1st Breakfast of Spring -Alfresco

The canopy is on the screenhouse in the backyard a little earlier this year than previous years. Yesterday was nice and Mom & Dad were stopping by with my birthday Pansies, and Terry & Fran were coming by later that evening. Since Jeff was around, he thought it should be put up to make it a little more cozy to sit out there. For me, it will just be another thing to worry about with all our abundant Spring rain lately since the water pools up in the corners & has to be emptied.
Although, I must say, it was very peaceful to have a quiet breakfast in the yard with the birds singing to me.
Coffee blended with coconut oil in my CMQG mug, an egg made in my new micro mc muffin maker & the most awesome apple strudel ever, brought as my birthday cake from Mom & Dad, and my 20 Minute Vegetable Gardener book, completed the perfect recipe for a Sunday morning! Thank you Universe!

CMQG Spring Retreat

Chicago Modern Quilt Guild's Spring retreat was the weekend of my birthday!  This pin cushion was a gift from my friend Beth who didn't attend the retreat. How thoughtful & a really awesome pincushion!  Project completed at retreat were the turtle stuffy for a charity event, two pouches for my daughter's soccer bags, make up washcloths, and a composition notebook cover. 

What a great weekend!

Happy Easter

Now that the girls are teens, egg coloring is not a fun event they look forward to as in the past. Since we were gone much of the week of Spring break, they wanted to get out on Good Friday to hang with friends. They had to color the eggs before they went out, so they were completed in record time!

And now for something completely different!

 

Always wanted to make yogurt but thought it was hard to do without a yogurt maker. Realizing that they've been making yogurt for way before yogurt makers & electricity was around, this is the year I attempt to make it. With all the blogging going on, it was easy to find many different ways to make it easier. And since I'm not one to follow one particular recipe, I combined a couple of ways of getting to the final product. Combining the use of a pot on the stove, the crock pot ceramic bowl & the oven, I woke up to perfect yogurt! After straining it for an hour or so, I had delicious Greek style yogurt! I will definitely make it again!

A new recipe

Found out about this easy macaroon recipe from Mark Lipinski's podcast. All you need is a can of sweetened condensed milk & a bag of coconut. I added the drizzling of chocolate to add to the sweetness. They were awesome!

The countdown to Christmas begins with cookies!

The girls needed a treat to take to Young Life, & these were faster, easier & more fun than baking, especially because they had to leave in 2 hours. They were delicious & everyone didn't believe that they made these!

WXRT Party!

Fun night, Free tickets, Free CD with Fun Friend, Maureen!

Anti Black Friday Crafting

Instead of shopping the day after Thanksgiving, I'm participating in Anti Black Friday for the past few years by making a few little things. Gift card holder/wallet, fabric flower, coaster & some cleaning wipes. Mick & I did go to a store, but it was a thrift store & we brought 3 bags of donations, got 25% off our purchase which was around $8. It was a very good day!

Happy Birthday, Karli!

Swirled cupcakes that I made for her "friends" party. All her friends took pictures of these cause they thought they were so cute!

Just finished carving!

I can't let Halloween go by without carving a pumpkin! 

The girls don't really care anymore (teenagers!), but I do.

My Dainty October Mums

My neighbor gave me some of these a couple summers ago. I love that they bloom later & last into November & are such a delicate fresh look before the cold weather arrives.

Cooking with the power out.

 A van took out a main pole 1 block away. Planning to use the microwave to heat up dinner, the menu changed to soup made on the stove with candlelight. Thank goodness I have gas burners!
Of course, the power went back on after we were done eating!