There is nothing more ubiquitous as the Blackberry or Bramble. Sméar Dubh or Smearagan in Gaelic, meaning black berry. Dris, druis bramble. The bramble was much valued by the old Highlanders, and where not indigenous was cultivated. The fruit was used for food, the root for dyeing, and an infusion of the leaves was used for medical purposes. Alone, and in combination with the ivy and the rowan, the bramble was placed above the lintel of the byre door to ward away witches and evil spirits. It is spoken of as ‘an druise beannaichte‘–the blessed bramble. It is said that a branch of

Unsurprisingly i’m a huge whisky fan and there is nothing like a Scottish hot toddy! Nothing warms you up and makes you feel better about just about anything really. Reputed to cure the common cold, nerves and anxiety and even sea sickness! The origin of the drinks name might come from British colonialism where the Hindu word tārī,  a drink made from the fermented sap of the various varieties of toddy palm, was made into an alcoholic drink hence the name. Apparently the British liked it so much it made it back to our shores in the U.K. At this point

Winter warmers are always a hit in our house but, Hmm smoked mulled apple cider? Mulled cider is delicious but im not sure about the addition of tea.  Though I have it on good authority that this is a good combination to try. Sadly i haven’t had the opportunity to test it yet but thought it would be worth passing it on. I think the original recipe came to them courtesy of the London Tea Company. The addition of the tea gives it a bit of a caffeine hit and also provides it with its smokey taste. (You could substitute

Cough cough sputter its cough season in our house. Both myself and my better half have caught a wee cough and so it was time to bring out the good old cough cures! In Celtic times it was thought that by passing someone under the belly of a white horse you might get rid of their coughing as the cough would pass to the animal, sadly we don’t have any white horses around so I figured its best to stick to the herbal remedies and this one is for herbal cough tea and cough drops for dry coughs. There are

With the Blood Harvest Moon tonight it got me thinking about autumn and Valerian hot chocolate. The leaves start to turn their beautiful shades of red and golden yellows and the mornings start to become crisp, my head and heart starts to wonder to  thoughts of scarfs, gloves, bonfires, mulled cider and hot chocolate. Nows a great time to harvest and use Valerian Root as you may also be drying it off for personal use (hopefully away from your cats). This hot chocolate recipe has Valerian added but also is helped by the soothing effect of other relaxing herbs allies mingled