Tropical Traditions Giveaway on Civilized Caveman Cooking Creations

Tropical Traditions Giveaway

Go on over to Civilized Caveman Cooking Creations for a chance to win $250 worth of coconut oil and grass fed beef!

spring has sprung!

Usually when the calendar tells me that the Vernal Equinox has yet again arrived I see several inches of snow on the ground and spring-like weather is still a dream.

This year, however, we have had an extremely rare winter and we do indeed seem to have signs of spring.

For a little over a week now I've heard increased bird tweetering and nesting behaviors and after raking some leaves off of perennials it seems to be that both the birds and the plants believe we really do have Spring.

Here are a few pictures I took today around our little urban homestead. (remember to see larger versions of the pictures just click on them)


The marjoram is coming up. You can even see a few of the strawberries that migrated out of their area. These are planted on the southern side of the house.



Likewise, the oregano is up and growing.



I have a fabulous crop of lamb's ear again this year. I had to transplant some to the north side of the house last year and it looks like I'll need to divide and transplant again this year. This particular batch is also on the south side of the house.



Other herbs that are also green and growing, but not pictured here are rosemary, lavender, and sage.

Moving back into the backyard, the raspberries are leafing out already.



And the rhubarb is popping up as well.



And here is our latest gardening experiment. I read about Lisa's winter sowing project on her blog lil fish studios and thought I'd give it a try here. We bought three clear plastic storage totes and the Hubster drilled small holes in the lid and also in the bottom of the totes. We filled them with garden soil and I had planned on planting seeds in them. Ahem, I still have plans to do that. My dilemma now is that it seems our winter is over and I'll be spring sowing. In this instance they'll be functioning more like cold frames. I'm torn between going ahead and starting the warm weather crops like peppers and tomatoes and just planting our typical cold weather seeds like broccoli and cabbage.











Are other 5B gardeners seeing this trend toward an early Spring? Are any of you brave enough to disregard our May 19th last frost date and leap ahead this year?

so many things going on here

It's the college's spring break this week so the Hubster and The Boy are home. We have a grand attic de-cluttering project planned so, of course, the weather has turned to spring. Luckily our spring is so volatile that I know I cannot plant, but every cell in my body wants to ditch the attic project and just go PLANT things!

We did pick up some totes to use as mini greenhouses to start seeds in, however. When I do get back outside I'll try to remember to snap some pictures for you. I read about the idea on Lisa's blog lil fish studios and thought if she's trying winter sowing up in Minnesota I can give it a whirl over here farther south in Wisconsin.

I've also been busily crafting. I've signed up for an Easter craft swap and I worked out these little felt bunnies in their carrot sleeping bags and a needle felted bunny tree stump playscape for the hostess gift.





In addition I had a few sleepless nights and I sewed up this felt ladybug and blue bird. (I'd like to give you a picture of the bird, but it seems that the girls have hidden him)



The ladybug was crafted from Shannon's pattern that she shared on her blog Rhythm & Rhyme and the blue bird that wasn't pictured was crafted from Kata Golda's pattern featured in the Summer 2011 issue of Petite Purls.

I also purchased Larissa Holland'sWee Mouse Tin House pattern and worked out a version of it yesterday. I hope to have a bunch made up for the etsy shop soon! The etsy shop versions will obviously have their little tin homes with them as well.

beeswax candle making kit giveaway at Chocolate Eyes

Come over to the blog Chocolate Eyes to enter a lovely giveaway for a beeswax candle making kit from A Toy Garden.

A Toy Garden has so many lovely kits and toys that it's really worth bookmarking/adding to your favorites anyway.

Mice! (with links out to free sewing patterns)

Yes, our home was invade by mice today. Luckily they were of the wool felt variety, and not at all furry and pesty.

Last night the baby girl cheerfully told me that she wanted a mouse. His name would be Squeaky and he would be brown. Since her demand/request came rather late in the evening I told her I'd see what I could do the next day.

Well...this morning came and a quick web search yielded two free patterns and tutorials for sewing up mice.

I began with this tutorial from Jodie Carlton who blogs at Ric Rac. The instructions have you working with a woven wool fabric, but I didn't have any solid brown and the baby girl requested brown. Instead, I went with all wool felt for her Squeaky mouse.










Since I sewed the entire mouse by hand it took several hours and I worked on it most of the day. I imagine if you use a woven wool fabric and use your sewing machine it would be a much quicker project.

Since Squeaky was looking so lonely I decided later in the evening to try my hand at a simple mouse. The wining pattern was this one by Shannon who blogs at Rhythm & Rhyme. This little mouse was very quick and easy and I finished him in under an hour from start to finish. Again, he was hand sewn using wool felt.











The girls are thrilled with their new mice and are currently playing very loudly with their peg doll gnomes, felt owls, and new mice. :)

{this moment} - Friday, March 2, 2012

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.










Linking back to SouleMama