Sunday afternoon pick me up...

It was unusually warm yesterday afternoon -- so we felt the need to be outside -- even though there was not much to do out there.  After all -- it is still only February.  So, I grabbed the lavendar from the garage -- Rick hung this up for me during Fall cleanup :-)  I brought my wall sconces outside and tucked some of the lavendar in each of them.  Then, I tied some silky ribbon around each of the sconces, and...

Ta...da...!  A fresh new  look to welcome springtime!

I know, the mantel is a little plain -- I have a few crafty ideas in the works to solve that problem -- but, in the meantime,  I thought this idea would give a little springtime cleaning boost to you guys!  :-)

waiting...

For this...

February 2011

To become this...

May 2010

This year, we have plans to move the weeping cherry tree.  It hasn't grown since we planted it a few years ago.  Rick thinks he may have planted it too low in the ground.  I think we need a much bigger tree in that spot -- planted a bit farther away from the house -- so I vote to replace it.  Do you think I should ask the garden fairies what they think?

it's still february, right?

Here is the line of thunderstorms about to hit me over the head as I am writing.  Guess the weatherman thought we needed a bit of exciting weather to perk us up!

Here is what it looks like outside.  Notice how tattered my porch flag has become.  We get some pretty heavy winds here.

And, in the middle of all this -- at my husband's request -- I ran outside to measure the light fixture on the front of the garage.

I don't hear any thunder...yet.

waaaah...it's too small...

I finished the top part and went into the bathroom for a fitting.  It's supposed to cover the edges of the bench!  Guess it will have to be a seat cushion instead of a seat cover. Oh well, it gave me a chance to practice my machine quilting, and, I was going to paint the bench anyway...

let's talk about broccoli...

Last night's dinner vegetable was supposed to be broccoli.  When I took the broccoli out of the fridge, I noticed white spots all over it.  This happened to me a couple of months ago -- and I did a search on the internet to see what it is.  The only information I could find was that you shouldn't eat it if it has white spots.  I bought this last week -- so it really should be okay still.  Can anyone enlighten me as to what this is?

Just so you know -- I threw it away.  Our dinner vegetable(s) were cucumber salad and corn.  Not the "green" that I was looking for -- but the troops thought they were a good replacement.

I'm a big boy now...

Okay, so you might find this photo of me a bit intimidating.  I could just hop over that gate, or, if I was in one of my puppy frenzies, I could probably just run into it and blast it to smithereens...  But that's not my nature.  I am the biggest "fraidy cat" there is.  Nicholas calls me a "girl".  For example, right here in this photo -- the reason for my awesome stature is because my Dad is downstairs "framing up the walls" and using some power tools.  I'm really not sure of what that all means -- all I know is that every time the door to the basement opens, and I hear those "power tool" noises, I go running for the hills.  I am panting and pacing the floors like an expectant father.  The cats are looking at me like I am nuts.  My mom is just laughing, and hoping that I don't grow any taller than that line poking out from the top of my head in the photo.  Hopefully Dad is almost finished down in that basement, so Mom can take some photos of that for you.

In the meantime -- if you want to see my other "growth chart" photos, click on the "labels: growth chart" beneath this post.  I'll just be right here, making some small "woof" noises.

bread baking tutorial...

I just got to thinking that it was mighty selfish of me to write about making bread and then just leave.  Here is the bread baking tutorial that I was talking about.  I came across this while reading Anne's blog.  I have made this type of bread before -- but with many mistakes and questions that are answered in this tutorial.  Let me know how your bread turns out!

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2009/12/01/the-crunchiest-crackliest-chewiest-lightest-easiest-bread-youll-ever-bake/