Things are springing up!

[caption id="attachment_43" align="alignnone" width="480" caption="This is one of my little chickens, Gloria. We have 3 bantams and they lay a little brown egg or two a day. We are hoping to get a few more. My father-in-law has a bantam that is the cutest and is nesting right now. So, every day I keep thinking I will get a phone call that freckles has had baby chicks!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_39" align="alignnone" width="480" caption="A new anna apple to replace the one that decided it was too hot for words last august. I plan to shade this one for a while to get it through this first summer."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_40" align="alignnone" width="480" caption="After a whole year of waiting, we finally get to enjoy some asparagus!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_36" align="alignnone" width="480" caption="A little cabbage & hebs, anyone?"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_37" align="alignnone" width="480" caption="Onions, lettuce, & spinach."][/caption]

Back in the Garden Again

So, this weekend I finally had some energy and desire to go out and work in the garden. Guess what I found? Some of my broccoli had gone to seed and was covered in bees (which is a good thing) and there were the first little shoots of asparagus coming up. All that work of putting in that bed of asparagus last year is finally going to pay off. I was so excited. I also had lettuce, a cabbage, and some spinach ready to pick. It took me all afternoon, but I did make a big dent in getting the rest of the beds ready for planting and even managed to plant 26 tomato plants and some zucchini seeds as well as cukes (armenian and pickling). I hope to make lots of my sister's MIL's pickles this year. Last year I made them and I only have 2 jars left. It's a good thing I hid them from Alyssa because she would be sure to eat them if she knew. Tomorrow I am going to haul off all the bags and fold up the shades that I had just piled to the side, making a big mess. The chickens are doing great, laying 1-2 eggs a day, which is wonderful. I am on the hunt for a couple more bantams, though. Rylan and I went all over looking for some yesterday, but all we could find were leghorns. Bummer.

Valentine's Day Stuff

This cute banner was done with paper from Basic Grey and My Mind's Eye. Various shapes were cut using the Quickutz Silhouette Digital Craft Cutter. And of course, embellishments. Striped ribbon is from Stampin' Up.

I made this valentine book last year with a friend. We had a great time embellishing, painting and choosing "stuff".

These are another version of 4"x4" blocks using pictures, paper, "stuff", and a little decoupage technique.

Scripture Tote Charm

This glass pendant was made at girls camp last year. We had all the girls customize their own, with their own color of paper and stamps, etc. Then we soldered them together and they added a silver star, ribbon, and a clasp.

Nativity Block

We made this block to give to the girls in YW. It is a 4x4 square block, painted and then decoupodged with pictures of the nativity. We added various odds & ends. The top has the theme for the year on it.