Summer, Summer, Summer Time!

Hello again dear blog, I hope that all of your holiday weekends and Memorial Day's were well enjoyed. Most likely full of rest and relaxation as well as some good time with family and friends, and of course good old summer cookin'! I always love when Memorial Day roles around since it always reminds me of what I have been missing all winter. The good time with family and friends and the food, that along with time at the beach and outside is what Summer is all about! And while talking about food, I am sure that many can agree that there is something different about Summer food, with the different types of salads, the hot dogs and hamburgers, as well as all the other "grill foods." Summer is the time of the year when food appearance and presentation doesn't matter (at least sometimes ), its just the great taste and the fact that someone you care about made it especially for you and your guests. Automatically when you invite people over for a cook out or barbecue, you know they're not going to show up empty handed, and whether they knock on your door with fruit salad or some hamburger meat, everything is greatly appreciated with our hearts as well as stomachs!
As for my Memorial Day weekend, well it wasn't so restful. Firstly it was incredibly humid out as well as above 82 all weekend, which made what I had to do even more horrible. Reinstalling a new shower and buying a new washer was on my weekend's agenda. So I spent my weekend cleaning up dusty drywall debris out of the bathroom, while also helping install a new washer which we needed to get. Finally on Monday, my family went over my best friend Karen's house since she was having a cook out. We enjoyed ribs, hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, tomato pie, and loads of desserts. Yummo, that was a good time! I brought Metayo with me, and he was enjoying all the attention as well! Anyhoo, the images I am showing you today are of some GORGEOUS flowers I cut from my grandmothers garden on Sunday. I have been patiently waiting for her peonies to bloom for the past few weeks since mine are late bloomers, and finally those sweet smelling buds bloomed! The roses were a surprise, since as I was washing off the peonies to get the ants off, I looked outside and saw those beauties! I cut three, but unfortunately the one lost some of its petals, and the other one did as well. But not to fret, I was able to get a good picture of the last one (which was actually my favorite!) Okay, well as for now, that's all that I have, but I wish you some fun time out in the garden, and of course quality time with your family and friends!

Hearts of Palm

Well hello again dear blog, I am starting to get back in the swing of things! Any hoo, I went to Michael's on Sunday yet again, and bought some more Martha supplies yet again, and I crafted yet again.... lol, well I just couldn't stop myself from picking up a few things, even if I dont have any use for them now (I know someday I will need them... really I will!) The last picture below is of the supplies I bought, nothing much really, but hey, if I could I would buy the whole line. Also, I have been eyeing up those tissue paper pom pom thingies for perhaps a party of sorts, so I think that's gonna be my next purchase... just in case they don't carry them next year! I also got those cute little place tags, which I only bought since I liked the shape, and I also picked up some little paper banners, which was the last pack left and I just had to have them!!! I am sure that my fellow blog readers who are reading this post can identify with me. That Martha isle makes us crafters CRAZY!!(In a good sense of course.) All those lovelies, the papers, the punchers, the supplies and pens, they get our creative ideas flowing as well as our wallets!! My adventure continued on in Michael's when I strolled through an isle that had these (above) gorgeous and fun little tea light holders which were so cheap and on SALE!! In the picture they look orange but they're more of a pinky/orange, and I just loved the glitter detailing, perfect for outside dinner parties!
The other image below is of the composition book I covered with some fun paper I purchased on Sunday as well. I "beautified" it by adding some colorful ribbon as well as punching out a cute little palm tree in the one corner. On Sunday, when I saw the palm tree punch, I just knew I had to have it, and it came in handy already!This journal is for my notes when I attend the meetings we have to discuss my friend Jeannette's fund. I talked about her and the fund in a previous post called "Meant to Fly" as well as the significance of palm trees. I chose the colors for the notebook, since those were some of her favorites, pink especially! Perhaps if everyone likes it at the meeting, I can start making them and selling them to raise profits for the fund?? Fun to make, as well as inexpensive, and sooo Jeannette! Well, that's really all that I have thought up for today's blog, but I must add in that it has been a beautiful past three days in P.A., getting kind of warm outside, which means the perfect time for barbeques! By the way, that is exactly what were having for dinner tonight, hamburgers and hot dogs!! Mmmm, simple and good old home cookin' that reminds me of summers come and gone! Wishing you, until next time my friends, another trip to Michael's as well as some time to have a barbecue with your family and friends!

He's a Birthday Boy!!

Hello again dear blog, I am very proud of myself for keeping my promise!! Anyways, today is Metayo's Birthday! He is three years old today, and as soon as I woke up this morning and checked in on him, he was up and ready for the celebration. He knew it was his birthday without me even saying it! He is just too sweet, and a very excited boy! So, when I woke up I danced and played with him, got him all riled up, and then took him out back so he could relieve himself as well as run around in the mornings beautiful weather. I then had some coffee and breakfast which was some eggs and toast, and then took the handsome boy for a morning stroll around the neighborhood. He was "strutting" along like he always does, but today he had an extra kick in his step. He was smiling and having a good old time. When we got home, my sister and I sung Happy Birthday to him and he sang along. Yes, Metayo sings, and I mean really sings. Such fun, now he's taking a mid-day nap, and pretty soon were gonna give him some "cake" and his presents.
Every year, we have had a little party for him, with some of his dog friends and my sister and I's fellow dog loving friends. We also make him a cake every year whether its out of dog food and treats or out of ground meat and cheese! Last year it was the ground meat and cheese, which was actually pretty good for humans as well as dogs ;) lol. I think this year I'm going to make him an ice cream cake with that doggie ice cream they sell at the supermarket. As for the toys, even though he has more then enough, I bought him some more chew and squeaky toys as well as rawhides and treats. The picture above is of him with his birthday hat that I made him using some scrapbook paper, ribbon, a star and some of my Martha glitter. I whipped it up in a few minutes and he loves it! He is now taking a nap with it on, and he looks just too adorable. Okay, now off of birthdays and onto yesterday. It was spent doing some crafts such as the picture frames which I showed in a previous post. Thats the image below, all I did was just add some pretty floral papers and green ribbon. Well folks, that was kind of a random add in, but I wanted to show some more pictures. As for now, I need to go and get the supplies for his cake. Until another day my friends, wishing you some magical time with our furry friends as well as some craft inspiration!

Stop to Smell the Roses

Hello again dear blog, again, I know, I have been away from you for almost two weeks. Yep, 2 weeks, thats a really long time, with alot of events intermixed within each and every one of those days. I do have some excuses for my, shall I say "hiatus" from you. As for last week, it was spent on finishing up some projects which absolutely needed to be done, for work and home. This week, well this week consisted of me lying in bed all day, with a cold pack on my head, and a splitting head ache. It turns out that I have a sinus infection and an ear infection, but luckily that is starting to go away and I am feeling much better. Last week I did have plans on posting up some new pictures of my adventures and creations, but I never found the time to do it. Believe me, those pictures waited in that camera patiently, and finally today, I found the time! I am sooo relieved that all that work is off of my shoulders for now, I am sure more work will pile up quickly, but for now I am enjoying the time I have. Now back to what this blog is all about, fun, creation, and adventure!
The picture above is of a bouquet of absolutelty gorgeous roses that my sister gave my mother for Mothers Day. By the way, to all of you mothers out there in blogland, Happy Belated Mothers Day. When I saw these in the vase, I just fell in love with them. And since Sunday, they have not wilted or died, its just like their some kind of "super" roses. lol. Anyways as for the picture below, its of my little Ikea "greenhouse" which I have lovingly talked about on this blog many times before. As you can see, some tiny little green sprouts are finally showing themselves after an earlier attempt to seed in mid- March. In those containers I planted some Sweet Peas, Bells of Ireland, and some Lavender, which is apparently not enjoying the conditions, since they havent seeded yet. I am very excited to transplant them into bigger containers, and plant some more of my growing collection of seeds. As for the below picture, its again of one of the roses from that beautiful bouquet, which I placed in one of my salvaged glass containers from a previous post. As far as gardening goes, I will not be seen in the garden today since it has been pouring down rain from the heavens since 3:30. I'm not complaining though, in PA for the past couple of days its been above 80, so we all needed a nice cool down and a good drink ;) Well, thats all for today, I have some chores to do around the house such as LAUNDRY. oh boy, hamper here I come! Until another day (Saturday?) my friends, wishing you sunny weather, and a chance to stop and smell the roses!

Garden Center Mayhem

Hello again dear blog, I know I set a "date" for us to meet again yesterday at noon, and I am sorry I missed it, but I do have a good excuse, really I do!! ;) So yesterday I had plans to spend the day in the garden working on some raised beds to grow some of my vegetable seeds which have been patiently waiting. There is an area in the backyard which I now use for the compost pile, but due to lack of interest in actually starting a real compost pile, I never layed any weed barriers down, and I don't exactly think about what I throw in. Of course I abide the standard rules such as no raw meats, or any type of food that spoils, etc,etc. But I just throw in old fruits and veggies, dried leaves, and anything else I can think of such as weeds, sticks, spent flowers, and grass clippings. Never once have I thought of the ph or nitrogen levels in it, so I have not used it often and I rarely aerate it. So, a huge mistake on my part was throwing in those darn weeds, BIG mistake. I'm telling you it's like attack of the weeds over here,there poppin up everywhere and I just cant handle it all by myself!!! So I planned on doing what I could to control the weeds and taking my old tiller out of the shed and allowing it to amend the soil with all of that old organic matter. But I got side tracked and I started weed wacking instead, lol. Then, since I figured that I would never get the raised beds done in one day, I decided to take a trip to Lowes to see what plants they had in stock. Walking into the garden center, I was bombarded with people all over, (tip 1: never go to a garden or home store on a Saturday, especially when its beautiful outside!) and from what they had out front, it looked as though I was going to have a field day. After being sadly disappointed, I walked out with a few small trailers and two basil plants. So off on my adventure again, I travled to Sears Hardware where I left in about 5 minutes, finding all of but 3 varieties of the same plants. Then I went over to Home Depot, hoping that I would find something, but again I left with a few lavender plants and thats it. I was so disappointed, that when I came home, I didn't even feel like planting any of them, but I did :) So then, I decided that I would venture out once more, to see what Walmart had in store. Finally, more then 10 plants of the same species!! After I trailed along the paths, I ended up with some heirloom tomato seeds, mesculin mix lettuce, thyme, and some marigolds to keep those pests at bay. Now all I need is some more organic soil, which they did not have in stock. As for the rest of the day, it was spent doing indoor chores and watching some gardening shows. Now that I reminded myself of chores, I have some more laundry to do!! Until next time, wishing you pleasant weather, plant selection galore, and quality time with the family!

-Some of the waterproof books I purchased and a garden journal-to be. Hopefully I will order some Abraham Darby roses and some type of climbing rose soon, so I can start enjoying my garden!

Meant to Fly

Hello again dear blog, again sorry for the long departure, I have been extremely busy these past couple of days, and have not had time to get on the computer. Today, in PA it is 75 degrees and sunny, with a cool breeze, ahh!! The bright sun is shining and there is seldom a cloud in the sky. The smell of fresh cut lawns fills the air, while the sound of airplanes up above reminds me of summer. As you can see I am loving it! Now only if it could stay this way, because once it reaches 80, and then June comes, it's just too hot. But off the weather and back to my day. I decided that I would not dessert you any longer, and would take some pictures of what I have been up to! Firstly I would like to dedicate this post to a friend of mine that passed away 1 year ago on May 1st. She was a beautiful, kind and intelligent woman who would have made a big impact in the world. My sister and I met up with her family and friends at her aunts house on Tuesday to organize and plan some future events for the fund which they are setting up in her name. The fund will benefit different childrens organizations in our area, while raising money in fun ways such as Halloween Parties and Poker nights! I was soo glad that everyone came and celebrated her life togehter instead of thinking of what could have been. It was unfair, but it was her time to go, and I know she was there with us, and I am sure she is happy with what we are doing. The above picture I took is of a palm tree, you see she was obsessed with them and dreamed of going to California one day. I am sure she has already made her way there, and is sitting on the beach with her feet in the sand enjoying the warm weather.
My job in this whole fund is an event coordinator/decorator/bracelet maker. We are making these cute bracelets with her name on it for those who knew her and others with the fund name on it for those who didnt know her in order to raise money for the fund. As of now, my sister and I are thinking up ideas on tags that we will tie to the bracelets which will explain where the money is going to and give the person an idea of what kind of person Jeannette was. As for the rest of my adventures, the picture below shows you some of the finds that I purchased from Michaels this past Sunday. If you have not already visited, you must immediately get in your car and rush to Michaels! ( After you've finished reading this post of course! :) Martha Stewarts line is amazing, I must have walked up the isle a hundred times, making sure I did not miss anything. I'm sure I'm not the only crazy person who has done this! Her items are simple but so innovative, and oh how I love those kits she has! I cant wait to get the paper bouquet kit and some more glitter! Love, love love Martha, and now I can watch her show and know where to get the supplies for the creations she makes! Lastly, the picture below my fabulous finds, is of a few sprigs of azalea which has just started blooming its coral colored flowers. I am also patiently waiting for my wisteria to bloom! I went past it the other day and saw some of the buds starting to open; ahh the sweet smell of those periwinkle flowers is glorious!Okay, I think I have said enough for today, I'll keep you posted on Jeannettte's fund and on my garden, lets set a date for Saturday, perhaps around noon time? Ill see you there (hehe)! Wishing you bright and sunny weather, craft madness and some cherished time with your friends and family!

-Look at that glitter!! Do you see this glitter and those garden labels, lovin it!!