Iced Coffee and other News

Coming to you live from Joyintheburbs:

Weather Report:

Here in Texas it is already H.O.T. so drinking hot coffee is not advisable.

I'm getting my coffee fix with this recipe for Easy Iced Coffee on Allrecipes. It is soooooo good. It can be made for so much less $$ then Starb*cks or even McD*nalds Cafe coffees.

A few simple ingredients are all you need:

2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
1 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons warm water
6 fluid ounces cold milk

1 tablespoon of your favorite flavored creamer (not in original recipe...I added that)

In a sealable jar, combine instant coffee, sugar and warm water.

Cover the jar and shake until it is foamy.

Pour into a glass full of ice.

Fill the glass with milk and creamer and enjoy this yummy concoction.

Adjust to taste if necessary.

In other news, Leah is sporting a new shorter "do" this summer. I'm loving it on her.

The Agricultural report:

Here are 3 little potatoes I harvested. Aren't they cute. That is all I got from my potato planting experiment. I'm going to plant a lot more this fall and see what happens. But hey, I got one small serving from it.

In Fashion news today we have this:

The model (aka me) is wearing a first attempt to make an article of clothing since Home Economics class over 25 years ago. I realize it is not the most fashionable skirt. But the pattern did not call for a zipper so it suckered me in.

When I started cutting the pattern out I realized it had "godets" (lots of them). Silly me didn't know what a godet was. The dictionary definition is: A triangular piece of fabric usually set into the hem of a garment to add fullness.

My definition: LOTS AND LOTS OF EXTRA UNWANTED FABRIC THAT HAS TO BE CUT OUT AND THEN SEWN INTO SAID SKIRT RENDERING IT VERY HEAVY. Who knew. I learned my lesson. Also learned that I need to keep my drawstring tied nice and tight.

In closing I leave you with this:

One of those little dots on the beach will be me in the near future. I'll be away from the computer on and off for the next few weeks. I'll try and keep up with your blogs as best I can. Don't think I forgot you.

As soon as I'm back I will return to regularly scheduled blogging. :)


That is the news from the home front. Thank you for joining me.


Good night.

♥

The Mom Fieldtrip

School is almost out here in our little corner of the world. So last week I invited a friend to go with me to Mercer Arboretum for a mom fieldtrip before school is out. Mercer Arboretum is a gardeners paradise. You get all kinds of inspiration and just soak in the beauty all around you.
I know I post a lot of pictures of flowers and gardens on my blog. I just can't help it. I love visiting gardens then I enjoy them so much I want to share them with all my friends.

Please take a minute to view some flora and fauna and enjoy your

short tour of Mercer Arboretum, Spring, Texas:

I believe you can click to enlarge most of these.

They are so much prettier that way.

This sundial has a sweet little gardening poem.

Not so sure about how doctrinally sound it is, but nonetheless it is quite pretty.

Beautiful paths to wind through:

The day lilly gardens:

This plant is called The Star of Texas:

Couldn't help but watch these lovebirds enjoying their brunch together.

Aren't the caladiums beautiful climbing this hill

beside the steps:

I took over 50 pictures that day. I won't post them all. I want you to come back and visit me. :)

I've been to the Arboretum a few times before. It has changed since my last visit. Hurricane Ike did a lot damage to the gardens so they are restoring a few areas. It is still one of the most beautiful places in the Houston area.

Happy June,

The Garden Center

There is a very inspirational garden center in nearby Tomball, Texas. They offer classes on a variety of topics. A few weeks ago they had a class on garden photography so I headed over. I'm really a point and shoot kind of gal and don't understand half the functions my camera is capable of. But I believe it is hard to take a bad picture at The Arbor Gate. They have beautiful vignettes all throughout the property. You just go there and dream your own garden could look like that.
Here are few pictures I took that day.

It is a very peaceful place out in the country. There is a pasture next door with horses grazing and galloping around. I could just live there I believe.

The Frog and The Hare

This morning I walked out my back door and saw this frog sitting on the back of my bunny that I have hanging back there. I thought it was funny. He looked like he was ready to go for a ride on the back of this bunny. I know she looks like she is going somewhere, but both of them are still there this afternoon.

Happy Weekend, where ever it takes you.

If You Give a Kid a Camera- Part One

This weekend Paige (my 13 yr. old) took a lot of pictures with one of my cameras. I downloaded them and really liked some of the shots she took. I decided to post some of them and use the title above. I would have never thought to take some of these pictures.

This is a birdhouse that is attached to our back fence. I've never really seen a bird use it. It was there when we bought our house so no we didn't build it.





This is my old rake that I keep close to my compost bin. It stays propped up against the fence like this. I really like this picture. It is my favorite that she took. It made me to remember how long I've had this rake. I actually found this rake on the side of the road probably 18 or so years ago. Keith and I had just purchased our first house and we had hardly any lawn equipment and of course very little money after closing. (That was back in the day when you had to put down 20% to be able to buy a house) When I saw that rake I pulled over, got out and walked back in my dress and high heels to pick it up. I stuck it in the back of my BMW and took off. This was back when we were "D.I.N.K's" (dual income no kids) I was so excited to have a rake. This rake has made many moves with us.

As you can see this is Part One so there are more "If You Give a Kid a Camera" pictures coming that I think you will enjoy. But don't worry, I'll spare you another rake story. I know it was riveting. haha

P.S. Funny Follow Up....Paige read this post before I published it. She was not aware of the history behind the rake. Her response was "You mean we have a roadkill rake."

I thought that was funny. I never thought of my rake as "roadkill".

;)

Peeps

On Friday I went to my daughter's school for a Volunteer Appreciation lunch. As I walked to the front door of the school, I could hear these tiny little chirps. It was coming from the flower container right next to the front door of the school. I took a look inside and found this little bird's nest. There were 4-5 little baby birds in there really calling for their momma. I have no idea what kind they are. They are dark colored with a little yellow patch on their throats.

The nest was hidden under one of the geraniums. The poor momma bird built this nest right next to the front door of the school. I never did see her, but hopefully she was coming back to bring them some lunch. It was a busy time of day at the school and she was probably scared off by all the people coming in and out.

Here are a few blooms I'm enjoying in my back yard right now:

Happy Spring,

What Do These Things Have in Common?

I guess the last picture may give it away. It's Dallas....the new home of Former President and Laura Bush and the temporary home of the King Tut Exhibit. Also hopefully a place with lots of fun things to do for Spring Break. Yes, it's that time of year and we'll be gone this week. We're staying pretty close to home this year.

I thought I would post some Spring pictures of what is blooming in my yard right now. It has been cold and rainy here this week. But next week promises to be drier and warmer.

I love this time of year except for this:::::

I wrote this on the tabletop on my back porch.

Someone should clean this place up.

Libby, don't look so dejected. I know you want to go with us, but you have to stay.

I'll catch up with you when we get back. Have a great Spring Break.

My Buds

Spring is definitely in motion here in my neck of the woods. I took a stroll thru my yard this week and snapped a few pictures of buds I found ready to burst. From the top is one of my geranium plant. Geraniums are my all time favorite plant. Next picture is the hydrangea bush. It usually give us a few really nice pink blooms each year. In the middle are my green bell pepper plant that has two buds on it that I'm hoping will turn into bell peppers. Then the all time favorite southern shrub...the azalea. The bushes are loaded and I enjoy them in my yard for a short time each spring. The bottom row is a spirea bush (aka bridal wreath). I have 5 of these planted around the yard. I love these in the spring. Then last but not least is my little redbud tree. It puts off a pretty flower then turns to green leaves each spring. I'm worried about it this year. It doesn't look healthy. We lost a large Bradford Pear to a disease last year.

I am not the type of gardener that fusses over my plants. They are kind of on their own once they are in the ground so whatever buds and blooms I get to enjoy are by the grace of God. I'll take more pictures when everything starts blooming.

"Lettuce" Eat

I am so proud of my lettuce. I started this lettuce from seed back in October in my garage under a florescent light. I moved four plants into a flowerbed in December. This is some tough lettuce. We've had several nights with freezing temperatures and this lettuce is fine. I clipped some off of another plant that you can't see in this picture and ate it with my sandwich for lunch.

Here is a picture of the seedlings and how I got them started. I also planted beans, but not nearly enough. I definitely learned I need to plant bunches of those.
I used toilet paper rolls that were cut in half then folded up at the bottom to start the seeds. When they are ready to go in the ground you can plant the container along with the plant.





When I went outside to take my lettuce picture, I figured Libby would jump off her couch and join me. But she decided to continue with her twenty hour nap. As you can see I have a pink blanket and an old pink pillow for her on the couch. She manages to find her way off of the blanket and on to the couch cushion. She snuggled herself up under some pillows that are suppose to be propped up all pretty but that never happens anymore. She gets them the way she wants them. Boy she needs a bath.




After Moms In Touch I went to Sherwin Williams today and picked up some white paint to touch up the trim inside our house. Hopefully they mixed the right white. I'll know this weekend. Our nights are in the 30's here and the days in the high sixties. Beautiful clear blue sky. We need some rain. Just a few things going on in my little corner of the world.

♥
Joy

Happy New Year and Happy Birthday to Me

YES, today JANUARY 4TH is my MY BIRTHDAY. I am forty thr thr thr three. There I said it.

I always thought that having a birthday ten days after Christmas was just not fair. I always had good birthdays though. My mom and dad were wonderful about planning something fun for my birthday when I was growing up. So no complaints there. But it is still so close to Christmas.

Now that I'm getting a little older, I'm OK with a January birthday. [It's not like I can change it.]

Not only do I get to buy a new unfilled, blank calendar each January, but I also have the opportunity to begin a new year of me each January.

This is the way I chose to celebrated my birthday today. First we went to the 11:00 service at church then...

This is the new house Keith and the girls got me for my Birthday:

JUST KIDDING!

This is the place I requested {forced} my family to take me for my birthday ~ A garden tour of Miss Ima Hogg's 14 acre estate at Bayou Bend in Houston.

The thoughts of touring 14 acres of gardens just thrills them. (not) But it's my birthday and it's the only day out of the year that I get to expose them to things that I enjoy. Mother's Day also works to my advantage :)

As you can see Buster enjoyed the tour of the garden immensely: There's just nothing like flora and fauna to get Buster "RELAXED".

WAKE UP THERE'S MORE GARDENS TO SEE - WE'RE ONLY ON ACRE ONE! Let's go:

I'll give you a quick background on Miss Ima Hogg (1882-1975) if you aren't familiar with her. Her home was built in 1927. She was the only daughter of James Hogg. He was governor of the State of Texas in 1881. She never married, but was known as a collector and philanthropist during her life and she was just flat out stinkin rich!

Here are some pictures of Miss Ima Hogg's beautiful gardens. Keep in mind it is January and in just a couple of months these pictures would be exploding with color, but it is a beautiful place to see no matter what time of year.

[why did I forget to suck in my stomach???] dadgummit

The camellias were blooming and some azaleas:

Paige and Leah finally got Buster up. I'll only post a couple of more pictures....Hang in there with me. Remember it's MY birthday!

One of the corners of Miss Ima's house:

Our tour had come to an end - time to cross that bridge, get back to the car and have lunch:




So we headed off to California Pizza Kitchen where I enjoyed a scrumptious pizza covered in Goat Cheese/Roasted Red Pepper/Grilled Eggplant and caramelized onions. Needless to say I didn't have to share with anyone. hehehe.

THEN, on the way home (No we don't live next door to Miss Ima) we're pretty close to our house when we stop at a red light; then start to go when it turned green and something did not sound right or feel right. WE HAD A FLAT TIRE.


Thankfully we were off the busy interstate and on a street in our community close to a grocery store parking lot. We limped in. While Buster took care of our tire problem, the girls and I went into the grocery store. Paige and Leah snuck into the bakery and bought me the cake that you see at the top of this post. I was off looking at goat cheese or something.

Then we came home and I opened my gift. It is a tortilla press. I've been wanting one for a long time. Now I have to figure out how to use it.

I know this is a long post, but I only turn 43 once. [unless I decide to turn it again a few more times. That is a woman's prerogative] So thanks for hangin in there with me as I chronicled my special day.