Two posts in one this time.
Ok so you may have heard of the sponge de-grossifying thing before. You put kitchen sponges in a pot, cover them with boiling water, let it cool, then wring them out and put them back. Do this once or twice a week and you won’t have a problem with your sponges re-dirtying the dishes or making them smell. I felt like getting fancy with this batch and added a slice of lemon but that’s about it. Whenever you make tea you can use leftover boiling water for this.
As for the tincture, it’s in the jar. Remember this ratio by volume and you will be able to make a lot of different things:
1 part herbs
2 parts liquid
Measure it in equal parts each time, then let it sit in a cool dark place such as a pantry or fridge, and shake or swirl it each time you think about it for anywhere from 1 week to a month and a half (or even two months), strain it through a coffee filter lined sieve into another jar or bowl, decant that into appropriate vessels, and you will make high quality things. Here’s the cool thing about this recipe. It can be used to make things from cooking to cleaning to beauty to Pagan stuff (Note with this your karma is your own business – mind it well) to medicine. Here’s how.
If you just want super potent herbal tea, get a mug and put in 1 part fresh or dried herbs with 2 parts boiling water and cover it with an inverted small plate. Wait an hour, strain it, and use it immediately. This is best used for cleaning as this potency is generally not great for human consumption unless you really know what you’re doing. You could do this with say, chamomile.
For making tinctures in herbal medicine, for perfumery, for making cleaning products such as high-proof grain alcohol to spray stuff down with (if using alcohol without residual sugars that is over 70% pure alcohol by volume), for adding to various other herbal products by the drop such as adding to incense sticks then allowing to dry completely, and more (these might just be the most versatile thing on the list) people can use rum, high proof grain alcohol, vodka, brandy, cognac, whiskey, or any other high quality alcohol. The herbs can be fresh or dried they will be preserved either way. These are generally measured by the drop and so save any tincture dropper bottles you have around for reuse. Store these, homemade or storebought, in the fridge so they last longer and are fresher.
For making flavored herbal vinegars for cooking, or the old standard Four Thieves Vinegar, which is believed to protect from negativity and is made with red wine vinegar, use fresh or dried herbs, and store the results in the fridge.
For making fragranced, fairly potent oils for herbal medicine, spiritual purposes in Paganism such as anointing candles, salve making, adding to storebought lotion just before use, perfumery, beauty products, and so on, use completely dried herbs and the high quality oil of your choice. Swirl every so often instead of shaking the jar and store in a cool dry place, ideally a pantry. Use these quickly as they do not last beyond a few months.
For making strongly flavored honey, use completely dry herbs or spices. Don’t bother filtering it or messing with it except for like once a week for a month to stir it with a chopstick or something. A little of this will go a very long way.
For making salt, sugar, baking soda, cornstarch, epsom salts, or other granular stuff, dry the herbs completely first and grind them up if you can. Keep the ratio the way it is and shake the jar as per usual. A little goes a long way.
New Book of Days 
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