Calendula Oil

Many moons have risen and set since I last posted on this blog. Still  here I am again.

Check out how pretty this Calendula Oil is. The warm oil is draining on my bench ready to be made into hand cream at a later date.

First I picked my Calendula or Marigolds, I'm not very clear which I have or what the difference is. Just the petals go into the oil so I just pulled them off the plant. Then I put them into a glass jar and sat in a warm place for a week. I didnt think much of the oil so following Google's advice I gently warmed the oil and petals for 10 mins over a very low heat on the stove.

Finally it was ready. So lovely looking ...but it smells of nothing. I see now that when making handcream most people add orange essential oil. I think this is totally neccessary to improve the experience.

On Bees and Pony Poo

My blog has not been at the forefront of my life.  But life has been continuing onwards, with all the usual bumps in the road.

Recently an amazing local from the internet delivered a huge pile of shit (well, pony poo) for FREE.  In return I gave them tomatoes, capsicums and whatnot from the garden.

They said I can get a trailerload a week!  This will really help to improve the quality of our soil. Our land is on a river plain, and is full of stones which means it is very free draining, and when it is hot the stones heat up and everything dehydrates very quickly.

Poo will add texture and nutrients.  I just need to get it all spread out, which is quite a job with the wheelbarrow.

I started by shovelling it round all my fruit trees, in preparation for the wet we get in the winter. Water will soak the nutrients down, and hopefully not burn the roots.


Bees have arrived at Winderose House. Over the mid summer we caught 6 swarms. Three of them have survived and are thriving, much to my delight. My neighbour has empty hives and I have the will, so between us we have managed to get them up and going. It's been an exciting learning curve. I now have a bee suit. Cue the silly picture of me looking like an astronaut.

Rogue comb full of bees, made before we knew what we were doing They made this in 1 week!