Lee's Teas

05/01/2017

May birth month flowers and their meanings, lily of the valley, hawthorn from The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

05/01/2017

01/22/2017

We're about 1/3rd of the way through the resting season and, if you're allowing yourself the downtime, you may have recognized some recurring themes in your dreams during the frozen stillness of winter. Sleep dreams or daydreams - have you had any inklings about what you want to do when the spring thaw sets life in motion once again?
These inspired desires make for the most satisfying goals we can plant into earth's next trip around the sun, and by setting our sights on some of the things we actually do WANT, instead of pushing them back in lieu of all the other stuff we believe we HAVE to do before we deserve to work on something enjoyable, we inspire meaningful, purposeful action from genuine motivation. As a result, these goals, if kept simple and realistically achievable, have an advantage for being successful. And as we begin to take charge of our actions, aligning them with our end result target, we play an active role in creating our reality, connecting to the creative energy extended and accessible to us while we're still here to experience it, and we literally change our world to include things we'd rather have in it.
Ok so, big idea, simple plan. Have a tasty idea crossing your mind a lot that you can't wait to sink your teeth into? Winter is for rest, but after the initial food coma from the harvest banquet, it's also a time to start planning and gathering your seeds. Figuratively, or literally. For spring is the the planting season, and if you wait til the thaw to start planning your garden, your timing will be off, and your puny productions will remind time and time again what could have been had you simply allowed father time to help build your goalplan's design.
If your goals for this year really do include a literal, tangible vegetable garden, here's your timeline. Use your dreams from this time of resting to come to know what it is you want to grow. Find your supplier and order in time, keeping seeds sprouts and hardened cuttings in mind.
Hit these needed benchmarks and I promise you'll see the power you have for making dreams *~ReaLiTea~*

This is such a great resource!

Source: University of Illinois Extension, http://pin.it/DC51y4y

12/13/2016

How to steep lavender tea, pick up a ball of yarn and start knitting right away, choose between an essential oil, tincture, tea or extract, identify a bald cypress tea, prepare a warm bowl of homemade potato soup with leaks and bacon ---> http://leesteas.weebly.com/seneca-woods-ezine.html

In our losing battle to hold on to all that we've built here (the hacks have claimed both my etsy stores now... Lee's should be online with a "gone fishin" sign the window, and The Cozy Acorn should be live with a paid off balance and sales as recent as mid November. Go on..try to find them! ---> etsy.com/shop/thecozyacorn , or replace the end with leesteas. Where'd they go?! Nobody knows. Notice the address path redirects upon resolution to somewhere else!)
Anyways, while all that's falling apart without a sign of any official help or rogue vigilante of justice to come, I remembered we are so much more than our tea shop. We built SO MUCH useful, tangible material here in our modest lil communitea over the years... like our ezine "Seneca Woods"!
Sure, the last issue I was able to pull together is from spring but who cares - the info all still plays. Here ya go! Enjoy our goodies - who knows how long they'll be around, ya know?
http://leesteas.weebly.com/seneca-woods-ezine.html

A Seasonal E-zine by Lee's Teas

12/13/2016

Well, after months of patient planning and waiting, opportunity knocked yesterday when I noticed lots of people are inexplicably being suspended from their etsy shops without warning. It's the hack - but I'm likely the only one stuck in it who's aware of it.

I've started threads for discussion trying to reach others in this mess over on my consumer advocacy page https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=556441034549199&id=240300596163246&refid=52, and on Etsy where it was comedically overrun by trolls in less than 15 minutes. 20 rapid fire responses of "huh?" to a well-written, sincere plea by a fellow crafter to help us out, we're trapped and being taken advantage of... hmm. Ok sure, because of course I know the first thing crafters who've already honed at least one useful skill in life do on specialized forums they have no relation to or idea about is to barge in dumbfounded and announce to the world know they have no idea what is going on here. Lol! Holy moley trolleys, your timing's off. Go tell your programmer to randomize your response times, space them out, and rewrite your coding to not all somehow know each other like best friends until at LEAST your 3rd post or so...

This ain't my first rodeo with marketing rhetoric, riding the bull running roughshod over the little guy.
Think my next chapter's about to begin.

11/15/2016

*Sigh, cry, and tons of tears...
but the time to face the inevitable is here.*

Lee's Teas is currently closed due to a targeted hack on our entire online network which we have been struggling to remedy since March 2016. It appears as though I may have been targeted for a series of articles I wrote exposing manipulative sales tactics in the essential oil industry which was promoting unsafe use instruction and causing harm to consumers.

Last week they blocked access to the drivers necessary to connect to our online network from each and every machine in our home - pc's, laptops, tablets and smart phones. I'd like to point out that if I can't get online, I can't edit any of the articles, so this is where things will stand for now. I also can't receive notice that I have sales waiting to be filled in the Lee's shop, that companies are ready to sue me over some of my product names, can't check account balances, check my facebook or emails, can't verify meetings and appointment times, can't pay my bills. From what we've been able to gather on our end, this issue is most likely a targeted attack on me personally for the work I have done, and it has destroyed my livelihood.

It breaks my heart to close my shop though, and for that, all I can say at this point to my customers is that I'm sorry. You have no idea how much time I've spent daydreaming about how this business, which I started one bag at a time, was the answer to how I could provide a happy, sustainable, honest and lovely living for me and my children. Now I can't even shoot a message back to my worried Dad to let him know I'm ok.

(ps: I'm ok Dad... all things considered.)

As a one-woman show (and mommy besides) I really appreciate your business and loyalty over the past 8 years. From craft shows to online sales it's been a beautiful journey. I'm so lucky to have had this time with you all. Thank you.

With the right help, maybe we'll be able to reopen soon and see you all again.

My best,
Lee

09/15/2016

When you understand what it IS, then it's a lot easier to FIND. See how that works?

Here, let me unnecessarily complicate it for you:
When you hone your definition of health - or of any one concept really - into a single, simple idea, your focus illuminates that space where a new understanding has been revealed.
(Those are the torches you've earned btw - love them, light them, use them as signposts along your personal journey, and burn them bright to help other nearby travelers find THEIR way ;-) )
Flooding a new space with light naturally expands your awareness of what's here, and what it's made of. The more you can identify here, the more "here" you have to work with.

This week's "here" is health. Want to feel healthy? Can't quite seem to make the feeling last?
Follow Small Oak for a stroll around the sun... no membership required :)

By definition health has less to do with how much energy we have, and more to do with how efficiently we use it.

09/13/2016

Center for Regulatory Effectiveness Requests Relief Measures from the DEA -
(none of least is to push this impending deadline back a bit, allow for public comment like usual, and review the scientific accuracy of the claims being used to justify such an immediate, emergency ban on a whole leaf herb.)

"Relief Requested
CRE is requesting that the DEA take the following actions, none of which prejudge the final status of Mitragynine and 7-Hydroxymitragynine:

1. Extend the effective date for placing kratom into schedule I until
July, 1, 2017.

2. Open a Federal Register notice-and-comment proceeding on placing kratom into Schedule I and inform the public that the DEA’s proposal is a “significant regulatory action” under
Executive Order 12866 because it,
a) Has an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or
b)Creates a serious inconsistency with an action taken by an
other agency, FDA, or
c) Raises novel legal and policy issues arising out of legal mandates.

3.Submit the proposed listing to OMB for review pursuant to Executive Order 12866.

4. Inform the US-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) via OMB of DEA’s intent to place kratom on schedule I and seek its comments.

5. Conduct an interagency peer review of DEA’s science which lead to a Schedule I listing of kratom as required by the HISA requirements of the Data (Information) Quality Act"

(read more: http://www.thecre.com/forum11/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/CRE-DEA-Kratom-1.pdf?ct=t(Kratom_ban_developments_Update_29_12_2016)&mc_cid=2ac677f393&mc_eid=745fe2a427)

09/13/2016

A collection of references for constituents in the Chinese herbal:
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Is_there_a_database_which_lists_the_known_constituents_of_herbs_from_the_Chinese_medicine_pharmacopoeia

I need to list all known constituents (not only active compounds) of a group of herbs I am researching. Is there a quicker way than conducting a literature review on each herb? A colleague...

09/12/2016

http://us7.campaign-archive2.com/?u=1c0d5628bc1ef8bb87185d0e8&id=2ac677f393&e=745fe2a427

Efforts to prevent the imminent scheduling of kratom are creating hope that there may be a delay on the attack on its legality in the US. People of all walks of life continue to fight for the right to self-determination without unwarranted oversight. In this update, we have some news from a governme...

09/12/2016

Probably the best tip here is to mix up infused oils for salads and bread dipping just hours in advance for the easiest way to minimize risk of botulism.
There is no comparison to the flavor of using fresh homegrown herbs in homemade soups, skillets, and stews. You can dry your overabundance and store in airtight containers to use throughout the year until your next fresh harvest - even Lydia says oregano flavors best when it's dried :)
http://www.almanac.com/blog/natural-health-home-tips/preserving-herbs

Preserve culinary and medicinal herbs for year-'round use. Here's how.