Happy, happy January and a happy, happy new year everyone,

I hope you had an amazing Christmas and your new year is off to a brilliant, fun and laughter filled start.

When my youngest daughter came home for Christmas she arrived with a mint plant that she and her house mates had lovingly and inspiringly named Mr Minty. It had been bought a few weeks earlier because the supermarket in the town where she lives was out of pre-packed mint, which they needed for a recipe and one sad little mint plant was sitting on the reduced price shelf. One of her house mates wanted to use the leaves and throw the plant out but it was kept and looked after and it grew more leaves and became a kitchen friend.

In honour of Mr Minty’s arrival at our house we bought a new pot and a group of herb friends and he now happily shares his new and larger home with coriander, parsley, rosemary, chives, oregano and Thai Chillies.

I’m not a gardener. My family joke that I have black thumbs instead of green ones, and they will tell you that I’m not much of a cook either but the herb garden, in its pot on the back veranda is thriving and having fresh herbs to look after and to use has given me a new joy in both gardening, I now take joy in looking after not only the herb garden but the garden around it, and cooking. Hmmm, what can we try that uses oregano and mint?

Sometimes it only takes a small thing, a tiny change in the every day, a small new addition to your life, a new way of seeing things, to cause you to see and do things differently. Checking on the herb garden every day, watering it and checking for bugs has made me look around my garden and inspired me to take a few minutes to trim that plant or get rid of those weeds. I’ve even hired a green waste bin from the council. Having a few fresh herbs at my beck and call has encouraged me to think of ways to acknowledge their growth by using them in new and exciting recipes.

The best thing about Mr Minty coming into my life is that 2 of my plans for 2012 were to be better at keeping my garden under control and to be more adventurous in my cooking. Sometimes the smallest things can be the catalyst for change, and small changes can quickly grow into larger things.

Mr Minty along with the new herb garden, will be leaving with my daughter, returning to their rural home, next week, but I won’t be without my new gardening delights. My daughter and I took great pleasure in dividing the garden into two. We even carefully and lovingly divided Mr Minty and he is now my garden guardian.

Has something come into your life that could prove to be the catalyst for positive change? Or what tiny changes could you make that will inspire you to bigger things this year?