OK, I have returned from my wonderful trips down to Mississippi and New Orleans, where the sun was bright and warm and I was able to bask and soak up heat and vitamin D and all those other mood-lifting things you get from sunshine down in the South that just don't exist 3/4ths of the year for anyone living much north of the 35N' latitude line.  Of course, I returned to NYC to the cold, the wet, and the generally miserable (weather-ly speaking).  It's finally starting to get a little better, but it's got a long way to go yet.

In update news, my folks' are still staying with me, at least until Saturday, and then I will be able to get back to work.  Well, kind of.  For the next two weeks, I've actually gotten gainful employment back at a lawfirm, which is good for me being able to pay bills and buy groceries, but not so good for giving me time to just sit and create.  However, the lilacs are blooming, the Sakura festival at Brooklyn Botanical is this weekend, and I know I need to hop to it to start churning out my spring vials made with those very time sensitive flowers!  (I have been a bit worried, because the little cold snap I returned to with lots of rain and even more wind is battering a lot of these flowering trees and making them drop their flowers/petals prematurely, as well as damaging the ones still on the tree.)

On an upside, my garden has been replanted, full of fresh herbs as well as new vegetable plants for summer.  For me, I've got lots of cherry tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and a bush cucumber.  For me *and* for Izile's Oddities to share, my 3 year old Rosemary is still kicking, the Sage, Chives and Chocolate Mint have survived another winter as well, and even my Oregano and Lemon Thyme are fighting back from the grave.  My miniature yellow rose - a gift - is also putting out new growth from the root, fighting back against the nasty northern winter.  New this year is Basil (sweet and purple, always have to be replanted fresh each year), Parsley, Italian Mint, Lemon Mint and Peppermint (they are all fighting it out for space with the chocolate mint), Lemon Verbena, and am replanting some Lavender (though not french lavender this year, so smooth leaves instead of the feathery-frilled looking ones I've used in the past).

So, I think that catches everything up to date.  If the folks are heading back south by Saturday, I hope that by late Sunday night I will have a fresh batch of Magic Vial Pendants to upload to here and Etsy, with cherry blossoms, lilac flowers and who knows what else (my sage and chives are already in bud to bloom).

Going to be a busy-busy little elfling for the next couple of weeks!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Izile's Oddities on Etsy

Izile's Oddities' Blog

Cafepress Designs


Clubs:
and