Waiting for Spring

I am anxiously waiting for Spring.  The weather here has been less than ideal:  grey, drippy, windy, and cold (and the power went out as I was writing this post).  On Saturday we had a bit of a break when the rain stopped and the sun peeked out from behind the clouds so the Littles and I quickly bundled up, I grabbed my camera, loaded Baby Bubs into the stroller, and we all headed out for a walk.  It was lovely.  The sun was getting lower on the horizon and the light was gorgeous...Delicious in fact.  We walked over to a nearby school that has several raised garden beds and I let Babs and Little Buddy search for snails while I took a few pictures of  some swiss chard glowing in the light. 

 

We walked down the hill a littler farther until we came to the end of the road where we stopped just long enough for me to snap a picture before we turned around and headed back towards home...

It was so nice to be outside in the warm glow of the afternoon light and the fresh air!  It did us all some good.

I've been wanting to show you some of the things that I have growing here...poking little seeds into soil and watching them start growing into little plants gives me such JOY!  I can't wait for the weather to warm up so I can really get started in the garden.  Oh the plans I have!!  As I have mentioned before, I had been waiting for what seemed like F.O.R.E.V.E.R. for my seed order to arrive and when it finally did I was jumping with excitement...

And This is what I got to add to my seed collection:

Fruits and Veggies:  Wild Strawberries, Chadwick Cherry Tomatoes, Black Plum Tomatoes, Boston Pickling Cucumbers, Kale, and Strawberry Popcorn (Fun!). 

Herbs and Flowers:  Echinacia, Calendula, Lemon Balm, Feverfew, Zinnias, Nasturtiums, Bee Balm, Sweet Peas, and Sunflowers (which were a free gift - woo hoo!)

I am so, so excited to grow all of these - or more likely - ATTEMPT to grow all of these.  :o) 

Seeds Left Over From Last Year:  Amish Paste Tomatoes, Mini Bell Peppers, Anaheim Peppers, Crookneck Squash, Zucchini, Gold Princess Onions, Carrots, Sugar Snap Peas, Bush Beans, Lettuces, and all the usual herbs...basil, oregano, etc.

This will only be my second year gardening, last year I did pretty well until a pretty dark and long bout of depression hit and I let it all go.  I want to make a whole hearted effort this year, come-what-may.  I will be Square Foot Gardening for the first time this year along with my container garden.  I have kind of jumped into the deep end haven't I?!  Go big or go home??  I don't know...what I do know is that it is all pure FUN!!  :o)

 

I just had to show you this avocado seed I stuck in water last March...ha ha, isn't it the funniest thing you've ever seen.  Who knew that you could grow an avocado tree in a jar!  I need to give this guy a proper home in a nice big pot.

 



Do you garden?  I'm so curious, what are you planning on growing this year? 
Have a lovely day dear ones!

 

Catching up

Well hello there! 
It is a blustery, cold, rainy, winter day here in the valley and a good time for me to play catch up.  What a busy few weeks it has been...really, just the business of every day life can get to be a bit much for me sometimes and I end up in survival mode.  I shut down a bit and disappear for a while.  It's not the best place for me to be but it has been helpful and so refreshing for me to pause and take a few photos of things that make me happy through out the day, things that I'm thankful for and even blessings that I have overlooked in all the business going on around me.  In those moments, things slow down a bit and I can take a deep breath and thank God for his unending grace, lift my chin, get up and do the next thing.

On Valentines Day I made some cookies for Brad and The Littles...needless to say, they were a hit...

We've enjoyed going on a few walks...

 

I only take the stroller when we are watching Baby Bubs.  Baby Bubs is my sister's darling, adorable, sweet, 9-month-old baby who I watch a few days per week.  She is such a little sweetheart!  I feel so blessed to be able to spend so much time with my niece.

 

On Tuesday we had a full day of sun so we quickly got ready and headed out to the park...

 

 

Just look at that blue sky!!!  I LOVE sunny days.

 

 

All of The Littles on the swings...Oh so fun.



 

 

Taking a few moments to crochet (and take a very blurry picture of the crochet) while Baby Bubs naps in the stroller and the other Littles chase each other around the playground.

 





 

Visiting our Chicky friends on the way home. A few months ago we discovered them on a side street we didn't usually walk down and now we make sure that we visit them whenever we are in the area.

 

 

I loved the wood grain detail on this fence...

 

It's always so lovely to get out of the house, get some fresh air and stretch our legs.

 

My Valentines Day gift arrived in the mail a couple of days ago!!! My darling husband ordered me this gorgeous Cath Kidston mug....I Love, Love, Love it!  Even when he saw the shipping cost he STILL got it for me. It must be true love. :o) He he.

 

 

So many things to be thankful for!

 

One of the things that really lifted my spirits this week was the arrival of my seed order.  I thought that they had been lost forever in the mail and that I wasn't going to be able to have the garden that I've been planning and dreaming of for the past few months...after a quick little email it was all sorted out (some sort of computer problem at the seed company?) and I received my seeds 4 days later.  I am not ashamed to admit that there was a lot of jumping and squealing when the mail arrived (me, not the Littles).  Happy day!  I'll show what's growing and all that gardening stuff tomorrow.

 

Until then, have a wonderful, blessed, thankful day!

 

 

Crochet Love

Let me show you something that I have been working on...

 

 

 

 

Aren't they sweet!?  These teenie tiny hearts were so easy to whip up...I have at least 24 hanging on my little twigs.  They use up all those little bits of left over yarn and have kept me busy in the evenings while Brad and I watch TV after the Littles are in bed.  The pattern for these cute little hearts are found HERE at Lucy's blog Attic24.

Toodles!  Have a good day!! 

 

Banana Crumb Muffins

I have a love/hate relationship with bananas...you see, I grew up overseas in the tropics and have eaten MANY, MANY bananas in my lifetime...too many in fact.  However, I have to say that these are one of my favorite treats!  The Littles and I love, adore, and can eat the whole batch of theses muffins within 2 days.  I found the healthier version of this recipe here a few years ago but the original recipe is here (with more recognizable/normal ingredients).  :o)


Banana Crumb Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 bananas, mashed (I usually just use 2 and add a little applesauce)
• 3/4 cup sucanat (natural sweetener)
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup butter or coconut oil, melted

Topping (optional):

• 2 Tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1/4 cup sucanat

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).  Lightly grease 12 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.

2.  In a large bowl combine 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sucanat, egg and melted butter (coconut oil - yum!). Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling 3/4 full (Definitely fill all 12, otherwise they will overflow).

3.  Optional (but definitely recommended!): In a small bowl, mix together 1/4 cup sucanat, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.

4.  Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

I hope that you enjoy them as much as we do!
Have a lovely weekend!

 

A Chilly Walk

The Littles and I bundled up this morning and headed out on a walk.  It wasn't raining and while the wind was blowing a little, it wasn't so cold that we were uncomfortable.  We were all getting a little antsy and needed some fresh air and to stretch our legs. 

I brought along my camera today, something that I don't usually do.  It was such fun looking for things to photograph!  The Littles are always good sports and wait patiently while I stop to take pictures...

 

Here is a full shot of Little Mountain. I can only see a little part of it from my kitchen window.

Me enjoying being outside! Hair flying about with the wind...

 

 

Mountains covered with snow. (Sorry about all the power lines - this was the only place on our walk where I could get a picture of the mountains.)

 

Such pretty ivy...look at all the veins, all the detail. Very pretty.

When we got home I made lunch (I swear my Littles eat every hour and are ALWAYS hungry...how to keep them full??).  I was able to work on Mom's Ruby Hex Blanket take pictures of my latest project while they played outside for a while.

I bought these tiny daffodils at the grocery store a couple of days ago, they are like little bursts of sunshine, something I am in need of.  They make me happy.  :o)

I hope that you able to get outside today too!

xoxo

An Afternoon by the Sea

 

My favorite way to spend a sunny afternoon is at the beach looking for treasures along the shore.  Our little valley is very near the ocean and our favorite little beach is about 30 minutes away.  We don't come very often but when we do it is the highlight of our week!   

 

The Littles always have a wonderful time climbing on the logs, exploring, throwing rocks, finding treasures...

I am able to let them play to their heart's content while I stroll along the rocky shore searching for sea glass, agates, and sea pottery.

 

 

My FAVORITE way to spend a sunny afternoon!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend!!

xoxo

Keeping busy

The sun is shining in the valley once again and all is well with the world.

The dishes have been done, the laundry is drying, Pandora is playing, and I am enjoying a little quite time...Little Buddy and Babs are outside digging in the dirt.

This morning I decided to make Bread Pudding.  I have been craving it for the past few days and the last time I had it was last March when my mom and I were on vacation in Cannon Beach, Oregon.  After searching and searching for a place to eat breakfast (apparently most of the shop owners take Tuesdays off), we finally found a little run down cafe...they had a simple little display case and only thing that looked appealing was their bread pudding...it was SO, SO yummy.  So this morning I was craving some and after looking around on the Internet I found a recipe here.  It was yummy and something different but unfortunately my bread pudding didn't live up to the memory...isn't that always the way!  Oh well,  it was something fun to make and the Littles seemed to enjoy it.

I was able to spend some time outside early this morning taking pictures.  I used to take pictures all the time, of all sorts of things but over the years I have gotten out of the habit and have only been taking pictures of my children and family (not a bad thing of course, but I really ENJOY taking pictures of other things too!).  Oh if the neighbors could have seen me...they would have thought I lost my mind.  Picture this:  me wearing my hot pink bathrobe, no make up, hair still up in a messy bun, crouched down taking pictures of ugly looking branches....wearing my husband's (huge) shoes!  Ha ha!  True story.

This is what I saw today:

 

 

 

I also wanted to show you a project that I've been working on...

It is a gift for my best friend (who lives in Texas).  I saw several examples of String Art while browsing through Pinterest and it looked easy so I thought I would give it a try.  What a fun project!!  I am working on an outline of the Philippines for my brother now.  We might have to move after this, I am pretty sure that my neighbor hates me after all that hammering.  He he.

Hope that you are having a wonderful day!

xoxo