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Ahhh – the sun finally came out!  I can't tell you how lovely it is.  Yesterday I hung three bird feeders and our backyard is a frenzy of swooping and chirping.  I have all the windows thrown open so I can feel the fresh air and hear all garden sounds.

I wish I could remember the name of those daffodils.  About seven years ago I got a notion to order about eight bobillion bulbs.  They are the prettiest apricot color.  I was going to fill the new pale pink hobnail vase (courtesy of Kelly) with them but then I couldn't bear to cut too many from the front walkway. 

 

Kelly came by on Monday with bags of goodies for me.  It's always a good day when she decides to reorganize. 

She gave me the pretty hobnail vase (along with the monogrammed glass the daffodils ended up in) and a pretty tote bag.  Actually She gave a lot of other wonderful things but I wanted to show these particular items.

How cute is this tote bag?  It's made up of vintage linens and a pretty floral fabric. It looks like they used part of an embroidered, crocheted pillowcase and a crocheted drink napkin. 

Perfect for carrying around magazines or books and a great use of vintage linens.

 

 

 

I caught the Pinterest bug.  I tried Tumblr a while back but could never get the hang of it.  And I dislike how proper credit was rarely given to the original source. 

So I started my own Pinterest page if anyone wants to see it.  I have all images in one giant board and have smaller, specific boards when I feel like categorizing something. 

 

Go take a look and if anyone wants an invitation (to create your own account) let me know.  I have a few of them I can share. 

 
 

What do you do when the weather turns on you?  You bake. 

I made Sweet Potato Muffins from the Noble Pig blog.  They turned out perfectly even when the power went off 22 minutes into baking them.  I had made a double batch and was thinking they would take about 25 minutes to bake.  I just left them in oven and then checked them when the 25 minutes were up and they were fine. 

 

The only modifications I made to her recipe were to make a buttermilk substitution (1 tbsp. lemon juice in a measuring cup and then add whole milk to the 1 cup line.  Stir well and let it sit for five minutes) and instead of brushing the entire muffin with melted butter and rolling in cinnamon sugar I just did the tops.

Can we talk about buttermilk for a second?  Why is it you can only buy it in quart containers?  Most recipes call for about 1/2 cup and if your household is like mine no one else is going to touch it so the rest of the quart goes to waste.  I'm never buying it again.  I'm going to use my substitution which worked just fine.

Last weekend I made scones.  I always use Pam Anderson's Simple Scones recipe and they turn out perfectly too.  The trick is to freeze your stick of butter and then grate it before working it into the flour mixture.  Makes for flaky scones.  I've had a number of store bought scones that were really biscuits being passed off as scones.  Too fluffy.  I think a scone needs to have a certain flaky denseness to it.

 

What shall I bake next?  We watched "It's Complicated" last night and after watching Meryl Streep and Steve Martin making pain au chocolat I want to try my hand at croissants.  Actually maybe that is the "complicated" in the movie title.

 

Flickr Favorites

 
 

• Scroll down – see that pretty little garden shed?  That will be mine….
• What totally clever and easy to do garden luminaries.  Can't you just see these hanging from a tree during an outdoor dinner party?
• Speaking of outdoor dinners.  I am so ready for warm weather and outdoor entertaining.
• Free, downloadable labels from Poppytalk.  Actually lots of free downloadable stuff on this site.
• Love the moody, quietness of this photo on Etsy.

Happy Friday everyone!  If you need us we'll be out back…building an ark.

Oh – and Happy Birthday Elton John!