Call for Coops!

In support of urban farmers and locavore choices, we are excited about this new title. Submit your coop for the 2014 Calendar.

If you or someone you know has an innovative coop design in the Portland Metro area you would like featured in our 2014 Wall calendar, email images to creative@amberlotus.com.

Seeking 12 innovative, creative coops
for our 2014 City Chickens and their Coops wall calendar.

This is your opportunity to strut your stuff – and your chickens’ – and help Portland’s own Growing Gardens organization at the same time. Be one of 12 featured coops in this beautifully photographed treasure of unique coops and their feathered inhabitants. 

Submit 3 to 6 digital snapshots (500MB or smaller) of your backyard bird sanctuary to Amber Lotus at creative@amberlotus.com 
by Wednesday, May 30, 2012. Finalists will be notified June 15. 

Accepted Entries will:
• Enjoy a professional photography shoot of their coop and hens
• Be featured in the calendar
• Receive a print quality portrait of their coop for personal use
• Be awarded with six copies of the 12” x 12” calendar featuring their coop

Featured coop owners agree to:
• Be available for a two-hour professional photo shoot in late July or early August
• Provide a clean, fresh coop on the day of the shoot
• Provide a short statement about their coop and hens

More on Embolc…

My apologies for posting a little late. February 1st was the Pagan holiday of Imbolc. That’s become an important day at our house over the years, partly because I have a lifelong fascination with holiday lore and partially because it’s a great opportunity to let the cycle of the season be our teacher – as it once was to our forbearers. You can read lots of things about Imbolc online, and I personally recommend two favorite books of holiday lore: The Magical Year by Diane Ferguson, Kindling the Celtic Spirit by Mara Freeman.

This image is featured in the Celtic Mandala, earth mysteries and mythology 2013 Wall Calendar. Selkie by Jen Delyth © 2007/2008

It is said that if the year is a woman, then Imbolc is the youthful maiden. To my mind Imbolc is about newness, youth, new growth, the first budding of spring. We’re definitely seeing those first signs here in Portland: the first buds, the first Snowdrops, and the very first blossoms on the trees.

One of the inspirations in my life around holiday lore is to use the changing season and our encounter with them as soul-crafting activities. For Imbolc we make corn dolls and set them out on the fireplace mantle surrounded by white or yellow candles. We burn white and yellow candles to symbolize purity and innocence. Just before bedtime we put our corn dolls in a basket by the front door, as a blessing to all who enter our house. We rest them on a blanket and cover them for warmth and set animal figures around them. This year it was a unicorn.

Another favorite activity is placing an article of clothing or an important item outside to be blessed by the goddess Brigit as she passes in the night. Again there’s a lot to read about Brigit, but to my mind she appears as an inspiring archetype and heroic example, as in Greek legends. She is the triple goddess of poetry, smithcraft and healing. Smithcraft is variously referred to as craft in general or wonderfully by Ms. Freeman as the ‘magical art of change.’

Happy Belated Imbolc!

From Tim Campbell – and all the Lotites

Lavender – Tension Reliever

A drop of lavender essential oil rubbed into the temples relieves tension headaches.

While most people think of this herb as merely a floral scent for bath salts or bed linens, this plant has powerful antiviral properties. The list of volatile oils within lavender’s flower buds includes linalool, which is particularly helpful in preventing the flu. Because flu viruses have viral envelopes, which help them enter host cells, they are sensitive to the monoterpene alcohols prevalent in lavender’s family.

Twenty-first-century use of this herb focuses on lavender’s sedative qualities. Lavender essential oil is popular as a calming agent for the entire nervous system. As the volatile oils are absorbed through the skin or sinuses, the nerves send messages throughout the body to relax the muscles, easing headaches, nervous stomachs and muscle cramps.

In an increasingly tense world, lavender is a welcome companion. It offers a much needed tonic for mind and body.

Author Sue Sierralupe is certified as a master gardener, sustainable landscape educator and medical herbalist in Eugene, Oregon.

2012 Healing Herbs Wall Calendar

The Essential Rose — new 2012

The Essential Rose is one of 10 new titles in our line up this year. The International Herb Association chose the Rose as Herb of the Year™ 2012. The Essential Rose wall calendar is artfully crafted by writer and renowned gardener Ann Lovejoy. Beautiful, fragrant and delicious, roses have been a floral favorite for thousands of years. Most often associated with passion, love and beauty, roses are also one of the oldest known medicinal plants and are valued for culinary uses around the globe. Stunning photography combined with recipes and tips on cultivation, crafts and herbal remedies will enchant you all year long.

Chinese New Year – (Year of the Rabbit)

Living the Wisdom of the Tao 2011 Datebook

By Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

More than two centuries ago, the great Chinese sage Lao-tzu dictated the Tao Te Ching, or the Great Way, now regarded by many to be the ultimate commentary on the nature of our existence. This profound spiritual text offers practical guidance for living in a new world aligned with nature.

Based on the best-selling book of the same title, this datebook pairs ethereal “Taoist” photography with Dr. Wayne Dyer’s quotes from the Tao Te Ching and commentary on how to apply this ancient wisdom in today’s modern world.

Dyer is an internationally renowned author and speaker in the field of self-development. His best-selling books, which include 10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace and Change Your Thoughts – Change Your Life, have been featured as National Public Television specials.