I don’t know how I missed this post! I love every bit of it. I have so enjoyed driving by a meadow on my way out most days. The Queen Anne’s lace was so prolific this summer despite the heat. I find myself, like you, making fewer tinctures and choosing instead to greet the flowers rather than harvesting. I love the message the queen Anne’s lace gave you to pretend they are snowflakes. What magic will happen when those wild carrot seeds are dreaming under a blanket of thick snow this winter! Thanks for you for translating your magical home into words for the rest of us to enjoy.
Thank you for reading, my friend, and for taking the time to comment! Right now I'm watching the Dragonfly army swooping around my yard devouring whatever it is (mosquitos or no seeums??) who are leaving me with their itchy bites. Bugs be gone! Let fall and then winter begin! XOXO
Soon enough we will be red nosed and cold, happily crunching through the frozen world. I til then, I’m glad the dragonfly army is doing their good work.
This is beautiful! I was just thinking of how I’m so awful about not harvesting my plants for medicine and now I know why I haven’t! They truly are medicine just by being in their presence. I feel this so much with all of nature. Thank you so much, Barbara! Hope the humidity is going down. 💓
Thank you for reading, Lisa! And for leaving a comment. Still ridiculously humid here but what are ya gonna do? I'm so glad the post resonated with you! XO
I let everything grow wild this year too. I like your interpretation... that is how I felt about it. I've learned to just let things be 💚 I love you SO much!!!! Your patio is where I want to live 🤭💗
Thank you for reading and for sharing your own writing! Anyone with the words "Forest Fairy" in their newsletter title is likely a kindred spirit. :) 🧚🧚
We do indeed have much in common. Ayruveda is so similar to the fairy doctor healing traditions it must i think have branched off the same root. I suspect from minoan crete, they came to ireland. I enjoy studying both, but my ancestry is suited to the irish. It is funny how even the surgical tools are precisely the same now as then. too bad those books were destroyed by the muslims (no touching style of healing was allowed) . letar further altered eliminated by the british, then the communists…
Thanks for the inspiring read. And the Eliot Cowan tip. I often stand in an open window when the breeze is just right and breath in nature. You can feel the cleansing and healing energy. I call it Mother’s Kiss. A month ago I was going to weed eat the lower lawn about dusk. I walked out and there were hundreds of fireflies rising. Fireflies seem to have become rare. Not like when I was a kid. I left it uncut.
I love this, Mike! Especially that you left it uncut. :) And a good breeze is the best of the wind element.
I had tons of Fireflies this summer. I was watching them one night through my upstairs bedroom window and whispered "Come over here!" and just like that, two flashed right before my eyes. :)
Thanks for taking the time to read and leave a comment!
That’s like a couple of days ago I was sitting upstairs reading and I kept hearing a fluttering noise. I look out the open window and saw at least a half dozen wrens flittering around the trees outside the window. I said “come over here” and 2 flew over to the window, perched on the edge and looked right at me ( it’s an awning window). Until the dog saw them and barked and off they went.
Two amazing healing plants that most people rabidly dig up or douse with herbicides. Always love connecting with a plant-lover here. :) Thx so much for reading! 🌿XO
Oh Barbara... I've just come to the end of my 30 days of travel, which culminated in 2 days in the Hellscape That Is Las Vegas. As I sit in this hot, cramped tube pulling away from the gate, I'm going to close my eyes and dream of Queen Anne's Lace and your sweet pond -- a Heaven from which you are the messenger, I'm convinced. Thank you...xox
Oh, Mary...I am sending you so much Queen Anne's Lace Love and Pond Love, too! I'm going go sit with the Queen and together send wishes for a swift and safe journey back home. Looking forward to what you write about your journey.
I'm traveling to MI to visit family and friends and had planned to roadtrip it but I chickened out and will be journeying via a bus and then flying our of Boston. 😳 Dreading it so much. I've totally lost my travel mojo. Not that I ever really had it.
Another synchronicity! I was doing a bit of landscaping and getting my backyard ready for a big event next Saturday. And I noticed a weed that was everywhere around the parameter but it was too pretty for me to just trim so I looked it up and it was Queen Anne’s Lace! Of course that was its name! I decided to let it be. Such a pretty plant.
As far as my medicine: my favourite is laying in the hammock under the grape trellis, especially now that the leaves are providing ample coverage from the hot sun. I noticed our friend Bianca (I think it’s the same mourning dove!) had another round of babies. They just flew off this morning, the mama and two babies. But before then I would lay in the hammock and watch them feed and learn how to fly. I was bummed to see them go today, near left all disheveled, but then I noticed another nest! That’s the third one in the trellis, (what better validation from Nature that I’ve built a nice thing!) and this nest has a bird with a yellow under the beak and on the chest. Very pretty. I tried looking up the species. Maybe a warbler? Hard to say. I’ll try and snap a photo although this nest is a bit harder to get to.
Anyway, thanks for sending out your healing pond vibes into the world. I wonder if this is why you popped into my brain while I was laying in the hammock today. Or maybe I just think of you every time I see a morning dove now.
P.S. Tonika - do you know that there's a poisonous look-alike called Poison Hemlock? Just wanted to make sure what you found is Queen Anne's Lace and not PH! XOXO
Well, well, well! More Synchronicity with a capital S. :) FYI you were one of the dear hearts I was pondering about (pun intended) at the Pond.
What a gift to have Bianca and her babes right there while you're in the hammock. I have a thing for hammocks and when I go to the lake with my family, that's where I'll be 24/7. Hammocks are medicine! And birds! Clara (is that you, Clara???) and crew have been nibbling under the bird feeder every day. Meanwhile, Chip 🐿️ is getting a little too bold, running across my patio and startling me all day long.
Happy Healing, Tonika! And thanks for reading. XOXO
What a nice post—a little something for everyone! I have two magical outlets for the woes, nature and humor, so the comedian’s clip you shared was ideal. My Queen Anne’s Lace is long gone until spring but they flourish in my garden under the elderberries and I find that to be a harmonious combination.
Oh, Queen Anne's Lace and Elder! That's a beautiful combo. And, yes to humor! Laughter truly is the best medicine. I loved that clip. Oh, the idiocy of big pharma advertising. How stupid do they think we are? Thx for reading, Michelle! XO
Another lovely piece, Barbara. I just happened to be sitting peacefully outside in our front yard while I was reading it. Since I've had the sciatic issue, I haven't been doing much garden work. Turns out that's a blessing, according to you. And I'll take it. I needed this time to think about nothing. So, speaking of "spirit medicine", I think your essays and photos are medicine for me. Plus, I know you won't believe this because it's inexplicable, but today was the first time I listened to you read your essay. Your voice also had a calming and "medicinal" effect on me. Just what the doctor ordered, I guess.
So far the acupuncture has turned out to be very helpful and healing. I still have a way to go yet, but thanks for the nudge in that direction. I hope you are well too.
Thank you so much, Ronnie! I'm humbled and it makes my heart happy to hear that my little stories are healing for you. And so glad that acupuncture is helping. Sciatica is NO JOKE! IDK if I mentioned it, but Solomon's Seal can also be very helpful. XOXO
I think she smells divine. Subtle. When I pull up in the driveway, I always get a whiff of her! I think she should be nicknames the Snowflake plant. Thx for reading, Nina! XO
I love this so much! I am just traveling back from a summer retreat in Maine. Beautiful trails through the forest to the beach lined with a full pharmacy of herbs! I was n heaven!
Nice!!!! I really need to get my butt over to Maine (and Vermont) since I'm right in the middle of them now. That sounds amazing, Josie - forest AND ocean. XOXO
Thank you for the reminder that all we need is put here for our benefit...somewhere. If we just take the time to find it. And thank you for giving us permission to go wild. I had some rogue clover in my lawn and just let it go....and lo and behold, a little bunny showed up. Charlie Rabbit now lives around my house and I love him.♥
I don’t know how I missed this post! I love every bit of it. I have so enjoyed driving by a meadow on my way out most days. The Queen Anne’s lace was so prolific this summer despite the heat. I find myself, like you, making fewer tinctures and choosing instead to greet the flowers rather than harvesting. I love the message the queen Anne’s lace gave you to pretend they are snowflakes. What magic will happen when those wild carrot seeds are dreaming under a blanket of thick snow this winter! Thanks for you for translating your magical home into words for the rest of us to enjoy.
Thank you for reading, my friend, and for taking the time to comment! Right now I'm watching the Dragonfly army swooping around my yard devouring whatever it is (mosquitos or no seeums??) who are leaving me with their itchy bites. Bugs be gone! Let fall and then winter begin! XOXO
Soon enough we will be red nosed and cold, happily crunching through the frozen world. I til then, I’m glad the dragonfly army is doing their good work.
This is beautiful! I was just thinking of how I’m so awful about not harvesting my plants for medicine and now I know why I haven’t! They truly are medicine just by being in their presence. I feel this so much with all of nature. Thank you so much, Barbara! Hope the humidity is going down. 💓
Thank you for reading, Lisa! And for leaving a comment. Still ridiculously humid here but what are ya gonna do? I'm so glad the post resonated with you! XO
I let everything grow wild this year too. I like your interpretation... that is how I felt about it. I've learned to just let things be 💚 I love you SO much!!!! Your patio is where I want to live 🤭💗
I have an extra chair just waiting for you...
But, the next best thing will be a HUG in Michigan. It's going to be epic! XOXO
i love yarrow. tincture my own a few years back. I like this one, https://artemisforestfairy.substack.com/p/whispering-willow, and this one https://artemis6.substack.com/p/the-dauntless-one, and a bunch more . each one deserves the best article i can write. rose, yarrow, have their own, hawthorne, pine, doug fir, mushrooms, much more, i cayenne nearly everythng.
And yes, to Queen Yarrow. I devoted a couple of posts to her in the past...💚
Thank you for reading and for sharing your own writing! Anyone with the words "Forest Fairy" in their newsletter title is likely a kindred spirit. :) 🧚🧚
We do indeed have much in common. Ayruveda is so similar to the fairy doctor healing traditions it must i think have branched off the same root. I suspect from minoan crete, they came to ireland. I enjoy studying both, but my ancestry is suited to the irish. It is funny how even the surgical tools are precisely the same now as then. too bad those books were destroyed by the muslims (no touching style of healing was allowed) . letar further altered eliminated by the british, then the communists…
Ireland and Scotland are so dear to my heart. I miss them and hope to return one day. 🧚💚
Thanks for the inspiring read. And the Eliot Cowan tip. I often stand in an open window when the breeze is just right and breath in nature. You can feel the cleansing and healing energy. I call it Mother’s Kiss. A month ago I was going to weed eat the lower lawn about dusk. I walked out and there were hundreds of fireflies rising. Fireflies seem to have become rare. Not like when I was a kid. I left it uncut.
I love this, Mike! Especially that you left it uncut. :) And a good breeze is the best of the wind element.
I had tons of Fireflies this summer. I was watching them one night through my upstairs bedroom window and whispered "Come over here!" and just like that, two flashed right before my eyes. :)
Thanks for taking the time to read and leave a comment!
That’s like a couple of days ago I was sitting upstairs reading and I kept hearing a fluttering noise. I look out the open window and saw at least a half dozen wrens flittering around the trees outside the window. I said “come over here” and 2 flew over to the window, perched on the edge and looked right at me ( it’s an awning window). Until the dog saw them and barked and off they went.
They know!! I had a Hummingbird fluttering right next to my kitchen window twice this morning. We’ll, there is a feeder right there… 😂😂
Love this so much! I just got done making a tincture of plantain and am letting as much mullein grow as my 9 acres sees fit.
Two amazing healing plants that most people rabidly dig up or douse with herbicides. Always love connecting with a plant-lover here. :) Thx so much for reading! 🌿XO
Oh Barbara... I've just come to the end of my 30 days of travel, which culminated in 2 days in the Hellscape That Is Las Vegas. As I sit in this hot, cramped tube pulling away from the gate, I'm going to close my eyes and dream of Queen Anne's Lace and your sweet pond -- a Heaven from which you are the messenger, I'm convinced. Thank you...xox
Oh, Mary...I am sending you so much Queen Anne's Lace Love and Pond Love, too! I'm going go sit with the Queen and together send wishes for a swift and safe journey back home. Looking forward to what you write about your journey.
I'm traveling to MI to visit family and friends and had planned to roadtrip it but I chickened out and will be journeying via a bus and then flying our of Boston. 😳 Dreading it so much. I've totally lost my travel mojo. Not that I ever really had it.
Thx for reading, Mary! Big Love! XOXO
Another synchronicity! I was doing a bit of landscaping and getting my backyard ready for a big event next Saturday. And I noticed a weed that was everywhere around the parameter but it was too pretty for me to just trim so I looked it up and it was Queen Anne’s Lace! Of course that was its name! I decided to let it be. Such a pretty plant.
As far as my medicine: my favourite is laying in the hammock under the grape trellis, especially now that the leaves are providing ample coverage from the hot sun. I noticed our friend Bianca (I think it’s the same mourning dove!) had another round of babies. They just flew off this morning, the mama and two babies. But before then I would lay in the hammock and watch them feed and learn how to fly. I was bummed to see them go today, near left all disheveled, but then I noticed another nest! That’s the third one in the trellis, (what better validation from Nature that I’ve built a nice thing!) and this nest has a bird with a yellow under the beak and on the chest. Very pretty. I tried looking up the species. Maybe a warbler? Hard to say. I’ll try and snap a photo although this nest is a bit harder to get to.
Anyway, thanks for sending out your healing pond vibes into the world. I wonder if this is why you popped into my brain while I was laying in the hammock today. Or maybe I just think of you every time I see a morning dove now.
P.S. Tonika - do you know that there's a poisonous look-alike called Poison Hemlock? Just wanted to make sure what you found is Queen Anne's Lace and not PH! XOXO
No, I didn’t. How can I tell the difference?
https://youtu.be/Fbj2xc4YijM?si=L4rfvTYUN6LdTlqr
Very informative!! Thank you!
Well, well, well! More Synchronicity with a capital S. :) FYI you were one of the dear hearts I was pondering about (pun intended) at the Pond.
What a gift to have Bianca and her babes right there while you're in the hammock. I have a thing for hammocks and when I go to the lake with my family, that's where I'll be 24/7. Hammocks are medicine! And birds! Clara (is that you, Clara???) and crew have been nibbling under the bird feeder every day. Meanwhile, Chip 🐿️ is getting a little too bold, running across my patio and startling me all day long.
Happy Healing, Tonika! And thanks for reading. XOXO
Thank you, dear Barbara! The pond bears, the pond knows! And happy hammocking with the fam!
What a nice post—a little something for everyone! I have two magical outlets for the woes, nature and humor, so the comedian’s clip you shared was ideal. My Queen Anne’s Lace is long gone until spring but they flourish in my garden under the elderberries and I find that to be a harmonious combination.
Oh, Queen Anne's Lace and Elder! That's a beautiful combo. And, yes to humor! Laughter truly is the best medicine. I loved that clip. Oh, the idiocy of big pharma advertising. How stupid do they think we are? Thx for reading, Michelle! XO
Another lovely piece, Barbara. I just happened to be sitting peacefully outside in our front yard while I was reading it. Since I've had the sciatic issue, I haven't been doing much garden work. Turns out that's a blessing, according to you. And I'll take it. I needed this time to think about nothing. So, speaking of "spirit medicine", I think your essays and photos are medicine for me. Plus, I know you won't believe this because it's inexplicable, but today was the first time I listened to you read your essay. Your voice also had a calming and "medicinal" effect on me. Just what the doctor ordered, I guess.
So far the acupuncture has turned out to be very helpful and healing. I still have a way to go yet, but thanks for the nudge in that direction. I hope you are well too.
Thank you so much, Ronnie! I'm humbled and it makes my heart happy to hear that my little stories are healing for you. And so glad that acupuncture is helping. Sciatica is NO JOKE! IDK if I mentioned it, but Solomon's Seal can also be very helpful. XOXO
Thank you! I have a whole bunch of Queen Anne's Lace in my yard but have never paid her much attention.
I think she smells divine. Subtle. When I pull up in the driveway, I always get a whiff of her! I think she should be nicknames the Snowflake plant. Thx for reading, Nina! XO
The healing we need grows right where we need it, when we need it.
Yes indeed, Frances! XO
Yay!
I love this so much! I am just traveling back from a summer retreat in Maine. Beautiful trails through the forest to the beach lined with a full pharmacy of herbs! I was n heaven!
Nice!!!! I really need to get my butt over to Maine (and Vermont) since I'm right in the middle of them now. That sounds amazing, Josie - forest AND ocean. XOXO
A lovely read and reminder. Thank you!
Thank you for reading! XO
Thank you for the reminder that all we need is put here for our benefit...somewhere. If we just take the time to find it. And thank you for giving us permission to go wild. I had some rogue clover in my lawn and just let it go....and lo and behold, a little bunny showed up. Charlie Rabbit now lives around my house and I love him.♥
Charlie!! Clover is such good food for animals and humans alike. Thx for reading, SadieJay. XO