14 August: Hops

Today is the feast day of St Arnulf of Soissons, patron saint of hop pickers. Have 10 facts about the hop plant.

1. The Latin name for the common hop is Humulus lupulus and it’s part of the Cannabinaceae family – so Beer and weed are distant cousins. The hop plant diverged from Cannabis sativa over 20 million years ago.

2. Strictly speaking, hops are the flowers of this plant (also called seed cones or strobiles). These contain oils, such as lupulin, which is the substance which gives flavour and aroma to beer.

3. The plant itself is a perennial, herbaceous climbing plant which is cultivated in a hopfield, hop garden or hop yard, depending on where in the world you happen to be. In the south of England it’s a field or garden; in the west of England and the USA it’s a yard.

4. The plant is dioecious, with male and female Flowers on separate plants. The fragrant flowers are wind-pollinated. Hops are harvested from mid-August to mid-September.

5. The first written reference to hops dates to 768 CE when King Pepin donated some hops to a monastery in Paris. It wasn’t recorded whether the monks made beer with it, as the first reference to beer making using hops wasn’t until 859 CE, in documents from a monastery in Freising, Germany.

6. Hops weren’t always the go to plant for brewing beer. Medieval brewers also used "gruit", which was made from a variety of different plants including Dandelion, burdock root, Marigold and Heather. Then people began to notice that beer made from hops was less likely to spoil due to the antibacterial properties of the hop plant. Even so, there was a lot of switching between the two methods for tax reasons. The nobility taxed hops, the Catholic church taxed gruit, so brewers would use whichever they had to pay less tax on. For this reason, Protestants preferred hopped beer. Hops were described as a "wicked and pernicious weed" up until the early 16^th century.

7. H. lupulus has been the county flower of Kent since 2002.

8. Pliny the Elder referred to hops as food: both the young shoots and young flowers are edible and can be cooked, rather like Asparagus.

9. It can also be used to make soft drinks and herbal teas. Julmust is a carbonated soft drink made from hops which is popular in Sweden.

10. It has also been used for medicinal purposes. It was used as an antiseptic in the middle ages and it’s a folk remedy for insomnia. Just fill your pillow with it. In more modern times, amarasate, a supplement extracted from the hop plant, has been used to suppress appetite. Hops can also be used in the manufacture of natural deodorant.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

17 July: Sweet Pea

Some historic almanacs name the sweet pea as today’s plant of the day, so here are 10 facts about the sweet pea.

1. The Latin name for sweet peas is Lathyrus odoratus. This is from the Greek lathyros for pea or pulse, and the Latin odoratus, meaning fragrant.

2. Sweet peas are native to Sicily, Cyprus and Southern Italy.

3. They now grow in the UK thanks to a Sicilian monk called Franciscus Cupani who sent some seeds to England in the late 17^th century. Today, ‘Cupani’ is a variety of sweet pea which is the closest to the original plants he introduced.

4. They are members of the legume family, and are therefore related to edible Peas, but the fruit of the sweet pea is toxic, so don’t eat them!

5. Their scent is often compared to a mix of orange blossom, Lavender and rose.

6. A sweet pea plant can grow up to two metres high. They use tendrils to attach themselves to supports as they grow.

7. The sweet pea is the birth flower for April along with the Daisy.

8. In the language of flowers, sweet peas symbolise bliss, pleasure and leaving after a positive experience. Hence in Victorian times they were a common gift to give as a thank you after a stay at someone’s home. They also symbolise loyalty and friendship.

9. The colours have particular meanings as well. White sweet peas mean peace and innocence, Pink happiness and Red romance. What about yellow, you may be asking? Well, there’s no such thing as a Yellow sweet pea. In spite of the best efforts of cultivators over the years, no-one has managed to produce one. There is a variety called ‘Primrose’, which is cream coloured, and that’s the closest anyone has got.

10. Sweet peas feature in many of John Keats’s poems.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

16 April: Anemones

In the French Revolutionary Calendar, 16 April is Anémone (Day of the Anemone). 10 facts about anemones.

1. Anemones are part of the Ranunculaceae family, which means they are related to Buttercups. They’re also closely related to the Pasque flower.

2. There are over 120 species of anemone. They grow in the wild in many European countries and in North America and Japan.

3. The word anemone comes from Greek and means ‘daughter of the wind’. In fact, windflower is another common name for them.

4. Or, it could have come from Nea'man, the Phoenician name for Adonis. A myth about Adonis is the creation story for these flowers. According to Ovid's epic poem Metamorphoses, Adonis was killed by Ares the hunter in a fit of jealousy because he’d found out Aphrodite had feelings for him. Aphrodite mixed the Blood of Adonis with nectar and this, mixed with her tears, created the flower.

5. In the language of Flowers, the colour of the flower makes a difference. White anemone symbolises sincerity; Purple means protection from evil and Red is associated with death or forsaken love. In Christianity, red anemones symbolise the blood of Christ and they’re often depicted in paintings of the crucifixion or of The Virgin Mary in mourning. The Chinese associate red anemones with death as well.

6. In parts of Europe, anemones were believed to be such bad luck that people would hold their breath while passing through a field of them so as not to bring misfortune on themselves.

7. Britain and Ireland have a more positive legend – that Fairies would sleep inside them when the petals closed at night.

8. The petals not only close at night but when a storm is coming, so they can be used to predict the weather.

9. Anemones are sometimes used in medicine as a treatment for cramps, menstrual problems and emotional distress. That said, the plants are toxic, so no self-medication, please!

10. Monet and Matisse are among many artists who often featured these flowers in their paintings. One example is Robe violette et Anémones, a 1937 painting by Henri Matisse.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

5 December: Hibiscus

According to old almanacs, today’s plant is the Longstalked hibiscus. Here are 10 facts about hibiscus:

1. It’s a flowering plant which is the largest genus (434 species) in the mallow family. The mallow family includes cacao, cola, Cotton, okra, durian, hollyhock, mallow and the lime or linden tree.

2. They are often grown in gardens for their beautiful, colourful flowers which attract Butterflies, Bees, and Hummingbirds. You’ll need a sunny garden, though. The flowers need about 6 hours of sun a day in order to blossom.

3. Hibiscus is a national symbol of several countries: Haiti, the Solomon Islands, Niue, South Korea and Malaysia. Hibiscus brackenridgei is the state flower of Hawaii. A stylised image of the hibiscus flower was used as a logo of Air Polynésie.

4. In the Hindu religion, Hibiscus is associated with the goddess Kali and often appears in artwork featuring her. The hibiscus is used as an offering to Kali and the god Ganesha.

5. The plants are edible. The flowers have a lemony taste and are rich in Vitamin C. Common uses include chutneys, soups, salads, curries, jams and jellies. Dried hibiscus is a delicacy in Mexico. It can also be made into tea which tastes a bit like Cranberries and it has been suggested that hibiscus tea is good for lowering blood pressure.

6. In the Philippines, children use the plant to make bubbles. The flowers and leaves are crushed until the sticky juices come out, then they stick hollow stalks into the mixture to create bubbles.

7. Other parts of the plant, such as the bark, are used in Paper making and also, in Polynesia, for making rope, and Canoe floats.

8. A hibiscus flower can be used to determine the pH of a liquid. The flower turns dark Pink or Magenta in an acidic solution and Green in an alkaline one.

9. In India and Sri Lanka, it’s known as a Shoe flower, because rubbing the blooms on leather brings back its natural shine.

10. The hibiscus flower is traditionally worn by Pacific island women. It’s an easy way to tell if a woman is spoken for or not. If the flower is worn behind the left ear, she’s married or in a relationship, but if worn on the right, it means she’s single.

Christmas is coming! 

A Very Variant Christmas

Last year, Jade and Gloria were embroiled in a bitter conflict to win back their throne and their ancestral home. This year, Queen Jade and Princess Gloria want to host the biggest and best Christmas party ever in their palace. They invite all their friends to come and bring guests. Not even the birth of Jade's heir just before Christmas will stop them.

The guest list includes most of Britain's complement of super-powered crime-fighters, their families and friends. What could possibly go wrong?

Gatecrashers, unexpected arrivals, exploding Christmas crackers and a kidnapping, for starters.

Far away in space, the Constellations, a cosmic peacekeeping force, have suffered a tragic loss. They need to recruit a new member to replace their dead colleague. The two top candidates are both at Jade and Gloria's party. The arrival of the recruitment delegation on Christmas Eve is a surprise for everyone; but their visit means one guest now faces a life-changing decision.

Meanwhile, an alliance of the enemies of various guests at the party has infiltrated the palace; they hide in the dungeon, plotting how best to get rid of the crime-fighters and the royal family once and for all. Problem is, they all have their own agendas and differences of opinion on how to achieve their aims.

Not to mention that this year, the ghosts who walk the corridors of the palace on Christmas Eve will be as surprised by the living as the living are by them.

Available from Amazon and Amazon Kindle

23 November: Chicory

In the French Revolutionary Calendar today is the Day of Chicory. 10 facts about chicory:

1. The scientific name for chicory is Cichorium intybus. It’s a woody, perennial herbaceous plant with bright Blue Flowers.

2. Common chicory is also known as blue daisy, blue dandelion, blue sailors, blue weed, bunk, coffeeweed, cornflower, hendibeh, horseweed, ragged sailors, succory, wild bachelor's buttons, and wild endive.

3. It’s related to the Dandelion and common salad greens, such as endive.

4. The entire plant is edible. The leaves can be used in salads or as a substitute for Spinach. The leaves have a bitter taste.

5. People have been eating chicory since ancient Egypt. In ancient Rome, a dish called puntarelle was made with chicory sprouts.

6. The roots have many uses, too. They have been used as food for Horses, a substitute for oats.

7. Another use is as a substitute for Coffee. Roasting and grinding the roots produces a caffeine free drink which is dark and tastes rather like coffee. Its use as an alternative to coffee probably started in the time of Frederick the Great, who banned the import of coffee so that people would drink German beer instead. People wanted coffee, though, and experimented with various plants until they found chicory worked best. In the 19^th century, France found itself in a similar situation when Napoleon Bonaparte blocked foreign imports to boost local industries, which is sometimes referred to as the Continental Blockade. They, too, found that chicory was an acceptable substitute. It was also used during the American Civil War in Louisiana, and remains popular in New Orleans.

8. Some brewers use roasted chicory to add flavour to stouts, and in Belgium they make a Beer called witloofbier, where chicory is added to strong ales to augment the hops. Witloof is the Dutch word for chicory.

9. Chicory is native to western Asia, North Africa, and Europe. It is often found as a wild plant on roadsides in Europe. It prefers limestone soils, but tolerates an array of conditions and has been classified as a drought tolerant plant.

10. Chicory is mentioned in ancient Chinese texts about silk production. These recommend that people who look after the Silkworms should not eat or even touch it.

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

3 September: Teasels

In the French Revolutionary Calendar, today was Cardère, Day of the Teasel. 10 facts about teasels.

1. The teasel plant belongs to the genus Dipsacus. This name comes from the Greek word for thirst, because the leaves which merge at the stem resemble a cup.

2. The word teasel comes from an old use of the plant, which was raising the nap on woollen cloth, also known as teasing, which produces teased wool.

3. Because of this, the coat of arms of the Clothworkers' Company granted in 1530 includes a golden teasel head.

4. The first scientific record of a teasel in the British Isles was in 1538. There are about 15 different species of teasel plants.

5. The plants have distinctive Purple flowers. It’s the dead flower heads are often used in flower arrangements, or by the National Trust in some of their properties to prevent people from sitting on antique and fragile furniture. As a volunteer at one such property, I once witnessed American tourists so fascinated by this that they took loads of photographs of the teasels!

6. Francis Darwin, son of Charles, hypothesised that teasels were actually carnivorous plants, trapping insects in the aforementioned cup-like arrangement of leaves in order to digest them. In 2011 scientists tested this theory by placing dead maggots in the “cups”. The conclusion was that the biomass of the plants was not affected but it did cause a 30 % increase in seeds.

7. The teasel plant is biennial, which means it lives for two years, producing flowers in its second year, just before it dies.

8. The juice of the root cures wounds, cankers and fistulas, and removes warts, whilst the juice of the leaves, dropped in the ears, kills the worms in them. Distilled water from the leaves preserves the beauty of women. So said Culpepper in 1653.

9. In parts of Europe, the plant was associated with the devil and believed to be magical. The spiny stems of the plant were thought to ward off evil spirits and protect crops from damage. Some people believed they brought good luck and prosperity and so used them in ceremonies such as weddings. They came in handy at funerals, too, as teasels were believed to help the souls of the dead on their journey to the afterlife.

10. The seeds are an important part of the winter diet of birds like the European Goldfinch. You’ll often find them in nature reserves for this reason.

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

21 February: Celandine

Today is Celandine Day. 10 things you might not know about lesser celandine (Ficaria verna):

1. It belongs to the Buttercup family, and is not related to greater celandine, a member of the poppy family.

2. It has fleshy dark Green, heart-shaped leaves and distinctive flowers with bright Yellow, glossy petals.

3. It flowers from late February to May in the UK and is regarded by many as a harbinger of spring. CS Lewis no doubt did, as he mentioned the plant in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: when Aslan returns and Narnia’s perpetual winter ends, the children notice that the ground is covered in all directions with little yellow celandine flowers. It is also a favourite flower of the protagonist Paul Morel in Sons and Lovers, by DH Lawrence.

4. The plant is poisonous if ingested raw and potentially fatal to grazing animals. However, cooking eliminates the toxicity and it can be eaten as a vegetable or used as medicine. Nicholas Culpepper is said to have treated his daughter for 'scrofula' (or Kings evil) with this plant, and it is a traditional cure for piles, because the knobby tubers of the plant resemble them. Another word for the plant is pilewort. It’s also rich in Vitamin C and therefore good for preventing scurvy.

5. It was once thought that you could use lesser celandine to predict the weather as they close their petals before raindrops.

6. Lesser celandine grows on land that is seasonally wet or flooded, especially in sandy soils, but is not found in permanently waterlogged sites.

7. Lesser celandine is pollinated by bees, small beetles and flies, and caterpillars eat the leaves.

8. William Wordsworth loved them and wrote three poems about them: To the Small Celandine, To the Same Flower, and The Small Celandine. When he died it was proposed that a celandine be carved on his memorial plaque inside St Oswald's Church, Grasmere, but the flower carved thereon is actually a greater celandine.

9. Edward Thomas wrote a poem entitled Celandine. Encountering the flowers in a field, the poet is reminded of a past love, who is now dead. He also remarked on banks of celandines in his early prose work In Pursuit of Spring.

10. In America, lesser celandine is considered an invasive weed and is banned in some states. In the UK it is generally considered a weed, but some horticulturists have recommended them as a good thing to plant at the base of a hedge next to a lawn.

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

12 February: Japanese knot-weed

In the French Revolutionary Calendar, today is Trainasse (Day of Knot-weed). 10 facts about Japanese knot-weed:

1. It belongs to the buckwheat family (Polygonaceae) and the scientific name is scientific name is Reynoutria japonica. Common names for it include Billy weed, Monkey Fungus, Elephant Ears, Donkey Rhubarb and Mexican Bamboo.

2. It is native to China, Korea, and Japan. The Victorians brought it to the UK because they liked its pretty white Flowers. It was used to line railway tracks because it grows quickly.

3. Japanese knot-weed thrives in areas with disturbed soil, such as farmsteads, trails, and roadsides. It can tolerate drought, full sun, deep shade, high temperatures, and high soil salinity and is frequently found along streams and rivers.

4. Japanese knot-weed can grow by up to 10cm a day in summer and can grow through walls, tarmac and concrete. In Asia it is controlled by fungus and insects, but it has no natural enemies in the UK, hence it grows unchecked.

5. It’s bad news if you find it in your garden. Mortgage lenders have been known to refuse mortgages on properties which are affected by Japanese knot-weed. There are also a lot of laws regarding it – you can be prosecuted if it spreads to your neighbours. If you cut it down you can’t just put it in your garden waste bin because it is controlled waste. It is against the law to dispose of it incorrectly.

6. It is estimated that there could be one infestation every 10 square metres in the UK.

7. The United Kingdom’s Environment Agency has named Japanese knot-weed the country’s most invasive and destructive plant. Experts estimate the cost of keeping Japanese knot-weed under control could be adding 10% or more to development and construction projects, costing the British economy £166 million. The organisers of London 2012 Olympics spent years controlling Japanese Knot-weed after it invaded 2 of the main arenas.

8. It might look dead in winter as the leaves fall off and the stems turn brown, but rhizomes in the ground remain alive and the plant will grow again in the spring.

9. It may seem after reading all this that there is nothing good about this plant at all. However, in the US Japanese knot-weed flowers are valued by beekeepers as an important source of nectar for Honey Bees when little else is flowering. It yields a monofloral Honey, called bamboo honey by northeastern U.S. beekeepers. Ground-feeding songbirds and gamebirds also eat the seeds.

10. The stems are edible. They taste like Rhubarb and can be eaten raw or cooked. In Japan, it is foraged as a wild edible vegetable (sansai).

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

30 November: Thistles

Today is the feast day of St Andrew, patron saint of Scotland. Today’s subject is a symbol of Scotland, the thistle.

1. There are around 200 species of thistle. Thistles belong to the aster family (Asteraceae), meaning they are related to daisies and Sunflowers.

2. Thistles can grow to more than 8 feet (2.4 meters) tall.

3. The thistle has been the national flower of Scotland since the 13^th century. The legend goes that Viking invaders were sneaking up on the Scottish army to attack them in the dead of night. The Vikings were barefoot, and one of them trod on a thistle. He cried out in pain and the Scottish army were thus alerted to the presence of the invaders.

4. The plant is also an emblem of Lorraine, a region in France, on the border with Luxembourg and Germany. They chose it because it was associated with The Virgin Mary because a thistle’s milky sap reminded them of her breast milk. The Dukes of Lorraine adopted the thistle as part of their coat of arms with the motto: Qui s'y frotte s'y pique, meaning "who touches it, pricks oneself".

5. The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry, second only to the Most Noble Order of the Garter, which is bestowed to those who have made an outstanding contribution to the life of Scotland and the greater United Kingdom. Only the king can award it. The motto of the Order of the Thistle is Nemo me impune lacessit which means "no-one attacks me with impunity".

6. In ancient Greece and Medieval times the thistle was thought to be a cure for baldness and as time went on was thought to be a remedy for headaches, plague, cancer sores, vertigo, and jaundice. The Milk Thistle, also known as silymarin, has been used to treat liver or gallbladder problems.

7. Next time you’re at a Cheese and Wine party, you can regale the other guests with the connections of both of these with thistles. In the Beira region, thistle flowers are used as rennet in cheese making; and the Latin term for a thistle is Carduus, and Cardonnacum is Latin for a place with thistles. This is believed to be the origin of name of the Burgundy village of Chardonnay, famous for its wine.

8. The thistle is also the emblem of the Encyclopædia Britannica.

9. The stalks of some thistle species can be used to make strong, durable fibres, which are used in traditional crafts and textiles.

10. The flowers of some thistle species can be used to create natural dyes for fabrics.

Latest

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book