Before I went to work this Lammas morning I scattered some grains of barley for the wildlife in my garden and said a silent thank-you for all the wonderful things that have happened since last year’s harvest time.It has been a good year. Last autumn, I began a part-time job that is sufficiently well paid that I can spend days I am not working doing things I enjoy, such as writing A Bad Witch’s Blog. OK, I might have to watch the pennies a bit more than if I was working full time, but money isn’t everything.
In May, I had a fantastic holiday on the Isle of Islay , in Scotland. While I was there I visited the Bowmore distillery and went on a guided tour to see how whisky is made. At the end of the tour, each visitor was given a box containing small samples of barley, malt, grist, peat and wood from a barrel with a miniature bottle of Bowmore single malt. These show the different materials and stages that are needed to produce a malt whisky.
It was the barley from that sample I scattered in my garden this morning. It seemed appropriate, I wasn’t going to try to make whisky with it and it would have been a shame to let it go to waste.
Perhaps tonight, when I get in from work, I will enjoy the miniature bottle of Bowmore’s and once again give thanks to the god of the grain.
For more details on how whisky is made, click on these links:
http://www.scotlandwhisky.com/about/how
http://www.scotchmaltwhisky.co.uk/made-malt.htm
http://gallery.islayinfo.com/v/islay_distilleries/?g2_page=2
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