Shoes (And Flowers) Are A Girl's Best Friend

From Sasha 

What can a gal do on a rainy Beltane? Why, take pictures of all of those shoes that we've been meaning to get into the shop, of course. (The great thing about shoes is that they can be photographed indoors!) These lovelies are all available for you right now:


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Mycie was helping us out-- she demonstrated proudly to Mamma the correct method of unbuckling sandals:

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(Do I even need to mention Mycie's red shoes? Her outfit is simply the best!)

Hope you all are staying cozy like we are! Since this is California, land of the Drought, we never know which rain of the Spring is going to be our last (til as late in the year as October!), so we try not to complain, and think of the wildflower and herb bloom that awaits us... speaking of which, here are some beauties that have been popping up this week:

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Wild Iris

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Hawthorne, the tree of Beltane, sacred to the Fairies in Celtic Lands (where it is also known as the Thorn Tree). The flowers, leaves, and berries are an amazing circulatory system tonic, and are also used in love potions by savvy Witches!

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Madrone arching over Hawthorne

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Spring is made for Rambling

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Beauties of the Meadow

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Abandoned

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Plantain, known to herbalists and their children as "The Band-aid Plant"-- chew it up (watch it, it's bitter!) and put it right on your owies or insect stings. One of the premiere "drawing" herbs in poultices or used internally for gut healing. (Also, interestingly, a cultivar of Plantain with a larger seed makes the seeds that we know as "psyllium"!)

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Red Clover- a great spring tonic for "blood clearing". That old fashioned term means something like what we all call "detoxing" today... it gets your liver moving and gets winter's gunk out of your system. 

Here's to a Happy and Healthy Spring for all of us!!!