The Sanctuary Room is the only place in the house where I can have live plants. This is a combination of where the sun comes in and......kitties. The Sanctuary Room gets great sun most of the day, and Jack and Willy aren't allowed in this part of the house. This is good because they just can't handle the temptation of live plants. There would be soil, water and plants everywhere, and Jack would eat all of it, because he's Jack and that's what he does. He reminds me of a goat sometimes. "Oooh, what's THAT!? I think I'll eat it!" And when you catch him doing this, he moves like lighting, just like when you catch a toddler putting a random inanimate object into their mouth. Try catching a cat who does NOT want to be caught.
So, no plants in the main part of the house.
Last weekend, I went to the plant nursery and got mint plants. I was thinking, I'll get 1 or 2 plants. Yeah. Famous last words, as they say. I was like a kid in a candy store. I know some of you get this! So, I got five. FIVE. Each is a different variety of mint.
I love using mint in cooking, tea blends, spell work, making mint oil and my brother's favorite which is using the oil made from the leaves to create a room clearing / freshening spray. Every time I give him a refill container, it's gone in 2 days! So I've really missed having my own mint.
Over the past year or so, I've been working with "water only" plants. It started with some segments of Pothos that ended up in water and were so happy that I never bothered giving them a pot. After that, I took one of the endless babies off my mom's spider plant and it is loving the soil free environment, too.
Recently, I came across a blog post written by a plant fanatic who grows all of her herbs this way all year round, and has for some time. THIS intrigued me. In 2014 and 2015 I had begun quite a nice little collection of herbs growing here in our yard. I got sidetracked and unfortunately lost all of it because of neglect. I've wanted so very much to get back to growing herbs!
It has been challenging for us, for me, to get the sweat equity (due to rheumatoid arthritis) and the wallet lined up at the same time as the free time so I could begin my herb garden again. The yard is in need of attention on multiple levels and what will and will not happen this season is still up for grabs. (We got a new weed whacker with saw attachment yesterday, so excited!) Anyway, seeing that blog got me excited - I can try growing herbs INSIDE!
So, the five plants made it home last Saturday. They were horribly pot bound, so badly that it was incredibly difficult for me to get the roots moving and flexible again. I can't imagine how they were even soaking up any water. Eventually, after a great deal of effort I got them all out of those tiny, tight pots and rinsed the roots. Each plant got a brand new, glass container, I picked up an assortment of inexpensive but cheerful and bright ones at Marshalls and the Dollar Store. Each got some fresh water, and a new spot where they could enjoy the sun shining in the windows.
Fast forward to yesterday , one week later. I spent some time in the Sanctuary room, checking all of my plants. When I got to the mint, there was a story unfolding. 3 of them were doing amazingly well, and appeared to have lots of life and even new growth! They had gone through a lot of their water and needed more. They looked amazing! The other 2 were struggling. Lots of brown and yellow and not much water was gone. I spent some time with all 5, talking with them, singing, trimming them, offering reiki and making sure everyone had enough water. One didn't like his container so he got "new shoes." So far, this morning, everyone looks happy and strong. Time will tell.
The mint quintuplets have a lesson for us today, I think. Lots has happened them. They've always been in that plant nursery, always in those pots. At first, the pot was safe, and warm and wonderful, with so much room to grow. After a time, it wasn't so roomy, but there was sunshine and water and life wasn't so bad, you know? Lately, it was just really crowded and unhealthy and it wasn't good at all but it was all they'd ever known.
Then, things got crazy. A witch brought them home and was pulling and tugging on them, taking them out of their nice safe pots! Pieces were falling off onto the ground, how could that be good? She put them in water instead of pots, and placed them carefully in the sunshine. It was really tough to adjust. What WAS this place? Was this home now? Where was their soil? WTF!?
As the days went on, a few of the mint quints decided, OK, hey....this is FABULOUS. There's water, sunlight and a great chill atmosphere here. I've got room to stretch out and it feels GOOD! The witch talks and sings to us, and I think I like that thing she does with the energy, that's nice. I feel stronger after she does that. Some of the others really missed the plant nursery and all the other plants. They missed SOIL. They missed being outside. They were really just not sure of this new place.
Time will continue in the Sanctuary Room for the mint quints and their adopted sibs who were there already. Sunlight, water, trimming, talking, singing and reiki. They'll get to sit in when I do rituals. Some will continue to thrive, I hope all of them. Some may not, and may need to go back to a soil planting, and that's ok. Others may decide, NOPE, and fade away, returning to mother soil outside.
The mint quints reminded me that change can be really challenging for all of us. LIFE can be challenging. We grow, we learn, we leave behind what doesn't work, we get better every day. We take on new things. Some may embrace this and revel in it, some need time to adjust and others fight to keep things the way they were. Having a good support system around us sure helps, doesn't it, the way the quints have sunshine, water, and all the help I give them? A good reminder to always lend one another a helping hand as we walk through this life together.
Nature always teaches us things, isn't that the most amazing blessing?
I'm feeling like next weekend I need to add some Rosemary to this herb and water love fest.
Well, it's time for this little witch to sign off, and do some more things around the house. The catbird outside is yelling at me to deal with the bird feeder and I want to dust some of my altars and shelves around the house. Later, tacos for dinner with the family. Enjoy your Sunday!