Sweet Basil- A Bit On The Wrists, A Dab Behind The Ears

It just looks so sweet when you walk into the room. My mom always, and I mean always, has a simple arrangement on her kitchen table. Not usually too fancy, just something that highlights the actual flower, not the arrangement. And once you "Ooh" and "Aww" over the flowers, you step back and say, "You know, that's a precious arrangement you've got going there."

This summer she seems to be featuring marigolds from my sister's flower garden patch. Tiny vase, simple blooms, sweet placemat. Equals nice.

I used to have sunflowers, lilies, daisies, lupines, hollyhocks, peonies, Black-eyes Susans, Liatris, cosmos, Echinacea, aster,  oh my-- when did I have the time? Oh, that's right- before a kid. Now my garden has become a true cottage garden, all wild and rangy and rioting with flowers that have broken free from their designated spots. My garden reminds we of unbrushed hair- crazy! There's a fair number of weeds as well but we just overlook those. I do keep some herbs going from one year to the next and I tend my basil with great care not just because I love fresh basil for cooking. No, half the reason to grow basil is to keep some snippets in a vase, close at hand so I can catch a whiff at unexpected times. Even after the peak blooms have begun to fade, that rich lusty aroma still floats in the air. It's perfume. And after I take some nice photos of the vase on my dining room table, I take it back into the kitchen and put it on the window sill above the sink, where it normally is. We spend to much time in the kitchen that it seems best to keep it where I can see it.

And smell it!

Thanks for looking in on me today. Go stick your nose into some fresh basil (watch pit for the bees) and then come on back- we'll get crafty next time.