Comfrey ointment, pickled ginger and aloe vera

Today was supposed to be sunny, and I spent the morning volunteering at our local markets watching the rain drizzle down...  By afternoon it did seem to be clearing, but after I armed myself with mozzie spray and lit the mozzie coils the rain came down in earnest.

No worries mate!  I am not going to let the rain get me down!  I have had a couple of things up my sleeve that I have been wanting to try, ...

Firstly was the comfrey ointment, I had picked a few leaves and washed them and left them on the counter overnight to dry.  I placed these into the crockpot with 300ml of oil.

I kept that on low for a couple of hours - the comfrey went quite crisp, and the oil a lovely green.  I fished out the comfrey, and then added 30g of beeswax and once that was melted in, I turned off the crockpot and added a couple of drops of vitamin e and about a tsp of tea tree oil.   Then I poured the mixture into two sterilized jars and left to cool.  It should keep in the cupboard, but I think I will store them in the fridge just in case.   My hubby has a damaged tendon in his ankle and I wanted to try this to see if it would help him heal. So guess who is going to get a foot rub every evening!

Onto the next project - making pickled green ginger.  It is mostly used with Japanese dishes. 

Another thing I have been reading about lately is aloe vera - and not just putting it onto your skin, but drinking it!  It is supposed to be very  beneficial for diabetics, and I read that if you remove all of the latex which lies just under the skin there is no bitterness.  I carefully peeled it until there was just the clear gel left.

then I chopped it and added it to a glass of cider vinegar and water.  It was yummy - no bitterness at all.

Sometimes I am glad for the rain as it gives me a chance to get lots of other things done.