The weekly theme for the lens-artists’ photo challenge is Spring (here)
Here are photos that reflect my spring:
Mint is one of the first herbs to emerge in spring. This invasive, rooty gem is best kept potted. Absolutely love pinching off a leaf to release the oil and smell. ahhhh and so easy to grow.Lavender is a tough herb for me to grow. But that is okay, I just grab a new plant or two each spring – and enjoy them for the season. In this photo – the sprig of lavender went nicely with the mint on a chilly spring day… I think every house should have peppermint and lavender around…
>>
…
The secret to a happy life…. (ha)
My top two books from Spring 2020 were Psychology Applied to Work (2012) and Weird Ideas that Work (2002). This first one is an old Paul Muchinsky textbook that was pulled out and used heartily. I found out that this author died back in 2015, only 68 and had lung cancer. He will remain a top author for me in the area of work psychology (and for those that do not know – that is a passionate area for me…. human behavior at work). I just love Muchinsky’s succinct and easy writing, which came from MANY years of teaching and writing. So to those of you mastering your craft out there – remember that if you want to get better at what you do – you have to keep doing it! Keep going and keep honing those skills. 🙂 The second book, Sutton’s “Weird Ideas that Work,” was patiently waiting for me to explore and it offered timeless tips about staying open to leaving your comfort zone and stale ways of thinking. For example, the author noted that organizations should stay open to bringing on “slow learners” because sometimes these workers have genius ideas. Sutton had a nice section about Xerox’s Gary Starkweather, who joined the company in 1968. Because he was a slow learner and stayed confident with his unaccepted idea – he eventually created the tech for one of Xerox’s bestselling products of all time – the laser copier.
What about you? Growing any herbs? Have you read any good books this spring – or summer?
Hope you have a great rest of your day
CARE TO JOIN in with the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge and share some photos from your at-home mode? Here are the links:
34 thoughts on “Spring 2020 – Two Herbs & Two Books (Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #105 )”
I have been getting farm fresh veggies every week for a little over a month, and it always includes herbs. The farm is about 5 miles up the road from me, a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), so as fresh as it gets for me not growing it. I read several books, but the only ones I remember are about late medieval illustrated books by some particular artists (the names escape me now), another book about 14th and 15th century Florence and a book on 20th century music…
I’m really glad we are doing it (the CSA) this year of all years – I get 75% of my food in the weekly baskets, so the grocery store is not as important. This is our second year in a row and the 4th time over all. I think it is great – farming should be local and family owned, not a giant business. where the people are only in it for the money…. (I read that the vast majority of American farmland is owned by a handful of people living in NYC)
Hi S, they really are great smells – and if I could only have two essential oils it would be these two -the lavender a calms and the mint cheers and wakens (and both do so much more)
Hi Jane – the Xerox employee, Weatherman, had a few more details about his story – I guess they were so against his idea and tired of him talking about it that they shipped him to the California location. His perseverance and belief in his idea is something we can all learn from –
Love the story about the guy with an idea about the laser printer! It fills me with hope! Love the pics!
I am growing parsley. I can imagine mint and lavender is awesome!
Renee – that was how I felt too – and his colleagues were rather annoyed and his supervisor had him transferred to the California offices to be rid of him. Whew – he had to deal with “naysayers” and it reminds me that sometimes the only one who has the vision is one person and they need not give up (well not right away because some ideas are duds… but his was not)
😉
And your parsley sounds good – mine has all gone to seed right now – but did you know parsley is not just good for digestion – it is an elixir for kidney health. Sometimes I would take a few sprigs of parsley and mint – put them in a cup and pour hot water over them – wait a few minutes and then drain and eat them – good stuff
And Hulda Clark, a former parasite cleansing specialist (maybe had some weird ideas but she sure understood human parasitic infections) well one of her protocols has people drink parsley water for a week or two before cleansing – to support the kidneys – cannot recall how it all
Went – but I remember ordering parsley capsules years ago for that –
I think I will grab a parsley plant if I see them at the store – 😉 😊
I grow herbs and just finished my second batch dehydrating them. I am going to have way more than I will need this year so it looks like I will be sharing them.
Herbs just grow. Even in years when we have not planted anything we have fresh herbs.
Mostly volunteers that have been with us for years: mint, parsley and marjoram. This year my husband planted cilantro, a favorite of his, but today he came in and told me that it had bolted (it may now join our volunteer force).
Each volunteer has a memory that prevents aggressive curtailment. The mint came from my husband’s Lebanese aunt; the parsley was planted when my son was in early elementary school as a science project of some sort; the marjoram was here when we bought the house 33 years ago. The rosemary, so tiny and frail, and for some reason our cat hated it and kept trying to dig it up. We carefully nurtured and protected because we like it in bread and with potatoes is now a very strong bush that we have to trim back to allow access to the garage, I think it’s about 25 years old now. Our lavender returnes but is a bit leggy, no doubt my fault because of incorrect pruning, but it is enthusiastic and has been going strong for a long time.
Hi – enjoyed your comment immensely – says so much and your descriptions gave me this feeling of walking around with you. And a couple times I compared my own plants to yours while reading your comment – crazy how that happened – like when you said you had to cut back the rosemary to not block the garage – I thought quickly about the rosemary shrub we had that made it about seven years until a cold frigid winter took it out. And smoked to think of my brother – he also
Loves rosemary on bread and in meat
–
And your leggy lavender reminded me of being outside a mechanics garage and seeing this huge lavender plant growing from a crack along the bio dog side. All
Leggy and tall – I brought them in some of it.
—
And then with the memory from your herbs – I smiled with you! The parsley from the school project – so fun.
It reminds me of a spot in my yard where I once had a garden plot – it is now lawn again – but know exactly where some plants grew. Notably- I had a prolific eggplant 🍆 shrub one year that produced like crazy. And I know where my first nana pepper plant was – but a special area for some reason is where the purple
Potatoes once grew – reminds me of my life during those years
Thanks for sharing
Great photos, Yvette, especially the ones of the herbs. Funnily enough, I’ve just bought some to plant in my garden as I’ve been experimenting with medieval cookery outside over a fire. Like you, I have mint, and I bought thyme, sage and winter savoury, which I thought sounded medieval! So far so good, but I don’t think I’ll be as successful with lavender. I seem to be death to that. Hope you and yours are keeping well and busy. 🙂
Hi alli – I have too much sage these days – but not sure I even know what winter savoury is…. and yes. It does sound medieval 😉
and I am down to one lavender plant – I wonder if geographic location matters for us – ya know – like California and parts of France seem to be ideal for it
That’s interesting about Lavender – I wonder if my little neck of the woods in Buckinghamshire is geographically bad for it then! It’s a good excuse for being a poor gardener anyway! 😉
Winter Savoury is apparently like thyme, and I thought that when I first saw it as it looks like a bigger-leaved thyme plant. Seems to taste great anyway – especially in roasted vegetable soup! 🙂
mmmm – that winter savory sounds yum.
and sadly, my second lavender plant is wilting – sniff sniff
it has to be geographical and not “anything on our end” – hahahah
Interesting take on the challenge Yvette. It’s interesting how many great inventions started with one persons perseverance in the face of rejection. My favorite example of that is the Harry Potter series. Rowling never gave up as she believed in her ideas and her work. One good idea combined with determination are magical in more ways than one!
Hi Tina – thanks for adding in Rowling’s life example – i heard she also went down a notch on one oof the rich lists – because she gave so much money away- and that is something I also respect – good for her for being so generous and maybe remembering her early days of pushing on with hope
Nice pictures of the two herbs. I like fresh mint leafs mixed into food. I am wondering why it is good to keep them in pot? Will they grow wild and take over other plants?
Hi yc – yes – they are very invasive and will spread
All over – but it can be nice – our friends Daryl and Laura let their mints (peppermint and spearmint) grow geeky under their back porch and it looks wonderful – and sometimes has a nice aroma
And the mint right in the food sounds delicious
Hi, Yvette. I love your idea of having the herbs “perfume” the house. I didn’t realize your interest in workplace psychology. Those look like great books. I’ve been reading a lot about life in the 1930’s–for my new book. But I’m also taking a break from that to read some classics–like The Talented Mr. Ripley and Rebecca.
“Ruffled feathers and endless squawking over a minor difficulty is typical of a crow’s life. I lean back on the counter and realize that could be my line….”
priorhouse blog 
I have been getting farm fresh veggies every week for a little over a month, and it always includes herbs. The farm is about 5 miles up the road from me, a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), so as fresh as it gets for me not growing it. I read several books, but the only ones I remember are about late medieval illustrated books by some particular artists (the names escape me now), another book about 14th and 15th century Florence and a book on 20th century music…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi T – your reading sounds really interesting – and cheers to supporting the local growers – we had a season of doing that and need to do it more – ✌️
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m really glad we are doing it (the CSA) this year of all years – I get 75% of my food in the weekly baskets, so the grocery store is not as important. This is our second year in a row and the 4th time over all. I think it is great – farming should be local and family owned, not a giant business. where the people are only in it for the money…. (I read that the vast majority of American farmland is owned by a handful of people living in NYC)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mint and lavender are two wonderful herbs. I love the smell of both.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi S, they really are great smells – and if I could only have two essential oils it would be these two -the lavender a calms and the mint cheers and wakens (and both do so much more)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nice herbal close-ups, Yvette. Interesting fact about the man at Xerox. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Jane – the Xerox employee, Weatherman, had a few more details about his story – I guess they were so against his idea and tired of him talking about it that they shipped him to the California location. His perseverance and belief in his idea is something we can all learn from –
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love the story about the guy with an idea about the laser printer! It fills me with hope! Love the pics!
I am growing parsley. I can imagine mint and lavender is awesome!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Renee – that was how I felt too – and his colleagues were rather annoyed and his supervisor had him transferred to the California offices to be rid of him. Whew – he had to deal with “naysayers” and it reminds me that sometimes the only one who has the vision is one person and they need not give up (well not right away because some ideas are duds… but his was not)
😉
And your parsley sounds good – mine has all gone to seed right now – but did you know parsley is not just good for digestion – it is an elixir for kidney health. Sometimes I would take a few sprigs of parsley and mint – put them in a cup and pour hot water over them – wait a few minutes and then drain and eat them – good stuff
And Hulda Clark, a former parasite cleansing specialist (maybe had some weird ideas but she sure understood human parasitic infections) well one of her protocols has people drink parsley water for a week or two before cleansing – to support the kidneys – cannot recall how it all
Went – but I remember ordering parsley capsules years ago for that –
I think I will grab a parsley plant if I see them at the store – 😉 😊
LikeLike
I grow herbs and just finished my second batch dehydrating them. I am going to have way more than I will need this year so it looks like I will be sharing them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Have fun sharing – because that can be a suit fun part.
😉
LikeLike
Herbs just grow. Even in years when we have not planted anything we have fresh herbs.
Mostly volunteers that have been with us for years: mint, parsley and marjoram. This year my husband planted cilantro, a favorite of his, but today he came in and told me that it had bolted (it may now join our volunteer force).
Each volunteer has a memory that prevents aggressive curtailment. The mint came from my husband’s Lebanese aunt; the parsley was planted when my son was in early elementary school as a science project of some sort; the marjoram was here when we bought the house 33 years ago. The rosemary, so tiny and frail, and for some reason our cat hated it and kept trying to dig it up. We carefully nurtured and protected because we like it in bread and with potatoes is now a very strong bush that we have to trim back to allow access to the garage, I think it’s about 25 years old now. Our lavender returnes but is a bit leggy, no doubt my fault because of incorrect pruning, but it is enthusiastic and has been going strong for a long time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi – enjoyed your comment immensely – says so much and your descriptions gave me this feeling of walking around with you. And a couple times I compared my own plants to yours while reading your comment – crazy how that happened – like when you said you had to cut back the rosemary to not block the garage – I thought quickly about the rosemary shrub we had that made it about seven years until a cold frigid winter took it out. And smoked to think of my brother – he also
Loves rosemary on bread and in meat
–
And your leggy lavender reminded me of being outside a mechanics garage and seeing this huge lavender plant growing from a crack along the bio dog side. All
Leggy and tall – I brought them in some of it.
—
And then with the memory from your herbs – I smiled with you! The parsley from the school project – so fun.
It reminds me of a spot in my yard where I once had a garden plot – it is now lawn again – but know exactly where some plants grew. Notably- I had a prolific eggplant 🍆 shrub one year that produced like crazy. And I know where my first nana pepper plant was – but a special area for some reason is where the purple
Potatoes once grew – reminds me of my life during those years
Thanks for sharing
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great photos, Yvette, especially the ones of the herbs. Funnily enough, I’ve just bought some to plant in my garden as I’ve been experimenting with medieval cookery outside over a fire. Like you, I have mint, and I bought thyme, sage and winter savoury, which I thought sounded medieval! So far so good, but I don’t think I’ll be as successful with lavender. I seem to be death to that. Hope you and yours are keeping well and busy. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi alli – I have too much sage these days – but not sure I even know what winter savoury is…. and yes. It does sound medieval 😉
and I am down to one lavender plant – I wonder if geographic location matters for us – ya know – like California and parts of France seem to be ideal for it
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s interesting about Lavender – I wonder if my little neck of the woods in Buckinghamshire is geographically bad for it then! It’s a good excuse for being a poor gardener anyway! 😉
Winter Savoury is apparently like thyme, and I thought that when I first saw it as it looks like a bigger-leaved thyme plant. Seems to taste great anyway – especially in roasted vegetable soup! 🙂
LikeLike
mmmm – that winter savory sounds yum.
and sadly, my second lavender plant is wilting – sniff sniff
it has to be geographical and not “anything on our end” – hahahah
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Great photos and interesting information, Yvette. And it’s good to know what I’ve been doing wrong all these years in my search for a happy life 😉
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Hahaha
Love your humor amigo – hahaha
Thanks for making me laugh
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Glad to be of assistance, ma’am. That picture did rather invite the comment, though 😉
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Mint n lavender are my favourite too! I haven’t succeeded in growing lavender this year in Toronto… guess I was late!
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Hi / well you still have time – maybe not from seeds but with a starter plant 😉
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Yes, I think that should work 😃
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Interesting take on the challenge Yvette. It’s interesting how many great inventions started with one persons perseverance in the face of rejection. My favorite example of that is the Harry Potter series. Rowling never gave up as she believed in her ideas and her work. One good idea combined with determination are magical in more ways than one!
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Hi Tina – thanks for adding in Rowling’s life example – i heard she also went down a notch on one oof the rich lists – because she gave so much money away- and that is something I also respect – good for her for being so generous and maybe remembering her early days of pushing on with hope
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nice pictures of the two herbs. I like fresh mint leafs mixed into food. I am wondering why it is good to keep them in pot? Will they grow wild and take over other plants?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi yc – yes – they are very invasive and will spread
All over – but it can be nice – our friends Daryl and Laura let their mints (peppermint and spearmint) grow geeky under their back porch and it looks wonderful – and sometimes has a nice aroma
And the mint right in the food sounds delicious
LikeLiked by 1 person
I tried to grow a couple of herbs. They soon were killed by the Texas heat… 😦 lovely smell of mint and lavender.
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Hi Amy – yeah – that heat can scorch! Stick with the aloe and cacti 🌵
😊😊
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😅😊
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Interesting as usual, Yvette – nice take-on!
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Nice photos and thoughts. Well done.
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thank you JohnRH
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Hi, Yvette. I love your idea of having the herbs “perfume” the house. I didn’t realize your interest in workplace psychology. Those look like great books. I’ve been reading a lot about life in the 1930’s–for my new book. But I’m also taking a break from that to read some classics–like The Talented Mr. Ripley and Rebecca.
LikeLike