Floral Friday oops Saturday Again

{Veranda}

Don't you just love the smell of sweet peas?  This bouquet is OH SO BEAUTIFUL!

BBQ Goodness

Yesterday I took the FOLKS to Old Town Temecula for a little shopping and eating.
This was my absolutely yummy sandwich.  I avoided the bread, but the meat was SO tender.
It's always good with a little family catch up time.  I will post more about some great shops, tomorrow.  

Banana Birthday Pie

This is one of the benefits of having Mom and Dad visit.  Mom is making a birthday pie for Dad's birthday.  
She's an awesome pie maker/baker person.  ;-)
Banana Cream Pie, yummy!  It won't last long.  

Destination Unknown

Where are you headed?
The possibilities are endless.
The journey may be as wonderful as the destination.
Whatever your day holds, I pray that there will be spots of beauty along the way.  

Photos courtesy of Veranda.

Up Close and Beautiful

I thought I'd share a little Spring Time with those of you who are suffering from Spring Fever.  I could only get a picture of one bee, but there are many on each Rosemary plant.  Buddy wishes they would slow down so he could catch one.  If he only knew. . . 

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

I made Mom's Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup today.  It's so simple and perfect on a cloudy, rainy day.  From the looks of things, I may have overdone the noodles.  Is that a bad thing? Nah!

MOM'S HOMEMADE CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

4-6 chicken breasts

Boil in a small amount of water until tender.  Remove meat to cool and cube.  Strain broth to make clear, add 2-3 cans of chicken broth.  I usually use the great big one.  This time I cut up the chicken breasts first, then boiled in water.  You could also boil in broth and omit water.

Add to broth:

2 medium onions, chopped

2-3 celery stalks, sliced

2-3 large carrots, sliced or chopped

Boil vegetables until tender then return chicken and large package of wide noodles.  Cook until noodles are tender and simmer for a short time.  Add 1-2 cans of Cream of Chicken soup for a creamier broth.  (I don't usually do this) This recipe makes a very large amount of soup.  I halved everything tonight.

Floral Friday oops Saturday

{marthastewartliving.com}

Here's a beautiful bouquet to start off your weekend. 

Think SPRING!

Thrifting Treasures

We don't have the fabulous thrifting opportunities like Cindy down here in our area of SoCal, but I did come up with a couple of treasures yesterday.  I think, anyway.  

Creative Cravings

One of the wonderful things about the blogosphere are all of the wonderful art blogs out there. Included with them are inspiring projects and helpful tutorials. I have always had a craving, if you will, to make things. I have tried every type of handwork and sewing that is out there. Let's see. . . I've tried sewing, quilting, cross-stitch, smocking, heirloom sewing, silk ribbon embroidery, all kinds of embroidery, hardanger, beading, scrapbooking, woodcarving, crochet and knitting. And that's all I can think of at the moment. 

Now I'm discovering many different media. I'm seriously frustrated that I can't be satisfied with just one media and actually get really great at it. I do love my knitting, though. I don't feel like I'm advanced at all. I have not and can't imagine designing my own patterns. So, maybe I'm just a serial crafter. It sort of makes me sad. I wish I could be satisfied with my creations. I certainly collect plenty of patterns, fabrics and supplies, but nothing special comes of it. I think I give up too quickly. Here are some of my most recent favorites.  I've just discovered some beautiful art blogs, look at Dawn's, Rebecca's, or Teresa's.  These beautiful creations below are Dawn's creations.  



So beautiful!

PROMISES, PROMISES

This is another beautiful result of all our recent rain.  I actually saw a double rainbow yesterday.  

Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind.  Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.

Genesis 9:14-15

No Complaints

This is our normal view from the back of our house.  It was an especially lovely morning with low lying fog and snow on the mountains. 
Lately we've had this to look at outside our window.
We are IN the clouds these days.  There has been a lot of rain in SoCal lately.  Most of us don't complain at all, because we really need it.  My biggest concern is DH's commute.  It is very long on a good day, but rain makes it much more dangerous.  This is our biggest weather change out here and it is welcomed.  Especially because we will get these beautiful results in a few weeks.  

{tomsaint11 at flickr.com}

So, no, I'm not complaining.  

Cupcake Compromise

My goal was to make beautiful cupcakes just like Willow Decor made.  But, as you can see, that didn't happen.  Here are my excuses. . .

• I used buttercream frosting instead of Royal/Ornamental.
  
• The color turned out to be old-fashioned pink because of the vanilla.
• I didn't have a tip big enough.
• I was too lazy.

There I admit it.  But they still turned out lovely and YUMMY.

DH seemed to like them well enough.  

Floral Fridays

Who wouldn't LOVE these for Valentine's Day?

Yummy Cupcakes

{flickr via Willow Decor}

I'm going to get going on making these beauties.  Thank you Willow Decor for the inspiration. Bunco is here tomorrow night and cupcakes were in my plans.  These are just way prettier than I was thinking.  Yes, I said it that way intentionally!

Topping it Off

This is a photo of the "in progress" status of our office.  
Here is the "after" picture.  I obviously need to get something on the wall here.  Such an improvement though.  
Here is a "before" picture of the family room, obviously at Christmas time.  
Here is the "after".  We had the ceilings painted off-white in order to contrast with the moldings.  
This is the kitchen without my baskets.

This is after the moldings are finished.  It all looks really great.  The only problem is that I have to get my new window treatments shortened.  I didn't realize that we needed such deep moldings and therefore didn't leave enough room in the draperies.  They puddle WAY too much.  It is so much smarter to do things in the right order.  Live and learn.  

HAVE YOU STARTED YOURS?

With Valentine's Day only 5 days away, I was wondering if you've started yours yet?  I've made mine in the past, but am having difficulty finding time this year.  Especially when I have to take into account snail mail.  The above roses are made using a head of radicchio for the stamp. Clever!  Who thinks of these things?
These are two clever ideas from Martha Stewart Living.  They give you lots of ideas and instructions.  Take some time to make your own, especially with your children.  

Overflowing Tea Cups

{Country Home UK}

Scillia and Grape Hyacinths in tea cups!  So clever and beautiful.  And to think I used to have an abundance of Grape Hyacinths in my yard in Illinois.  I think next year I'll have to try this.  

Nagging Tagging Question

Not too many of you read my blog, but if you happen on by, I have a question.  Do you remove the tags from your towels when you buy them?  I hate the hangy down tags on my towels.  But, for some reason I don't remove them.  Maybe I secretly fear the tag police will blow the whistle.  Same thing applies to tags on scarves.  I don't really wear too many that are purchased, but I hate the tags showing.  How do you handle tags, or do you care?

Crying over Spilled Milk

Milk drop 1, originally uploaded by tanakawho.

Lesson learned. Don't eat breakfast while you blog.

Freshen Up

{Country Living UK}

A beautiful painting, some fresh flowers and treasured collections.  These are some ingredients that make a home cozy and inviting.  Do you tend to stick with the same old arrangements?  You don't need to buy new things, just pull some lovely pieces out of the cupboards and move items to different rooms.  It will feel new and fresh.  On this beautiful chest they've even got a bud vase with no bud and a candlestick with no candle.  There is a blend of silver and gold and different levels to make it interesting.