Parsley, sage, rosemary, & thyme (and Baby)...

One or two nights have been cold enough that I was concerned about losing 

the herbs potted outside on the deck.

I didn't plant sage or rosemary this year...

... but I did plant lemon thyme and parsley, combined in the urn pictured above.

Baby wanted to be part of the photo shoot (as always), so she became the focus in the first photo, with the herbs taking center stage in the second photo.

Of course Baby prefers to be the only focus, with the plants put off to the side.

The Spicy Globe Basil sits on another table in the family room. I use this in my salads, so I didn't want to lose it to an overnight frost.  This plastic planter is immense, so I think I might try to replant it into something a tad smaller (and prettier). I also think that next year I'm going to go back to the large leaf basil.

Nothing to do with herbs, but I thought I'd show you this rustic old plant stand I found at a local barn sale a few weeks ago. The Wandering Jew I bought at a Woodstock yard sale (during our road trip) is now making itself at home on it.

I also brought in some perennial ground covers that we had not yet planted because I thought they'd be fun to have inside the house over the winter.

Turns out, not so much.

First of all, just look at poor Baby and how sad she looks...

As a lot of you know, the jelly cupboard is one of her favorite places to hang out...

... So much so that we eventually removed everything from the top of the cupboard so that she could sprawl out to her heart's content...

... rather than having to perch precariously on the outermost edge.

So this huge planter was just not meeting with Baby's approval at all. But in addition to Baby's nose being out of joint, they also proved to be just too hard to water.I didn't have a watertight container large enough to hold all of the groundcovers, and the pans I had inside this old wood crate just didn't do the trick.

So they were moved back outside (much to Baby's delight) and planted alongside the fence yesterday.  I will attempt to keep this small, flowering plant inside over the winter, but not atop Baby's jelly cupboard.

So that's about all that's new around here this week.

I hope you're all enjoying lovely fall weather, just as we are here in the Northeast!

This week I'm joining My Romantic Home's Show & Tell Friday.

Donna

My brown thumb.... or why I love faux...

Brown Thumb: (noun)

Definition: Lack of skills at growing plants; something possessed by a poor gardener.

Used in a sentence: I have a terrible brown thumb. I could probably kill silk flowers.

Brown thumb images: see An Enchanted Cottage's 1/29/2010 blog post

We won't even get into the layer of dust on the ceramic bird or the dead leaves all over the battenburg table runner. Wait a minute... do I still see hints of green in there? Let's see if I can bring these babies back to life (running to get the watering can).

While taking photos of the "brown thumb" gang, the bluejays kept a vigil on the deck, waiting for peanuts (it is bitter, bitter cold in Massachusetts today)... So I tossed out several handfuls of peanuts to the birds and squirrels and then stepped back and took this photo of the first bluejay that swooped down to grab a treat as reflected in the family room mirror. (Ignore the wayward peanut that rolled under the carpenter's bench.) I didn't even notice it until I up?/down?loaded the photos onto my computer. It has now been tossed out on the deck as well...

I hope you're all staying warm (at least in our area where we're experiencing the coldest weather of the winter season)...

Donna

Herbs and Orbs....

On Thursday I took advantage of our 70 degree weather to wash windows (if the slider looks dirty to you, it's because I didn't get to it yet!). I started in the dining room and since I had to remove the herbs from the DR bay window in order to Windex away, I decided to just move them into the family room.


I brought this old carpenter's bench in from the deck (and none too soon! Just look at the rainy weather we're having today! That deck was swept clean yesterday and just look at all the leaves that came down overnight!)

I've had this rustic beauty since my prim decor days, and it's always been used out on the deck... To say it is weathered is an understatement.

I'm using a piece of old Battenburg lace valance as a table runner... There's something about the look of crisp white Battenburg lace paired with old, distressed wood that makes my heart skip a beat...

There's also a handy little shelf section on the bottom - just the right size for the basket that holds peanuts for our Sammy's, Chips, and birds (this basket is a treasured gift from my awesome friend, Jill, who got it in Amish country just for me!! How luck am I??)

So after I took my closeups to share with you, I stepped back to take some shots of the herbs in front of the slider. I usually take 2-3 shots of everything now that I blog, just to make sure I get at least one good one!! Okay, so this is the first shot....

(click photo to enlarge)
And then I took this one. Now I sure didn't notice anything unusual in the viewfinder when I snapped, but when I loaded the photos onto my computer there was no denying that I captured something in the above photo! Above the rosemary on the right is either an orb or the biggest flying dust bunny I've ever seen! I may not be the greatest housekeeper, but I'm not that bad!! At first I thought it might have been something flying by on the outside (big bird maybe?)... But it's definitely on the inside because it's blocking my window grids...

So... any experts out there who can help me figure out what I captured here? I've heard that experts can tell the difference between dust, glare, and real energy/orbs! (Oh, and I wasn't using a flash, so it's definitely not a reflection from that)...

And stay tuned for my upcoming posts (which are perfect for the week leading up to Halloween!)... I'm going to share another post just about orbs as well as my awesome day trip to historic Concord, Mass, on Friday (which included a visit to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery!)...

COMMENT UPDATE #1: Our house was built in 1981, so it's not what you'd consider an 'old' home; also, we're the only ones who have ever lived here... And yes, we have had a couple of things happen here but I've just mentioned them to family and friends for fear of what I must sound like when sharing these stories!

COMMENT UPDATE #2: I'm getting chills!! The carpenter's bench is very old. I purchased it many years ago at a junktique shop and it was quite old and weather-worn even back then. I never even thought of there being a possible connection between the bench and the orb! It might be going back out on the deck very soon!!

Donna

Frozen herbs...

Baby, it's COLD outside!!!


I took my herb pots in a couple of days ago because the nights have been downright frigid around here...


For the time being I've put them in my dining room window (although my Christmas cactus is not too happy about this arrangement since it has "lived" in this window for years and years!!)


What's left of the basil is looking a little rough....

The oregano is looking pretty good though...

The rosemary is looking a bit sparse...

Since this is the south-facing side of the house, I'm hoping these will get enough sunlight to keep them going, but that may be asking a lot of this gardener who definitely lacks a green thumb. I wonder if they will require some type of fluorescent lighting above them...

Hope you are warm and cozy wherever you are...

Donna (who is not at all enjoying the c-o-l-d weather)

COMMENT UPDATE: Hi Patty! The banner is a cropped photo of my Mrs. B, the beautiful kitty who graced us with her presence from 1976 to 1993.