Crones
Corner
Incense,
Oils, Herbs & Brews
Welcome to the Crone's
Corner. This page is dedicated to the Crone's art of herbalism.
Recipes may be either healing or magikal in nature. However, none
of the recipes are to be taken as a prescription or used in the place of
proper medical treatment. If you have a favorite recipe or are looking
for one, email
me. _________________________________________________________________
I
love going to the State and country fairs this time of year. These
events are a great chance to stock up on fresh herbs, flowers and other
things that you might not be able to grow yourself. There is something
much more gratifying about using items that have been raised and nurtured
by someone you've met rather than off the shelf at your local store.
One of my greatest finds was the sheep shearing/grooming demonstrations.
If you ask politely, they will often give you the fleeces or part of the
fleeces they shear off before present the sheep for showing. Now
why would anyone want a stinky dirty old bunch of sheep's wool? For
the lanolin of course! Lanolin is used in all sorts of creams etc.
and is wonderful to have about in your stock. Here's how to get your own
lanolin from that wool you asked for.
Mind you,
it's a smelly process, so don't do this if you have an aversion to smell!
Take the
UNWASHED fleece and put it into a big pot of hot but not boiling water.
Let it simmer gently. You should start to see an oily film collecting
on the surface of the water. There will also probably be dirt, leaves
and other more unsavory things. (If you are able to, don't take the
part of the fleece near the hindquarters of the sheep) Skim off this
oily film and put it through a fine sieve. This will get most of
the larger impurities out. Keep doing this until you have all or
most of the lanolin skimmed from the top of the water. Now, let the
lanolin you have collected cool. Using a double boiler, or a can
set into a pan of water, reheat the cooled lanolin. This time strain
the lanolin through cheesecloth and then through a finer filter such as
a coffee filter if you have one. Double or triple layers of cheesecloth
will do as well. The object is to get the lanolin as pure as possible
before storage. Pour the melted, strained lanolin into clean glass
jars with either a glass stopper/lid with a seal or a metal lid that you
first cover with waxed paper. Let cool before screwing/fastening
the lids. Make sure you have a tight seal and put into a cool dark
place for storage until you have need of it.
Now, if
you wish, you can wash the fleeces that are in the pot with soapy water,
hang to dry and either card, spin and weave them yourself, or give them
to a weaver you know!
Katya
Kuchner
___________________________________________________________________________