Herbal infusions

I love herbal infusions. They can be a way of using a herb well past the date that you would normally throw them out. Foodwise they can add an edge to your cooking and for making soap they can add fragrance, but also means that you can utilise the qualities of the herb without having the lumpy bits of the herb (which all tend to blacken up after a while).

To make an oil infusion you need approx 500g of your oil and up to 8oz of the herb you've chosen. A double boiler/bain marie pot makes life so much easier, but if you don't have one you can use a normal saucepan with an upturned tin in the bottom - or something solid that won't be affected by boiling water.

Measure your ingredients and place in bain marie over continuously simmering water. Make sure the bain marie or bowl doesn't touch the bottom of the pan (which is where the tin comes in) and that the water doesn't bowl dry. Allow the infusion to cook for approx 1 hour, making sure the herb doesn't cook - deep fried infused herb tends to leave crispy bits. When infused you can start again with the same oil and a new batch of herbs to make a stronger batch. Basically, the longer and more often you can keep the process going the stronger the infusion.

When you're happy filter the oil through ever decreasing filters. I tend to do the last pour through a coffee filter to make sure no bits are left, but it takes a long time to filter through – patience and a good book is needed, as you'll have to keep topping the filter up.

Alternatively you can pour the oil with the herb into a glass jar and leave it on the windowsill. It works best if you can leave it in the sun, but, if that's not possible then a warmish room will do. This kind of infusion takes between 24 – 48 hours, but some people will leave the infusion for weeks.

When picking herbs for soap making I like lavender (soothing), peppermint (aching muscles), calendula (skin rashes and inflammation), annato (colour), nettle (astringent), rosemary (scalp itching). You can use fresh herbs from the garden, but for longevity of the final infused oil it is best to use fully dried herbs to make sure that no moisture remains mixed with the oil.

Red Kite

An absolutely awesome moment this morning over my breakfast coffee. I usually have my coffee outside. Yes, even when snowing or raining (though I have been known to sit in the shed before now) as this is the only 10 minutes peace I'll get for most of the day. I had my coffee in one hand and my paper in the other when two birds sped past me really low down. I heard a thud and thought 'ouch, that has to hurt' when they came speeding back. A Red Kite following it's prey. The thud had obviously slowed down the hunted bird and right in front of me the Kite pounced. A few more panicked cheeps and there was silence with the Kite folding back one of its wings and just sitting looking around. Minimal movement of its head but lots of movement on its yellow eyes. A paving slab away from me. Yes, it would have been the perfect camera moment, but I just sat there watching, in a bit of a dilemma. When the wind blew the paper would flap and scare the Kite away, but if I moved to fold the paper that would also scare the Kite away.

The weirdest thing was after the Kite flew off with dinner the sky was full of quickly moving birds. Obviously a lot of them had ducked for cover early.

This particular Kite lives, I think, in the Kingswoods, and we often see it flying overhead. Too fast to ever get a decent shot though. We've often tried to tempt it down by imitating a wounded rabbit, but it only lowers down, has a look, then flies away.

The Red Kite was nearly extinct by the end of the 19th Century, so it's great to see it's survival and expansion of its breeding range to the point that, in this area, it's no longer a rare siting. We have a Red Kite breeding centre at Top Lodge, Fineshade, just down the road and by itself it's a wonderful place where you can go and see them but also watch live video feeds and see exactly how the birds are doing.

The view I usually see from the garden is of the kite sailing above, with a wingspan of nearly 2 metres when fully grown, it's a sight not to miss. We purposely go into the garden when we spot him and just stand and watch.

This is what I saw today - my very own raptor in action.

No apologies for the size of the pictures - this is a superb bird and the bottom shot in particular is fantastic.

Why won't it remember me?

The thing I hate about this blog is that it never remembers me. Everyone time I go to sign I put in the password and tick the remember me box - and it never does. That's a bit of a downer for the ego.


Life in the past few months has been busy. The soaps are still in the development phase. I'm just not happy with them, but I now have some lip balms on the loose. It would help if I actually listed some on my websites, otherwise they will never sell. My local farmer's market had promised to get back to me with regards to a stall, but they never did, so I will have to chase them. I think , from the comments made, that they class me as too expensive. Previously they had one lady who's soaps sold really well, and then another lady who charged too much and produced very bad soap which always left a scum in the sink when used. I didn't make the obvious comment about the local water as I was trying to make a good impression - maybe I should have.


The current works are tiaras though. I have a commission for a new design that I'm working on - butterfly hair combs. This photo is at the hedgehog stage:

This one is half a wing completed. Just need to check that the buyer is happy before I carry on.


Apart from other tiaras I have also been asked to make some for a shop in Savannah, Georgia. Consignment basis. I hummed and hawed as I usually say no, but I like Savannah, which is why I swung over to a yes vote. 3 month trial and it'll be interesting. At least I can say - 'Red Sky Tiaras' as stocked by.... Shop Moss, Savannah. Red Sky International for definite :-)