Hearts for My Mother

Made this heart from an old map of the bay area and central valley for my parent's front door.

Isn't my mother cute?

The heart stickers are placed where each child, grandchild and great-grandchild lives.

My family is so lucky to live relatively close to each other.  No one has to hop a plane to come visit.

Will be getting the heart boxes down this weekend.

Roses in My Garden

Been busy in the garden lately.

Now is the time for pruning and feeding the roses.

Over the years, I have used different brands of "food" for my roses but have found this to work particularly well.  It is a bit more expensive, but seems to keep the bugs and diseases away which makes for a healthy, big blossom producing plant. Make sure you feed them now even though they are dormant.

I have quite a few rose bushes in my garden...I think I am up to 20 plants now.

With all the rain, weeds have overtaken my garden beds.  Oh...I hate those weeds.

Even though clover is most prolific, it is the easiest to pull out,
especially now that the rains have softened the soil.

There are so many weeds, I fill my compost bin to overflowing every week.

At times, I  take a break from hacking/pulling weeds...I grab a meyer lemon off one of my bushes, pour myself a nice big glass of water and plop some slices in...and gulp....mmm refreshing!

Yes, I have a year round supply of lemons...

  A gardener's work is never done...at least here in California.

Not Too Late for Bulbs

Do you still have a bag or two of bulbs sitting on your garage/basement floor like this?



Did you think you blew it again by not getting those bulbs in the ground and yet again you have to toss them all away?

Not so fast now.    Luckily I live in a place where the climate is mild enough, the dirt is still pliable enough where I can  still plant the bulbs right in the ground. If your garden is frozen and covered with ice and snow you are too late for flowers emerging from your soil in the spring.  But you can still plant those forgotten bulbs in pots.  Let me show you how .

First....

Any bleach will do.

FILL POT HALF WAY WITH SOIL









PLACE A LABEL (INCLUDE THE NAME & DATE), WATER AND WAIT...

IN A COUPLE OF MONTHS YOU WILL BE TREATED WITH A DELIGHTFUL SIGHT.

GIVE IT A TRY...I PROMISE YOU WON'T BE SORRY.

Sporting a New "Do"

Been sporting a new "do" these days.

For the last twenty years or so, I have had my hairdresser, Linda, cut my straight hair at chin length.

Lately, I have been letting my hair grow longer.  And last month I bought a set of heated rollers.  Those rollers sure do make my hair bounce! And those curls stay curly too.  Last Sunday,  I got brave and even donned a hat for church... a very special hat from Saks Fifth Avenue that belonged to my mother-in-law.

What do you think?

Laundry soap

Several months ago I was spinning through Pinterest and came upon this  recipe for homemade laundry soap (there are lots of variations of do it yourself laundry soap, but I liked this one the best).  I was so excited to try it out,  I went down to Walmart that evening right after work to purchase all the ingredients.  I'd say I spent about $30 total.  Mixed everything up in my handy dandy 5 gallon bucket...it really makes a LOT.

And then poured the concoction into the empty Purex Crystal Softener plastic bottle.  

I must say, my clothes and laundry is markedly cleaner.  You really only use 1-2 Tablespoons...that's right...TABLESPOONS! One heaping scoop..that's it.... you are wasting it if you use more.  In addition, I no longer use bleach on my whites...no need to at all. So no more bleach stains on my precious colored clothing.

Got everything in the detergent aisle at Walmart.  Here's the recipe:

1 (4 lb 12 oz) Box of Borax

1 (3 lb 7 oz) Box of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda

1 (3 lb) OxyClean

2 (14.1 oz) Bars of Zote  or Fels Naptha Soap 

1 (4 lb) Box of Arm and Hammer Baking soda 

1-2 (55 oz) Bottle of Purex Crystals Fabric Softener 

I'd be happy to share some of my supply if you'd like to take a test drive..

I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

Yummy Pancakes for Breakfast This Morning

I made pancakes for breakfast this morning.

Such a snap to make since I used some of the homemade pancake mix I have stored in the pantry...
got the idea from here.


Added buttermilk (instead of the water or milk called for in the recipe), threw some fresh blueberries on top while the cakes were cooking....


topped them off with some huckleberry syrup



and whalaa....

some of the best pancakes  I've ever had.

It Is Someone's Birthday

My boy had a birthday today. Where did the time go? They grow up so fast.