Christmas week is upon us, and it has been a peaceful season in our home. We are thankful for that, it isn’t always that way due to the many circumstances of life, so makes it extra special when it is.
I have a post I did a few years ago that is still relevant today about the gifts that the wise men brought to the Christ child…two are herbs, and one is not, but has health benefits. Please visit for the first time, or revisit The Herbs of Christmas, Gold, Frankinscense and Myrrh .
You may also want to visit the following related lenses:
With Christmas coming the snow outside my window right now, with a backdrop of grey trees, is pretty…what we like to see at this time of the year. But it is cold, and as time goes by, we tend to look farward to spring, and consider making escapes to warmer climates…where it is warm, and you see beautiful flowers like the one above that is native to Jamaica. Something you might see if you were to enjoy one of Jamaicas all inclusive resorts.
Many, like my brother and his wife and daughter, like to travel to warmer places during the Christmas season, others wait until Spring if they have children and want to travel during their spring breaks. Then there are those who, like my husband and I, are no longer raising children, so can travel if money permits any time of year, and so inclusive Jamaica trips are appealing, as they provide you with everything at a reasonable price, tips included, so that you know exactly what you will be paying up front. This is important with the economy what it is today, and many resorts and travel destinations are doing what they can to help by providing reasonable pricing, and better ways like this to financially plan your vacation. This is what made taking this offer to share with you appealing…we are all trying to cut costs and plan carefully these days.
The website was beautiful when I visited, and there are places like Ocho Rios hotels to stay. Ocho Rios is the main cruise port to the Island, a wonderful place to shop, enjoy a wonderful variety of activities, including beautiful beaches, golfing, polo and famous Dunn’s River Falls for you climbing pleasure. Close by is another popular destination, the resort town of Runaway Bay, one of Jamaica’s most popular destinations, the home to Breezes Runaway Bay.
All the details you need and more are at the links provided. I hope you enjoy a little warmth just visiting the links during these cold months of winter.
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We have a mixed-bag of weather this weekend, my husband will be happy to know that the weather will be cooler than it has been for the past couple of days, the temperatures are perfect for me, but he likes it below 80 degrees. The trees are doing their wonderful work of shading our cabin home until the mid-afternoon hours, and the gardens are bursting with green, herbs taking over and running wild, and I think I might just let them. They got an early start this year, so look like they usually do about a month from now.I am delighted with how lush everything looks, and will be back shortly after I’ve spent some “shutterbug” moments taking some pictures to add to this post. My husband and son may not be as delighted with how lush the lawn looks, it will need a good mowing.This weekend, along with remembering what our military and veterans have done and are doing for our Nation, I plan to add color to the gardens, and a few vegetables. I will be purchasing annuals to fill my hanging planters and planters on the deck, and to add plant between and around my perennials.Wishing you all a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.
Horseradish, with a “touch” of Mint
I have my work cut out for me here, mint taking over
This is a stop that we made during a trip to Maine a couple of years ago…a wonderful picture of antique equipment used to sort cranberries at County Road Cranberry Bogs in Columbia Falls, Maine. In our travels (which were wherever the road may take us) we came upon this cranberry bog and the husband and wife who work their cranberry farm.
Since I already have some of the health benefits of Cranberries posted on my website, I thought you’d enjoy seeing pictures of the bog which has already been harvested, and the beautiful antique hand-operated machine they use to sort and clean the leaves and residue off the berries.
The berries we brought home stored well in the freezer, and provided delicious cranberry sauce for our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for 2 years. They were sweetened with raw honey that we brought home from a farm in Lancaster, PA last spring.
Herbs and Christmas come together when I think about the gifts the wise men brought to Jesus according to the biblical accounts of Christ’s birth. Two were herbal, and one isn’t an herb, but does have medicinal properties.
Frankincense is a resin that is very aromatic, taken from a tree with the botanical name Boswellia carterii. Frankincense has been used since ancient times and is associated with spiritual things and meditation, which may be why the wise men thought it an appropriate gift to give to Jesus and his family. I have Frankincense essential oil on hand.
Myrrh, and is a medicinal herb we have discussed already on this blog, you can find a link to the post in the listing to the upper right of this blog, I list all single herbs alphabetically as they are posted so that they are easy for you to find.
Gold, the final precious gift of the wise men, also has medicinal properties. Here is an article I just found on Gold provided by The Whole Food Farmacy, a wonderful source of medicinal grade Gold in their “Joule” and “Heart of Gold”:
The earliest records of the use of gold for medicinal and healing purposes come from Alexandria, Egypt. Over 5,000 years ago, the Egyptians ingested gold for mental, bodily and spiritual purification. The ancients believed that gold in the body worked by stimulating the life force and raising the level of vibration on all levels.
The Alchemists of Alexandria developed an “elixir” made of liquid gold. They believed that gold was a mystical metal that represented the perfection of matter, and that its presence in the body would enliven, rejuvenate, and cure a multitude of diseases as well as restore youth and perfect health.
As many as 4,500 years ago, the Egyptians used gold in dentistry. Remarkable examples of its early use have been found by modern archaeologists. Still in favor today as an ideal material for dental work, approximately 13 tons of gold are used each year for crowns, bridges, inlays and dentures. Gold is ideal for these purposes because it is non-toxic, can be shaped easily, and never wears, corrodes or tarnishes.
Historically, medicinal gold has had a reputation as a “nervine,” a therapy for nervous disorders. A review of the historical literature shows gold in use during the 19th century for conditions including depression, epilepsy, migraine, and glandular problems including amenorrhea and impotence.
The most notable use of gold was in a treatment for alcoholism developed by Leslie E. Keeley, M.D. Gold has been used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases for more than 75 years, but until now, the way that gold worked has remained a mystery.
Harvard Medical researchers report in the February 27th, 2006 issue of Nature Chemical Biology that gold, platinum, and other classes of medicinal metals work by stripping bacteria and virus particles from the grasp of a key immune system protein. “We were searching for a new drug to treat autoimmune diseases,” says Brian DeDecker, PhD, “but instead we discovered a biochemical mechanism that may help explain how an old drug works.”
Once again, modern science has confirmed what the ancients seem to have known all along – that gold is indeed a very precious metal. At The Wholefood Farmacy, we are proud to offer two exclusive products which offer an easy and delicious way to bring this ancient wisdom into your life today, “Joule” & “Heart of Gold”.
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and offer my best wishes for the coming New Year.
If you would like a fact sheet about any of the items marked in red, please send me an email. Thanks!
The frost is most definitely on any pumpkins that happen to be decorating the yards on our street, we have had weather down in the 30’s at night, and the ones that have been carved and placed on the ground….the squirrels and raccoons have done their own version of the carvings by chewing away at the edges of triangular eyes, noses, and the mouths are toothless and distorted now.
It is the season for Holiday Costumes of all kinds, and how I look forward to seeing what the children will be wearing when they come to the door to get their candy treats.
My children are both grown now, but I remember our shopping adventures each year, looking for the perfect pumpkin, and buying costumes. At that time we had to shop at the store as we didn’t have internet access, and shopping online was simply not what it is today. Now you can find Halloween costume stores on the internet. Shopping online for anything…except of course the perfect pumpkin, is always my preferred shopping method. Since I don’t like the “dark side” of the Halloween season, anything I would ever buy would be something funny, happy, joyful. Even our decorations around the house all have to be smiling.
If you have children, what will they be wearing this year? Have you found the perfect pumpkin yet? Have a happy halloween, keep it bright and cheerful!
How many of you grew corn in your vegetable gardens this year? I didn’t have room to plant any, but noticed it in the gardens of some of my neighbors. We love our corn here in New Jersey, it’s simply called “Jersey Corn”, but unfortunately the season for fresh corn is over now. In fact, this past weekend we were driving around in the farmlands of Delaware, and saw the remnants of corn and corn cobs that remain after harvest.
But the fact that the season for fresh corn is finished doesn’t mean that we can no longer enjoy this delicious treat! What about delicious, nutritious popcorn? My husband and I love popping up some popcorn when we settle down to watch a movie in the evening. Then there are those special times, especially around the holidays, when we have enjoyed giving, and being on the receiving end of gift tins full of popcorn. Some of these delicious treats are lightly buttered and salted, and sometimes caramel coated, but these are not the only seasonings available to enhance the flavor of popcorn. In fact the last tin we received became useful to us as a container for our wild bird seed after the popcorn was finished.
My mouth is watering just thinking of this delicious treat. Popcorn can actually be packaged in such a way that it makes a beautiful gift like they make at thepopcornfactory.com.
Herbs and Christmas come together when I think about the gifts the wise men brought to Jesus according to the biblical accounts of Christ’s birth. Two were herbal, and one isn’t an herb, but does have medicinal properties.
How many of you grew corn in your vegetable gardens this year? I didn’t have room to plant any, but noticed it in the gardens of some of my neighbors. We love our corn here in New Jersey, it’s simply called “Jersey Corn”, but unfortunately the season for fresh corn is over now. In fact, this past weekend we were driving around in the farmlands of Delaware, and saw the remnants of corn and corn cobs that remain after harvest.
