SPRING????? Where did you go?

Things were looking so good, the grass turning green, the snow all melted and the sun shining like no-ones business. So I dug out the shorts from the back of the closet, dusted off the gum boots and got to it!

My peonies breaking through the surface like red hot pokers.

The sedum bursting to get out there and put a smile on my face. I can always count on the sedum to be one of the first to show up at my garden party.

My old friend Mr garlic....wakie wakie rise and shine!! Getting ready for the long growing season ahead.

Time to invite some veggies to join the party!!! Bush beans, zucchini, squash and pumpkin all in the ground, along with the dahlia tubers that have been hanging out in my house all winter long oh so patiently,

It was looking so promising..........and then......DUN DUN DUUUUUUN!

GGGGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

Off to the store to buy more seeds!!!!!

A new home for pepper dog?

With all the flurry and excitement of spring it's easy to get caught up in planning new projects for the house and yard. I have to continually remind myself of all the unfinished projects that need to be completed, and reassure myself that we'll get to them eventually.

But in the meantime I thought I'd share these cute, space saving funky ideas for the four legged family members of your home. I would love to have one of these for our pepper dog, he is always hanging out on the deck, why not make his home also functional while we're at it.

Dace and I were just discussing where to locate the dog house, with all of the deck renovations we've done recently poor pepper doesn't know where he's supposed to be anymore.
The garden keeps expanding as does the deck and all of his favourite spots keep getting dug up or built on top of.

Someone was using their noggin when they thought up this idea. The people over at Sustainable Pet have created these space saving designs, I thought it would be perfect for our deck and our dog! They also make cute bird houses too...very trendy!

They come with or without plants and are made of all non-toxic materials, including beeswax waterproofing.

The Heart Box is my favourite. I'm imagining it would have to be quite large to accommodate pepper dogs rear end and allow for a good turn around space inside....another project for hubby?????

Raise it up.

My husband has decided that due to the deer smorgasbord made of our veggie patch last year that he wants to build a greenhouse to keep our tomatoes, peppers and misc veggies protected.
I agree but while we're at it why not put in some raised beds for the stuff the deer don't take a fancy to. We love gardening but with the amount of exterior home reno we have taken on there just doesn't seem to be time.
I think the hubby and I are on the same page this year and we both realise we need to make time, there is something to be said for the work = reward when it comes to gardening. It really is very therapeutic, not to mention educational especially for the kids.
I have been drooling over some of the fantastic work out there online, proud gardeners who have taken time to share their ideas and knowledge with others. I don't know what I would have done without the Internet when it comes to gardening.

Just look at this layout by The Modern Gardener. It reminds me of wandering down the aisles of a supermarket, everything laid out so perfectly in a row.

Here are some more images from the net, drool! Patience my child, all in good time.
I must remember and constantly remind myself that every year I bite off more than I can chew and end up feeling deflated about my gardening abilities.

 Anyone out there have great success with raised beds and want to share their wisdom? I'm your student!!!

In the meantime, I will continue to browse through my seed catalogues and continue to plan what we are going to grow this year. Nothing frivolous, just the basics...I have plans to can my butt off this year, with the cost of basic food items raising at an alarming rate I really think it's time to consider what is a necessity and what is not.

Wow, it's been a whole week since I last posted any juicy stuff, time flies when you're on spring break.
I forgot how busy the kids can keep me when they are home, I'm hearing a lot of "I'm Bored" and "There's NOTHING to do". Anyone one else out there have children that are impossibly bored with nothing to do?

Here's my week in pictures, because thinking back I'm almost positive we didn't do NOTHING!!!

I saw this fantastic idea on MADE and decided it was a fabulous boredom fighter. After picking a space and giving the walls a quick wipe, I let the girls decorate the space with a little SPRING flower fever. Any time I heard..." But there's nothing to do" my response would be..." Go make some flower's".

They have a long way to go, but then again Spring break is only halfway over. There's not much color outside but there sure will be inside when the girls are done!!

Zoe is my little chef in the making so we have had a few stuffed ravioli dinners this week with the use of my new toy. I am yet to freeze any of it as so far it's all been so darn good and it ends up in our tummies.
Roasted butternut squash was our last filling of choice, a little rich, maybe next time we can mix it with some ricotta cheese.

I meant to take a picture before they were all gobbled up, please excuse the poor food styling!!!!

Zoe's speciality is crepes, that girl has the recipe memorised and can whip out a patch of yummies at the drop of a hat.
I made a pavlova on the weekend for a surprise birthday party and was left with lots of egg yolks. What do you do with 6 large farm fresh egg yolks?
LEMON CURD!!!! To go with the crepes of course.

 

 A little spring clean and organising. Look how organised my cutlery is.....(cough...freak...Cough).

And last but not least....spring is just itching to put on a show, but we're not quite there yet.

I think I can, I think I can...I think I can!!!

Go little tulips GROW dammit.

Can you see the excitement on Zoe's face!!! NOT!

Made more of these.........yum.

And this needs to be raked and snipped and pruned and weeded. Feels good to be outside in the fresh air and getting my hands very, very dirty again. Although my rule this year is to wear garndening gloves whenever I'm in that dirt, I'm starting to get old lady hands and that's just not cool.

Yummy, yummy, yummy I've got ravioli in my tummy.

Tried out the ravioli maker this weekend and ..... I LOVE IT!!! It's spring break for the next two weeks so I am going to make a whole bunch of pasta and freeze it.

It makes mass production so much faster. Now I just need to make some freezer space.

The filling for this one is onion, garlic, spinach, herb and garlic goat cheese finished off with some olive oil, sea salt and parmigiana reggiano.

Some roasted asparagus for a nummi dinner.

Me and Jack.

AAAAh I found another way for me to fantasize about my imaginary relationship with my favourite singer Jack Johnson. I know I'm not alone in this fantasy, you ladies out there know what I'm talking about!!!Or maybe it's just me...I'm OK with that..more for me?

I saw on the Marilyn show today a snippet about Eco cosmetics, beauty products and accessories and could not get to the computer quick enough to check out the website they were showing.
It's called wear your music and some brilliant person decided to make jewellery from the used guitar strings of your favourite musician. Proceeds go to the charity of the musicians choice......WHAT!!! Brilliant.

I cannot afford $150 for a bracelet regardless of the fact that it probably has Jacks DNA on it but a girl can dream!
You can add extrs to it such as a diamond and a recycled sterling silver clasp. It also comes with the artists initials on it so that you can pretend that you really are dating.
If Jack Johnson's not for you, that's cool, there are at least a hundred other artists there for you do get all weak at the knees over.
For instance, my birthday is in October and I wouldn't be at all offended if Ben Harper ended up on my wrist!!!hint, hint!!!

Tootles

Cookie pops and book worms.

Last night I helped run a bake sale at the elementary school for the annual "Battle of the books". Zoe has entered this fun event for the last two years, anything to get her reading more books is a bonus as far as I am concerned. She loves reading but having someone else pick the books is fantastic, it's like a tween version of my adult book club.

Her team didn't win but they had a fantastic time which makes all the effort worthwhile.

So I baked my butt off yesterday, green jelly slice for Saint Patrick's day, lemon cupcakes with mango frosting and chocolate mint cookie pops.

I love bake sales, seeing all of the fun and fantastic things other people create, some healthy and some not so healthy (mine). A big thank you again to all the wonderful ladies who contributed to the sale.

Isabelle's yummy beer buns were a hit with the ladies. I must have this recipe Isabelle!!!!

And her chocolate cookies, a few ended up coming home to my house.

Get a load of these meringue nests with cadbury mini eggs, these things disappeared very quickly. What a cute Easter idea, way to go Natalie.

My treats were the one's all full of food coloring to get the kids all razzed up. Nothing like a hit of green and red food dye to get the kids going!!!

Cookie pops are my new thang!!!

Here's the recipe.

Chewy chocolate sandwich cookies (womansday.com)

Recipe Ingredients

2 bars (4 oz each) bittersweet chocolate, broken into 1-in. pieces
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 Tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp each baking powder and salt
1/2 cup mini–semisweet chocolate chips


Mint or Coffee Buttercream Frosting


Recipe Preparation


1. Heat oven to 350ºF. Line baking sheets with nonstick foil or parchment paper. Put chocolate in large glass bowl. Microwave on high 1 minute, stirring every 20 seconds, until chocolate is melted and smooth.


2. Stir in sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla; mix well. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt until blended. Stir in mini-chips.


3. Drop level tablespoons 11/2 in. apart onto prepared baking sheets. Bake 10 minutes until cookies are puffed and set. Cool on baking sheet 2 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.


4. For each sandwich, spread 1 Tbsp buttercream frosting onto bottom of cookie; add a popsicle stick, coffestir stick or lollipop stick,press another cookie on top. Refrigerate in an airtight container with wax paper between layers.




Buttercream Frosting.

 3 oz cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp butter, softened
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 Tbsp milk
1⁄4 tsp vanilla extract


Recipe Preparation


Mint Use 1⁄4 tsp peppermint extract instead of vanilla; add a few drops of green food color.
Coffee Dissolve 1 Tbsp instant coffee in 1 Tbsp hot water; add instead of milk.
Apple Instead of milk, add 1 to 2 Tbsp apple juice until spreadable.