LOL... I've done this before, too! It was a vial of chamomile essential oil which I accidentally dropped and shattered on my bathroom tile floor. I did actually think to save the paper towel used to wipe up the mess, and I put that very fragrant paper towel into the utility room of my house which is where I keep my worm bin (so it can sometimes get a bit rank in there due to composting)... Let's just say my worm bin area and my bathroom both smelled unusually nice for several weeks! :)

Hey Rosey and Fragrant! It is a must that I use vinegar in my water solution so as to water with an acidic solution instead of one to neutral and high in pH. You see, in most cities such as mine, the pH of my water runs as high as 8.0 - 8.7. Using vinegar brings the pH down and temporarily makes all the nutrients available to my plants that otherwise would be held up the the mix from pH that is too high. So I use one tbsp per gallon of water when I start to see the leaves on my plants loose their luster and vivid green. My plants would otherwise be yellow and much malnourished if I did no do so and most likely die. Living in the Caribbean and having friends that are growers of gardenia and citrus in major nurseries that provide the most greenest plants I have ever seen have taught me this secret. Of course they use a different product for industrial purposes to lower their pH water solution but vinegar is a great and cheap sustitute for the home hobbyist. It would be a good idea to check with your water supplier to find out what the pH of your water is. For you Rosey, I wouldn't be surprised if it was over 8.0 and that was a major cause of decline in vigor of some of your plants, especially gardenia. I hope this helps! By the way, which is good for you to go to Logee's? This Saturday or the 4th on of this month? Mike

Moni, I love the aroma of pineapple sage. I bet your house smells delicious! i noticed yesterday that we still had lots of different herbs still growing and I hate it that tonight's cold temperatures will kill the ones, like basil, that aren't winter-hardy. I spent most of yesterday harvesting what was left of the garden, which had rebounded nicely from the summer drought conditions with above-average (finally!) rain falling here in October. We still are in drought, but everything had greened up so much that it didn't really look like we still have drought conditions, at least until you noticed the cracks still in the ground beneath the green plants. I spent most of my time harvesting hot and sweet peppers....roughly 15 gallons of them, so I will spend the day, and likely the rest of the week, in the kitchen processing peppers. Many will be blanched and frozen for use in cooking all winter long, but I have a lot of poblano peppers that I'm going to cut up and put in the dehydrator. I'll also be making a lot of pepper jelly, but today I may just wash and chop up the peppers for pepper jelly, and then freeze them and make the jelly on another day. I thought my canning season had ended back in late July or early August, but apparently it hadn't. It might take all day just to get that much of the prep work done, and I think I'll have to buy pectin before I can make jelly because I have only a few packages of it stashed in the pantry. I also harvested dozens of winter squash, but they don't have to be processed quickly like the peppers, so I left them in Rubbermaid storage bins out in the garage. We moved about 35 or 40 molasses feed tubs filled with plants to the greenhouse, and that included some tomato plants with quite a few tomatoes on them. I ran out of time and daylight yesterday before I had harvested any herbs or cut any flowers for bouquets, but will have a chance, I hope, to do that today since we shouldn't have freezing temperatures here until sometime tonight. We had an onslaught of honey bees and ladybugs congregating near the doors to any and every building yesterday afternoon, looking for a warm place to shelter from the cold. We always have ladybugs swarming near the doors right before the first hard freeze, but this is the first time the honeybees have congregated around the back door to the house that way. Every time I came into the house, I had to sort of swat them away from the door because the bees were trying to come inside the house with me. The bees and lady bugs made it into the greenhouse, garage and sunroom, and I hope those places keep them warm during this little cold spell. Some ladybugs may have made it into the house, but if they did, I'll vacuum them up with the hand vac today and release them into the greenhouse. I hate seeing the growing season come to an end when everything was looking so good, but it happens every year, and it is nice to have a bit of a break from all the yard work for a few months. Dawn

Sure! Here it is. Gingerbread Men 1 c softened butter 1 1/2 c brown sugar 2 eggs 2/3 c molasses (I used light molasses) 1/3 c fresh lemon juice 6 1/2 to 7 c all-purpose flour 2 T baking powder 1/2 t baking soda 2 1/2 t ground ginger 2 t cinnamon 1/2 t ground cloves 1/4 t nutmeg red cinnamon candies -Beat butter at med. speed with electric mixer until creamy; gradually add brown sugar, beating well. Add eggs, molasses, and lemon juice; beat well. -Combine 2 c flour, baking powder, and next 6 ingredients (through nutmeg); stir well. Add to butter mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Gradually add enough remaining flour to make a stiff dough, mixing well. Shape dough into 2 balls. Cover and chill at least 1 hour. -Roll 1 portion of dough to 1/4" untckness on a large greased cookie sheet. Cut gingerbread men with cookie cutter. Remove excess dough, using the tip of a knife. Add excess dough to remaining half of dough; wrap in wax paper, and chill until needed. -Press cinnamon candies in each gingerbread man for buttons. -Bake at 350° for 10-14 minutes or until golden. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. *****NOTE: I rolled out my dough on a WELL FLOURED cutting board and transferred them after cutting to a parchment lined cookie sheet.