My new birdhouse

I love birds in the garden or the yard. It always makes my home feel like a special place. During the winter, a cardinal visiting reminds me that spring will be here shortly.

When we went to yard sales last week, I came across this birdhouse and decided that the birds at my home needed a fancy house to eat their bird seed. 

After a fresh coat of paint and several days of contemplating where the bird house should reside, I decided the house should sit in the new flower bed by the guest bedrooms. This location provides the best view of the birds in winter and brings height to the other side of the flower beds. 

I think it looks beautiful and brings a pretty new addition to our home. I hope they love it. 

 

 

Don't tell them it was only $15!!!

April Goals

Remember my New Year’s Resolutions? Well, how am I doing on my goals?

1.     Involved in two committees at church – one so far
2.    Take a knitting class
3.    Lose weight… a perennial favorite – 5 pounds
4.    Read 6 books, not cookbooks, my first love. – two down
5.    Organize my office - done
6.    Learn Italian
7.    Visit one U.S. historical site with the family.

I am working on joining another committee at church. I have to do research to find out who is in charge of the committee. No weight lost but two weeks of eating out did not help. No worries, I am back on track this week. No Italian either but then again, I did paint four rooms and finished all the wedding favors. I have read two books this month and still working on the family vacation.  

In addition to my yearly goals, April gardening takes center stage. The earlier you plant flowers in April, the longer they have time to get settled before the heat sets in.  

       1.     Wash outside windows – too much rain to finish in March 
     2.    Rocks laid around new flower bed

     3.    Garden planted
     4.    Flower pots planted
     5.    15 flats of petunias, impatiens and vincas planted
     6.    Two new Adirondack chairs painted
     7.    Baseboards painted in two rooms

     8.    Wash all accessories in the house
     9.    Easter baskets for the elderly completed by April 18^th

     10. Wedding program, menu card and itinerary finished
     11.  Groomsmen measurements in for tuxedos
     12.  Wedding invitations mailed
    13.  Guest bags finished to deliver to hotel
    14. Photo shoot list completed for the photographer
 

I finish teaching this month. Summer beckons and I long for weeks of gardening, painting, swimming and finishing all my sewing projects. April is lovely but nothing looks good in the garden and I wait with all anticipation for summer grilling and entertaining. I long for the sun on my face… soon!!

What are your April goals?

Cooking: Menu Week Ending April 3rd

I am way behind for blogs this week. With two straight weeks of painting and followed by a week of making wedding favors, my little blog has suffered. This week, we are planting the garden. As the last chance of frost is April 15^th, I will take my chances. I also want four to five Knock-Out roses planted. 

We have been to two straight weeks of yard sales and I already have three projects to finish. Painting furniture during the weekend!! So Saturday‘s meal is a salad I can whip up on Friday. 

Thursday is still the wedding working day. This Thursday is all make-up, shower dress shopping and setting up wedding dress fittings. We have made great project and hope to have all the work done to enjoy all of May and the beginning of June. With the favors finished, I am so relieved. 

Lastly, thank you for all the kind birthday wishes either through email, cards or Facebook. I had a fantastic day and was given some beautiful presents. I feel blessed to have such wonderful friends and family.

Tuesday

Lemon Chicken

Sauteed Green Beans

Baked Potatoes

Lemon Chicken

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1-1/2 pounds)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 4 lemon slices
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Directions

• In a shallow bowl, combine flour and pepper; dredge the chicken. Set remaining flour mixture aside. In a skillet, brown chicken in oil; transfer to an ungreased 9-in. square baking dish.
• In a saucepan, saute onion in butter. Add reserved flour mixture; stir to form a thick paste. Gradually add broth, lemon juice, basil and thyme; mix well. Bring to boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Pour over the chicken. Top each half with a lemon slice. Sprinkle parsley.
• Cover and bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until the juices run clear.
• Serve over rice if desired. Yield: 4 servings.

 

Wednesday

Church for dinner

Thursday

Shrimp Scampi

Cesar Salad

French Bread

Friday

Steak Stromboli

Garden Salad

Salt and Sweet Brownies

Saturday

Chicken Salad Croissants

Homemade Potato Chips

Fruit Salad

Sunday

Pork Butt with Strawberries

Duchess Potatoes

Steamed Asparagus

What is on your menu this week?

Early Spring Flowers

Gardening has so many benefits. Outside communing with nature, exercise, digging in the dirt, homegrown tomatoes and veggies, but gardening has more benefits than just the external benefits. For me, gardening teaches a multitude virtues; patience, humility, discipline and diligence.

When you plant a seed, a seedling, a bulb or try to grow plants from cuttings, the results of your efforts may take a long time to see the fruits of those efforts. Gardening takes time, patience.

Any gardener will tell you that humility is a large part of their gardens. No flower is full proof, no veggie will always produce...  plants may live or not. You cannot guard against everything that Mother Nature can throw at you.

But the rewards of all your work is beautiful and satisfying. My consistent efforts in the garden produces beautiful flowers. In early spring, to see the first flowers of a new gardening season brings all the hope of a success.

Easter is Coming

One of my gifts is my ability to PLAN!!! Some people think I am an obsessive planner... hey, I am a planner... what can I say! Planning is a good thing!

That being said, I love Easter! I mean love it. Beyond the Christian significance, I love pastels, eggs, dyed eggs, Easter hats, Easter cookies, carrot cake, ham, Easter Brunch, Easter egg hunts, Easter baskets, rabbits, chicks, Cadbury eggs, peanut butter eggs, frilly socks, white patent leather shoes, little girls in Smocked dresses, little boys in bow ties, Big boys in pastel ties,deviled eggs, Seersucker suits, lambs, and Easter morning service at the break of dawn at church. Okay, I feel better.

I mean look how pretty these Easter bunnies look!!!

1. Planning the Easter weekend menu.

Saturday Menu  ?

Brunch on Sunday

Spinach Frittata

Croissants

Muffins

Easter Ham with a glaze of Dijon mustard and apricot jam

Scalloped Potatoes

Asparagus

Spring Salad

Carrot Cake, Strawberry Pie or Coconut cake?

I will need to decide...

2. Easter Crafts - What do I want to make?

3. I am making my Easter baskets for those older people at our church - What will I fill those baskets with?

 

4. I want to make eggs for our neighborhood Easter Egg hunt. I need to call to donate 6 dozen colored eggs. 

So ladies, time to put paper to pen and start planning your Easter!! I will be looking for fantastic ideas from you all!!!

Speed Cleaning Your Car's Interior - or 15 minutes to a happier Mom!!

Winter is winding down and the cold weather has really made it impossible to keep your car clean. However, here are my steps to quickly get your car looking good.

1. Toss the trash: When you are filling your car with gas, empty all your trash into the readily available trash bins. 
2. At the same time, take out the floor mats and beating them against each other to remove any dirt.
3. Using car cleaning wipes, wipe down the dashboard, center console, any drink holders, seats and the driver door. 
4. With glass cleaner, whip down the windshield, sunroof and rear window. In my case, I have to wipe down all the puppy noses!!!

  
       5. Lastly, vacuum all the seats and the floor.
 
Your car will look good in less than fifteen minutes or less.  You will feel like a million dollars and drive with pride!!! Spring is coming and we can get to more detailed cleaning on a warmer day!!

The Greening of my Garden

My garden has been cleaned up and is ready for this growing season. Even without plants, the garden has some structure to make it attractive. 

Already we have arugula

Planted lettuce

Broccoli and cabbage

New climbing structures for the peas

The herbs are coming back but I still have a little weeding. 

Oh, I can’t wait for the spring and summer…. Summer tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans and peppers. One bed is going to be dedicated to flowers.

I have lots of freezing, canning and dehydrating to do this year, but oh so much fun!!! 

How does your garden look? Are you ready for this year?

My Cleaning Routine

About a year ago, I let my cleaning lady go, very gently but she had to go… my home wasn’t clean. 

So as I forged ahead with new knees and the determination to get my home clean. I developed a cleaning routine that not only got my home sparkling but also didn’t tie up an entire day accomplishing that task. At the end of this year, my home is cleaner than before and I don’t spend all day cleaning. 

Now with these two boys, I vacuum the entire house about four times a week. That step takes about 20 minutes. 

Monday:        Dust and Polish with Glass cleaner

                       Clean one bathroom, one of the guest room bathrooms

Wednesday:   After vacuuming, mop all floors

                      Wash baseboards in one room

Saturday:      Clean our bedroom

                      Clean my bathroom

Each one of these steps takes about 30 minutes. However, I can take my time and stretch out these chores. I have plenty of time to get side-tracked into organizing any drawers, clean a closet or washing walls. 

I try to stick to this routine because honestly, my home is much cleaner than with a cleaning lady. Oh yeah, and I save $200 a month!!!

Croque Monsieur

A very fancy name for a very simple sandwich!! A croquet monsieur is basically a grilled ham and cheese but oh so much more delicious. Every bite is heaven. If you have never made this sandwich, I urge you to try it very soon. You will never make grilled ham and cheese ever again. 

 Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Melt butter over low heat and add flour all at once. Stir for 2 minutes.

Add milk, slowly and cook whisking constantly, until the sauce has become thick. 

Remove from the heat. Add  salt, pepper, nutmeg, ½ c. Gruyere and Parmesan. Set the sauce aside, once the cheese has melted. 

Toast eight slices of bread in oven for 5 minutes on one side, turn the bread and toast another 2 minutes. Lightly brush half of the breads with mustard,

Add a slice of ham and sprinkle with Gruyere. I had sliced Gruyere cheese and topped the ham with the slices. 

Cover the sandwich with cheese sauce and sprinkle with the remaining Gruyere. 

Bake the sandwich for 5 minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil until the topping is lightly browned and bubbly, approximately 3 to 5 minutes.

 
Serve hot. Oh and get ready to fall in love. 

Croque Monsieur

nocoupons

·         2 tablespoons unsalted butter

·         3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

·         2 cups hot milk

·         1 teaspoon kosher salt

·         1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

·         Pinch nutmeg

·         12 ounces Gruyere, grated (5 cups)

·         1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

·         16 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed

·         Dijon mustard

·         8 ounces baked Virginia ham, sliced

Cooking: Menu Week Ending March 20th

Well, 7 gallons of paint later, I have finished painting. Baseboards and crown moldings still need paint but the bulk of the painting is done. As done as my spring break. Back to reality.... I have been working on a major project for the wedding and hope to be done with that this week. My garden and flower beds are just beginning to awaken, they have been weeded and mulched. Spring has sprung!!!

My kids and my daughter's fiance will be here this weekend. So we will have some of their favorite dishes but more importantly, we will have a fun-filled weekend!!!

Monday

Grilled Salmon

Roasted New Potatoes

Garden Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

Tuesday

Mexican Tostados

Wednesday

Church

Thursday

BLT’s

Sweet Potato Fries

Friday

Chicken Fettuccini Verde

Cesar Salad

Lemon Bars

Saturday

My son is cooking the family dinner!!

Sunday

Bourbon Brown Sugar Pork Tenderloin

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Roasted Green Beans