your morals and values should guide your days. Make sure you are only acting in a way you believe to be ethically correct....

13: TRUTH
A: Trust your inner guidance in regards to this situation.

Very much indeed a good way to go on this old year. 3Cheers~~~:D

Thanks to Sarah at Springfield Sanctuary! Santuary Much! (Tee-Hee)
HAPPY NEW YEAR! :D

cherry bark expertise; looking for the best bark for my buck/ Cough syrup has long been either onion syrup or cherry bark. Here now i LOOK into cherry bark :D

lovely link and a blogger too:
http://plantjourneys.blogspot.com/2009/05/wild-mystery-cherry-elixir.html

the eHow way;
http://www.ehow.com/how_5681649_make-cherry-bark-cough-syrup.html

And the hempies' say;
http://www.coolhemp.com/healingtrees/beaver/cherry.shtml


sidebar, sap;
http://www.ehow.com/how_8331077_cherry-tree-sap.html

~~~~~PARADISE FOGGED 12.21.11 ~~~~~~~~~~ HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE~~~~~~~~

When you come upon paradise and cannot stay....

Believe you can....

When the darkness is past because it's the shortest day..

Know you are there...

My Friends advise me to feel...

This one is bliss...

©Allisonians PLEASE ASK MY PERMISSION TO USE MY PHOTO. THANKS~

Today I know.....

To succeed in a situation release negativity and doubt.
                     ALSO
Bring love and blessings through devine work.

Hew EEE; Check Out this Great Resource for Us PNW Folks; From Portland, OR BoneyardNW~~

http://www.boneyardnw.com/

The Leaving of a Hill

Here
I
Leave
Lovingly

©Allisonians

Antigone Rising

Check out this aritist here;
http://antigonemihalakopoulou.blogspot.com/
~~~~~~~
my poetic try at abstraction; enjoy~~~

Antigone Flare

And again that Antigone, antagonist flare comes flashing by!
It's in the air and I can't say why.
It's on the super highway of the estuary sky.
It's in the aquamarine of the southern fly.

It only lasts an instant if you go through the wise of reasoning.
It lives and breaths among us like a sip of proper Riesling!
So come to the table and take a sip.
Then have your ever lasting just dessert.

©Allisonians (just my poem here, the photo is Antigone's; peace upon you and much enjoyment too!)

Water is the most receptive of the four elements. This link from YouTube was sent to me from KaronV and I am republishing it for your convenience; Nameta

I received this email from my friend. She always has wonderful aspirations. She teaches wonderful classes on herbs and life. Thank you Julie. I am so glad to have received this.

David Whyte is in Seattle, WA at Town Hall 12/2 Great Hall, Green Lake 12/3
Here is the link for more details;
Enjoy;
http://www.davidwhyte.com/


Everything is Waiting for You


by David Whyte



Your great mistake is to act the drama as if you were alone.
As if life were a progressive and cunning crime with no witness to the tiny hidden transgressions.
To feel abandoned is to deny the intimacy of your surroundings.
Surely, even you, at times, have felt the grand array;
the swelling presence, and the chorus, crowding out your solo voice
You must note the way the soap dish enables you,
or the window latch grants you freedom.

Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.
The stairs are your mentor of things to come,
The doors have always been there to frighten you and invite you,
And the tiny speaker in the phone is your dream-ladder to divinity.

Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into the conversation.
The kettle is singing even as it pours you a drink,
The cooking pots have left their arrogant aloofness
And seen the good in you at last.
All the birds and creatures of the world are unutterably themselves.
Everything is waiting for you.

With Much Gratitude to Julie for sharing.

The Strawberry Leaf Tea Question/Comment addressed :D

I am briefly commenting as to address a comment on an old post that I only just received yesterday.
Strawberry leaf tastes green, if you know what I mean? I like to dehydrate little bits of strawberry, the friut, to add to it.
I think most folks add sweatener to their respective teas, but I believe the old adage is that not sweetening the tea helps with it's medicinal proberties. I think, personally, that enjoying the flavor may be helpful in some cases. As in just enjoying a cup of mother natures bounty cases. It sure helps prepare for the cold and dark of winter, that I know for sure.
Happy Holidays!
Enjoy your tea! No matter what kind you try.
:D
©Allisonians

The Color Green

I have a dream and the color green is a big part of it.
I have a balance with nature and green is the key to it.
I have a desire to expand and to grow.
I have a deep and dark green soul.
Life has that particular and overt ebb and flow.
From dark, to light
From stark to bright.
Dark days until you can not wait.
An intensity that is sensed only once that first green of spring warmth is felt.


Green is powerful, green is deep, green is prosperity on the best knoll.
Don't you think? Or should that be a statement. :D


©Allisonians

Loowit Mountain; this land is Our Land,,,

Oh that mountain, she does call me, but I don't want to go just yet.
Oh that mountain, she does sell me to my own I can depend.
Oh that mountain, friendship utters, how do you get from here to there?
Oh that mountain, she does know just where and why and when.
©Allisonians (only the words are mine)

the photo is 'ours'...Thank you to   http://www.citypictures.org/data/media/237/Mount_St._Helens_and_Spirit_Lake_Washington.jpg


Mount St. Helen's has been one of the biggest mysteries of my life.

Here is an article from a near by paper aka TDN;
 here is the link;
http://tdn.com/news/local/article_8eac8632-f471-11e0-8f95-001cc4c002e0.html

and the link that brought me there;
http://swwdc.org/#PubTalk

and let us not forget her official site;
http://mountsthelens.com/

Lotion Bars by Herb Mentor! THANK YOU HM~~~

link;
http://www.learningherbs.com/news_issue_73.html

Herb Substitute Chart

http://homecooking.about.com/library/weekly/blherbsub.htm

Italian Herb Salad Dressing Recipe

Link;
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Italian-Herb-Salad-Dressing

Many Thanks Taste of Home! "