I'm going to tell you one thing: I can't make candy.
Seriously. It's a problem. Anything involving a candy thermometer ends up tasting like burnt sugar and getting all over in a sticky mess whenever I try it.
Which, doesn't seem like a big deal, until you realize that, since I can't make candy, I also can't make lozenges. Which is kind of a big deal.
Especially because I've always wanted to make my own cough drops, because, let's face it, those things are handy. I especially want to make a kind that I can dump in a little plastic bag and store in my tablet case, because around here the majority of the school year is cold season and everyone always needs cough drops.
So, I came up with these gummies, which can be wrapped up in plastic wrap and stuffed in a plastic bag.

I used a small ice cube tray as a mold and ended up having to cut those ones in half, since they were rather large. I also poured the remainder into a tupperware container and cut it into squares once it hardened.

Cough Drop Gummies
Make a cup and a half of tea with sage, cinnamon, lemon peel, thyme, and mint. (1/4 tsp each). Put in the fridge and let come down to a nice cool temperature (the kind you'd want to drink if it were just water). Pour into a small saucepan and add 4 tablespoons of gelatin. Let it sit until the gelatin starts to "bloom"--it'll get wrinkly-looking and it will all be under the water. Mix it. Then put the saucepan over medium heat. You want the mixture to become thin and runny, and all the gelatin to dissolve. You also want it warm, but never boiling. Once it reaches this point, take it off the heat and add 2-4 tablespoons of honey, as well as a little mint extract (no more than a quarter teaspoon). Then pour into molds and let sit in the fridge for 2-3 hours. Pop out and store.

Witchcraft on a Budget

(With a picture to make it Pinterest-friendly. I've decided recently to make my witchcraft Pinterest public, mainly so I can share the few things I have on this blog.)

I've decided that this knowledge is rather important, so I'm going to share it with you. I don't mean to get all proffessional-bloggy on you, I just want to share. So here. Some tips on witchcraft on a budget. And actual serious tips, made by someone actually on a budget, not tips by someone who thinks they know what a budget is like but actually has plenty of extra money on their hands.

1. Recycle Jars

It seems to go without saying, but witches need a lot of jars. And people tend to buy a lot of things that come in jars. So rinse these jars out and store them! I honestly have way too many jars due to doing this, but at least I'll always have one when I need one. You can also save Altoids tins and 

such--they make nice salve tins, but be careful of the holes in the back. (I learned the hard way.) Save empty spice containers too!

2. Use Unlikely Things

For example, I use 4-oz Ziploc containers for salves. It's not pretty, but they come cheap in packs of eight and they do stand up to hot wax and oil quite nicely. Plus they seal easily and are easy to label. Speaking of labels, try using sheets of cheap blank address labels and a pencil instead of printing off fancy ones. Again, we're talking function over form here. Function over form is important when you're on a budget.

3. Make Your Own Essential Oils

Essential oils are damned expensive, but you know what's less expensive? Olive oil and herbs. Okay, olive oil is kind of expensive this year but there are plenty of other carrier oils you can use. I'm not going to go over how to make them here, as there are plenty of other resources to tell you how. Check the witchcraft Pinterest. Personally I go with either the slowcooker method or the pan-and-hot-water method. Infusing in the sun takes too long for my liking.

4. Grow Your Own Herbs

Herbs can still be fairly expensive, so if you want to save even more, grow your own! Either start them from seed or buy a small plant from a nursery (I know, I know, I'm lapsing into rich-people talk, but it pays off, really) and soon you'll be rolling in leaves. And flowers. And whatnot. At least grow your own mint. You can get a tiny plant for cheap that'll explode into a huge one and you'll have more mint that you know what to do with.

5. Work Inside Your Limits

Here's what I mean by this. I'm gonna tell you a story.

Almost two years ago now, when I started getting serious about witchcraft, I got this nice little notebook for writing down remedies in. Which is a great thing to do. But I was young and inexperienced and wrote down every single recipe I came across, no matter how exotic the ingredients. Now that I'm two years older and slightly less inexperienced, I do it differently. I look at the ingredients and ask myself--are these things I'll be able to get? If not, how many things could be hard to find? Is the remedy important enough that I should write it down anyway? I always measure importance against practicality if there are ingredients like eucalyptus or jojoba oil or shea butter. Usually, I end up not writing them down. Instead, I find remedies made with kitchen herbs, cheaper ingredients, and oils that I can make or have made. There are certainly plenty around. So take the time to develop a sense of practicality with your remedies.

Welp, that's all I've got for you now. I'll probably make another post like this some day. In fact, I know I will. I just ran out of tips I could come up with. And five is a nice number, don't you think? Anyway.

I've been meaning to post this but just kept forgetting...

Rose Mint Sunburn Honey

A useful treatment for sunburn.

Put 1/4 cup rose petals and 1/4 cup mint leaves into a jar and pour half a cup of honey over them. Stir daily and let sit for a week. Use on sunburns for wonderful relief.

There. Short, sweet, and to the point. Sometimes these herbal medicine tutorials just go on and on and on about random things without ever getting to the actual recipe. Ah, well. Can't blame people for blogging on their blogs.

I've been thinking I should do something like this for a while now...
I now present, a tour of my backyard!

Here's a sort of wide-shot of the whole yard.

My little herb garden. So far I've only got a few sprouts, but I think it's coming along very nicely.

Here's the newest addition to our yard. My dad saw a planter like this online and created his own. The bottom boxes are tomatoes, the lower middle is my peppermint and spearmint, then peppers on the next level, then my rosemary and sage with another pepper between them, then my dad's onions on the top.

Our cat Max. The cats are indoor-outdoor, though they're only allowed out during the day in the summertime.

My mother's bean plants. This bed actually used to be our sandbox when we were kids.

My sister's garden. It used to be my fairy garden when I was younger. In a month or so I might do this again so you can see all the pretty blooms. Right now everything's still very green.

Our cat Sam.

My grandmother's miniature yard scene, sitting in an old wooden wishing well.

Our squirrel feeder. It's kind of bright, but I've dumped some leftover cereal on it.

This used to be a running fountain, but it got dirty and no one bothered to clean it. So, we put in a few stones and some dirt and turned it into a planter. It's a very Pinterest-y sort of thing to do.

This handsome gentleman perched on our neighbor's roof and started making quite the noise. I suppose he just wanted his picture taken.

Our birdbath. This was actually disused a few days ago, but we've started filling it up again.

This gazebo was moved here last summer when that fence was built. There's another raised flowerbed on the other side of it.

The birdfeeder. On the other side of that window is a place the cats like to sit!

An old bench that we use to hold pots of things.

The big vegetable garden. We've got squash and cucumbers and pumpkins this year.

Another seat-turned-planter. This swing chair used to be a favorite place to sit, especially for us kids, until it got rather dirty and moldy.

Our hammock. Recently repaired.

The fire pit. Recently knocked down in size. It used to have this tall chimney of bricks.

The tent. We sleep outside for a while every summer, but this is this tent's first year, actually.

The gardening shed.

And a flap that leads to a little space in our garage with a food bowl for stray cats. There are a couple that come around, though I suspect that our own cats eat from it just as much.

And that's our yard. It's small, but it's nice.

Is it just me, or are drying herbs just so darn pretty?

Most of these are freshly picked and they all look just wonderful. Here I've got plantain, lavender, two sage, two spearmint, more plantain, and some peppermint. Isn't it lovely?

I made incense today!
I'm really happy about it too. I actually mixed the herbs about a week ago, but I only just lit it today, and it works beautifully. I'm so glad I found that online video tutorial. This incense doesn't require charcoal or resin or anything, just herbs, paper, and salt.

I know it's kind of hard to see, but it's there and it's smoking. I used equal parts rosemary, sage, and thyme for a nice calming blend. I had a little trouble lighting it at first, but it works nicely. Yay!

Sometimes the world gives you wonderful things before breakfast!

I've been sleeping in a tent outside all week, and as I was coming inside this morning, I spotted a little baby robin perched on my watering can. Surprisingly, as I crept closer and closer, it didn't fly off.  I quickly went inside for my camera, then came back out. I started slow in case it wouldn't let me come close again, zooming in and snapping a picture right from the back door.

I got down to the bottom of the steps. Still there.

I crept closer and closer, taking pictures the whole way.

Until eventually I was right in front of the shelves.

And he just sat there and posed for me!

Soon my parents came out and looked, my mother identified the bird as a baby robin, and not much later it hopped off into the neighbors' yard, fluttering its little wings.

Where it was quickly joined by this handsome fella.

My camera couldn't snap pictures fast enough as the two of them went off together.

The dad had a worm in his mouth and he fed it to the little baby.

And then they hopped off into the next yard. Something truly magical for the morning!