Blond and blonderer

Mom, Favorite Aunt and I went to the Missouri Botanical Garden over the weekend. They're gardeners, and I'm a wannabee, and no one else wanted to go, so it seemed like the perfect way to spend a day!

The gardens were fabulous. Of course, it was also Chinese culture weekend, which I missed on the website (if it was there) so we had to dodge some dancers and a twelve foot dragon, but it was worth the trouble. It was even worth the extra $2.00 a person they tacked onto the admission price.

After we toured the gardens, we stopped in the gift shop. (We're shoppers; it was a must-see.) I was very happy to find a purple basil* already started, AND Feverfew seeds**! Yeah! Cat grass for the furries and a Venus Fly Trap were unexpected bonuses.

So, high on cloroform and adrenaline from the hunt, we got back to the car and headed home. I was driving, Mom was riding shotgun, and when she pointed out the sign for 44 West, we were all surprised at how easy it was to get on the freeway from the Garden.

*Interruption for perspective*
The Missouri Botanical Garden is in St. Louis. I live in Illinois.

About two miles later I saw the sign for 44 West. I looked at the compass; yep, we were going west. It just so happened that there was a lull in the conversation, so I said, "Mom, why did you tell me to go west? Do you want to have dinner in Kansas City?"

She thought about that for a second and said, "Oh. We were supposed to go east."

(This is normal for us. We can both get lost in a wet paper bag if we don't have a map and a compass.)

I have to give Favorite Aunt a lot of credit for not laughing when I took the next exit to turn around and go home.

Let it never be said that I don't listen to my mother!

*Purple basil is great for cooking and salads, but I'm told that if you dry the leaves and bundle them in cheese cloth, it keeps mosquitoes away. I haven't tried it yet, but I plan to. Cat nip mixed in is supposed to increase the bug-free radius but if you have outside cats around, you probably don't want to go there.

**Feverfew is an herb that's great for curing migraines. I'll have to look it up in my herb books, but I think you use the leaves dried to make tea, or to make a tincture to mix with water. I currently buy it in a capsule at a health food store, but I want to try the tincture to see if it works faster. (OK, I also want to learn the technique for making tinctures!)