Spring Tonic Bath

Long hot baths are traditionally for me more of a winter thing, but lately, I cannot get enough of being submerged in my own bathtub. I will forgo many things in lieu of the long steamy time in the tub. I've been potion making and straining oils from herbs so that I have several bags & jars of leftover herbs to indulge in.
Most people have an excess of condiments or preserves in their fridge, where I have elixirs, tonics and many mysterious treasures.
The container of herbs that I took from the fridge last week was a mystery to me as well. I emptied it under the running hot water tap and realized it was the leftover herbs from Botany with Grade 5 from last May or June. The roses, calendula, clover & chickweed were all harvested by the children and made into a healing balm that was made outside the same day. We also made a sun tea from many of the same kinds of herbs for them to drink later in the afternoon. It was nice to remember that day from last spring and to be able to still benefit from the healing of those same herbs. They had the added benefit of having been steeped in oil, so that I had a super emollient bath as well.



If you want to make your own spring tonic bath, find some unsprayed flowers & leaves and throw them in the tub with you.
Some good choices are roses (flowers & leaves) hawthorne (flwrs & lvs, be careful of thorns), raspberry leaves, calendula flowers & leaves as well as the kitchen herbs; sage, marjoram, rosemary, thyme & fennel.
You can also use some dried herbs like lavender or chamomile.
Here's a link to a fall/winter bath.

recipe exchange

I was invited to join a recipe exchange.
Really this is just a friendly, non-threatening chain letter.
But a chain letter nonetheless.
Most of the time when I receive something like this in my inbox I say a quick blessing and hit delete.
For some reason, partly because I really like the person who sent it to me and partly because it was raining and I was daydreamy, I sent a recipe.

Here is the recipe I sent:

recipe for...
the perfect bath

tuck kids into bed (if you have them)
turn off phones, tv, radio, stereo etc
boil a big pot of water & add one or more of the following but not all:

(with suggested quantities for each item)

sliced apple (one apple)
sliced quince (one quince)
sliced oranges (one orange)
ginger, fresh- good for warming-(1-2 inch piece cut up)
~~
rose petals (up to 2 lg handfuls fresh and 1 lg handful dried)
lavender flowers (handful or less)
chamomile (1/2 cup)
peppermint leaves (1/2 cup)
thyme leaves (1/8-1/4 cup)-good for stuffy nose

*the top set of suggestions should be simmered for 15-30 minutes
*the second set should be added to boiling water, heat turned off, lid on and steep for 15-20 minutes

while the herbs/fruit are steeping/simmering
gather:

robe
towels
washcloth (to dry off your hands if you have a book)
book
tea (can be the same as you are making above)
or water
candle/matches
sea salt

making sure there are no stray bits of other peoples hair (eww) fill the tub with the perfect temperature of water.
add a handful of sea salt to the running water, this will help to release any negative or stale thoughts and energy.
light your candle/s
arrange book, washcloth & tea/water on a stool or small table so you can easily reach them.

now, carefully! pour the tub tea into your bath, it's actually better to have someone do this for you. You can strain it if you like but I prefer not to.
adjust the lights to your reading or not reading needs
get undressed and step into the bathtub.

relax and know that you are taking time for something very important, time for yourself is good for everyone around you.

drink in the goodness of the experience and know that even if you are reading a trashy paperback that magic is happening and you will be transformed in small & maybe barely perceptible ways, and who knows maybe this is the thing that shifts the multiverse and we just needed a recipe exchange to make it happen.

xoxo