Herb Therapy

When friends and family visit they always comment on how laid back and relaxed it is around our house. The trees, the meadow, the wildflowers, the bleating of lambs gambolling in the field....

It's not always that relaxed, of course. They just haven't seen me at 5:15 pm on a Thursday night when I have just got home with the kids, they're busy emptying the contents of their bookbags all over the family room, and I'm trying to fold laundry, get phone messages, make dinner, organize soccer cleats and socks, and get everyone back out of the house by 6pm.

But luckily, this time of year, restorative measures are right out in the kitchen garden. Nothing is more calming than wandering around the garden at dusk, running my fingers through the herbs, and enjoying the wafting aromas.

I can't decide which of these is my favourite aid to relaxation:

Lavender?

or Rosemary?

Of course, they're both trumped by the bottle of Wolf Blass Yellow Label Cabernet that Andrew has opened for me.