Hickory dickory dock

Hickory dickory dock
Forget about the clock
It's the leaves I want to find
They've been preying on my mind


Angie said they were so great
So let me put them on the plate
Of things to talk about today
So, now we're up up and away.




Mixing your Wednesday poem with your Wednesday post can be a challenge it's true but I must do what I do...STOP...whew, think I'm back in control and off the poetry wagon now, although now is such an easy rhyme word...no, I can do this, I won't use the word cow or how or pow or wow or sow.


Now, let's see what we can find out about these elusive dock leaves...


These are called prairie dock leaves...



I found this treasure that says it is a dock leaf sun circle...








This picture was described as dock leaf squares...are you seeing a pattern here or is it just me? (Had to stop checking these pictures out or we would have gone through every geometrical configuration with these "leaves"!!)



Now for some real, sink your teeth into (which you can actually do with these leaves), information from our friend the Internet...

Description

"Yellow dock (Rumex crispus) is a small, leafy plant that grows wild throughout the world. It belongs to the buckwheat or Polygonaceae family. It has yellowish-brown roots, which accounts for its common name. The roots are 8-12 in (20-30 cm) long, about 0.5 in (1.27 cm) thick, fleshy, and usually not forked. The stem is 1-3 ft (0.3-0.9 m) high and branched. Yellow dock is also known as curly or curled dock because of its long lance shaped leaves that are slightly ruffled along its edges. The leaves are 6-10 in (15-25 cm) long. Its leaves are used for food while both roots and leaves are used as herbal remedies. Yellow dock is closely related to rhubarb and sorrel. (So feel free to make a yellow dock pie.)

In terms of chemical analysis, yellow dock contains anthraquinone glycosides, tannins, rumicin, and oxalates, including potassium oxalate. (I was really worried that there were NO anthraquinone glycosides as well as this other 'gook' in them, weren't you?)

General Use

Yellow dock is primarily used in the treatment of digestive problems, liver diseases, and skin disorders. It has been described as an alterative, astringent, cholagogue, hepatic, laxative, and nutritive.

Cholagogue - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A cholagogue is a medicinal agent which promotes the discharge of bile from the system, purging it downward. (Had to look this one up as it is new and now VERY scary to me, especially the part about purging downward...yikes!)

Yellow dock contains relatively small amounts of anthraquinone glycosides, which are strong laxatives in larger doses. Since yellow dock contains only small amounts of these chemicals, however, it is used as a mild laxative. Yellow dock is also used to help support and restore liver function, which is why it is called a hepatic.
(The more I learn about this yellow dock, the louder that scary music from Jaws is getting in my head.)

Applied externally as an antiseptic and an astringent, yellow dock has been used to treat skin cuts, swelling, rashes, boils, burns, bleeding hemorrhoids, dog and insect bites, and wounds. An ancient British charm that was chanted when dock is applied to skin irritations caused by stinging nettle illustrates the use of yellow dock as a skin treatment: "Nettle out, dock in, dock remove the nettle sting."
(Now, I'm liking this part where we get to sing the nettle sting song..but we need a tune and I don't think the Jaws one is gonna work, so let's try Rock A Bye Baby...in fact that is wacko song for a lullaby with the baby coming down with the branch so it is a MUCH better nettle sting song!!)

Yellow dock is also taken internally as a treatment for such skin conditions as psoriasis, eczema, acne, poison ivy, and other rashes, often in combination with such other herbs as red clover (Trifolium pratense), dandelion root (Taraxacum officinalis), cleavers (Galium aparine), and burdock (Arctium lappa).
(Now my question is...WHERE do we find all this stuff, although I do have lots of dandelions, but cleavers, burdock and red clover? I can see myself going into my local grocery store and asking for these and then see the men in white jackets coming to take me away...hmmm, does that mean Eddie Bluelights?)

Yellow dock also has been used in the treatment of liver and gallbladder disorders. It is called a cholagogue because it is thought to stimulate the production of bile and digestive fluids.
(Now, I've been wanting lots of bile and digestive juices just like the rest of you!)

Yellow dock is nutritious, as it contains vitamin C, iron, calcium, and phosphorus. It even contains enough tannin to use in tanning leather.
(So, if you ingest this stuff, will your insides get tanned? This means you will have to say "Hey, everyone, you want to see my tan?" and then open your mouth and go ahhhh!)

For external applications, both roots and leaves are used. The root may be pounded and applied as a poultice. Fresh or boiled leaves and stems are directly placed on skin irritations. An ointment is made by boiling the root in vinegar until the fiber is softened. The pulp is then mixed with a solid grease such as petroleum jelly, animal fat, or vegetable shortening."
(Ya hoo, yet another use for vinegar as well as a stress reliever through root pounding!)

This is what I found when trying to research where to get the yellow dock leaves...
"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rumex obtusifolius, commonly known as Broad-leaved Dock, Bitter Dock, Bluntleaf Dock, Dock Leaf or (confusingly) "butter dock", is a perennial weed, native to Europe but can now be found in the United States and many other countries around the world. "

Time to chuckle...

First Time in Church

Mrs. Harrison took her three-year-old daughter, Jenny, to church for the first time.
After arriving, the church lights were lowered, and then the choir came down the aisle, carrying lighted candles.There was silence in the entire sanctuary until Jenny's voice was suddenly heard, loudly singing: "Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you..."
***********

"The Truth About Kids"

You spend the first 2 years of their life teaching them to walk and talk. Then you spend the next 16 telling them to sit down and shut-up.

Grandchildren are God's reward for not killing your children.

Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like clearing the driveway before it has stopped snowing.

There is only one pretty child in the world and every mother has it.- Chinese Proverb.

Mothers of teens know why animals eat their young.

Children are natural mimics, who act like their parents despite every effort to teach them good manners.

Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said.

The main purpose of holding children's parties is to remind yourself that there are children more awful than your own.

We child proofed our home 3 years ago and they're still getting in!


Church Restoration Project

There was a tradesman, a painter named Jack, who was very interested in making a dollar where he could. So he often would thin down his paint to make it go a wee bit further. As it happened, he got away with this for some time. Eventually the local church decided to do a big restoration project. Jack put in a painting bid and, because his price was so competitive, he got the job. And so he started, erecting the trestles and putting up the planks, and buying the paint and thinning it down with turpentine.

Jack was up on the scaffolding, painting away, the job nearly done, when suddenly there was a horrendous clap of thunder. The sky opened and the rain poured down, washing the thin paint from all over the church and knocking Jack off the scaffold to land on the lawn.

Jack was no fool. He knew this was a judgment from the Almighty, so he fell on his knees and cried, "Oh, God! Forgive me! What should I do?"

And from the thunder, a mighty Voice spoke, "Repaint! Repaint! And thin no more!"

~~~Thank You dear Lord for the blessings of cures in Your natural world, may our kindnesses also cure "pains" in the world.