My Treasures...

A couple of weeks ago, Steve and I went to a community yard sale and I was happy to find a couple of treasures. You know the old saying, 'One man's junk is another man's treasure'... well it applies to women as well!!!

I love the crock bowl and the metal stand! I think I paid a total of $2.50 for all of it, which was a bargain in my book, but it gets even better! Steve found $6.00 in the middle of the street, so we actually came home richer than we were when we left!! Doesn't get any better than that!!

Lemonade Cake Recipe...

Last night, I made a Lemonade Cake for dessert for FDN and have gotten some requests for the recipe. I am always happy to share recipes, so here you go:

Quick Lemonade Cake

1 (18 ounce)box lemon cake mix
1 (4-ounce) box lemon instant pudding mix
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350.

Lightly grease and flour (I used spray) large Bundt pan. Make cake mix according to package directions, adding pudding mix and lemon juice. Pour into prepared pan. Bake as directed on package. Let cool 15 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edges to release from pan. Invert cake onto serving plate.

Lemon Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

In a small bowl, whisk glaze ingredients until smooth. Drizzle over warm cake.

Enjoy!

The Signs of Spring...

It's easy to see that Spring has sprung in my backyard...

My hubby is busy preparing to plant the vegetable garden...

The Calla Lilies are glorious...

The Azaleas are amazing...

The apple tree is in full bloom...

And bees are pollinating...

Oh yeah, there is one more surefire way to tell that Spring is in the air...all the sneezing I do every time I walk out of the back door!! Happy Spring everyone... where's the kleenex?

Old, but New to Me...

Recently I blogged about my new~or old~ kitchen table and chairs. It is a 50's retro set that I absolutely adore. My kitchen has been retro for years, but the new dining set brought to my attention that the rest of the dining area just didn't match the retro theme. Isn't it always the way of things? You get one new treasure or paint something and it brings to attention all the other things that need doin'? I don't have any "before" pictures because I always seem to forget to take them, but I can at least post pictures of some of my old treasures as well as my new finds:

The cool cannisters, breadbox, and wonderful old clock were my grandma's and I feel so blessed to have them. Not only do they remind me of her and what a fabulous cook she was, but they suit me and my style perfectly. I have had them in my kitchen for years now.

This light fixture was a bronze color, but it didn't go well with the new table and chairs so we painted it white and now I love the way it looks. I found this great old chalkboard and thought it would be so fun to post our family dinner night (FDN) menus. I don't know why the camera can't seem to pick up the writing, but right now it says: "FDN Menu: 4/13 No FDN, Kitchen will be closed!" That's because I won't be cooking FDN this week because I am going to a Chris Tomlin concert on Wed.

The sweet little metal cart in the corner was a great find, but it was a tan color and in need of a new coat of paint, so we painted it white and it turned out so nice! The yellow step stool/chair in the other corner was another great find and in wonderful condition. The color was perfect!

This beautiful vintage apron was a sweet gift sent by a friend in Idaho that thought it would look great with my new look; I think she was right and I love it!

I am very pleased with the way the dining room is shaping up. I am still on the lookout for a great vintage tablecloth, but as of yet, no luck there. I will keep looking though and who knows what great other things I will find! I enjoy the hunt almost as much as the treasures!

Made with Love and Tears...

Much to my mom's dismay, I am not much of a seamstress. My mom can take a few scraps of fabric and create the most amazing things. I feel I am a bit of a disappointment to her in the sewing department because not only am I not very good at it, I also have the audacity to not enjoy it!! So when I recently decided I wanted to tackle a sewing project, I was the first to be surprised!

I am expecting a new great-niece in May, so why not make her a baby quilt I thought?!? I found the easiest quilt pattern known to man, went shopping for fabric, and actually got very enthusiastic about the project. I had to literally dust off my machine and give it a good overhaul, oiling and adjusting everything. I must admit, I was quite surprised that it still was willing to work for me and work well!

I gathered my supplies and got busy. I measured and cut all the squares. I sewed them all together into rows, then proceeded to sew the rows together to make the quilt top. Wow, I was pretty proud of myself! Heck this is easy I thought; wonder why I dislike sewing so much! Then I gave the top a thorough inspection. Uh-oh, now it's all coming back to me!! I don't like to sew because I am lousy at it!! Where did I go wrong? The first several rows all lined up quite nicely, but then something happened and the squares became very askew! The last two rows looked ridiculous! What to do now? Darn, guess I'll have to show it to Mom and get some help.

When my parents came over for a visit I told my mom I wanted to show her my quilt top, but she had to promise NOT to laugh! She promised. I showed her the quilt top and what was the first thing she did? You guessed it, she burst into fits of laughter!! I said, "Mom, you promised!" She tried to cover by saying she was laughing at ME not at the quilt! Right!! Being a mom myself, I am onto that old trick and I didn't believe her for a nano-second!! After she settled down, we decided that I should just remove the bottom two rows, because the quilt top was actually a little too large for a baby quilt anyway. Fortunately, it was easy to remedy that boo-boo.

Now I had to work up the courage to put the batting in the middle and attach the batting and the back to the quilt top. I eagerly got started and was actually not hating it when suddenly the waterworks began. You see, the great-niece that I am making the quilt for, is also the first grandbaby of my Bff and my Bff isn't here to welcome this new little blessing into the world. All I could think of was how it should be her making the quilt instead of me. I had to fight through the tears and stop to compose myself several times, but I realized that the harder it was to work on the quilt, the more determined I became to finish it. What started as a whim to try my hand at sewing again suddenly became a labor of love, not just for the new blessing for which it is intended, but also for the memory of the grandma she will never know.

I am pleased to say I finished the quilt and although it's not perfect, I am quite happy with it! I can see my Bff's beautiful smiling face and I know she is saying, "Thank you my friend"...

And to that I reply, "Congratulations Grandma"...

Happy Early 30th Anniversary to Me...

For those of you that know me well, you know I love old rather than new, retro rather than contemporary, aged imperfection rather than modern perfection. That's why I have been searching for a vintage dinette set to go with my retro 50's kitchen. I have been looking for years for something in my price range that is original and in decent condition (not perfect condition, but decent). Well, today, my favorite fella brought home an early 30th anniversary present for me. Our actual anniversary is not until June, but I will be beaming from ear to ear about this find for many anniversaries to come.

Thank you, Honey! It's absolutely perfect for me...just like you.

FDN (Family Dinner Night)

One of the things I really missed when I became an empty nester last year was cooking for my family. After some thought, I came up with the idea of a weekly family dinner night at my house so I could fulfill my passion for cooking, my love for finding new recipes, and my mother's heart to nurture my kiddos. Steve was totally on board with the idea, so I quicky zipped off emails to all the kiddos with a hopeful heart that they would be receptive.

Well, Holly immediately replied with a big thumbs up for her and Kyle and Amy's positive response for her and Sam followed shortly therafter. Alas, FDN was born and we would be meeting on Wednesday evenings.

I have to say, Wednesday has become my favorite day of the week. All week long I eagerly anticipate the moment they all descend upon my house, including my granddoggy, Scout. Yes, I love everything about FDN. I will admit that the biggest challenge is coming up with food everyone enjoys. I have two very picky eaters, but I won't rat them out (Steve and Amy, you know who you are)!!

What has been a really great surprise is that we always end up playing some sort of game after dinner. My house is filled with noisy, silly, banter and my favorite sound in the world...laughter.

The funny thing is that the kids think they are the ones being blessed because they get dinner, dessert, and usually go home with leftovers too; however, I know differently...the blessings are truly mine...

Valentine's FDN