Lavender, here's your sweet lavender,
Sixteen sprigs a penny,
Which you will find, my ladies,
Will smell as sweet as any.
So goes one of the old London street cries. Lots of people
refer to it as Old English lavender, but it is really a
Mediterranean plant. The Romans brought it to Britain more
than 2,000 years ago to perfume the water in the baths that
were so important to them. That is how it got its name-from
the Latin lavo,"I wash".
I was feeling under the weather the other day and feeling
rather sorry for myself when my kind thoughtful neighbour
Marion who is a keen gardener gave me a bunch of freshly
picked lavender from her garden to cheer me up. This made
me think that if you look round your garden on a warm
summer's day, you will notice that the lavender bushes are
covered with bees busy collecting the nectar, and the honey
produced from
it is particularly delicious. The monks grew this plant,
both for the bees and also for all sorts of medicinal
purposes-it used to be said, "Flowers of lavender comfort
the brain's very well"
As in olden days, these flowers are still dried to use in
lavender bags or pot pourri to add fragrance tour homes,
or distilled to produce lavender oil. What a lot we owe
to these Romans of old!
Still feeling a bit down I came across an old poem and
after reading this I felt much better the words were so
true. All negative thoughts I've decided must go, I'll
try to say," Yes" when I want to say, "no" I won't say,"
I can't." but, "I can only try," and accept things that
happen---not keep asking why.
I'll make time for hobbies and brighten my day, and not
let my problems affect what I say; there are many folk
homeless, sad, hungry in pain. I am blessed with so much,
I'll not grumble again. Today will be good for I'm filled
now with hope, With God's love inside me. I know I can
cope, No meanings or groaning, no sighing, no dread, my
positive thoughts are all there in stead.
Chrissy Greenslade
I hope you enjoy the rest
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