Just what I always wanted . . .

We do not live on a smallholding and we do not have any pretensions to be self-sufficient. We are not living "The Good Life" but we do grow (some of) our own vegetables and we do keep chickens and ducks. At some point in the future we shall have pigs and a proper coppice. It is very much the lifestyle that I envisaged when we were living in a Glasgow tenement about a decade ago.

In my mid 20s I found that a fibroid was growing attached to my womb and I had to have an operation to have the fibroid removed. Before the operation I was given a consent form to sign should a hysterectomy prove necessary.

Thanks to good luck and the skill of my consultant (who saw me through 2 subsequent pregnancies) the operation went fine but it meant that Euan and I, not long married, had to have a serious "what if we can't have children?" conversation.

The one thing that stood out was that, if we couldn't have children of our own, then I wanted to move to the country and keep chickens and pigs and foster. Everything was fine in the end but it was a vision which stuck. By the time I was pregnant with Zoe we had moved out to the Kilpatrick Braes and as soon as I was no longer working in Glasagow we moved further out to Stirlingshire. We got the chickens and ducks.

The bit that I enjoy best is breeding from the chickens - Peblo, our fantastic freeranger, is broody at the moment so we have acquired some fertile eggs for her to sit on. 6 are a mixed lot from Jane and Craig at Craigievern and 6 are bantam eggs I bid for on ebay (Craig is very dubious). The lower photo is of Peblo with "her" chick Windixie born last year.

16 days to go.

Herbs and health

Tomorrow is my annual check up at the endocrine clinic in Glasgow. I am not looking forward to it, partly because it will be a waste of a sunny day but mainly because I dislike the attitude of the medical consultants that I deal with.

There is a tendency, particularly I believe in teaching hospitals, to treat results rather than patients. I have an illness which is fairly rare so I have had hundreds of tests - and I find that as soon as results come back the doctors stop listening to me and start checking numbers.

About six months after I began steroid replacement I read about a herbal remedy - rhodiola rosea - which is meant to support adrenal function and give more energy. I thought that I would give it a try and found the boost in energy to be amazing - I no longer had to spend the afternoon in bed in order to be up for the children coming home from school. At my next consultation I mentioned the rhodiola to the consultant and he completely dismissed it as though I had said that I had taken up witchcraft.

It occurred to me that if the rhodiola was having such a big effect, it should be being properly managed by a medical person. So I looked up medical herbalists in the yellow pages and called up Jean Riddell who practises in Helensburgh and Drymen.

The difference between Jean's approach and that of the hospital doctors has been amazing - she is interested in my long term quality of life rather than a set of figures and has addressed all sorts of issues, things which I had not worked out were connected to my lack of steroid production. We have been working towards maximizing my adrenal function and reducing my reliance on steroids. We have been able to take down the steroid dose which I am on by 3/4 which is far better for my general health - I look less like I have stored my lunch in my cheeks.

Yet I know that tomorrow the doctor I see will not be at all interested in the treatment I receive from Jean and will dismiss it all in an arrogant and insular manner. Euan's advice is to breeze in, tell him that I am keeping very well (which is the truth) and then breeze out again. I will endeavour to do just that and then take advantage of my time in Glasgow to hit the delis.

I would advise anyone who has a chronic condition - even something fairly minor - to go and see a medical herbalist - the first meeting is usually free and I have found the benefits to be amazing.