Hmm. Maybe some things just never leave your system, but there's still this little homeschooler girl inside of me who's getting all excited about spring ... "Look! All the flowers are blooming in the wash! Pick some for the table!" "Everything's coming into season! Come on, you aren't going to let all of those perfectly good resources go to waste, are you? Grab some - dry them! Save them!" "The roses are in! How about a fistful of petals for a bath?" ... and so on. Truth be told, it's been a long time since I threw rose petals in the bath - actually, I can't remember the last opportunity where I had enough time and inclination to fill the bathtub, let alone get in it for anything other than a quick shower. Just getting the job done, these days. That's what it's about.
So it's Tuesday, and my little sister-slash-fellow-bibliophile reminds me that the library is open until 8 on Tuesdays. We walk, because it's less than a mile away and it's a beautiful evening. I'm restless, but the library is quiet and full of soft light and good books and non-judgemental people who will make friendly conversation.
I can blame it on the little homeschooler girl, or the shelves of books about plants, or anything, but at any rate I'm home now with two lovely sources to the tune of "All of the plants in your Southwest desert backyard and oh by the way which compounds in them are medicinal, and how to extract those qualities, and instructions on using your final products." (That's this book and this other book, if you want to see for yourself.) We took a little detour on the way home and walked in with an armload of that creosote I was talking about - the effective compounds in which, by the way, include 18 distinct flavones / flavonol aglycones and a dihydroflavonol along with quercetin, a powerful bioflavonoid.
And I thought I could forget all about chemistry after taking last year's final. Nope. I have chemistry drying overhead as I type, and it's making my room smell like rain ... hanging right there next to the fennel as I munch on a handful of Easter-colored M&M's and consume my large glass of iced rose tea. Actually, I think it might be rosewater, but whatever you call it I brewed it yesterday because our rosebush was looking laden and I had a very catchy old rhyme going around my head:
"When the bushes of roses are full
and they will be, around about June*
it's high time to gather, or pull
the leaves of the flowers. As soon
as you've picked all you need for the time,
to each quart of water, unite
a peck* of the leaves, which, if prime,
(and they will be, if pulled off aright)
may be placed in a still* near at hand
on a very slow fire*. When done,
bottle off and permit it to stand
for three days* ere you cork down each one."
The asterisks denote the parts that I modified somewhat to fit a more modern taste. It's not June. I don't know how many petals go into a peck (I used about a pint and a half). We don't own a still, or a cooking fire ... I put the petals in a Mason jar, boiled a quart of water or so, and poured the very hot water over them. After an hour or so, which was really quick, it looked and smelled pretty well-brewed, the water was still warm, and I was thirsty - so I stuck the jar in the fridge, where I've been pouring out of it since finishing the last tonight. It's good. Tastes like roses, which is no surprise, but who knew roses tasted good with a splash of orange juice?
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