Harvesting herbs.....

It's that time of year again even though it feels like summer.  It's also very dry.  About a month ago we were having torrential downpours and now we're having to water.  The weather has just been crazy!

My garden gifts.....

 

It's been wonderful eating all the fresh produce and sticking lots in the freezer.  It makes cooking a joy for me. 

 

I've been drying these herbs for my own use.  Oregano, thyme, sage and rosemary are now in bottles.  They also look really good in the old mason jars on my counter.....a double gift!

 



....and yes, it's very important that I keep a jar of peanut butter M & M's in case I need a lift while doing all this work.

I've finally decided to buy myself a new camera.  Mine now is scratched on the lens and rather then spend the money to have it repaired, I'm just going to bite the bullet and buy a new Canon Rebel T3.  My birthday was on Monday and a couple of my sisters decided to help me make the decision and gave me money to go in on it (can't beat that).  I have such a love of photography and seem to be the designated photographer for our family but it's just always so hard making that final decision.  Can't wait!!!!  I'm sure you'll see a huge difference in my pictures.  Oh, and my good friend Cathy gave me a tripod so I'm set.

Have a great Wednesday......we're preparing for a cooldown (fingers crossed)!

What to do on a snowy weekend.....

It was another snowy weekend in Missouri so just tried to make the best of it.  It just continues to be cold, windy and snowy.  Hopefully, this is the week the cycle ends.

Here are some of my little tomato plants.  I transplanted them in these cups so as they grow, I can continue to add soil. 

 

My house is dark under the best of circumstances but with so many dismal days, I decided to buy a grow light.  Then the starts were placed under the grow light but I didn't check for the safest distance for them not to burn.  Well, apparently I let them get too close because I lost several tomatoes and basil plants.  Felt so bad but decided to just plant a few more.....they have plenty of time to grow.

 

The basil is on the left.

 

 

 

I ordered my seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds http://rareseeds.com/ and they offer so much assistance on their webpage and their Facebook page.  One of their farms is near here in Mansfield, MO and it's an amazing place.  If you're ever in this part of the country, you should definitely try to visit.  This is their photograph.

 

Last summer and fall I tried saving some seeds.  I always save my purple hyacinth bean seeds because my original plant came from my uncle Ivin who is now deceased.  He was quite a gardener and had brought the seeds from his parents farm.  He would be so pleased to know I still had them.  I'm giving some to Allison this year so she can keep the tradition going.

 

 

The grandkids came on Friday night and stayed through part of Saturday.  They love to be in the kitchen and they all love chocolate covered anything.  We started with strawberries and then added bananas, pretzels and cookies.  Sage and I loved the new Girl Scout cookie that is shortbread with chocolate icing so we decided to try Lorne Doone cookies and dipped the bottoms in chocolate.....so good.  Pretty darn close to the Girl Scouts' cookies.

 





 

We had chocolate all over everything but they helped clean up.

 

 

They received Kindle Fires for Christmas and they get more good out of them.  Mom and Dad are sticklers for limiting their time on electronics but we all enjoyed probably too much time on our Kindle's.  It was just one of those weekends.

 

 

 

If you look close, you can see the snow out my back window.

 

Hope everyone has a wonderful week and let's all pray for spring.