A little DIY

[Aishe Tigani]

Aishe carried in the tray holding everything her class would need that day, and set them up on a table at the front of the room, splitting the ingredients as much as possible into three groups and placed an instruction card in front of each.

She turned to the white board and after writing her name at the top, as it was the first class, then under that she wrote the name of the three things they were going to make:

Fly Spray
Coat Conditioner
Grooming Wipes

She greeted the students as they arrived, and once they were seated she handed the two girls she didn't know each a copy of A Modern Horse Herbal, by Hilary Page Self, offering Sina a warm smile before heading back to the front of the room. "Welcome to herbal remedies, I'm Ms Tigani." She greeted her small class. "Rather than having you listen to me talk, I thought we'd start the year by making some very useful things to have in the barn, and all of them are completely natural." She stepped over to the table where the items were set up. "You can choose to make one or all three, and we can talk about what you're putting into them as you go." She stepped aside and gestured toward the table, hoping that one of them would be willing to step forward.

Jessamine Smith
Nicole Victors
Sina Aleardi

[Sina Aleardi]

Sina was glad that she'd decided to take Herbal Remedies for a second year. Yes, some of the things she was learning might repeat, but they were worth hearing, and she wasn't totally against a slightly easier class. She entered the room the class was hosted in, smiling at Ms. Tigani and then found herself a seat.

She pulled out her copy of the book, which already had little tabs and flags on the pages from the previous year, and set it on the desk, alongside a new notebook for the year. Then she looked up at the board, excited to see where they were going with this class. As Ms. Tigani gestured towards the table, Sina considered stepping forward, but she didn't want to intimidate the two newcomers - They could participate in this first class too, instead of her just barging up.

[Jessamine Smith]

Jessamine was excited to start learning about herbal remedies. The class had been on the fringes of her notice since the beginning, but there had always been such interesting classes for unmounted equestrian pursuits. She smiled at Ms. Tigani as she walked into the classroom, returning the greeting brightly and picking a seat in the front, although she left some space between her and Sina.

When she was handed a book, Jessa accepted it with a smile, and glanced over the front page. She couldn't do more before the teacher started speaking, and she had to look up. She listened to the introduction. At the gesture, Jessa stood and stepped forward, then blanched a little bit as she realized that she was the only one. With a small shrug, she stepped up to the ingredients and glanced at them, waiting for further instructions.

[Nicole Victors]

Niik was in a foul mood as she stomped her way to her next class. She hated horses, and couldn't understand why she couldn't just spend her afternoons in the library working on homework, and then heading to the gym when she had finished that, but noooo, the dumb school had "unmounted classes", and she could sit through them and listen to people talk about a topic she didn't want anything to do with!

She gave the teacher a withering look as a book was placed on her desk, and made no move to touch it as she pulled out a scrappy notebook and her favourite pens, and then turned her attention to the board. She released a vexed breath as she read the titles. She'd have no use for the coat conditioner, but maybe one of the other girls in the class with her could just dump that in one of the tack rooms and someone else could use it... she didn't think she'd get away with selling it to another student. However, the flyspray and wipes could come in handy.

Following the movements of the others, she walked up to the table that obviously held the ingredients to what they would be making, joy!

[Aishe Tigani]

Aishe smiled as she waited for the girls to step forward, and she didn't miss the fact that one didn't want to be here. "You'll need a spray bottle for two of the creations; the fly spray and the coat conditioner. There is a small plastic box for the wipes to go in. They were on clearance in the baby section of a supermarket I went to during the summer." She'd been glad that she had picked them up too.

She looked at the table and back to the girls. "Does anyone have any questions about the ingredients?"

[Sina Aleardi]

After the other two girls had stepped forward, Sina did the same, bringing Derecho along with a hand signal and then settling him under the table where her supplies were. She listened to the instructions and nodded, then shook her head since she didn't have any questions. It seemed straightforward enough.

She considered the list of instructions and then chose to start with the fly spray first - It had the most measuring, meaning it'd be the most time-consuming. None of them were particularly difficult instructions. She put that card in front and then started measuring out the amounts of the various oils.

[Jessamine Smith]

Jessa listened intently to the instructions, glad that they'd be doing things that would actually have use in the barn! Although the fly spray would have been really helpful over the summer, but she'd have it for next year. After shaking her head - She had no questions - she shuffled the instruction cards until the one for the coat conditioner was in front. She read over the list of ingredients again, and then set to work.

[Nicole Victors]

Seeing that the other two girls had made up their minds on what they were going to make, Nikki decided to play the good little school-girl and gathered the things she would need to make third thing; the grooming wipes - really the only one of the three that she would have any real use for. "Wouldn't it just be easier to buy these things at the tack shop?" She asked, her eyes wide with innocence, while they flashed with rebellion. She'd bet her new grips that it would be a sight cheaper to buy the stuff they were making from the tack store too.

[Aishe Tigani]

Aishe pursed her lips together at the question, and then nodded. "Yes, Nicole, it probably would be easier to buy them from the tack store." She replied honestly. "However, the products you are buying, you never know 100% what's in them, or how your horse will react to what it in there." Not to mention that the bottled products in the store were made in huge factories and you never knew what else went on in the same building.

"Two of the three things you're making today have coconut oil in them. Coconut oil possesses an impressive number of properties that make it so versatile, including being; Antifungal (kills fungus), Antiviral (kills viruses), Antibacterial (kills bacteria), Anti-inflammatory (reduces inflammation), Antimicrobial (kills algae, fungi, bacteria, and parasites), and Antiprotozoal (kills protozoa, a parasite)." She had a hand-out on coconut oil, but would give that to them when they were finished. "There is nothing that you are using on this table that I wouldn't use for or on myself.

[Sina Aleardi]

Sina listened halfheartedly to the girl's question, a glance at the blonde letting her know that it wasn't totally the innocent question it seemed. She'd be curious to learn more about the girl - Nicole, was it? Someone to keep an eye on.

She listened to Ms. Tigani's information about coconut oil. It repeated itself, since antimicrobial covered some of the others. Still good info for a test - If in doubt, coconut oil had lots of properties to list. She finished measuring out the ingredients into her spray bottle, twisted the cap on, and shook it vigorously before opening the cap again, taking a whiff of the combination of ingredients. Yeah, it smelled like it'd be good against insects.

[Jessamine Smith]

Jessa tuned out the other two girls as she worked, knowing that if she listened in, she'd probably end up making a mistake in her own work. But as the instructor started talking, she stopped what she was doing to listen. Her recipe was one of the ones that had coconut oil, and while she'd known about its benefits for a while, it was still nice that Ms. Tigani took the time to list them for those that may not know!

She finished with the ingredients and shook the bottle, then grabbed a marker and labeled the bottle with "Coat Conditioner" on one side just so that she'd remember what it was if it got mixed around with her other bottles.