... with MY DOG

This blog was never intended to be a journal but a collection of random bits and pieces - whatever I was thinking about at the time.  Cleaning up my computer last night I found these notes on 'A day at home', written for an email friend and dated 12th February 2002.  On that date Rufous the wonder dog was 11 months old, which is still a puppy. Now he is 12 years and 4 months and we live in a different house but not much has changed. Today we shared an almost identical day together.

2002 Rufous just a puppy

 A DAY AT HOME WITH RUFOUS 12.2.2002

It seemed ideal, a wet day, home alone, just what I needed - time to work on the story I was writing. And, it was raining (yippee, we needed rain) so we decided Rufous would stay at home with me.  Normally he is out on the farm all day but with the rain Big R changed his plans and would be away for the day.  

It would be good to have Rufous for company. I imagined him lying by my feet as I typed, radiating good dog loyalty, love and support. But, first we went out for the mail and a wee break for the puppy.

The rain was heavier than I expected and I hadn't thought of an umbrella. The letterbox wasn’t far but it was along a muddy bush track. Rufous wasn’t fond of rain. He refused to wee anywhere and was annoyed when water dripped on his head from the trees. He had a good hard shake every few steps. While I was peeling wet envelopes from inside the box he was pulling hard on the lead in an attempt to investigate the puddle of muddy water in the ruts made by postman's motorbike.

Back inside I told him to sit on the mat while I found a towel to dry him off. He did, for a second, and then wandered around leaving wet paw prints on the timber floor.  Pulling him back I tried to give him a rub down but he made it a game and pulled at the towel. This took 20 frustrating minutes. Changing the plan he grabbed an empty coke bottle and ran into the house. I let him play then I remembered the mess he makes with plastic bottles so I chased him and only managed to pull the paper label off. I worried about that plastic ring on the bottle neck ... it could get stuck in his throat, oh....and an hour had gone by.

Ruf ran all over the house throwing his bottle and catching it, and then settled down on his soft 'mat' in the kitchen for a good chew. I settled at the table but jumped up again to sweep up the little bits of chewed plastic as he spat them out. Finally I took the chewed bottle and outside to the recycle bin.

But I'd left the door open!  Rufous wandered out behind me, in and out of puddles and then decided to lift his leg on a tree. I herd him back inside and do the rub down thing again. Back in the kitchen Ruffie hurled up on his padded mat. Just watery stuff, no smell, no colour, no lumps. He does this sometimes after running hard and then drinking water too fast. I took the mat outside and rinse it off with the hose. I pulled the cover off and then put both the cover and the padding into the washing machine, with the towel and a splash of Eucalyptus.

The spare dog mattress was on the veranda, airing. It felt a bit damp but OK. I pulled the cover off the line and stuffed it into the clothes dryer, five mins did the job and Rufous had a mat to sit on. He chewed his back feet. Then he got up and to chase his tail.

I remembered a TV show I'd seen on how to stop bad dog habits. The trainer had used  a bunch of metal discs on a ring, which he dropped when his dog, a bull terrier, chased his tail. The dog was trained to stop whatever he was doing when those discs hit the floor and was rewarded with bits of cheese. I wondered if the cheese would make the dog constipated.  I had been planning to try this with Ruffie's habit of sucking his feet when they had been wet but I didn’t have a bunch of metal discs - but if I had they would sound a lot like the car keys.  Rufous loves the sound of car keys.

I had thought of using a length of poly pipe. It makes a deep hollow sound when hit against something and would be sure to get his attention.  I couldn’t find any pipe. I did a little training session with a rolled up newspaper. It seemed to work, but not on the foot sucking. We started on waiting and after an hour Rufous had learnt not to eat a treat off the floor unless I tell him it’s okay.  I settled him down in front of the big glass door where I could see him and he could see outside.  Back to the computer.

2001 - a dogs gotta chew what a dogs gotta chew!

The rattle of dog tags on metal and water splashing told me Rufous was in the bathroom drinking from his water dish, which we kept in the shower. A moment later I caught a movement down the hall. Yes, something bright yellow flew through the air. A solid brown shape pounced on it and shook it vigorously. It was a face washer from the bathroom cupboard. "Hey!" His sheepish face appeared in the doorway, yellow washer in his mouth. I wanted to ignore it BUT a second later he was back with a large purple towel. The ripping of towelling got me to my feet and off to sort out the bathroom accessories! Yes, he wanted my attention.  I gave him some.

We played soccer kong – our own invention.  I sit on my office chair, which has wheels, Rufous sits on the floor facing me and nudges his red Kong toy across the floor so that it is between us. We both make a dash to get it first, Rufous with is mouth and me using my feet - I’m not crazy enough to get my hands in front of snapping jaws. He always gets it first, but then has to take the next step because the real aim of the game is winning the Kong, not keeping it. If I won’t play he’ll keep rolling the kong towards me, or dump it, chewed and sloppy, on my foot or even into my lap.

2002 dumping his Kong in my lap

When he has the kong he will tease me, holding it loosely in his mouth so I can try to knock it out, sideways, with my foot. Yes, he gets a few soft belts in the mouth but he doesn’t seem to mind that. When the kong is kicked away he rushes to get it, skidding and sliding on the wooden floor, then takes it to his mat to chew for a bit and then start the game again.

If the kong lands close to me I put my foot on it and hold it down. Rufous loves this best because he has to 'dig' it out. He growls softly, scratches the floor with his claws and pulls and pushes the kong with his mouth.   Even though he is very gentle I never put my hand on the Kong while he is holding it.

After we played soccer for a while I put kibble into his kong and pasted it over with peanut butter and pushed an evening primrose oil capsule in there too - good for dry skin. I didn’t give him a huge amount of peanut butter, which he loves, because sucking it out of the Kong makes a lot of dribble that puddles on the floor I already had one wet dog mat in the wash.

While Rufous enjoyed his snack I washed the dishes and thought about lunch. Kitchens are designed to be cleaned endlessly and I got carried away until scratching on the floor and whimpering told me that the kong was under the cupboard, out of reach. I got down on my knees with the big feather duster to sweep it out. Rufous watched closely over my shoulder, bumping and pushing me to get a better view and also to grab the duster. He treated it the same way he treated the broom and vacuum cleaner – like a big mouse that must be chased and bitten.

Oh! did I say mouse? Opppps. He took off into my sewing corner where he once scented a little bush mouse and lived in hope of finding another. He often rummaged in my boxes of fabric and I'd find odd scraps on his mat, slightly chewed and wet. He'd find a bit he wanted, grab it in his front teeth, and gently pull it out of the box. Then he'd runs with his trophy, back arched, head held high, to his mat in the kitchen, for a chew.

Rufous went back to the glass door. I could see a couple of lizards playing on the step now that the rain had stopped. Just as I sat down at the computer I heard him bark. I knew he was bristled and jumping at the door, tail alert and legs stiff.  His nails rattled on the wooden floor as he scampered along the hall, made the turn to the steps, five down to the living room, which he took in one leap, skidded across the floor and crashed into the wall. Bouncing off he scratched his way (you could see the scratches on the floor) into the kitchen, where he bumped into chairs all across the room and threw his top half onto my lap. Neck stretched long, tail straight and head alert, his big brown eyes looked right into mine.

Staffies have such a wide 'smile' and very open faces. His expression and body position said, "I saw the lizards, I know where they hide, I want to go and chase them, let me out, let's go now! Now! Now!"

Sigh.  I got the lead, positioned the towel for the coming-back-in-foot-wipe and found him with his nose pressed hard against the glass, willing it to open. I couldn’t let him out without the lead. Wet weather in summer means toads and they are poisonous.

As the door slid open Rufous leapt onto the porch nearly dislocating my arm. He made a beeline for the far corner knocking green plastic chairs over in all directions and stirring up the brown gum leaves that had piled up around the timber decking.  He jammed his nose under one of the boards and lifted it up, freeing the wet soft wood from the old nails. I saw a toad underneath so I pulled him away, kicked a pebble across the path and pointed, "Ruf, what's that?" He darted after the pebble. Calling him to heel and we walk along the track to a grassy area by the ginger paddock where we could play sticks.

The game couldn't be too strenuous because the year before he's strained a muscle in his little doggy leg with his extreme leaping and jumping.  Just like a volleyball injury the vet said. I found a stick. We have an unlimited supply of sticks. They fall out of trees constantly and lie on the paths and in the bush just waiting to stick into your foot.   Long sticks are best and I hold one end high and let the other end dip down. Rufous chases the low end.

I made him run in circles, change direction and back again. I made him run fast in straight lines after the stick, then zigzag across the paddock, his red lead flying behind. When he jumped high I lifted the stick. He leapt and ran until his tongue flopped out, saliva flew in the air and I heard him puffing. Usually I let him get the stick to end the game, I let it go – no need to turn this into a game of tug-o-war.

But he grabbed the stick before I was ready, ran off a little way and flopped down to chew on it. Staffies are not really into fetch and I would need a very delicious incentive to entice him towards me – and then he would probably leave the stick behind in the grass. I just crept up behind him to step on the end of the trailing lead so he can't run further.

We had enough running. He walked quietly beside me. He'd needed a good run and now was ready for a big snooze.  He slept and I sorted the washing.  I swept and mopped the bathroom floors, quietly.  Finally I sat down to write the weeks shopping list and then, as I reached for my notepad to record the seeds of a newidea for a story I felt a bump on the leg and the pressure of a diamond shape head in my lap. I saw the brown eyes rolled up towards me. It’s just like having a baby at home again. Where is the kong?

2013 Rufous with Kong number 20

Looking at the MOON

I struggle to understand the phases and orbits of our MOON - and conversations with my Science teacher husband and my Scientist brother, who both claim knowledge and understanding of moons, planets and space stuff as one of their high interest subjects, just lead to my brain shutting down and I'm soon humming the old nursery rhyme.... 

I see the moon,    
The moon sees me.  
God bless the moon, 
And God bless me.

I do know the moon is about a quarter the size of the earth, that it takes 27.3 days to orbit the earth and I've also read that it takes 29 days to go through it's 'phases', from full moon to no moon, new moon and full moon again.  Apparently that has something to do with the moons slightly sloppy orbit, so that each time it goes around it takes a little longer and that's as far as my understanding goes.

However, I do enjoy creative stories, origins and interesting history tit-bits and there are even some jokes about the moon.

Q. What was the name of the first satellite to orbit the Earth?

A. The moon.

Starting with a strange, but true story, one that comes along once in a BLUE MOON ...... we all see that the moon is bright white or silver or sometimes yellowish, but not blue. Way back in the 14th century they knew the moon (or moone with a silent e) was not blue. An expression of that time - 'he would argue that the moon was blue' meant the same as our expression - 'she'd say black was white'.  So reference to a blue moon meant it was not so, or could not be.

As very little on this earth stays the same for long, a time came when people did see a blue coloured moon. Viewing the moon, at a certain angle, through a haze of chemicals like sulphur, can make the moon look bluish.  In 1883 the Indonesian volcano Krakatau erupted and the dust in the atmosphere made the moon look blue in many parts of the world for almost two years.  In 1927 a very long dry season in India caused enough dust for a blue moon and in 1951 the northern USA saw a blue moon through the smoke from forest fires in Canada. This does not happen very often and so the meaning of the expression altered to refer to something that happened rarely, or from time to time. 

But even this adaption didn't stay in place forever. Centuries ago people around the world  used different calendars and had different names and dates for the months of the year and it was all a bit of a mess if you were travelling. Some calendars followed the phases of the moon, others were based on movements of the sun. Gradually, due to trade and business, these different calendars were adjusted until most of the world was on the same page calendar wise. 

So, we have the year divided into 12 months, each month roughly 30 - 31 days. But the lunar month of 29 days from full moon full moon, is shorter than our calendar month and so it happens occasionally that a month will have two full moons.  This rare event of the second moon in a calendar month has recently become known as a blue moon.  Apparently it happens about 7 times in every 19 years - my husband explained this is because every 19 years the starting point of the earth's orbit around the sun, and the starting point of the moons orbit around the earth line up and they both begin again.

Q: "Why does the Moon orbit the Earth?"

A: "To get to the other side?"

This step in the naming of this phenomenon only developed in the last 25 - 30 years,  cemented into place by the media (it's a cool story when it happens) and also it became an answer in the trivial pursuit game.  This is exciting as it illustrates so well that we live in living history.

And a modern use for the blue moon - poets, and song writers use it to symbolise sadness and loneliness -  see as the Rodgers and Hart Blue Moon duet below - lots of great versions on YouTube.

HE SINGS:

Blue Moon
You saw me standing alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own

SHE SINGS:
Blue Moon
You knew just what I was there for
You heard me saying a prayer for
Someone I really could care for

In some areas the moon was such a part of daily life that it stood for the period of time we now call month. The modern honeymoon holiday for newly married couples originates with a custom that began in 4th century Northern Europe.  To start married life on a sweet note, newlyweds drank mead, a drink brewed with honey, every day for the first moon (or month) of their life together - and that was a honeymoon.

A SUPER MOON is another good media story when it appears, and a great opportunity for photographers to show off.  Because the path of the moon's orbit around the earth is an elipse, not a circle there are times when the moon is closer to the earth than it is at other times.  When this closer position happens during a full moon it is called a super moon. People are convinced the moon is huge - but to my eye it's just nearer. 

2013 Super moon over central Australia

We know the moon is made of rock. Astronauts have been to the moon, walked around in the moon dust and brought rocks back to earth so it's difficult for us to understand that at one time people believed the moon was made of something else. We can check back to the 16th century again because that was when the printing press was invented meaning that from then on more copies of printed  works existed and some were kept while before that time the one or two hand made copies were lost of destroyed. We find that from the 16th and 17th centuries there were references to the moon being made of cheese.   

An English poet, John Heywood (1497 - 1580) wrote,  "Ye set circumquaques to make me beleue/ Or thinke, that the moone is made of greene cheese."   (You set circumstances to make me believe or think, that the moon is made of green cheese).  This mocking of the idea that the moon was made of cheese was possibly because some people at the time actually believed it was.   

An ancient folk tale tells of a simple farm boy who sees the reflection of the moon in the water of a pond. Not sure what it is he relates it to something of the same shape that he understands - a wheel of cheese. New, or un-aged cheese was called green cheese.  The story was told over and over and and as so often happens the origin meaning changed to the opposite meaning and up to the 19th century many children actually believed the moon was made of cheese!

Q. What do you get when you take green cheese and divide its circumference by its diameter?
A. Moon pi.

So with everyone looking at the moon over thousands of years it's no surprise that minstrels sang about a MAN IN THE MOON....


The man in the moon 
came down too soon
and asked his way to Norwich;
He went by the south 
and burnt his mouth

while supping cold pease porridge.

Of course this is a bit of nonsense - you can't burn your mouth on cold porridge so it follows that the man in the moon is nonsense too. But, strange creatures that we are this rhyme only added to the belief, at least among children, that there was a man in the moon.

In 1638 an English bishop named Francis Godwin wrote a sci fi book called The Man in the Moone, about a voyage to the moon. The Man in the Moon appeared in ballads and folk stories in many different cultures. This came from shadows on the moon taking on facial features. 

From my own childhood I remember -  

'Hello Mr Moon face, high up in the sky.
I can see you smiling, while in bed I lie'.

But I never actually saw the face in the moon as I grew up in the Southern hemisphere and these old stories come from the old world in the north.  European tradition was to see the figure of an old man on the full moon. He often carried a burden and was accompanied by a dog.

The need to have a visible place of banishment to frighten law breakers could be the reason some Germanic and Roman traditions represent the man in the moon as a thief being punished.  In Chinese mythology the goddess Chang'e is stranded on the moon, with a group of moon rabbits, after drinking a double dose of immortality potion.

The moon has a gravitational pull on the earth and so it affects the wind and the ocean tide. Once again that's the limit of my scientific knowledge.  The moon has been there for a long time so we named it. Our word moon comes from an Old English word, mona.  It was mene in Old German, mano in Old Saxon and Danish. By the 15th century English people were spelling it as moone and then moon.

In Latin the word for moon is Luna and this is still used for things relating to the moon such as the luna calendar.  Luna was also the moon goddess and from her we get the words lunacy and lunatic.  It was believed that the moon affected people and animals, causing madness or illness during the full moon. Science cannot prove this is true but many policemen, nurses and doctors think otherwise. Myths about werewolves or lycanthropes, men who transformed from a man into a wolf under the influence of the full moon, are still part of popular entertainment. 

But whatever you believe the moon is a beautiful thing.

2013 Full moon from east coast Australia

FULL MOON By Walter de la Mare

One night as Dick lay fast asleep,

 Into his drowsy eyes

A great still light began to creep

From out the silent skies.

It was the lovely moon's, for when

He raised his dreamy head,

Her surge of silver filled the pane

And streamed across his bed.

So, for a while, each gazed at each-

Dick and the solemn moon-

Till, climbing slowly on her way,

She vanished, and was gone.

This is a Moon Pie

knowing a little bit about COPYRIGHT

I was looking into this for someone else, and as it's quite interesting I'm also posting it here. Most of the information comes from the Australian Copyright Council website. I didn't go into music or digital copyright because the original task related to using text on quilts, embroideries and in art work, but music would be similar. It's important to understand what we can use legally but in the end it is a moral issue and we must monitor ourselves.

In Australia, copyright protection is free and automatic; there is no registration system but this does not mean it doesn't exist.  The Australian Copyright Council website has all the information available if you need more detail - http://www.copyright.org.au/    

Copyright is a legal protection for material including writing/poetry, visual images/logos, music/lyrics and more. Copyright protection gives the copyright owner the right to control the use of their material including reproduction and electronic communication - anyone who uses their material without permission will infringe copyright.  An infringement means the copyright owner could bring an action against the person who infringes their copyright to recover damages.

In most cases, copyright lasts from the time the material is created until 70 years after the end of the year the creator dies. During that time the copyright can be inherited by the creator's family or friends, or included in the assets of a business.  

You need permission to quote from a work if the quote forms a "substantial" part of the source work. A part will generally be "substantial" if it is an important, distinctive or recognisable part. The quality of the part is more important than the quantity or proportion. The purpose of the use may be relevant; if you are using it for a commercial purpose you will need permission and possibly will have to pay for the right.  There is no provision in the Copyright Act that allows you to use copyright material after you have tried, but failed, to find the copyright owner if it is still under copyright protection.

There is no special exception which allows you to use copyright material without permission for educational purposes or for a non-profit purpose - you still need to get the permission. And, just because certain information, poetry, lyrics etc is available on the internet does not necessarily mean it is free to use.

A work is in the "public domain" if its copyright protection has expired. There is no list of works that are in the public domain so you'll have to find out who the author was, when the author died and whether the work was first published during the author’s lifetime.  Once copyright on a work has expired, it cannot be revived by subsequent publication ... an  example is the works of William Shakespeare - anyone can reproduce all or parts of his work.  A publisher who produces Shakespeare's work will only own copyright to the typographical arrangement and can prevent another publisher making an exact copy of that publication, but not of Shakespeare's work.  

"Moral rights" are rights relating to a creator’s reputation in connection with their work - in addition to the "economic rights" - like the right to reproduce the work. Creators are entitled to take legal action if they are not credited for their work; if their work is falsely attributed to someone else; or if their work is treated in a derogatory way – for example, by distorting it or modifying it.

If you are requesting permission to use copyright material you should provide the copyright holder with as much detail as possible, such as: title and author (ISBN if possible) of the publication from which you want to take the material; a description of the material you want to use, number of words or line count; the format of publication as well as your details.

Most sport teams would not allow people to use their logo for commercial purposes. In charity situations, they may still control the use very closely so you'll need to inquire about the legal use.  

But if you are buying fabric that has a logo printed on it then the legal use has been sorted out.  This also applies to licensed cartoon characters, other commercial images and creative writing on fabric. Someone else has obtained the permission.

It is risky to use creative work without permission unless you are absolutely certain that the work is in the public domain.  There was a case in the US of a lady who had written a short poem in 1989 titled 'Families are like quilts'. She developed this and sold as a stitchery/embroidery pattern, copyrighted in 2005.   Later she found her poem was being sold on decorative wall hangings and embroidered pillows.  She claimed these were unauthorised copies and filed a lawsuit against 6 companies. I think it's still with the courts.

So, it seems that if it is already printed on fabric bought by the metre, that's alright, but if you appliqué, embroider, knit or paint it on you need permission.

Please keep in mind that creative material has been written, designed or put together by someone and they deserve recognition for their work and control over how it is used. 

using GINGER

Like many people my early life experience with ginger was limited to ginger snap biscuits (yum) and crystallised ginger (yuk).  I didn't know how ginger grew or what it looked like.  Apparently I wasn't alone in this lack of knowledge because now that I know something about ginger other people expect me to answer all their questions.  My hubby has always had a heart for farming and had done bits and pieces over the years.  Twenty two years ago we moved to a house in a sub-tropical forest which was next to a ginger farm. The first thing I noticed was the lovely smell, a peppery lemon scent that drifted on the air while they were harvesting ginger.  Our two boys worked on the ginger harvest as their first jobs.  It was only for a week or so at a time and they enjoyed doing man's work outdoors, coming home for lunch with mud encrusted feet and legs and knowing how well they did when they were paid by the bucket at the end of each day.  We got to know what ginger looked like then and I began to use it in stir fries.

Harvesting ginger

A few years later we wanted to do some farming and decided to go into organics. While the land was in conversion we grew a variety of herbs, including parsley, basil, rosemary, garlic and also shallots. And various vegetables and flowers were tried at different times - I loved the sunflowers.  It was hard work, learning as you go and we soon found the packing and transport was the most difficult side of the business.  By this time our neighbour had retired and was no longer growing ginger.  We were looking for something a bit easier to ship to the city and the idea of organic ginger came about.  So, WE became organic ginger farmers.  It's the 'Royal Wee'  Big R says, as I don't do any actual hands-on farming.  So I don't plough or plant or weed or fertilize. I don't dig or pull up or wash or trim the rhizome but it's still a 'we' because I label boxes, help with packing, do the necessary paperwork, phone calls, emails, bill paying etc and that adds up to a normal little we.

Ginger growing in our paddock

Ginger is native to Asia and used in many Asian and Arabic dishes and also has uses as a medicinal herb.  It's often described as pungent, (strong/sharp taste) but that varies from one type of ginger to another.  It goes well into sweet or savoury dishes. Use it fresh, dried, cooked, raw or sugary - crystallised ginger is ginger boiled in sugar and then rolled in sugar crystals.  Ginger can also be preserved or pickled in vinegar - a little like ginger sauerkraut.

Small piece of new season ginger with flags

To grow - Ginger grows underground like a root, but is called a rhizome.   Several leafy stems, or flags, grow above the ground to the height of about a metre.  Planted in spring it takes around six months to mature and then you can pull up the early harvest ginger, which has a light, sweet flavour.  About three months later the green flags, begin to yellow and wilt. The rhizome stops growing but it can be left underground for a few more months.  Ginger picked at this stage is late harvest ginger. To pick the ginger you loosen the soil and pull up the rhizome. The flags can be snapped off and then it should be washed and the little stringy roots trimmed away.  When peeled the flesh is creamy coloured, fibrous and moist.  The early harvest ginger has a pinkish flush and is light in flavour.  Late harvest ginger is thicker skinned and deeper in flavour. 

To buy - when shopping for ginger, choose a rhizome that is firm and smells fresh. You don't want it if it's been sitting around for a while, feels rubbery or has black squishy spots.

To store - everyone asks me how to store ginger.  I've heard that it's good to store it in a plastic bag in the fridge but I've found that makes it soft and soggy.  I've also heard people say they freeze ginger to make it easier to grate, but I have not had any success with that.  I leave it on the bench or in the fruit bowl and it's fine for about ten days, depending on how old it was in the first place.  If you need to cover it use a brown paper bag. The best idea is to only buy what you need and use it within a few days.

To cut - first chop the ginger into easy to handle pieces and peel off the skin. It can be a little hard to hold being wet and small, like a piece of carrot.  I use a knife and slice it into discs.  I find these are easy to hold in one hand while I peel around the edge.   Then it can be chopped into chunks or thin strips.  I've heard people talk about grating ginger but I find that difficult because it is so fibrous.  I once bought a bamboo ginger grater that was not successful for me as it didn't grate the ginger and then it went moldy in our sub tropical summer. A food processor could be better than a grater as it would save the juice.  Only peel what you are using as it won't keep without it's skin.  I suppose that's why you can also buy powdered ginger and preserved ginger.

Slice, peel, chop - and into the pot

To cook - add ginger slices or strips to stir-fries, curries, soups or stews or drop into the water when cooking rice.  Some say that it's best to add ginger at the end of the cooking as the flavour can fade with stewing.  I love pumpkin soup with ginger added and I use it with olive oil to marinate chicken pieces and lamb steaks.

Many recipes are available for baking cakes, bread and biscuits with ginger, though most sweet recipes use powdered ginger (some people find too much powdered ginger causes bloating).  Recipes can be found on line for ginger jams, chutneys and sauces too.

To serve raw - chop finely or grate (if you have a better grater than I have) and sprinkle over salads and sandwiches, or over hot meat and vegetables. I have sometimes used the vegetable peeler to make very thin slices.

To drink - Apart from the popular ginger ale, ginger beer and ginger wine you can make ginger tea.  Drop one or two teaspoons of finely chopped fresh ginger into a mug, and cover with boiling water. Let it sit for five minutes, stir and drink as tea, either hot or cold.  You can add honey if you want a sweet drink.  Or, you could drop a disc of ginger into your cup of black tea, instead of lemon. Much better in black tea though as milk coats the ginger and the flavour is sealed in.

For medicine - My herb books say that ginger contains potassium, magnesium, manganese, vitamin B6 and copper.  It is traditionally used to calm digestive troubles, motion sickness, morning sickness and dizziness. It can also help with symptoms of colds and flu - hot ginger tea can be comforting. Crushed ginger can be used in a poultice for arthritis.

There is a warning for ginger use, which also applies to garlic.  Ginger, especially in large doses, can interfere with medications that slow blood clotting as ginger is a blood thinner and can interact with that medication. Anyone on medication for heart disease, diabetes or high blood pressure should be careful so check with the doctor, pharmacist or naturopath if you plan to have ginger on a regular basis. 

Using fresh ginger once or even twice a week should be fine for most people.  I have Asian friends who say they comfortably use ginger and garlic in their family meals every day.