last week, this week....

~we've eaten quiche

~we've been hit by the cold/virus bug, drinking lots of tea with lemon and honey and taking cold medicines, my workout routine is also lacking now-really I should be in bed now but I can't sleep.

~we've been admiring the beauty of plants, forget clothes shopping- I'd rather go shopping at the plant nursery.


~we took enough cough syrup and a supply of cough drops in order to visit with a dear friend who was visiting in the area (from the Midwest), we had lunch at a great vegetarian restaurant (I told her to load up on elderberry syrup and vitamin C after our visit :) she's headed back home today.

I'd better go get some sleep, the kids on spring break this week and when these colds subside maybe we'll get to something a bit adventurous.
hope you are having a good week!

just the facts....

.

~one of my children has been in her p.j.'s for almost two days straight, only was she now convinced to get dressed to go out and get ice cream with her dad and sister.

~our little kitty is being very adventurous, not so long ago he hid himself in a kitchen drawer one morning after I had dropped the girls off at school. I was on the verge of tears. I had looked almost everywhere in the house-until I pulled open a kitchen drawer and found him (he was just lying there-looking completely unfazed).

~I'm still drinking my morning decaf, and its past three in the afternoon.

~I need to catch up on my garden reading.

~ I have knitting needles sticking out my hair at this moment
(probably should be reading instead of knitting, huh?)

~I made soup for lunch today, so we could have it again for dinner.

~I'm hoping for an early bedtime, for everybody.


Happy Monday!

random with a little crochet

just wanted to share some random bits that have been going on~

*we attend our first ceili last weekend, had lots of fun dancing.

*the weather is getting nicer, I even walked to my daughter's school today to pick her up from her kindergarten class (she was so surprised to see me without the car :)
I'm thinking that we should do this at least twice a week.

*I've been eating lots of oranges.

*like last year I'm planning to participate in the community garden and a friend from church is going to share the plot with me.

*from the local food co-op I'm liking this, this, and this.

*I've been doing a little crochet-just keeping it simple. I've made a headband (with leftover yarn from this project) and now I'm just single crocheting up some peaches and creme.

~headband


~single crocheting some peaches and creme


*I've been buying coffee out a lot lately, and really not feeling to guilty about it.

Okay, I think that's enough random for today.

Have a good weekend friends!

a few glimpses of our Sunday

~apple pancake all done


~still making use of those apples, making an apple pancake



~getting the veggies home before the hard frost hits


~green tomatoes picked before the frost

I was feeling a bit under the weather earlier this week, having a bit of a sore throat just feeling blah-blah-but now I'm feeling much better and like my old self (this syrup was quite helpful in helping me with my blah-blah's). We finally had our hard freeze last evening (the official end of the growing season) and it promises to be a chilly day. My main plans for the day include~

*a little shopping (the kids need new winter coats and maybe I'll manage to find something for myself :)

*hopefully a little knitting (yes, I'm still knitting up my bag) preferably with a cup of this tea-which is rocking my world.

*relaxing on the couch this evening while taking in The Next Iron Chef.

Hope you have an enjoyable Sunday and see you soon,
nichole

a few glimpses of our Sunday

Today's happenings included~


~taking my small pint of raspberries-they had gotten a bit soft, so I figured it was best to make some jam (oops! a little spill over)



~enjoying the weather outside with a bike ride on the sidewalk next to our house



~wondering what concoction I should make up with these dried herbs (lemon balm, coriander, and calendula)


~putting my little ole' jam into a cute little jar, can't wait to try it out on a piece of toast for breakfast in the morning.

I stayed around the house all day today-nothing scheduled to do today, but a lot to do (I know you get it :)

Have a wonderful upcoming week!

a few glimpses of our Sunday

Sunday, the beginning of a new week. A day for both rest and attempts at organization~

We started the day with breakfast~
potatoes, yellow squash, venison summer sausage


the kids played outside for a little bit~


I sat down with my coffee mid-afternoon (I needed a little afternoon pick me up) and attempted menu-planning, can you believe it?


I'll let you know how this menu-planning thing works out for me, since I'm usually a crunch time type of gal (:

Hope you have a wonderful upcoming week!

what a dollar can get you and more on tomatoes

I kinda got a slow start to this week, I think Labor Day threw me off a bit. We didn't do much over the holiday weekend-but Sunday I did get together with some of my friends from church to make strawberry jam and that was fun. Monday we all stayed close to home and for dinner ordered Chinese food, and now its already Thursday-wow! Talk about a quick week.
Well I hit the thrift store today and found an old TV stand for a dollar. As soon as I saw it I knew that I wanted to put it on the deck so it could hold my pots. I think I might paint it up a bit-what do you think, I'm thinking about painting it white.

In the kitchen I've been in a little rut with what to cook for dinner.
I want to be one of those people who do menu plans and all, but so far that's just not happening. As I was looking at the bowl of tomatoes next to the window, salsa came to my head-just to give a little kick to tonight's dinner.

salsa~
~five medium chopped tomatoes
~half of an large onion chopped
~two small jalapenos chopped (add seeds if you want heat)
~a big handful of chopped cilantro
~3 cloves of garlic minced
~1 tablespoon of lemon or lime juice (I used lemon because that's what I had on hand)
~1 teaspoon of salt

mix then eat

Hope you all are doing well-I'll be sure to read about your crafting/life happenings soon.
Take care~

still upside down

Remember this~

it's now this~

upside down, originally uploaded by *nichole*.

my homemade hanging basket is still up and hanging (actually the first plant was crushed because the bucket wasn't secured properly and it ended up falling to the ground, so this is tomato plant #2, secured with lots of twine). So far it has 3 green tomatoes on it. I'm not so sure about this hanging tomato thing, but it has been interesting to observe.

Hope Monday was good to ya!

(totally unrelated but "upside down" got me thinking of this song :)

3 things that are great:

having a wonderful library in which I can checkout current books and magazine issues.



this date book/organizer, hopefully I'll be on time for my appointments for the rest of the year. I just love the birds on the front, really I bought it because of the birds (:



this baby watermelon, isn't it cute?


see, its just the small things.

right now I'm...

liking my hot pink toes


making coffee


using my ironing board as a table


braiding hair


loving this book

Have a good one!

small random bits

Remember those allergies? Well they were really getting the best of me so I decided to go to the clinic on Wednesday. The doc gave me a script for nasal spray and the suggested using a neti pot. Immediately after my appointment I went to the co-op and purchased one. It is like a little teapot for the nose. You simply make a saline solution put it in the pot and then irrigate your nose with the solution. There are so many you-tube videos about the process which explain it much better than I'm trying to do here-but let me tell you it has improved my sinuses tremendously. I think it's great when docs offer other alternative treatments-really instead of always relying on standard meds (but believe me I take meds when I absolutely need to like when I had strep-no fun). So the neti pot has been a big plus for this week.



Yesterday the girls made matching dresses for their stuffed animals from material I got from the thirft store. They got to cut out the material themselves and then went on to sew the dresses (they pressed the foot pedal on the machine as I guided the material). I think Minnie and Diamond look quite cute in their red florals.



So this weekend I want to do some instant gratification crafting using some fabric scraps I have on hand . I want to make some simple napkins (pattern in Bend the Rules Sewing by Amy Karol). Surely these napkins will brighten even the simplest of meals (and even those including rhubarb).
Also this weekend will include going to church and planning something for Father's Day (maybe whipping up a big breakfast for the hubby or suggesting IHOP-I think I like the IHOP idea).

today I'm~

** having a little tea to help with my stuffy nose (my spring allergies are acting up)

** doing a little knitting

** tackling the never ending laundry pile
** planning to eat leftovers for dinner
** going to try to fit a little nap in somewhere

I need slow days like this to help balance out the not so slow ones.
happy Wednesday~