Just So Stinking Hot and Happy 4th!

Red for Bee Balm

White for Nicotiana

Blue for Borage

We have finally got some rain!  Sorry for those of you who are suffering without.  It is just stinking hot here still.  Hope you and your family have a safe Fourth of July here in the U.S.  Talk to you later.

Lamb's Ears and Sweet Woodruff for Easter!

Yes, Even Lemon Balm is in with the Lamb's Ears!

Sweet Woodruff Blooming in April!

 Happy Easter to you all!  Thanks for allowing me a slight break in the action.  You really didn't miss much.  We have been trying to get our seeds planted that should have been planted last month in the very mild weather.  So here are some lamb's ears for the kids and flowers of the sweet woodruff to make May wine for the adults.  Hope you are having a great day.  I'll talk to you later.

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is a small wooden heart from Nancy Thomas a terrific folk artist from the Yorktown, Virginia area that I gave to The Herbal Husband a number of years ago.  I regive it to him every so often to remind him how much I love him.  I have collected several pieces from her over the years.  Here is the inside.

As I have been working on my post of The Herb Companion about Shakespeare's herbs.  I will leave you with some origins of Valentine's Day from a booklet by Adelma Simmons called The Book of Valentine Remembrances.

St. Valentines is past.  Begin these woodbirds but to couple now?

Act IV, Scene 1 of A Midsummer Night's Dream where Theseus comes across the four lovers who have been put under a spell by the fairies.

"From early Roman days, it was thought that the birds began to pair on February 14th thus the emphasis on love and its messages.

A custom of medieval times that persisted into the 15th and 16th centuries -- A person of the opposite sex was chosen by lot on St. Valentine's Day to be the friend or lover for the coming year.

A folded paper which contained the name of the year's partner was given the name Valentine, and became the forerunner of our elaborate Victorian fancies.

The first person of the opposite sex that one met was to be wooed with the word 'Good Morrow 'tis Valentine's Day.'  The first to chant these words was to receive a token of love.

Samuel Pepys is credited with recording the first account of sending the modern paper Valentine.  This went to his wife whom he addressed as "Most courteous and most fair."

Well, I hope you got a Valentine from your favorite today.  If you didn't, this is my Valentine to you for reading this blog and sharing my wacky life with me and The Herbal Husband.  Has started to snow, but it is going to turn to rain later.  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be. Talk to you later.

Merry Christmas to All, but Not the Same Without Snow!

I'll have to enjoy looking at the snow on our holiday card, cause we aren't going to get any for Christmas!  Going to take a small break and pout!  No really, I'll probably be back before the new year is here!

From The Herbal Husband and I, we want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and more than that a very peaceful holiday with your family and friends!

A Miniature Railway or Two for the Holidays!

My big Peruvian/American kid wanted to go and see the Miniature Railroad & Village at the Carnegie Science Center.  If you are in the Pittsburgh vicinity, I would take whomever wants to go.  It's for kids of all ages.  It was a great day to go because the kids are still mostly in school and it was a rainy day.

The kids who were there had a great time and so did my big kid!  Mostly set in western Pennsylvania, it includes a part of the steel mills, Forbes Field where the Pirates were actually fun to watch, a western PA small town  the incline that provides transportation up and down the hillside near downtown Pittsburgh, Fallingwater, a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece and Luna Park, an amusement park.  It was a lot of fun to see it again and they are taking very good care of it.

If you are in the Chicago area, you should take the kids or grandkids to the Museum of Science and Industry and check out The Great Train Story with its 30 plus trains that go from Chicago to Seattle.  We also went to the Chicago Botanic Garden to see their Garden Railway.  They have the Wonderland Express at the moment.  Here are some photos from the outdoor display around Halloween.

I so loved the buildings made out of sticks and twigs and other natural materials that I sometimes forgot to take the trains!  It is all about them!  It was a lot of fun to see even without a small kid!  Remember my kid is big!   Lastly I would be remiss if I didn't mention the Winter Flower Show at Phipps Conservatory featuring The Nutcracker this year.  Get out and enjoy the holiday events in your town or city.  Looks like everyone that commented on the giveaway is going to get something!  It ends tomorrow morning!  It took me forever to get this post together.  Hope it makes sense!  Talk to you later.

Still Green But Not For Long!

We were out yesterday raking the last leaves and mowing for hopefully the last time!  The top photo is the jasmine that is hardy for us in Zone 6.  It has a small pink flower, but it is unfortunately not good for tea.   I can't believe how it has grown!  We bought it at Well Sweep Herb Farm in New Jersey.  They have a great catalog and they still do mail order.  I am putting together my favorite mail order herb seed and plant list for The Herb Companion and will be posting that in the next few weeks.  The middle photo is a look into the upper garden overlooking the herb garden.  The ornamental grasses are taking over!  The last photo is of the Everblooming Cecile Brunner.  Still doing her thing!  I made a small bouquet for the table and I'll share that with you on the banner page.  Don't forget the giveaway!  Click on the link on the right hand side to give me a comment.  The contest ends this coming Wednesday, November 30th at 10 AM Eastern Standard Time.  Hope you had a great turkey day.  I'll leave you with our dinner.  We make a darn good turkey!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'll leave you with a photo of a panettone from Panera one of our favorite places for breakfast and lunch.  This one has walnuts and cranberries.  The Herbal Husband enjoys his treats for the holidays.  I have to temper mine and eat it once in a while.  I have always wanted to make my own.  Martha Stewart makes one that looks easy.  I mastered Martha's pie crust so maybe I should try her panettone recipe.  This is not the recipe I remember, but the mind plays tricks sometimes!  It looks a lot more complicated than what I remember.

Well, we want to wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving day to those of you who read about us in the U.S. and hope that you enjoy your family and friends.  The Herbal Husband was already asking if I was going to get the turkey ready!  Just cooking the breast so not as much work as the whole bird.  We do simple for the holidays, but we hope you enjoy your celebration!  Talk to you later.

24 Years Ago Today!

The Herbal Husband and I tied the knot.  Here is a surprise dessert I bought at the store this afternoon.  The Herbal Husband loves chocolate mousse so I found these small chocolate mousse tartlets.  The perfect size.  His words.  Mine is a small fruit tartlet.  Very good as well.  We also got another road trip to eastern Pennsylvania for the annual Allentown toy show and to visit our friends over last weekend.  I hope this is the last trip of the year.  We traveled a bit too much this year.  Now I have to fix my car.  I hate that part.  When a car becomes a senior, it usually starts to just come unglued!

This trip has been a standard in our lives over the years.  I went to Well Sweep Herb Farm in New Jersey that still was without power since last Saturday.  Hope power is back now.  Power crews and tree crews everywhere.  There were trees that had lost branches but not their leaves.  Very sad.  A lot of damage.  The herb farm had 18 inches of snow!

 Look at all of those herbs!  Too bad I couldn't take any with me!  It is going to be mild here for the next few days.  Always next year.

Also went to Sally Lunn Tearoom & Restaurant in Chester, NJ for afternoon tea in the morning!  Had cherry rose tea and a pumpkin scone.  Forgot that strawberry jam was served.  Not a good choice with the pumpkin scone.  Should have had my Spicy Basil Apple Jelly.  Now that would have been good.  I will leave you with that tease.  I'm promised way back in August that I would be doing some giveaways.  Probably not just one.  Have to discuss it with my packer extraordinaire, but it will be at least 2 and maybe 3 giveaways because I have been blogging for a long time.  So I hope you had a great day.  It was a beautiful day in the 'Burgh.  Just like the day we got married.  We were out shopping on our anniversary.  Had The Herbal Husband's favorite cornflake crumb chicken.  The recipe is on the cornflake crumb box.  Very easy and delicious.  Hope you had a great day.  Talk to you later.

Happy Halloween!

The Two Cap Rule!

The deer started to browse what few TOMATOES we had growing the other day!  Sooo we had to pull out all the caps.  It doesn't always work, but the deer think that there is someone working in the garden.  They are also browsing the trees that have sprouted back from the ground.  That's OK!  The Herbal Husband thinks we can train these wild beasts!  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  The Herbal Husband is off in Florida visiting a cousin and wife.  They were amazed that I don't own a bathing suit.  Florida is OK, but they will talk family and enjoy eating fried fish.  The weather here is supposed to be excellent and I couldn't miss it after ten days of rain.  Already cut most of the garlic chive flowers.  They are seriously challenging my herb garden.  Well, got to go feed the birds and enjoy the day in the garden.  Will share my adventures.  Talk to you later.

Got to Finish the Vancouver Trip First-Butchart Gardens!

Iconic Photo of Butchart Gardens!

The Bulbs Were in All Their Glory!

It Couldn't Have Been Better Weather!

The Fountain Was Giving Us a Show!

The Blue Poppies Were Cooperating!

The Cove Where You Can Take a Boat Ride!

The Mediterranean Garden

I need to finish the May trip before I can tell you about the European trip!  Last time I was at Butchart Gardens, I was in the ER, infected ears and a sinus infection!  My herbal companion, Bonnie and I were on a fantastic trip with The Gardener Magazine!  The people at Butchart couldn't have been nicer even gave me a video tape (Yes, that's how long ago it was!)  So this time we had the full experience.  As you can see it was a beautiful day and we really enjoyed the gardens.  Although they were taking out the blooming bulbs to replace them with summer annuals.  It was breaking the Herbal Husband's heart.  I said to him, "Sweetie, you could never work here!"  They would tell him his task for the day was removing blooming bulbs and he would just try to move them to another spot!  He would get fired the first day!  We even got to see the blue poppies in bloom.  Have tried to grow them, but we don't have the right conditions in western Pennsylvania.  I probably could be blogging twice a day at the moment.  So much going on.  I'll work on downloading the photos and get started with the adventures later this week.

Happy Easter and A Computer Break Again!

Here is my very front garden by the mailbox.  I'm going to take a very short Easter break and to do some more computer work to download programs and keep getting used to the keyboard.  I think I solved one problem by cancelling the touch pad feature because I have a wireless mouse!  The things you have to learn.  I was resting my wrists and palms on the lower part of the computer around the touch pad and I think I was causing it Touch Pad to activate!

So Happy, Happy Easter to you all.  Going to see The Conspirator today and favorite Red Robin for dinner.  Talk to you next week.

A Bag Full of Nigella Pods and the Epiphany!

When I was working on my artemisia tree, I discovered a plastic container that had eucalyptus, teasels and these nigella pods.  When I was drying all of my flowers for wreathes, etc. in the good old days, I grew these not only for the pods but for the blue flowers in the garden.  I just love them.  Nigellas are very easy to grow from seeds and Renee's Garden has three different varieties.  Check them out at the link.  I was thinking of using them hot glued on a Styrofoam cone like a Christmas tree?  Will let you know if I do it.  I have cleaned up my work space in the basement so anything is possible!

Epiphany or twelfth night is today.  It is when the three kings arrived to give the baby Jesus their gifts.  In some countries it is the night when gifts are given.  Mrs. Reppert talks of burning some of the essences as a Christmas tradition.  I know her daughters remember it well.  Here is today's quote from Mrs. Reppert's Twelve Month Herbal:

And when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto

Him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.

--- Matthew 2:11

Sorry about the quality of this photo.  It is of the Pittsburgh Creche and it is an exact replica of the Creche at the Vatican and the only replica in the world.  It is in the plaza of the office building where I used to toil in downtown Pittsburgh.  Check the link above for a post I wrote in 2008.

Got my County Gardens magazine with the spread of Sharon Lovejoy's garden!  You know what I'll be doing later on.  Hope you stay warm today.  More snow on the way for us.  It is winter!  Talk to you later.

I Couldn't Wait Until Next Year!

Had to show you what I finished while I was gone.  I have a list of cross-stitch "to do"s.  This Shepard's Bush chart was from the early 90's.  The Herbal Husband was amazed how quick it was to finish.  He was probably thinking why didn't she finish it sooner!  Oh, well, this was what I was ripping out earlier and had to start over again!

Psst, don't let The Herbal Husband know it, but this is my favorite Christmas present this year.  He got me some wonderful language of flower books.  I'll share them later.  This is from my best friend's daughter, my almost daughter, Miss C.  It is a BloemBox for a Bumble Bee Garden.  Inside this adorable box are three 5' seed ribbons made of plantable, biodegradable tissue paper filled with premium seeds for effortless planting.  They are Dahlia Flowered Pink Zinnia (Zinnia elegans), Queen Anne's Thimble (Gilia capitata) and Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), all annuals.  Miss C called this gift a twofer because once the seed ribbons are planted, the box is way too cute not to use it for other stuff!  So Miss C and I will be busy planting them next spring after the threat of frost is gone.  So The Herbal Husband and I hope you have a wonderful New Year's Eve celebration wherever you may be!  Be safe and I will talk to you in the New Year!  (Probably tomorrow!)

Wishing You All A Peaceful Holiday!

The Herbal Husband and I want to wish you a very happy and peaceful Christmas and the happiest of new years!  Going to take a small herbal timeout and enjoy some stitching time and enjoy being with The Herbal Husband and friends.  Hope you stay warm and cozy and just have enough snow to enjoy the holiday!  I will talk to you again in the new year!

Same Wreath, Different Look!

The bells in the middle are the old/new bit.  They need a bit of polish and a new bit of cording, but maybe after the holidays!  I remember my mother putting them on every evergreen wreath at Christmas time.  They always rang when we opened the front door inviting company inside.  It brought back a flood of good memories to see them on our wreath.  The cold weather just doesn't want to let up here!  Looks like there is going to be a white Christmas this year!  Hope you are staying warm wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

Can't Believe How Time Flies, Herbally Speaking!

Yes, they really did bloom for Thanksgiving!  Sorry I have been delinquent in posting lately!  Didn't take an herbal timeout like I normally do!  Just decided to play possum!  Again, too many exclamation points!  Oh, well, when you haven't posted for awhile, you forget what you can get away with.  Well, just like my dear friend, Sharon Lovejoy, we got wrapped up in our preparation and tasting and forgot to take those all important holiday photos!  Tonight is leftovers night so The Herbal Husband and I will style it just like it was for Thanksgiving (or almost) and I'll post it right here later on.  We both thought it was a best Thanksgiving dinner yet.  Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving day and dinner.  Now it's on to Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa.  Have I forgotten a holiday celebration?  Well, just thinking of those leftovers is making my stomach growl.  Will post a photo later.  Until then it is a very, very rainy day here in the 'Burgh so much so that flooding may become an issue!  Hope you have had a great day.  I'm happy to be posting again.  Will talk to you later.

Now that my tummy is full, I can describe what's on the plate.  At the top is orange cauliflower, going to the right turkey with gravy and then mashed Yukon gold potatoes and my herbed cranberry orange relish.  It was almost as good as Thanksgiving.  The only item missing was the Crescent dinner rolls.  I've got a small can waiting for the next round of goodies!  Talk to you later.