Around The House

The wedding prep intensity is winding down. Remember my to-do list? Well, we've really knocked a lot off. My goal was to get as much done as possible during the month of June and I believe we've done an amazing job! The last 2 "big" things were accomplished this week: choosing a photographer and meeting with the artist who is designing the invitations. We met with her, made decisions and she is sending us a quote. We will still have to make final decision as to which details we can afford, but the major work is done!

So, we've been able to kick back and enjoy the summer a little. Here are a few things we have around the house that I thought were photo-worthy.

Washing up some borrowed salt and pepper shakers.

Washing up some jars to make into candle holders.

The sunflowers are blooming and I cut a few to bring inside. Do you recognize this pic?

Busy bees.

The blueberries are not quite ready.

What I Did Today...

A while back, on facebook, I posted that I would send the first 5 people who commented a handmade item. So, today I finished and fulfilled my promise.

I made bracelets. The one on the left, I stamped with the letters of the first name of her children.
Then I started a project that will probably be the craft for our first Craft-In at Exhale Creatively.
A heart wreath. I stole the idea from Alisa Burke. I only got so far as to paint the junk mail and create the first 2 flowers. I'll take a picture of the finished product, when I get it finished.

Steave was busy, too. He was working on the electrical system of the motorcycle that he's building.

It's amazing that he knows what all that is.

Then fish tacos for dinner. I've never made them. They were actually pretty good.

Thanksgiving Dinner in 20 Minutes (or so)

Happy Early Thanksgiving!

Steave has to work on Thanksgiving and since yesterday was his only day off this week I wanted to fix him a Thanksgiving meal. Well, I'm not feeling so well with a cold, therefore the dinner had to be quick and easy. So, I got some Boar's Head turkey breast from the deli, Stove top stuffing, a jar of gravy, canned green beans, a jar of onions and creamed them (it's a Libramento family tradition) and popped a couple of sweet potatoes in the microwave for 15 minutes. Steave had Thanksgiving dinner in 20 minutes.

True, it didn't taste as good as the traditional, "slave away in the kitchen for days" dinner, but at least it was something.

Oh, yeah, I made a sugar-free pumpkin pie, so I guess that took longer than 20 minutes. 5 minutes prep and 50 minutes baking time. It turned out surprisingly well to be sugar free.

Meg's Muffins on a Manic Day

So, if you paid attention, I have just posted 3 entries in one day! That's because yesterday was a MANIC day! It was my last day of summer break. I go back to school on Monday. Today, Sunday, I have many obligations so it's not really a day off. And I haven't blogged in a while so I was ready to blog and craft and do some things that I knew I wouldn't have time to do starting next week!!! Then the internet went out yesterday because of the storm, so you're getting an overload today!

Anyway...

...in addition to Bowling for Dinner and Guerrilla Gardening I made Meg some muffins.

Meg is the dog that lives in our house that no one will claim and that I will not buy clothes for even though my kids are grown. Meg has a tendency to develop bladder stones. So, after $700 of medical treatment, we must now buy her the most expensive dog food known to man to keep her from developing more. Meg has always loved treats and even after 9 months or so since changing her dog food, she still stands at the closet door and wants treats. I've tried to tell her that there are NONE in there, that she can't have them anymore, but she doesn't believe me.

I felt sorry for her so I came up with the idea of using her food and making her some treats with it. Same stuff, different shape, she has a walnut sized brain and she will think it's special, right?

So, I soaked some of her boring, medical food in hot water.

Added a tablespoon of chicken boullion. There was nothing on the label about giving dogs bladder stones. So, I thought it might be ok.

Then I smashed it up in the food processor and spooned it into muffin tins.

I baked them at 325 for I don't know how long because the storm blew out our power for an hour or more in the middle of baking. But I just kept them in there until they got hard and crunchy.

I gave Meg one after they had cooled and she took it from me, dropped it on the floor and looked at it like she was trying to figure out what it was, then slowly ate it like she was thinking, "The flavor is familiar, but...."

A Meg and her muffin cannot be parted.

Guerrilla Gardening on My Birthday

So yesterday was my birthday and my son called the night before and asked what I was going to do. I said, "Nothing much because KT is out of town and Steave has to work and since I start back to school Monday, I really just want to chill around the house." He said, "Well, I have a great idea for you." This is what I love about my son, he has the most interesting ideas. He said, "You should make seed bombs." He proceeded to tell me about how to make them and what to do with them.

Seed bombs are made with clay, compost and seeds formed into a ball and then lobbed over into empty lots or any place that could use a good sprucing up with flowers where a person may not be allowed into. The rain will break down the ball and the seeds will grow. Great for inner city vacant, scrubby places.

Well, this appealed to my Greenpeace, save the whales, tree hugger, slightly rebellious side of myself (as my son knew it would). So, I made seed bombs for my birthday!

I didn't have clay, so I looked around on the internet and found a recipe using paper.

So, I first tore up some old paper from my recycling box and put it in a big bowl.

Then I added hot water. I remembered that hot water broke down the paper faster from earlier crafting days. Then I kept smushing it down with my hands until the paper began to break down. It took a good 45 minutes to get it all soupy.

I poured the slimy mess into the blender. I'd like to give a shout out to my mother-in-law who gave me that blender 28 years ago as a wedding gift!! I still have it and it has served me faithfully through cooking and crafting experiences!

I blended it into a fine mess!

I needed cheesecloth to strain the water out with and since I didn't have any, I found an old piece of sheer drapery that I had that ended up working fabulously. I lined the colander with the fabric and poured a small amount into it.

Now, I wasn't sure when to add the seeds and after some trial and error, I finally settled that this was the best time, so I added some seeds that I had on hand. After the fact, I think I should have added a lot more seed.

Squeezed out as much water as I could...

...and had a nice little ball.

Then they needed to dry. It couldn't take too long or the seeds would sprout and it couldn't be too hot or it would kill the seeds. Since we were having a hot day, I put them out on the deck to dry.

I made one look like a duck and I smushed some of the mixture into a flexible mold to try that.

Well, a storm blew up and I had to bring them in. But before the rain ended, I threw one out to see if it would really break down and it did!

So, that was yesterday. Today, they are still not dry. So, I'm thinking that another shape would be better, like a small patty to help them dry faster.

I'll keep you up to date on the drying process and then I'll document my Guerrilla Gardening attempt.

Happy Birthday to me! And thanks to Joel for giving me a great gift!

Bowling for Dinner (and lunch and breakfast)

Katie and I have an affinity for eating out of a bowl. It's cozy and comfortable having all your food in one smallish container. It won't work for those of you who can't stand to have your food touching.

I also don't really care for eating at a table. I prefer to eat on the sofa, cross-legged, watching a movie, chatting and laughing. Casual-like. So, a bowl is perfect for that. You don't have to balance a plate on your knees and worry about your food sliding off into the floor or onto your pants.

So, I've decided to see how many meals I can come up with that will fit into a bowl.

This morning, I had a Breakfast Bowl. I put grits in first.

I have put crumbled buttered toast on the bottom, too. Then I fried a couple of eggs and put them on top of the grits.

                                      

I have also had scrambled eggs, bacon, ham, sausage and cheese. Any combo of those will work. Then for lunch I had a BBQ Sandwich Bowl. I told you, I'm laying off bread, so I just put the bbq and sauce in the bottom of the bowl and heated it in the microwave. If you wanted to, you could use french fries or onion rings as your first layer.

Then topped it with cole slaw. We put cole slaw ON our sandwiches in NC.

Some other Meal Bowls that I've made are:

Chili Burger Bowl: Grill a burger, add cheese if you want, ketchup, mustard, pickles, onions, chili and slaw. Cut up the burger in the bowl first so you don't have to wrestle with a knife. Then add all the ingredients that you want. I suppose you could do the same with a Chili Dog Bowl just cut up a hot dog instead of a burger.

Asian Bowl: Brown rice topped with any stir-fry combination of your choice. You could use noodles instead of rice.

Italian Bowl: Any kind of pasta and sauce topped with cheese.

Mexican Bowl: One of our favorites! Layer refried beans or black beans or pintos with seasoned beef or chicken, cheese, onion, tomato, shredded lettuce, salsa and sour cream. You could put the ingredients in any order you choose and add anything else you want. Eat with corn chips.

Chicken Club Bowl: Grilled chicken, cheese if you want, bacon, tons of lettuce and tomato topped with dressing of your choice. (Yes, a grilled chicken salad, but this is more fun to call it a Meal Bowl!)

Grilled Salmon Bowl: Same as the chicken club but with grilled salmon.

Here are some other Meal Bowls that I've thought of that I'm going to try:

Thanksgiving in a Bowl: Dressing or mashed potatoes, turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce and green beans.

All American Meatlof Dinner Bowl: Mini meatloaf made in muffin tin, mashed potatoes topped with peas.

Philly Cheese Steak Bowl: French fries, meat, cheese, mushrooms, onions and peppers.

As you can tell, you basically take anything you want to eat and put it in a bowl and you're Bowling For Dinner!

Cars, Loans, Pharoahs & New Shirts

I am back from my absence. I had set myself a little goal to post something everyday. At least through the summer, but I fell short. I apologize to all my many faithful readers (haha, are there any?) and my 2 amazing followers! I had a good reason...I was car shopping. And while that is fun and exciting for some, it is a chore for me.

These sort of chores require me summon the logical, practical side of my person that I usually let sleep and rest undisciplined and lethargic. It's always unprepared for these tedious situations.

I did well, though, I went through the process basically by myself asking Steave the odd mechanical question every now and then. Steave and I operate on 2 opposing wavelengths, opposite hemispheres, opposing teams, however you want to put it - it's difficult for us to work on a common decision like this. He is the ulitmate king of logic and practicality and I am the queen of intuition and feeling. So, it's hard for us to agree. We did agree, however, that I had better handle this decision since I would be the one driving the car the most. He would let me know if he saw my divining rod leading me to a financial cliff.

When I have to accomplish this sort of chore, I am usually embarrassed. The reason is that I am asked practical questions like: "How much money do you make?" "What kind of engine do you have?" And I don't keep that kind of information in my head. Go ahead and laugh. If they asked me, "What does the car smell like?" or "How many kids does the bank teller have?" I can answer that!

But I slapped the groggy practical side of myself awake and bravely entered the car showroom and the office of the loan officer. I kept myself in check. I didn't ask the car salesman what part of Africa he was from. I strained really, really hard to actually pay attention to the meanings of the words he spoke and not just drift away on the beautiful lyrical sound of them. I did not ask the loan officer about his family heritage even though he had caramel skin, blue eyes and the head shape of an Egyptian pharoah. I gritted my teeth and actually read what I was signing. To quote Pride & Prejudice, "that's a small sort of accomplishment, I suppose."

I did it. I got a loan. I bought a car, though it's not actually mine, it belongs to the Pharoah. (He said it belongs to "us" meaning him and the bank until I pay it off.) It was not fun. I did not learn anything interesting except.... one of the bank tellers does hair at night, one of the car salesman just started 3 months ago and needs more shirts and the loan officer has a german shepherd that's not mean, just vicious looking. Don't ask me anything technical about my new car. It's pretty, rides smooth, smells good and I like it.

Summer Firsts

First sunflower...

First green beans...

picked...

First blueberries...

First gift from my neighbor, Mr. Mac, gardenias smell heavenly.

Rescuing the Garden

We were faithful to start our garden in the Spring, pressing little seeds of hope into the fresh earth, setting out those little precious infant plants, tenderly. Then the weddings & graduations hit us like a bus. We left our little plant children out in the wild world to survive on their own.

So, today, I went out into the garden looking for my orphans, trying to see how they were faring out in the wild among the beautiful invaders such as the morning glory shown here.

I was pleasantly surprised, but there were some dissapointments. I did lose the brussel sprouts. I didn't thin the radishes, so they are small and skinny. The romaine bolted up and is bitter.

However, the bean tipis look great with tiny, little, green beans hanging sweetly. The cukes are doing wonderfully, I actuall found 3 to pick. I may have gotten them too early, but I was excited.

I've never grown corn before, so I don't know how it will fare. But it sure does look pretty in the garden. And isn't that part of gardening? Beauty for the eyes.

My sunflowers are getting flower heads and I can't wait to have my long row of towering sunflowers stretching longingly toward the summer sun! 

 The blueberry bushes are full. They will be ready to eat around July 4.

We also have pears and apples. Usually the birds get them before we can enjoy them, but it is nice to see them on the trees.

The herbs are my faithful Old Ladies. They are always there, never causing me trouble and ever helpful.

That lovely Mrs. Lavender with her dainty purple flowers. The rugged Ms. Rosemary, she's very enduring.

The delicate Miss Dill will help my friend make her pickles this year.

I've Been In a Whirlwind!

Two months gone by with no posts! Amazing how time flies when you're in a whirlwind of activities. The trip to Mississippi for Joel's graduation, Rehearsal dinner, Joel's wedding, last week of school, school graduation, graduation parties. Just too much!

So, let's catch up...

Rehearsal Dinner

The Rehearsal dinner that I was in charge of went off very well. It was short and sweet and to the point. Easy set up and clean up with simple decorations.

You would think that the traditional red and white check tablecloths would be easy to find - No Way! So, I had to mix and match. I thought it looked fine. Then I bought a case of large wide-mouthed canning jars and bunches of silk daisies. Small canning jars and white candles were also on the tables (they weren't set out at this picture taking time). 

 

We set up a small table at the entrance to the college cafeteria where we had the dinner. I put the canvas that Joel painted , framed engagement photos, a basket of tissues with labels that said "Joel & Katie - 5/23/10, and on the other side: "For Your Tears of Joy" (http://www.therapy4roses.blogspot.com/ gave me the idea)

We also quickly made a few tissue paper balls, thanks to http://www.allthingspinkandcrafty.blogspot.com/!

Keep in mind that I had to plan all this not knowing what the cafeteria was like, what I would have access to, etc. So I used what was on hand - like the plants and table above.

I had BBQ catered complete with banana pudding and sweet tea!

I think it was a success.

My friend, Jennifer (http://www.allthingspinkandcrafty.blogspot.com/) made my t-shirt! It says, "The Groom's Mama est. 1987 (Joel's birth year). I LOVE that shirt. I want to frame it.

The Wedding

The wedding was beyond beautiful and meaningful and just plain fun! The warehouse where the ceremony and reception was was amazing! Antiques and artwork all over the place! Very unique, very ecclectic, very suited to Joel and Kate.

My pictures didn't turn out very well, but the photographer has over 400 on her site: http://www.hingephotography.zenfolio.com/  Look for Bradshaw/Libramento wedding.

My nephew made the bride's bouquet and the boutineers. I made the bridesmaids pomanders. All out of silk flowers because we made them here in GA and carried them down to MS.

These pomanders were so easy to make and I made them fast! I took a 4 inch styrofoam ball and made a "needle" out of florist's wire. I strung the ribbon through the "needle" and shoved it through the center of the ball. I secured one end and left the other end loose. I cut up some peach colored silk hydrangeas, dipped the ends in styrofoam glue and stuck them in the ball until I covered the ball. When we got to the wedding, we measured each bridesmaid to find how far down we wanted the ball to hang, then tied the ribbon off. Those things traveled to MS and back and are still in great condition! I was amazed.

My friend, Lisa, made all the table centerpieces. They were incredible and she really caught the mood of the warehouse and did a great job!

We had a great time dancing and laughing and being with family that we haven't seen in a long time! There was just so much going on - meeting new family, crying, so many meaningful moments to take in that I can't possibly relate it all here.

When I got back home, I had to hit the ground running. Now that school is out, I'll be able to post more.