Latest (non)Happenings

Here is a non-happening if I ever saw one:

 Every mid-morning Kiska lays behind the couch because she knows the sunny patch will be there.

 She lays there until the sunny patch moves past her, but if she loves the sunny patch so much, I don't know why she doesn't move along the carpet with it. I suppose she's probably too lazy, or she's in a deep doze and doesn't realize the patch has moved on.

 Here is another non-happening:

Sometimes when I go to the commissary I like to pick "novelty items" like this coconut, just to try something new.  I have never bought one before, and I don't know how to open it.  This coconut and I have had a "stare-down" for the past couple weeks now, as I figure out what I'm supposed to do with it.  I know it's not going to open itself, so I did a little research and got some idea on how to end this game.  I will deal with him later. (heh, heh, heh)

But this is something that I happened to finish today:

It's a little early, but that's a switch for me, since I tend to run late on getting these kinds of things done and sent out.  I finished my mom's package.  Made some little envelopes for some Ghirardelli chocolates.  I forgot how to spell it, but you know what I mean.  And I wanted to share some really good Tazo mint tea with her, which are not in individually wrapped packages, and I didn't want them to dry out or lose any of their potency, so I slipped them in little plastic gift bags and wrapped some ribbon around it, and also added a tag that I made.  She likes mint, so I know she will like that tea.  It's really good!  (my hubby bought a tin of it for me at Starbucks and I am trying not to use it all up too fast)

I don't know if you can tell in this picture, but the yellow things are little tiny shopping bags.  I found a "Memory Box" die for them at the Stamp Cache in Palmer.  I thought they were so cute so I added them onto this wrapped candy bar to dress it up.  They are just big enough to put a wrapped lifesaver in.  (I wonder if my  mom will think to look inside them)

And this is a picture of a pillow box that I made.  It has chocolate covered pomegranates in it.  I know I shouldn't send my mom so much chocolate, but the holidays are really the only time she eats candy, and I know she won't eat it all in one sitting.  Besides, I only bought her "sophisticated" chocolates, which isn't quite as bad, right?

Since I'm on here, wanna see how big my pumpkin plants are getting?

As you can see, they are "happening", but I'm getting concerned about the bottom leaves turning yellow.  I read that it could be a number of things, I'm mostly suspicious that they are deficient in nitrogen.  But I don't know.  Maybe they are getting too big for the pots.  I might have to transplant them soon.  But, since they are probably the most finicky plants on the planet, I don't expect them to live anyway.  I read that pumpkin plants are "teasers".  They grow really good at first, giving you a lot of hope, and then they die.  I read on someone's blog that even in North Carolina they are extremely tricky to grow.  So it's nice to know that the problem isn't just me.  I find it very unfortunate that the vegetable that I want the most, is the one that is next to impossible to grow.   Why is that???

But, spring is definitely here now and I am glad for that.  The temps have been in the high 50s, forecast is calling for low 60s this weekend!  Me and hubby have taken up bicycle riding, which is fun, and it feels good to get some exercise again.  I'm sure we will be looking for some good bike trails to ride on soon.

So....until the next thing happens...............have fun, enjoy your spring weather, and take care!

Spring Happenings

I don't have anything big or exciting to share, since nothing's been happening, but I really hate when too much time goes by between posts.  So this is going to be a post about little things that I have been busying myself with.  Warning:  you might get bored.

One of my hobbies that goes under the heading of Scrapbooking, is making treat boxes.  I run into a few minor problems with this.  I don't know too many people (in my generation) who appreciate getting candy anymore, so I always do this with hesitation.  But I have so much fun making the boxes, and giving them away is part of the fun.  I am still trying to find other ideas to put inside the boxes besides candy, but candy is so festive and fun to play with, so that is what I end up putting in them. I can't resist buying the seasonal candy when the store shelves are so full of them. I figure, whoever doesn't like the candy can do what they want with it.  For me, it's all about making the boxes and giving them away.

This year my Easter boxes didn't turn out exactly like I wanted them to.  But here goes:

I start off with making these bunny things with Spree candy in them.

 Then I made these pouches with sour patch bunny candies.

Then I made these boxes from the Stampin' Up! Candy Wrapper die.

 The ones on the left were made from the Stampin' Up! Matchbox die (I'm not overly proud of those - my creativity mode was apparently shut off that day)  The ones on the right were made from the Stampin' Up! Mini Milk Carton die.  

Then I knew I was running out of time to make any more boxes, so reverted my attention to food.  Like these cupcakes that I saw in a magazine.  They looked so cute, I had to try making them myself.

They were really easy to make.  The sourness of the sour punch straw handle clashes with the sweetness of the cupcake, so if I were you, I would eat that first by itself before digging your teeth into the cupcake.  My kids won't eat coconut so guess who will be eating all of these?  Luckily for them, I made only 12 cupcakes and used the rest of the cake batter to make a regular small 8x8 cake, with nothing but chocolate frosting on it.  Plain jane - just how they like it.

Here is a picture of our house rat enjoying some Easter sugar:

When you give her a foil wrapped candy, she likes to shred off all the paper with her teeth, and then she walks off and leaves the candy.  She took a couple nibbles of this Dove egg, but I don't think she's much of a chocolate fan.  She mostly just likes ripping off the foil.  She would probably unwrap all of them for us if we let her, but I'm not too keen on eating candy after the fuzzy rat had her teeth on it.  I don't know how Chuck can do it.

With tomorrow being Easter, I think I'm going to leave the Easter mode and move on to the next thing.  Mother's Day.  I started making this card yesterday:

I still have to figure out what I'm gonna do on the inside yet, but I like how the front turned out.  I copied the design from another card that I saw in a magazine and revised it a little bit.  For some reason, every time I make a card for my mom, I think of roses.  I guess it's because her name is Rosemary, and also because she said she likes roses, especially in February, which happens to be her birthday month.  I know February is behind us (yay!) but I still always think about roses when I make anything for my mom.  I didn't send her an Easter box this year, so I think I'll probably make some Mother's Day treat boxes for her, using "upgrade" chocolate candies instead of the cheap stuff.  If they turn out good, I'll post pictures.

I know I didn't want to write about plants in this post, but just for a quick status update, my cucumbers look like they are gonna croak.  I might have to start over with those.  Everything else is looking okay, but I still think I started them way too early.  We still have another 6 weeks before we can transplant anything outside.  My pumpkins are doing amazing though!  What a shame that they will die when I put them outside.  Yeah, that's me the pessimist.  

So that's about all that's going on in my world. I will wait for something else to happen so I'll have something to post about. I hope you all have a very nice Easter!

Another Boring Plant Post (sorry...)

Too much time was passing since my last post so I wanted to sit down and write something, ANYTHING, while I inhale the aroma of my dinner rolls baking in the oven.  Mmmmm........

I really didn't want to have three posts in a row about my plants, cuz, after all, they don't do anything exciting like do a dance or anything like that, but it is very exciting (to ME) that they keep getting bigger and taller.  So far they are looking really good.

Here are my pumpkins:

I love the bright green color - reminds me of summer!  According to the instructions, when the plants get to be 2" tall, I'm supposed to clip off all but the healthiest two stalks.  These are well over 2", but they look so good, I just can't bring myself to kill one of them.  Especially, since I'm having a hard time deciding which one to execute.  The plant on the left only has two stalks so I don't have to touch that one, but the one on the right has three.   I will have to get my hubby to choose the one that "deserves to die".   Awww.........why does this have to be so painful?

Anyhoo, let's move along through this tour of my botanical garden in front of my kitchen window.  Here is my row of cucumbers:

So far so good.  These were getting too tall for the Jiffy box and some of the leaves were even starting to get "burnt" from getting too hot in there, so I moved them into little Jiffy pots.  So far there's no sign of death or dying (whew!), but these are the ones I'm worried about moving outside when it's time.  I noticed when I was replanting them, that they actually smelled like cucumbers already.  :-)  It'll be a big shame if these things don't make it, but I know I'm taking a big chance, not having a greenhouse, so I have to just enjoy watching them grow as much as they are willing.

Wanna see my cabbage?  

Not too bad.  The one on the far end is one of my lettuces.  These were all getting too big for the Jiffy box, so I moved them into little Jiffy pots that I can supposedly plant right into the ground without disturbing the roots. I just hope they are big enough to sustain them for another two months.  I'm quite sure that, in my excitement, I planted the seeds too early.  Live and learn, I always say......

These are some beets and dill plants that are still waiting to be put into little Jiffy pots.  I ran out of them, so I need to go buy some more.  Some of these are already starting to look a little bit "wilty", so I am keeping the cover off of them.

Here is the lumber for my future raised garden beds.  My hubby picked it up today.  Woo-HOO!

I don't know when he's gonna get to work on that project, but it's probably wise to wait until mid-May cuz I doubt that we are out of the snow season just yet.  Seems like the Spring months of March and April and even May can drag on forever.  So hard to be patient...................

I guess I'll eat a fresh hot dinner roll (or two) smothered with butter while I wait.

I will TRY not to bore you with my plants in my next post.  For all of you in the Lower 48 that are already enjoying your outdoor gardening and other outdoor activities........I am SOOOOOOOO jealous!!