MY CHILDHOOD

I have this wonderful memory of my childhood. During summer all the fruit trees were filled with fruit, their branches hanging with the weight of glorious summer bounty. I loved the peaches, their fuzzy, beautiful complexion. Their branches were so full of huge peaches that they would have to be propped up with stakes. I remember many a morning going out to the peach trees and picking off my breakfast. Peeling the fuzzy skin with my Swiss Army knife and indulging in a juicy meal. There was two peach trees not far from our back door...the easiest victims! :) But there was one other peach tree...it was a little farther. This was "the grandfather" peach tree...old and sturdy. There was wild mint growing up beneath the tree. How wonderful to step up to the tree, with cool dirt on my toes and the scent of crushed mint underneath. Slowly making way for the warm smell of peaches, ready to eat.

Mmmm......

When we went to the Farmer's Market we succumbed to the scent of coffee drifting the air...much to our joy! There is a local coffee roasting company here in Valley! There are rows of large whole buckets lined up on the right and the left...one side is decaf the other caff. Labels are on each bucket marking the flavor. Such wonderful aroma! There is Seville Orange, Coconut, Buttered Rum, Chocolate Cherry, French Vanilla, Caramel Toffee...just to mention a few.

SAY I'M THE ONLY BEE IN YOUR BONNET

Did you know eating honey made from local bees will help those with allergies become more tolerant of local pollens. Find local honey at Farmer's Markets, Bee Keepers sometimes in your supermarket.

CATS

Oh how I miss winter and all its wonders. I love to see cats sitting in windows...braving the winter indoors with their tales wrapped around plump bodies. I honestly thing they sneak a sip of their master's earl grey tea when they are not looking. Soothing their meowing throat from the night before, when they stayed up chasing snowflakes. Their homes are filled with an aroma of cloves and cinnamon from the pumpkin pie cooling in a window sill. The faint sound of tea seeing - what you have never heard tea seeing?!?! Mmmm...it sounds like a gently rain pouring down, autumn leaved swishing on the sidewalks and a cozy fire cracking in the background. Ah yes, now you remember!

In 1862, missionary sisters transformed The Minimes Convent in Provence, France into a place of care. They enriched the convent's legacy of plant studies by applying their knowledge of nature to create remedies for the residents of the convent. Inspired by this history, each product from Le Couvent Des Minimes is touched by this tradition with age-old recipes, selection of the finest natural ingredient and ancestral know-how to combine pleasure with remedy.

BIGELOW

As soothing as a field of daisies, COZY CHAMOMILE Herb Tea is a wonderful way to unwind and relax any time of day.

In the hustle and hurry that have become so much a part of our lives, it's important to take a moment at the end of each day to unwind. SWEET DREAMS Herbal Tea, a blend of chamomile and hibiscus flowers with its mild and soothing flavor, will add a peaceful note to the close of your day.

CONSTANT COMMENT was created to bring more flavor to tea. Made from an original Bigelow recipe, "Constant Comment" is a blend of the finest mountain grown teas deliciously flavored with rind oranges and sweet spice. Delicious hot, superb iced. Enjoy if often by yourself or with your family and friends

BLOOM

I recently went shopping for winter plants. I had forgotten this is the season to get roses. The poor little plants with only three branches to their name...hoping those few branches will be enough to issue their many blooms. What is ever more pitiful is the roses "in the back." Sign... These plants were forgotten all year it seems, never once getting re-potted or talked to. Their twisted branches are entangled together in a thorny mass. The hybrid tea rose, bred for those velvety petals and luxurious fragrance are humbled among the rebellious climbing roses - cast aside, forgotten and unkempt...and drastically marked down in price! With a true clipper these once majestic rose plants will BLOOM AGAIN...I am sure of it!!!