When Friends Get Married

There's nothing better than sharing special life moments with your friends! Matt and I ventured up to Michigan last weekend to watch our great friends Ben & Megan get married. And we were given the high honor of being Host & Hostess - pretty awesome!!





As Host and Hostess we were entrusted with the HUGE responsibility of prepping the reception hall and making sure things went smoothly with the caterer, facility, florist and cake lady. We jazzed up the dance floor with gorgeous hanging paper lanterns, set the tables with the numbers, made sure the florist put the right centerpieces on the right table, set up the candles, name cards and wedding favors. It was all a piece of cake though with Megan's amazing attention to detail!



The details were just stunning! Peonies, roses, hydrangeas and orchid centerpieces, hanging lanterns, black, pink and green accents, twin boys and girls for the flower girls and ring bearers, gorgeous brides maids, handsome groomsmen, pink strawberry wedding cake with coconut frosting, monogrammed frosted sugar cookie guest favors - everything just gorgeous!


(The happy newly weds - Ben & Megan! Aren't they the cutest couple!)

I cannot say enough to explain how amazing it was to be a part of their special day - it really made us feel like an important part of it all. We are so blessed to have such thoughtful friends who would entrust with the all the little details of their special day. *happy sigh*





Here's a snapshot of us with our Michigan couple friends! So wish they didn't live so far away! :( We always have such a blast together! Love and miss you all!

Want more wedding pics? See them all here!

Garden Spotlight: Lily of the Valley

One of my favorite flowers growing in my backyard garden are my Lily of the Valley. My Great-Grandma Peggy and Grandma Linda had split these for me from their garden about three growing seasons ago - I love how they spread and how delicate and fragrant their tiny blossoms are. :)

My Reading Spot

This is my favorite spot to curl up with a good book - with my favorite pup-dog close at hand. This window seat is just perfect - especially when it is still daylight and the sun comes shining in! And there is a vent right above the couch - so winter or summer - this is the place to be! :)

P.S. Borders has a newly marked down $1 clearance book section! I stopped by on my way back from the Farmer's Market and didn't leave empty handed! :)

I can now add these to my ever-growing reading list:

- Crib Notes: A Random Reference for the Modern Parent by Amy Maniatis and Elizabeth Well
- Walking Ollie: OR Winning the Love of a Difficult Dog by Stephen Foster
- Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl by Stacey O'Brien

Web Finds Wednesday!

Crocheted Mollie Flowers Tutorial

D.I.Y. Shoe Bag Tutorial by Betz White

Recipe Review: Soft Pretzels from Smitten Kitchen

Margarita Cupcakes + Lime Frosting

Cookies FAIL

Yup, I ruined a batch of Creamy Soft Peanut Butter cookies Tuesday night. :( The recipe called for 3 eggs and I only put two in on accident - had already tried to bake two dozen before I realized something was wrong. Then tried to add an egg to the remaining batter - the results were pretty catastrophic - I am not even showing you the worst cookies - these were at least edible! :)

Web Finds Wednesday!

Easy To Grow Flowers For Your Garden

Rhubarb Recipes

What I'm Reading: The Turtle Catcher

Well, actually I've already read it - but "What I am reading" sounds like a better post title. :)

I am always looking for a good read and they are so hard to come by! I can check out 10 books at the library and maybe come to find that 3 that are really good reads.

Well this book, my blog friends, is a good read! Had it done in two days!

I love books with twisty tales, that move forward and backward in the narrative and really gets your mind working on trying to figure out the plot and puzzling storyline!

So, if you're in a reading rut - check out the Turtle Catcher by Nicole Helget.

8+ Hours of Gardening in 1 Weekend!

(Couldn't do a post about gardening without showing an update on the tres garden beds!)

So I've been a little garden crazy this weekend. My wonderful friend, Laura, called me Friday evening and asked if I had any plans for this weekend - I checked my schedule (husband ended up working awful hours 6PM-4AM Saturday and 12PM-1oPM Sunday) - so NOPE no plans! Well she had a plan up her sleeve - so off to Lowes we went Friday night and picked out all kinds of plants and shrubs for her two front garden beds.

Then woke up bright and early (ok, not so bright or early) and started hacking at the weeds and laying down landscaping fabric and planting flowers at 9AM. We worked our tushes off until about 1PM - even worked through a pretty good rain! :)

Took a break from yardwork only to detour to my coworker's house - she had told me to come on over as she was splitting and thinning all her flowers and plants. More yardwork!! :) We packed up the shovel and lots of flower pots and off we drove!

We took home a good 1/2 truck bed full of hostas, ferns, money plants, and tons and tons of black eyed susans. Our neighbors said it looked like we had a jungle in our truck! The ferns did give it a jungle feel! I am excited - never had ferns before and these are just lovey!

Sunday started off pretty slow. Stayed home with Matthew until he headed back to work, then got my hair cut, browsed through the new Ace Hardware - very nice - didn't know they had kitchen stuff! And headed back over to Laura's to finish up the garden bed in the backyard - I brought over from starts from my bee balm, lemon balm, mint (I gave her warning), and some of the black eyed susans from my coworker. We finished up the backyard in an hour or two then it was back to my place where I proceeded to plant EVERY single one of the plants we took home with us from Connie's. Thankfully, where I put them was shady so it was a pleasant time digging in the dirt. Now Matt will just have to through and straighten up the edges of the new garden bed - but it already looks fabulous - even with some of the plants looking a tad droupy from their trip.



(Here they are all! A good 8 feet or more of new plants!)



Here's a shot of my wrap around flower gardens - tried to fit them all in one pic. :) I am loving our backyard oasis in progress!

Rain Barrel Installed

We finally got our rain barrel all set up! Only took a good 5-10 minutes of listening to ear splitting screeches as my hubby cut through the gutter with his new hack saw. Fun.

The barrel is already completely full with the rains we had last week!

Here's Your Sign

I love garden signs! Especially little embossed ones like this! Perfect for my mint patch. Found it at Joann Fabric along with a Thyme sign - which I didn't grab - they had Rosemary, Basil and Sage too!

Now my neighbors know I am growing mint and not weeds. :)

Columbine in Bloom

The purple Columbine Flower I got from my Grandma is doing splendid in it's third year in my little side garden! Just look at all those blooms!!

I've got quite the columbine collection now - pink ones, purple ones and I just picked up some red and white ones from Lowes - they were 50% off!

(That is thyme growing so close next to the columbine...no idea what to do with it - but it is growing. LOL!)

Any good recipes anyone??

Web Finds Wednesday!

Craft Links:

How to: Felted Dog Leash

Shalom Knit Cardigan

Recipes:

Margarita Madness: 10 Unique Flavors

Morel Recipes

Perfect Pizza Dough

Sew Happy!

Been busy sewing up a storm! I made these projects for Mother's Day - everyone got their goodies the day before (Saturday) when I was in town, so this post is a little dated now - but wanted to share my growing sewing prowess with you all. ;)

The clothespin bag above was a gift for my Mother-In-Law, Sue!



The grocery bag tube was for my Great-Grandma Peggy and Grandma Linda.





And the tote was for my mother! The strings are to roll up and tie the bag so you can keep it in your car for grocery runs!

Happy Mother's Day! Love you all!

Paw Prints on My Heart

Lola has this cute thing where she sticks out her tongue just so and then looks at you with absolute adoration. See it?

Oh yeah and she has a little buzz cut if you can't tell. Have to get her in the groomer so they can undo the damage we did - so she may be sporting an even shorter look here soon!

Three Gardens To Grow In

My wonderful husband is becoming quite the handiman! He built two more lovely garden beds for me this year! Now I've got two 4x4 beds and one 2x4. I was thinking to plant all the little things like carrots, lettuce, etc in the smaller bed - but now I am thinking it would be an excellent strawberry patch.

What do you think?

Web Finds Wednesday!

Sewing/Craft Links:

Spring Top Tutorial

Mendocino summer dress pattern

Smocking/Shirring Tutorial

Handmade Mother's Day

Recipes:

Maple Pecan Pie

Margarita Cupcakes

All Fried Up

The morels mushrooms have all been fried up and ate! Yum! Now I have get over my tick fears and go out and find more!

Fried Morels:

Ingredients:

1/2 to 1 cup or more of flour (depends on how many you are frying up)

Salt & Pepper to taste

Butter

Morel mushrooms

Instructions:
1. Heat frying pan till hot.
2. While pan heats, prepare flour mixture in a square or rectangular container. Mix all the flour with optional amounts of salt and pepper.
3. Melt 1/4 stick or 2 tablespoons butter in pan.
4. Dredge morels through flour mixture until well coated.
5. Fry until golden brown on both sides.

I've found that it is easier to cook up morels in small batches - 6-10 at a time. Otherwise you have to keep adding butter and then the flour mixture starts collecting and burning in the pan.

I've had recipes where the morels were dipped in an egg mixture before being dredged in the flour but find that you lose a lot of the morel flavor and end up tasting more egg. If you soak your morels in salt water prior to cooking (to kill of any slugs, etc) they are wet enough that plenty of flour ends up sticking. Or if you rinsed your morels under water first they would be wet enough as well.

Would love to hear about other recipes! Anybody have any good ones? I've read about a morel and asparagus omlet - but haven't tried it yet! Let me know!

A Not So Subtle Hint

Trying to convince my husband that he needs to go back to the antique shop we visited over the weekend and buy this ADORABLE doll-house.

Knowing my luck I would end up having all boys. But if I did - we could sell it later or give it to friends for a birthday or something.

Come on, my love, it is an amazing deal. Most doll houses cost $100's.

Pretty pullleeeezzeee???

Perhaps there will be a surprise waiting for me when I get home this week. Hmmm??

2009 Johnson County 5th Annual Garden Celebration!

Made it out the 2009 Johnson County Garden Celebration for a little plant shopping this weekend! I love the Garden Celebration! So many great plant finds, lots of info - so much fun!



The vendors are all so helpful - ask any plant question and you're bound to find an answer - and you get to learn about lots of nurseries you may not have known about before - I have a few new places I need to venture out to now!

Winton's Iris Hill
7131 E. 550 S.
Franklin, IN 46131
Open 6 days a week from Apr. 15-Sept. 1)
Closed on Tuesdays
Hours: 10Am-7PM
Perennials - $2.00 & Up
5 acres of Daylilies, Irises, Hotas Perennials and Display Gardens

Cool Things for the Garden
6895 St. Rd. 39
Martinsville, In
5 miles north of SR 67
Open most weekends, but please call ahead to make sure: 317-996-2746
Fri. & Sat. 9AM-6PM
Sunday 1PM- 6PM
Nice assortment of hard to find annuals, perennials, trees and shrubs suitable for the central Indiana landscape.
Bring your container to the nursery to fill with plants of your choice.
www.coolthingsforthegarden.com


Though one vendor in particular caught my eye - they had a handwritten sign posted that told everyone, "No pictures!" Nice, considering I am the one loon with the camera. I am not taking pics to steal your bird feeder ideas, lady, I am taking pics for my blog to spread the word about this great event and all the great vendors that are there. Goodness. Are you that insecure about your "crafts" that you are paranoid about people stealing the idea? Puleeze! Get a patent.

Well this year you are NOT in my pics, so no worries - no one will see your little bird feeders - so now no one will come looking for your booth next year - oh wait, is that what you wanted to happen? No? Oops. Yeah, it is called free advertising, hon. And now you're missing out. Darn.

Ok, rant over.



Here's what I came home with! A lovely pink columbine and blue salvia! Spent only $6.50 all together! I should have grabbed the cilantro and catmint I found for $2.25 - thought I would get a better deal at Lowes - not the case though - they were $3.25 at Lowes - go figure! You win some and lose some in bargain hunting!

The guy with the good deal on the herbs is said to also be making an appearance at the Greenwood farmer's market - will have to make it out to the next one!

Quote

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.

- Anne Bradstreet