Thursday, July 31, 2008

Garden Full Speed Ahead!


This year's garden incorporates vegetables, flowers, herbs in mixed plantings. Delightful to the eyes and senses, mixed plantings also work well for beneficial insects. While you might think we lived in the country from this picture, we actually live in the middle of town. In the far back of the picture is a stand of wild lettuce, burdock, yellow dock and thistle. Wild lettuce can be calming as part of a tea. Burdock is used both as a vegetable (the root), and medicinal herb (root and seeds). Yellow dock is used for food and as an herb. Thistle (all kinds) are supportive of liver function.

It's always amazing to me how slowly a garden seems to take shape, and then it's like it is on a race track, speeding forward with incredible growth. First pictured above is the catmint/echinacea patch in early Spring. The next picture was taken about a week ago in July. The spiked purple flowers to the right are a Russian Sage plant that I thought I was going to kill last year, as I kept accidentally digging up the little start. Now established, it will probably keep up with the cat mint and start to spread next year.




While I do not welcome the green cabbage worms on my red cabbage plants, my son and I celebrate seeing the yellow swallowtail butterfly caterpillars (and others) on my dill plants. The U
mbelliferal family seems to appeal best to them. And our echinacea sp. patch, along with flowering catmip, flowering Russian sage, flowering oregano, garden sage and (somewhere in the mix) lavender appeal to many beneficial insects.


Thursday, July 17, 2008

Spirit of Monticello Grand Opening Party

Just a short note to let you know I will be reading cards (five minute readings) from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at The Spirit of Monticello shop in Monticello, Il on Friday evening, July 18.

It's a very nice shop with funky & fun t-shirts, shoes, jewelry, hats, soaps and lots of other stuff. Marie opened the shop a couple of months ago but this is the party to celebrate its opening.

The shop is on the square in downtown Monticello, on a corner. Call them at 217-762-7747.
Whether or not you can make it down on Friday evening, swing by and check them out even if it's when I'm not there. The party continues on Saturday (but I won't be there to say "hi").

Catherine
Botanicals from Wise Weeds

Deciphering Destiny at The Buzz

In the news, again.
What fun!

A week and a half ago, Bruce Harrington showed up at Carmon's, the restaurant in downtown Champaign where I do tarot readings on Tuesday evenings.

I enjoyed our interview. The article presents the basics very straightforwardly...One note, though, the printed version (and today's online version, although it will eventually be corrected) mixed up one thing...I do ten-minute readings for $15 at Carmon's.


Deciphering destiny
Tarot card readings offer insight to life’s unanswerable questions
4:00 am Jul 17 - by Bruce Harrington – buzz Writer

If you’re tired of relying on your daily horoscope, and your fortune cookies just aren’t cutting it, a one-on-one with a professional tarot card reader might be the answer to discovering your destiny.

Every Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Catherine Novak of Beads N Botanicals in Hoopeston, Ill., can be found at Carmon’s, 415 N. Neil St. Novak, a professional Tarot Card reader, uses the cards and her intuition to give people insight into their lives.

For the complete
article check here.

Deciphering Destiny

Catherine
Tarot Readings by Phone


http://the217.com/articles/view/deciphering_destiny