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Lavender & Sympathy
(or the tale of getting on with it to save a murder)
A Note on New Years' Resolutions
I am not really much of a one for new year resolutions. If I think I need to do something, or not do something (oh gin....) I do it, or stop doing it, right away. Prevarication is not my thing.
But I do reflect a bit. I used to put post-it notes on the Christmas decorations as I put them away, detailing what I hoped to have achieved by the time I got the decorations out next. But now I do not. Not because I did not do them, but because I had done so much more, and the note prevented me from thinking on all those other things I had achieved in the intervening months!
A Friendly Pick-Me-Up
One thing cooking with herbs teaches you: food brings people together. You don't have to use herbs to do that of course - salt, pepper, spices (although many herbs are also spices...), just plain and simple ingredients. But there is something about welcoming somebody into your home, in the knowledge that you have put time and effort into the food or drink that you have prepared and shared with them. And of course they may not know that some herbs are just SO easy to grow, that very little effort was involved at all! But they feel valued, welcomed, wanted, all the same.
As a result of my supermarket avoidance, and a failure to pop to my usual grocery store, I had no builders' tea when a friend popped round in distress! Now, it was too early for gin/sherry/wine, so none of that was on the cards. And I personally detest those horrid tea bags full of 'herbal' teas (never taste as nice as they smell). But I DID have some lovely lavenders in pots outside.
Lavender is not everyone's first thought for tea. But the Mints are still underground, the Fennel is not plentiful enough for a massive wadge of the stuff in the teapot (for yes, a friend in distress must always involve a teapot), and the Lavender was just there. Waiting. I added a bit of Lemon Thyme in case it was TOO sweet for her but it seems I needn't have worried: "wow, this is really tasty". Nice and warm. China pot. But BIG mugs were the thing. So hands wrapped around the mug, rather than around the neck of the person who had so clearly driven her up the wall!
Now what has that tale got to do with not prevaricating, I hear you ask? Well... ask yourself... What have YOU got growing outside your house/on your window sill that could provide a bit of warmth and support when the next pal comes round to your house? And the builders' tea caddy is not quite topped up... Or if you think 'No, I shall share something I have grown myself...' Nothing? Go on then. Choose a herb. NOW. And put it nearby.... No need to prevaricate about that!
Find out more about Sara and Hawkwell Herbs by going to her website - https://hawkwellherbs.co.uk/ - or finding her on social media - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
