Yes, it's true. I now have five different collections of Shakespeare's work along with individual scripts of each of his plays. But I use them all and each one offers different supplemental information. My Delphi Classics version has drawn me back over and over as I research the Elizabethan period. I have it as a kindle edition, which allows me to verify authenticity of words I may use in my writing. I put in a search and can discover how many times that word is used in Shakespeare's work along with example phrases. I love it! That said, this particular collection includes some great extras. For example, I can now access Sheakspeare's "Lost Plays" like Love's Labour's Won, Cardenio, and Double Falsehood." A "Sources" section gives me an idea of where Sheakespeare might have found inspiration for each play. Another section provides me with "The Apocryphal Plays" along with explanations for their connections to Shakespeare. Critical essays include notes from Samuel Johnson, Leo Tolstoy, Victor Hugo, and George Bernard Shaw among others. Next comes several biographies by Nicholas Rowe (Shakespeare's first "editor" who helped develop raw flios into published words in the early 17th century), Henry Norman Hudson (an American Critic from the mid 1800's), Sir Sidney Lee (an English biographer and Elizabethan scholar who wrote "Life of William Shakespeare" in 1898), Arthur Acheson ("Shakespeare's Lost Years in London), and Charles Dudley Warner ("The People for Whom Shakespeare Wrote"). The book ends with Shakespeare's Last Will and Testament and a Glossary of Elizabethan Language. You can see why I value this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in researching Shakespeare. It's a collection of material that draws me back to discover bits of information not found in traditional biographies, along with historical insights from various period perspectives. The kindle version is a bargain at $2.99. It's reasonably formatted for electronic searches and the table of contents works very well. This book was published in 2011. I've spent a lot of money on beauty products over the years, but I've never been really sure about what it was I was applying. I've recently read that the skin absorbs everything you put on it, unlike the gastro-intestinal system which has a filtering system to modify the foods that enter the body. So it made sense to me to begin paying attention to what products I use. I've been experimenting with creating lotions and creams with some interesting results. I've now developed a formula that I hope I can apply in general with minor modifications for each type of cream. I learned early on that following recipes directly often gave me more lotion than I can use. After giving much of my new product away away, I realized I needed to experiment with smaller quantities. Now I use a basic unit system that can be converted to ounces, cups, grams, whatever unit of measurement seems to be the most efficient. BASIC RECIPE: 4 parts soft oils (olive, jojoba, almond, etc.) 4 parts hard oils (shae butter, coconut, cocoa, etc.) 2 parts beeswax 2 parts aloe Vera 2 parts goat's milk 2 parts filtered water 1/2 part citric acid )preservative) Oil Essences for fragrance First I melt the waxes and oils. Fill a crockpot with 2 inches of water and set it on warm. Place the oils and wax in a bowl and rest it on a cloth placed in the center of the crockpot. Cover the crockpot and let the oils and wax slowly melt. It will probably take an hour or more, but by using the crockpot I don't have to worry about anything burning so I can be doing other things. Once ingredients are melted,pour the mixture into a mixing bowl. While whipping the mixture, add milk and water, then citric acid and aloe Vera and oil essences for fragrance. Continue to whip ingredients until they cool. The mixture should become light and fluffy. Store in small jars, keeping the extras in the refrigerator. Adding or reducing the water will determine the thickness of the cream. I added extra water for face cream, but removed the water and goat milk entirely to make a foot cream. The wax and the aloe Vera serves as an emulsifier so you can increase these if you have problems with separation. Shae butter is very light as a solid oil and highly recommend for facial creams. But cocoa butter and coconut oils are too heavy for the face and best used on the rest of the body. Tea Tree Oil is a great antiseptic if you want to produce a healing ointment, but the smell is very strong and will overpower any other oil essences you add. You can also replace the water with various teas that have healing properties. Calendula, Chamomile, Lavender and Rosemary are traditional for facial creams. Rose water is also recommended. I'll post again as I learn more about the specific qualities of herbs. I've having a great time experimenting! I hope you find it as constructive. Okay, I admit it. I tried to take some pictures of the wild turkeys that roamed the grounds, but the sun was behind them and I ended up with black shadows. So, they looked like this as I drove past them along the road. It's spring and they were in the romantic moods that wild turkeys enjoy. They gobbled through the weekend, day and night. And that was just one of the great things about our retreat! Fellow writers - you know how lonely our endeavor is, and how fraught with self doubt. The chance to meet with other writers, enjoy a couple of workshops, and write for an entire day can only be appreciate by the afflicted. Along with the turkeys, we had a fabulous discussion about grammar and homonyms. I totally loved the impassioned discussion regarding comma use. AND - I finished my book revision. It was a major accomplishment. I also spoke with a fellow writer about publishing our 400 page novels in smaller chunks. Which means I could publish more often. She's been publishing since January. She pointed out the e-books tend to be shorter, she can charge less, and when she completes the story, she'll offer it complete. Her fans complain about always having to buy the next book to continue the story, but many of them have been very supportive and she's pleased with the progress she's made. I look at my 400 page novel, knowing that I need to clean it up now, fix the typos and such. It will probably take months while I'm working my day job. More nights devoted to working, self imposed deadlines, and the constant nagging feeling that I may not make it to the finish line. Sharing time with other writers strengthens me. Yes, I pick up ideas, review the constructs of language, discuss marketing possibilities, and commiserate. But I'm also blessed with writer friends who encourage me to just keep going. There is so much to the story I'm writing: romance, intrigue, political suspense - the amazing story behind Shakespeare's work. So to my fellow writers, I send the message all writers need to hear constantly. Keep at it, one step in front of the other, little by little, you've never failed until you quit ... It's critical you hear those messages over and over, because it's so easy to give up! I love hyacinths. They're among the first to announce spring, their color is intense, and the fragrance puts me in the mood for spring weeding in my garden. Naturally, I wanted to research their historical significance.
Hyacinths were named after a Greek youth, Hyacinth, who threw the discus with with Apollo. The story reports that the discus was pulled off course and killed Hyacinth. Apollo created the flower from the slain youth's blood. It is a symbol of re-birth. Hyacinths are not recommended for herbal home use. I had to go back to Culpepper's Herbal to find even a mention of their use. The slimy root juice was decocted to "promote the urine." Culpepper warns, however, that the fresh roots are poisonous and extreme caution is to be used when working with it. Hyacinths, in Shakespeare's time, was a simple wild flower with a few blooms running up the stalk. Later, during the 18th century, the Dutch developed the flower we have today. It's known for the dense blooms that encircle the entire stalk. The hyacinth is not assigned to any planet. Today we the bulbs contain oxalic acid, which can irritate the skin. When handling the bulbs, gloves are recommended for those with sensitive skin. Never allow pets to eat the bulb, which will sicken and perhaps kill them. Today was perfect! Sunshine, cool weather, rich soil and time to enjoy it all. I'd planned to write all day and finish my book. But how could I resist such a call to nature. So, feeling the warmth of the sun on my back, I attacked my neglected strawberry patch. Youtube informed me that only new strawberry plants produce good fruit. The older the plant the less it can produce. So it was recommended that I remove the old plants and make space for the "baby" plants that come off the runners. It's very difficult for me to yank healthy plants out of the ground, but I'm determined to conquer gardening so yank away I did, encouraged by the warm sun on my back. Last year, completely neglected, my little patch produced strawberries all summer. I can't wait to see what happens! NOW BACK TO WRITING!!! Last night I began experimenting with herbal scrubs. My fascination with all things chocolate, along my abundance of chocolate brewing grounds, led me to try the following recipe with great success! This is a five minutes recipe that requires no cooking. I used it in the shower and the chocolate bits were a bit messy though easily cleaned. It left my skin soft and moist. It smelled wonderful and made me feel pampered. I LOVED IT!!! I would recommend trying it in a bath - which is what I will do tonight. I also recommended making small batches at first so they're fresh. If you begin to smell the oil going racid, throw it out. Small batches aren't a problem for me because it's so fast and easy to put together. Next time I was to try a solid oil such as coconut or cocoa butter which would give it more body. I'd also like to try adding ground flax-seed which is supposed to also be good for your skin. I have some lavender that might also be nice. If you're interested, one of the recipes that inspired me was based on coffee grounds and was said to reduce cellulite. Though I hope to play around with other ingredients, the chocolate was a fabulous base. For right now I'm storing it in a plastic container, but when I get my recipes polished I hope to use more sophisticated jars or tins. These could be great gifts! BASIC CHOCOLATE SCRUB:
Equal Parts of: Chocolate Grounds Powdered Oatmeal Sugar 1/2 portion of Oil of your choice (I used vegetable oil) Vanilla for fragrance |
AuthorJodee Steffensen Historical and Romance Writer, Amateur Herbalist, and Seeker of adventure, new knowledge and all things good!
Hobbies? I've adored cats all my life. I came to love Shakespeare when I was introduced to him in college. I developed an interest in herbs when a dear friend was diagnosed with cancer. I learned about the complex politics of Shakespeare's world when another friend gave me a book, "Shadow Play," by Clare Asquith. Archives
October 2015
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Photo used under Creative Commons from chris bartnik photography