environment

That Awesome Rainy Day
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That Awesome Rainy Day

Hail Brave Hearts

It’s a stormy day with the thunder crackling.  Lightning lights up the sky and the torrents of rain fall heavily.  Lucky us.  The rain with it’s magical nutrition, watering all of the earth.   A day when we can pass on watering the outdoor flowers and lawn and let nature take control and provide the much needed moisture.  Fabulous rain, taking that chore off our hands and providing a day of indoor retreat instead.

It’s a delightful day of inside pleasure.  The canning, pickling and jam making is on the list.  Pies, muffins, breads and cookies all come to mind.    It’s a wonderful day of baking and cooking, sewing and playing board games.  Inside goodness awaits us, while the rain falls and takes the stifling heat from the air, bringing cooler weather for different activities.  Run like the wind, cycle the roads and trails, the cool will only last for a few days, before the summertime heat sends us back to the beach to play.

Meanwhile, the house fills with the smells of fresh baked pies.  These rainy days are filled with blessings.  No more need to run to the beach to catch that last swim in the lake before dark.  Today is the rainy day of thunderstorm pleasure, when we reach for the recipe books and head to the larder.  These are the fabulous days, when there’s no place like home.

The berry patch has been abundant this year and the freezer has been filling with a variety of garden choices.  The delectable treats oozing with goodness, waiting to be consumed.  The baking tins come out of hiding, being prepared for the best of the best in garden baking.  Raspberry, white chocolate comes to mind.  These are the days of the happy chef and the smiling participants in the joy of cooking.  Lovely. It’s always clever to keep a supply of garden goodness for those rainy days.

Stinging Nettle Cake – Skovkær (nordicforestfoods.com)

Let it pour.  Let the rains come down in buckets.  Let the Earth take care of the watering and let the plants soak up the goodness of the water.  Let it rain, so that puddles form and the water splashes on our rain boots.  The thunder rolls in, lightning lights up the sky.  The heavens display a crackling of light and sound.  There’s an awesome display of power in thunder and lightning that sends a communication of awe in the uncontrolled weather.  Dark clouds billowing, rain descending.

🔴 Heavy Rain and Thunder Sounds 24/7 – Deep Sleep | Thunderstorm for Sleeping – Pure Relaxing Vibes – YouTube

Lucky are we to have a fine shelter, with garden delights to occupy our days.  There’s so much indoor goodness to attend to.  These chores are not chores.  These are a special gift of time.  A time when being forced to flee the inclement weather is a fine gift of welcome time.  Time to spend on the pantry.  Tine to fill up the cookie jar and prepare the fine feast.  Time to sew that garment and make gifts for our friends and loved ones.

That welcome storm.  The Earth needs the nutrients of the water and we need to rest and refresh ourselves.  Baking, sewing, spa.  It’s a rainy day.   A day for a treat.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

August 20, 2023

 

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National Herbalist Day

Hail Brave Hearts

Enjoy the nutrition of the land and the many medical marvels that it reveals.  It’s a new day dawning for the Herbalist.  A day of worthy mention.  National Herbalist Day!  Wow!

The subject matter is superb.  Now that spring is here, the welcome backyard medicine cabinet is opening it’s doors.  New spring teas from fresh shoots, leaves and plants.  Lovely.  Fit for any larder, the beautiful abundance of natural goodness is in your yard.

The most obvious, killer weed, that notorious Dandelion.  Awesome!  The nutritional value of this plant is a keeper.

Plantain, St John’s Wort, Daisy and many more.   A special day for those of us, who seek natural remedies for those aches and pains.  I’ve been lucky with Nettle, Red Currant, Apple Leaf and Rose Hips, but these are just a few of the many natural wonders of the wild world.  Home made salves and soaps, fragrance and tea.  Natural healers to boost energy, to calm, to induce sleep, to improve circulation and help achy joints and achy pains.  Your garden is an Earthly delight.  Those pesky weeds, so hard to get rid of , might freshen your breath, improve your eyesight, add luster to your hair and make it shine.  The self indulgent gardener might even find a cure for what ails themselves.  There are many good gardening books which will help to plant an herbalist garden.

But are natural remedies important?  They are, if you want them to be.  Do they actually provide cures?  Yes, they do.

To quote Chris Dalziel at Jobillee Farm.  who has a  book Growing Abundance, the Garden You Harvest in a Week.

Monday is National Herbalist Day!  It’s a day to acknowledge the herbs that keep us well, help our gardens grow better, make our food taste better, and give us abundance.  Its also a day to recognize the herbal mentors in our life.

Who taught you about using herbs in the kitchen, the garden, and the apothecary?  Did you learn from a mother, a grand parent, a neighbor? Are you self-taught from books and the internet? Did you take a class? Or are you just beginning to learn about herbs as an adult?

Learn about Plantago major — Plantain

I love teaching children about herbs.  My 2 year old granddaughter knows to look for plantain (Plantago major) if she gets a bee sting or a mosquito bite.  “Plantain” comes from an old French word meaning “sole of the foot”.  It grows in compacted areas, where the footprint of humans or animals have compacted the soil.  Its a healing plant for the soil as much as it is a healing plant for us.

Often plantain is the first herb that people learn to use.  It can be an “a-ha” moment, when you hand them a leaf and tell them to put it on the “ouch”.  Relief is fast.

I’ve had the privilege of introducing plantain to tough motorcyclists, stung on the hand while riding, hikers, farmers, beekeepers, wee toddlers, and grumpy teens, mowing a lawn. Plantain is just one of the many gifts that God gives us to nourish and heal us.
National Quilt Month
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National Quilt Month

Hail Brave hearts

A month of creativity for you!

March is National Quilters Month, which brings the finest of the best in the world of quilting to our attention.  Quilting!  A national and international past time with a month of praises for itself.

Quilting has long been an art of necessity.  Born in the United States from the impoverished homesteaders who would discard nothing and used every scrap of material for some repurposed, useful item.  Scraps of worn shirts, trousers and jackets which had outworn their intended purpose, became tiny bits of fabric, transformed into patterns of squares, triangles, circles and geometry.  Little bits and pieces, carefully hand stitched together to form a blanket for a bed, that needed the cover.  The time consuming craft of care that creates a warm and welcoming place in the home.

The ingenuity of the forefathers gifts to us a craft of lovely care.  Designs and patterns change over time and so does the method of quilting.  From the hand stitched pieces to the sewing machine, the quilt has taken on a new dimension in our lives.  The quilt is mainly associated with blankets, however , it also adorns the walls as smaller pieces of artwork, lovingly created to beautify the home.

Fabric stores carry cloth to purchase for a quilt, making the claim that they are quilting shops who offer lessons on how to quilt, selling sewing machines for this purpose and long arm sewing machines to quilt the finished product together.  Machines with quilt patterns programed into them, designs to draw and follow.  The art of quilting has flourished to a point where many communities have quilting guilds.  The art has flourished to a recognition so high that a whole month of the year is dedicated to it’s existence.  The message from this is that quilting is important.  It’s important to us in history and it’s important to us, to this day.

32 Charming Quilting Facts and History | Fact Retriever

From it’s early inception, perhaps as early as 3400 BC, the useful Mother of Invention, took hold of  scraps of fabric and batting and stitched them together.  That useful Mother has shaped most of our lives and history is filled with her magic of ingenuity.  Quilting is not necessarily about blankets, it’s the method of attaching fabric to batting to form new cloth which becomes useful items to wear or use.  Quilted jackets for the crusaders to wear under their armour, quilted coverings to hang over doors and windows, quilted jackets to wear in fields, quilted shawls  and quilted blankets made to put on  beds.

10 Historical Facts About Quilting – Art Gallery Fabrics – The Creative Blog (agfblog.com)

Quilting is used as a form of art, sometimes just to make good use of spare time.  However, the art is praiseworthy and extends over so much of human history and into so many countries, that it’s historical significance is obvious.  From ancient Egypt and the Pharaohs, to China, Medieval Europe the United States and Canada, this long  sought after craft has been with us since such ancient times that it’s won it’s own place in history.  Quilting is important, as art, as craft, as functional items.  It’s popularity has protected it   National Quilt Month is praises to this ancient craft.  Long live the quilt!

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

March 26, 2023

That Lucky Deep Freeze
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That Lucky Deep Freeze

Hail Brave hearts

The big chill is storming us.  Cold snow has arrived.  From the cozy interior of our homes, we think big.  Winter fun! This is one of the best times of the year!

A frozen river to occupy the afternoon.  Crisp winter weather at -10 is a welcome change to the blistery cold that makes this day possible.  The continued overnight lows below -20 keeps the ice cold and thick enough for our weight.  Caution though.  These rivers have rapids, the water is swift flowing and sometimes is too fast to freeze thoroughly.

Today’s adventure is along a river to a sought after view.  The wide expanse is fully frozen now and our group walk with ease along the covered water.  Ice is welcome now as we snowshoe this path.  An opportunity that will only present itself in the awesome winter.

We pick our way to the bottom of the river bank and walk with relative ease along the snow covered water.  All the while remarking on our good fortune to have this chance to explore an area that is never available to us.  The thickets of willow and stands of evergreen show us locations of ground and islands along this braided stretch of waterway.  Animal tracks appear in the snow and the tiny creatures hide from our view.   We are mainly walking on the gravel flats between the river channels, so we are more safe in our travels.  River travel can be perilous with areas of thin ice throughout.

There’s an interesting formation of hills and valleys all along the river bank.  Walking would be difficult in this area due to undulating land formations of steeply cut hills reaching to the river sides without much river bank to follow.  Our destination is a canyon, 7 km up river which is impossible to reach at other times of the year.  Our good fortune is the deep freeze.

This year our temperatures plunged to an awful -50 overnight during the Christmas holiday season.  Four days of icy blasts with daytime highs of -35 kept us busy with indoor games and indoor holiday cheer.  Now the result is a wintery wonderland with the fun of river travel. which is not always available to us.  Oddly and usually, the good comes with the bad.  Today is overcast and light snow is falling.  This is a surprise to us, since no one had noticed snow in the forecast.  It might be a localized squall.  However, this is good also, since we need the snow to keep us skiing, snowshoeing  and enjoying the fabulous fun of the season.  We also need the snow for our spring melt and moisture.

The snowfall is increasing and visibility is declining.  Open patches of river can be seen ahead.  We have to call off our plans for today, with only 1.5 kms remaining.  Oh well.  Luckily for us -30 is in the forecast for the next 3 days and we will have the good fortune of more deep freeze.  The open areas of this river should freeze again and we plan for another trip to this area next week.

Walking On A Frozen River | Red River | Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada | Walking Virtual Tour in 4K – YouTube

Meanwhile, the ski hill has received more snow.  It’s all good.  A change of scene and a change of game.  Winter has been wonderful to us.

Written by Dr. Louise Hayes

February 24, 2023

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Need More Gardens?

Good Day Brave Hearts

During the cold and dark days of winter, we rise to the challenge of a nutritious food supply.  The fall canning season filled the larder with a precious stock of daily living that will take away the winter chills and stave off the winter flues.  A nutrient packed diet from your organic garden to save you all winter long.  It saves the pangs of hunger, it warms the body, it cures the winter chills.

Your food supply is your health and wellness which feeds your mighty brain and helps to cure your aches and pains.  Food to cure the common cold, food for the brain, food for aches and pains, food for your social happiness.

There is a  long list of comfort food that nourishes the mind, heart and soul.  It’s divine and the time is now.

Those special little seeds that were stowed away last fall, come to the forefront of the mind.  Each little one, packed with the energy to produce a bountiful crop of fruit, vegetables, flowers, herbs or spices.  That decadent nasturtium, so showy and bright in the garden, yielding a powerful pack of seeds full of earthly delight.  Those spunky little violets, such a gorgeous floral treat decorating those cupcakes.  Winter is gone, bring on the harvest!

Bring on the watercress, the chocolate mint, the sunflower, the basil.  This year’s garden will be a splash of colour and dietary indulgence.  Oh the yellows!  Nasturtium, sunflower, pumpkin, squash (flowers) and tomato.   The reds of rose, dainty cherry blossoms, and olive.  Purple violets, blueberry and saskatoon.  White of potato and apple blossom.  The garden comes alive with colour and nutrition.  The food supply is back!

15 Brain Foods to Boost Focus and Memory – Dr. Axe (draxe.com)

Plant your pallet of garden colour.  A pallet of herbs, vegetables, fruit, flowers and spices.  The choices of fragrance to add to the show.  Musky black current, fragrant rose.   The garden of earthly delights is as aromatic as it is healthy.  Enjoy a sip of summertime wine, made for last years wild rose petals.  Indulge in sorbets of fruits from the vine, sip that delectable apple leaf tea.

We are blessed.

From our small properties, filled with natures harvest, we dine.  Dine with fine delicacies from our own backyard.  This oasis of healthy bliss to indulge ourselves in.  Choose your flavour, choose your colour, choose your diet, it’s just divine.  That backyard of ours, so pretty and colourful, so full of natures wonderful diet.  Enzymes, and nutrient, vitamins and minerals, all from carefully selected plants, flowers, herbs and spices.  The garden cure all.  It cures your senses, so fragrant and welcoming, the garden tantalizes us with beckoning gestures.  Come in, come in, it calls us to indulge.  Plant the seed, plant for what cures you.  This organic garden could save your life.   Plant with anti-oxidants to stave off cancer, plant with brain power to retain your fine mind, plant with cures for heart disease and arthritis.  Yes, your garden is heavenly.

The backyard is not just a playing field.  That land has a useful life.  Not just the trampoline, but also the garden of earthly delight.  Pick your flowers, pick your colours, plant away and enjoy the benefits of a well planned garden. Plant, enjoy, harvest, enjoy, this is a stellar room with a view.  That room which pulls us out of the house.  Out to the great outdoors.  To till the soil, to enjoy the land, to mix and meddle with the array of botanical inspiration.  Not just a flower garden, not just weeds, those are precious edibles that garnish soups, mix with salads, add colour to the plate and surprise us with yet another flavour.  Something nutty, something spicy, a bit peppery, maybe sweet.  Your internal chef might be inspired.

It’s time to plant, forage on.  This is spring and it’s time to garden.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

March 23, 2022

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That Fabulous Snow

Hail Brave Hearts

It’s an awesome day in wonderland.  The winter snow is fresh and soft, calling us to our great outdoors.  Adventure again, into the wilderness, for a day or two of winter play, winter fun and the joy of the playground of white.  Sliding skis push us past the open potholes of water.  We squeeze along narrow snow bridges that keep us out of the drink.  Along, along to a fine destination of winter backcountry fun in an isolated, remote chalet, ours for a couple of days.

The pristine great wild, in it’s outstanding winter splendor, welcomes us to fresh snow and warm winter temperatures.   A balmy -5 in mid January is a bit too warm for this time of year, but we welcome the change from the deep chill.  It’s selfish though.  Those days of -30 kill off overwintering bugs and larvae that ruin the forest and the forest itself is part of this great adventure.

We have the good fortune of seeing a female moose and her calf, three ptarmigan in winter white plumage and dippers flying under the snow bridges along the river.  We feel blessed.  Blessed for a Canadian holiday in one of our wild, protected places and blessed for the foresight of mountain pioneers who loved to roam the snowy slopes and who placed a fine chalet in it’s midst for our safety and enjoyment.  This is rare and the historical archives serve us well, in keeping these small huts open.

The day is warm and sunny and sun tanning in snow pits is an eternal joy.  The fabulous white blanket  covers the land and we happily try our best ski moves in this fun filled adventure.  Never too old, never too tired.  Die hards are we, and we relish the good fortune of years of practice for these special moments in these special places. Luckily, someone else has the responsibility for the maintenance of these isolated huts.  Tucked away in hard to find places, obscure locations that are hard to find, the upkeep is a chore but the reward for us is fantastic!

We meet other enthusiasts, heading up into the high powder bowls for a day of ski touring   Perfection!  Winter at it’s best.

This is the winter that we long for, the winter that we crave.  So many sports, so much activity, so many ways to enjoy a beautiful winter’s day.  The bright, shiny, clean snow.  The marvelous wildlife, the fun filled sports and enthusiastic company of humans who live to enjoy this annual promise of snow.   But with this unusual warm spell, brings another environmental concern, global warming.  It’s only -5 today in January.  An unheard of mild winter warm spell that lets us play for hours outdoors is also an unfortunate detriment to our winter wonderland.  The play is fabulous, but the winter won’t last during warm temperatures like this and rain will arrive sooner to wash it all away.

What is Climate Change? Crash Course Geography #14 – YouTube

Take the precautions to save us, oh great human.  There is still time.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

 

In The Forest
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In The Forest

Hail Brave hearts

Ah, the forest.  The adventure is sweet.  It captures us as environmentalists, athletes, artists and nature seekers.  Fabulous forest, for beauty, for shelter, for warmth.  The myriad of species that inhabit these lands.  The wild lands.  The massive tracts of lands for trees, vegetation, wildlife and us.  The forest holds its secrets, prime fishing holes, a hidden lake, vast meadows of wildflowers, a campsite, a trail, a precious sought after climb, the view.  This is a wonderland to us.  So much to see, so many trails to follow, so much room to explore.  Our hearts sing.  The day is long, the journey rewarding, the wilds lands treat us to so much earthly pleasure in Gods wonderful, always outstanding, creation.  The joy is magnificent.  So much simple pleasure, so much to learn and so much knowledge to share.

The ever changing forest, from spring beauty, to awesome autumn, from warm summers evenings, to cold winter trekking.  The forest brings us a continual challenge of skills and expertise.  Paddle the pristine lakes, kayak the whitewater, drift in quiet solitude of the still waters.  Listen to the sound of the great wild as it echoes across the land.  This is the forest, with all of the wonders that it holds.  All across the surface of the forest there is  a secret hiding, to be found only by  those who know what to look for.  The experts who have the knowledge of herbal remedies.  Here in these trees lies the medicine cabinet of the  land.

Trees sway softly is the swirling winds, birds call and animals scurry away.  Flowers nod and wave their heads and beckon us to enjoy our day.  In this fabulous forest, there’s something for us.  It’s in the trees.   Healing trees, nurturing trees, trees that hold the secret to natural remedies and cures.  There are many.  The mighty spruce, with it’s vitamin C, provides a healing tea which  is the  one that cured the early explorers of scurvy.  This is just one, there are many more.

10 Medicinal Trees That Heal Virtually Everything – Off The Grid News

The bountiful forest gives us many things.  It gives us a captivating wonderland to explore, a bountiful world of healing cures and natural wisdom.  The forest is alive with so many precious treasures.  Animal life and vegetation galore!  An array of colour and light, a pleasure to our senses and a quiet in our stressful lives.

For the gardener, a tree could hold the cure to an ailment, a remedy of homemade cleverness.  Perhaps a cup of tea could save your life.  Choose wisely oh dear ones, these same trees have cured us for centuries, save them and protect them.  The forest is more than just trees, it is yet another garden of earthly delight, filled with food, medicine and healing, health benefits.

Come to the forest, oh awesome human, where the trees give us shade, adventure, the quiet wilderness and a healthy life.

Written by Dr. Louise Hayes

September 25, 2021

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Those Divine Weeds

Hail Brave hearts

Still exploring, still living that awesome adventure, still looking forward to the next great day.  Still working those muscles, still struggling with pain.  Not so!  Your diet could save you.

On and on the canoe is paddled, on and on, those muscles work.  Through rapids, portages, endless days on the water, trap the fur, bring it home, make a fortune for that clever, illustrious businessman.  Be the vehicle to their desires.  Work your body, your mind, your spirit to the bone.  Leave your loved ones, travel with courage, bring home that cherished dime.

The difficult life of the courier de bois, the homesteaders that followed them and the settling of Canada.  The price that was paid in life and livelihood, as the courageous Canadians make their way into the great wild.  Survive you must.

The land takes it’s toil and exhausts us.  The strain and stress of this life is full of great challenges.  There are dreams of gold but hardship is plenty.  Tell us your secrets.  How did you survive?

In the great wild, there is plenty, if you know what to look for.  There was game to catch, fish in the streams, fruit, berries and edible plants along the way.  Some of this is medicinal and works to cure that obvious.  Vitamin C for scurvy, vitamin A for your eyes.  The long days of sunshine gleaming off the water, the eyesore from reflections from the water without sunglasses, the sunburn, the pain of it.

Somewhere in the wilds of Canada is medicine for all of this.  Salves, ointments, tinctures, treatments for cuts, bruises, scrapes and burns.  Somewhere there are treatments for pain, vision loss, inflamed joints, sore muscles, pulls and sprains.  Somewhere there is treatment for disease and mental impairment.  Our healing is abundant and our forefathers prove it.  Somewhere in the great wild nutrition is abundant and the natural world gives us relief from aches and pain, from disease and keeps us well.  Somewhere in the wild, there is food that will save us, if you know what to look for.

 

Lambs Quarters:

Why was Lamb’s quarters used as an herbal remedy?
The plant was used traditionally as an herbal remedy for eczema, rheumatic pains, gout, colic, insect stings and bites. Also a decoction made from the herb was used to treat tooth decay. The sap extracted from the plant stems was used to reduce freckles and treat sunburns.

Lamb’s Quarters Uses in Cooking and Benefits as a …

http://www.herbal-supplement-resource.com/lambs-quarters-he…
See all results for this question
Why is it important to eat lambsquarter leaves?
Lambsquarter is an important source of food that can be considered a key staple, while at the same time it is also an extremely valuable medicine. When the leaves are chewed into a green paste and applied to the body, it makes a great poultice for insect bites, minor scrapes, injuries, inflammation, and sunburn.
  • https://www.joyfulbelly.com/Ayurveda/ingredient/Lambs-Quarters/267

    Lamb’s quarters contains more protein, calcium, and vitamins B1 and B2 than cabbage or spinach, making it a wild edible fit for Pop-Eye, our favorite green vegetable hero. It is also rich in iron, phosphorus, and vitamins B1, B2, C, and A. Lamb’s Quarters warms your mouth, is slightly salty, sour, and mildly spicy.

  • Lambs Quarter – Wild & Edible www.thegypsythread.org

    https://www.thegypsythread.org/lambs-quarter-wild-edible

    2021-07-27 · Internal uses range from treating diarrhea, relieving stomach aches, and for scurvy (due to the high Vitamin C content.) Lamb’s quarter tea is also known for decreasing inflammation and increasing circulation. Lamb’s quarter poultices are said to relieve itching, swelling, and relieve burn pain.

    Yarrow

    In short, Yarrow has the following medicinal uses:

    • wound treatment
    • stops bleeding
    • digestive herb
    • diuretic
    • anti-inflammatory
    • anti-spasmodic
    • anti-catarrhal (removes excess mucous from the body)
    • diaphoretic (reduces fever)
    • lowers blood pressure
    • stimulates blood flow in the pelvic area (especially the uterus)
    • antimicrobial
    • used for hemorrhage
    • used for treatment in pneumonia
    • used for treatment in rheumatic pain

    Purple Aster

    • Principally used in the cure of rheumatism in the form of infusion or tincture; recommended, however, in hysteria, chorea, epilepsy, spasms, irregular menstruation, etc., internally; and used both externally and internally in many cutaneous diseases, the eruption occasioned by the poison rhus, and in the bites of venomous snakes.

      Wild Asters medicinal uses | V I Farms

      Are there any medicinal uses for wild asters?
      Wild Asters medicinal uses. The warm infusion may be used freely in colds, rheumatism, nervous debility, headache, pains in the stomach, dizziness, and menstrual irregularities. This, together with A. cordifolius, has been compared in value with valerian. Aster aestivus …is recommended as an antispasmodic and alterative.

    •  Aster aestivus…is recommended as an antispasmodic and alterative. Principally used in the cure of rheumatism in the form of infusion or tincture; recommended, however, in hysteria, chorea, epilepsy, spasms, irregular menstruation, etc., internally; and used both externally and internally in many cutaneous diseases, the eruption occasioned by the poison rhus, and in the bites of venomous snakes

    • Aster Plant Uses – Learn About The Edibility Of Aster Flowers

      https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/asters/edibility…

      2020-08-30 · The flowers and leaves can be eaten fresh or dried when eating aster plants. The Native American people harvested wild aster for a multitude of uses. The roots of the plant were used in soups and young leaves were cooked lightly and used as greens.

       

    • Daisies

    The Medicinal Herb Daisy The herb may be used for loss of appetite as it has stimulating effect on the digestion system and it has been used as a treatment for many ailments of the digestive tract, such as gastritis, diarrhea, liver and gallbladder complaints and mild constipation.

    Wild daisy is a plant. The parts that grow above the ground are used to make medicinal tea. People take wild daisy tea for coughs, bronchitis, disorders of the liver and kidneys, and swelling ( inflammation ). They also use it as a drying agent (astringent) and as a ” blood purifier.”

    The young flower heads or buds can be added to salads, soups or sandwiches; or the flower heads used to decorate salad dishes. The leaves can be eaten raw despite their bitter aftertaste, but are better mixed in salads or cooked and might be used as a potherb. The buds can be preserved in vinegar and used in cooking as a substitute for capers.

    Nutritional profile

    It is both an anti-inflammatory herb and a vulnerary (improves circulation) herb. Drink daisy tea for the plant’s health-giving and restorative properties. A modern study of wild edibles used during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992–95) showed that daisies contain 34 mg of vitamin C per 100 g.

    Common Thistle

    The roots have been used as a poultice and a decoction of the plant used as a poultice on sore jaws. A hot infusion of the whole plant has been used as a herbal steam for treating rheumatic joints. A decoction of the whole plant has been used both internally and externally to treat bleeding piles.

    Save yourself, with the delicious, nutritious weeds of the wild!  Our great ancestors had nothing else to eat.  The knowledge  of the food value and medicinal value of these weeds offered to us by the aboriginal people of Canada, saved us then and could help us now.  Eat, drink and be well.

    written by Dr. Louise Hayes

    August 22, 2021

     

A Day for Planet Earth
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A Day for Planet Earth

Hail Brave hearts

It’s still out there.  The adventure awaits.

April brings us warm, sunny weather.  A perfect day for a perfect outing.  Into the great wild we go.  The conditions are perfect for us today,  snow pack, snow bridges, flat trail.  The river crossings are easy and the destination is close by.  A mere 5 kilometers of snow covered terrain.

This is an easy destination for the adventurer, in a time when exploration of the area was crucial.  The need to know the area, so that the land is familiar and accessible.  The need to know every inch of the surroundings, so that we can travel safely, intelligently and explore the land.

We’re on a seldom used and little known trail.  Awesome!  Lucky for us, that we are the explorers of this day.  We travel easily. The terrain is flat and accessible, opening up to a world of stark beauty.  A flock of pretty robins flutter in the forest and run along the snow.  It’s a surprise to see them, especially in this location.  Then we spy it, our destination, the glacier.  The source of our water supply, the beginnings of the rivers.  Since it is a warm day, we watch avalanches slide off the glacier into the moraine below.  We are silent.  Only us, in this great wilderness place, all to ourselves, on this fine day.  Perhaps the crowds of tourists have come before us, but we know they haven’t.  There’s still some wilderness left in the great wild.

A few days later, we hang up our snowshoes and go crocus hunting.  It’s an unusually cold spring.  Global warming?  Climate change is a better phrase.  Sometimes we see these early spring flowers at the end of March.  This year, they’re still struggling to appear and it takes until mid April for these showy purple heads to blossom.  Once they start, they’ll carpet the fields and hillsides in glorious purple.  More wonders and beauty to behold, and so easy to find.

The protected wilderness areas are a significant contribution to our health and lifestyles.  A daily walk in the park to spectacular views,  precious wildlife, blooming wildflowers.  The joy of the living planet, giving us air, supporting our lives, giving us recreation and wonder.  It gives us peace and clears our minds to wander in the great wild.  Always a fantastic scene to behold, sometimes by accident, sometimes by creation.

This great day is Earth Day.  One day, for our awesome, awe inspiring planet?  Only one day to take a look at the marvelous creation of this great planet Earth.  This day is every day.  A day for the joy of your senses.  A day to breathe the fresh air and cleanse your soul in the beauty of the earth.  This adventure is not just for today, but for all of your time here.  Time to explore, time to live, time to enjoy the life on this Earth.

Lucky mortals, to be alive on this great planet.  Intelligent mortals, to save God’s great, good earth.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

Earth Day, 2021

by

The Christmas Star

Hail Brave Hearts

There’s still time.  Time to sing, time to play, time for hope, time to pray.  The season of merriment and joy is with us.  Gladness and goodwill to share, is among us.  Rejoice, oh great human.  The world is still full of adventure and promise, discovery and fulfillment.  There is still time to enjoy the goodness that life brings.

In the dead of winter, there is great joy.  Look to the heavens for the sign of your saviour.  His mark is in the sky.  A rare event of celestial proportions rises in the night sky on December 21, 2020.  A year that has been marked by pandemic, disease, isolation, poverty,  death and despair.  How obvious, oh shiny star, to light up the night sky this year.  How obvious, oh shiny star to lead us once again.

The planets of Saturn and Jupiter will align to this degree, for the first time in 800 years.  Celestial configurations occur frequently, but this planetary alignment is a  precious sight.   As Jupiter and Saturn meet in the south westerly sky, shortly after sunset on December 21, we will see the bright, shiny star of Christmas.  Perhaps not the brilliant star that guided the wise men to Bethlehem, but still it is a Christmas star.  A star to light up our lives and a star to wish upon.

https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/planets/great-conjunction

This year has been a difficult one, full of disease and disaster.  The world has been somewhat chaotic in environmental  disaster, pandemic  virus, economic doom.  Our guiding light has been our ability to meet virtually on computer screens and cellphones which keep us connected to our friends and loved ones.  Lockdown has been the message of choice, to control a health crisis which has escalated beyond our control.  As fabulous as we are, we are only mortal.

The power of prayer is upon us.  Store after store closes, awaiting a shift to normal business hours.  Awaiting a vaccine to cure this pandemic and to praise the magnificent, once again.  Save us!  Save us, you mighty minds, we know that you know how to.  Bankruptcy looms in the despair of a command.  Stay home!  Once again, we are shut in.  Shut in, closed off, with few social contacts and no gatherings.

Shine, oh great magnificent light!  Shine and bring us Christmastime!  Shine oh holy light, the light of our life, oh star of Bethlehem.  Shine.

Although the Bethlehem star is still not really explained, since there have been other conjunctions which produce a great, shiny light in the sky.  This one that we will be witnessing on December 21, 2020, this  winter’s solstice, will be the brightest that we will be able to see.  The timing is perfect.  It is Christmas.  The vaccine has started to arrive.  We will become well again, venture out again, rejoice again.  Glad tidings to you and yours during this very difficult time, but it is passing.  This Christmas star might not herald in a new savior, but it will bring in a new astrological shift.  Coincidentally?  Perhaps.  The mysterious night sky and the the heavens bring in a new age in 2021.  Behold, a new age is dawning.  The age of Aquarius.

Written by Dr. Louise Hayes

December 20,2020