In which I am a dim-witted thunder-twonk

So, the Old Kitchen Witch is really starting to feel every one of her forty-five years. Bits of me ache. Some bits of me bloody hurt. Injuries take longer to heal. Insomnia is a bitch. Anxiety doesn't lessen with age.  Hot flushes are horrible. And obviously my brain is slowing down, because I have herbs that will HELP, for pity's sake. I know how to cook and eat healthily.  And I know how to ground, centre, cleanse, shield and protect.

Sometimes, my sheer dim-wittedness amazes me. Because I know Lots Of Things to help me, and I'm currently doing None Of The Things. Not even One.

So, I've instigated A Plan. It involves daily yoga. Daily grounding and shielding. Sage and Lady's Mantle tea for the hot flushes. Lemonbalm tea, Rescue Remedy, lavender essential oil and meditation to kick the shit out of the anxiety. Decent food, lots of fruit and veg and plenty of water because eating well helps everything. And today began with making a salve with meadowsweet infused oil, frankincense, lavender and rosemary essential oils, with a tiny pinch of cayenne pepper thrown in for good measure. I've made this before for my Dad and a couple of work colleagues, and they swear by its pain-relieving abilities. So it's about time I started using it on my hands and knees, which are beginning to show signs of arthritis.

I rubbed about half a teaspoon of the salve into my hands before donning my rubber gloves and doing the washing up. By the time I'd finished the sinkful of plates, my hands had stopped aching.

It's been six hours, and my hands are still pain-free. I didn't realise how much they hurt, until they didn't.

My lesson for the day: it doesn't matter what the hell you know if you don't put it into practice.  Anyway, here's my recipe for the meadowsweet salve.

Meadowsweet Pain-Relieving Salve

1 cup meadowsweet-infused oil (I used a mix of 1:1:1 olive:almond:coconut oils and double-infused fresh meadowsweet into it in a bain-marie last summer and stored the oil in a clean glass bottle in a dark cupboard)
1/2 cup grated beeswax
20 drops lavender essential oil
10 drops rosemary essential oil
10 drops frankincense essential oil
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Add the beeswax and meadowsweet oil to a bain-marie and heat gently until melted. Stir well.
Allow the mixture to cool very slightly, add the essential oils and cayenne pepper and mix well.
Immediately pour into clean, dry jars or pots.

The salve turned out quite solid, which was what I wanted, but you could use more oil (or less beeswax!)  to get a softer consistency.