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Dreamflower's Dribs and Drabs  by Dreamflower 14 Review(s)
Queen GaladrielReviewed Chapter: 11 on 4/2/2009
Ah! I just love this! It reminds me of when I was little and my grandmother taught me to identify all kinds of flowers by touch and smell. And I love how it comes full circle in the end!

I didn't know that about Queen Anne's lace, how cool!

Author Reply: Learning how to identify edible plants would be so important for hobbits to know, I'd think!

Yes, it's quite true! And the earliest carrots were either white or red, not orange!

Baggins BabeReviewed Chapter: 11 on 4/27/2008
Ah yes, I can see this so clearly. I'm sure the hobbits were better than anyone when it came to foraging, and Sam probably the best of all. Frodo-lad will learn a valuable lesson.

Delightful as always.

Author Reply: I always imagined that on the Quest the hobbits probably helped to feed the Company. And Sam, with his affinity for plants, would probably be very good indeed at foraging!

GamgeeFestReviewed Chapter: 11 on 4/26/2008
Yep, it's important to know how to forage and Sam will be forever grateful to his Dad for teaching him such a valuable skill, which he will then pass on to all his children.

Author Reply: I think you are quite right! And he will be able to tell Frodo-lad of his own experience just how important it is to be able to forage and find food in the wild.

Mum's the WordReviewed Chapter: 11 on 4/25/2008
Wonderful, Dreamflower! And sweet, and beautifully full-circle (or down through the generations; I can imagine lots of Gamgee/Gardeners asking the same question in their time.

This also handily answers my questions about learning foraging, etc., only from a book. There are some things that definitely need hands-on, personal instruction.

Well done, very well done!

Author Reply: I do think that foraging would have been a skill taught in a hands-on manner, by parents or uncles or cousins--they would want to be sure that their young would be able to recognize wholesome and edible plants!

(But I bet that there were lots of useful tips, all the same, in Merry's herbal!)*grin*

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 11 on 4/25/2008
Ah--I LOVE this, Dreamflower! Yes, the reasons are rife for learning to recognize food in the wild, and particularly for Hobbits. Certainly what lessons Sam got from his father, Bilbo, and Frodo would serve him well during their journey! And in the end it comes round as the new generation as symbolized by Frodo-lad finds himself following his father through the wild, too.

Yes!

Author Reply: I think there are many good reasons indeed--and I've always felt that all hobbits would have been competent to not starve to death in the Wild, at the very least! (But Sam, perhaps, more competent than most.)

Raksha The DemonReviewed Chapter: 11 on 4/24/2008
Excellent vignette! You have a lovely feel for not only hobbit language, but the speech patterns of the Gaffer and Sam. And the ties between the generations, all learning the same valuable lesson, are a wonderful touch.

Extra brownie points for capturing the gardener in the souls of Gaffer and Sam -and the next generation that will one day carry that vocation as a name.

Author Reply: Oh, thank you so much! I do worry about getting their "voices" right! And the skill of foraging seemed to me to be the sort of hobbity lesson that *would* be taught, generation after generation!

I try to never forget that they are all avid and passionate gardeners at heart, and to show that--I'm glad you think I succeeded!

Grey WondererReviewed Chapter: 11 on 4/24/2008
Dear, practical Sam. It pays off in a big way for him here and I love the way his father taught him and then he passes it down to his little one. Gives a sense of family.

Author Reply: Thank you, GW! Yes, you caught just what I was aiming to show!

PIppinfan1988Reviewed Chapter: 11 on 4/24/2008
That was brilliant! And I enjoyed how the wisdom was passed down from father to son... Absolutely wonderful!

Author Reply: Just one of those lessons that all young hobbits should learn, considering how important food and eating are in their society!

So glad you liked it! Thanks!

harrowcatReviewed Chapter: 11 on 4/24/2008
It never ceases to amaze me how you all find these neat little holes to fill and so brilliantly too!

Author Reply: JRRT left us so many neat little holes. He showed us Sam thinking that he'd have to find what else he needed for that stew--and I showed him finding it, LOL! (And also how he knew what to look for, and how he valued the knowledge by passing it on!)

Jay of LasgalenReviewed Chapter: 11 on 4/24/2008
I love this. My son's a chef, and he uses wild garlic (which he picks while out walking the dog) in his restaurant!




Author Reply: I've never had occasion to put this bit of book-learning to practical use, but I can easily believe it! I'm sure that sometimes the wild plant has an even better flavor!

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