“Determined that this diary should start off with a bit of flourish, I sallied forth on this fine winter’s day…
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nature books
My botanical desk – Autumn nature diary
“Nature never did betray…The heart that loved her…For she can so inform the mind that is within us.” From The…
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The secret lives of our winter garden birds
I feel guilty when I run out of bird food in the winter. The little garden birds pop back and…
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Flying the Nest – The Early Days of Britain’s best loved animals
I bought this book to give as a gift but had to keep it. There are 50 illustrations by the…
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On my bookshelf: Gifts from the Garden
I’ve recently been making gifts for friends rather than buying. My presents have included homemade chocolate truffles and bottles of…
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![A secret of my garden is that here and there it is filled with fruits, flowers and herbs that have medicinal and culinary benefits. I know I’m rather fond of flowers’ common names, but also getting clues from their Latin names. Borage, Sage, Pot Marigold (Borago officinalis, Salvia officinalis, Calendula officinalis)…all have Latin names ending with ‘officinalis’ meaning ”of the apothecary shop.” Early pharmacies or apothecary shops were known as officinas🌿🌱🌺
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We have two lemon trees that provide fruit all year round. 🍋Lemons are ‘Citrus medica’…medica meaning useful as a medicine or curative. I’ve sprinkled rose petals on cakes and in baths. I also have Aloe vera in my succulent garden area in case we need it for sunburns. I have Rose pelargonium shrubs flowering in the garden all grown from little cuttings.
[Gifted Book] And now I also have lots of skin care recipes to try out, many which include ingredients in my garden or kitchen, after being gifted this book by the @herbalacademy … I think the Gardener’s Hand Cream recipe will be a must for me! (see my Story )
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This has also given me a wonderful flashback of when my now teen-wild-twins were toddlers. We lived in London and my favourite retreat with them was driving over and spending a morning wandering around and sitting on one of the lawns at the Chelsea Physics Garden of which I was a member…it was originally founded in 1673 by Apothecaries to grow and study key medicinal plants. There was always a magical and peaceful feeling there – and without fail it had a surprising curative effect on my twins as they always laughed quietly and played beautifully there!](https://wildabouthere.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)