Spring Has Sprung

 I did a little Spring tweaking recently.

 HE IS RISEN!  I'm looking forward to Easter celebrations.

 Little bunny foo foo.

 I thought George and Ben belonged by the historical novels and biographies.

 I can't get away from this mix of aqua and red.

Part, a small part, of my flower frog collection. That's enough for now.

Check out other Easter/Spring ideas at Common Ground.

Am I Too Late?

Several months ago a good friend of mine (hi Nancy) dug up her daffodils before redoing the landscaping in her back yard. She gave me all the bulbs. I have never put them out. Very bad me. I did try, but had to wait on our landscapers to finish some work, then I never got back out there. I also figured they would be great food for the gopher's mentioned in my last post. I could also be just ever so slightly lazy.  

 I decided today to put some in a fun skillet I bought at a thrift store.

 I love the curly handles. Poor things were trying their best to flower.

 They look so sad and yellow.

A few pebbles, some water and sun and they should be growing like crazy soon.  

Who says you only force bulbs in the winter?

Green

My sweet daughter made me breakfast today.  It was yummy.

* Found a version of this smoothie on-line.  It's Cindy's Midday Smoothie from the Vitamix Cookbook.  The only difference I can see is that we used two oranges.  There was no bitterness as this blog suggests.   It was delicious.  Check out the recipe.

Let the Planting Begin

The layout has begun. There are more plants to come. We realized kind of late in the game that we needed to do some sort of preventative measure to protect the young plants from our gopher problem.  

 Each plant will be wrapped with wire mesh to protect the roots. I'd rather pay a little more to protect them now than replace them in a month. Hopefully this will do the trick. 

 Tagetes Lemoni (Mexican Marigold)

Margarita Bop Penstemon 

 Armeria Maritima (Sea Pinks) and Echeveria "Fire & Ice" or "Afterglow" Hen N Chicks

 Cercis Occidentalis (Western Redbud)

I'll keep you posted!

New Discoveries

One of the good things about Pinterest and there are many, is that it leads you and me to new discoveries.  Maybe it's a new recipe, or craft.  Maybe it's a decorating idea or artistic inspiration.  I've been busy lately, but of course, there's a moment here or there to "Pin".  Here are a few new things I've found recently.

This pin,

Source: thinknice.com via Karen on Pinterest

Led me to this lovely blog, Home Grown Hospitality.  I love her art and how she incorporates her faith into it. I love how her lettering looks effortless but still so creative!

Here's another unique and original creation.

Source: paperstitch.net via Karen on Pinterest

Seriously?  I think one of God's best gifts to the human race, is a tiny portion of His creativity.  This is so fabulous!  You can find Jessica, at Paper Stitch.

Source: myrecipes.com via Karen on Pinterest

And, last, but not least, a gorgeous dessert recipe!  It is already strawberry season around here. Those lovely strawberry stands have popped up all over town. I whipped my little car up to one and came home with half a flat of HUGE, RED, JUICY STRAWBERRIES. I made my first batch of Strawberry Shortcake for my parent's visit. I think I'm going to have to try this amazing looking version with dark chocolate. Maybe real, real soon. Or is it, really, really soon? You too can make it and tell me what you think. The recipe is here. What have you discovered lately?

Lot of Irons

I really haven't been blogging much lately and I'm not really sure why. There just doesn't seem much of anything interesting to say.  I also think Pinterest has sucked away some of my blogging time.  I could use Pinterest pictures and I have.  It just doesn't seem right to do that all the time.  I do have a lot of "irons in the fire" at the moment.  They're all enjoyable. Here's a little of what is going on.

I'm SO excited that plants are going in this week! We had some delays and the driveway has been repaired.  So, we're on to the next phase.  YAY! Then we're going to stop for awhile. 

I've been playing with these workshops recently too.  I just started 2.0 last night.

Also I'm getting started on a big ladies retreat in April.  Here's a little peak at one of the goodies.

Finally, these two are coming for a visit this week! Can't wait! I better start cleaning the guest room!

Through the Years

I think the posting theme for this week here on Elderberry Street is silhouettes. Years and years and YEARS ago when my girls were little I had a silhouette made of them at Disneyland. I never hung it up and lost track of it through the years and moves. In this last move I found it and put it aside where I could look at it. The picture below is most likely the day the silhouette was made. They were 2 and 5years old, I believe. I'm not sure why DD1's pant legs are soaked. Must have been a wet ride. I have always loved this picture.

After Christmas 2011, when my oldest daughter and her husband came for a visit, we went back to Disneyland, which we often do. This time we decided to get silhouettes made again.  I've framed the two pictures together and found a place for them on the family portrait wall. The artist signed and dated the most recent one. She may very well have been there in 1990. She's worked there 30+ years she said.

This photo above is how they fit into that same doorway now, well in 2009. 

These are my kids at Christmas when we had the newest silhouette made. It's never too late to bring old memories to life again.

Promise Kept

I promised to show you one of my fun purchases at The Vintage Marketplace last Friday. 

There was a dealer selling 8 separate silhouettes for $40. I thought that was a great deal. Now I have a ready made collection. We've decided to call them The Relatives. This sweet group above may have been a set with Dad, Mom and little girl. The little girl's frame was falling apart. It is actually documented that the girl's name is Mary Lou Fulton - aged 2 yrs. Signed and dated, G. Luse - 1931. Isn't she sweet?

This grouping is George and Martha Washington with Ben Franklin.

Here's a fancy man in his top hat and cane. Maybe the top photo is the same man in a different pose. 

They needed a little clean up and repair work. I cut out a new piece of brown paper from a paper sack.

Glued the edges.

Allowed it to dry.

Sprayed the back with water. It will get all lumpy. That's okay.

It will dry tight as a drum! Mine may dry even more, I tried to speed the process with a blow dryer.  Now, I just need to find the perfect spot for The Relatives.