holly & yew

Part 1

garlic blossoms (allium) balls of tiny flowers, may be white to deep purple. literally just the flowering head of the garlic you use in food. it tastes like garlic. but colorful.

elderflower, the blossom of the elderberry bush. can be battered and fried. excellent with elderberry syrup or honey. tastes fruity with a tiny hint of anise. also good in teas and sweets.

Calendula, also known as pot marigold. (please, verify you’re using pot marigold, not regular marigold. calendula is actually a daisy.) tastes similarish to bell pepper, sans crunch. leaves are also edible. should be grown with broadleaf plantain:

as a poultices of calendula and plantain can be used to rapidly heal small cuts and scrapes, and are also helpful for other dermatitis. don’t use it on deep wounds though, as it can and will cause the surface skin to heal before the underlying tissues. all of broadleaf plantain is also edible. if bitter.

The flowers that come from any brassica (cabbage, radishes, broccoli, kale, etc) are all excellent and taste like the rest of the plant.

Queen Anne’s lace blossoms, (daucus carota, just like our domestic carrots) super common wild plant, and the flowers make a jelly that tastes kind of like pink lemonade?? It’s /delicious./ but make 100% sure you have a correct identification as water hemlock and other toxic species look similar.

Rose!!! Rose flavoured things taste exactly as they smell. So scrumptious!

[X] Big leaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) blossoms are excellent in fritters.

[X] Dandelion (Taraxacum offinale) is also excellent in fritters, or my favorite is separating the petals and mixing them into pancake batter.

[X] Miner’s lettuce (Claytonia sibirica) flowers have a delicate, lettuce-like taste.

[X] Oregon grape (Berberis/Mahonia aquafolium) flowers are delightfully sour. I like to pick off a few small flowers from the cluster!

[X] Wood sorrel (Oxalis sp.) also sour (from oxalic acid).

[X] Red clover (Trifolium pratense) is mildly sweet.

When eating wild plants, you should be completely certain in your identification and aware of any lookalikes. Be sure you are allowed to harvest and that the area has not been sprayed by any chemicals. Many of these plants are also medicine, so you should be sure that you can safely ingest them (do your research before putting things in your face pls). This was just intended to get them on your radar!

1. How do you lose a Giraffe? She apparently scaled a cliff that served as part of the enclosure (which the other giraffes in the herd had shown no interest in climbing.)

2. Well it should be easier to find her, she's a whole ass giraffe? Yeah, you'd think, but Texas ranches are fuckin huge. The man has apparently hired a helicopter and several drones to aide the search, but no luck yet. She's been seen on some game cameras on the nearby ranches though. But she's sneaky.

Getting supplies.

Voldemort’s prowling steps brought him to the tent’s flap and he glared out of it before turning sharply and stalking to the bathroom door before turning sharply again.

He’s left you. He isn’t coming back.

Voldemort shook the voice away. Harry wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t. But he had been gone too long.

He regrets.

Voldemort banged into a chair, but he hardly noticed, his mind too occupied with a fresh horrible possibility.

He saved you out of guilt. Out of debt. He regrets. He’s left you. How could he want you, you old, twisted, ruined man?

“Tom?”

Voldemort whirled around.

An invisibility cloak slipped off Harry’s shoulders. Voldemort’s heart leapt with relief, and then burned with fury.

“Where have you been?” he snarled. “Australia?”

Harry blinked in surprise. He pulled out a pocket watch.

“I was only gone fifteen minutes.”

Embarrassment made the back of Voldemort’s neck heat up and that only made him madder.  

Harry set down a small beaded handbag and the Cloak in a nearby armchair. He crossed the tent to him. Voldemort felt cornered. Trapped. Now that Harry was back, he wanted him to leave. He’d wanted Harry to gaze upon him forever and now all he wanted was for Harry to turn away.

“Are we okay?” Harry asked.

Voldemort couldn’t meet his eyes. He couldn’t speak. His voice had retreated down his throat. Suddenly, Voldemort found himself embraced. Harry’s arms wrapped around him, holding him like a parent consoling a child and Voldemort couldn’t stop from hugging back, clutching the back of Harry’s shirt. He felt like he was drowning and Harry was his raft.

Kisses as soft as Harry’s voice were placed upon his cheek.

“It’s okay,” Harry whispered. “It’s okay.”

“I thought you regretted …”

“I don’t regret a second. I’m sorry. I thought you needed space.”

Space? If there was space, Voldemort wanted Harry’s laugh, his scent, his light filling it.