Monday 16 July 2012

Procrastination - the thief of time !!

Hello !  It seems that this blog entry is somewhat overdue - hence my title - 'Procrastination ...' - it is indeed the thief of time !  I have spent way too long thinking of what sort of presentation I wanted for my little blog and what theme of things of wanted to include - instead of just blogging about all the wonderful things I wanted to share !  So - it seems this blog will just be whatever it becomes !!

I have really enjoyed being in the countryside this summer - even though the weather has been somewhat inclement!  My husband and I what is called 'continuous cruisers' in the narrowboat world - meaning that we are - well - continuously cruising the canals of the UK!  I get to walk the countryside towpaths every day with my dogs - and get to see all the wonderful wildflowers that are appearing - different ones day by day !  I have lived in Australia for the past 18 years, where I studied Herbal Medicine - that is, Western Herbal Medicine.  My teacher, Dorothy Hall, had the theory that Western herbs should be used for Western peoples, Chinese herbs for Asian peoples and Indian herbs for Indian (and thereabouts) peoples etc. - as she postulated that these were the local  herbs which support these individual's societies and nourish the people of those lands and cultures.

Anyway - what I am getting at is a sad confession !  I have lived near the City of Sydney for the past 18 or so years - and didn't get into the 'bush' too often (nor the Botanic Gardens !) - so very rarely got to see the raw product of the Herbal Tinctures and Extracts I was using in my practice - that is to say that - apart from pictures in books, I rarely saw the original plants !  Shame on me !

So - with my new 'career' of narrowboater / lock-keeper extraordinaire / tow-path wanderer, I have had a renewed connection with my beloved herbs and wildflowers and will add a few articles in here on what I have been doing with my new 'friends'!

Today I saw a lovely big batch of Horsetail, so that will be the subject of my next blog entry !!

See you there :)