Some of the herbs in my #bloomingdaledc garden

Basil

Cilantro

Rosemary

Spearmint

Sometimes I don't realize how much stuff I have growing in the garden until I pull out my camera and say to myself, let's see what's there. And lo and behold I find I have quite a few herbs -- all of which I use for food flavoring all the time.  There's a basil plant just starting, a really pretty cilantro, a well-established rosemary and some spearmint invading any flower bed it can get into.  I usually dry the basil leaves in the oven (after it's turned off!) or use the leaves in a salad.  Cilantro is great in guacamole and in just about any soup or rice dish. Whenever I make roast potatoes I usually crush a bunch of rosemary in olive oil in the blender and pour that on the taters, with a bit of salt (very yummy!).  And the spearmint tea is good for tea in the summer (pour boiled water on a few sprigs and then cool it).  I lost my lavender plant in a recent rainstorm as it got soaked and the roots rotted as I forgot to check the pot and clear out the water in time. I grow these herbs as they are so EASY to grow and the soil around here seems to helpful to the plants.  The big danger is if they are in pots and I forgot about them and they either die from lack of water or too much water. It's just so wonderful to run out into the garden and get something to flavor your food and which is likely very beneficial to your health.

Frazier Funeral Home Before and After

I pass by 391 Rhode Island Ave NW all the time either on the bus or walking or in a car and have been watching with fascination the transformation of Frazier's Funeral Home to condominiums.  Apparently the building was sold in 2011 for about $850,000 and is being re-worked into a multi-unit residential property.  Interestingly, originally it was three row houses that had been turned into the funeral home back in the day.  The dividing interior walls were removed when it became a funeral parlor and so the new developer has probably sliced this up in a new way.  There are some websites discussing this re-use of the building with lots of conversation about bringing the dead back to life, dangers of embalming chemical residue, and whether or not there are ghosts haunting the place. It's a crazy traffic corner there at Florida and Rhode Island and 4th Streets NW -- apparently there is an abundance of accidents due to people running the light -- so I hope the developer put in good windows or the new live tenants will go nuts from noise.

Bloomingdale's Big Dig

I haven't photographed all the sites associated with the Big Dig to manage water in Bloomingdale but I was captivated recently by the huge pipes I saw being laid under the road at 2nd and W streets. I couldn't help but think they are so big you could sleep in them quite comfortably!  Or play some kind of crazy hide and seek game!  And the machinery and men working on the job look so determined to solve the water woes we've had for a while. I know I've experienced some of the aggravation caused by the digging as the bus I take all the time -- the G2 -- has been rerouted or detoured for TWO YEARS, stopping no longer at the two bus stops I have used for over ten years. Instead, I now have to walk seven blocks almost to Anna Cooper Circle instead of the terminus stop in front of the Water Works on Bryant Street.  And, I hope, when the pipe digging job is done, the bus will return to its old route. But I suppose this type of thing is one of the prices we will have to pay for fixing the water run-off sewage problem that's captivated the neighborhood for the last two years. And I certainly don't want to experience the basement seepage problems I've had to fix and pay to repair to make my basement usable again.  Just writing about it makes me think of the smell of mold!  After two or was it three episodes of soaked carpeting, I just had the whole thing ripped out and put down tiles after having the concrete repaired.  Even though it was very good carpeting and made the space very warm and livable, I actually prefer the tiling now. And I've nothing against the rain as it really makes the flowers bloom in my garden. I just wonder when the rains will come again!NOTE: be sure to read the Anonymous commenter below who says this "dig" ISN'T the run-off sewer water fix, but a water main replacement instead. Hmm....

Almost Full Reservoir

The McMillan Reservoir looked pretty full this evening when we drove by. The water line was above the rocks and it just looked like there'd been plenty of rain and there was not a drought (yet). I'm not sure what that is in the sky there but I'm sure it's a bird and most likely it's a goose of some sort.

You Know Summer's Nearly Here When You Can Make Sun Tea Fast

Although it rained today, last week I was able to make sun tea on the back porch just by leaving a tea ball filled with tea leaves in the water in a glass jar for about an hour or so. I really don't know if this way of making tea is "better" than the usual boil-the-water and soak-the-tea for three minutes method but it certainly is a great way to watch the sun and the garden grow while you're sitting on the deck enjoying the spring.  If you look closely at my photo here you will see that the tea ball is stainless steel and in the shape of a little teapot!  The tea tasted good too!