Saturday, May 30, 2009

"Three Things" Tag

I was tagged by Elf Girl at A Reflection On The Water.
After reading through my answers, I'm quite amused. :P At times I'm quite deep...and at others I'm quite humorous...



THREE THINGS THAT SCARE ME:

01. The dark, or what I can't see in the dark...

02. Alarm clocks when they go off

03. My mom without coffee :P



THREE PEOPLE WHO MAKE ME LAUGH:

01. Danny, my brother

02. Brian, a friend

03. Earl, a friend (uncle of the above friend)



THREE THINGS I LOVE:

01. music

02. nature (especially in the spring)

03. hockey



THREE THINGS I HATE:

(I prefer "extremely dislike")

01. Spiders

02. Inconsiderate and mean characteristics in people (no, I don't hate the people...just what they do)

03. The characteristics that define a "Puck Bunny" and the bad name that they give us good female hockey fans. Most guys now see the majority of us that way. It's sad...



THREE THINGS I DON'T UNDERSTAND:

01. Math

02. My brother Danny (most of the time)

03. Football :P



THREE THINGS ON MY DESK:

01. Hand lotion from Bath & Body Works

02. Sea Mist soy candle

03. A bottle of Mountain Dew



THREE THINGS I'M DOING RIGHT NOW:

01. Typing (duh!)

02. Watching "NHL On the Fly"...Playoff post-game edition

03. Looking forward to game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals tomorrow...



THREE THINGS I WANT TO DO BEFORE I DIE:

01. Learn at least one foreign language

02. Learn to play at least one instrument very well

03. Travel around Europe



THREE THINGS I CAN DO:

01. Sign language

02. Write poetry

03. cook and bake pretty well



THREE WAYS TO DESCRIBE MY PERSONALITY:

01. Artistic

02. Generous

03. Forgiving...unless you're my sibling. :P LOL, I still forgive them...just not as easily. :P



THREE THINGS I CAN'T DO:

01. Squish bugs without cringing (and if they're big ones, I absolutely refuse)...I call my brother in for that. :P

02. Be away from the TV while a Pens or Blues game is on without being visibly distracted (unless I'm at the game, of course) :P

03. Sleep without music or in total darkness



THREE THINGS I THINK YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO:

01. Josh Groban, Awake and Closer are the best, or, if you want the full effect, watch the Awake Live DVD

02. Natural running water, preferably a creek, with a slight breeze rustling the leaves on the trees, mixed with all of the other sounds and smells of nature in the spring. It's wonderful. :)

03. You're friends when they're going through tough times. Sometimes the thing that helps them the most is a friend who listens and cares.



THREE THINGS I DON'T THINK YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO EVER:

01. Someone who tells you that you're worthless. It's not true.

02. People who speak ill of those that you love or what you believe in. Don't allow it.

03. A Columbus Blue Jackets broadcast. The announcers are way too biased. No one but their team matters. I understand that they should favor their team, but they take it too far.



THREE OF MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE FOODS:
Are you kidding?! :P


01. Pasta

02. Chinese food...stir-frys, rice, egg rolls...yum

03. Mexican food...you can mix just about anything together and it's good. Wrap it up in a burrito or dip your tortilla chips in it. :P



THREE THINGS I'D LIKE TO LEARN:
LOL, I covered some of these already. :P I'll do smaller things here. :P


01. More HTML code

02. How to write shorthand

03. The finer points of photography



THREE BEVERAGES I DRINK REGULARLY:

Besides water? :P

01. Gatorade, especially Lemon Lime, Orange, and Lime

02. coffee, in some way...iced, mocha, English Toffee cappuccinos...

03. hot tea

04. Mountain Dew, especially Code Red

LOL, that's four...:P



THREE SHOWS I WATCHED WHEN I WAS A KID:
Ha, ha...this could be interesting. :P


01. I was told I watched Sesame Street as a really little kid.

02. Who didn't watch Barney? :P

03. Rainbow Brite

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Again, if you haven't been tagged and want to be tagged...you're it. ;)


Tuesday, May 12, 2009

A Tour of My Herb Gardens

Yes, I have more than one. :P And there are several scattered all over the yard in various places. So you can't exactly call those gardens. :P
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In area number one (in our back yard), the most prominent plant is the sage. I had no idea they it could get so big. I should have gotten a picture of one of the huge leaves. But I also didn't want to get too close to it at the time...the bees love it. :P I have more sage than I can ever use in my lifetime. There's another plant in an area in the front yard.

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To the left of the sage is a big Oregano plant that I've had for a few years. Right now it's more underneath the sage, though. :P Once the flowers on the sage die, I'll be cutting several of the branches. To the left of the oregano is basil (not pictured).

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Off to the right of the sage is rosemary. I really don't feel like it's truly "mine" since I have to buy a new plant every year.

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All the way to the right are several little savory plants. They're all babies right now. :) To the left of the savory is parsley, but it's currently going to seed and isn't very pretty. :P

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In the back is orange mint. A very hardy little plant. Se how these branches are growing up between some bricks? :P

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Overshadowed by the sage on the right side is marjoram. A little behind it is lemon balm (not pictured). Also in this area are several tiny dill, feverfew, and horehound plants.

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All the way on the left is chocolate mint. It smells wonderful! :)

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In a small area to the right where we just dug up a 40+ year old rose bush that died over the winter are a few of my herbs that will grow into large plants.

Thyme. It's very hard to get a good-looking picture of this one. :P

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Lavender. This plant is 3 or 4 years old. It's slowly getting bigger. I also have English Lavender in an area at the front of the house. It's new this year.

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Russian Sage. Probably my most prized plant. I love it! It gets tiny pale purple flowers on it later in the summer.

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To the right of that one is another area...

Chamomile. One of the easiest to harvest from. :)

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Parsley. We use lots of it, mostly in salads.

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More oregano, taken from the plant in area one.

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Watercress. Great in salads. It tastes kinda like radishes.

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Also in the back yard is tons of mint in several places.

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And chives in two places. Mom likes it in the garden to attract the bees.

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In the front I have a small area with rocks around it. One of my huge sage plants is there, as well as one of my stevia plants (I couldn't get a good picture of that yet). I also have a big ground cover between all of the plants that has pretty purple flowers on it in the early spring. Also there are:

Germander. It has tiny purple flowers later in the season. Notice that the majority of herbs have purple flowers...:P

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My biggest marjoram plant. Marjoram's an odd one...it's flowers are white. :)

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Lemon Balm. My biggest (the sage here doesn't get in it's way). It has a sweet lemon taste and scent.

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Feverfew. It's flowers are like a bigger version of chamomile flowers.

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Others that I have that I don't have pictures of yet are catnip, basil, dill, horehound, tarragon, yarrow, coriander (aka, cilantro), aloe, and stevia. Hopefully my lemon verbena, lemon thyme, and tri-color sage will revive. They don't look too promising, though. :(
I can post pictures of flowers as they bloom. :)