Body Sense

Spring 2013

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There are 20 species of lavender in shades of purple, pink, and white. Create a Lavender Wand RosEmARy This shrubby herb is one of my favorites and has a sharp fragrance that stimulates, invigorates, and aids in concentration. Rosemary is also popular as a hair or scalp treatment. Hint: Never harvest more than half to two-thirds of the shrub in any given year if you want it to survive until the following year. thymE Thyme has a warming, restorative scent and can be used for disinfecting. It's also known to help lift the spirits of those struggling with moodiness. The herb is an easy-to-grow perennial in many climates. Hint: Use thyme under and around other larger perennials in the garden landscape, S as it makes an excellent ground cover. B Angela England lives with her husband and five children in rural Oklahoma. Author of Backyard Farming on an Acre (More or Less) (ALPHA, 2012) and founder of www.untrainedhousewife. com, she stays busy empowering others to live more intentionally. Find out more about her writing at www.angengland.com. create these beautiful bundles to freshen up fabric, aid in relaxation, or give a child a magical new fairy wand. take an uneven number of lavender stems, leave the flowers at the top intact, and clean off any little leaves or buds along the bottom half of the stem. Work quickly, before they become dry and brittle. Holding the stems with the flower heads even with each other, tie a long, narrow ribbon around the base of the flowers. Tie this tightly, so that it doesn't come loose or undone. taking two stems, fold them down over the knot and wrap the long end of your ribbon around them. bend two more stems down, this time on top of the ribbon. fold the next two down and wrap the ribbon on top of them. Keep folding the stems and weaving the ribbon over, under, over, under—until you have folded them all down. (the last fold will be three stems, but it will mark your place and work itself out in a minute.) Work on the next row, alternating the stems—if you went over on a pair, go under. if you went under, go over. this will create a pretty pattern, as well as secure them tightly. circle around for a few rows, then switch to bending single stems. Keep the ribbon as close to the row above as possible, and the flowers inside. By pulling the ribbon progressively looser toward the middle and tighter as you get to the end of the stems, you will create an oval shape. toward the end, switch back to weaving pairs instead of single stems. When the flowers are gone and you are back to stems only, tightly wrap the ribbon around a few times, then tie it off. the tail can now be cut and the knot pushed inside the stem. And there you have it! your lavender wand will dry this way, and you will have fresh-smelling lavender for years to come. Body Sense 9

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