The Magic of Herbs

I have enjoyed all of the River Cottage Handbooks that I own.  Each written on history, experience, and thoughts about the given topic.  I found myself quite enamoured with No. 10: Herbs.  How can you not be taken with a book whose opening paragraph is: "Herbs are beautiful, life-enhancing, seductive things.  Whether you see them primarily as plants or as ingredients, they are enticing.  I find it hard to believe that anyone could look at a lavender bush nodding in the sunshine or sniff a torn bay leaf and not experience, at the very lease, a flicker of pleasure."

Maybe it is just us, but as we walk around nightly in our garden, or our yard, we constantly brush up against the greenery, pinch a plant between our fingers and sniff to identify it.  Wild lemon balm, lambs quarter, catnip.  After reading this book I am more enchanted than ever with herbs.  As vital in cooking as salt and stimulating multiple senses, herbs can fix a state of mind.  When harvesting lavender a few weeks ago, my whole home smelled of the woody floral beauty that was drying.  I began to utilize it in recipes and found a whole new appreciation for it.   I ran out immediately to Milaegers to fill in our herb plantings and bought up multiple varieties of sage, and I am currently on the hunt for a bay tree that I can overwinter indoors.

This evening as I snapped the flower head off of a dill plant for a cucumber salad, I smelled the intoxicating aroma on my hands.  The oils released into the air and linger.  Smell is such an important sense that can immediately calm a mood or send you to a different place.  Herbs are magic, and I am only just beginning to realize how to use each individual to it's fullest.

Growing Fast

The last seven weeks has just flown!   Mr. Emerson has tripled in size and personality.  His herding instinct is strong.  He is incredibly smart, wily, and is growing so lanky that he can be quite clumsy.

Training is coming along well, though at times frustrating, after all he is a puppy.  However, his responses are much more consistent and rapid.

Best of all, Xander has come around and fully engages with him.  Sometimes to his chagrin, starting something and wanting to be done far before the energetic newcomer.  We are just thankful he's still around to be annoyed.

That Light

Last night as I went out to put the animals down and take a last leisurely walk around the garden I was struck by that light.  The light typically symbolic to me of the coming fall.  It is hard to believe that it feels like we are approaching that time of year already.  Maybe it was how long and hard our winter was, or how cool the summer has been, or the fact that school starts in a mere 3 weeks or maybe that our handful of warm days end abruptly in crisp air.

It is dark much earlier and the last hour or so of light is golden and coming from a much lower angle. Can you see the glitter-like shimmer in the tree on the left?  That was no camera trick, simply how the light looked last night.  I am not complaining in the least.  I would not mind the next four months consisting of these beautiful evenings after days that sun kiss the garden leading toward a long harvest.

Weekend Projects, Better Known as Cans of Worms

Have you ever started a project, quite out of the blue, spent half of the day on it and then it is just not quite right?  That was how my Saturday morning went.  B was working, so I decided to attempt re-organization of our entry.  I bought an additional piece of furniture (since returned), moved/hid our device charging area, and thoroughly cleaned everything only to be unsatisfied with the result.

Once B got home we made a couple of more adjustments and he suggested one of those big bench hall trees.  After looking at the furniture already in our room, I could not picture another large piece.  Then he suggested hanging a giant hall tree on the wall.  Better yet, let's make one from old scrap material in the barn!

What we are left with is a cool old weathered door, gently cleaned, varnished and affixed with several large hooks that were in various areas of the barn.  B even fashioned a way to securely attach it to the wall staying true to the picture rail that is already there, and it is sturdy enough that he could hang from the door and it will not budge (not just a figure of speech, he hung from the door).

Moral of the story; a little moving of furniture, creativity, $35 and a lot of elbow grease and we have a cool piece that makes the whole room feel like brand new.

Choc Tox

No one is immune, even our family.  All it takes is an 85 degree house (the ac is out) with a tired child who fell asleep before eating their handful of tasty dark chocolate chips.  Fast forward 7 hours and we were left with one desperately sick farm poodle.

We are very fortunate that B is so gifted at his profession.  Even with his gifts, the severe reaction this sassy farm poodle had was the worst that he had seen in his 20 year career.

Severe vomiting, tremors, rapid heart rate, increase then decrease in body temperature and difficulty maintaining blood pressure were the symptoms varying in severity that over the course of yesterday left us questioning at times if he was going to recover.  It appears that our tough farm poodle has made it through the worst.  Though a bit of recovery is ahead for him, we are so happy that he and his big farm poodle ego are still with us.   Moral of the story;  Choc Tox (chocolate toxicity) is no joke, even very small amounts especially in a smaller dog can be devastating and each patient may react differently to the volume ingested.  Please excuse me, I'm headed to hug a poodle.