"March, March, to my own drum, march, march to my own drum. Hey hey, I'm an army of one, Oh, I'm an army of one."
---The Chicks (formerly the Dixie Chicks), the song March March, from the new album 'Gaslighter', and one of the best videos out there. The video for Gaslighter is pretty damn good too.

"We must be careful that the people who make $5000 a year are not pitted against those who make $25,000 a year by those who make $900,000 a year."
Barbara Milkulski,  in a speech, 1974

"The freedom of man,  I contend, is the freedom to eat." Eleanor Roosevelt
PLEASE HELP SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL FOOD PANTRIES

January Moons  6 Last Qtr; 13 New; 20 1st Qtr; 28 Full Maybe a better year begins!

February Moons   4 Last Qtr; 11 New; 19, 1st Qtr; 27, Full The 14th is Valentine's Day

Updated Thursday, December 31, 2020|

Thank you for VOTing

UPDATE:  Hill Woman continues to take, fill, and ship orders, and will continue to do so as long as we stay well and the Post Office stays open. All this could change at any time.  Bay
House Artisans has had to go virtual, with many wonderful artworks and artifacts, and among the Hill Woman goodies there is our new, exclusive to Bay House,  'Catfish' a fish-shaped cat toy stuff with with our premium blend of wild and organic catnip. Check out the many wonderful offerings at Bay House Artisans.com
There will  be no show appearances for the foreseeable future. Stay inside, stay well, take care of each other.
Down the page  a bit is some useful info about ways to keep serene in our present awful circumstances.

The 'Wear a damn mask!' Shipping special continues: $5.00 S&H on US orders over $30.
Shipping on US order $50 orders is still free.

Winter is here, ready or not. We are ready in the sense that we have a large woodpile, freezers and pantry stuff, full tanks of kerosene and propane. But are we ready for shoveling snow, braving subzero temps, and all that? We are never entirely ready, and as we age our preparedness gets a bit thinner-as does our blood.

Let's face it, 2020 has been an increasingly grim chamber of horrors. The November election gave a a taste of hope that things could get better, but the snarling idiocy that has followed continues to dump manure over that slice of Apple Pie. A vaccine is on the horizon, but the bungled distribution and the continuing surges drive home the glum truth that we'll be wearing masks for several months to come. We feel like we've just taken a long ride in a cement mixer called 2020, and we're in the process of being dumped out to face, ready or not, whatever the hell comes next.

Rehab has wound down to a single pigeon. The young juvie pigeon, named Sarah by the daughter of the woman who brought it, has been returned to the farm she came from, that's her up top. The other, mostly referred to as Grumpy Pigeon, has regrown enough feathers to fly. We hope to release her in the coming week. The squirrel we called 'The Little Match Girl' because of the sad, starved state she was in when she arrived is beautiful, if a bit small, and living in our back yard.

So we wish you the best for the new year; may you be warm and comfortable, eat well, sleep soundly, and may your dreams of better days come true around you-
 
If you are ordering, please be patient; making stock and filling orders is being continually interrupted by rehab calls--and problems getting certain materials. If your order arrived more slowly than normal, please forgive us, we're doing the best we can, and the Post Office has been messed with by the forces of evil. But we do want you to order, so Sue-Ryn is offering what we're calling the 'Wear a damn mask!' Shipping special: $5.00 S&H on US orders over $30.00. And of course shipping remains free on orders over $50.00

Here is some useful info from Sue-Ryn:

There are plenty of herbs that can help people through these times.

 Herb Tea is a way to create a healing ritual for yourself or your family.
 Lemon Balm is wonderfully soothing during times of emotional stress.
 Tulsi (aka Holy Basil) is healing on many levels but is best known for easing away “negative emotions”.
 Valerian Root is a good smooth muscle relaxer when stress turns physical.
 An old friend used to swear by a tea mixture of Chamomile & Catnip for help getting to sleep.
 I used to blend and sell a tea called Blossom Blend #1 – the formula was in “parts by weight” 2 parts each of Lavender, Elder Flowers, Orange Blossom*, & Rose petals and buds.
That was mixed with one part each of Chamomile & Valerian root powder or small pieces, and a half part ground cloves.
·Orange blossoms became impossible to find, so I substituted 1part Jasmine flowers and Orange Peel – which was similar in flavor, but not in effect.
           
Other herbs for stress and anxiety are St.Johnswort, Passion Flower, Linden Flowers, Scullcap, and Hops strobiles.
 
When blending a tea for yourself  or your family, always do a little research and be sure the herbs you are planning to use won't negatively effect underlying health issues. Many of the herbs mentioned here will grow in this northern region, a few would have to be houseplants. Maybe this is the year to think about planning and growing a tea garden, even if it's in containers.
 
Some of the herbs I am keeping on hand to help maintain health are:
 
Andrographis paniculata in the form of KoldKare from Kare N Herbs in Maine
Elderberry syrup made by a friend.
Osha Root – which I usually sell, but have run out .It is an endangered planted, but you may be able to find a 1 oz. Package of the root, or a really high quality tincture from Taos herbs in Taos NM
We only use this precious medicine when we feel our respiratory systems need help.
 
Fire Cider – you can find a recipe or several hundred on line. I have some “working”, made from Rosemary Gladstar's traditional formula. It's a ”tincture” of fresh onions, garlic, ginger, horseradish,& cayenne pepper steeped in cider vinegar. A little honey to balance it all will be added once it's finished and strained.
You can also purchase similar products, but it might be a fun project to make with your family.

A while back we had  to raise the price of incense Again.  The pure essential oils I use to make incense continue to rise in price, and after the last order I felt like I had two choices: raise prices or go to cheaper oils.  Going cheap was not an option. I know my customers have come to expect a certain level of quality and consistency in the scents I blend, and that includes the incense. I'm hoping to hold my price at 40 cents per stick. That means folks who order a dozen on an old or unadjusted  order form will be getting 9 sticks for $3.60 instead of twelve. The order form here has been changed to reflect the rise in price to $4.80 per dozen. I apologize for the sudden change, but this is the only way I can continue to produce the incense so many of you love.  I appreciate your understanding and support. Also up in price are Catnip Mousies and a couple oils. Some things like books, spritz kits, Bath Salts, and Soaps have been dropped--though some may end up at shows. But if you go to the Body and Bath page now you will find instructions on how to make your own bath salts!

Our Bug Repellent Oil and Spray now contain Geranium and Lemon Eucalyptus to help repel ticks. These oils have not been added to Bug Stix.

Blame it on the animals....
        The testimonial contest that started some time last winter took off like a lead balloon. Then, baby season hit with a vengeance. Between feeding, cleaning, transporting and releasing critters, doing elder care and trying to keep Bay House Artisans stocked, things got a bit chaotic. The One and only testimonial we received was a friend of Corbie Mitleid who lives in England and raises main coon cats...so she is the winner
One thing of note. A few years ago we were called on to ship corn warmers to Antarctica. Yes, Antarctica. Well, earlier this month we heard from one of the recipients of those warmers. Here's what she had to say:

Hi Sue Ryn,

I received one of your corn warmers while working for 6 mos in Antarctica.  The endless nights that I crawled into a nice warm bed because of your lovely handmade gift brought me endless *SMILES* on the coldest continent on earth!!!  I will continue to buy corn warmers for all of my friends!!  You're a master of your craft!  THANK YOU!!!

Need 'therapeutic quality' pure essential oils at reasonable prices without climbing a MLM pyramid? Check out http://www.rockymountainoils.com
We will once again mention here something you will find elsewhere on the site, and as a sticker on order forms. There is now a limit of 5 bundles per scent on incense orders. We have some real fans out there, and that's great, but every so often we get orders so crazy big it wipes our entire stock all at once, and makes it so no one else can get any. Our incense is made by hand in small batches, and can take well over a week to cure enough to be salable or shippable. You can still order 5 bundles each of your favorites, and we hope you do. But orders of 10 and 20 or more bundles of one scent had to stop before we went nuts. Or more nuts. Also bad news for some fans: the incense blend Rendezvous is now  extinct--but  stay tuned for a new scent going  on sale later this month.


Longtime Hill Woman friends and customers know that Sue-Ryn's husband, the Computer & Incense Troll, is a writer with two novels and dozens of short stories to his credit. Now he has begun putting out some of his unpublished novels as Kindle ebooks.

He has a new Kindle eBook novel available for your reading at Amazon. Like the cover says, it's death and danger at a Renaissance Faire--and a nudist camp, investigated by one of the oddest law officers to ever pin on a badge, the one and only Sheriff Abe Van Wynk. It's funny, fairly mysterious, and only $2.99! Available soon is a Kindle edition of his novel Call From A Distant Shore

 






Or you can try his bent fantasy novel Festivael. Want to know more? Click on the cover or the earlier link. It is available from Amazon for $2.99.





A third novel of Amazon resurgence titled Blood and Bread is out there.
A most unlikely woman becomes the first Amazon warrior in over 2000 years--and ends up in the middle of a war with the men who wiped out the Amazons the last time around.

Also available at Amazon for a measly $2.99 is another Stephen L. Burns Kindle e-book, the rollicking, satirical SF novel Zero Day Baby.

From Time to time I have needed an Animal Communicator. I first met Sally Gewinner at a small event in Fulton. At that time our old kitty Belle was showing some odd behaviors. Sally helped confirm my suspicions and figure out ways to help deal with belle's transition.         Since then I have called upon Sally for help with domestic pets and Wildlife too. Her gentle healing wisdom has always proved supportive of the animals in our care.         Sally still works full time as a teacher, but you can often find her at weekend psychic and holistic fairs in the central NY region. You can find her on line at http://www.energy-light.com or call her at 315.458.2430 if you need faster help or an appointment.                 

Worth visiting is the Pets Page, a listing of tips and resources and books and links for the owner of animals  of every stripe, including information on fostering animals for people in the service.
If you are looking for a pet, be it a dog or cat or whatever, you will find a link on that page to http://www.petfinder.org
a place that can be  a world of help. That's how we found our Chloe.
Give an animal in need a home! 
What we really want is help making the page (pages, actually) even more useful. Got useful info? Regular mail it to us or email it to troll@hillwoman.com for possible inclusion.

Some more of the Troll's fiction is now available as downloadable versions
(for a modest price) online at Fictionwise. For more info, visit the Stephen L. Burns page.

A personal note from Sue-Ryn:
I frequently joke with customers, saying,  "Accept no substitutes," when asked if I am the Hill Womanwho has been around and selling herbs and scents for over two decades. Last summer a few people asked if I knew a few different people who claimed to be 'apprentices' or 'students' of mine.
While I know I have inspired and empowered many along their own herbal and spiritual paths, I have no apprentices, students (or acolytes, or subjugated minions, for that matter).
Anyone who claims to a student or apprentice is not being completely honest with you.

Feeling a bit isolated? Having a hard time finding things to help feed your spiritual side?
Desperately Seeking Serenity is a page listing some sources for books, music and more.
Check it out for a listing of catalogs and newsletters. Got suggestions for listings? Drop
us a line and let us know, please. Knowledge is best when it's shared.

As always, I'm grateful to the many folks who help keep Hill Woman grounded and growing;
the family and friends, the helpers both hired and volunteer.
I count such fine companions and co-conspirators as treasure.
Special thanks are due to each and every one of you who visits this site or reads my
brochure and accords me the honor and pleasure of serving you. Your encouragement,
kindness, and continuing support mean more to me than you will ever know.  And to
those who've visited, used, and  complimented this site, the Computer & Incense Troll
thanks you from the rubbly bottom of his black little heart.