A Stroppy, Green-Thumbed Lass
May. 13th, 2011 05:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
apple_pathwaysLast night I told an intruding stranger to piss off (in politer terms than that) when he decided to come up to my friend in a restaurant and tell her how to handle her dog. Thank you, Cesar Fucking Milan, but we're not interested in your lecture course. I just hate blowhard men who think everyone's just dying to hear their expert opinion on absolutely everything. (When he lit up a cigarette, I was oh so sorely tempted to offer him some free condescension advice on how he should quit.)
(For what it's worth, it's not my friend's dog: she's watching it for a couple months. She has no experience with dogs, and I knew it was a bad idea to bring it to the restaurant. After I scared off the Dog Whisperer, she drove the little yapper home so everyone could eat in peace.)
We've started buying annuals for the house. My mom is crazy into container gardening, and loves making elaborate pots for the patio. Me, I'm much more into the herbs and vegetables: the stuff that's ugly, but useful! I bought a little four pack of dill.
I'm going to get the rest of the herbs I need when we go out to Eastern Market tomorrow. It's a huge farmer's market in downtown Detroit, and it is SO MUCH FUN! The market itself is full of about 5 tents worth of vendors, and the area is surrounded by fun shops and yummy restaurants. There's outdoor BBQ and street performers, and it's just a good time! I like looking for unusual mint varieties to plant and dry for tea. Last year I had chocolate, orange, lemon, apple, peppermint, and Kentucky Colonel Mint, which is a spearmint variety: it's GORGEOUS, and smells OH SO good! Very delicious for mojitos and other mixed drinks: I like a sprig in my vodka lemonade.
My father and I have started making plans to build trellises for my pumpkins, melons, and squash. We went out to Lowe's to look at wood and do some pricing, and the man who worked there was actually able to talk to me about what I needed as if I were a competent, thinking adult! HOORAY for restoring my faith in men, Random Lowe's Employee! ♥
Happy weekend, y'all. What's up with you?
(For what it's worth, it's not my friend's dog: she's watching it for a couple months. She has no experience with dogs, and I knew it was a bad idea to bring it to the restaurant. After I scared off the Dog Whisperer, she drove the little yapper home so everyone could eat in peace.)
We've started buying annuals for the house. My mom is crazy into container gardening, and loves making elaborate pots for the patio. Me, I'm much more into the herbs and vegetables: the stuff that's ugly, but useful! I bought a little four pack of dill.
I'm going to get the rest of the herbs I need when we go out to Eastern Market tomorrow. It's a huge farmer's market in downtown Detroit, and it is SO MUCH FUN! The market itself is full of about 5 tents worth of vendors, and the area is surrounded by fun shops and yummy restaurants. There's outdoor BBQ and street performers, and it's just a good time! I like looking for unusual mint varieties to plant and dry for tea. Last year I had chocolate, orange, lemon, apple, peppermint, and Kentucky Colonel Mint, which is a spearmint variety: it's GORGEOUS, and smells OH SO good! Very delicious for mojitos and other mixed drinks: I like a sprig in my vodka lemonade.
My father and I have started making plans to build trellises for my pumpkins, melons, and squash. We went out to Lowe's to look at wood and do some pricing, and the man who worked there was actually able to talk to me about what I needed as if I were a competent, thinking adult! HOORAY for restoring my faith in men, Random Lowe's Employee! ♥
Happy weekend, y'all. What's up with you?
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no subject
Date: 2011-05-14 07:11 am (UTC)I'm trying to be a little more relaxed than usual because I think I've been a little too glued to the globe and it's impacting me a bit. A substantial change could be on the horizon - likely is - and I'll say a great deal about it when it actually happens. For now, it's shaded in not-too-subtle mystery.
I /just/ finished watching an anime that was pretty cool, Gilgamesh, and a movie tonight with the fambly, Race to Witch Mountain. I am about to go and flee and read. Alas, the writing is on a temporary low-priority because of the Change coming.
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Date: 2011-05-14 06:39 pm (UTC)I can't wait to see what this Change is going to be! (If you turn into a giant cockroach, please post pics!) It all sounds very exciting, and I wish you look: let me know if/when you need any cheerleading.
Gilgamesh, huh? That could be entertaining! I always liked The Epic of Gilgamesh a lot better than Beowulf, which I had to read about three times way back when I was an English major.
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Date: 2011-05-14 10:19 pm (UTC)Yeah, that's why I started watching it, I love anime with mythic allusions. Haven't actually read Gilgamesh yet (even though it's short; I suck.) The villain refers to himself as Enkidu for a pretty important reason! But that's about as far as it goes.
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Date: 2011-05-14 01:22 pm (UTC)In other news: Yaaaaaay plants!
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Date: 2011-05-14 06:43 pm (UTC)Anywho. YAY PLANTS, INDEED! How's your container garden coming?
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Date: 2011-05-14 02:43 pm (UTC)But my peas are up!
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Date: 2011-05-14 06:46 pm (UTC)What kind of peas did you plant?
Also: I know, where is the sunshine! I want it back, NOW!
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Date: 2011-05-14 03:07 pm (UTC)2nd, wow, some people just don't have any problem giving free "advice," do they? Some people are the worst kind of busybodies!
3rd, YAY GARDENING! It sucks because the weather here was gorgeous the last couple of days here - warm, sunny, all of that. But it's going to be really cool and rainy the next couple of days. I'm hoping it gets sunny at least one of the days so that I can start clearing out the veg garden. My mother and I bought some tomatoes and basil to plant in the garden. We got some geraniums to plant in a pot. I'm excited! I might tempt my mother into getting some more herbs, although we do have a fairly rampant mint patch that's perfect for making chutneys and sauces, and hmm, mojitos too :D
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Date: 2011-05-14 06:51 pm (UTC)Thank you, I maded it! :D Canton is going to be my new "I am a BAMF, so DON'T MESS!" icon.
*sigh* Yeah, we had an entire week of nice weather, that now seems to have departed. It was fine when it was sunny during the day, and storming at night: in fact, that's my favorite kind of weather! (I like to sleep during thunderstorms: so restful!) But this 'gray all day, rain all night' business is for the birds! :P
Oh yes, mint will TAKE OVER THE WORLD if left unchecked! I grow mine in pots so that it cannot plot domination of the entire yard. I love having loads of it around, though: it feels so decadent to just chuck a spring into a drink, or garnish a dessert!
You'll have to share with me some of your mint sauce/chutney recipes! I haven't cooked much with it, but I'd like to start.
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Date: 2011-05-14 04:17 pm (UTC)I have never heard of orange or apple mint! They sound fascinating! (I miss my chocolate mint plant, it smelled yummy).
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Date: 2011-05-14 06:55 pm (UTC)I know, right? It was a welcome surprise after the guy at the feed store got all huffy when I told him I could transport the 40 lbs of birdseed I was buying to my car myself. (The bag was right next to the door, and my car was right outside. That, and 40 lbs really isn't that heavy, and I'm not an invalid...)
Orange mint is lovely! It has a really nice fragrance to it, but the flavor is not particularly strong or orange-y. The apple mint I bought last year didn't do so well. It looks different from the other mints, with wide fuzzy leaves. It smelled nice, but hardly had a taste at all. I don't know if I'll buy it again this year.
I did buy the Kentucky Colonel mint, peppermint, orange mint, and a chocolate mint today, plus a new discovery: variegated ginger mint! So far I don't see the variegation on the leaves, but it smells amazing! Can't wait to see if it dries well for tea.
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Date: 2011-05-18 04:03 am (UTC)If you take your kickass!mint to Minnesota… you know where this is going.
…if I show up on your doorstep and do nothing but write fic to your specifications, will you pay me in mint-sprig'd vodka lemonade?
Your love for your plants makes me love your plants, so I'm extremely happy that they're going to have a custom-made home. :D
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Date: 2011-05-18 04:13 am (UTC)…if I show up on your doorstep and do nothing but write fic to your specifications, will you pay me in mint-sprig'd vodka lemonade?
DO NOT MAKE PROMISES YOU DON'T PLAN TO KEEP!
Aww, yeah: I do go on about my plants! But honestly, you haven't seen nothing yet: oh, the picspams to come!