The Widow...

...has made Jam. And Damson curd.
Need some fancy labels.
John picked the damsons, right at the end of his active life, from our lovely damson tree. The freezer is still pretty full
I had forgotten just how messy jam is!

The Remedies of Dr Bach

I have used these for some years, recently more off than on. John would take them if offered, and my good friend Lizzie would dowse a suitable one and then I would go to the tin and dispense... Good for emotional stuff, stuckness, loss of confidence, you know, all that hippy woo, or would be, except that they work. The one you have come across is Rescue Remedy, they even sell three formulations of that in Tescos

And the tin was a bit of a mess, and impossible to dowse over, so I made a clean-up, and a re-stock, and a new/old box.

I don't quite remember where this box came from - I buy up what I politely call Dead Men's Boxes from time to time, usually hugely jumbled, messy heaps of spares, old screws, bits of paper and trash with a smattering of treasures included, from retired or dead sewing-machine mechanics. If I'm lucky, I get to meet them and they are usually happy to see me go away with a car-full and a bit lower on cash. If not, I meet widows or sons with slightly baffled expressions (why would this lady want these?) and these lots tend to be messier and cheaper.

So this lovely box is made from the base of a small (German?) sewing machine, with a slightly random lid attached with brass hinges. The lid is missing a bit from one corner and is a totally different wood, but that's OK. Inside, it had horrid plywood dividers, which I removed and burned. And this delightful label...

...which gets to stay. I polished and sanded and waxed just enough to make it shiny and not so much that the patina (and the tea-cup mark) were lost, and made a tray from very thin ply enclosed in fabric, so two layers - there was only just room, so the ply is very thin...

Here. with the top layer removed. I also have and use Bailey's remedies now, and I have a few of these. They seem to work together pretty well, and I can dowse the whole box happily...

My old Bach list is now thumb-tacked inside the lid, and I am happy with this altogether...
I buy these from Yorkshire Flower Essences and I have always been impressed with their service and care

So, all tidy. Something for me. Don't do nearly enough for me these days..

Two days off, apart from the phone, I think. Naps, eat nice things, slow down...

Angry Part the Second

Still simmering, but putting that energy to good use in a good many ways. Burned a lot of rubbish. Shifted and sifted a lot of crap, and nothing sits on the stairs. Next, the big pile of belts, manuals, case parts. It's all so damned slow.

Found that I can dowse, and teach the skill, not that I doubted this for a moment.

Working on the Wise Woman, because, by all the gods and fishes, she is just so powerful..

And claiming my life, my space, my time, my sanctuary, my work...

Onwards and onwards, I think, with steam coming from my ears...