Back to Nature

It was a lazy Sunday morning, but at about 2 we decided we needed to get outside and do some work in the garden. Don trimmed a few hedges because their leaves keep slapping the car as he takes it in and out of the drive. I went out in front of our property and trimmed overhanging berry-laden Rowan branches and the rambling roses which are burdened with red-orange hips.

I've been thinking for years that I'd like to save some of the rose hips and do something with them, so today I Googled "rose hips" and found several Websites that tell how to make rose hip tea or rose hip and mint tea, which sounds even better. So I've harvested some of them and have set them drying. We'll see how it turns out.

The little plum tree behind our bedroom has many plums ripening on it. I brought 3 in yesterday but have just taken photos of plums today. These are Victoria plums which never get a deep dark colour. These are more peachy in colour and are some of the loveliest plums you'll ever taste. So far the birds don't seem to be bothering them. Perhaps that's because there is plenty of other fruit available for them to get at much easier, such as the Rowanberries.

We had a lovely time last night entertaining David and Norma Nairn. Norma is a patchworker, which is how I met her. She also is a watercolourist and does some lovely paintings. She even makes painting of some of her quilts. David has signed up with an agency that supplies film crews with extras. You've probably seen him if you've seen the film Greyfriar's Bobby or any of the episodes of the TV show Monarch of the Glen. Norma and David had an antique business for years, first in London and then in Comrie. They are delightful folks whom we've been wanting to get together with for some time. This is one of the payoffs of having gone through the agony and inconvenience of the renovation.