Blogiversary

How sweet it is!
Sound the bell (even if it is a cowbell I got as a door prize from Chick-Fil-A).
Should we cook up a little something special to celebrate?

It has been one whole year since I started blogging. It's funny how something I started on a whim so I could be accountable on a diet actually has become so important. Actually the blogiversary (I know it's not really a word, but I like it) was yesterday, but it was an unexpectedly busy day and I never got time to finish my post.

I went back and read that very first post and was amazed, I guess I should be depressed, at how little has changed for me. I'm still struggling with my dieting. I had to laugh because the day I started the blog Deb and I had begun a no flour, no sugar diet. I didn't last so long on that one! Even then I was bemoaning my love to bake and my sweet tooth. But here it is a year (and several pounds) later and guess what I've finally had to do to get even a modicum of success...step away from the sugar.

I'm still gardening in my same little plot of suburbia. My vegetable boxes are full and the patio is lined with containers full of peppers, herbs, and other veggies. The peach trees we planted last year have really grown and I'm hoping for a good crop of peaches this summer. The blueberries are ripening and there's squash growing in the flowerbed. Thus begins my battle with the bunny rabbits to see who gets to eat them. They usually win the blueberry/squash battle, but I plant them and hope anyway.

Y'all would laugh if you could see some of my containers. I got these huge terracotta pots at a yard sale. Well, my mom got them and then passed them to me. We're guessing they were used at some chain smokers' wedding because painted on the side of each one in pretty silver script they say..."Butt Pott". Seriously? Who does that? These pots are going to get a paint job as soon as it quits raining around here. I just needed to go ahead and get my stuff planted. If I plant my jalapenos in a butt pott should I call them poopers instead of peppers? If so, I'm also growing tootmatoes, oh,no-ions and rad...well, we'd better still call them radishes.

Even if I did accidentally stumble into blogging, it has been such a great experience. I've talked with people from all around the world and been blessed to share a little of my life with you all. Whether it's cooking a recipe, sitting together to study the Bible, or laughing at our craziness, you've let me have a part in your world. And for that I am eternally grateful.

Happy blogiversary!

Oops, almost forgot Rednesday. Visit everyone over at http://suelovescherries.blogspot.com/

What Time Is It?

I seem to be running later and later lately in getting my blog done. If I don't do it before everyone else wakes up, it's hard for me to make it back here. Once they all wake up it's go, go, go. But I'm slowing down a minute to soak up some spring with you. Don't you just love this picture? It is a vintage postcard I found in an antique shop while visiting one day with Jen from Jennalane. Hopefully I'll be getting my own little chicks soon. Meredith's requested the ones that lay colored eggs.
So, what time is it? IT'S SPRING TIME!!!

I'll show you around to some of the spring things I've set out. I don't have a lot of spring decorations, more of my time and energy are taken up outdoors with gardening these days, but I do have a few things to see. I found this adorable bunny made from an old quilt at a yard sale a couple of years ago. I really like him.

The changing of the weather calls for the changing of the throw pillows around the house. Here's one in our old rocker.

It's a bowl full of bunnies...and eggs but you can't really see them at this angle. I picked these up at a craft sale in Florida. For some reason it struck my fancy to stick them in the bowl this year.

Meredith made this hatching chick in preschool. It's egg has real crushed shells on it that have been colored. From his expression, I don't think he was quite ready to come out.

This little bunny is a little worse-for-the-wear. I think it's from Riley's preschool days. They like to display things they've made. I added this picture to give you teachers an idea for Easter party treat bags. If it were me, I'd use those googly eyes and pipe cleaners for whiskers. Looks like the glue is showing on his nose...or maybe that's just the pollen. It's giving everyone a runny nose.

A basket of hydrangeas hanging by the door. Well that concludes our tour for today. Maybe tomorrow I'll walk you around outside and show you what's new. So what do we say to spring now that it's shown up?



Let's see what other great spring things we can find over at http://suelovescherries.blogspot.com/

Now I Just Need Some Flowers

I've got to be quick this morning, I'm running a little late getting ready. But I did want to stop in and share the picture of this beautiful enamel pitcher my Aunt Betty found me at a yard sale. It goes perfect with my hoosier. All I need now is to fill it with some Queen Anne's Lace. Wouldn't that be pretty?



















Visit Rednesday over at http://suelovescherries.blogspot.com/ to see other great stuff.

Old Window Panes, Eldreth, and Yard Sales...Oh My

I feel like it's been show and tell this week. I've got a few more from you from my visit with my friend Jen. I did take a tour of her garden, but got so busy talking, I didn't get a lot of flower pictures. Sorry about that. I did, however, get some nice pictures of a few things she has and of some places we spotted along our way.

Her cute little Eldreth cat in the flower bed. Eldreth Pottery is something we all love to collect. I visited the store while in Pennsylvania. I have a lot of the tradional, but all their new stuff is making it hard for me to stick to just what I've been doing.














This is definitely on my wish list. The ever talented Ken Krauss makes them from old window panes. If only it could survive a trip in the car with three kids...And below is another cat enjoying the warm summer day, except this one's real. I wish I could nap in the roses, don't you?

I almost forgot to give y'all the recipe for the French Dip. It came from my Fix It & Forget It cookbook. It's all recipes that you can make in the crockpot. I highly recommend it. It's so helpful to be able to go to that book when you know it's going to be a busy day.




French Dip

3 lb. roast
2 c. water
1/2 c. soy sauce
1 tsp. dried rosemary
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. parsley
4 whole peppercorns

Place roast in slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients. Cover. Cook on high 5-6 hours. Remove; shred beef. Strain broth and serve with meat. Serves 8.









These are a couple of places we spotted on our yard sale adventures. Also, I took that cow picture I showed you earlier in the week then. The cows were right next to the road. I did find a few things. I couldn't get much, I knew I had to have somewhere to sit on the ride home. I did buy a couple of books (one to read and one to use in projects), a couple of cd's for the boys,and a really nice old drawer that I'm going to use for display. Jen was the yard sale winner that day with her Eldreth santa and her Brighton belt. We had a great time.


Wouldn't you love to drive past sights like that everyday!?!

Not Thinkin' Straight Thursday

It's been so hectic lately and I think my brain's on overload. One more meeting tonight and then tomorrow is a break. I did forget to tell y'all in yesterday's recipe that you need to bake it at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. And, I wouldn't recommend the 13x9 pan, it needs to be bigger. My oven did not appreciate the mess I made last night. But on a better note, look at all the buttons our friend Debbie in Warner Robins, Georgia recently found at a yard sale! She certainly hit the button jackpot. She is very creative and I know she'll think of all sorts of wonderful ways to use them. I hope she shares some pictures of the things she comes up with too. Debbie, I have real button envy.

Here's the recipe for tonight's menu. I don't think I've given it to you before, but then again, you have to remember the title of my post today. It's one of those "How can it be so simple but taste so good?" recipes. Enjoy!

Beef Tips in Mushroom Gravy
2 lbs. beef stew meat
2 envelopes onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 c. water

Place meat in slow cooker. Combine remaining ingredients; pour over beef. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours. Serve with rice. Serves 6.

A Peak at the Garden

Y'all have been asking about my garden and I thought I'd show you a few pictures. Here are a few squash that the rabbit hasn't reached. I'm training the squash and cucumber to climb some poles. Hopefully they'll be out of hopping range. The broccoli is just about ready to pick. I'm glad. I thought the hot weather was going to get here before it was ready.

This was a busy weekend. There was a birthday party on Friday, a graduation celebration on Saturday, and Mother's Day on Sunday. It kept me hopping, but was all filled with love. Oh, the sweet sound of hearing boys laugh. They're all at the age when it's not so cool to giggle, so when I had a room full of 11 year old boys laughing uncontrollably, I knew I had a precious treasure. I did manage to slip off to a couple of yard sales close to home. I found a bracelet, a pendant, and Riley found tons of Bionicle and Star Wars Lego. I told you it was a good weekend. Although, when I took my potato salad to the party I doubled the recipe. Don't do that.

Here's a picture of Jack's birthday cake that I made. Do you know how hard it is to find something to put on an 11 year old's cake? Major decision. And, for some reason, Hobby Lobby and Michael's had hardly any cake decorating stuff. My cousin Sharon saved the day when she spotted these figures in another section of the store. Jack liked it because when we lit the candles behind them, it looked like the dragon was breathing fire.


Now on to our menus for the week. There's nothing too wild and exciting this week. Let me get finished with the end of the school year and then we'll try some new stuff. The recipe for tonight's meat dish is in an earlier post.

Monday--Country-Fried Steak, Mashed Potato Supreme, Italian Green Beans, Rolls
Tuesday--Blueberry Pancakes, Sausage
Wednesday--Chicken Pot Pie, Strawberries & Cream
Thursday--Meatloaf, Creamed Corn, Carrot Salad, Cornbread
Friday--Grilled Fish, Rice Pilaf, Garden Peas, Salad
Saturday--Homemade Pizza
Sunday--Leftovers

Suburban Farm Animals

This weekend I went to a few yard sales with my mom. I picked up some great things--a new wreath for my front door, some beautiful new outfits for Meredith (isn't it great to stumble on a clothing designer having a yard sale?), and this little cow. I love cows. No, I don't have a kitchen covered in a thousand little cows things, but I like to sneak one in here and there. When I saw this one, and the cost was only 25 cents, I couldn't refuse. When I took her picture to show y'all, the sheep was feeling a little left out and I had to take his picture too. Meredith decided to get in on the whole farm animal bit with her pig (wearing a tiara, of course). All we're missing are the chickens. I like to have the real thing for those, but don't have any at the moment. We had to give ours away when they got the size of turkeys. Maybe next year.













I'll pass along the menus for the week. It's pretty light on content because my week is heavy on activities that require us to eat away from home. But, here's a few to get you started.

Monday--BBQ Sandwiches, Coleslaw, Mac & cheese
Tuesday--out to eat
Wednesday--Ritzy Chicken, Glazed Carrots, Broccoli with Cheese Sauce
Thursday--Lasagna, Garlic Bread, Salad
Friday--Pizza Party
Saturday--Taking potato salad to a family function
Sunday--Everyone's taking me out for Mother's Day

BBQ Sandwiches
This one came from Taste of Home back in 2006. I like to add some liquid smoke as well. For this recipe, I'm using a precooked Boston Butt that we got from a local church fundraiser. I just had to pull the meat apart and now I'll mix together the ingredients for my barbeque sauce.

1 3 lb. boneless pork loin roast 2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 c. water 1-2 Tbsp. hot sauce
1 18 oz. bottle bbq sauce 1 tsp. salt
1/4 c. packed brown sugar 1 tsp. black pepper

Place roast in crockpot; add water. Cook, covered, on high 7 hours. Stir with a fork to shred meat and remove all fat. Combine the remaining ingredients; add to crockpot. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, 1 hour.

Enjoy!

Gardening, Good Food, Great Time with Family...the Recipe for a Simply Extraordinary Life

Sweet weekends. This one was filled with all the things I loved. Jack's strep meant cancelling a youth group outing (sorry guys), but it did allow me to have some quiet at-home time with everyone there, which is my very favorite thing. There were lots of little things I wanted to tell you or show you. But, I figured we'd just have one long talk instead a thousand little chats.

I've been busy in the yard with planting and transplanting. My iris FINALLY bloomed. I planted some a couple of years ago, one from a friend and one from my aunt, and they have refused to bloom for me despite my constant pleading. I think they gave in and bloomed because they got tired of me making a fool of myself in the neighborhood by whining to plants. All that anticipation made it even more special when the first one finally did bloom. There's another that is just about ready to open up. I transplanted lots more that I got from my mom's house.




I also rearranged furniture in my workroom (the kids call it the parlor). It houses my desk and papers, crafting supplies, and a little spot I just fixed for visiting and sipping coffee. I'll take a picture of that for another day. Anyway, I moved my desk to a spot under the window and decided to go out and cut some roses to put in the little pitcher that sits on top. I can't remember exactly where I came upon the sweet little vase--Goodwill, yard sale--but, as I was filling it with water, I noticed a label on the bottom that read 'Made Exclusively for You by Judy Purdhom Fitzgerald, Georgia'. I'd just like to say thank you, Ms. Judy Purdhom. I love the things you made and they brighten my day when I look at them.

And, you'll never guess what my husband did for me...he washed all the windows, inside and out. Wasn't that the sweetest? Don't know what got into him, but I wasn't about to stand in his way.

I guess I'd better give you the menus for the week. I do have other things to tell you and show you, like some flea market finds I got (one for a nickel that I'm so excited about) and of a project I want to make. I'd better save those for another post. Here in the south we say, "She talked my ear off," meaning she went on and on. Is it possible to blog your ear off? I could probably come close. Back to recipes.

Monday--Sweet and Sour Chicken (in Betty Crocker cookbook), rice, salad with Mandarin Poppy Seed Dressing (Winn Dixie brand, it's so very yummy)

Tuesday--Anytime Meatballs, Crockpot Mac & Cheese, Carrot Sticks

Wednesday--Ham and Cheese Gratin, Roasted Asparagus, Rolls

Thursday--Buffalo Shrimp, leftover mac & cheese, Salad

Friday--BBQ Sandwiches, Chips, Coleslaw

Saturday--(you guessed it) Homemade Pizza

Sunday--Leftover Buffet (Lay out everything in the fridge and let them go through, fix there plates, and zap it in the microwave)

I'd better go for now. Meredith and I are finally gonna get to go to the strawberry patch. Hope you have a wonderful Monday.

Junkin' in the Country

This morning I braved the pollen and went out to an estate sale in the country. I'm paying for it now with my allergies, but the drive was worth it. I love being in the middle of nowhere, especially when it ends with some treasures. They had some nice things, but the only things I just couldn't live without were five pairs of shoes (that fit me perfectly and were only $2 a pair)and an old minnow bucket. I don't know why I just had to have the bucket. There's something so attractive to me about old metal. I never said I was normal!