Rosemary

Because I am a not a native Californian, I still marvel at the giant rosemary bushes that grow here. I have four pretty big ones in my yard that I love to have for snipping whenever I need some rosemary for cooking. 

I like to keep the bushes in scruffy rounds -rounded but not entirely sheared. My method is to shear them only once or twice a year to keep the basic shape but then to let them grow out so they look less manicured. 

I cut them back today and thought that I should definitely use some of the clippings inside. I know I said in this grumpy post that I wasn't going to do any Christmas decorating until the 14th, but I lied. 

First of all, when my hub suggested last weekend that we get a tree, I wasn't going to argue with that. (It's in the house, but still no lights or ornaments). Secondly, one of my favorite holidays looks is the use of live greenery inside the home for Christmas. Scandinavians seem to have a special knack for this -simple and sparse and oh so good.

So it made sense to make a few of these and hang them around the house.

 In the kitchen.

 On the zinc table.

And of course on the antlers.

Doing just a little bit of decorating got me psyched to get to it this weekend and also inspired me to try to go for a more simple look than is my usual Christmas mode. Changing it up will be a good thing, I think. What about you, change it up or keep it the same?