Olga Booker

Does anyone have a suggestion as to what to use in place of an eye cup?

I use a dropper bottle like this one:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Amber-Bottles-Dropper-Pipettes-Pasha81/dp/B088F3F8QT/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=dropper+bottle&qid=1701345714&sr=8-5

Eady to sterilize in a pan of water.

Olga, when I searched for a comfrey product, I believe the comfrey was paired with eyebright.

As a personal choice, I would not use comfrey on my eyes, but that's just me.  For tired eyes and puffiness, a cold slice of cucumber does the trick for me unless the puffiness is due to some infection.
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I have been cooking on a wood burning stove for more than 35 years now, and would not want to cook on anything else.  I have found that, besides the fact that it will of course depends on what wood you use, how dry it is and what is the weather doing, i.e. cold, very cold, windy, damp etc, no 2 stoves will work the same, even 2 of the same make and model.

The best way to learn is to just use it in anger and find out what makes your stove tick!  We moved to a new house 4 years ago and it had a wood burning cooker in the kitchen, same as the one we had in our old home.  Would you believe it, it took me 2 months to get the hang of the wretched thing, even after all those years!  So go for it, don't give up and most of all have fun!

Depending on the problem I use eyebright, salt water, cornflower, golden seal or chamomile.  Eyebright is my favorite though, but salt water is the most handy, everyone has salt in the kitchen!

"Has cast iron just been dethroned as the premier tough, non-stick cookware?"
Not in my kitchen

Not in mine either!  Besides, it's true, the more bacon you fry, the better the pan becomes!

I have been preserving in oil for many years, I guess it's my Mediterranean heritage!

I love chillies, so of course I preserve them in oil.  I still have some from last year's batch and they are  still delicious.  Salt them overnight, wash and dry them before putting them in olive oil.  Feta with olives and herbs is also one of my favourite, but I have found that sun dried tomatoes, roasted peppers and aubergines will work really well as long as there is no air bubbles and the ingredients are covered at all time with at least 1cm of oil.

I have on occasion purchase some black olives that were not all that fantastic so I often wash them, dry them and put them in olive oil with garlic, chilli, cumin, parley and coriander, or some other variation of herbs to give them a new lease of life.  To my taste, green olives are better with basil, but basil leaves need to be blanched briefly or they will go mouldy in the oil.

Of course, I would not be without grated garlic in olive oil.  I always have a big jar handy and I actually love it spread on hot toast instead of butter for a savoury snack.  And so easy to put into soups or stews.

And I guess making loads of pesto is one way of preserving all that lovely basil, again in loads of olive oil.  Pine nuts are very expensive here in France so I make it with sunflower seeds or walnuts and as for the Parmesan, well I'm just so damn lucky!!  My friend is Italian and her mother sends her a parcel of food from Italy every month, so I make sure she has a big lump of Parmesan in it for me!

If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him - Cardinal Richelieu 1585 – 1642

Rank

Lancashire hot pot
Irish stew
Eccles cakes
Treacle tart
Kedgeree
Coronation chicken
Bubble and squeak
Welsh rarebit

But my favourite is surely the English breakfast or curried baked beans on toast for a quick meal!

I forgot to mention that the little blighters are very smart,  After a while, they get used to the traps, and find ways to avoid them.  I guess changing  the trap model every 6 to 8 months might get around that problem.  I have not tried this yet.

We might have similar gophers, Olga. Ours are called northern pocket gophers, and they're quite small, usually about 15-18cm long. I've never seen one out of its hole (alive), but I often see the ground shaking as the gopher tries to pull something down by the roots.

Sounds about right Jan, that's about the size of our critters.  I have on occasion seen their heads poking out of the opening in the ground, almost taunting me.  I swear I could see a smile on their face!!!  I have also seen my leeks and carrots slowly disappearing in the ground, well, not so slowly, and I could be forgiven to think I was stuck in a bugs bunny cartoon!  I have cried in rage and frustration many a time.

I don't quite go with the idea that they are solitary animals.  Even if they are, their lifespan is 6 to 8 months, maybe 10.  The female will give birth to up to 8 babies, 5 or 6 times a year.  Solitary maybe, but it's a darn big family if you ask me.  Especially if you consider that the gestation period is 3 weeks, the young ones are autonomous in 4 weeks and sexually mature at 2 months old.  Like I said, a darn lot of solitary critters in my garden!!