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 Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 5:58 am
 The suns rays were starting to spread out across the land, helping to reduce the chill that clung around the the night. There had definitely been a shift in weather recently and the days were no longer as warm, or as long, as they had been before. It was a sure sign that summer was starting to come to an end and that soon they would be welcoming fall. While Lhiannon loved to watch the change of seasons she also knew that fall was one of the busier times of the year. It was the last chance for the Flock to gather any herbs before they went dormant for the winter and to store up a few food items as well that would keep fairly well over the freezing winter months. And so it was good that today she had set aside of chunk of time to take Rosales out to help collect herbs that the Flock would need in the coming months but also to expand his knowledge of plants in the area and add to his garden.
This would be the ideal time for him to dig up a few of the much needed types of plants and add them to his garden. They would still have time to settle into their new home before winters cold sweeps in and ends their growing season. She had finished her duties early today, knowing that they would have a lot of work to do gathering these plants and also have less light to do it in. So far the days hadn't shortened too much, but with each day the amount of daylight they had to work with would shorten and so she wanted to maximize their time, as it would likely take more than a single outing to gather everything they needed.
Entering the area where Rosale had set up his garden Lhiannon glanced about. The plants were doing well and growing nice and strong so far, it made her sad that soon they would start to die back in preparation for winter. "Rosales." She called out, not seeing the stallion.
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Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 6:20 am
 Rosales was not far from his garden - indeed he rarely was, excepting of course to sleep. Just within the treeline the stallion had been gathering dried leaves and moss, things that would help protect the roots of any new plants from the nights cold until they had time to sort themselves out, he had come early this morning in order to get the materials ready for any plants Lhiannon might help his find on their outing today. He had just finished pulling together another pile when he heard the mares voice and not wanting to keep her waiting he quickly finished and trotted out to greet her with a bob of his head.
"Sorry! Was getting planting material ready for anything we might find." He explained, he didn't want her to think he had been off dozing or anything. Indeed he was lucky to have slept at all last night with excitement making him jittery and eager. "I wasn't sure how much time I would have to plant them when we got back so I came early to get things ready ahead of time. " He explained further.
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Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 6:29 am
Lhiannon smiled when she saw him come into sight. He was, in her opinion, too quick to apologize for things, but she also knew there was likely no changing that about him. Besides, it was probably a good trait to have in the Flock, Lhiannon was very forgiving, but not all of the females within the Flock were. "It's alright." She told him with a smile. "I am glad to hear you are preparing for any plants we may find today." She cast her glance towards his garden. Ignoring the fact that she had seen it just yesterday she couldn't help but admire it and the hard work he had put into it.
Turning her gaze back to Rosales. "We should probably head off. There are a number of different plants I must collect today. If we are lucky we will find suitable plants of those type to bring back and add to your garden." Any plants brought back wouldn't serve the Flock right away, but it would be good to know that some of the herbs she and the others used, would be more readily available and the time usually required to go out and collect them could be used for other things. Turning she led the way, knowing where they would need to start looking. After leaving his garden area she stopped to loop a bag around her neck, there was a second one waiting for Rosales. "These will help us carry what we find and reduce the number of trips we need to make back here." The less time they spent walking back and forth and the more time they spent gathering would be a huge asset.
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Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 6:41 am
Rosales nodded slightly "I am worried an early cold turn might come along and hinder them - it's unlikely but best not to take the chance and take steps to protect them anyways - just in case." The stallion told the mare as he followed her down the path. This was going to be so exciting, he was not only going to gain some new plants for his garden but he was also helping his herd in a very important way - the winter stores of these herbs could be essential should some sort of illness decide to strike..and illness was almost a surety in the cold of winter, even if it was generally just a small cold, it was important to keep the stricken comfortable so that they could heal quickly and many herbs were useful in such things.
Quickly looping the second bag around his neck he nodded to the mare, it certainly made sense to him, furthermore the bags would protect any plants they decided to bring back for transplant, keeping the roots moist and cool until they returned and he could plant them. "We should be able to carry a fair amount in these, they are quite roomy." He stated and quite well made, surely one of the other stallions had made it - one of the many crafters in the herd and Rosales found himself envying their creative ways.
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Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2014 10:54 am
"It is good to be prepared for such shifts in the weather. Usually the weather changes gradually and gives us all time to be prepared but I have heard in the past of winters coming on suddenly." It was why she was determined to collect as many herbs as possible in the coming weeks to ensure the Flock had enough should the cold come quickly or that a sickness come upon them. She led the way moving towards the outskirts of their herd territory. While she could pick some of the herbs that grew naturally in this lands Lhiannon preferred to start out past their borders and work her way back into the Flock lands. That way she got as much as possible in a shortish period of time.
Glancing back Lhiannon made sure that Rosales was following her. Of course he was, he was clearly eager to go out on this trip as she was. "How many plants do you think you have space for in your current garden area?" She asked. Lhiannon needed to know how many plants, at maximum, for them to bring back to add to his garden on top of the leaves they would harvest to bring back for healing poultices and other uses. If she could help him fill up his garden before the cold weather kicked in then it would benefit the Flock greatly and prove to them all that Rosales was a worthwhile member. Not that she had any doubt in that matter, but she wanted to make sure her first capture proved his worth. "Yes, they should carry quite a bit." She agreed about the bags. They had been specially made to be larger than most bags that some Soquili carried around simply to allow more herbs to be collected in a single trip.
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Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 7:00 am
Rosales followed Lhiannon closely, his ears pricked as he listened to her speak, it was true that most of the time the weather change was gradual, but as they had already deduced, mother nature could be unpredictable and it was best to be prepared for anything that might occur. As they went along the stallion was pleased with the way the day was shaping up, it seemed like it was going to be a nice day for gathering - calm clear weather of a comfortable temperature, it was good that it wasn't to hot, the roots of the plants they brought back to transfer wouldn't dry out as quickly at they would in the oppressive heat of high summer.
Jerked back to the present when Lhiannon asked about the space available in his garden, thinking back to the area he had worked so far. "I have plenty of space for the smaller herbs but only space for a few larger bushes or those plants that are prone to spreading out pretty far." He finally told her, really it would depend on the types of plants they brought back "But if we bring back to many I can always work some more land for them."
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Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 8:24 am
Lhiannon nodded as he stated how much room he had and that if needed he could expand the garden to accommodate any extras that they may bring back. The nice thing was that most herbs were on the smaller side, tending to only take up a small space, which could be why there were multiple plants in one areas instead of one big plant. "With any luck we can fill it up with a trip or two." They only had so much time before the cool weather would make it impossible for Rosales to add more to his garden because the cold would kill the freshly transplanted plants.
She glanced over to the stallion as they continued to walk along. Lhiannon knew where she wanted to stop at first and was leading him towards that spot. "We will pick leaves as we work our way away from the Flock lands, we'll make note of where we see plants that will go good in your garden and collect them on the way back, that way they won't have to be out of the soil for too long." Which means they would need to ensure their bags had plenty of room left for the plants for when they made the return trip.
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Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 9:26 am
"Thats a good idea." Rosales agreed "The less time they are out of the ground the less traumatized they are likely to be, hopefully that will let them recover and start to grow faster." He stated with a slight bob of his head although he was mostly thinking out loud as he was sure that Lihannon was already aware of these facts.
"If we pack the leaves along the sides of the satchels there should be enough room for the plants in the middle?" He suggested, since he had never transported herb leaves like this he wasn't sure of the best way to do so and so so he looked towards Lihannon for advice as she had obviously done this many times in the past if she knew were most of the herbs she wanted were growing. how lucky was he to have been found by her? To be taken in by the flock where he could pursuit his favorite hobby in such a useful fashion.
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Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2014 9:10 am
Lhiannon nodded. "Yes, that's my hope at least. I don't know a lot about moving plants about, but I do know the longer they are out of the ground the less chance they have of surviving in the end." And if they were going to provide herbs to the Flock without having to travel throughout th lands then they needed to ensure the plants survived.
"That's a good idea." She told Rosales. "It will give them a soft bedding and hopefully will protect their roots on the journey home." She continued to lead them away from the main Flock lands but were still well within their outer borders. Eventually she came to a spot where they could stop and collect their first batch of leaves. Coming to a stop she surveyed the plants. "There's some mint." She said motioning with her head. "While it has no healing properties we use it to make some of the mixtures taste more pleasing, especially where foals are concerned. If you could gather some of those leaves that would be great. I need to get some of the Chamomille over here." She moved to the Chamomille plants growing among the grass and began to carefully pluck the leaves off. This plant was important for several symptoms of various sicknesses. There was a cluster closer to the Flocks main area that she planned to bring back to place into Rosales garden, but in the mean time they would need to collect leaves until those plants were well established.
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Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2014 10:49 am
Somewhat proud that his idea had been seen as fruitful Rosales arched his neck slightly at the praise Lihannon offered him. "I just hope it works." He answered her humbly, as despite his proud look he was not a very vain or prideful beast at heart.
Pricking his ears forward he nodded in acknowledgement of her instructions before looking for the mint plant she had indicated. "I'm sure that the foals are more then happy for the enhancement." He stated with a slight laugh - given the taste of some medicines his mother or sister had given him during illness Rosales was more then happy to spare these foals from the displeasure. Recognizing the mint plants easily enough Rosales used his claws push aside some debris and further uncover the plant before he began to pluck some of the larger more mature leaves - he was careful not to take to much from any one single plant in the small grouping so as not to endanger the plants continued survival. "how much do you need for me to harvest?" He asked Lihannon as he picked.
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Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2014 10:59 am
"There's only one way to find out." She told him with a smile. If this didn't work, well then next time, likely in the spring, they would need to find a better solution. Trial and error was after all the way of life. Lhiannon set to work carefully plucking the largest of the leaves from the Chamomille plants. The smaller leaves could be used as well, but picking the larger leaves meant that the mixtures were more efficient, since they only needs to use one or two leave instead of several. The large leaves also tended to be more potent, which certainly was advantageous when making healing potions. When she had collected a decent sized batch of the leaves he turned her attention to Rosales.
"Twenty or thirty leaves should be good for now. Depending on what we are adding them to we can sometimes use leaves more than once. Plus it tends to only take a small amount to add enough flavor to make the mixtures suitable." It was the simplest of solutions to unpleasant tastes, because like it or not medicines did not always taste appealing even if their affects were what the ill needed. Carefully placing all her collected leaves into her pouch Lhiannon began to walk towards Rosales, he was doing well so far, but she knew soon they would be coming across more unique plants that he may or may not know about, and that's where this experience would truly do him wonders, in the gaining of knowledge of this plants.
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Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2014 11:16 am
Rosales turned his attention back to picking the leaves, carefully keeping track of how much he took and double checking the amount before raising his head to study the remaining plant. It still looked good and healthy, certainly it would be capable of surviving despite his poaching of its leaves. Satisfied with his work he looked over as Lihannon came towards him. "I think I have enough." He told her nosing his bag open so that she could see his carefully packed leaves before letting it close again before a stray wind came up and blew them out.
"What do you use the Chamomile for?" He asked out of curiosity, although he had recognized the plant Rosales was not as knowledge on what they were all used for, still this was a good time to learn now wasn't it.
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Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2014 7:48 am
Lhiannon stepped closer to Rosales and took a quick look into his bag and gave the stallion a nod. "Yes, that should be plenty." She confirmed as he secured the bag closed once more. Even if it wasn't, mint was readily available throughout most of the Flock lands, so she wasn't too concerned about that supply. It was the other more used but harder to find herbs that Lhiannon really had to concentrate on getting.
"Chamomile is most used for stomach aches, whether it is caused by a sickness going around the Flock or from eating the wrong plant, it helps to sooth the stomach and allows those affected to relax." She herself had had to take Chamomile as a foal when she had been poisoned by eating the wrong plant, and that was what had sent her down this path of learning healing herbs. She motioned for Rosales to follow her to continue their search for other herbs. "It can also be used to help calm an individual down if they are feeling unusually stressed or anxious."
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Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 5:54 am
Satisfied that the bag was properly secured and nothing inside could fall or be blown out Rosales turned and followed Lhiannon done the path again his ears pricking forward as she started to speak. Chamomile, he vaguely recalled having to take it a few times as a foal when sickness had been going around. "I remember that herb, it always made me sleepy as a foal." He told the mare, which he guessed was probably due to its calming properties.
My mother and sister always gathered it however - is it hard to find?" He questioned as he went along, although he had taken it as a foal he could not recall what the plant looked like or if his family had had any trouble finding it, he had simply been too young at the time to pay attention to such things. The memories of his family were fond and while it made him sad to think about how he had lost them Rosales had come to terms with the loss and he liked to think that his mother and sister would have been proud of what had become of him in the Flock so far.
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Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 6:31 am
Lhiannon let out a soft laugh. "Yes, it is good for making others sleep. Though it works better on some individuals than others." Whether it was a dosage issue, a weaker plant or some Soquili were just a bit immune to the effects. Lhiannon wasn't certain, but there were times when it didn't quite had the effect that it should have. It was why they made sure to have large stockpiles of it, because it was so versatile in it's many uses and that sometimes they needed more of it to use than other times.
"It can be, depending on where you are. In an area like this it is quite abundant, we have the right conditions here in the meadow for it to grow. Closer to the forest and mountains you will find less and less plants. Though those you do find may be more potent because they are hardier than the meadow variety." She continued to walk keeping her eyes open for some other plants they needed to collect, but she spotted nothing so far. "However, if we have an exceptionally dry and hot year. It's why it's so important to make sure we have large stores of it, because we never know the next growing season will be like." But with his garden coming in that might not be an issue, as long as he can give it the proper amounts of water and limit the heat if needed.
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