Gardening and Such

I have so many little baskets, pails, and pots just waiting for some pretty plants. Here is one I found this week at a local antique store/cafe. Ignore the dirt. I've not cleaned it up, yet. You'd think being married to a professional landscaper, these baskets, pails and pots would be brimming with luscious plant life! Well...they're not, but I'm trying to change that!

As a native Arizonan, I never learned to garden much. Anything we attempted to grow was fried to a crisp no matter how much we tried keeping it watered. Or else the ground was too hard. So I never found myself getting too interested until I married my husband and moved to the gorgeous Pacific Northwest! I'm constantly picking my husband's brain - I'm sure it drives him nuts, but he sweetly obliges. I'm just wishing for a little more sunshine to get me motivated.

I'm still working on my blog header. Thanks for every one's sweet comments and help.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend - be it working on projects, finding a flea market or garage sale to rummage through, gardening or anything else. We are trying to wrap up working on our kitchen. My father-in-law is also coming over to help us plow up our garden so we can plant it. So much fun deciding what to put in it. It'll be huge! (At least to my AZ standards)

Happy Day

Can't believe my oldest is 14 today! Where does the time go?? Happy 14th Birthday, Jordan!

I started the day off right by locking us out of the house on our way to taking the kids to school. The keys didn't do us any good sitting on the chair! And no, I didn't have an extra hidden somewhere - guess what I'm doing today... No cell phone, either. Why did we lock all our doors for once? Hmmm - oh yes, the bathroom window is open, just up too high. The boy of the day was nice enough to let his little sister climb up on his shoulders and through the window. He not only has a birthday today, but he saved the day! Do we still have to go to school? Yes, 'cause I'm that kind of mom. Then sitting at a stoplight waiting for the arrow to turn, I wasn't paying attention and let it turn red. Ugh! Do I need to go back to bed and start the day over? Maybe if we just keep plugging along, it'll get MUCH better.

Happy Day to everyone out there!

Bloggin' Issues

Thanks to Ele of abitofpinkheaven.blogspot.com, my Blogging Woes have turned into Blogging Joys! Thank you, thank you! Now if I could just learn links...I'm reading the tutorial on it now.

Thrift Store Score

I couldn't believe my luck today when I stopped in a local thrift store. I came upon this beautiful bowl by Homer Laughlin for just 99 cents. I can't tell you how thrilled I was. I never seem to be able to find a great deal. Now I can't say that anymore... Yippee!

Our First Home

These are pictures of our first home we bought. We totally updated the kitchen which was the happiest room I've ever been in! I loved it!! And still miss it...we sold it almost a year ago. Not the best location with train tracks right behind and so close to the road in front. However, we loved our cottage and all we got to do to it. It was our first time doing anything like it and a great lesson. There are things we'd still do again and others we'd do differently. The bathroom was a complete update as well.

Remember that it's void of all personal things since it was staged for sale. Enjoy looking!

Cupcake Swap

I am a huge fan of bloggers who post frequently (not that I don't enjoy others) and have made a resolution to try to do so myself. A lot of yesterday was spent on a quest to find cupcake themed items for a swap I'm doing. I signed up for it at the last minute (and would put a link to it, but haven't figured that one out yet) and so I'm trying to make up for lost time! It's my first swap and therefore exciting, but worrisome. I want so much for the recipient to love what I send! So with that in mind, I feel like what I've found so far is something I'd love to receive from a swap partner. I took pictures this morning, but can't post them yet in case she comes a-lookin'. Well, except the ones of the ric-rac. I found this lovely vintage ric-rac at an antique store a while back. I feel so lucky! Isn't it so sweet??? It was extremely hard for me to open the package, but with 36 yards of it, I ought to not be so stingy! And it will go so well with what I'm putting together. You'll see in a few days... There's a teaser to the right in the top photo. Oh yes...did you realize how hard it is to find cupcake things when you are looking specifically for them? I thought it'd be easy, but every place I went yesterday when sales clerks asked me if they could help me, noone had cupcake items! Hmmm...guess it makes the search more fun, but I'm on a deadline here! I'm out on the side porch listening to the sweet sounds of birdsong...my toes are a wee bit cold, though. Happy Wednesday! PS Thank you dear ones who have left me welcoming thoughts and comments. Now I know someone is reading me!

Oh Wonderful Spring!

Here are some signs of spring around our little cottage here in the Pacific Northwest...

Here we go!

Wow! I've been a blog reader for almost a year now and have completely procrastinated starting my own. I feel like I don't have anything to offer anyone when I read and look at everyone else's inspiring blogs. I do want to give this a try, though. I love seeing the connections being made amongst bloggers and enjoy discovering bloggers in my area. It amazes me and makes it feel like I have more in common with them, and I realize once again how small this world really can be! Here are a couple pictures of our side porch that I just arranged yesterday to cozy it up a bit. After all, it's where I enjoy sitting to read your blogs! Happy Monday, and I hope to get more organized with my posts as I begin to figure it all out (such as putting my pictures where I really want them, adding links, etc)!!