June-uary!

There are golfers on the golf courses here.  This is January people!  What happened to the snow?  We usually have a January thaw, but we haven't had much cold weather.  Here is my little curry plant.  Pretty much not too hardy here in the 'Burgh!  It's looking pretty good.  The long range forecast doesn't look too bad either.  That may be a problem later on.  The bugs may be worse.  I just think there needs to be a bit of sub-zero weather to clean everything out.  Oh, well, we actually thought about cleaning up the garden today, because for some reason, it didn't get done as it usually does in the fall!  Well, as you can tell, we did get too far with that idea!  We are both inside working on projects of other sorts.  Well, I hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

Long Overdue and Maybe in Time for Valentine's Day!

We have this bay rum tree that I bought The Herbal Husband several years ago.  He also found the bay rum aftershave through the J. Peterman Company catalog.  I thought it had gone out of business.  Guess I was totally wrong.  They have unusual finds and one of a kind items, but no longer the bay rum aftershave.  The bottle has Dominica written on the bottle.  That's where The Herbal Husband spent some time working before we met.  We didn't meet there.  We met here in the 'Burgh.  So The Herbal Husband has been asking forever for me to make him the aftershave from the bay rum tree we have.  I found a recipe in Scrapbook #8 that contains all kind of cosmetic recipes from Susanna Reppert and The Rosemary House.  Hope it is OK to share the recipe with you.

Bay Rum
2 cups spring water
1/2 cup bay leaves
1 T glycerine (I found this at my local pharmacy.)
2 cups rum
1 t orange extract
1/2 t lemon extract

Bring water to boil and steep leaves.  (I steeped them for 30 minutes because they were dried.)  Cool and strain.  Add glycerine and mix well.  Add extracts to alcohol.  Mix alcohol mixture with bay water.  Mix well and bottle.  Store in a cool, dim place.  Tastes good too!

The last photo is only half of the recipe.  It makes a generous four cups.  I used the bay rum leaves so it made the scent more intense.  I may leave out the extracts in my next batch.  The bay rum leaves seemed to have those orange and lemon tones without the extracts.  Hopefully this will keep The Herbal Husband smelling good this year.

Windy here at the moment and rain/snow coming soon.  Just glad I figured out the blog mess from yesterday.  So if you mysteriously lose your text, but everything else is intact, try changing your template!  I'm still think conspiracy.  Hope you are having a great day or evening wherever you may be.  Talk to you later. 

I Think I'm Back in Business!

I was going to talk about this bottle today, but as usual I got sidetracked!  I googled a general question and found that changing the template got the text back for one person.  So I tried it and it seems to work.  I'm just happy to have text and photos together again.  I may be playing around with this template because I'm not all together happy with it.  I think Blogger is trying to get us to switch to those wild templates they introduced last year!  Thanks for your support as always.

I'm Even Having Trouble with my Posts in Facebook. Looks like the post is there, but when you click the full article, it brings you over to the blog and the text is gone! Yikes. Never know what you've lost until it is gone.

Oh, my posts are OK in Facebook! I am Typing in the Title Box! Still Don't Have an Answer from Blogger. Have links and photos but no text. When I edit posts from previous days, my content is all there. Text, photos, etc. My sidebar has lost the text as well, but it is all there when you check the various gadgets under the Design link. Hopefully, I will have an answer shortly or it will reset itself! Thanks for your support.

I obviously won't be posting until I get this fixed! So please stay tuned! I have asked a question on the Blogger Help Forum! You can leave me a comment. Am I the Only One Who Isn't Seeing the Text in My Posts? Comments or e-mail!

Is Anyone Else Having a Problem? I Don't Seem to Have Text in My Posts! HELP! Send me an e-mail!

Look What Came in the Mail!

This is from Urban Farmer Seeds from Indianapolis, Indiana.  I'm getting their e-mail newsletter and they had an offer I couldn't pass up the other day.  A $10 coupon!  So I got a herb seed starting kit for basil.  We have very low light here in the winter.  Worse than most places.  So I will start these sometime in early to mid April so they will be growing by mid-May or so.  What I love about Urban Farmer is that they make all (or most) of their seed packets from magazine pages and the plant marker is from recycled material.  They are having a seed sale so check it out.  Maybe another problem for Sharon Lovejoy!  Just saying!  We did have snow.  Didn't get a photo posted or maybe I should do it now.  See how dark it gets here.  We have the lights on a lot during a 'Burgh winter.  It's gone already so don't feel bad.  We had a day in the 40's and it rained.  So bye, bye snow!  Well, hope you are having a great day or night.  Talk to you later.

I Forgot I Had This One!

I got a comment from one of The Herb Companion readers on Facebook the other day about this catalog from Landreths' from New Freedom, PA.  Their catalog is $5.00, but it is very well done with the 2009-2011 catalog cover taken from an original 1884 cover.  The firm was founded by David Landreth in 1784 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  As it says in the catalog, "he chose Pennsylvania because people appeared to have more free time there, and Philadelphia was the center of wealth and sophistication in the United States."  Can't go against that decision!  I forgot that I purchased it at the Mother Earth News Fair in 2010.

The D. Landreth Seed Company is the fifth oldest corporation in America.  As a small American company, Landreth is doing whatever it can to help support jobs for Americans.  For customers purchasing $50 or more, they will refund the price of the catalog.  Better check on the website and see if that is still possible.  They have the African American Heritage Collection, seeds for the patio gardener and a children's garden collection.  They also have heirloom and classic vegetable, flower and herb seeds.  They have about a page and a half of herb seeds.  Lots of basil choices, cumin, fenugreek and purslane (One of my new favorites since Jekka was in town.)  So check them out.  I still need to get into my seed stash and figure out what to order!  So check them out and help them keep Americans employed.

Really mild here (50's) with rainstorms and I know the south keeps getting hammered.  It is almost the end of January!  We did have snow the other day.  We have just forgotten about that entirely!  Hope you all are safe and dry tonight.  Talk to you later.

If I Don't Post For Awhile!

Come over to Pinterest and check to see if I'm alright.  It's addicting and you keep getting e-mails that tell you someone has repinned a pin that you just uploaded or downloaded or liked a pin.  So then you have to check out their boards.  Oh, I think I am in trouble!  I promise to come back.  Oh, Leslie from Comfrey Cottages what have you started?  Have another cup of ginger tea.  Talk to you soon.

Good Foods and Herbs For GERD Sufferers

I enjoy the newsletter from Health.com.  You can sign up for their e-newsletter and it often has a story on reflux disease or GERD.  I think they are repeated often throughout the year because so many people are effected (or is it affected?) by GERD.  For example in 2011, they talked on September 8th about how to reduce reflux and on September 15th they discussed heartburn easing foods.  You get the idea.  Check it out even if you don't have GERD, you may find some good and worthwhile information on a problem you have.

In Dr. Duke's book, The Green Pharmacy, he talks about a couple of spices that may help like powdered cardamom or cinnamon to eliminate gas.  Can I just say I need to slip a bit more cinnamon into The Herbal Husband's food more often!  Just saying!  He also talks about papaya and pineapple both are loaded with digestive enzymes and have been widely used to relieve heartburn and indigestion.  Papaya with a little honey may even prevent it if eaten before a meal or between courses.  He adds that some nutritionists suggest that kiwifruit might help as well.  He talks about having a salad from the Bible with foods like almonds, chicory, dandelion, garlic (can't), lettuce, mustard, olives, onions (can't) and walnuts.  It's funny.  He calls garlic and onions anti-heartburn ingredients.  Can't say that for me!

These foods are listed on the health.com website as:

13 Foods That Fight Acid Reflux
Oatmeal
Ginger (Hello, I should have been reading this before!)
Aloe Vera (for thickening) (I would get this in the health food store.)
Salad but no tomato-onion-cheese-high fat dressing
Bananas
Melon
Fennel
Chicken & Turkey
Fish & Seafood
Roots & Greens
Celery
Parsley
Couscous & Brown Rice

While I was at the hair salon (beauty shop back in my time) I found a parsley and fennel salad from Rachel Ray's Everyday Magazine.  It was in her holiday magazine so it serves 20!  A bit too many, but I'm going to try and cut it in a quarter and make a little and let you know how it is.  Will probably have to eliminate the mustard.  It is a bit too harsh for me.  I have been resorting to balsamic vinegar and olive oil as my dressing choice or lemon juice and olive oil on my salads.  I don't want to go without dressing.  Not eating chocolate or tomato sauce has me depressed enough.

I did a little salmon with fennel while The Herbal Husband was away last year.  Orange juice for me is very problematic and I will probably try that recipe again with vegetable stock or fish stock.  The Herbal Husband is going to Peru for three weeks in March!  Get to eat more seafood.  Yay!   So hope this list helps you and me!  Ha!  I'm sitting sipping my ginger tea.  Really it is hard to believe that it worked so well for me!  As my friend, Kathleen Gips from The Village Herb Shop says hooray for ginger!  You will see in my banner page that the skies are clear at the moment and we awaiting our next storm.  A beautiful winter day here in the 'Burgh.  After being spring like we are in the depths of winter.  Talk to you later.

A List of Foods You May Want to Avoid with GERD!

 This list of foods to avoid comes from the Mayo Clinic website.

 Everyone has specific triggers (and they may not all be triggers for you). Common triggers such as fatty or fried foods, tomato sauce, alcohol, chocolate, mint, (cilantro), garlic (raw), onion (raw), (peppers and cucumbers), (spicy foods), (carbonated beverages), (citrus fruit, except lemons), (fruit juice, except apple juice sort of) and caffeine may make heartburn worse. Avoid foods you know will trigger your heartburn.  (That's sometimes difficult to do!)

My comments in that quote are in parenthesis and bold letters. You may not be able to tolerate peppermint but you may be able to tolerate spearmint which is in the photo above.  Spearmint seems to work better for me.  My master gardening friend and I were discussing why most antacids are peppermint flavored.  I have no idea.  I have to get fruit flavors if I take antacids at all and you know I do.  I also have trouble with cilantro, both raw and cooked.  That's a big problem because The Herbal Husband makes something called Seco with meat, potatoes and cilantro and it is delicious but I always have to take something extra when I have it.  That's just between you and me!

The other food that pains me (pun intended) to avoid is tomato sauce.  I can have a bit of tomato in a salad or on a sandwich but I can't eat pizza with tomato sauce or a big plate of spaghetti with tomato sauce!  I make my own sauce and I can't eat it!  I sometimes have a little bit of sauce and drink a big glass of milk with it.  I know Tyler Florence does a Spaghetti Bolognese sauce that has milk in it, but can you can it?  You see over the years when at the end of the season I have canned whole tomatoes and then as our stash of canned sauce has dwindled, I have tomatoes that I can make into sauce.  I just googled the question and my thought is that I can add it to the sauce when I'm heating it in the microwave for me after the sauce is canned without it.  Does that make sense?  If you have added milk to homemade spaghetti sauce and canned it successfully, please let me know!

Again this is my food list to avoid if you have GERD.  You may or may not have these items on your avoid list.

The wind has picked up here.  We are supposed to get snow.  Not a lot but enough to interrupt our dinner plans for this evening.  Hope you are having a great day.  We'll  talk about foods that are good for GERD in my next post.  Talk to you later.

GERD and Herbs

As you may know I have had GERD for the last 12 years.  On a scale from 1 to 10 with 10 being the worst, I'm a 15.  I had a cough, congestion and hoarseness from the beginning that wouldn't go away with any cough syrup or antibiotic.  I finally went and had a scope done at an ear, nose and throat specialist and found out that acid was coming up into my throat.  Not a good thing.  I have been on medication of some kind since.  For the most part, my GERD has been under control.  For the better part of the last week, I have been having a burning sensation in my throat and my medication times two failed to help.  My major trouble is my lower esophagus sphincter is lax so the acid just has a party every chance I give it.  I also have a hiatal hernia which gives me other complications.  No tomato sauce!

My English Herbal Companion emailed and encouraged me to try homeopathy.  She said it does take time, but it works.  I thought I really don't have time.  I can't have this acid in my throat.  I was already biopsied for Barrett's esophagus which could lead to cancer!  Not good.  I usually don't talk medicinal herbs on this blog.  I am not a practiced medicinal herbalist, but I'm sharing my story with you so it may help you.  One of my favorite websites is the Mayo Clinic for health information.  Well, long story short I went to one of my medicinal herbal books.  Yes, I do have them, but I haven't used them as much as others.  This may change after the story I am about to share.

My Herbal Companion, Bonnie and I got to hear Dr. Duke speak in 1998.  At various times, I read his book because it is easy to follow and he uses good common sense and research.  Why I didn't remember this section on heartburn is unclear.  I must have read it at least a couple of times over the last 12 years.  The first paragraph talks about a colleague that had come to him asking him for a remedy for heartburn.  He told Dr. Duke that he had used ginger and it had worked.  Dr. Duke was surprised because he knew it would be good for nausea caused by motion sickness and morning sickness in pregnant women.  Dr. Duke also suggested that he add peppermint, but he also states that some people cannot tolerate peppermint and I am one of them.  I can tolerate spearmint which works just as well.  I don't understand why antacid which sometimes I have had to rely on is peppermint flavored!

Heartburn does not occur in the stomach.   It is mostly in the throat.  That is because the lower esophageal sphincter doesn't close completely allowing acid back into the throat.  That is exactly what I have.   So I thought I don't have anything to lose.  I might as well try it.  First, though I had purchased some ginger root candy (I can't find this candy on the web any longer or I would suggest it for you.) at The Village Herb Shop in Chagrin Falls.  I was chewing on a piece every so often and it was helping the symptoms.  Not completely but it was helping.  Then I made a tea from the root and sipped that and when I completed the tea, my symptoms were gone!  I'm not kidding.  I have gone back to one pill instead of two.  I did see a new GI doctor in the practice where I go and he was impressed.  We talked about other herbs Dr. Duke suggested including camomile, dill seed and fennel seed.  Because I take blood pressure medicine, I have to be careful about which herbs I use, but he said all of my choices were fine to try.  He said we prescribe ginger ale for patients with upset stomachs and he was pleased that this worked so well for me.

So always go to your doctor if you have persistent burning in your throat.  If you know you have GERD and you are looking for relief, try candied ginger or ginger tea.  Here is what I did:  Take about three slices of fresh ginger root and chop them up and place them in a tea ball or strainer.  Pour boiling water over them and let it steep for about 5 minutes.  Enjoy!  As always, do your homework.  What worked for me might necessarily work for you.  GERD is a very serious disease and if you have heartburn two or more times a week, you need to seek the advice of your doctor.  Again this is my experience.  Your experience may be completely different.  I'll let you know about the other choices of herbs in later posts and I want to discuss foods and herbs you may be should avoid and others that you may want to incorporate into your diet.

And look what came in the mail today.  I think there is a message here for me.  This is one of the seed catalogs I discussed in my Herb Companion post, Herb Seed Catalogs Mark the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.  Isn't this the most beautiful cover for an herb catalog you have seen from Mountain Rose Herbs?  You don't have to wait for the paper catalog to show up, but I love on the inside it says, "~Our catalogue is best viewed while sipping tea~"  Think I'll do that!  Very cold here, but we were in the 50's yesterday!  A weird and wacky January in the 'Burgh!  Talk to you later.

Maybe You Can Help Me with Pinterest?

My buddy, Leslie of Comfrey Cottages has pinned me (get it) with a Pinterest account.  I actually do get it.  So come follow me and see where this adventure takes us.

More Herb Seed Catalogs in the Mailbox!

I decided to update my post for The Herb Companion called Herb Seed Catalogs Mark the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.  Here are the latest arrivals in my mailbox.

Select Seeds is one I have ordered from for a number of years from Connecticut.  They specialize seeds and plants of cottage annuals, flowering vines and fragrant flowers and scented leaves and perennials.  Also they have herbs and edibles and heirloom tomato selections  in both seeds and plants.

Horizon Herbs was one I found online from Google from Oregon.  They have a wide range of organic seeds and plants for spring and summer planting, cover crops, vegetables, culinary herbs and spices, Strictly Medicinal herbs, rare, historical, dye, cacti, odd and wonderful herbs, trees and shrubs.  You get the idea.  They have seeds of Medicine and Seeds of Sustenance.  Haven't order from Horizon yet!  See if it may have what you are looking for.

The last one in the mailbox is from one of my favorite international herb sellers, Richters in Goodwood, Ontario.  Their catalog is a great reference source for me.  They have the latest and greatest herb seeds and plants for sale.  They sell plants both by mail order for the United States and with the right paperwork, you can go to Canada and bring your herb plants home with you.  Going to do that someday soon!  All three of these catalogs have lots of different varieties that you may be looking.  Check them all out.

Well, we are cool not cold again.  Very odd winter so far.  Not complaining, but the plants are really confused!  Hope you had a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

What a Difference a Day Makes!

It is so cold out!  As you can see, we didn't get the snow forecasted.  I guess you can say that's the good news, but the bad news is, IT'S FREEZING!  I didn't dare step outside.  That's why the photos are a bit blurry.  The wind chill is in the single digits here!  What a difference!  Hope you are staying warm and toasty wherever you may be or cool and comfortable if you are in the southern hemisphere.  It's laundry day so there was much moving in the basement of the herbal jungle!  I did a post about it back in November.  Here's a link.  Got to run.  Talk to you later.

We're Slightly Confused Here and It Doesn't Take Much!

As you can see by the banner photo, we still do not have snow on the ground.  Here is my patch of pineapple mint (Mentha suaveolens variegata) and it actually has some green showing.  Very unusual for January 12th!

These two are feverfews (Tanacetum parthenium) that are nice and green.  These have a double white flower.  I really like the single daisy flower better.  They seem to self sow just as well whatever you may have.

We have a few gray and green herbs here, mostly sages, Nazareth sage and Compact sage (Salvia officinalis 'Nazareth' and Salvia officinalis 'Nana'), thymes like Provencal thyme (Thymus vulgaris 'Provencal' and germanders (Teucrium chamadrys).

One of my favorites in salads, salad burnet (Sanguisorba minor) is always green through the winter when it isn't buried in snow.

A 'Bergarten' sage (Salvia officinalis cv. 'Berggarten') and a bloody dock or bloodly sorrel (Rumex sanguineus) are looking good as well.   Just between you and me, the bloody docks have also begun to multiple and crowd out other plants.

Then there is my problem area.  Always have liked my ornamental grasses until they have started to invade the herb garden!  Will have to dig up all of the good plants and get out the invading species and replant my herbs.  It will be an ongoing process.  It may be that we will have to cut down our ornamental grasses in the fall so that they will not seed so prolifically, but we also like to feed the birds and give them cover.  It also covers the cats as well.  Well, another subject for another day.

This final photo is a golden sage (Salvia officinalis 'Aurea') which also was a winner this summer.
Well, the snow is finally coming tomorrow.  First, they said it wasn't going to amount to much and now they are saying up to 5 inches!  So I made the grocery run today and hopefully we won't lose power and we will be all warm and cozy in the 'Burgh.  Hope you are staying warm or cool wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Part 3

This herb seed catalog from The Thyme Garden is mentioned in my latest Herb Companion blog post called Herb Seed Catalogs Mark the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.  This is a $2 catalog, but it is a wonderful catalog just full of wonderful herb seeds and interesting information.  They started out as a restaurant and then bought a farm to carry on their herb seed and plant business.  They do have herbal lunches during the summer months plus they host weddings.  What a beautiful place to have a wedding. It is definitely on my herbal list of places to visit on the west coast.  I will be honest though.  I have never ordered anything until this year!  So here are my selections.

Top row from left to right:  Quillquina (Porophyllum ruderale) is a cilantro like plant from Bolivia, Shunginku (Chrysanthemum coronarium) an edible chrysanthemum, Black hollyhock (Alcea rosea nigra) one of The Herbal Husband's favorities and also an edible flower, a complimentary packet of Bachelor Buttons (Centaurea cyanus), unclear whether this is an edible flower or not.  Some say yes and others say no.  It is not poisonous so you can decide.  Maybe using petals as a garnish to start as they do at The Thyme Garden.  On the bottom row from left to right:  Lemon Savory (Satureja biflora), an unusual savory native to South Africa.  It is an annual for us, but if you put it in a container.  It self-sows into that container and you can keep it going inside during the winter.  I found the plant at Mulberry Creek Herb Farm in Ohio, but lately they have not carried it, Black Lovage (Smyrnium olusatrum), the description says it is a native of the Mediterranean area and W. Europe.  It looks like a huge parsley plant.  All parts of the plant are used in cooking and have a mild celery flavor, Lime Basil (Ocimum americanum) is a different flavor to make jelly and I had a bumper crop of lemon basil jelly last year.  Let's try lime this year and finally, White Borage (Borago officinalis cv) because it reminds me of Sissinghurst Castle and their white garden.

I love the Thyme Garden's small seed packets, but I love what's on the back on the package the most.  I think it sums it up beautifully!

Welcome to Our Herb Family!  Raise 'Em Right!  Can't wait to get started.  We are still having unseasonably warm weather.  Hope you are having a great day wherever you might be.  Need to go make lunch.  Talk to you later.

A New Herb Group Near Derby, England

This was the river outside our bed & breakfast in Shardlow, Derbyshire, England in 2009.  That was a wonderful trip.  Now my blogging friend, Debs Cook is trying to form an herb group in her area of Sinfin, Derby, England.  She already has a programme schedule for the year.  It's a nominal fee of 3.50 pounds for refreshments and guest speaker charges.  Here is the link for her post New Herb Group in Derby for 2012.  She'll be posting about the group's activities so we can all learn something new about herbs even if you aren't down the lane from her house.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Part 2

Can't complain about the mail when they are bringing such great packets!  Today's mail brought my seed order from Renee's Garden Seeds and one that I talk about in my latest post for The Herb Companion called Herb Seed Catalogs Mark the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.  I have ordering from Renee Shepherd for many years when she had a catalog called Shepherd's Garden Seeds and now she is online and through select retailers around the country.  I do not buy a lot of herb plants in seeds.  I do not have the space to grow many plants nor the time to tend them indoors.  So we have begun sticking to annual flowers that can be direct sown in the garden.

This packet included from left to right (top row):  'Whirlybird Mix' nasturtiums (no spur on the back of the flower), 'Alaska Mix' nasturtiums (variegated leaves), 'Buttercream' nasturtium (mounding variety), 'Vanilla Berry' nasturtium (mounding variety) and 'Cup of Sun' nasturtium (mounding variety), 'Chocolate Cherry' sunflower (ornamental) and 'Sunzilla' sunflowers (giant).  I'm hoping to use the 'Sunzilla' as a border in the back of my garden.  I did that several years ago and it looked so cool.  Haven't been able to duplicate it since!  Ugh!  Then Renee's Garden has joined the Hunt for Bees and gave us a packet of 'Lemon Queen' sunflowers.  I have had something like these in past gardens.  So if it will bring the bees, I'm in!

As you can see by the banner photo, the snow has retreated and we were in the 50's today!  Not complaining but the bulbs may start to grow.  I'm trying not to pay attention!  If I ignore them, they will just stay underground!  Hope you have had a great day.  Talk to you later.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Always enjoy the holidays and not why you may expect!  It's the time for all of the wonderful seed catalogs to come through our mailbox.  Something different than junk for a change.  My latest post for The Herb Companion catalogs (get it!) my list of favorite and new favorite catalogs for purchasing herb seeds called Herb Seed Catalogs Mark the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.  Guess what?  I already got my first order in the mail today from the above catalog, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.  You can read about it at The Herb Companion, but here are the seeds I ordered:

From left to right on the top row are:  Janet Scott (very profuse blooming) pink sweet pea, Beaujolais (a rich, burgundy wine color) sweet pea and Blue Reflections (a mix of blue and white) sweet peas and a FREE tomato called Riesentraube.  On the bottom row from left to right is Elephant dill (late-flowering) that is productive, Sweet four o'clocks (delightful exotic fragrance), Jewel Peach Melba nasturtium (dwarf plants) and Dwarf Cherry Rose nasturtium (I have a theme going on with the nasturtiums!)  Have ordered more seeds.  So will share those with you as they come in.  Isn't it great?  Now I have to check out the seeds in our seed stash.  Mostly veggies.  I know you have one too!  So the snow will go bye bye for a while since our temperatures are going into the 40's.  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

Well, Someone Finally Threw The Switch!

Well, Happy New Year 2012!  We finally have winter weather to report.  I went out to do some errands and barely got back home.  We had that wonderful lake effect snow, but it reminded me of New England!  I do love the winter sunsets when the sun is out.  Beautiful crisp colors.

Our house looks so different but in a good way with the white door.  The rhodies are the best thermometer this time of year.  Well, hope you are staying toasty in the northeast and even in the south. 

Looking at 2011 I didn't do a very good job blogging about herbs!  Very haphazard, herbally speaking.  Will try to do better this year.  Working on some tea combinations.  Will talk about them in the coming days.