Last weekend was beautiful and we spent much of our time outside.

I stood outside staring at a mess and decided that my "herbs gone wild" garden had to change... My herb garden started the spring my mother became ill. I put in a few herbs... some mint, lavender, sage, rue, chives, basil, lemon balm, and oregano. The following spring I brought bricks from my parents' old walkway and bricked the area into a nice raised bed, installed landscape fabric, and rearranged my herbs. I added some others. The mint eventually went crazy. (It is hard to believe that so much could come from one little pot.) I eventually relocated it to the back of the garage. I continued each year to tweak the herb space and eventually things became crowded. The landscape fabric, I finally realized, was not properly placed and I had a natural disaster. The lemon balm was sprouting everywhere and the weeds were embedded in the landscape fabric. It also seemed that I had neglected cutting things back in the fall. I dove in... I put on my gloves, dug around a bit, grabbed the landscape fabric, and just started pulling, ripping, and rolling. Very quickly, I had the bed cleaned out. Some herbs were sacrificed. I might have heard some cries! I replaced the herbs. I planted the butterfly bush my family gave me for Mother's Day in the center of the bed. I added a variety of other perennials that attract humming birds and butterflies too. We even planted a money tree from my Grandmother's. (Simon & Annestelle are still trying to figure that one out!) I am looking forward to the blooms that will assist Mary in blessing our yard this summer!

Happy Hobbies!