Tuesday, May 28, 2013

MY CRAFTING MOJO IS GONE ......

Yip, I'm afraid so !!! It's not that I don't have anything to do either. We have a family birthday coming up (I know what I'm making, and have everything I need to do it), I need a few new summer tops (fabric and patterns all picked out), but I just can't settle down to do anything. Last week was a little tumultuous, and it had me rethinking some things, and putting it all into perspective ..... hopefully that was the reason, and now that I've thought it all through, and made peace with it all, I can get cracking ......... there's a lot to do:-)

So I'll show you some pictures from the little family outing we took yesterday. It was a perfect day for a trip to the zoo. We had a wonderful time, and the weather cooperated too :-) We went to the Dallas Zoo - Wow, how it has changed since our last visit there 6 years ago !!! The improvements they have made are wonderful. Hubby was a little skeptical about going to the Dallas one because it was so dinghy last time, but we're so glad we did.
 This is my most favorite animal picture of the day !!! This Burmese Python was ENORMOUS !!!Truth be told, I have a bit of a soft spot for pythons - I think they're so very majestic.
 Who wouldn't want to take this little guy and just cuddle him !!!
 Girl Child and Me - I really do love this picture :-)
 I love the one below too :-)

 Ellies, probably my all time favorite animal !!! The kids and myself are headed home for a visit in July ..... can't wait to see these guys in the wild again.
 Elegantly beautiful.
 Sweet, sweet kids ...... OK, I'm allowed to brag, they're ours after all :-)

 We watched these Weaver Birds building their nests for quite a while. They build their nests in my parents garden back home.
 A little Meercat ..... such busy little bodies :-)
Me and my babies .... they're growing up way to fast !!!

Hope you took time to enjoy your family this past long weekend, and were able to make some lovely, lasting memories too.
Until next time .... crafting mojo back, I hope ..... Take Care.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL .....

Just popping in for a little garden update. Wow, things have been busy around here. The veggie patch is doing SO well. My tomato plants are all heavy with fruit. The green pepper bush has about 8 peppers on it, in varying stages of development. The mint and basil are growing faster than I can harvest it ....... Yes, another batch of 100% homegrown, homemade mint jelly is on my "To Do" list for this week.  The potato barrels are growing faster than I can mound them. I mounded them again today, and we're about 14 inches from the lip of the barrel now. My lettuce and spring onions seeds have poked through the soil, so hopefully in the not to distant future, I wont be needing to buy either of those items from the grocery store. Enough chitter chatter though, let me share some pictures with you ....



There is only about 6 weeks difference (at the most) between these 2 photos. My lobelia has grown so well (the poor gnomes are now completely engulfed by those pretty, purple flowers), and the begonias are obviously very happy there.


My hibiscus bushes are heavy with these beautiful blooms. I absolutely love this color.


At last, my first wild flower. I have nursed the 4 pots I put seeds into, and now it's paying off. My wildflower bed (although lagging a little behind), is also looking promising :-)



We seem to have also attracted a large variety of birds and animals to our home this year ..... Hubby has nick named it "Disneyland", what with all of the animals that we have hanging around. I noticed about 3 weeks ago, that we had a woodpecker pecking at our willow tree. He hung around for a couple of days, and was then joined by a female woodpecker. Over a period of about a week and a half, he excavated this hole, working away sunup to sundown. Then  ........ look what happened next ...


Mama woodpecker took up residence. We estimate that she has been on her eggs for about a week now. According to everything we've researched, her eggs should be hatching in about another week or so. It will still be another 20 or so days before we have the privilege of hopefully meeting her babies as we watch them fledge.


These two mallards have taken up residence on our front lawn. We don't think they have a nest in our yard, but they're very comfortable around us.


There have been a number of these little guys hanging around .... so much so, that we've put a chicken wire fence around my lettuce !!!! We love having them around though ..... rather our house, than our neighbors, as they trap them, and call Animal Control to come and get them :-(
Today, I think we may have discovered why they've been so prolific ..... While mowing the lawn this morning, I noticed a piece of ground under a tree in our front yard, moving. At first I thought it may be a big spider or lizard. Next minute there were these darting all over the place ........




 Baby bunnies !!!! They ran toward the road, which was why we had to catch them ..... so cute !!!! We eventually managed to get them to go  back down their hole into their nest. We've kept an eye on them all day, and they're nicely tucked up, fast asleep.


You can see a baby bunny butt and ear sticking out of the grass in this picture - when I saw the ground move at first, there was nothing sticking out. Who would have guessed there was a nest of at least 5 babies there.


This little baby was very curious ..... there's always one who thinks the outside world is far more fun, than the safety of its nest. They're old enough to almost leave the nest ...... they're furry, fast and their eyes are wide open. We'll watch and wait tonight, to see mama bunny return to her babies.

Here's hoping your Springtime has been as exciting and full of new life as ours has.
Until next time ...... Take Care.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

A WEEKEND AWAY ....

And a wonderful one it was too !!!!
This past weekend 11 of us ladies, took off for Bowie, Texas. Our destination ..... a lovely looong Weekend Scrapbook Retreat, in the country, called Hobby House Hill. It was an early birthday present to me, from 3 of my friends, and an AWESOME present it was too.

This was our home for the weekend ...



 For me it was just like being back at school (I spent most of my school years at boarding school). Really comfy beds, and a huge en suite bathroom. And we did have our fair share of girly, giggly laughter !!!


 This was our view ..... nothing around us, and totally tranquil and relaxing.


 This was part of our group of Happy Scrappers.



This was our scrapping barn .... plenty of space, as many chick flicks as we could possibly watch, a bathroom and a kitchenette.


These little chaps descended in their masses on these hummingbird feeders. I don't think I've ever seen so many hummingbirds in one place at one time. I am very proud of this picture ..... I just love it !!!
It was a venue very conducive to producing many lovely layouts ..... and that we did. I learned a fair bit about how I scrapbook ...... I'm a slow scrapbooker ..... my pages have to set the theme .... I'm definately a solid color cardstock girl (although I have a great love of patterned paper), and my Cricut is without a doubt my most used tool !!!
Want to take a peek at some of my layouts .... (I was working on Girl Child's Elementary School years ... see, I told you I was slow .... She goes to High School in the Fall!!!))







See what I mean by my Cricut being my best friend !!!!

One of the best parts of the weekend ...... all of our meals were prepared and served to us, and let me tell you, we ate VERY well. The food was all home cooked and delicious !!! One of the desserts we had was Scandinavian Almond Cookies. They were quite simply out of this world !!! I got home and scoured the internet for recipes. I found THIS recipe, and gave it a try today. I expected to have to try a few before I struck gold. Not this time, this recipe was spot on !!!! Crisp, almondy and melt in your mouth. Definately, hands down, my favorite of all time cookie ..... sadly (or maybe not), I'm the only one in our house that likes the flavor of almond ...... lucky, lucky me !!!!


Thanks for popping by. Give this recipe a try ..... it may just become your best ever, favorite cookie too ...