I've been growing herbs for several years, and a couple years ago, I started drying them to use in my cooking during the winter time. Here's what I do!

Here's my parsley, growing right outside the kitchen door














oregano that grows along with the parsley














a new bay laurel, which I hope will grow a lot...



















rosemary...



















I cut the herbs and hang them over the sink and the microwave -



















oregano and basil...














some parsley that I just dried...














I strip the dried parsley off the stems














here are the jars that I'm going to use...














that big pile of parsley only filled one and a half jars!














here's where it ends up - the spice rack!

Moving on up...

There is excitement in the Sagar household today - after a year of doing without them, we're finally getting a dishwasher and a garbage disposal installed! Surprisingly, our main motivation for getting the dishwasher is not actually the washing of dishes...it is, rather, sanitation. I'm a germophobe, and it has been really difficult for me to deal with having to sterilize my cutting boards and dishes with clorox bleach rather than being able to put them on the hot cycle in the dishwasher. Once you let bleach sit on things for several minutes, it is hard to make sure you got it all back OFF, so it's a pain!

It's quite an ordeal to get the dishwasher installed, since this house has never had one before. The contractor brought an electrician and a plumber, as well as a guy to pull out the cabinets, since we have to do everything from scratch. I figured, since they're going to be doing so much under the sink, I might as well have them put in a garbage disposal, too, so we're having that done simultaneously. I took a few "before" pictures at the beginning of the process, and I'll take some "after" pictures to show what it looks like when it's finished!

Here is the cabinet that's being ripped out, minus the doors, which have already been taken off...














It will be handy to have the dishwasher right beside the sink.














That's the dishwasher, right out of the box, with the garbage disposal sitting in the little box to the left.



















It's a GE Adora - not the biggest dishwasher, but the biggest one that would fit in our cabinet space.

Through a Dog's Eyes

Do you ever wonder what life looks like from the eyes of a dog? Sometimes I look at Max and wonder what his days are like. I guess this is pretty typical for him...

5:15 a.m. - Lie in my kennel watch daddy come down the stairs. Listen to him eat his cereal in the kitchen, watch him put on his shoes in the front hall, and then watch him leave for work.

5:20 a.m. - Go back to sleep.

7:30 a.m. - Wake back up as mommy comes down the stairs. Stand up and step out of the kennel as she lets me out. Stretch front legs. Stretch back legs. Yawn really big.

7:31 a.m. - Trot to the back door and go out to potty. Make the rounds of the yard, inspecting the entire fence line for squirrels, birds, rabbits, and other interlopers.

7:40 a.m. - Watch mommy turn on the sprinkler to water the plants, and RUN back into the house. The sprinkler is very scary. (One time it got me WET.) Watch as mommy puts dog food into my bowl. Sniff it, but decide to save it for later.

7:42 a.m. - Bark to remind mommy to open the window shade behind the couch so that I can see out the window into the back yard during the day.

7:45 a.m. - Jump up onto the couch for a quick snooze while mommy works on the computer.

8:15 a.m. - Climb the stairs to watch mommy run on the treadmill. Get bored with it and go back downstairs.

8:20 a.m. - Bark at people and dogs walking in the park across the street. (Note to self: this is a particularly good time for this because mommy is on the treadmill, so she won't scold me.)

8:30 a.m. - Go back upstairs to the workout room. Lie down for a nap.

8:50 a.m - Follow mommy to the bathroom while she showers. Lie down outside the door for a nap.

9:10 a.m. - Go back outside to potty one more time before mommy leaves for work.

9:15 a.m. - Come back into the house and watch mommy leave for work. As she drives away, bark very loudly at all dogs in view across the street.

9:20 a.m. - Climb the stairs to see if mommy or daddy left anything interesting in reach. Check mommy's night table for used Kleenex. Check the floor for shoes or dirty clothes. Bring all treasures that I find downstairs to the dining room and make a pile of stuff under the table.

9:25 a.m. - Make a round of the downstairs looking for shoes. Add to the pile of chewables under the dining room table.

9:30 a.m. - Sniff the entire kitchen. Jump up to pull any food off the counters and eat it right away. Destroy the evidence by hiding it behind the trash can.

9:31 a.m. - While I'm near the trash can, stick my face inside it and rummage around for stuff that smells fun to chew. This includes cardboard, food, and plastic wrappers. Pretty much anything, really. Add all of this to the pile in the dining room.

9:40 a.m. - Spend an hour or two lying on the dining room rug under the table, chewing on all treasures.

11:15 a.m. - Get a sip of water from the kitchen, and then head into the living room. Jump up on the couch to survey the back yard. Bark at squirrels and birds.

11:20 a.m. - Lie down for a nap. I'm exhausted.

2:45 p.m. - Wake up from nap. Go to front door and look for mommy's car. Lie down on the dining room rug and watch until mommy comes home from work.

3:30 p.m. - Hear mommy's car drive up. Run to front door and bark to welcome her. Remember that you were naughty and made a mess while she was gone. Slink up the stairs or behind the couch to hide and hope that she doesn't notice.

3:32 p.m. - Get scolded for getting into stuff and chewing up shoes.

3:33 p.m. - Go out into the backyard to potty and make the rounds of the fence line. Chase off squirrels and birds.

3:45 p.m. - Come back into the house. Eat the food in my bowl while mommy washes the dishes and does early work for preparing daddy's dinner.

4:00 p.m. - Follow mommy to the couch and push my way into her lap, making sure that I'm between her and the laptop so that she will hug me and pet me. Settle in for another nap in her lap while she works for a few more hours.

7:30 p.m. - Wake up and follow mommy around as she does laundry and cleans up the house. Keep a close eye on the front door to watch for daddy coming home.

8:30 p.m. - Watch mommy make dinner. Keep watching the front door for daddy.

8:45 p.m. - Daddy comes home from work! Greet him with barks, yelps, jumping, and lots of energy. Wrestle with him on the floor while he tries to take his shoes off.

8:50 p.m. - Sit at the top of the basement stairs while daddy does his workout down in the basement.

9:15 p.m. - Watch mommy and daddy eat dinner on the couch. Jump up onto the couch and push my way in between them while they eat so that I get the maximum amount of attention at all times.

9:30 p.m. - Watch mommy go upstairs to get her night shower. Eat any scraps off the floor that might have been dropped during dinner. Then lay in daddy's lap on the couch while he plays video games. Squirm periodically so that he remembers to pet and talk to me.

9:45 p.m. - Potty outside one more time before bed. Lay down in my kennel with a doggy treat while daddy gets his shower.

10:00 p.m. - Lights out - time for sleep!

Beach Trip!

A few weeks ago, we went on our annual summer beach trip to Hilton Head Island with my family. We were worried that we wouldn't get good weather, since the ENTIRE week before had been rainy, but it was perfect! We all had a great time. Our beach house had a great view, a nice kitchen, a pool, and a hot tub! We went to the beach every day, and we found all kinds of cool shells because of the storms that had come through the previous week.

New Garden Pictures

We got a new camera this week, and I took a whole bunch of pictures of our back yard! Here they are...

A picture from the side alley














The sweet william!














The back right bed, with hollyhocks, salvia, and marigolds...



















one of our tomato plants - they've just started growing a lot...














the better boy tomato bed














the climbing beans are finally coming up!



















our dreamweaver roses are climbing the trellis














the snapdragons underneath the tree roses














I love these new annuals, but I can't remember their name



















I love these, too...



















don juan climbing rose



















these are pretty, too...



















The tree roses have really started blooming!



















Here is one of the pots beside the grill



















The pots beside the deck stairs.



















The bed in front of the house!














I put in hydrangeas, patriot hostas, azaleas, and impatiens...




























Here's a view of the back yard from our bedroom window...

Garden Updates!

The April rain made a big difference in our yard. Here are some pictures!

I put in some hydrangeas in the front yard.














Here's one of our encore azaleas, which I put on each side of the front steps...



















The climbing roses are doing well.



















...and so are the lilies.














here's the first sweet william blossom!














another of the climbing roses...



















I created these planters to put in front of the grill



















here are the pansies on the deck!














The lettuce is doing well in the rose bed.



















Our curved side beds are doing well.














one of the lettuce plants














the peonies are going to bloom soon



















the daffodils in the front of the house bloomed like crazy

Nighfloat

A couple of weeks ago, James finished his third nightfloat rotation at the hospital. Basically, that means that he works a 30 hour shift on Sunday, and then he works nights from Monday through Friday morning. He sleeps all day Saturday, and then on Sunday morning, he starts it over again. So I thought I'd share some pictures of the call rooms at Barnes, b/c that's where James lived for three months this year...















here's where he keeps his toothbrush, razor, saline, etc.














Sometimes I borrow a mattress and sleep in the call room because when James gets to the end of the nightfloat month, he sometimes sleeps through his pager!



















here's his locker (notice the random Lipitor magnet)



















and here's the bathroom

One more week...

I thought I'd update everyone on what's been going on with us lately. For the past three weeks, James has been on a nightfloat rotation at the hospital, which means that he works a 30-hour shift every Sunday (through until Monday morning), and then he works every night from Monday to Friday. He usually has the Saturday off, although he did have to spend one of his Saturdays taking the board exam. In any case, it's exhausting. He has only one more week of it, though, and then he'll be back on regular rotations for the rest of the academic year. This is the third month of nightfloat that he's had to do this year.

I've been pretty busy, too. We have 12 guys trying to graduate in our program next month, so I've been overseeing (and editing) their dissertations. I also had to write the grant report for the Lilly grant that funds the Center for Ministry Leadership, so that took quite a bit of time as well. I'll be happy when it's the end of April, and all of this end-of-the-schoolyear stuff is complete.

Max has kept busy, too. He has an aggressive schedule of naps, snacks, chasing birds, barking at passersby, getting into the trash, and digging in the garden (for which he gets into a lot of trouble.) His favorite time of the day is when his daddy comes home from work, and he loves to jump around and make lots of noise!