A Rainy Saturday

It rained most of the day with occasional bouts of thunder and lightening, keeping most of my usual Saturday customers away and Maggie hiding behind the computer table where she managed to unplug the mouse and keyboard wires. But rainy days are not without their upsides. No need to water today and I managed to catch these rose leaves where all the rain had run off the leaf top and had gathered in little glistening balls on the edges.

Chocolate + Herbs = Heaven

If you can still find one on the newsstand, grab a February/March issue of Chocolatier magazine for a nice long article on the pairing of chocolate with herbs. Commonly paired with mint, chocolate is also combined with rose geranium, lemon-thyme, lavender, rosemary, and basil for ice cream, shortbread, panna cotta, mousse, cookies and a torte rated in difficulty from easy to advanced.

Natural Eggs for Easter

Now is the time to make Easter eggs using herbs and other natural materials. A fun project for the whole family. Try especially the red cabbage dye.

Cat Blogging

This is Groucho and where he got his name is pretty obvious. I've touched up the background and added a few graphic elements, but people think I've added the mustache, too. Not so. This is exactly the way he looks. He came from the county animal shelter where I went looking for him after seeing his picture in the newspaper in the section where they profile animals that need adopting. I was sure he'd be gone by the time I got there, but there he was, waiting to be taken to the paradise of a catnip-filled herb farm. His favorite pastime is chasing the light from a flashlight around the floor and up the walls. My other cats just don't get it. What the heck is he chasing? You can tell they think he's nuts.