The strawberries are coming in! David bought these strawberry plants a few weeks ago at Ace. We got to try our first berries today... Yum... Can you tell I am struggling for topics? Hopefully I will have something better tomorrow : )
This week marks the beginning of our CSA pickups for the summer. See my post here to learn more about CSA programs and local agriculture. Tomorrow, I will pick up our free-range chicken and pork along with a special order of duck (I have never had or cooked duck before, but when Avalon Acres sent the extra order form, I had to try it out). David has been making fun of the duck eating idea and talking about how sweet duckies are and quacking occasionally... so once we pick up the meat, I'm not sure I'll be able to eat it. On Saturday, our Madison Creek CSA starts and we should be getting organic fresh greens and yummy strawberries. So... I wanted to show a Veggiebella card in honor of spring. This card is on Kraft cardstock with a background Purely Pomegranate "cuttlebugged" cardtock. Bella is stamped on watercolor paper and watercolored with an aquapainter in SU inks. The ribbon is Old Olive 5/8" grosgrain. Doesn't she look ready for some good eating; I wish I had her green thumb! Thanks for visiting.
Last weekend my cutie pie neice and nephews (Maddy, Noah and Jack: you can visit their mommy's blog here: Smalling World) came to visit and we had a slumber party on the living room floor. I laid out lots of cozy blankets and sleeping bags. Well, afterwards, Libby (my sweet Boston Terrier 14-year-old baby) had found a new cozy place to sleep during the day. I just didn't have the heart to put the blankets away since she liked them so much. Today I gave her a bath and put the blankets that had been on the floor in the dirty laundry pile. She wandered around the house for about 30 min looking for the blankets so i had to make her a new clean nest to snuggle up in. She just looked so cozy, I had to take a picture.
I'm hiring. I'm not sure if maid is the right word, but I need someone to follow me around 24/7 and try to contain the whirlwind of junk that i leave in my path. I have never been the "clean as you go" type; I'm more of the "I'll do that when I'm done with . . ." type. Now, I'm left with the spoils of my catering job from today and am blogging to put off even going into the kitchen which is screaming for some attention. (It's really loud in there.) Now that I think about it, Papa follows Granny around while she cooks. Isn't that what husbands are for... I think David missed that memo. That's probably why they have been married 60+ years. 
To further delay the kitchen cleaning: My catering job today was for a bridesmaid luncheon. I didn't take any pictures, but I wanted to share the menu anyways because it was pretty good and i plan on using it again next Sunday for Mother's Day.
Curried Smoked Chicken and Wild Rice Salad from Gourmet
Mixed Vegetables Vinegarette from Gourmet
Homemade Dinner Rolls: I used a new recipe for these today. They were okay. I will probably use something else or an old standby next time.
Mixed Berry Tart: I make this a lot for showers and luncheons. I use a standard Tart Pastry Dough (I use the one from this book, it tastes like a sugar cookie.) and fill with Vanilla Pastry Cream and top with berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, whatever is in season and looks good). I usually glaze with a simple syrup and top with fresh whipped cream. It is a very pretty dessert and not too heavy for summer.
Okay... i guess i'm finally out of things to say today... i guess i'll just drag myself to the kitchen... don't you feel sorry for me : (
These are the baby announcements I did for Lincoln. Is that not the sweetest picture? A professional photographer took it in the hospital. (He gave permission for us to make copies for the birth announcement.) It's one of the best "hospital" baby pictures I have ever seen. There are a few things I learned from this project that I wanted to share with you:
1. Vintage buttons look really cute on cards.
2. They look way better sewn on rather than glued.
3. If you sew 100+ buttons onto birth announcements, your hand will be temporarily deformed in a position very similar to a crab's claw.
4. You will never be able to finish a project like this without the help of a considerate friend, preferably your mother.
I would like to say that i would never consider sewing buttons onto a card for a large project like this again, but I know that when it comes down to it "cute" always comes before pain. I think it was worth it...
Okay, I know I have been a lousy blogger lately (sorry, Melanie)... I really haven't been very consistent at all since I started this in November. Just a couple of posts here and there. Well, I have found new motivation (source: unknown). So, for the month of May, I have a goal: a post a day. (Source: another blog that I now cannot find to reference, sorry.) Now this is just for May and who knows if I'll be able to accomplish it. But I will give it a try anyways. Hopefully it will give me a jump start at least to be more consistent. Come back often to make sure I stay on track! Stay tuned for my first embroidery project that I plan to post a pic of later on today.
