Planting time

Bachelor's Buttons. One of my childhood favorites. I used to grow these from seeds, every Spring. All summer long these beauties would flower and bloom, and make the best backyard bouquets!

I walked into a new to me nursery last weekend, and saw a table full of these cornflowers sitting there, all pretty like. I grabbed one of each color, and brought them home with me. They are waiting to be planted, quite soon!





I went for some snapdragons and came out with cornflowers. I'm still hunting for snapdragons. Apparently they work well around these parts, because they are deer resistant. Fortunately deer are not a problem in my neighborhood, but ground squirrels sure are. The buggers! We have to build above ground planters and fence the plants and vegetables in.

I.will.not.let.squirrels.stop.me!

Homegrown is simply THE BEST! What are you planting in your garden this year? Do you bother with a vegetable garden?

Have a wonderful weekend.

Easter Schmeaster

Bunny eggs made by the little ones......



Pretty flowers for the table



Something fresh and sweet to eat! Juicy and ripe strawberries from the local farmer's market.




We snitched a few before slicing them to put on top of chocolate cupcakes! Delish!
Who could resist some organic, juicy, AND sweet strawberries?!

Cookies for Friday

Lemon-Almond Cookies

1 1/2 cups Almond flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of sea salt
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1/4 cup plus two tablespoons grape-seed oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon chia seeds
zest of one lemon
1/4 cup of your favorite nuts, finely chopped (I used slivered almonds and pine nuts)

Preheat oven to 345 F.

Mix all ingredients in mixing bowl.

Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Form round balls with the dough, approximately 1/2 inch to 1 inch in diameter. Flatten onto baking sheet.

Bake for 6-8 minutes. The cookies should be slightly browned. Remove from oven, and let cookies cool on baking sheet.

Yield: A bakers dozen (13)

To mix it up a bit, try adding chocolate chips, rather than lemon zest, or use orange zest with the chocolate chips! That would give a wonderful aromatic mix of flavors. And yes, these cookies are gluten-free as well as vegan. The possibilities are endless.

Rainy days and sunny days

Cute skirt.



Shortest post, ever! (almost)

We're heading outdoors to enjoy the nice weather before it rains again.

Baby showers, Spring Fever and such

What a whirlwind of activities it's been, this past week! Saturday landed me with a fun baby shower for a sweet friend of mine. It just so happened to be in this awesome city, and it just so happened to be a sunny day!





The city was so sparkely and clear!



A few little goodies I sewed up and took along.







Almost makes me want another little baby......

These sets were so much fun to make. I can't wait to see them all sitting side by side, in their matching outfits.

Hello Spring!

Oh, hello there Spring! You feel fantabulous!



Soft breezes, dappled sunlight.....blossoms falling like snow......



It's all about the outdoors these past few days!

Typical day at the office

Happy Friday, peeps!

How is your day shaping up?

I was up at 6am along with the birds....baking cookies for school lunches, making breakfast which consists of a multitude of menus.......oatmeal for some, hot buckwheat groats for others, scrambled eggs, oh yeah, and a little someone always has their warm homemade muffin. I think I forgot to add the school lunch making frenzy in there. It's all gotta be done by 7:30, so we can be dressed and out the door shortly thereafter!

I finally finished up the cutest little skirt, and I feel a sense of accomplishment. Sometimes it's the little things in life that make me smile. I feel like I have something to show for my day, other than a pile of fold laundry and dirty dishes to load for the umpteenth time into the dishwasher. I'm not knocking the dirty work, because someone's gotta do that, too. Let me say this, I was under the weather over the weekend, and I sure appreciated my sweet husband helping out with the dishes. It always amazes me how quickly the dirty things pile up. Dishes, laundry, messy house.....

Did groceries and was back home by 10:30am....unloaded the food and fresh produce. Started in on a batch of fresh bread. Today's special is hot cross buns. I made a humble attempt at the hot cross buns last weekend, but they did not turn out like I had pictured. (They're still tasty, but a different texture than I was expecting.) As I am typing, the bread is rising, so let's hope I have success this time around.



Freshly picked lemon off my tree



All shaved



Bread dough



Egg wash for my fluffy bread



The finished product!



Success! These are as good as they look!