This and That

I am house and dog sitting for my boss and his family, who are away for the March break. It's quite nice living above ground. The ceilings are tall, the house is bright and there are so many windows! I could get used to this. A few other perks of the gig include a cute doggie, a fireplace, dishwasher, bathtub and use of a vehicle. My carbon footprint is higher than normal, but I'm enjoying this little bit of luxury while it lasts.

I took the day off work yesterday and caught up on my FarmStart homework and botany coursework. I settled myself in front of the fire, with a cup of my new favourite tea blend, while it rained outside.

On my first day at the house, I made sure to bring a little of the outdoors in, and gathered these pussy willows on one of my walks with the dog.

That the catkins are already budding seems crazy early to me. But we're experiencing record temperature highs right now. And that's crazy too. They're forecasting high teens and low 20s over the next few days, when normal highs are usually around 7°C. Global weirding indeed.

This is my new favourite tea blend. Dried hyssop and lavender from the garden with ginger. I picked up a huge bag of ginger from the sale rack at the grocery store for a couple of bucks and spent an evening processing it for the dehydrator. I love the warming spiciness of ginger, mixed with the soothing aroma of lavender and yummy taste of hyssop.

I pick up my laptop from the shop tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be back to more regular posting. (Thanks ADG for so generously lending me yours!)

Saturday's FarmStart session is a field trip to a nearby farm, and I plan to report back on that with pictures.