The Cupboard

The smells in the house have been (temporarily) shifting from apples and cinnamon to beeswax and lavender. I don't know which I prefer, although totally different types of smells, they are both have such rich, comforting aromas. The new slab of beeswax was picked up at the market so we could get started on stocking the first aid cupboard. Each year we try our hand at making more of our own remedies to have on the shelves. We started with different dried herbs for teas, soaks and poultices, making our way to creams, salves, tinctures and oils. It gives us great satisfaction to grow or gather the ingredients, have them steep or dry over time and then mix them up into their final product. It is a slow and steady process, requiring patience. A process that builds our anticipation.
Shai has very sensitive skin, calendula cream is the most effective way we have found to sooth it. We can easily spend $10 a week on giving him comfort. After planting calendula flowers a few years ago and learning how easy it is to make a salve it made sense for us to make our own. This is the simplest recipe, one we have made successfully for the last few years.

I also steeped some plantain, red clover, mint and lavender. We combined infused plantain oil, beeswax and tea tree oil for skin irritations, rashes, cuts. For achy muscles, colds, congestion we mixed together olive oil, beeswax, comfrey, mint, eucalyptus, and pine. The red clover is for pms (not that I get that!), grape seed oil infused with the red clover can be used on the temples. We also did a jar we called "smells good herbal rub", its a little bit of this and that; lavender, mint, calendula, rosemary, beeswax and a few other things for good measure. We collected rose hips for a syrup chalked full of vitamin C, perfect for warding off colds. It tastes good to boot and I remember making as a child with my mum.

Combined with vitamins, herbal remedies, homeopathics, hot water bottles, some newly made cloth 'band aids' (for my sensitive skin guy), our cupboard if fuller and we feel healthier just knowing it's there!