Over the weekend I found myself having to slow down and take it easy more than I really cared to. It seems the pesky head cold I recently got over decided to settle in my left ear and by Friday night I was dealing with a fever and quite a painful earache. And I thought only children get earaches! Ha! This one sure did force me to take it easy. As of today I am feeling quite a bit better thanks to some needed downtime as well as some homemade herbal preparations.

Nearly every year I make an herbal oil out of mullein flowers, garlic, and calendula flowers. Who knew this year I would be the one needing the oil! { For some great info on making herbal infused oils be sure to check out this post found on the Mountain Rose Herbs blog.}

Throughout the weekend I placed 3 drops of my oil in my ear four times a day. I really should be treating both ears but am not (hope I do not regret this.) Within about 24 hours of using my herbal eardrops I noticed a significant difference in my ear. I am going to continue the drops for a few more days to make sure everything clears up well.

I should add that as well as using the herbal eardrops I have also been drinking large quantities of liquid which includes herbal teas made from anise seed, thyme leaves, elder flowers, lemon balm, and echinacea root. All of these herbs are good for congestion as well as the immune system. I know the earache stems from congestion building up so it is very important that I focus on ridding myself of it. On top of all of this I have also upped my Vitamin C intake to also help support my immune system (which has obviously taken a beating this year!)

I intentionally moved at a slower pace all weekend to force rest upon myself. This has not been an easy thing for me to do lately as there has just been so many things piling up needing my attention. I tried to focus on my knitting and spinning. I finally got back to work on Ariella’s sweater and made some progress on it. I also got a little bit caught up on my reading that I have fallen way behind on. And I was finally able to finish spinning up this yarn that I have been desperately trying to get around to finishing.

Isn’t it pretty? It is 4 ounces/210 yards worth of superwash BFL that I dyed with cochineal prior to spinning it. I decided to 2 ply it and am glad I did for it looks so lovely. It is about a sport weight and I am thinking it might make a really lovely pair of fingerless mitts. I so badly need a pair of fingerless mitts! My hands are always so cold. It seems I am always knitting some for everyone else, now I think it is time I knit myself a pair!

Hope everyone is well and healthy. Are you as anxious for spring to get here as I am?

XoXo, Cynthia

Last year two Common Mulleins (Verbascum thapsus) appeared in my herb garden out of nowhere. It really is not that surprising considering they do grow wild around here. I was nevertheless pleased to see them and allowed them to stay. Mullein, after all is a truly useful herb to have growing in one’s garden.  As the summer progressed I enjoyed looking out and seeing these two sentries of the garden towering over the rest of the plants.

Summer passed and I was equally delighted to watch a woodpecker go to town pecking away at the drying mullein flower stalks. To be able to watch him do that regularly from my deck is a fond memory I have from last year’s garden.

So, I allowed the mullein to reside in the garden all through fall and into winter where it became a perch for other visiting birds. Come early spring the tough mullein stalk still remained and I allowed my boys to use them as spears in their play.

That brings us to today. Today I find the herb garden completely and utterly full of mullein seedlings that will not stop germinating. I must have pulled a thousand by now, easily. Where I pull one it seems 10 more pop up overnight. I honestly had no idea those stately mulleins from last year would self-sow with such abandon.

Pulling them out is quite tiresome but I do not mind too much as I do find mullein to be extremely handy to have around. It’s leaves are also rather interesting as they are soft and thick in their rosettes. 

Mullein also has wonderful medicinal properties that come in handy during the cold and flu season. For those more interested in the medicinal properties of mullein I suggest following this link. This site briefly explains the medicinal aspects of mullein such as it being an excellent herb for coughs plus it features a recipe for making mullein oil which is used in helping earaches.

I ask myself, “what was I thinking” when I go out to the herb garden and have to yet again weed out more mullein babies. Even though it has had to compete with the Cosmos for space it still manages to run amuck. I have since learned that one mullein plant can produce over 100,000 seeds! I am afraid I may be pulling these out forever now. Really, what was I thinking?