:: spring blossoms

Hello everyone, Happy Spring!

March 20 marked the first day of Spring and my Anniversary, so there has been lots to celebrate as of late. In lieu of blogging, I've been taking full advantage of the beautiful warm days we've been having. Spring has definitely Sprung in my neck of the woods.

I've already been to the Farmer's Market several times where I've purchased new plants for the front porch, and a few new herbs. I've also transplanted some of my herb starts into my tiered herb garden, trimmed bushes, mowed the lawn, weeded beds, cut back grasses....and the list goes on and on. So goes Spring, there's just so much to get done outside these days. I'm not complaining though...I'm loving every minute of it.  

I   L O V E   S P R I N G !

The photo above is of our Autumnalis Cherry, and it is just beginning to bloom. The Autumnalis is great because it blooms in the spring & the fall, so double the enjoyment from this one. Our Yoshino Cherry has been in full bloom for nearly a week, and is starting to loose it's blooms in favor of leaves. I just love the showers of blossoms that rain down with the spring breezes. 

Our Red Bud tree is also in full bloom & buzzing with bees...I had to be very careful when snapping this photo not to get in their way. I just couldn't quite capture the true beauty of it's lovely magenta blooms.

So there you have it, if you don't hear from me for a while, you know where I'll be...

 T H E   G A R D E N

{peace, love & hugs}

Carrie

:: tulips & lemons

Happy Friday Everyone!

Can you tell by the pictures above that I'm dying for Spring. While getting groceries the other day I ran across these lovely white tulips {my favorite},  I just had to pick some up to bring some Spring into my home. I also picked up some lovely lemons as I had seen lemons used in a floral arrangement on Pinterest and thought I would give it a try myself. I just love how it turned out, it's so bright & cheery and makes me so happy. 

I simply used a mason storage jar I had on hand as my vase, sliced my lemons and after adding the tulips I tucked the lemons in around them, using a knife to push the lemons down into the water at varying levels. I did this a few days ago, so this morning before shooting I emptied the foggy lemon water, cut the ends of my tulips about 1/4" then refilled with fresh water & started over. I think the color of the lemons has faded just a bit since I first cut them but I re-used them anyway.

I hope you are having a lovely day where you are, it's still quite chilly here, and supposed to be rainy this weekend. Not exactly the kind of weather I was hoping for since my new raised beds arrived yesterday. I can't wait to get started on them. However.... I don't do cold, so I'll be waiting for a nice sunny day.

Have a lovely weekend.

{peace, love & hugs}

:: garden planning

Good morning my sweets : ). Just popping in to share what I'm dreaming up these days. Spring is just starting to spring here, my Willow & Maple trees are starting to put on tiny leaves, the forsythia & lorapetalum are starting to flower, and I'm starting to see several of my other plants starting to peek out of the ground. This makes me so happy, and gets me very excited for the Spring season to come. There is so much to plan for and do in the gardens these days. I can hardly wait for the warm days to start.

First of all I was able to go out and purchase a new mower last week, this makes me very happy as it will free up much valuable time that I can be planting and working in the gardens {or napping in my hammock, enjoying them}. I can't wait to see how much time I save with my new Husqvarna 26 horsepower Zero turn mower with it's 54" mowing deck. Isn't it sexy {ha ha}....I think I'm in love. It's really funny though, you should see me driving it, there's quite a learning curve from our traditional steering wheeled mower.

Secondly I've ordered some new 4' x 8' raised beds like the ones pictured above. Isn't that the loveliest garden? I'm really loving these mortis & tenon cedar boxes, I love the old world look of them. I'm  hoping to create a beautiful Potager garden, complete with fencing to keep out the dogs & cats. The image above is very much the inspiration & goal. I'm excited to say that even Papa is on board and excited about this garden project, and usually I'm alone in the garden department around here. So this will be a spring time family project and I can't wait to get started, so many wonderful things to plant...I can't wait.

Here are my little beds before....small, but quite functional. I can't wait to share how it all comes together this spring. It may take a while though, in fact I may only be able to purchase the beds this season & add the fencing later. We'll see how things go. One thing I do know though is that we are gonna have so much fun deciding what we want to plant to eat. My little gardens have given pretty good yields over the past few years, so we are going to have more than enough yummies for this family of five. In fact I think I may have to develop some canning skills {Mom...are you reading this???}. 

So, if you are coming into Spring where you are, are you garden dreaming like me?

What are your gardening plans for the Spring?

{peace, love & hugs}

Carrie

:: hibachi soup & a roast

Happy Friday everyone, woo hoo hooray for weekends. Boy am I glad this busy week is over, I'm hoping that this weekend will bring some much needed time for relaxation for my busy family.

I thought I might share with you today and easy dinnertime option I cooked up earlier this week. I found this recipe where else but Pinterest of course. Graciously, Carrie of Cooking with Carrie allowed me to borrow her image and share her recipe with you all. You can find her recipe for "Hibachi Soup" HERE. Doesn't it look delicious and authentic? This is my favorite soup, I always tell my husband that if I'm ever sick, this is the only thing he needs to bring me, and now thanks to Carrie we can cook it ourselves anytime we want.

I followed her recipe with the only exception being that I cooked mine in a crockpot. I started mine early in the morning letting it simmer all day on Low. I added my mushrooms midway through cooking when I removed the larger veggies from the soup. I also saved the large veggies & refrigerated them for use in a roast the following day. The Hibachi Soup was a huge success and my family loved it.

With the remainder of my soup, I added a chuck roast and a little water to cover it and continued cooking on low till the next morning. In the morning I added the carrots & onions I had saved from the Hibachi Soup the previous day and added in more carrots, another onion, and some diced red potatoes. The finished Roast was another delicious meal ready to eat when everyone came in from soccer games that evening.

So there you have it one simple soup that parlayed itself into a second night of another simple ready to eat dinner. I love my crockpot so much, I'm so much better at planning & executing crockpot meals.

You must give Carrie's "Hibachi Soup" a try & let me know what you think.

Thanks Carrie for sharing : )

Happy Weekend 

{peace, love & hugs}

Carrie