A 1st For Me!

...and at my age, I really didn't think there would be any "firsts" left. But, I always keep an herb garden going outside our side door. I run out there all of the time to grab some fresh herbs for anything I may be cooking that day. This year, I actually found my potted basil at Trader Joes instead of at the nursery. I bought very large, bright, full pots and put them into the garden. Summer has ensued and, usually by now, the basil plants would be looking a bit peaked from our sun and heat.

This year I have done three things differently: 1: I bought the plants at a different place and 2: I have been sprinkling my coffee grounds around the base of the plants- I read somewhere that slugs don't like the feel of the grounds and will not crawl across them to get to your plants. Makes sense because I was told something kind of similar to discourage visits from those other "slithery" friends-and 3: I didn't put the jar in the frig as usual

In any case, I don't know if it has anything to do with any of the above but when I cut a bunch of basil for a recipe and had some left over, I stuck the extra in a jar of water and stuck it on the window ledge. I didn't put it in the frig because I liked the way it looked and knew that I could find lots more outside if needed. In a day or two, I noticed a change.

Do you see what I see? I have never had it take root before.

In any case, I am going to let the roots get a bit sturdier and then I am going to try to transplant into small pots with loose soil. And, hopefully, I will have propagated 4 new plants. Who knew? Definitely a first for me with basil!

So, on to the real fun of the weekend. Our youngest grand daughter had her dance recital (Aladdin) yesterday and since she had to perform twice, the family (those of us who were still in town) split up the performances. We went to the early show and since we were asked not to take flash photos during the show, I just have a few outside shots to share-remember, this is Florida in summer so the sun was bright and most "subjects" just wanted to get to the restaurant! No more excuses...

Goodness she looks so grown up in her stage make-up...not ready for this yet!

Much happier now we are at her favorite restaurant!...with her favorite homemade bread and garlic butter!!!

And, of course, no Ravn photo shoot would ever be complete without the obligatory "crazy" picture. Now that all of our school and extra curricular activities are finally over, it is on to planning next weekend! Stay tuned!