Flower essence of poppy

My experiment with essence of poppy

 

Flowers essences are not new. In the 1930's Dr Edward Bach made flower essences, which are still made today, and many countries have flower essences of their native flowers.

 I was offered the chance to try a flower essence of my choice from the Institute of Phytobiophysics, and to write a review. Normally I prefer not to use my blog as a commercial site, but decided to share my experience after all.

It was only after I had chosen the flower essence of poppy that I received the pamphlet which suggested choosing the flower essence that matches an area of weak energy, which is defined by a colour. Poppy (being red) was represented by the colon and urogenital area, not an area of concern to me. I had originally chosen it for “life blood” because my heart is my weak point, as I suffer from rather alarming arrhythmias. So in effect I had made a mistake in my choice based on not reading the instructions properly! Nevertheless, it felt like the right choice.

For the first two weeks it was probably too soon to see any change in myself. I’m not the sort of person to believe too much in placebo effects in myself, so I noted things like mood and quality of sleep, and these fluctuated greatly, so I couldn’t pinpoint anything specific. I noted a day of extreme energy, but then came down with a slight cold, which often happens – extreme energy followed by feeling “off”.

After taking the pilules 3 x daily for several weeks I felt very well. It could have been my imagination, but I did feel that my energy levels were vastly improved. I was more motivated to do things and was getting them done. The weather had been cooler which could also have something to do with it. It may have been a coincidence, but I thought that my heart had been really calm for a long time.  But then recently it flared up again, for no obvious reason.

 For me the best thing was feeling very motivated, but this did coincide with a very busy spell in the practice with interesting new cases, which in itself is very uplifting. I have stopped the pilules for about a week now, to see whether I feel different, and I definitely have felt flat, but now am too busy to feel anything but charged. I am planning to take the pilules again from next week to see whether this changes.

All in all a very interesting experiment. Have a look at the website www.mossopnaturalremedies.com

If you'd like to know more about poppy:

http://www.mossopnaturalremedies.com/shop/product/detail/phytobiophysics-flower-formula-18-poppy-1.aspx

 

 

 

More stories of Ruby

Ruby will be one year old on the 18th May. She is still as naughty as ever. I won't go into the details of what has been wrecked in my house - these things teach one not to be so materialistic! Suffice it to say that new furniture is not in my budget!

What I love about her is her spirit, although it is maddening to have her nose right under the spade as I am digging, and when she gleefully sprints through the open gate into the road with absolutely no idea that it could be her last move on this earth, I almost have a heart attack.
Recently she jumped over the wall into my neighbour's garden in pursuit of a dove. (This neighbour's house is in another street.) Unfortunately for her the wall is higher on my neighbour's side, so she couldn't get back. It took her seconds to realise this and by the time I walked through the house to go and fetch her, she was panting at the front gate - a distance of at least 500m done at the speed of light. She hasn't tried that again!

But the funniest thing about Ruby is her appetite! It is insatiable and she'll eat anything. So many meals of mine have disappeared in a moment of distraction, and items of food put down for a moment are gone when I turn around. This season of harvests has caused quite a few issues. Firstly the olives. Who would believe that a dog would love olives off the tree, as bitter as they are? No problem for Ruby who gobbles them up as they drop off. Later I have to deal with the vomit. All my dogs like olives once they have been cured, but not when they are still bitter!

When I open the back door in the morning, I have to make sure Ruby is safely inside while I quickly pick up all the guavas that have fallen off the tree in the night. She will happily wolf the lot. If she tucks into guavas later in the day, (as they fall off throughout the day), she'll wake me in the middle of the night to go out. So I haven't had a good night's sleep for a while.......

And then yesterday while I was harvesting the hawthorn berries, she decided to have a taste too. It was a struggle to get to the bunches of berries before she did, as they fall down when I cut them, and I have to get down the ladder!

When we go for walks all the dogs get to stop at gardens where eugenia cherries lie on the ground. They love them and eat quite a few before we move on. And when they hear me chopping vegetables they cluster round hoping for some broccoli stalk or cabbage stalk. Ruby doesn't reject anything, while the other two are more selective. The other day some raw onion slices landed on the floor. I read that this is really bad for dogs. But before I could pick them up Ruby had hoovered them up and was happily crunching away.

Most of my friends have heard the story of the cookies. I had prepared a batch of 60 rustic cookies (the recipe is somewhere in this blog), all cut out and ready to bake. The doorbell rang and ..........
Ruby pulled the baking paper with all the cookies onto the floor and wolfed the lot. You could hear my wails for miles. Luckily she digested it very well.

Punnets of tomatoes, bags of nuts, peppermints, a (plastic) bottle of olive oil, cream cheese, yoghurt, you name it, all have been stolen and eaten if I'm careless. It's an expensive business!!

Harvests

HawthornJust the other day it was spring and now I'm harvesting whenever there is some spare time. The hawthorn tree was loaded with berries, but only about 2/3 can be harvested because many are too high up, and the thorns are rather deadly to prevent any thoughts of climbing into the tree. I have a good ladder but it is rather unstable on soil, as I once discovered when it gave way underneath me and I was dangling with one foot on the rung and hanging from a branch of the apple tree. Hilarious to witness, I'm sure!!

Hawthorn berries and leaves make a wonderful tonic for the heart and the circulatory system. It is wonderful to be able to harvest my own organically grown hawthorn and use it in the practice. It is one of those herbs which is nutritious as well as medicinal and very safe to use.

I now have 16 jars of olives curing and many more olives still on the tree. Such an abundance!! It all keeps me pretty busy.

 Added to this are the wonderful guavas which despite giving away baskets full, every day there are more. It is a pity that one can't do more with this fruit. I have canned some, made guava roll (which no one eats) and stew them to eat with oats or yoghurt. One lady told me she stews them and freezes them pureed, which makes an instant delight to add to yoghurt. I'd need a separate freezer for the amount I can make.

                                                                 Organic guavas
This abundance makes me feel very grateful. All the fruits seemingly come from nothing each year. A gift from nature. I do try and feed the soil and water regularly, but the amount of fruit is overwhelming. The air is perfumed with guava scent and they are beautifully sweet from being ripened by the sun. What a gift!