My Favorite Getting a Quick Dose of Sun and Other Stuff!

The Lemon Verbena is More Like a Topiary These Days!

George, One of Three Feral Cats The Herbal Husband Treats!

Four Squares Down, Eight To Go!  This Square Are Cornflowers!

Well, we are not having February weather at all!  I do like to be snowed in and Mother Nature is NOT cooperating!  I am not sure that she will.  Today is a beautifully sunny day in the mid to upper 60's.  This is February?  Usually this means we will have a crappy March or jump from spring to summer in a couple of days!  I am only complaining because the bug populations needs to be really really put in the deep freeze and that has not happened this season.  We usually get about two feet of snow per winter.  Sometimes we are wildly over that amount, but this year we are under, but not by much.  Well the one thing about warmer weather that I love are the spring bulbs and they will be popping here soon!  I am sure a lot of herbs will be showing their leaves if this continues.

So the lemon verbena has turned into a topiary which isn't all bad, but hopefully getting it out in the fresh air and sun will stimulate the lower branches to produce!  Your lemon verbenas that are inside should be showing signs of life.  As long as you have been watering them about every two weeks, they should be starting to produce leaves.  Took the cover off the lemon verbena we left in the herb garden and it was very wet.  So while we have about a week of really mild weather, we are going to leave the cover off and let it dry out!  We have had a very mild winter so maybe we will get lucky and it will come back.  Can I just mention that I pulled from the shelf one of my favorite herb books, Mrs. Reppert's Twelve Month Herbal.  I think I talked about this book on many occasions.  It is so much fun to read day by day and in some cases for me, it mirrored the happenings in my herb garden.  Really, really fun to sit and hang out with Mrs. Reppert in her herb garden!  Fortunately, it is still available on The Rosemary House website. 

That second photo is of one of the feral cats called George that The Herbal Husband has become fond of.  I think I mentioned he started "treating" some cats while I was in England one year.  I came home to find treats on the table in the basement where I do laundry!  George has become a wide load and in this photo he was rolling around on the driveway getting the dust off!  I am allergic to cats so they are all his!

The third photo is of my progress on my afghan and the first row is complete.  I need the step stool to get an aerial view.  Oh, maybe I need a drone for that!  Probably not!  The photo is the fourth square in the first row, cornflowers.  I am enjoying this stitch so much.  I have already plotted my path for the next row.

I hope you are enjoying your break from your herb garden.  Many of us in the northern half of the U.S. have not had a normal winter.  I hope that it mostly a good herbal thing!  I will be back out there soon enough.  Actually looking today to see what I could start doing and I may share that in my next post!  Talk to you later!

Thanks for the Wonderful Surprise, Mar!

A Clue to My Surprise with Her Heartfelt William Morris Note!

Next a Sampler of Possibilities from Barbara Brackman and William Morris!

My best friend, Marilyn (I call her Mar) and I went out for a birthday/anniversary lunch last week.  Mar and I have been through many ups and downs over our 40 years of friendship!  She reminded me of one of those moments in her birthday note for me.

You see we share a birthday and anniversary.  Thirty-two years ago I was dumped by my boyfriend and I was not the ideal wedding guest for Tom and Mar's wedding on my 30th birthday!  And somehow she was glad that that episode occurred!  Over the past year she has weathered a couple of storms in her health.  She is lucky and happy to still be alive.  I love her kids like they are my own.  She is a terrific seamstress and she surprised me with some swatches of William Morris patterned cloth from Barbara Brackman for a quilt just for me.  William Morris was a British force in design in the 19th century.  Not going to be a large quilt just enough to cover me when I'm rocking in the nursing home!

I have tried to get away from presents between the two of us and have even given best friend coupons as a gift for her.  I thought spending time together would be the greatest gift.  It hasn't worked very well yet.  I still have hope!  So I was very shocked to find a gift bag in the front seat of the car when she picked me up.

Thank you so much Mar for your support, love and friendship.  Sisters couldn't be closer than we are.  I look forward to the reveal of my surprise birthday quilt!

Lovely hot weather in the final week of August.  Trying to pick raspberries before they are ruined by the stink bugs!  Looking forward to my birthday later this week.  I'll post my traditional lunch that The Herbal Husband makes for me and we are taking a road trip to Ohio for dinner.  I'll share that in a later post!

Herb and Garden Festival, Downton Abbey Costumes and Terrain!

Well, as I said in my last post, my herbal companion, Bonnie and I went down east as they say here.  We spent the afternoon at the 16th Herb and Garden Festival in York.  Where were we for the other 15 I asked?  Then we spent a beautiful day both outside and inside at Winterthur in Delaware on Saturday and ended our traveling herbal extravaganza at Terrain on Sunday.  This is just a small bit of our adventures.  I'll show you more later.

Posters from Past Herb and Garden Festivals

Duncan, our Garden Tram Operator at Winterthur

One of My Favorite Dresses of the Downton Abbey Collection

An Embroidered Map of Pennsylvania with the Counties!

The Garden Conservatory at Winterthur!

Terrain Decorated for Easter!

We had great weather and a fun time.  I'll write more in my next post.  That 4 letter word (SNOW) that I have come to hate is falling from the sky.  Fortunately for us, the ground is warm and it is just melting on impact.  So hope you are having a great day.  We do have spring flowers blooming in the garden.  Hope they don't get covered by snow!  Talk to you later!

Three More Daffodils!

Off The Subject, Quilt Time!

A Bird Inspired Motif by The Tentmakers of Cairo!

An Audubon Inspired Quilt

A Quilt with HERBS!

One of My Favorites, Mt. Ruffmore!

Best in Show, An All Silk Quilt!

I'll get back to the garden.  I promise.  Well, it's been a couple of weeks since the American Quilt Society had one of several quilt weeks in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  My best friend, Marilyn (who is the real quilter) and I drove down there to enjoy the show and do some shopping.  Here are just a few of my favorites.  Two of the Tentmakers of Cairo were there demonstrating their immense talent.  Applique was my downfall in quilting and they take it on like they were machines doing the applique!  They were truly amazing and their quilts were flying off the walls.  The majority of what they had on display had sold.  This is a link to a website where they are producing a documentary about the Tentmakers of Chareh El Khiamiah.  There are some beautiful photos of their work under the link on the left side called Photos.

Then there were quilts that were made from patterns that were available and so quilters could see the finished project.  Of course, the next quilt caught my eye with the herb theme.  You know me.  I'll find herbs just about anywhere!  One of my favorite quilts was called Mt. Ruffmore.  I don't have any pets, but I just loved the whimsy of this quilt.  The last photo is of the Best in Show which won a $10,000 cash prize.  It was just beautiful.  All in all, it was an overwhelming experience, but fun.  Quilters are a talented group of women and men and their love of their hobby showed through in this show.  I'll share some more favorites later.

Still cold here in the 'Burgh.  Slowly warming up outside.  I can actually see a bit of blue sky.  So there is hope!  Hope you are having a great day.

Let's Just Say A Road Trip Not Quite Around the Corner!

I guess you could say that I'm following Sharon Lovejoy around.  Not stalking.  I love my Sharon.  She is the best and she has an adorable bird book out.  She and Jeff are on this crazy book tour thing.  She was at the Books by the Banks festival in Cincinnati on Saturday.  A symphony of children!  That's the nice way to put it.  And I thought I'll put The Herbal Husband on a plane to Tampa on Thursday and off Bonnie (my herbal companion) and I will go on Friday and catch up with Sharon and her phone man, Jeff.  You can read Sharon's version in her post called Drinking from Johnny Appleseed's Spring.  You should read the entire post, but if you just want to cut to the good part, scroll down to the bottom of the post and you will see what I brought to share with our friends.  I pinch myself to be able to say that I know Sharon Lovejoy and Jeff Prostovich and they are friends of mine.  We shared a meal together at Via Vite.  Couldn't hear everything that was said between the packed restaurant and the background music.  I think we had a great time.  Safe journey to my Sharon and her Jeff.  Bonnie and I send our love across the country for your safe return to California.  I'll share the herb gardens tomorrow, because you know we visited some.  BTW, beautiful Indian summer weather here in the 'Burgh.  Lulls one into a false sense that summer will continue for awhile longer.  Not so.  Will plunge back to reality next week I hear.  Talk to you later. 

It's All in the Details at Chanticleer!

The Rooster the Symbol of Chanticleer

The Estate at Chanticleer

Stunning Combinations of Plants Along the Pathways

Teacup Fountain in the Teacup Garden

Yes, Banana Trees!

Intimate Benches to Enjoy the Gardens

Groups of Seating Around the Main House

Tennis Court Garden

Seating Area in the Tennis Court Garden

A Favorite Sunflower in the Cut-Flower and Vegetable Garden

Pumpkin Bench in the Cut-Flower and Vegetable Garden

A Big Celosia!

Entrance to the Cut-Flower and Vegetable Garden

Well, I'm still at Chanticleer because there are so many great views of this wonderful garden.  Chanticleer was built as a summer home for the Rosengarten family.  They were in the pharmaceutical business which become part of Merck in the 1920's.  The house and grounds were left to the public after Mr. Rosengarten's death in 1990.  The gardens were open to the public in 1993.  While there isn't an herb garden separate from other gardens, there are herbs placed in various locations all over the grounds.  If you use the link I have given you above, you can go to the individual gardens and look at the plants lists with some photos and get an idea of what was blooming in the 2012 Chanticleer Gardens.  It is an amazing garden and truly and pleasure to visit.  I have been trying to get jelly made.  Will post when I can.  Beautiful weather here at the moment but the rain is supposed to come in later this afternoon and tonight.  Hope you are having a great day.  Talk to you later.

So Exciting! Celebrated the Herb of the Year-Horseradish!

I got to meet a follow blogger and follower, Kathy S. who just happened to be at The Village Herb Shop this morning when my Herbal Companion, Bonnie and I celebrated the Herb of the Year, Horseradish with Kathleen Gips.  We learned about horseradish and there is a lot to learn.  Eat some wonderful nibbles of food made by Heather and made several products using horseradish as a workshop.  Kathleen is always so thorough and we just have a wonderfully herbal day when we are with her.  She used my horseradish jelly to top a delicious bread.  Just click on the link to get the recipe.  I will say that it didn't gel the last two times I made it!  Ugh!  It did gel the first time.  I'm thinking bad batch of Certo.  It was next year's expiration so it should have worked!  I hate when that happens so I will be tweeking the recipe and I will give you the new version as soon as it is ready.  We always have a great time at Kathleen's.  I'm going to be doing an Herb Companion post next time.  So stay tuned.  It is raining cats, dogs and huge bolts of lightning!  It is a little scary.  The ride home today was lengthened by the storms!  Hope you are doing well wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

A Rose Petal Tea Party and Rosemary and Rose at the Flower Show!

My Herbal Companion, Bonnie and I went up to one of our favorite herb shops, The Village Herb Shop in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.  We were treated to a rose petal tea party with both rose petal tea and jasmine flower tea with goodies like cherry chocolate cake, ginger cookies, tart cherry scones with lemon curd and vanilla/cherry mini cupcakes.  Kathleen Gips, owner of The Village Herb Shop always gives a lovely tea presentation.  The two ladies in the second photo were the educational/entertainment called Herbal Theatrics.  Connie Williams (Rose) on the left and Karen Rodachy (Rosemary) on the right were both entertaining and educational.  This was their newest program, Rosemary and Rose at the Flower Show.  Ladies, you were very funny.  They also have programs on lavender, thyme, a one on chocolate and bay.

If you would like Herbal Theatrics contact information, please leave me a comment or e-mail me (put Herbal Theatrics info in the subject line) and I will get you their information.   Have missed going to The Village Herb Shop.  It was a wonderful day!  From Don't Throw in the Trowel by Texas Bix Bender:

Perfumes are the feelings of flowers.

Will post the horseradish jelly recipe tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping by.  Talk to you later.

A Very Sculptural Herb!

This is the photo I wanted to use for my post on Aloe vera the other day.  You see, we don't pay much attention to our aloe.  We do use it because it is in the kitchen, but it has become very sculptural!  We were shopping today and we bought the grocery store out!  I don't know how we got it all put away!  It just amazes me.  The car was overflowing and it's just the two of us.  Well, it's going to snow again tomorrow in time for the Steelers/Ravens game.  Just as well, we bought out the store!  Well, I hope you are staying warm or cool wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.  The quote of the day is from my favorite, Mrs. Reppert's TwelveMonth Herbal:

 They have medicinal, artistic and culinary

values; but, traditionally, they have a

meaningful spiritual quotient as well.

--Rob Wood, Spoutwood Farm

A Visit to Chester, New Jersey!

When I dropped The Herbal Husband at his toy show in Allentown, I took off to visit one of my favorite towns in New Jersey, Chester.  You saw my visit to the Sally Lunn Tearoom earlier.  Here is a business that has a very nice display garden, Bountiful Gardens.  Then I had to take a photo of this white birch arbor making a very nice entrance to an art gallery.  We were working outside trying to get things tidy up.  Nice and warm today.  Colder for Thanksgiving!  Hope you had a great day.  Talk to you later.

Live Wreath Class At The Village Herb Shop!

We started with this!

And Ended With This!

And This!

My Herbal Companion, Bonnie and I went up to spend the day with Kathleen Gips at The Village Herb Shop in Chagrin Falls, Ohio for a live wreath class.  I would say that it was intense and when it gets intense, I get chatty!  I apologize to everyone at my table!  I am also a Virgo--Perfectionist!  One of the teachers came up to me and said, "Nancy, it doesn't have to be perfect!"  She knew me right away.  I was able to let the perfection part go and I just got it done.  Everyone said walk around and see everyone else's, but I was so overwhelmed, I couldn't!  Everyone's was beautiful and different.  The bottom photo is Bonnie's wreath.  The Herbal Husband was impressed with the finished product!  It's bigger than our dining room table!  Will have to find a special place for it during the holidays.

Just want to send positive energy to Kathleen and her husband, Jack.  Kathleen was in the hospital with Jack and couldn't be with us.  She was there in spirit and we learned during the class that everything was fine with Jack!  If you are in the Chagrin Falls area, please stop by The Village Herb Shop.  It is chock full of Christmas cheer and items for your Christmas gift giving pleasure!  Hope you had a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later!

We Have Returned and Guest Blogging for The Herb Companion Magazine!

Front Gate of Fulham Palace, London, England

Cafe at Fulham Palace

Nibbles for Lunch at Fulham Palace

We are back from our little trip to the east!  I'm exhausted from driving!  It's for your safety and mine that I do the driving.  I think I have explained that before.  Has something to do with being Latin!  We put on almost 900 miles on The Herbal Husband's Honda!  Better than average mileage with that car and it's 16 years old!  Will share some travel highlights in the coming days!

The photos above are from my trip to England in September and that is my latest guest post for The Herb Companion magazine entitled The Herb Gardens of Fulham Palace.  Hope you enjoy it.  I think I have another award from my friend, Julie at Laughing Horse Art.  I'll get to that later in the week.  Thanks, Julie!  Beautiful weather outside.  Must get to the leaves on the ground and the ivy on the roof is still an issue!  Got to find someone to tackle that before the weather gets really bad!  Talk to you later!

Another Herbal Timeout!

Well, it is time again for you all to talk amongst yourselves.  The Herbal Husband and I are going to take a road trip east for our anniversary.  We are stopping by The Rosemary House and Sweet Remembrances Tearoom on the way down.  Then we are staying with our long time friends in Washington Boro and then going to Allentown for a toy show on Saturday for The Herbal Husband.  I'm going to Well-Sweep Herb Farm in New Jersey and to Sally Lunn Tearoom for lunch hopefully with one of the wives of the toy collectors.  Then we are coming back to stay another night with our friends in Washington Boro.  A very understanding couple!  A busy and packed schedule.  Lots of driving.  The Herbal Husband gets his toys and I get my herbs and tea.  A win, win situation!  Talk to you later!

Herb Channeler, Part Five and Cheep Rooms on Thursdays!

A lot of them!  This is a dual post.  One of my favorite herb shops in Pennsylvania is The Rosemary House!  This is a building covered with birdhouses in the back of their herb garden.  I know you have heard of The Rosemary House because I'm always talking about one of my favorite herbal authors and founder of The Rosemary House, Bertha Reppert.  Now it is owned and operated by Susanna Reppert-Brill and her husband, David.  They have a lot of holiday events coming along with Nancy Reppert's, Sweet Remembrances Tearoom.  So check out their events schedules.  They have lots of fun events during the holidays for the whole family!  The Herbal Husband and I are going to be stopping by in the next couple weeks.  Can't wait!  Only getting colder here and very windy.  Just out walking and was almost blown over a couple of times!  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be!  Talk to you later!

A Beautiful Day at the Mother Earth News Fair at Seven Springs!

The Hotel at Seven Springs

Jim Long Talking About Growing and Using Herbs

Lemon Verbena Lady Meets Jim Long

K.C. Compton and Fall in Love with Flavor

Lemon Verbena Lady Meets K.C.

Lily of the Valley's Booth

Companion Plant's Booth

A Belgium Draft Horse That's 17.3 Hands High!

Momma and Baby Alpacas

Overview of Outside Exhibitors Area

Well, I hope you get an idea of what you may have missed if you weren't up at Seven Springs in southwestern Pennsylvania.  It was a beautiful day and lots of people from all over the country (We were behind a license plate from California!) were at the Mother Earth News Fair.  You still have a day to pack up the kids and go!  There was so much traffic at the beginning that we missed most of Jim Long's talk on herbs.  Sorry, Jim!  We did have a brief meeting and I gave him some cinnamon basil jelly!  You have inspired me for years, Jim!  Thanks for all of the good information.  We did get to hear the editor-in-chief of The Herb Companion magazine, K.C. Compton speaking about herbs and flavors.  You were very informative, K.C. and I'm not just saying that because I blog for you!

My American Herbal Companion and I had to try out the crab cake sandwich for lunch.  It was hit.  Two of our favorite herb sellers were there, Lily of the Valley in Minerva, Ohio and Companion Plants in Athens, Ohio.  Then we moved outside and looked at the farm animals, the Belgium draft horses were huge, 17.3 hands high!  The alpacas, momma and baby were beautiful.  The last photo is an over view of the outside area.  We had a fun day.  You will too if you go!  I'm going to be in the garden tomorrow.  Got to attack those stray and pesky ornamental grasses and garlic chives!    Hope you had a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.