Garden Update

Things are progressing well with my garden this summer. This is the first time I have ever done anything like this and I am enjoying it so very much! I love seeing these plants grow. I took a few pictures to post and share. I am blessed to have wonderful neighbors and just today one of them gave me a bunch of stepping stones that they don't want anymore and there is more coming! I am so excited about that! My backyard is slowly turning into a wonderful escape!

Basil and Thyme.

Two baby tomato's!

Tomato's, peppers and flowers.

Free rocks!

Dancing and Singing in the Rain

Starting summer off with the sprinkler. These two sweet cousins had a blast playing together! What a memory! While it was hot, the water and the popsicle and the shade kept us all cool.

Fun Times

This video needs no explanation. Just watch and enjoy the laughter.

Hilarious Tea Party from Samantha Harris on Vimeo.

Castles

Yesterday was a castle building kind of day. With gas prices out the roof, I am making an effort to stay home on days when K does not go to school. Sometimes this can be hard for me because I like to GO. But, yesterday was very productive and we even turned some empty food boxes into a castle! K loves playing with it and certainly likes re-creating all the scenes from her current favorite, Tangled. So, all we used was food boxes, hot glue, razor and markers! Easy enough.

BEFORE

AFTER

Lovely Afternoon

We hosted an egg hunt today at the house. We had a great turn-out and I so enjoyed having new friends over. The weather was perfect and the kids and adults had a wonderful time........I think! Everyone stayed till the evening hours, so it must have been a good time! As usual, I did not get a lot of great pictures of all the foods and decorations, but I did take a few. I wish I could post lots of pictures of the day, but I feel bad posting them without permission, so I just included a few. I love hosting parties and the best thing about today's was that it helped to bring many new people together. I was feeling nervous before the guests arrived and I must admit, it is nice knowing that my Mom was going to be here with me. I just feel relaxed when she arrives. Happy Easter!

The Garden

I wish I had taken a before picture so that you could appreciate the after. I mean everyone loves a good before and after, right! Well, this is not really the true AFTER, it is just the in between as nothing is growing yet. I have been working for a month now on clearing out this wonderful garden space to get it ready for planting. I have never been into gardening before, but I am now! I just got it in my head one day that I wanted to plant some vegetables and a month later I have cleared this whole space of weeds, long hanging limbs, lots of grass and all kinds of garden decorations. I have tilled the land and bought bags of conditioning soil to mix in with the regular soil. I have endured poison ivy and hot sun, but it has been fun for me. Kaori and I have enjoyed being outside together so much. She plays all around the yard while I work and she also has fun digging in the dirt. I have bought tomato plants, peppers, strawberries, basil and thyme. I bought some flowers too, but I have no idea what kind they are. I just cannot remember. So, these pictures are mostly for my sisters, as this is the house we all grew up in and I thought they would like to see what the old garden space is looking like these days. Anyone else first time gardeners? Are you excited!

This area tends to get pretty muddy after the rain and also from watering the plants, so I used these stepping stones that belonged to my Grandmother and made a foot path. It is nothing big, I know that. But, to me, it is awesome! Kaori likes to play on them too, so that is always a plus.

I have some flowers coming up that my Mom must have planted in the past. I have also planted some more bulbs to come up around these, so it should be pretty.

Flowers, herbs and vegetables awaiting their new home!

The length of the garden and then the patch at the end will be strawberries. I think that will be fun.

This tree is pretty big, but I am just planning to put flowers under there and some garden decorations. I think it will be okay, well I am planning on it being okay!

Yummy

I got a craving for strawberry milk last week. Yummy! I looked up online how to make it and this is the deliciousness that I found.

Here is how you make it:

Strawberry Milk
serves 2
1 cup strawberries, chopped (you can use frozen ones, I did not)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 1/2 cup whole milk
In a small pot, heat strawberries, sugar and water until boiling (it's a bit like making jam). Let boil for about 10 minutes; mixture will reduce and thicken slightly. Using a fine sieve or mesh strainer, strain the mixture into a small bowl. You can save the cooked strawberries to add to yogurt or put on pancakes. Set the strawberry syrup aside.

Chill two small glasses in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Add 3/4 cup milk to each glass. Swirl in 3 tablespoons of the strawberry syrup into each glass of milk (more or less, depending on desired sweetness). You will have a little strawberry syrup left over, perfect for pancakes or adding to soda water.

This was truly delicious. Kaori loved it and so did I!