Lush Birds, Lush Nursery

A jaunt down country roads, up and down green hills and past small farms, takes us to our favorite local nursery, Shields Flowers and Herbs. It is exactly to my liking: rambling, lush, and wildly creative. Besides organically grown heirloom tomatoes and vegetables, I save my pocket money for Sheild's incredible selection of herbs, rarish and common. Elspeth teeters after the peacocks, who by all accounts, guard the lavendar and wysteria and bamboo better than the fiercest watch dogs--and apparently there are so many that the owners seem fairly unconcerned at the loss of one of these gaudy creatures. Take, for instance, the resignation with which the Sheild's employee removed the carcass of the peacock that perished with a sickening THUMP in the road. "It happens all the time," she said. The peacocks strut all over the variegated sage and Thai basil and scented geraniums.

Add to this that Shields has just added their own wine cellar and you've got quite a treat of an outing.