Friday, March 14, 2008

Winter is coming to an end

These were some of the first photos I took with my new macro lens, back in late December. It was when I realized that it works much better with a tripod, rather than how I was using it. But thanks to the magic of Photoshop, I could sharpen my straight out of camera pics somewhat and use the hard light option on them. If you look closely, you can even see the little droplets of water inside the needles on the top photo of this juniper branch. At least, I think it's a juniper. It does have the telltale little blue/gray berries.
Did you know that in olden times, juniper bushes were grown because they can heal a lot of diseases? It's true. Juniper is good for a lot of health problems. It activates the digestion, helps the kidneys and clears the lungs for good breathing. It will also kill bacteria, which is good against infections. Oh, there's all sorts of things that juniper does. Who needs Mucinex when you've got a juniper bush around? Why, when my children were young, I used to make tea from the berries and I also used the essential oils found in it, mixing them with boiling water for use as a steam-bath. Not really.
I never did this. And I'm not Medicine Woman. I don't know enough to go messing about with natural remedies and formulations found on the internet. But I'm not kidding about the uses for the juniper bush. It's a miracle plant. I just felt that you needed to know this. And aren't you glad that you do now? Good. My work is done for today, then.
Stop back tonight at 6 PM to play the Weekend Guessing Game! I think it will be an easy one.

8 comments:

Mental P Mama said...

I think gin is made from juniper...maybe we should all sip on some for good measure. I love these pics!

abb said...

I just knew there was a good reason to sip on gin and sodas...it's healthy!
(tee-hee)

Russell said...

Interesting comments about juniper bushes!!

I will confess to you that three years ago I did pull out two large groupings of juniper bushes at the end of our driveway. The main reason was because they caused the snow to drift and pile up at the end of our drive! Not good in winter!

Also, they had gotten so huge! They were there when we moved to the place. I pulled them out with my tractor - and they were hard to pull out!! I had no idea they had so many uses - but I do know they had lots of sap, etc. when I cut into them.

They are a nice bush and look good. Our had just gotten out of control!

Take care.

Anonymous said...

sure, flaunt your macro lens some more *g

You had me for a second on you making the juniper tea...I should know better by now...

dlyn said...

Gin is very medicinal :)

Country Girl said...

I am so glad that everyone likes the gin idea. I may have to go to the licorice store and pick some up tonight.

Russell, I'm ok with you pulling out the bushes. They can get a bit outa control. I hope you feel better after your confession now.

And yes, Kacey, you should know better by now. *sigh*

~C.G.

Anonymous said...

Great pics, Spring is coming and I can't wait. I wish I knew more about herb-medicine anything. But I do know juinper is used in alcohol Spirit making...Yahoo!

Egghead said...

I love reading your posts. You had me going all the while thinking "man she does everything...using essential oils and such". Then you had me laughing when you admitted you really didn't. Fun facts though. Where we live we have lots of juniper bushes and I love the smell.