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

I’ve been anxiously watching these bulbs emerge in my new garden. It is like a little surprise the previous owners left for us! I cannot wait to see what they end up being. I believe some are tulips and daffodils. A sure sign that Spring is indeed on its way. {Yay!}

I’ve been seeing a lot of pins and blog posts lately showing how you can grow celery from soaking the base in water. Of course I had to try this out. I do not know why I never thought of this before. After all, I am constantly starting avocado pits, sprouting beans, etc. As the photo shows it is indeed growing. I have had it in a dish of water for about two weeks now. What’s interesting though, is that it has yet to grow any roots. If and when it does I will probably pot it up in some soil. {I don’t see why you could not also do this with the cut end of lettuce. A nice way to have some fresh lettuce in a windowsill garden!}

The last few days I have been busy playing with my dye vat. I tend to go a little crazy when I do and nothing is safe from being turned into a beautiful indigo blue. The polka-dotted fabric in the photo used to be a plain white pillow case. You could not even see the polka-dots until I dyed it with the indigo! I love how the lace trim turned out.

It is so hard to believe that we are close to wrapping up February. My how this year is already flying!

It is hard for me to believe that we are now the third day into 2012. My how these past few weeks have flown! I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday. I had wanted to share some of my handmade gifts with you before the season past us by but I was swept up in so much of its frenzy that I never found myself able to do so.

I thought I would at least share one of the gifts I made for Ariella- even if it is a little bit over due!

A little while back I came across some tutorials for bendy dolls- cute little dolls made from pipe cleaners. When I saw these I just knew they would be perfect for Ariella as she loves little toys that she can manipulate and carry around. I set about gathering up my supplies in early December to make her some as well as a little wooden box (which I painted pink with white polka dots) to keep them in.

I cannot tell you how happy I am with how they turned out! I used silk flowers for their clothes and my naturally dyed yarns for their hair. To me they look like sweet little flower fairies. After some flip-flopping decision-making I decided to go without painting their faces on. I really liked the idea of her imagining them for herself.

I am very pleased to say that she seems to love them and has named each one. (With rather unusual names I might add, like Izzia, but that is my Ariella for you- always coming up with interesting things.)

Below you will find links to the tutorials I used as guides. I know I will definitely be making her more of these in the future. Not to mention, my thirteen year old wants me to make him some that resemble zombies. I think I like the idea of the flower fairies better though.

• The Enchanted Tree
• On Flickr
• Juise