Fountains, Friends, Swings and Salads

I wish I could take good pictures of our back yard landscaping.  It's all finished, but there is still scaffolding around the house.  It makes for really ugly pictures.  I can give you some sneak peeks, however.  Here is a picture of our new fountain in the back.  It's made from a culvert.  I saw a larger one in a neighboring town and LOVED it.  I took a photo and showed it to our landscaper.  He made it happen.  The birds have discovered it already. The Palo Verde trees are beautiful already, but they will get big and lush with yellow blossoms. I love how the blossoms float on the water in the fountain. Their trunks are green which will set off the Red Bud trees when they bloom and the purple cactus. There are also grasses which will blow gracefully on our breezy days. 

            

I also wanted a simple swing from the patio.  It's perfect for sitting on and watching the view.  Our friends joined us for Easter dinner and tried it out.  It's perfect for two.

Our Easter dinner was very simple.  

Ham

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Sesame, Almond and Asparagus Salad

Jello Salad

Rolls

Carrot Cake

This salad was fast, easy and delicious.  You can find the recipe at Love and Lemons.  Did you make a new recipe for Easter?  Please share if you did! 

Something Old

My friends and I went to a new-to-us flea market a couple weeks ago. We came a little late to the Long Beach Flea Market which was HUGE. There were still plenty of goodies to be found. I would've loved to come home with this truck. It's hydraulics still worked, but, it was $150. I just couldn't justify that.   

 There was a lot of good as new Pyrex. My DD1 would've loved these. 

 "Happy Trails To You"

I came home with this chair for $40. It needs to be reupholstered, but is sturdy. She's got pretty legs.

Last Friday we attended the March, Matilda's Mouse sale. 

 It was all dolled up for Easter.  They even had baby chicks and bunnies.

As you can tell, there were lots of tempting pretties.  I came home with only 5!  I'll show you soon.  We're planning something completely different for next Monday.  Should be very photo worthy!

Easter Promise

lily, originally uploaded by timerding.

He died so we could live!

Adorable Easter Treats

I'm sure everyone has seen some really cute Easter decorations and treats all over blogland lately. I thought I'd share a couple that I've seen. One, I'm definitely going to try.  

These are very cute paper mache treat eggs made by Megan at Not Martha. They look really easy and she gives great instructions. This photo just made me laugh out loud!  

These awesome peeps are swimming in chocolate. I've already purchased four boxes and will attempt this on Friday. Looks like my kind of Easter treat! These were made by Leigh Ann from Your Home Based Mom. Complete instructions found here.

This is just a simple, and beautiful centerpiece found on MSL. Now to just find the natural multi-colored eggs. Lastly, I wanted to give you one more smile for today. Erin is an incredible artist, gardener and photographer from Tennessee. Her blog is SO BEAUTIFUL! How can you not love this little guy?

See you soon!

He is Risen Indeed!

I hope you had a lovely Easter Day. Maybe you wore your new Easter bonnet to church, or got up early for a Sunrise service.  Maybe the little ones at your house were very excited to collect Easter eggs or you enjoyed special family moments together. We enjoyed a beautiful service this morning (not sunrise, no thank you), a lovely lunch and our traditional movie, Ben Hur.  It was a peaceful, restful day.  He is Risen Indeed!  

Floral Fridays

Country Living British

I hope you have a beautiful Easter weekend.

  Please celebrate and accept the precious gift that Jesus Christ died to provide for each of us.  

HE IS RISEN INDEED! 

Speaking of Eggs

Are Deviled Eggs on your Easter menu?  They are usually on mine, even though I don't really like them.  My husband loves them so they're added to the list.  I did some searching for recipes.  I usually just add a little of this and a little of that.  Here are some good possibilities.

Paula Deen's Traditional Southern Deviled Eggs

Alton Brown's 4-Pepper Deviled Eggs found here on FoodNetwork.com.  

Martha just lists these as Deviled Eggs.  There are obviously 3 different kinds on this platter.  I think the recipe might be for the center ones because they have basil added.  Find the recipe here.  
Above are three different recipes from Martha.  Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs, Fresh-Herb Deviled Eggs and Roasted Red Pepper Deviled Eggs are beautiful together.  In my mind you'd have to be having a huge crowd to make all of these recipes.  You can find these recipes here. Does anyone have an amazing recipe they'll share?

Easter Eggs

I'd like my Easter Eggs to turn out like these this year.  I especially like the first photo.  The second looks like they're covered with foil.  I probably don't have enough time to be creative and will probably resort to the regular box of color pellets.  We'll see.  There's no kiddos at home to do it with me anymore.  Maybe DD2 will feel like it when she gets home from college. There are actually instructions of Martha's website for painting the top ones.  It takes a lot of blowing to clean out eggs.  A lot of hot air!

Easter Plans

I thought it might be a good idea to start planning for our Easter celebration.  I think I'll have several posts on this, in no particular order.  I found some fun things today, so I'm starting here.    

We all need to look fabulous as we're cooking.  Here's an adorable apron from Heavenly Hostess.  They also have halter styles and chef's aprons.  If you're in my area, we carry them at The Farmer's Wife.  Wouldn't it look cute with a white blouse and pearls?  A little vintage, maybe?
Then, of course you want a beautiful table.  Here's a new line of dishes from Williams-Sonoma.  Oooo, and we have a WS opening tomorrow close by.  Isn't that good timing?
And of course, Martha never fails to give us beautiful and sometimes simple floral arrangement ideas. I have a few traditions for Easter.  I always make a ham.  My recent favorite recipe includes a bottle of Coke.  I'll give you that recipe later.  I also ALWAYS make a carrot cake. It's the only time of year that I do.  There are also lovely traditions to share with  your children. More to come. . . 

Floral Fridays

Martha Stewart 

How fabulous is this collection of egg cups with Spring flowers and bulbs?  It's just perfect.  I have actually searched for egg cups on ebay today.  I have one.  This is how the fever starts.