Your Happiness Factor

How to Make Herbal Infused Oils Learn how to make herbal infused oils that you can use for herbal salve, lip balm recipes, or by itself as an herb oil. In this video we make calendula oil by using calendula with sweet almond oil and comfrey oil by infusing comfrey in olive oil. This video is from  http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/   Wendy Mason is a career coach.  She helps people reach their goals and aspirations, without sacrificing their home and personal life.  Before working as a coach, Wendy had a long career in both the public and private sectors in general management and consultancy as well as spells in HR.  She now divides her time between coaching and writing. You can contact Wendy at  wendymason@wisewolfcoaching.com  and find out more at  http://wisewolfcoaching.com Related articles Are you shy? Learn how to make friends in new situations. Dealing with anger - advice from the Dalai Lama Conf...

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Basil - The Royal Herb The name of the herb "basil" comes from the Greek word meaning "king" or "royal", reflecting how the herb was valued.   The French sometimes call basil " l'herbe royale " too.  In Italy, basil was symbolic of love and it was sometimes used as an aphrodisiac.  (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The English botanist  Culpeper  cites one "Hilarius, a French physician" as affirming it as common knowledge that smelling basil too much would breed scorpions in the brain.  And  basil did represent hatred in ancient  Greece. But, t here are many much nicer rituals and beliefs associated with basil.   In  Portugal , a dwarf bush of basil is traditionally presented in a pot, together with a poem and a  pom-pom , to a sweetheart,   In Mediterranean countries, a pot of basil on the window sill denoted that an unmarried girl lived in the house.  Scientif...

I have a most wonderful bay tree in my garden but I didn't know anything about Bay Leaf Tea until I found this lovely video from  Meghan Telpner. She has a fantastic website   http://www.meghantelpner.com/about/  and here she is speaking from St Lucia.  I don't think life can get any better....

  Find happiness in growing things - the joys of an indoor herb gardener! Spending a little time gardening is a great way to balance out a busy working week. Watching something grow that you have nurtured is a great joy and if you can harvest the produce so much the better. But not all of us have out-door space and some really do have very little time. So how can you enjoy the pleasure of growing something green? Well, many herbs grow quite happily indoors with the right conditions. They don't take much looking after, most look good and, yes, you do get to harvest them for cooking.  You will find all kinds of herbs in your local garden centres and you can find them on-line. I would recommend buying plant pugs (young plants) rather than growing from seed. Growing herbs from seed can be frustrating. The biggest challenge when growing indoors is providing the right light. Many herbs will live very happily on a sunny windowsill but you do need to chec...

  (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The Mint moth (Pyrausta aurata) on Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) (Photo credit: Wikipedia )    Lemon Balm – A cup of tea with my lovely Melissa I've started drinking lemon balm tea in afternoons.  Now I've grown lemon balm in my garden for years and always enjoyed the smell. On a summer's day, it is something quite special. But only this year have I taken a couple of fresh sprigs, steeped them in hot water and drunk the results.  Oh, it is lovely. Apparently, the word Balm is an abbreviation of Balsam, the chief of sweet-smelling oils. It is so called from its honeyed sweetness It was highly esteemed by Paracelsus a sixteenth century alchemist of genius. He believed in its ability to revive. Paracelsus, as Manly Hall has said, gained his knowledge "not from long-coated pedagogues but from dervishes in Constantinople, witches, gypsies, and sorcerers, who invoked spirits and captured the rays of th...