Joolz and I went to a barbeque / picnic yesterday afternoon, deep in the countryside about 40 minutes drive outside Edinburgh. Lovely in the summer and not too good in the deep winter snow we had for months this and last year. Our friends rent a bungalow there with a big garden – the landlord is also landlord of substantial tracts of land there, so they have beautiful walks. They have been there three years, not avid gardeners, and every year the local farmer comes round and clears out their veg patch (no veggies) and generally tidies up. He’s due any day now again.
There, as we explored in the depths of the overgrown vegpatch (5 or 6 longish raised beds, as far as I could see) we found a humoungous amount of comfrey… and we don’t have any at all in our Edinburgh central gardinette! 2 Minutes, a spade and a fork later, and we were digging up a particularly nice clump, much to our friends’ delight - Julia doesn’t know what it is and ‘hates the stuff’ as it gets everywhere – and home it came with us. We also rescued a rhubarb patch (hope it will take this early in the summer), and I managed to get rather a large amount of Cleavers without roots) into a large plastic bag too – it may not have liked the plastic, but I didn’t fancy taking it home as outerwear 
Walking in the woods behind their dwelling we followed a wet, marshy path which we discovered was inhabited by hundreds of tiny, tiny froglets bouncing all over the place. Gorgeous little things. Apparently they wander into the house when they are grown up and watch T.V. with Julia. Amazing, the educational facilities available for reptiles these days! Becka, the labrador, doesn’t quite know what to do with them – if she ever notices them – such a gentle soul is she.
I’ve promised our friends comfrey ointment or cream from their vegpatch offerings
And… had some of the Orange gin yesterday evening – YUM!
