smokingboot

Less than 48 hours back in Scotland and I have what appears to be a heavy cold. Again.

I was bleary and ill last night, coughing, sneezing, sore throat. Had a burst of high temperature this morning, this at least appears to be gone.

Trying hayfever relief now, to see if that's the cause. It could be. Two weeks away and we came back to this:

I'm a great lover of Rosa Canina but begin to feel she's taking the mick; she's not even leaning back and over the wall as I intended, but lurches forward like the bridal version of Swamp Thing. I have friends who dedicate some of their time to a mystic plant challenge (https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8d7c8a1a-a127-44f5-b536-c97f9c1239c6_1080x1080.jpeg?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email). If I tried it I might well have to start with Rosa C seeing as she's on the verge of taking over; she's beautiful of course, strong and intractable, and any attempts to prune her result in thorny vengeance. There's a vast amount of symbolism attached to her, she's even got loads of medicinal benefits. Maybe I should pay more attention.

Said friends who do this challenge present results that are often craftful and very lovely, from dyed yarns to soaps to delicious infusions to poems and paintings. But if I did it, I would feel even worse about chopping things back, and it has to happen. Through Summer I tend to let the long grasses grow, with resulting numbers of white clover, daisies, bog orchids, buttercups etc, providing food for bees. But I haven't seen that many bees around here for about 2 years. It's troubling. And this, for sure, will be tick country*. I don't see how I can leave it for another fortnight.

Meanwhile the hayfever relief has had some effect. This feels more like a normal cold, but I'm not impressed with getting another one so quickly.

*I say that but maybe I'm being pessimistic, I've never seen one. I'm just working on the assumption that where you have deer you have ticks, and Scotland is full of deer.