General Music Chat

If I had a bigger peice of property, I would love to have a pet pig.
Yeah but then I'd probably have to give up pork chops,and pork roast ,and pork lo mein.... Foget bacon.
Bad Idea.

That was just to bring this thread back home. I think its wonderful that you can shoot your own dinner from your own window.
The time is coming sooner than we think. Lets all go to Philbys cause he's the only one with food left.
Sorry Jacee you are gonna have to do the dishes.

LOL Glen!

Sans - yeah, I've heard about the carcingens in sassafrass. Smoking the soaked chips, though, is a bit different form drinking the tea, I'll bet. (It's prolly worser!) Besides, I won't be eating it at every meal, & yeah, I DO still drink the tea, once or twice a year. They still sell it in bottles out here, too. Any smoke at all has carcinogens, too, even your "flame brioled whopper" has them.

Cap - I think it's sarsaparilla (sasperilla) that you're thinking of, what ppl drank in the "old west." That was a naturally carbonated soft drink. My dad made some when I was a kid, along with some natural birch beer & root beer. I remember the bottles blowing up in the attic every once in awhile. That was when we knew it was done! Sassafrass is a tasty treat, though, I must admit.

Phil, What about green tea? Is it good for you? Ive recently gotten high blood pressure all the sudden and trying to analyze my diet some and I have been drinking a lot of green tea for the past couple of years. Never thought about sassafrass. Just curious and trying to stay on a productive subject.

The little research I've done tells me that yes, there are anti-oxidants in green tea, & even more in white tea. Of course you hafta balance that against the tannins & the caffiene, & some ppl just can't take them well. I drink a LOT of green tea, as well as "yard tea." (Yard tea is a mint blend that I grow in the yard - apple mint, spearmint, & wild mountain mint, usually, although I occasionally add some lemon balm or anise hyssop, too.) There is less caffiene in green tea than in black, though, as I recall.

Sassafrass prolly won't help your BP prob's. It was used medicinally as a "spring tonic" for many years, until they actually looked at it & discovered the carcinogens. There is no caffiene to boost your BP in the stuff. Sure is tasty, though. I dig up the roots in Feb or March to get the highest sap content, just before the tree wants to sprout leaves. That's the traditional thing to do. Only use the root for tea. The leaves, I've heard, can be used as a poultice for some stuff. For that matter, green or even black tea make a good poultice, prolly due to the tannins...LOL

You would prolly do well with lemon balm or lemon verbena tea. They have certain soporific qualities that might help w/the BP probs...I dunno. Ask your local homeopathic dude on that one. I'll look through my herbals to see what's good for that, JW. I'll hafta get back to you.

Off the top of my head, I'd say that caffiene is your #1 enemy, & you'd be surprized at how much is in your food & drink that you'd never suspect.

Just a quick Google search:

Best Herbs for High Blood Pressure

Turmeric - a powerful East-Indian herb used in curry dishes, turmeric extract contains curcumin which is a strong anti-inflammatory. Curcumin helps lower cholesterol and prevents clot formation. Its antioxidant ability improves blood flow and strengthens blood vessels. Turmeric also aids in liver metabolism.

Ginkgo Biloba - from the large tree indigenous to the mountains of China, gingko biloba improves blood circulation and dilates arteries, reducing blood pressure. Gingko also aids in improving memory and mental alertness due to increased blood flow to the brain.

Hawthorn Berry - Also known as the mayflower, hawthorn opens the coronary arteries and improves blood flow. Hawthorn berry for hypertension reduces artery hardening and strengthens heart muscle making it more effective in delivering blood to the body.

Maitake - from the Chinese mushroom, maitake extract acts to decrease both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Maitake also lowers blood cholesterol levels.

Ginger Root - commonly used in Asian cooking, ginger acts to improve blood circulation and relaxes muscles surrounding blood vessels. Ginger is also a powerful digestive herb that helps alleviate uneasiness and nausea.

Olive Leaf- from the olive tree native to the Mediterranean region, olive leaf extract helps in lowering blood pressure and combats arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat.

In addition to herbs for high blood pressure, there are other nutrients that can help with high blood pressure and help your heart and circulatory system.

Thanks Philby and Jeff, its just another life adjustment to go thru, but stuff happens as you get older!

Quite an informative thread guys, have learned some interesting snippets regarding the hunting scene over there.
Would like to share a bit about the hunting scene in the UK if its of interest to you guys.
Believe it or not the shooting of deer from a window is not so uncommon in some of the more rural areas here, although not exactly legal.
If you knock over and kill a deer on the road, you are not allowed to stop and pick it up. However the driver of the car behind you is allowed to take it.
As you can imagine that law is not strictly adhered to either.
Salmon fishing is popular here, but did you know that fishing on certain beats of the River Tweed for example, can cost over two thousand pounds per day.
A days pheasant shooting is a grand a gun. (Pheasants are a bloody nusciance, bred by the thousand and let loose to suicide bomb car windscreens). Grouse shooting is a hell of a lot more.
Rabbits are rife here and they are free to shoot without restriction.
Obviously as a lowly musician it seems that rabbit is the only creature that I hunt regularily and legaly.
The rest I just poach

Can't say I blame you.

To heck with the queen's pheasants! They look MUCH better on my table!