HerbnArts

HerbnArts: In Search of Christmas Joy... : Thunderbird     ...Vibrant blue skies filled with fluffy clouds, orange golden sunlight pouring through naked trees, these were the cond...

Thunderbird     ...Vibrant blue skies filled with fluffy clouds, orange golden sunlight pouring through naked trees, these were the conditions of the day that said anything but Christmas time in the Magic City.  It was early December and we had only a whisper of snow over the area.  The golden sunlight made me want to play outside, but it was cold, in the 40's, and there was no one to play with anyway.  Quiet holiday music floated on the air from my radio as I began remembering Christmases past.  I should be out there taking photos, but the light would fade into evening before I could get anywhere interesting to capture on camera.  It is that hour of frustration that makes me crazy as I struggle with restlessness before dark.  For the photographer in me, light and color can be so distracting at times.               The approaching holidays have left me a bit numb as I am yet to do any seasonal decorating.  As of yet it has not snowed in the Magic City.  Today is gray, I mean

Beaver contemplating the Beaver Moon Rosemary blossoms          ...Looking as though someone had shaken a giant snow globe, the Magic City was experiencing its first squall of the winter season.  At least it wasn't brutally cold.  This is the kind of snow that makes it fun to take a walk.  It has been ever so amusing to watch my newest kitty, Midnight, getting so excited about those white things flying around outside.  Her inky little nose has been pressed against my windows all morning.  Occasionally she tries to touch the active flakes through the glass.  This is her first experience with snow and she is utterly fascinated by the white wonders.  My other two fur babies couldn't care less about the snow event and are participating in their morning snooze event instead.             Strains of holiday music filled the day as we are hardly half way through November.  My favorite radio station decided to begin the musical celebration early this year.  How annoy

Last leaf magic of the season Milkweed Pod seeds Rosemary branches in decorative basket ...Once November rolls around, the weather in Ohio is up for grabs.  Wet and cold are the day's beginning with what has been predicted to turn into snow. A lot of people struggle with the time change differences, and adding insult to injury is the arthritic wet that has come upon us. Strangely enough, I don't seem to have quite the same problems a others seem to struggle with.  I am sure that is due in part to the myriad of herbs and vitamins I take throughout my day.  Holy basil is a huge help to me as the sunlight continues to hide from the Magic City.  Investing in a pontoon boat might be wise, too.  But I digress. Yes, it has been raining a lot.  Between wind and rain, the autumn color is lying soggy on the ground everywhere.  Rain water makes colors pop, if one is willing to venture out into the rain to capture interesting leaf magic before snow changes the landscape.  I lik

...Gray and dreary, the day became a lot colder here in Ohio. Every time the wind dares to blow a bit, the trees rustle sending a torrent of suddenly colorful leaves raining down everywhere.  These are the days that make me think about seasonal goodies.  I know that I often mention having a cookie with my tea.  Actually, this is more of a wish than an action for me.  If I gave in to the cookie dream, I would be the size of a small barn by now.  And tea for me is still unsweetened.  I like tea, and I want to actually taste the particular tea I am drinking at the time.  Maybe that is a Japanese mindset, but it works for me.  And yes, I am a bit of a tea snob.  Whenever I visit friends I take my own tea.  Of course I share my tea with them if they are so inclined, but I drink what I like and refuse to suffer nasty tasting "rot-gut" tea.  There, I said it...tea snob I am.  As for the rare cookie accompaniment, I am a snob there, too.  At this time of year I fondly remember the de

Four Pumpkins       ...October already!  The days are warm and the nights are definitely chilly.  But it isn't quite time for Halloween.  Mid-October only now is beginning to hint at the ghoulish haunting season.  The full moon had light gray clouds slowly moving across its pale face as it stared from an inky sky. As folks settled down for the evening, resting before the next work day prods them along, the town grew quiet except for the crickets' nightly concert.  I am holding onto that quietude.  It is one of the reasons I so love autumn.  Such a short season as each moment, each sound, and each aroma on the air must be savored.  Earlier today I was shopping for scented candles with the hope of capturing the perfumes of fall.  Already the holiday scents had taken overtaken the fall fragrances from the store shelves.  Everything smelled so artificial. Returning home empty-handed, I harvested some of the last handfuls of aromatic herbs from Le Petit Jardin.  Freshly cut fenn

Herb Vinegar      ...For nearly two weeks I have been hearing locusts humming as we have entered the really hot days of summer here in Ohio.  Usually we don't hear those guys until August.  Once it quit raining so much that we were flooding, the rain turned off enough so that we could actually use a bit of rain here and there.  Though I planted my sunflowers late, they were coming along fine until a local groundhog ate the tops off of them.  It was his intention to move into that area of Le Petit Jardin, but I think I have effectively blocked him.  Placing everything I had available, I covered the area surrounding the sunflower stocks.  Some alternate green buds are forming, so just maybe they will manage some flower heads yet.  If spider webs are any indication of an early winter, it is probably too late to start any more sunflower seeds.  I only have one lonely stock of Sweet Annie.  The groundhog dug up the area killing off the other stocks I had growing.  So far I have prot

Skeleton Leaf ...A warm, sweet breeze floated through the window as it lightly whispered "September"!  Sunshine and fluffy clouds accompanied that welcomed breeze as I drank in the beginning of the fall season.  Officially autumn begins on September 23rd this year. Le Petit Jardin needed a bit of fall clean-up as I began preparations of fall gardening chores.  It had been a difficult summer to grow much of anything.  Our spring in Ohio brought lots of raining the first months of spring which held off the growing season.  Getting passed the flooding conditions, the gardens all had a late start and Barberton was no exception.  I am convinced that sunflowers would have been wonderful in Le Petit Jardin had it not been for the terrorist groundhog who ate my tender flower starts...twice!  Oh well, I will plant again next spring.  For now I will satisfy myself with a bouquet of store bought sunflowers and dream of next year.      The lavender plants I added to my little garden

...When I had a large garden and a big house, lots of critters came to visit.  One such visitor was a little toad who didn't seem to be afraid of me at all.  I named him Hector.  He lived in the garden areas by my kitchen door.  Since he seemed to choose that area for his living space I placed a toad shed the for him. The small "shed" was actually a broken terra cotta pot.  Hector seemed to like the shed,and I would see him retreat to it during the heat of the day.  When the day finally arrived for me to move on from that property, I made sure to take the toad shed with me.  You never know...After five years of living at my current location there were no toads in Le Petit Jardin.  Today was different.  For the first time at this location I saw a little toad in Le Petit Jardin.  Needless to say, I was thrilled.  Immediately I named him Horace and have set out the toad shed for him.  How do I know Horace is a "he"?  Well, I don't.  Frankly, all toads look the

...It was hidden in a forgotten spot between houses.  A shy violet with two tender flowers smiled up at me as I walked along the deck.  Being too cold and too rainy, that area had not been inspected for my spring gardening clean-up routine.  I did not realize that there were any violets growing in that secret area.  At the moment it was mostly weeds growing in the hidden zone.  Soon there would be wild trillium plants blooming there.  How they got there I have no idea.  I do wish I had more violets growing there.  So much can be done with violets.  Years ago when I had a larger house and a much larger property, and I had a large garden area, I had enough violets blooming in the spring to use for several herbal purposes.  I candied the flowers, made violet syrup, and created violet sugar.  Violet candies were next on my list to try, but alas, that never happened.  Of course, I had plenty of           wonderful little bouquets of both white and purple violets.  Violets were once used to

                                                                                                                                                                          Dandelion                                                         ...A damp chill crept through everything as the day unfolded.  An unseasonable 85 degrees had blown over the Magic City only the day before.  Now it was wet from the copious rains and the drop in temperature was if anything, annoying.  Enough with the rollercoaster ride, already!  Non-gardeners would find the grey day depressing, but to a gardener this was a good gardening day. The air was mildly cool and fresh smelling.  Preparing garden spots was a joyful experience as weeds could be easily dislodged from the moist soil.  Each year I have noticed that nature seems to showcase a particular color of spring blooms as trees and flowers come to life.  Last year the color was white.  Anything with white flowers was spectacular in its brilliance.  This yea

Spring Lilacs    ...Little green herbs in pots...It is officially spring now.  I have managed to buy my first herbs of the season.  Basil, lemon balm, and lemon verbena are the first new arrivals to Le Petit Jardin. Today's breakfast was an omelet that included the first harvest of chive from my garden.  Glorious! Thyme is coming alive in Le Petit Jardin.  Today's project will be to purchase another metal tub and potting soil for the new plant arrivals.  It is also time to replace my garden gloves.  Another goal is to beat the Mad whacker before he attacks my lavender plants.  My game plan is to plant my lavenders in containers this year.  Since I have to abandon part of my back deck area due to my neighbor's satellite dishes, the challenge is on.  Many more of my plants will be shifting to containers.  And it looks as though some of the container garden will be moving onto the front deck.        Neighboring wind chimes are clanging out their tinny songs. Personally, I

    ...Small tender blades of chive were poking their sturdy heads up in the pot I had left outside all winter.  Reluctantly spring was about to see the first of my herbs come to life after such a strange winter.  The bitter cold hadn't fazed them as they began to grow.  It was time.  I have even seen a dandelion hiding under the gray-green grass tufts that were beginning to green up. Le Petit Jardin was letting me know that it was time for spring attention.  A friend had already helped me by drilling some drainage holes in a metal container that I have planned to use for spring planting.  Hadn't it just snowed a few days ago?  But the good news is that nothing stuck or stacked up.  The ground had unfrozen, so snow was not going to make a difference.  Today was warmer, in the 50's, but gray.  I am still not quite ready to begin my gardening rituals.  My thymes and lavender have not returned to life yet.  I will have to rethink my gardening plans since my downstairs neighbor

...Puddles of liquid sky blue filled thestreet's potholes.  High winds dried up those same potholes as the next winter storm was racing our way. It didn't take long for the skies to turn gray with an occasional squirt of sunlight momentarily breaking through the clouds.  The last of February was showing us that March was going to prove to be an especially blustery month for us here in Ohio.  As we neared the end of February the Magic City was having a bit of trouble battening down the hatches, so to speak, as all sorts of item and trash blew across the city.  I watched the neighborhood trash bins travel down the streets until the found a house or fence that gave them a stopping place while the wind continued to gust at 50 miles per houe.  It's amazing how noisy wind can be.      In spite of the high winds I still managed to contemplate spring gardens and pots of little green herbs. All the outside cats in the neighborhood managed to hunker down somewhere for the day. Even

...December had seen a snowless Christmas for Ohio.  Somehow the holidays were in a "so what" mode in 2018.  It just didn't feel like Christmas . The New Year celebrations were much the same. Everyone went through the motions, but it wasn't worth getting excited about.  Here, it rained.  The good news was that none of the usual gun fire from the local rednecks happened.  But now it was changing. The big winter storm finally hit Ohio with all its fury.  It began to snow, and it snowed, and it kept on snowing.  At this writing an icy 12 to 15 inches of the frigid accumulation stacked up.  I burrowed my way out to my SUV to clear off the wonderful white stuff and to hopefully start up the engine.  Turning over with its usual ease the engine was purring as I managed to clear away some space around my car.  Thinking about the outdoor kitties who may have sought refuge from the storm in my garage, I shoveled out a small place where they usually sneak in. I don't put my