#i still need to photograph the ginkgo trees i was given too

[littlecarnet]

Some gifts I got for myself were for my apothecary/tea trunk shown here. The new items are a white marble mortar and pestle, a wooden tray to transfer herbs to the little teakwood bowl, and wood spoons. A portable glass borosilicate tea kettle and flowering tea in rose and chamomile in cute glass vials. The teas and raw materials in the glass jars are from years of collecting from my own garden or wild foraged. The little booklet holds all my recipes and favorite mixes, and the white folded things are cotton teabags for infusions and such. Tea mixing is part of my self care rituals. The process of mixing, the smells, tastes, or using them in beauty products or medicine is satisfying.

Fun fact: Traditionally in my mother's culture, a young woman was taught basic herbal medicine as part of her skill set as an adult, which can also include embroidery, musical talent, poetry, leather working, wild foraging, budgeting the home and business, and in much older times, divination, astronomy, proficiency in using a weapon and falconry. It's said the more skills a woman knew, signified her family's high status and a higher dowry.

I have powdered incense like this already, but not the tools. These are a lovely brass. They'll get a lot of use this winter, when I typically use incense. Making incense is part of my self care rituals just like tea mixing. The process of milling herbs into powder to roll or turn into cones with makko powder, then to dry and burn later is very therapeutic.

My mom got me a Five Year Memory journal, something I spotted at a bookstore while we were shopping. The other gifts are things she collected for me leading up to my birthday. The bracelet is really pretty, made in Nepal and ceramic scarab charm. A brass African sun coin (a sun sign since I'm a Leo), a trilobite replica, and jewelers loupes.

Art supplies I got: A soft cover floral journal with a pen pouch, a mini sketchbook, a basic set of Daniel Smith split primary watercolor set, and a watercolor journal with watercolor pigment incorporated into the pages themselves!

I've eyed these for so long! These paints have been used in nearly every Ghibli film and a lot of other high profile studios in Japan. I've always wanted to try my hand at these. I heard they have properties of both watercolor and gouache.