TINY TUESDAY - SEMPERVIVUM TECTORUM

What a day!  It started before 8 o’clock when Mr. HCB went out for his walk with a friend and I had just got up.  Then when he got home we went out for coffee at Jack’s before doing some grocery shopping.

Home for a quick lunch and then up to the hospital to visit two friends, both of whom are very poorly - home again for jacket potatoes and a salad after covering most of the corridors in our local hospital and doing almost 5,000 steps in the process.  At one point we were hopelessly lost, but I asked a man who looked official walking along the corridor with a large trolley - not with a patient on it, I hasten to add - and he walked us to the nearest exit through doors that said “Authorised Personnel Only”.  Having told him we weren’t actually “authorised” he said we were now we were following him!

In between all this, I wrote several cards to send to people, sent encouraging messages to many others and gave away about 20 of my little wooden hearts - so now I am going to just rest in the cool of the evening.

I took this shot earlier of the tiny pink flowers that have come out on a succulent I was given a couple of years ago by a lovely friend.  According to my Plant Identification app it is a Sempervivum Tectorum and Mr. Google tells me the following:

“Sempervivum tectorum, commonly known as houseleek, has a history of medicinal use, primarily for external applications like treating burns, insect bites, and skin irritations. The fleshy leaves are known to be astringent and diuretic, and can be used to soothe pain from burns, stings, and other skin ailments. In traditional medicine, it has also been used to treat ear infections, warts, and even for women's complaints.”

Not sure I will be using it for any of the above, but good to know that I have a ready-made pharmacy in the garden if necessary!