Flowers on Fabric

According to the weatherman, we are experiencing the coldest Spring  in the recorded history of Seattle dating back to the 1800's. You can't always trust what the weatherman says, but this time I KNOW it is true! There are rain, and clouds and cold most of the time, it's like winter never ended! But, more and more days are breaking through the clouds with sunshine and blue skies--just barely enough for me to get my flowers potted and a few things ready in my planter boxes for the garden. However, those days are not coming around enough for us to warm up and really enjoy the beauty of Spring like I want to.

So what have I been doing instead? Well, without realizing it, I've been making small purchases here and there of things that bring a little Spring inside, where I can enjoy it. My Grandma Mac has been in town visiting for my brother's fabulous wedding (remember that wonderful news?) and so together we have ventured with my mom to several fabric stores.

I picked up a little bit of this...

 

Sway - lime,  from Pop Garden by Heather Bailey

and a little bit of this...

Pink - Depression Era

And I might go back for a small piece of this...

Cultivated Flower Orang from the Modern Workshop fabric collection by Liesl Gibson of Oliver + S for Moda

I can't say that Spring is my favorite season, because as each season begins I feel like it's my favorite. But right now, there is nothing I want more than to spend my days outside in a world that resembles something like the flowers on these pieces of fabric. So, until we can finally do that, I will continue sewing with a little bit of this...

 

Mellow Yellow from the Hunky Dory Collection by Chez Moi for Moda

and of course some of this...

Bud Sparrow from the Hunky Dory collection by Chez Moi for Moda

and I'll make something to snuggle up in and stay warm during this cold, cold SPRING!

Favorite Things

Spring is my favorite season. I have always loved it. I think it started all because my birthday is in spring, but here is a list of some reasons why it is my favorite, even if I don't get to experience it all since I am in Washington now.

• New Flowers


• Everything is Fresh and Clean


• Thunderstorms (when I lived in Colorado. We do not get them very often in Seattle.)


• Fresh Cut Grass


• The smell of rain (when I lived in Colorado. You do not smell it much in Washington since it rains so often, as odd as that sounds)


• Spring Cleaning


• Being able to open the windows and air out my house


• The Tulip Festival in Mt Vernon, Washington


• The random Spring Blizzard that usually happened in Colorado


• Playing outside with my kids


• Puddle Jumping


• Rain Boots and Jackets


• Getting our vegetable garden ready


• Hanging Fuchsia Pots


• My new hot pink razer scooter that I can ride with my kids


• Garage Sales


• Birds Singing


• Strawberries


• Shortcake with the above


• Seeing my awesome neighbors again after the long winter.


• Starting outdoor projects

Oh there are so many more, but I will leave you with these for now.

What are your favorite parts of spring?

Pucker up!

The calendar says it's well into the spring season, but I'm not sure if anyone sent the memo to Mother Nature. We've had a few days here and there of sunshine, but even for me (and I'm someone who loves digging in the dirt), it's been too wet to get out and plant anything in our vegetable garden. I heard on the news the other day that you would have to go back to the 1950's to find a spring with less days over 55 degrees than this year. That being said, I'm happy to see signs of life and rebirth in the yard. My daffodils have been out for a couple of weeks, the tulip buds are starting to open, and the peonies are already forming buds that will explode into lovely light and dark pink pom poms by Memorial Day.

So, what have I been doing so far this spring? A little sewing (not as much as I would like!), a little playing, and a LOT of cleaning.

It's time for spring cleaning around here, and I'm down to my last two rooms to get done. So, that's why I missed posting last week (sorry!), but the only time I was really online was to find advice and tips for cleaning stubborn soap scum from the shower or splattered who-knows-what inside my unfortunately-not-self-cleaning oven without fumigating the whole house. I'm running out of steam, but what keeps me motivated is seeing all those check marks on my list (seen above) and knowing that I've taken complete mental inventory of everything in the house and I know it's clean!

Want to know what is possibly my most favorite thing about spring? This stuff:

Rhubarb! It's sweet, tangy, sour and juicy all at the same time. And it's in season right now. Growing up, we had a TON of rhubarb, and we used it all. We cooked it slowly until it was soft, mashed it up, and sweetened it with a little honey and ate it like applesauce. Or we cooked the big, tough stems until it was really, really soft, strained it and bottled the resulting rosy liquid in quart jars. Mix it up with a package of raspberry Kool-aid, a little sugar, some water and it's a perfect summer quencher.

Here's one of my favorite recipes using rhubarb. Serve it warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream...yum!

Rhubarb Dessert

1 pound rhubarb, diced
1 cup sugar
1-3 oz. box strawberry Jell-o
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup water
1/4 cup butter, melted

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray. Layer ingredients in order listed. Do not stir. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.


Try it and let me know how you like it!

A Blank Canvas

Ah, Spring! The season of endless possibility, the blank-canvas time of year! At least that's how it is at my house. See?

I built this! It was easy! Now what should I fill it with ... ?

I took the stones above from this part of the garden. Amid the wreck, I see a fresh start for what used to be the vegetable patch ... but what will it become?! (Currently we're thinking of filling it with all our squash and pumpkin plants this year.)

New raised beds for the vegetables! They were also easy - and inexpensive! About $70 for five beds, made with 2x4's and fence boards.

Peas!!! And all that brown stuff is alfalfa pellets (basically rabbit food), working their magic on the soil. They break down fast in all our springtime rain and then it doesn't look so odd, by the way.

It doesn't look like much from the photos above, I know. And it isn't ... yet.

After almost three years, I finally have some definite ideas for what I want my gardens to look like, really and truly. My head is spinning with ideas and plans. What should I plant under my new lovely camellia? What is it going to look like when all those daffodils I planted colonize into a little sea of springtime yellow? What should we use for a path between the vegetable beds? Oh, the possibilities are endless indeed! And that's my very favorite part.

What's your favorite thing about Springtime? What magic is happening in your garden?

Closet Therapy

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With the sunshine peaking through the clouds and the clusters of crocus popping up in my neighbors yard I am itching to do some spring cleaning.  I love myself a good clean room but I get the most out of digging through a winter infested closet and ridding it of all it's dust bunnies and expired "stuff." Seeing it all neat and organized, maybe even pretty enough to leave the door to the closet open, makes me think that one day I might actually be able to have cupboards like in the above picture. 

My plan today failed...but it's only because my ambitious mind told me I could do it all in one day.  Never mind the fact that my day was pretty packed with normal mom stuff anyway. I tend to get way ahead of myself and today was no exception.  I started this project way back in January and I got through a good chunk of my house but I never finished.  I blame it on the gray color of everything and the laziness I feel in February and into March.  So I have a new plan. A little more realistic plan this time:

Five days (by Saturday at midnight). 

One mission. 

To organize or reorganize and beautify every closet in my home. 

Definition of closet:: cupboard: a small room (or recess) or cabinet used for storage space

That's a lot of doing and a lot of dust bunnies.  That's a whole lot of therapy to get me feeling good about my favorite season!  SPRING!!!

And to get you in the mood and to give you some inspiration:  Some loveliness!

Apparently these people only wear blue, green and white clothing...um and they only own 3 designs and 10 shirts total. 

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I adore baskets.  I am a basket junkie.  One day, if I could have it my way and not my husband's, everything I own will live in a basket.

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still one of my favorite ideas!!!

How cute is this little girl's tiny closet space?

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I think if I had some place like this I would want to clean every minute of my life.

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Although my closets will never look like this I am determined to at least have them organized and cleaned out by the end of the week!!!

NOW...who's with me? 

* Maybe on Saturday I'll post some before and after pictures of my closet space....maybe!

Spring Chickens

I have a favorite sight or blog I like to look at and, it being Chicken Week over here on Praiseworthy, I immediatly thought of this fun little softy and the neat things she creates over at Molly Chicken. 

So this morning I let my kids pick out some fabric and we all got to work.  Payton cut out the pattern pieces, I did the assembly and Sadie distroyed our house.  It was obviously a great morning! 

 

Don't you love this little pocket and the tiny baby chick that hides in the egg.  Reminds me of the thought about a mother protecting her young as she takes them under her wing..or in this case as she pretends to be a kangaroo.  Same dif. right?

 

 Taking the baby out and putting it back in was my Sadie's favorite part.  I knew it would be.

 

She now plays peek a boo with it and calls it her little baby kitchen...yes...kitchen.

 

 Payton took his (which has pants of elephants playing croquet on them...awesome I know!) said thanks mom and went right to pretend playing "Monster Chicken...Bigger then all the Universe." 

I'm happy they love them.  Here is the link to the easy tutorial if you want to create some of your own.  If you do, then don't forget to make a comment and link it to a picture! We would love to see what you create.

Happy Chicken Week!