First Harvest

This year I planted my lettuce from seeds, plenty early. You can see in this picture the tiny starts where I planted more seeds to get a second crop.



I also learned from my mistakes and put the containers up high and out of the reach of pesky bunnies. Last year my entire crop of lettuce was devoured in one night by some apparently ravenous rabbits




This size container worked perfect. They got plenty of sun and rain sitting out in front of my house.



Sorry bunnies, no lettuce for you!

Curtain making queens...

Although I have approximately 15 projects going right now, Emmy forced me to put them all on hold to help her. We went shopping today to get fabric for her curtains for her bedroom. She may look like shes the one hard at work here, but I am the one doing all the cutting, measuring, and pressing... so don't be fooled!



So pretty! Two down, four to go. Yikes!

Blackberry Peach Crisp

I love to make things that don't require exact measurements, or even recipes. I have made apple crisp so many times that I have the method down pretty well.

I wanted to make peach crisp for Emmy this morning, but I only had three teeny tiny peaches, so I decided to throw in some blackberries too




It was perfect... the peaches were sweet and the berries were just a little tangy. Basically I just threw in the three peaches cut up and a handful or two of black berries, no stirring required here. Then in another bowl, I added a half a stick of soft butter, maybe a half a cup of flour and oatmeal, then a third a cup of sugar. I would of preferred brown sugar, but I didn't have any. I added a dash or two of cinnamon and a splash of vanilla (homemade, maybe I'll post that later too). I just mixed it with my hands to incorporate the butter until the mix is very crumbly. I baked it for about 4o minutes at 35o and presto:



It was so good. Perfect with some whipped cream or even ice cream if you're into that sort of thing.

Stolen Ideas

Emmy comes up with the best ideas, and I like to steal them from her. Who would of thought chalkboard pain looks so good on a fridge?



I'm not quite done with the trim and I need to touch up the paint in a few places, but over all I am very pleased with the results.

A ladder for a Kitty

Once again, I apologize for my cell phone picture taking. It is sad that my old phone takes better pictures than my even older camera. I promise I will get a new one.



I got this awesome chair that turns into a ladder, (or is it a ladder that turns into a chair??) at a yard sale for 10 bucks (originally priced $15). Anyway, I thought it was perfect for the kitchen, especially when I can't reach in the back of the top cabinets. I was testing it out as a foot rest the other day, and it collapsed in and now I have a giant bruise. Alas... I guess it will not be as functional as I though... at least Kitty likes it.

I have 4 days off coming up this weekend, so brace yourself for all the posts that will be ensuing.

This isn't a joke

The name of my blog isn't a joke. Its so accurate, its scary. I have many memories of going garage selling with my mom as a kid and coming home with a car packed to the gills with treasurers.



Emmy and i went today early this morning and found some awesome stuff! Some things for crafting, some stuff for school, and some just because it was a good deal.

I've been working on a few projects in my kitchen, so hopefully I will have a new post up soon about that.

Glorious Dirt

Have you ever seen such pretty dirt? My parent's continue to spoil me even though I am a real "adult." They brought me some lovely compost today for my new raised bed. I can't wait to get planting! The compost is from here. It is good stuff!

Angry at Birds

Don't mind the weeds in this picture. Pay attention only to my poor baby tomato plants that had all the leaves eaten off by birds.



And my poor baby cucumbers are even sadder.



Stupid birds.

Craft Nite

Friday night, I had craft nite at my house. It was one of the best so far, in my opinion. We made apron's from button down shirts and they turned out so well.



Here is Emmy. She used a man's shirt, or rather her man's shirt, for her apron.



Nikki used a shirt from the thrift store and added a coordinating pocket, very cute.



Maggie intensely working on her pocket embroidery.



Becky, our newest member to craft nite.


I made this one that Emmy is modeling so beautiful. I made a half apron too but this one is my favorite.

At our next craft nite we are making purses, so look out for that. Thank goodness for friends who like to craft!

Rainy days and Monday's

Porkchop likes to bury his treats out in the yard. I can't believe he didn't notice all the mud on his nose! Too funny.

I hate Monday's.... here's to tomorrow....

Prototype

Today as I was perusing around Target and saw quite a few dresses like this. Now granted, this one isn't from Target, but you get the idea. They seem pretty simple in design so this afternoon I set out to create my own.

I started out with an old knit t-shirt with a bleach stain on the bottom of it. I found some coordinating cherry fabric and I was set. I didn't use a pattern and did some very imprecise measuring, but some how things turned out ok. I tried and failed twice to attach a waist band to cover up the less than perfect sewing job I did to attach the skirt to the shirt.



Here is the point that I realize that this isn't going to work. Lol. Please avert your eyes from the clutter in the background. I spent a good 15 minutes with a seam ripper. Then I decided to make a sash type belt that isn't attached. This worked in the end, but I ran out of thread.



So much for getting finished with my project today. It would of been a very quick little sewing project if I had had a better plan. Unfortunately my phone takes better pictures than my camera.



Here at least you can see the shape of it. It turned out pretty short. I think next time I will make it a bit longer.



I think it turned out pretty cute!!!



Next time I make one I will try to be more precise so I can give coherent directions on how to make one of your very own. I'm all about re-purposing things these days if you haven't noticed. Also I'm working on getting a decent camera. We shall see.

As soon as Emmy emails me pictures from last night's Craft Nite I will have post up full of my beautiful friends making some really adorable aprons.

How my garden grows....

My little garden is coming along quite nicely so far this year. I have been making good use of the free coffee grounds from Starbucks.

In this picture you can see my broccoli, cabbage, tomatoes. and cucumbers.



Here is the whole she-bang.



On this side is my corn, and my blue and russet potatoes.


There will be many more updates throughout the summer on freezing and canning! Hopefully I will get some more dirt soon and will be able to expand my little crop some more.

Itchin for Stitchin

I've been hanging on to this little gem for awhile now. I was waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it. I think a sick day is an ideal time for such a project. The key to great embroidery is to get comfy, put in a girly movie, and go to town.

These iron on transfers couldn't be easier. First you cut out the design.



Then iron your fabric, in this project I'm using pillowcases. After your fabric is good and warm, you simply follow the transfer directions and iron onto your surface.


This is bad lighting, I'm sorry. But I promise the image is there.


Here is my stitching helper. Ha! More like pain in the butt! Please note the pretty pedicure on my toe from my Mother's day spa day. It was quite a lovey day.



Kitty fang. He is a mean, mean kitty.



Finished project!



I need a better camera, but you get the idea. This owly is blue and pink.



This owly is orange and white.


Look out for more owls. I can't help it, they are too cute!!!

Hanging with my gnomies

I found the most spectacular place today. Well rather, my momma did. It is called P3 Paint, Party, and Play. It was very fun.


I'm painting a gnome, obviously. All you have to do is pick out your piece and they bring you the paint you select and its time to paint away. Best of all there is no clean up! I am defiantly going to have to have a craft night here, and pronto.



Here is my cute momma. You can see that my cell phone picture taking skills are far superior to hers. Also you can see that she picked out the exact same project to paint. So typical!!! It was great fun! I highly recommend you go visit sometime; it was very affordable to boot!

Hopes and Dreams and Lists and Things

I'm a dreamer. And a planner. I'm also a list maker. I make all kinds of lists... sometimes I do everything on them right away and mark them all off. Other times I never do a thing on my list. This year I wrote 16 New Year's Resolutions. I'm doing ok so far, being that we are barely more than a quarter of the way into the year. I've got time.

One of my Resolutions was to start this blog with my best friend Emily. Check that off the list, yay me! Here is Emily:


Isn't she adorable? Ha, you can't even see how cute she is! That's what snow outfits do to people. We went sledding this winter after one of the big storms. It was one of the most glorious days ever. It was like we were 10 again hanging out with my parents.


That is Emily, me, our friend Stephanie, my mom, and my dad. Emily's sister Maggie must be taking the picture.

Anyway, back to the hopes and the dreams, in addition to my rather lengthy resolution list, I also have a 2 to 5 year plan list. It is as follows:
*Learn to swim
*Get my bachelors and or Master's degree
*Become certified to teach Zumba and start a class
*Join a roller derby team
*Move to the country

Lofty? Maybe. Fun? Definitely!

First Attempt

Hi there! My name is Ashley and this is my first attempt to enter into the blogging world. I have been a follower for a couple of years now, and have decided that its finally time to jump on in.

The other day, my best friend Emily and I made dinner so she could practice her food photography skills. I thought I would share that with you all today.

We made Baked Zucchini Sticks from here, BBQ Chicken Pizza, and Hot Fudge Pudding cake, courtesy of Betty Crocker.

I'll let you follow the directions for the Zucchini Sticks from the original recipe. I always add crushed red pepper to the breading mix and use egg beaters instead of egg whites, but other than that its the same.










mmmm perfect! We served these with some plain ole jarred marinara sauce. While the Zucchini sticks were baking we whipped up a quick salad.




For the main course we made BBQ chicken pizza. We used refrigerated pizza dough and topped it with barbecue sauce. We used red onion slices, pickled banana peppers, and diced grilled chicken as toppings. We tested out this new cheese in the mozzarella variety. It worked great.









Perfection! We also made Hot Fudge Pudding Cake, a classic from my childhood. It is my dad's specialty. I will post these last two recipes later as it is taking me much longer than I expected to post this for the first time.



The glory of the Hot Fudge Pudding Cake is that you mix it in the same dish that you bake it in. I'm all for doing less dishes.



We served it with peppermint ice cream and it was perfection.

Thanks for reading my first post! More to come!