treasures and updates

I’m sorry I haven’t been writing lately. I am swamped with work stuff and honestly just been feeling a little uninspired these days. I do have a few updates for you guys, though, so here goes…

I stopped by Goodwill the other day in hopes of finding a fabulous treasure. Just as I was about to leave I came across these 3 adorable little canisters. They will match perfectly with the jadeite cake stands that live on my baking shelf. I got all three of them for $10!

BJ and I also stopped by the ReStore on Sunday and picked up this gem…

Cannot WAIT to finish this project. I’ve been wanting to use Rust-o-leum’s countertop paint on my kitchen counters so I’m thinking this is the perfect time to experiment. We’re going to paint the cabinet and place it in under our carport right outside our back door (see you later bike!). I think it will be the perfect spot to serve food, have a little bar area, etc. I’ll be sure to show you all the “after” photos.

Also had to update you on the status of my tomatoes. Last year I yielded two tomatoes, no joke, and this year…holy smokes! we are going to be swimming in tomatoes. I’m planning on making homemade salsa, bruschetta, caprese salads and maybe trying to tackle canning. We shall see…

I have this great video of BJ and the chicks that I wanted to upload but for the life of me I can’t figure out how to upload it. If anyone can provide any help please let me know!

I think that’s about it for now. I have been doing some amazing weddings this summer and I can’t wait to show off the photos to you guys! Happy sunny day!

dear neighbor kids…

We have some neighborhood kids that like to climb the apple tree that’s in our backyard but outside of our fence. It’s starting to get really annoying to me for several reasons.

First of all, they have started knocking the tiny baby apples off the tree. It’s July. The apples aren’t ready yet. Which BJ and I have both explained to them and asked them not to do and they still continue to do. Even if the apples aren’t great eating apples BJ would really like to make cider out of them.

Second of all, they are tall enough when they’re in the tree to see if we’re in our backyard or not. This is annoying to me if I have to run out to the laundry room (which is outside of our house connected to the carport, it’s weird, I know) and I don’t want to wear a proper outfit for small neighborhood children to see me in. I almost risked it this morning, but good thing I didn’t because there were 2 little 8 year olds in my tree greeting me as soon as I came out the backdoor to grab clean clothes.

Also, when they know we’re home they want to come in our backyard and see the chickens.

Third of all, BJ and I found this little jem of a signature on the back of our brand new Food Plus Recycling garbage can. Thanks, Dan’s hand, now we all know where you’ve been.

Lastly, if one of these kids falls out of our tree and breaks his or her arm are we responsible? That’s what makes me most nervous.

All of this annoyance makes me feel old. It makes me think about all of the annoying things I must have done as a kid that bugged our neighbors. I remember one instance of singing about 100 verses of “I know a song that gets on everyone’s nerves” in our front yard in Houston. Yikes.

joys of gardening

The worst thing about being a gardener is that you have to deal with the nasty little pests that think they should have a share in the vegetable you’ve planted. The worst of all of these little pests (at least in my humble opinion) is the slug.

I mean, seriously, is there any way you can love this?

It has been raining her so much that the slug population is feeling especially alive and active. I’ve noticed that something has been munching on my lettuces, taking little bites here and there. Last week, I went out to the garden to pick a little lettuce for a salad and there was something that had wreaked havoc all over the garden. It was quite a site. I looked a little closer in my Cut and Grow Lettuce and there sat the fattest, rolliest polliest slug enjoying the green leaves of my plants. I went nuts. I started yelling at this slug and then I took a wooden stake, flung him out of the garden and smashed him to smitherines. It was pretty disgusting.

My slug slaying continued into the next day by encouraging the boys who were having a bonfire in my backyard to burn the slugs I found in my recycling bin. I have never been one for animal slaying, but in this circumstance it brought me a little happiness.

It has taken me 4 days to go back to my garden to pick lettuce since the slug incident. Today I went and picked a whole head of romaine for our dinner tonight. With gloves. I took every piece apart and shook it before bringing it inside. If I find another slug on my lettuce I might just have to retire as a gardener.

I will say that I have a larger appreciation for the people that work in the fields harvesting our store bought veggies, imagine how many slugs they encounter in a day.

Not really sure why I am posting this on my blog, I just had to let someone know. Thanks for listening.

settee beauty shots

I know I’ve been a terrible blogger lately, but I’ve been swamped with work. It’s wedding season and even though I only have 3 weddings I’m responsible for this month I’m completely overtaken with a million tasks.

But I did want to share a few beauty shots of my settee that I reupholstered over a month ago…Remember this?

Before:

After:

Thanks to Nia of Summerland Style for the skills and Digs Showroom, my favorite local homegoods store, for hosting our class. I now have an adorable settee that completes my back carport area. The black and white fabric is indoor/outdoor fabric as I had planned for this piece to have a home under our carport.

I got some cute black, white and yellow floral melamine dishes from Liberty of London’s Target line to round out the space. I’m still looking for a table that doesn’t need to be covered with a table cloth, but other than that, it’s looking pretty cute out there. I promise there will be some shots of the full spread once it stops raining and the temperature raises above 70 degrees.

Happy Weekend!

‘maters and friends.

Last weekend was absolutely gorgeous, full of sunshine, perfect for planting the last bit of our garden. I planted all of the warm weather crops and I’m quite excited for them to reach their full potential.

I added:

5 kinds of tomatoes (that’s right people!) including: Sweet 100s, Sweet Million, Beefsteak, Yellow Heirloom and Sungold

Super Cayenne Pepper

Red Pepper

English Burpee Cucumber (2 plants)

Zucchini (2 plants)

Spaghetti Squash (2 plants)

Basil (planted in a pot so I can move it in if it gets cold, hard to believe, I know)

Cilantro (planted in a pot, I think it grows like a weed so I wanted to contain it a bit)

2 Geraniums for the front yard’s pot

My Mother in Law said I’ll be up to my nose in tomatoes, I’m hoping she’s right as last year my Sweet 100 plant yielded a total of 4 tomatoes. I’m looking forward to having a bumper crop of goodies. Hopefully that means I’ll be trying a bunch new recipes.

Here they are waiting to be planted:

Also, hooray for sunshine! 🙂