Author Archives

Herbary

    When Man’s Warehouse is Bare

    Stellaria Infusing

    Before Christmas, I posted about Nature’s cupboards being bare; something I wanted and needed to harvest wasn’t available to me. This time it’s something far closer to home for many; suppliers being out of stock. Perhas it’s the time of year, at the tail end of winter before the new season, but every supplier I have looked at for a recent herb order has been out of stock of something […]

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    When Nature’s Cupboard is Bare

    Vivid blushing bracket

    A little context…  …Skip to main article if you want I don’t learn do I. How many times have I told people to listen to their bodies?Yet, the ‘cold’ that I’ve had for two weeks and been ignoring, pressing on with work, hoping it will go away, hasn’t gone. Half three this morning, I wake feeling rotten, and coughing up copious amounts of dark, yellow-green phlegm – in plugs. Yuck. […]

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    The Pet Teacher?

    Ethanol Molecule

    Finally, something happened tonight that I have been dreaming about for a couple of years. I taught a group of people who are training to be Medical Herbalists. I have never made a secret of my desire to teach other practitioners or teach my subject at a professional/degree level. So tonight I had my first chance to do just that – running the first part of a two part webinar […]

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    …And did I notice?

    Delicate Rose

    For the past few weeks, there has been a mini spring – a little regreening, and second blossoming at the start of Autumn. Every morning as I was getting dressed, I looked out of my window and saw little globes of colour in the early morning light. They are the return of Rose flowers to my herb garden. But I have not spent any serious time sitting – or working […]

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    Dreams from the fireside

    It is night-time. Well, mid evening but as the days grow ever shorter and the night-time lengthens, I keenly feel the change in seasons. The darkness closes around me like a cloak. I am bathed in a puddle of soft, soothing light. Next to my feet a large mug of tea steams, its vapours drawing up the chimney in whispy whirls. A log burns in the grate, crackling and steaming […]

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    “Modern Healthcare’s approach to chronic conditions is like knocking down all four walls of a house in order to repair the roof; the roof may not be needed any more but at least it got fixed. At what expense?”

    Not a shadow, or Dreams From Myself

    I don’t usually blog about deeply personal emotions and thoughts. I’m reluctant to do so now, but I want to put some thoughts and feelings into the collective (un)conscious of the internet – almost like carving them on digital stone, to be preserved as long as they are useful, and to serve as a reminder to myself to prevent backsliding in the future. I won’t share this on social media, […]

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    The Searing

    Scorched Earth and Withered Leaves

    Three months ago, at the very birth of summer, I wondered what the season ahead would hold. I read the signs in nature and reckoned that we’d be in for a good summer. I wondered if the old proverb ‘Oak before Ash, we’re in for a Splash, Ash before Oak, we’re in for a Soak’ would hold true. It most certainly did. June and July seared North Wales, and, while […]

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    Oak before Ash

    Oak Before Ash

    These is an old saying that goes something like: ‘Oak before Ash, you’re in for a splash; Ash before Oak, you’re in for a soak.’ Whether this is in any way useful in forecasting the weather to come this summer is a moot point. But it is understood to reflect the weather in the winter and early spring before the leaves do open. Now, this year, the Oaks have very […]

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    Hemp – A Herb with Mass Market Awareness

    Canabis Leaf SVG

    Hemp. It’s all about Hemp. I sold quite a lot of Hemp products today – it made the fair I attended profitable instead of covering the cost of the pitch and petrol and convincing myself I’d made a profit as often happens. Just talking to people, it became clear that it is successful because Hemp has a ‘Brand Awareness’. People are aware of Hemp from popular culture. They know what […]

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