‘Whoever came up with the phrase ‘sleeping like a baby‘ never had a baby themselves.  I’m a great-grandmother, and I can assure you if your baby sleeps through the night, you’re one of the lucky ones.  When I had my Rose, I couldn’t get her to sleep for more than two hours at a time and that was on a good day.  Before you know it, you’re so tired your body just won’t fall asleep even when you get the chance.  That’s not a good place to be in.

So I knew how Claire Sykes felt when she came to see me yesterday – and for her to come and see me I knew it had to be bad.  You see, when you’re married to the parish priest, going to see the village witch is just not done.  And the Reverend Sykes is a very special type of parish priest.  The type that thinks they never should have stopped burning witches at the stake.

They’re an unpleasant family, and I’ve had my fair share of trouble from them, but a healer doesn’t pick and choose who’s worthy of healing.  I’ll leave those sorts of decisions up to the Goddess.

When I saw Claire coming up my garden path, I gritted my teeth and invited her in.  I could tell she would have preferred to wait outside but then she might have been seen.  And people talk, you see.

The baby was a sweet little thing – blonde just like her brothers and sisters.  She was fast asleep in her basket with a heavy cloth over her to keep the sunlight out.

Claire told me the baby sleeps very well during the day and that’s the trouble.

Does she get plenty of sunlight? I asked her.  She looked at me as if I’d grown an extra head.  It turns out she had some silly notion about keeping babies in the dark so as not to damage their sensitive eyes.  This is England, I told her, not the African desert.  No wonder she can’t distinguish between day and night!  Take her for two walks each day, one in the early morning and one in the late afternoon, and for goodness sakes let her get some sunlight on her skin.

I left the woman to digest this astonishing information while I got my jar of Sleeping Tea from the kitchen.  I always have some made up because I drink it myself most nights.  It’s made from rose petals, lavender, chamomile and lemon balm.  I grow all the herbs myself and then dry them.  I like to keep an amethyst crystal in the jar too as it helps bring restful sleep and is protective as well.

I told Claire to drink the tea and it would come through her milk.  That and some sunshine will see her baby right.  I didn’t expect her to thank me as she left, but she did.  She almost choked on it, but she thanked me just the same.  Even at my age people still surprise me.’