Herb Class-Session I

Today I had the opportunity to attend an herb class at the Old Emlenton Mill in the quaint little town of Emlenton, PA. Here is a picture of the town today...

(picture by Ruhrfisch, and used with permission)

and the mill today...

(front)

(side)

 please click on the links for additional information and historical pictures of the town and Mill.
I love the old victorian houses that line the hills around the Allegheny River. As the class is a 4 part series, I hope to get some pictures of them in my next visit through.

The class itself was sponsored by AmeriCorps and instructed by Kathy Deible of  The Herb Shed in Knox, PA.

Kathy was a delightful speaker and very interested in what we all were interested in taking away from the class information wise. She brought lots of informative handouts, cuttings and seeds. The next few sessions will be more hands on in the use of herbs.

We started dill and chive seeds, and a cutting of citronela geranium. I will show some pictures of their growth later, should I get lucky and they do indeed grow!

As you can see we were all interested in the topic and were taking a number of notes!

You may have noticed in the first picture one of the signs on the Old Mill was one for antigues. Well Kathie Z and I are forever finding little places like this that we obviously can't pass up, tee hee, and this is what I found...

I love the tatting and embroidery work on this set of pillow cases and I really did hear them say: "You simply must take us home, we go so well with your grandmother's quilt!" Ok, so maybe that part was really just me, lol!

The day inspired me to get out and work in my herb and flower beds, get the old cut away and see what if anything is coming up... maybe tomorrow...

Nothing like sunshine...

warm temperatures and the lack of electricity to encourage one to get outside and enjoy the day. We were notified by Penelec that our electricity would be out from 9AM to 2 PM today due to upgrades. Since I couldn't really do anything in the house and because it was so nice out, I loaded up my two best pals and took my camera too.

An old covered bridge.

Look at all the green!

Someone else taking advantage of the nice weather.

Old Caboose number one...

number two...

as it appeared this caboose had been or could possibly still be occupied as evidenced by the remains of the snakeskin on the floor, (rattlesnake or blacksnake still equates to BIG snake) glad to have missed you, I am gone!

Signs of spring!

The pups wrestling and playing chase in the sunshine.

Sampson was still barking in this one but click on the photo to see the slobber wrapped up over his nose!

HoneyDews typical response when she is not ready to go home, selective hearing and passive aggressive "see if you can move me from here" stance. Click on the picture and you can see her waayyyyy back there.

I made it home in time to make pizza from scratch for dinner. This one is a "natural" pizza... no tomato sauce but rather the dough brushed with olive oil, then layered with fresh sliced vine ripened tomatoes, italian seasonings, chopped cauliflower, diced onions, sliced black olives, mushrooms, Mozzarella cheese, and on hubbys' half sausage. It was delicious and very filling. One slice filled me up!

If you would like to see additional photos of the covered bridge and abandoned cabooses please go here.

A puppy playdate...

HoneyDew and Sampson are two of the most social pups I have ever met. They love to meet people and absolutely love getting together with other dogs.

Last week they were invited over to play with their friends Rex (a mixed breed who has the most beautiful ears and a plume of a tail),

Wolfe (a Yorkie)

and a new friend Lily (a beagle).

While we all had a wonderful time, HoneyDew and I think that Sampson is smitten with Lily because where ever Lily went Sampson was sure to follow:

Treat time...

Did someone say treat? I don't have to get up for it do I?

Of course not Dew, Auntie Birta will bring it to you!

They were in and out of the house all day and finally wore themselves out...

Can you find all the pups?

My apologies for the quality of the pics as five dogs in a house makes for fast moving targets and lots of blurs!

Happy DOT!