Morning garden

My sister came over and helped with the initial weed and dried flower stem removal in my flower garden.  I need to pick up about 12 bags of mulch to dress things up a bit but we did make a dent in the work.  I took a couple of pictures the other morning as I walked through the backyard to my car.

The columbine look beautiful and because I shake the dried seed pods all over the garden I have plants that have popped up here and there.

For the life of me I cannot remember the name of this plant.  The flowers are tubular and the leaves have sort of a "fuzzy" feel to them.. I only have one but it is spreading and the color is wonderful.

This yellow flower sprouts up from deep green leaf ground cover.  The only downside to the plant is that unless you rein it in, the stuff spreads everywhere.  It was a gift to my garden the very first year I planted anything.  See?  Another columbine in the midst!  I love this corner. The flowering shrub in the corner is a weigela and I have no idea which variety.  My sister has one in her yard and I love the way it looked so I needed one for mine!

I am thankful that I didn't have any damage from the frost we had two mornings early this week.  I think it is now safe to go out and pick out my annuals and maybe even pick up a tomato plant.  I LOVE this time of the year!!

Picked this up on the way home from work

2010

90

POINTS

WINE SPECTATOR

BLEND

97% Cabernet Sauvignon

2% Merlot

1% Cabernet Franc

TOTAL ACIDITY

0.56 g/100 ml

PH

3.77

ALCOHOL

14.5%

BARREL AGING

40% new and 60% older French oak for 18 months

Absolutely delicious and on sale at the Pennsylvania Wine and Spirits Store.  (This ends my public service message for today!)

Weeds

Last year

 This year

Clearly I have much work to do.   Time to call in some favors and enlist a little help!

Verdict is in

Delicious!!

Light "crust", custard like filling and full of coconut yumminess!

Fast dessert

Making this for dessert tonight -



from Simply Savvy Recipes.  It was easy, easy to make (all in the blender) and since it makes its own crust it is pretty much a one step recipe.  Still baking so the jury is out.  Back later with a taste update!

Feeling a little crafty

I bought this little frame a couple of weeks ago.

I liked the details on the frame but I wasn't really crazy about the colors.  I decided that I would like it best in a muted white color so I painted it with my (faux) chalk paint.  After it was dry I mixed up a glaze using acrylic craft paint and a glaze medium.

It turned out exactly as I had hoped it would.  I love the detail that is highlighted by the glaze.  Now to find the perfect picture to use in the frame!!

Linking to Shabby Art Boutique

Shabbilicious Friday Link Party
Linking to Sew Many Ways
Sew Darn Crafty Party

My first ASCP experience

About two years ago, I came home with this piece of furniture.

I picked it up at a used furniture store in Ephrata, Pennsylvania.  (Sadly I just found out that "Garden Spot Furniture" is going out of business!)  The price was crazy inexpensive and I am guessing mostly because no one likes pickled fruitwood finished furniture.  It is very solid and made by Thomasville probably sometime in the 60s.

While my granddaughter was here for the summer, I purchased my first can of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White.  Em and I had a paint party.



The first coat totally freaked me out because the coverage was so poor but I followed the "rules", sanded and put on the second coat.  Thankfully, Emily enjoys doing projects with me and she was a huge help both painting and sanding.

I replaced the hardware with bargain pieces ($1.00 a piece!) from Heebie's.  We applied one coat of Minwax and followed with the ASCP dark wax and another coat of Minwax.  After distressing and buffing, here is the result.



Not bad for two days of effort!

Linking to

http://missmustardseed.com/2013/01/furniture-feature-friday-best-of-2012/