Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme

It's November. We're well past our first snow along the Front Range in Colorado, in fact last week it snowed for 50 straight hours in Denver and we had about 10 inches of wet, heavy snow at our house. Good thing we had already harvested the last of the onions, garlic, and carrots. The vegetable garden is ready for winter, but the flower garden still needs some attention before we call it done for the season (i.e., dead foliage cleared and perennials banked with leaves).

Inside, my kitchen garden has happily readjusted to indoor temperatures and humidity (i.e., zero) and the parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, mint, and oregano are past sulking and look positively perky and ready to be added to winter soups and stews and sauces and chilis.

Meanwhile on the reading front, I'm on the homestretch with The Moonstone. Miss Clack remains my favorite in the weird sister category--for some reason when I was reading about her I flashed on The Importance of Being Earnest several times, remembering when Lady Bracknell says, "Is this Miss Prism a female of repellent aspect, remotely connected with education?" I matched Miss Prism and Miss Clack as kindred spirits, and can't now think of one without the other.

I also just started Julie & Julia, which I picked up for a whole $1 at our last JASNA book exchange. It's fun, easy, and not at all Victorian, which is a nice change of pace...don't want to turn into Miss Clack, after all.

NetFlix should be delivering the second disc of the first season of The House of Elliot. If you haven't watched this fantabulous BBC series, created by Jean Marsh of Upstairs, Downstairs fame, then you should rush out and find it. It's about two 1920's sisters who find themselves orphaned, impoverished (sort of) and awfully good at dress-making, flirting, dancing, flying kites, ranting, and living. My mother told me about it--and she was right...I love it!






Finally, tomorrow is my birthday. Yes, I am a Guy Fawkes baby (as in, "Remember, remember the fifth of November, gunpowder, treason and plot"). I just checked Netflix--they still don't have Gunpowder, Treason, and Plot.

I also need to settle on an adaptation of The Moonstone to watch once I'm done with the book. There's one from 1996 here, and a 1972 version here. The 1996 version has Greg Wise as Franklin Blake, so that may just settle it!