RECIPES

Friday 21 February 2020

A Morning of Shopping


This afternoon our temperature has climbed back up into the late 20s so I am glad I did my shopping earlier in the day.

Down the road I was thrilled to see Californian Quail feeding on the roadside.  We have heard them calling but this is the first time I have seen them in this area.




My first stop was at the Herbal Dispensary.  There are not many of these shops around, and we are fortunate to have one located in Hamilton.

I bought some dried oatstraw to make a tisane with, as well as a bottle of Echinacea Root tincture.  They make this tincture themselves and only use two year old roots, so I know it is one of the best around.




Echinacea purpurea is sometimes known as Purple Coneflower and can be used as a medicinal herb to help strengthen the immune system, the roots being the most effective parts of the plant.

It can be used in the treatment of many infections, its action on the body being generally classed as anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, anti-viral and anti-bacterial.  The tincture tastes disgusting and leaves an unpleasant tingling in the mouth – but when my body is fighting something, I’ve found this tincture will help me rapidly overcome it.


Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower)


From the Dispensary I travelled to the garden centre and bought a dahlia, some spring bulbs (anemone, ranunculus, Dutch iris and hyacinths) and several annuals to plant out in the garden.   The dahlia is in flower but I am hoping it will transplant alright.  It seems these days that plants do not sell unless they are flowering.


A visit to the supermarket was my last stop, and then home again to find that the mail had brought me a book I ordered recently – Look Younger Live Longer by Gayelord Hauser (published 1960).  He was a popular nutritionist in his day and this book deals with how to remain healthy (and beautiful!) as one ages in years.  I used to own it and another of his books many years ago, but they had long since become victims of one of my major book decluttering sessions.

I have had a quick peek through the pages and most of the information still seems reasonably up-to-date, although the “super foods” he talks about have changed a bit with fashion.





I find I have so many gorgeous sky photos that I thought I would start a weekly posting of them, to link up with Skywatch Friday

* * * * * * *

SPECTACULAR SKIES
This week’s Spectacular Skies photo is of a sunrise, photographed at 6am from the beach at Papamoa in 2010.  I love the way the sunlight is spilling forth from the gap in the clouds.


Have a great day,

Margaret.

18 comments:

  1. I'm quite sure at one time I read that book Look Younger, Live Longer.
    Aren't California Quail just so cute? When we'd drive to the fruit growing area of B.C. in past summers we'd see entire families of Quail scurrying through the orchards. The chicks are adorable. I've often wondered if they did any damage to the fruit at all.
    Lovely assortment of Spring bulbs you bought. What colour Dahlia did you buy?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The dahlia is a deep blood-red colour, just an older style flower (not cactus or double etc.) - I quite like the old fashioned blooms.
      I've never heard of quail damaging fruit, but I suppose it is possible. I love their little head plumes. Definitely cute :)

      Delete
    2. I've added a photo of the dahlia - don't know why I didn't do it before :)

      Delete
    3. That's a pretty red one. I have 2 tubers tucked away in sawdust waiting for Spring. I hope they made it through the winter. I lost most of mine a few years back when I decided to leave them in the ground and see if they'd make it. They didn't.

      Delete
  2. Those Califirnia quail are so pretty. I have not heard of the book...I might see if the library has it.


    Ih, that is a gorgeous sky.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, talk about memories. My grandmother, Nana, lived by that book. She preached Gayelord Hauser. And lived into her nineties.
    And the quail. Where we lived we used to see almost tame quail and pheasants but they seem to have disappeared in the last few years. Such a pity. It was wonderful seeing them in the fields and on the side of the road.
    I'm not up early enough to see the sunrises but maybe I should. They seem to be almost as colourful as the sunsets

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Awesome to hear that your grandmother followed these teachings and lived to a grand old age.

      Delete
  4. Love the sunrise photo and the dahlia. Also interested in the Echinacea Root tincture, must look for it. We used to have Californian Quail going across our lawn in single file in our property near Awanui.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The dispensary is called The Herbal Shop. I'm fairly sure they don't have an online shop, but I used to get them to courier me things when we lived in Tauranga. It can be hard to find tincture made of root only.
      I use 5-10 ml (amount according to severity of case) three times, two hours apart each time, and then use 1-2ml three times daily for a couple of days. I always dilute it in a little water to take it.

      Delete
  5. Hello,
    LOve the pretty Quail. The coneflowers and dahlia are pretty. I am looking forward to spring blooms.
    The last sky and beach scene is beautiful. Enjoy your day, wishing you a happy weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Seems odd to see California Quail in NZ, although I know there are many introduced species to compete with native wildlife. Far too many in fact.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You really need to get out into, or close to, native bush to see more native birds. Any present in urban areas are usually quite elusive. Some self-introduced species are classified as natives as well, such as the spur-winged plover (the Australian masked lapwing) and the silvereye (flying over from Australia in the 1850s).

      Delete
  7. I will try to locate the book and take a peek at it. Love the suggestion. I do that too, get rid of books and then wish I had them back or order them again from Amazon or the library. Sunrise is amazing! To me, it looks like an egg being held in the sky. Awesome! I have never seen a sky look like this in my lifetime. I'm in my late 70s. So thank you for seeing it, taking a picture early in the morning and posting that image. Take care. See you next week.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sometimes I will search for ages looking for a particular book that I am SURE I would not have got rid of, only to arrive at the conclusion that I had at some stage decided I no longer needed it. I have "re-bought" several books!

      Delete
  8. We see quail here a fair bit, they quite often run in front of cars on the road. The echinacea is always handy for us when we are sick, we always keep a bottle of tablets in the pantry.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow, that sky is unique and very beautiful! I enjoy seeing our desert quail. Such fun birds! Have a nice weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  10. That is a beautiful sky.

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete

Thank-you for visiting my blog. I love it when you leave a comment so please feel free to have your say. Have a great day! Margaret xx