Shadow Shot Sunday - another frosty morning

Frosty shadows on a savoy cabbage in my garden on Monday morning.  See more frosty pictures on my gardening blog, and check out sunnier shadows at Shadow Shot Sunday with Tracy and friends.

Nettled again

I've had a bit of a persistent cough and recurring colds for a couple of months now. Today my cough got just a bit worse again, so I have decided to really really do something about it. Not getting any younger you know :) Anyway, it seems to be a low grade infection and the treatment is antibiotics - snag is that I am a nursing mother.

Valerie Worwood's Fragrant Pharmacy is always the first place I turn to for health help. She recommended several oils but was very keen on Eucalyptus peppermint. Hooray! I had that in my collection, so a nice steam and then a few drops on a hankie tucked into my top.

I also knew that nettles were likely to be my ally here, and so it proved. Susun Weed's excellent Healing Wise gave several ways to use this fantastic plant to aid my recovery. Nettle infusions used to be a daily staple, but I had got out of the way of making them, so out came the kilner jar and a brew was soon on the go. After my Tai-Chi class this morning, I popped into the wholefoods shop and bought a bottle of nettle tincture - 20 drops twice a day. Nettle honey was also recommended. The fresh juice of stinging nettles mixed with a little water (it is very very viscous) and added to a generous amount of honey. Venturing out into the garden in search of nettles, I was delighted to find a patch of young tender shoots under the blackcurrant bushes. Thank you! I have to say that autumn nettles have much more of a sting than the springtime ones. I can still feel the tingling in my fingers yet, and I had to put on a stout pair of gloves to finish the job. Once they were juiced, I added them to half a jar of local honey and the result was - well - very green, but very delicious! I have been taking a teaspoon every now and then and I can already feel it soothing and easing the soreness caused by the constant coughing. So, do I feel better because of the nettle treatments, or because I've decided to look after myself a bit - who knows?

Harvest Feast

On Saturday we went to a Harvest Feast organised by Linlithgrow - a local climate challenge project which aims to get people buying and eating local food as well as encouraging growing your own. It was a very well attended event and the food was delicious. The event was held at Bonnytoun Farm, a fantastic estalishment producing local organic and free range meat, fruit vegetables and flowers. Here are some shots from the day.

Preparations for the feast.

James and John having a go in the Welly Throwing competition!

The band played all afternoon. Great stuff!

And the food? Well 3 clean plates and bowls says it all really. John is holding tightly to that glass of farm brewed beer :)

Lots of local apples - James said this was his favourite - he even ate the core!

Time to go home.

Skywatch - shallots

I took some pictures for my gardening blog today. This was one of my shallot harvest, hung up on the washing line to dry in the sun. I thought it was a good one to start Skywatch Fridays. Check out lots of other skywatch pictures here.