Archive for Thoughts

Solitude and Gratitude

For many 2020 was a year of great difficulty. My own lifestyle is one of country hill living where I spend my days working the gardens that feed my herbal business and our own table. I don’t usually travel further than the town grocery in the valley anyway  so the Covid limitations really only affected my business in the closing of my shop to foot traffic. It was a hard decision but we have family members who would be at risk so we made the decision to only have front chest pick up and mail order until further notice.

I have utilized my relaxing products like my lavender soap, lotion, hand cream, heart ease and evening repose tea blends to promote balance and calm in a negative world. I highly recommend these for you or anyone you know who may benefit by my natural products.

On this holiday I wish for each and every one of you serenity and hope for a healthy and happy 2021!

 

Happy Spring!

The evenings stay lighter much longer these days giving hope for the impending spring days ahead of gardening, the return of birds,watching tender herbs popping their heads out from under the earth’s crust newly uncovered of cold snow.

The Country Artist is about to get busy. We will need the extra protection, relief  and moisture my lines of hand creams, muscle rub will offer you.

When your body needs some R&R from a day of overuse grab my soothing, warming muscle rub. Infused with capsaicin and menthol, laced with essential oils known for analgesic effect. I am my own best customer after all these years of gardening but its the customers who keep telling me about their love of this formulation.

My comfrey salve is one of my oldest formulations that is time tested and reputed as having an amazingly fast rate of soothing and healing of chapped sore hands, cracked heals, and minor abrasions. This product is generations old and stands on its own merits. guaranteed!

After the log cold days spent dreaming about our spring and summer it is finally here! Come visit The Country Artist or do a virtual tour here on my website. You are sure to come away with a smile!

~ happy spring to all

…Debbie

Relief in a tube

I Get Along With A Little Help From My Friends…The Herbs!

 

Today I formulated my beautiful St John’swort and lemon balm infused olive oil into my cold sore salves. Cold sores, aka fever blisters, can be triggered by sun, stress, and lowered immunity. 50 to 80 percent of adults have this virus that rears it’s ugly head at the most inconvenient times. It has to run its course starting with pain and progressing into blisters then drying to its ending. One can’t hurry the process but a dab of analgesic salve may help you feel better along the way of its course.

St John’swort is a natural analgesic and antiviral also known to reduce inflammation stimulates circulation thus  speeding healing time paired with lemon balm herb with its host of antiviral and calming constituents including rosmarinic acid, flavonoids and phenolic acid make the perfect pair to use during an outbreak. Both herbs have been utilized since before the middle ages for their analgesic and healing properties in tinctures, teas, wine and salves.  The duration of a cold sore can be reduced in the healing process by half through use of these wonderful gifts of nature.

I add clove oil which contains eugenol, a powerful anesthetic and antiseptic, used by dentists to stop pain and wipe out germs. It has a pleasant taste and is also good for simple chapped lips.

This wonderful salve is not just for fever blisters. It is used by many of my customers including myself for an ” anytime” soothing lip slave. Harsh weather, sun, wind, public speaking or anything that makes our lips dry or cracked may be helped with this natural remedy. In Shoppe and online… 1/2 oz. jar $8.00

cold-sore-salve

 

 

 

 

Spring is Around the Corner!

Yes, it is only 10 degrees here on the country hill and with wind chill it plummits even further but I am hopeful that as the sun gets closer to earth we will soon be seeing tell tale signs of more solar warmth, rebirth of beloved gardens and happy Spring once again! Until then I highly suggest starting to pamper you feet for bare tootsie days to come by anointing them with my luscious and moisturizing Peppermint Foot Cream and taking it a step further by exfoliating with my natural Peppermint Foot Scrub. Your feet will not only look great but feel like dancing!

I have trouble at this lovely mid life age with very dry facial skin. With my never ending job of feeding the woodstove I am exposed to dry heat and need that extra help with putting the oo back into my la! I formulated my hemp cream specifically for facial skin as it goes on feeling slightly heavy much like a cold cream but magically disappears into the dermis within minutes  leaving only a glowing complexion that no longer feels dry, tight and rippled. No oily residue at all. Your face absorbs just what it needs and it can even be used as an old fashioned cold cream cleanser that contains no detergents or chemicals. I have had so many compliments on my formulation that word has gotten out and I am making new batches almost weekly! I highly recommend it to any age person both male and female as it is amazing. And I have my o-la-la back again!

I have many products made from Mother Nature’s ingredients listed  that are formulated to replace moisture and help to restore good health to your skin ranging from mild and creamy soaps to salves and lotions.  Come in and enjoy your botanical stroll!

Winter Blessings!

~Debbie

New Beginnings

Summer has flown by in a hurry and Fall colors are just starting to tinge the old lines of maples here on the Country Hill. Days are getting shorter and the air has an old familiar chill and golden scent. With the arrival of the Fall season, I greet you with this beautiful new website created by my amazing web designer and friend Suzanne Bird-Harris. It has even more products and ease of use for your shopping.

Harvesting my herbs and wild crafting for infusions used to make the natural, herbal  products I carry is almost over and I am now stocking the luscious  formulations that line my shelves for the long winter ahead. Soaps, lotions, salves and creams are all made with experience, love, and time honored recipes.

With the change of seasons comes drier weather and thus drier skin.  I can help:

  • My facial moisturizers including hempseed cream are a favorite here in the shop. Hempseed oil, known as “food for the skin”, sinks right in leaving no oily residue.
  • For those with complexions needing less moisture, my light facial lotion will fit your needs perfectly using ingredients that balance  for “anytime use”.
  • For the body, my whipped shea butter and body lotions will bring a smile to your face providing moisture and aromatherapy all-in-one.
  • Sugar scrubs exfoliate dull, dry areas leaving vibrant skin that feels as if lotion has been applied.
  • Our feet will still need pampering and my peppermint foot scrub and cream make lovely holiday gifts.
  • Handcrafted artisan soap bars are formulated using the highest additional butters I can add to help leave skin feeling supple and soft, not tight and dry like most commercial soaps and gels.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have! I am confident that once you try my natural products using Mother Nature’s gifts, you will be visiting The Country Artist again. Come in and enjoy your visit!

~Debbie

Peppermint Foot Cream

Spring Has Sprung!

The Spring finally arrived after an unusually cold and long winter.

I am not sorry to be free of stocking the old stove with wood and wearing woolens and yes, even a hat to bed! Our ancestors did this and now I understand why as keeping one’s bean warm does indeedkeep the body warmer. The herb and flower gardens survived with the exception of a very old and mature sage bush. I felt as if I lost an old friendand since it appears to have a few green leaves on one small branch I a not giving up on it. Patience can be hard but at times worth the wait.

Since the summer has been blessed with an abundance of insects that bite I have expanded my Shoo! line to include a solid rub on stick and an oil based repellant for skin as well as my usual spray for clothing, head, hair and places one would not want oil. I can honestly say ithas been tried and tested by myself as well as loyal customers who say it only needs reapplication after extreme sweating or several hours outside.

I also have my popular Skin Soother for overly sun drenched skin as well as anyone feeling the natural over heated dermis from hot flashes. Along with my lavender linen spray I have the lavender sheet and body powder. It makes your night’s slumber heaven when temps and humidity rise.

My new herbal~natural deodorant has been flying off the shelves and folks who have kept diligent with it’s use for the initial two weeks required for the body to accustom itself with no chemical antiperspirant are finding they actually sweat less and have no odor. Mine is very close to one found in health food stores and at half the price!

I look forward to days spent in the gardens and evenings on the old front porch watching fireflies and sunsets.

Please enjoy this long awaited summer and stop on in to say hello!

Blessings from the country hill
~Debbie