Your Mother Should Know ...

For Damien!

I have a couple layouts I've been meaning to share.  My grandson gave me some Jolee's embellishments for Christmas, and I used them to create this layout! These berries are in our front yard -- not that the berry bushes are decorative but that spot is the best spot in the yard for the berries!  Damien likes blueberries, and this seemed like the perfect layout for his stickers!  Hope you like it, little dude!

By the way, I'm looking for some fabulous recipes using blueberries.  :)  The only thing I've ever made is blueberry muffins.  While good, the muffin recipe is not enough to use the full harvest from blueberry bushes!  Today I had a cinnamon blueberry scone from Cheesecake Factory that was very good, and I'd love to try that in my own kitchen.  Feel free to share your favorite recipes.

This second layout uses a picture I promised would turn up in a layout. How could I not use it?  Look at the pride of a young man with his snowman?  And then to learn the snowman has a short nose because the builder kept biting off the end of the carrot?  Too precious!

 

Did you notice the weekend is almost over?

Are the weekends getting shorter?  Two wake ups (both to an alarm, mind you) and it's gone.  My goodness but two wake ups was a very long time as a kid.  And did I get everything done?  No I did not.  But I made it to the gym twice, church, errands, a little time with DH, a movie, and some scrapbooking.  It was a good weekend, but it's gone.  :(  Maybe I just have spring fever!

We have blooms in the gardens -- the flowering plum is blooming, the peonies are a foot tall, and other lovely things are breaking ground as well.  Here's a shot of the tulips coming up!  Yep, spring is definitely coming.

It Finally Bloomed!!

We bought a hibiscus later in the season in 2006.  We knew we wouldn't get any blooms until 2007, but we thought we'd see something!  All we saw was a stick in the ground.  Nor did it bloom in 2007 or 2008.  Much of that may have been our fault -- too much sun, not enough water, we moved it, we planted with our left hands instead of our right during the dark side of the moon.  Who knows!  And now we don't care because it finally bloomed this weekend!  And it is spectacular!  And it's a hot pink; who knew?  Check it out.

Stepping Stones

So my DD's MIL was enjoying a tour of West Seattle gardens when she found some stepping stones that she liked.  She investigated and learned there was a lovely woman who taught stepping stone classes, and that led to a girls night out!  We left the men to their own entertainment choices and headed off to class.  This scheduled event was somewhat interrupted and definitely overshadowed by the official adoption ceremony earlier in the day, but that's another story for another time!

Here's what I made with some help from my friends!  It's in my garden; but I haven't picked a permanent home for it yet.  I think I'd like to make a couple more. 

 

My impressions of the process:  it's not hard but you have to work quickly before the mortar sets up.  I think it would be fun to put some "found" objects in it.  Although I didn't actually do it, it appears to require some arm/upper body strength to mix the mortar (thanks, Krista, for mixing my mortar for me).  And it takes almost a week to re-moisturize your hands after making one of these!

If you're in the Seattle area and would like to try something like this yourself, email annette.iverson at hotmail dot com

A wee bit to share

Yep, I know; it's been awhile.  A.G.A.I.N.  What can I say?  I have long lists of things to accomplish.  Today that includes breathing!  I have a horrid eyes-ears-throat-face sinus headache.  These trees are lovely, as are all the other blossoms and signs of spring, but they play havoc with my sinuses.  Spring is my favorite season; it's so full of color, joy, hope and rebirth!  I'm trying to celebrate it, but today it just hurts!  LOL 

 

It's really coming, it is, it is, it is!

I'm talking about summer!  Hasn't it seemed like we've waited forever?  And this week has been cold again. But my garden is finally showing signs of summer.  Remember this photo?

 

It was taken on Mother's Day almost three weeks ago.  The three bushes with tomato cages around them are peonies; the plant without the cage is calla lillies.

Here's what the plants looked like two weeks later

The calla lillies are beginning to bloom, one the peony plants is beginning to bloom, and the other two are full of buds.  Woohoo!  I can't wait to bring some of the blooms in the house. 

I'll try to get more pictures tomorrow.  I'm sure there's blooms out there somewhere!