Treasures to be found !!

I have been taking the time to really get to know my neighbourhood by foot the last few weeks.

Since I live in an area where there are many coves, I have been finding the very coolest flowers and places.

These beautiful Lavender I used to make some Lavender Cashew Creme. I did not use very much lavender, but boy! How supremely strong they are in a bit of creme! Especially when just picked.

I took the picture by a cove that I found at the dead end of a street. Getting down the rocks so I could be closer to the water was pretty tricky. As it turned out, there were so many bushes with prickles on them towards the water, ( and a pretty steep drop off) .. .I just decided to stay up where I was! You can see how beautiful it is though.

The Pink Flowers are from the Motherwort Plant. These are the only motherwort I have seen in Victoria. I was talking to a friend at the a raw pot luck recently, and she said she had found some here. Confidently, I told her it was the wrong climate on the west coast for it. She was pretty adamant, and I look silly now! Thanks Dianna,, for setting me straight!Motherwort used to grow like a weed in our garden when we lived in Toronto! Actually , many people think it IS a weed! And my neighbour there suggested I keep the kids away from it, because he was SURE it was stinging nettle. But it has very powerful medicinal properties for helping women before and after childbirth as well as other stages of a woman's life.

You can read more about the amazing benefits of it here

Very Tall and spiky , thistles are either blooming or just about to bloom as you can see in this picture here.

There are a number of varieties of thistle, sow thistle, bull thistle and Milk thistle to name a few. I don't know what this one is exactly, but it was pretty! Please comment and let me know!

The fantastic orange flowers are from the Nasturtium plant. You can eat the petals. My daughter tried them the other day, and very carefully tasted one petal. Her discovery ? Pretty spicy!! They are great to add colour to salads.

I thought the white parts of the leaves looked liked stars!

Have a walk around your neighbourhood, see what you can find!

Then, come and comment on what you have found. Share with the rest of us.