Some Important Stuff
This coming Sunday, August 15, we will be at Purrs and Paws in the
Park . This event is put on by The Country Cat and City Kitty Rescue
and will feature animal shelters in the area. The idea is to have as
many animal rescues and shelters as possible in one place so those looking
for a new pet can come to one place and have a large choice of animals.
There will be kittens and cats, puppies and dogs, birds including parrots,
lizards, and even chinchillas!
There will also be several vendors, like us, at this event. Even if
you are not looking for a new pet, come on out and help us support the
shelters. Many of the vendors will donate a percent of their profits
to the shelters. We will be donating a percent of our profits to The
Country Cat and City Kitty Rescue. Because of the forecasted heat on
Sunday, we will not have our candles at this event (but if you are coming
and want to purchase some candles, drop me an email and I can bring
your order to the show). As far as my glycerin soaps, I will not have
them at this event either (again if you want to order some for pick
up, email me ). I will have jewelry, pendulums, incense, stones and
crystals. Alicia will have her jewelry, art, and various hand-crafted
items including gem trees. She also makes cat toys and beds. Sandy has
a pile of store bought cat toys that she ignores, preferring to play
with the catnip toy Alicia made for her!
Purrs and Paws in the Park will be at Claude Allison Park in Redford.
It is on Beech Daily between 6 and 7 Mile Roads. The event is from 10am
to 5pm, rain or shine.
Thank you to everyone who braved the heat to come out to the Purrs
& Paws event. Several animals were adopted.
I am changing email addresses as I am going to cancel CompuServe (the
‘cs’ in @cs.com) at the end of this month. This newsletter
comes to you from the email tarottemptress@cs.com. My new email will
be tarottemptress@gmail.com. If your email system has any type of spam
blocker, then you may have to add the new gmail address to your accepted
list to continue receiving this newsletter . After this newsletter is
sent, I will change the email in the newsletter account. I will send
a test email, this same newsletter, on friday. If you do not get the
newsletter again on friday, then check your spam and allow this new
gmail address.
The new email for Infinite Flame is magickalshoppe@infiniteflame.com.
Keweenaw Vacation
My vacation in the UP was great. The weather was good and Lake Superior
was way warmer than it was two years ago. I really enjoyed the two chances
we had to visit the shore while searching for agates. My favorite thing
was the Cliff Mine rock piles. We went there on the last day. I found
some awesome copper pieces and crystals in the pile. From the top of
the rock pile was a terrific view and the wind was blowing to keep it
cool. I could have spent a whole day at that site. We heard from some
locals that the state wants to bulldoze the pile flat and cover it with
dirt. Something about harmful runoff going into a river. The thing that
doesn’t make sense is that there has been runoff for over 80 years
and whatever is in the rock in the piles is also in the rock all over
the UP, including where any wells are dug. I hope this does not occur
as I really would love to visit these rock piles again.
We spent a day in Calumet, visiting the Coppertown
USA Mining Museum and a store called Copper
World . If you go up to this area, be sure to visit both. We found
out about a new-to-us rock pile, Laurium, which once we found it turned
out to be one of the best. Again I found some copper pieces and a
piece of hemitized quartz. When hemitite occurs with quartz, it turns
the quartz a dark reddish color. I have seen specimens of this before
and really wanted to have a piece, and now I do.
We re-visited the Delaware
Mine . My sister Val and Alicia wanted to do the tour again and
took our other friend, Karen, with them. Karen had never been in a mine
before and was game to try it out. She pretty much summed it up when
I asked her afterwards what she thought. Karen said "after a little
while, its just a hole in the ground". Now I don’t want to
deter anyone from experiencing this, especially if you are really into
geology and/or mining history. The Delaware Mine is a great tour, self
guided so you go at your own pace. The owners are great people too,
very friendly and happy to answer any questions about mining or the
area. They have two pet skunks and two dogs. They allow your dog to
go into the mine with you too, great on a hot day when the mine stays
a cool 48 degrees. AND at the Delaware Mine they allow you to rock hunt
at the nearby pile (not in the mine). Not like the Adventure Mine, where
there are signs posted all over the place telling you no rock hunting
anywhere. At the Adventure
Mine , Val and Alicia went on the tour. Alicia did the longest tour
where you actually rappel down into the lower shafts. While they were
down there, Karen and I took a walk along one of their hiking trails.
We spent a day in Copper Harbor, where you can visit the beginning
(or end, depending on your view) of Highway 41. We checked out the little
tourist shops, many had hand-crafted items from locals. While at a book
store we ran into one of the owners of the Delaware Mine. He was delivering
plants to the owner and after we helped him unload, he opened up their
newest venture, Lore of the Lakes, for us. Still a work in progress,
this will be a museum with a couple of attractions, like the big pond
in front where you can play with remote controlled boats. He let us
have some fun with the boats while Karen watered his flowers. On our
last trip two years ago while at the Delaware Mine, he was loading a
boat and needed help so we volunteered. For some reason, whenever we
are up in the Keweenaw, we end up helping this guy with something!
We also spent a day at the Eagle Harbor lighthouse. This was very interesting,
the tour guide in the lighthouse was very informative. I highly recommend
visiting this site. There is a small gift shop at the entrance, Carriage
House Gifts . It is run by an elderly lady who I found out used to live
in Northville. She is an artist, her daughter is an artist, and her
granddaughter is showing signs of talent. Most of the items in her shop
feature either her art or her daughter’s. We all purchased something
from her.
We visited some more rock piles and shops. Saw some touristy things.
Saw only a couple of deer the entire week and on our trip up we saw
a coyote cross the road. On the trip back, right after we stopped at
Da Yoopers Tourist
Trap in Ishpeming, we saw a bear sitting on the side of the road.
Well, Karen and I saw it, my sister was driving too fast to stop even
after I said "hey, what’s that black thing on the side of
the road?" Truly I see more deer around my house down here in Novi
than I see in the Keweenaw area.
The Keweenaw Peninsula a great area for a vacation. The towns are old
and full of history. The shops feature local crafters and you can find
unique and beautiful items that you won’t find anywhere else. There
is something for everyone; lighthouses, mines, museums, historical churches,
Fort Wilkins, cemeteries, Lake Superior beaches, boating & fishing,
hiking, bike trails, waterfalls, parks, bird watching, and even golf
courses. In the winter they are known for cross country trails and snowmobile
trails. The people are nice and helpful. Everywhere you drive there
are terrific views. And its only 9 or 10 hours away!
Citronella......I mean, Lemongrass
I spent the day trying to decide what herb/oil to write about. Actually,
I should say thinking about what herb/oil, I was doing computer
work and jewelry for the upcoming show. I decided to write about citronella
, my thought being that it is in use during the warm weather to keep
away bugs and I was sure it has other uses. So I checked my books to
look up some facts. One book does not even have citronella in it, the
other has it mentioned in the section about lemongrass. They
both belong to the genus cymbopogon. Since this newsletter is
already past the dark moon and I have a busy few days ahead, I’ll
write about lemongrass and do some more research on citronella for a
future newsletter.
As I have stated before, the Latin name is very important to be sure
you are getting the right oil. Lemongrass is cymbopogon citratus
, that is the oil I look for when purchasing. It comes mainly from India
and Guatemala but can also be from Brazil, China or the USA. This plant
is used for aromatherapy, perfumery and food flavoring. Cymbopogon
flexuosus is East Indian/Cochin lemongrass and is used mainly for
food flavoring. Cymbopogon martini is called palmarosa
, rosha, or geranium grass and is from India. This is the source of
Turkish geranium oil and is used to adulterate rose oil, in perfumes,
soaps and insect repellents. Cymbopogon martinii var. sofia is
called ginger grass and has a cruder scent. Cymbopogon nardus
is citronella, grown mostly in Sir Lanka and Java for
citronella oil. One book says c. nardus is "similar in
fragrance and properties to melissa officinallis. " The other
books cautions about an adulterated version of lemongrass being sold
as lemon verbena. There is a true lemon verbena with the
latin name of lippia citriodora. ( Interesting about the palmarosa,
I did not know they were related and grabbed my bottle to check the
latin name, it is c. martini.)
Lemongrass is a fast growing, tall aromatic red grass, growing in clumps
of cane-like stems and arching leaves. Oil is produced by steam distillation
of finely chopped leaves. It is antidepressant, antiseptic, invigorating,
stimulating, toning, deodorant, fungicide and insecticide. It
can irritate sensitive skin so use in a carrier oil if applying to the
skin.
We know it mainly for repelling insects but it has other uses.
It is a traditional remedy in Indian medicine, sometimes known as Indian
verbena and Indian melissa oil. It is used for bringing down a fever,
slowing down the development of tumors, heal skin complaints, kill germs
and stop the spread of infectious diseases, for varicose veins and for
chilblains. It can tone the skin and help tighten up loose
skin after weight loss. It balances oily skin and excessive perspiration.
Lemongrass is a common ingredient in soaps, detergents, perfumes, and
cosmetics. It is a popular food flavoring especially in Thai cuisine.
It lifts the spirit and gets things moving. It is stimulating, reviving
and energizing.
Lemongrass is associated with air
and Mercury. Metaphysically it helps with fidelity, honesty,
passion, psychic development and growth, refreshing, and uplifting.
Love, Luck and Rocks!
~~~~Rhiannon Rose @--^--
