Thursday 28 March 2013

A Year of Healing with West Coast Herbs

A little over a month ago Tony and I were at our local library and I noticed that there was a Herb Talk beginning shortly. The speaker was Heather Macleod, the wonderful teacher who I spent evenings with in her home last winter for a series of talks about the healing properties of herbs. Tony and I decided to stay for her talk. We had a wonderful evening and, before I knew it, two days later I was attending the first in a year long series of workshops designed to learn about, identify, harvest and process 50 wild plants of the West Coast of Canada.


One of my life-long dreams has been to connect more fully with the land and learn how to treat and feed myself, my family and later on, those in need. And here it was, opening up for me. And I remember: Good things take time... Great things happen like lightening.


Each month, we learn about new plants, go on a walk to identify them, learn when to harvest them for their strongest properties, and how to do so ethically to ensure their continued growth for future generations.


We learn to dry and store them for later use, making teas, infusions or decoctions.


During the month we harvest our own plants and then learn how to process them into tinctures, salves or creams at the next class.


The last week I have spent foraging to gather what I need for this weekend's class. I head off into the forest, savouring the fresh earth smalls all around me, the dappled sunlight on my body, the breeze in my hair. I marvel at the sheer glory that nature reveals when we take a moment to pause, and wander, and appreciate.  An hour or two passes. Unnoticed. I am where I belong. At home with myself.


Monday 25 March 2013

20 Steps Outside my Door

A couple of very talented artists, who belong to the same Artists Collective that I do, have started their own blogger challenge and I thought it would be awesome to join them! (Thanks Nicole, for starting this, and Mimi, for inviting me to play along!)

One day every week I will take 20 steps outside my door and take a photo of something.

For the next couple of weeks, I am house sitting on Mudge Island, a tiny island accessible only by a very small boat from Gabriola Island, which is a larger island accessible by a bigger boat from Vancouver Island, which itself is a considerably larger island which... well you get the idea...  every time I take a boat to a smaller island, I step into another world.

So, I thought it fitting that I would start with this photo and quote.

"There is another world,
But it is in this one."
- William Butler Yates

Can you guess what the photo is, and who might live there?
Please visit other "20 Steps Outside my Door"