Self Help by the Bayou Dog

  I am beginning to wonder if Ms. Ez, the Bayou Dog, is smarter than I realize.  Sometimes she can do things that make me scratch my head and question whether she has any brains but then she will turn around and do something ridiculously brilliant.  At least brilliant for a dog who is not supposed to understand health issues and medications.  

  I have been drinking a lot of herbal tea as I try to ward off any colds, flu or sinus infections.  These things have all been making the rounds through family and neighbors but, so far, I have been fortunate.  I have remained healthy throughout the winter.  Whew!  My herbal tea is infused with a healthy dose of ginger root, whole cloves and star anise. All of these are remarkably helpful in fighting any of the above mentioned illness.  I usually drink several cups of tea each day.  In the late evening, I will bring the tea into the living room and set it on the coffee table to cool.  I might leave it sit there as I do a few more chores such as carry in an armload of firewood or stoke the fire.  Never once have I had a problem leaving it there.  Nothing has ever bothered my tea!

  I have always been proud of the old dog as Ms. Ez has never touched any food items that were not placed in her bowl. Look at that face! Would you ever dream that she might touch food or drink that was not designated just for her pleasure?  Yesterday, I had placed the tea on the coffee table like any other day and turned to stoke the fire.  While my back was turned, I heard lapping.  Huh?  I reeled around just in time to see the dog lapping up my herbal tea!  What had gotten into that goofy animal?  As soon as she noticed that I was watching her, she slunk back to her bed by the door.  She knew that she had crossed the line with this antic!  All in all, she drank over a cup of the delicious, warming tea.

  This trick of Ezzy's got me to thinking.  For the past few nights, I have noticed that she seemed to be a bit congested.  Last night, after her taking a goodly sized dose of my tea, she had no problem sleeping through the night.  There was no sniffling at all!  Did Ms. Ez know that the tea would help her?   I am not even sure that those ingredients are on the "safe" list for dogs but she evidently seemed quite sure that they might help her feel better.  I think I will have to ask her vet.  If none will hurt her, I might have just hit on a way to doctor the dog!  (Or, perhaps I should say, Ms. Ez hit on a way to doctor herself and, perhaps, I should not have scolded her!)

You can't beat ginger root!

   Here lately, it seems that almost everyone I talk to has had, does have or knows someone who has a nasty cold.  The cold that is making its rounds throughout the neighborhood is the same one that nigh on everyone in the country is suffering.  It is obviously one rough ailment which is why I have been trying my best to avoid coming in contact with anyone sick.  I, most likely, will come down with this illness eventually but I am taking steps to build my immune system.   Vitamin C is a must, it seems so kumquats and cranberries have become my best friends! Another BFF is my old, trusty ginger root.  Fresh ginger root has a couple of fine things in it called gingerols and shaogals.  (Strange names for good things!) These two things are anti-inflammatory agents that help cure any sore throat but the most fantastic thing about them is the fact that they literally kill rhinoviruses!  What are rhinoviruses, you may ask?  Well, those are the nasty things that cause colds in the first place.  Kill those and your cold does not have a chance!  My advice is to catch the nasty, old rhinovirus as soon as you are exposed.  If you do this, it does not have a chance to catch hold.  So...in other words...drink ginger tea regularly!

  For the past few weeks, (since the onslaught of illnesses in our area) Mark and I have been following a routine of drinking our herbal tisanes. Several times a day, we have a cup of herbal brew that contains fresh ginger root and star anise.  So far, thank the Good Lord, we have avoided any problems.  Our tisane (which is a fancy word for herbal "tea" that does not actually contain tea leaves!) includes our favorite flavor of herbal tea with a hefty size chunk of fresh ginger root and a piece of star anise.  This is sweetened with local honey for a bit of delightfulness! When brewed the flavors meld together nicely.  We have found that our favorites are the fruit or berry flavored teas.  They seem to lend themselves to being spiced up with these two herbs. There is nothing better to warm the body on a cold day than a good cup of tisane! (It also helps to have some fresh baked cinnamon bread and serve the tisane using lovely handmade coasters!  These were made by my sweet niece Eva and her husband Erik!  Beautiful, aren't they?)

  Ginger root seems to be the key ingredient in so many home remedies which makes me think it should also be an important part of everyone's gardens.  PLANT THAT GINGER ROOT, FOLKS!  Once you successfully get it rooted, it is relatively easy to grow.  Just make sure to plant it in a sheltered area since it does not seem to like wind.  Then, when you need a piece of root, just pull back the soil and break off a small chunk leaving the main root intact.  Your plant should grow forever!  Plus, you have the added benefit of some lovely flowers in the spring!  Ginger is wonderful!

  

Flowers in my cup? Or Rosehip Tea!

The roses did rather well this year until they were discouraged from blooming by the lack of rain. Still in early Spring, the arbors were covered with the most beautiful array of blossoms ranging from the clustered "Seven Sisters" to the huge blooms of the antique rose "New Dawn". There are probably at least ten different types of rose bushes lining the fences of the rose garden and then there are quite a few shrub roses in front of these. Today, though, they are not blooming and it is most likely as much my fault as it is the drought's. I was lenient about deadheading the old blooms. As bad as this sounds, there was a bit of method in my madness as I actually wanted the roses to go to seed. I wanted rosehips! I am in hopes of getting enough to add to a batch of herbal teas that I am experimenting with creating. I noticed that most of the purchased herbal teas have rosehips and Hibiscus flowers. (Yes..I am game to eating a few flowers! Or in this case, drinking a few!) Oh..and did you know that most Hibiscus flowers will make a tea that tastes a bit like cranberries? The blooms will make a sweeter tea than the leaves but both can be used! The whole interest in making my own herbal teas came about merely because I found that there were so many "fillers" added to the purchased brands. I read the ingredients and those that are listed are simply things in the garden! Voila! Tea in the making merely by taking a hike around the yard!

Back to the rosehips, though! When weeding the gardens, I noticed masses of the plumpest rosehips growing on several of the vines. Two in particular had more than the others and both are antique roses. This causes me to believe that the newer roses are cultivated varieties or "cultivars". These will not grow true to the seed if you try to propagate in that way. It would be far better to root stock or graft if you want to replicate one of these. My rosehips are on the "New Dawn" climbing rose and the "Yellow Elegance" shrub rose. Both of these roses were "hand-me-down" plants that I inherited as gifts. One came from my grandfather's place.."New Dawn" was one of my first loves in the floral world. Granddad had a large trellis on the west side of his house with this beautiful palest of pink rose vine. At first glance, one would assume the bloom was actually white but on closer inspection a slight blush of pink can be seen. The "Yellow Elegance" was a gift from an elderly man and lady that used to live down the road a bit. After Hurricane Katrina, they were moving since their house was demolished. The rose bushes were battered and had been under salt water but they still offered them to me. I was not sure that they would even live and I surely had no gardens ready for planting but I accepted the offer. The bushes were temporarily bedded in the only thing handy..a wheelbarrow! Now, years later, the "Yellow Elegance" has a place of honor in the rose garden and is flourishing!

Needless to say, I am elated with my crop of rosehips! I will have to wait until late Fall or early Winter to harvest them. Hopefully, no bird or critter will take a liking to rosehips for supper between now and the time they are ripe! The hips will be cleaned, dried and pulverized to blend with different flowers, leaves and spices! A few will be saved for planting just to see if a new rose can be grown from seed. If any sprout..I might need an addition to the garden!