Totally Stolen from Marie

Dessert tonight is Marie's recipe.  It sounded too good to pass by.  

I think it's one of those "recipes" that you can adapt to your taste and situation.  Try it.  You'll like it!

Wednesday Workday

As warm as it's been since early April, I could have - perhaps should have - started on my containers a lot sooner.  But, there is a piece of me that has kept saying "it's too early - we could still get a night that's too cold."

But Saturday I finally journeyed to the local garden center (not a big blue or orange box altho I know they get a lot of their plants from the big national growers) and loaded up on annuals and bedding plants for the pots.

While I don't have a real potting bench, I have created a good potting space behind the garden shed where the two big storage bins are just the right height, and all I have to bring in is the water.

I finally realized that if you get all the pieces parts assembled and ready to go, putting together the actual groupings is pretty easy.  This year, I added a large new pot.  In its last life it was the keeper for a hose, but it just never really worked very well, so I drilled some extra holes in the bottom and added about a zillion cubic feet of potting mix and voila!

Sunday really was the first day that I've spent the entire day in the garden - cutting, weeding, digging, watering, the whole nine yards.  It felt great!

 

Happy Mother's Day!

To all the mothers...

and, all the grandmothers and aunts, 

and, especially to all the mothers-to-be.

 And, special good wishes to my sister-in-law, who added three wonderful children to our family and whose lovely daughter graduated from college yesterday!  Hotty totty!

Brocante, Virginia Style

You've seen the neat pictures of French brocantes with all the lovely linens, old silver, interesting yard ornaments, and all sorts of things that you just need to have ... right?

 

Well, here in Central Virginia we have a little less style.  After weeks of dragging Mitchell into the attic, and into the storage area under the house, and into his shed, yesterday we had our first yard sale in about 20 yea

 The thing that we have learned is that in yard sales, as in real estate, it's location, location, location.  Our last two yard sales took place when we lived on much busier streets with nearby apartment buildings. Here in the suburbs we had much less traffic.   But still ... gone are all the small appliances and electronics; gone the Christmas ornaments and decorations;  gone the kitchen ware; gone the lawnmower I no longer use.

We sold about one third, donated another third to Goodwill and sent the rest to a flea market with our neighbor who is skill in such things. 

Money was not the object.  What we have now is a clean attic and lots of clear space under the house.  The shed is still pretty much too filled, but that is a battle for another day.