Winter herbs

Michelle and I are taking advantage of the mild Florida weather by growing some 'winter' herbs on our back patio.



Fresh cilantro for salads. We can hardly go without it now.



Basil. No good to reason to leave this out either.



Rosemary. This is more like a medium-sized shrub, which is doing well here. In fact, I had to cut it back the other day. We used the extra twigs in (literally) our chicken the other night.



I threw some wildflower seeds in 2 other pots and these guys popped up the other day.



It has been a warm and wet fall. Christmas seems like it should be months away. We haven't turned the heat on yet! Although, we did have our first fire of the season on a cooler, rainy day the weekend before last. The last few days have been in the upper 70's/low 80's. I think we're in for a bit of a shock when we travel to Wisconsin this weekend.

Here are a few pictures from a Sunday afternoon hike near Hogtown creek, which runs through Gainesville.





Above is a giant southern magnolia. The picture doesn't do it justice.



Chance was being adventurous. Apparently, this particular stream bed is a good place to find shark teeth and coral snakes.