lettuce work

It’s that time again.
Time to work outside in the heat and get dirty, stinky, sweaty and thirsty.  
But the rewards of all the hard work are a beautiful garden and fresh home grown produce. 
So far we’re enjoying sugar peas, spring onions and lettuce. This year I planted a blend of 5 different varieties of lettuce. We just cut what we want and it keeps on growing.
I like to dress these delicate greens with a light homemade vinaigrette.
My mother in law makes the best salad dressing. For years I tried to duplicate her oil and vinegar dressing with no luck, until one day I watched her make it. It turns out that she uses very little vinegar, only 1 little capful and about a quarter cup of oil. No wonder no one could ever get it right! And salt. Salt is the secret ingredient.  She never mixes up the dressing, she just adds the oil and vinegar to the lettuce and then tosses it all together with a generous dash of  salt. It’s so good!
Well, I can now say I mastered her dressing and decided to try to create my own  house dressing.

I use vegetable oil and olive oil, vinegar,  salt and pepper and I whisk it all together before dressing the salad. 
It’s pretty good. Sometimes I’ll add honey and mustard and that’s good too. My husband loves that touch of sweetness. There’s no real recipe, I just eye it up as I’m making it. Guess I should write it down for posterity.
I love eating fresh foods from the garden and never tire of these salads. How about you, how do you dress a salad?
Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

Salad party at Beneath my Heart
Debbie (((xx)))

Knockout Roses and Ladies Mantle

If you love roses but thought they were too much work this is the rose for you. Knockout roses have been around since about 2000 and definitely won’t disappoint.

In my garden a pink Knockout is paired with Ladies Mantle and Salvia.

  Not only does it look beautiful, it smells great too. Don’t you love the scent of roses? My pink Knockout has the appearance of an old rose with it’s flat flowered look. The double Knockouts have more petals and a classic rose shape.

   Sunny, a yellow and Rainbow, a coral and yellow combo are the newest varieties.                 

 

 

 

 

 

from conrad pyle.com   I’m loving this yellow one.

 

This is my red Double Knockout. What a pop of color, it’s a stunner!

You can see that the flowers have more petals but there is no scent with this one. If you have space for a new plant, try a Knockout rose. You’ll get bloom after beautiful bloom and they’re disease resistant and carefree. What more could you ask for in a rose?

Ladies Mantle is another of my favorite plants. I bought these plants from a catalog about 12 years ago and got the tiniest little sprigs that I thought would never make it, but boy did they ever and they keep going year after year. They drop seeds too so I get lots of new plants to share. The leaves resemble a woman’s clock or mantle and are waterproof and covered with a furry coat which catches drops of water after a rain or a heavy dew.

 from webshots

This little drop of water was thought to be magical and hold properties capable of causing fertility or restoring one’s virginity.

Red double Knockout, pink Knockout and the lime shade of Ladies Mantle make a beautiful display. This one’s a little droopy from being on the patio in the heat all day, but still so pretty!

How does your garden grow? Everything is green and growing so fast, I love this time of year.  What are your favorite plants?

The patio is almost all decorated and ready to be revealed….soon. There’s a little giveaway coming up  AND I’ve got too many projects going all at the same time….what else is new?!

Debbie (((xx)))

A Yardsalin Weekend

Our development was a yardsalers paradise this weekend. I got yardsale burnout and  never left the neighborhood! There were so many cars and people that it was dangerous at times.

But I was out there early! Here’s what I scored.

 

Cute little bamboo cage 50¢, huge frame that was only 25¢, shabby  frame 25¢.

New gardening knee pads 1$, new letters 50¢ each, necklace stand 25¢, new Pier One salad set 2$, New Pottery Barn tiered tray 5$.

4 giant ornaments 2$. I almost didn’t buy these but knew I’d regret it later so I did!

 

 

These cute boots are my size and they’re the perfect color for the patio and they’re new, 1$. I ♥ them.

Tray on stand 5$. I’ve been looking for a tray to use to carry stuff out to the patio and this is perfect! It had handles on the sides but someone removed them and did a real sloppy paint job but that’s ok, I’ll probably rough it up a bit anyhow.

All these wooden frames were FREE, just sitting outside on a free pile at the thrift shop. I used up all my frames in a project last week and needed a few more. I’ll  be posting about that soon.

So that’s my haul! I hope you found some bargains this week too.

Linked to Thrifty Treasures at Southern Hospitality

 

^Debbie

 

Sure Fit, Are You sure?

This pretty old chair has been hanging around in the basement just waiting for me to get inspired. I bought it new many years ago when I was in love with wing chairs and matching ottomans and I loved everything about it, from the flame stitched fabric to the curved legs. Mauve and blue, what year was that popular? Yep, it’s that old.

Finally, this great old chair is getting a new home in our master bedroom. I got rid of two ugly……really ugly, chairs in there and am replacing them with this chair and it’s matching ottoman.
I wanted to attempt to make a slipcover but knew that wouldn’t happen soon, so I shopped online and found this one from  Sure Fit at JC Penney.
As you can see, it’s not quite a Sure Fit. The arms are narrow and there’s an extra curve  that’s giving me a problem.
A Sure Fit person should come with every slipcover to make sure it fits as the instructions state, “your slipcover should fit snugly, almost like it was custom made.” Wouldn’t that be GREAT!
I used the wooden spoons trick to tuck, tuck and tuck. I think it will end up looking ok. Not perfect, but ok.

 
After I experimented by wrapping the arms with towels it looked much better! So I’m going to get some sort of padding and put my towels back in the linen closet. It could stand a little ironing too. I think I’ll be satisfied with the results. I hope! After I get it all tucked and fitted I’m wondering if it will stay put. Got any slipcover tips or advice?

The ottoman cover came from Overstock but I didn’t take a picture of it. It fits perfectly and both are in natural cotton duck fabric.
SO far the mini makeover of the master bedroom has been, new drop cloth panels, made over artwork, a jewelry organizer, new lamps, pillows and a slipcovered chair….it’s almost done. I’ll post pictures when it’s finished!

The winner of the Rusted Chain giveaway was tarabil_tay. Thanks for sending me your email address!

I feel like I’ve been missing lately and I have. A coworker at the thrift shop was in an accident and I’m working extra hours to help out. Last week I was busy working on details for a Ladies’ Spring celebration at church and the weather has been too dark and dreary to get decent pictures of projects I’m working on.
Another giveaway is coming next week so be sure to check back!

The Jewelry parade and a GiveAway!

The Giveaway has ended. Thank You for entering!Are you ready for all the BLING?

Let me start by showing off some of my pieces.
First, I can’t believe that I won something.
 
I won this beautiful Lisa Leonard necklace from Cyndi Spivey, at Walking in His Grace. Thank you so much! I am thrilled! I’m positive it will become one of my favorite necklaces.
Some pieces that I seem to wear lots are these from Premiere Designs. Are you familiar with that company?
A little about Premiere Designs… The company  started as an opportunity for mothers to be able to stay home more with their children. They wanted to minister to single parents and provide a way in which they could be encouraged, increase their self-esteem, and do something worthwhile while supporting their children. They wanted a company that could provide a way for individuals, especially those in full-time Christian work, to meet their financial needs. At the same time they wanted to provide an opportunity for wives of pastors and church staff members to find a ministry and identity of their own outside the church. They wanted a company that would support ministries around the world and in America.
  I like it so much that I’m planning on having a home party near the end of June. I really like the aqua, green and turquoise colors, and the copper tones, below, of these Premiere pieces.
A  Relevant10 Necklace from Daisy Corner Designs, is my newest piece. It’s so pretty!

Big fat chunky necklaces and old fashioned beads are hot now and such fun to wear. And they’re so easy to find in thrift shops. There are tons of cool vintage pieces at the Jubilee thrift shop where I work.
Recognize any of these famous women wearing their chunky necklaces?
 

How to store my jewelry has been a problem for me since I have a tendency to just put in on my dresser and hang it from the lamps and just generally lay it around.

By now, you’ve probably seen some version of a jewelry hanger around blogland. Whoever thought of this is a genius! It’s a great way to keep your jewelry neat and within reach.

I covered a board with burlap and put it in an old frame, added hooks and there it is.  I laid out my necklaces and played a little with the placement of the hooks and I ended up staggering them.
If I keep buying more pieces I may have to make another one! I’ve seen these jewelry boards made with chicken wire and screens too, instead of hooks.
It serves it’s purpose well and looks good hanging on the wall!

* AND now click HERE to get to the GiveAwaY.



^Debbie

How does Your garden Grow

Every Spring I marvel at the beauty of the garden. Not just the flowers, but the vegetables and lawn too. Let’s take a tour.

The grass is a sea of green. Thick and lush, it’s the perfect carpet for bare feet.  The rabbits didn’t eat the white impatiens I planted last year so I planted them again this year. I know they’ll eat the pink ones……..dang rabbits.  

In the vegetable garden, spring onions and lettuce are a salad  just waiting to happen.

We planted tomatoes, hot and sweet peppers, green beans, zucchini and cucumber.

I planted another Knockout rose, this time a double knockout, which means the flowers have more petals. These are so easy to grow, I highly recommend it if you want a rose with no fuss. Just look at Home Depot or Lowe’s, they’re very popular.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             I can’t remember the name of this tree/shrub, but it looks like 2 Snuffaluffaguses from Sesame Street. Doesn’t it? Bill said it looks like 2 horses. Poor guy, he’s never been to  Sesame Street!

I still want to plant lots of different sunflowers and fill in a few spots with annuals. What have you planted this year? I’m so glad it’s Spring, aren’t you?

*Don’t forget the Bling Bling jewelry link up tomorrow.

 

 

Debbie (((xx)))

Another Curbside Find

 I’m getting so brave when it comes to curbside shopping. This old washstand was sitting just 2 houses down from our house and I grabbed it. I’ve been looking for something like this and it’s perfect  for what I had in mind.

It had 3 of the original porcelain casters and I just pulled them off and it now serves us on the patio as a ………

 

stand to hold a refrigerator!

Yeah, I know, the stainless steel spoils the whole vintage thing but, whatever! No more tracking dirt through the kitchen to get a drink when we’re doing yard work. The doors were missing so I’ll add a little curtain to hide shoes and stuff.

This next thing was half price at the thrift store, just 75¢.  What is it? I don’t know.

My guess, it was a carrier for oil cans. Some kind of lubricator carried it around from job to job. Can you see it being used for that? It’s definitely homemade, what’s your guess? The base is about 10” x 12” and it’s about 16” tall. And what should I use it for? What would you use it for? I thought I might put two flower pots in it.

 

Those are the thrifty finds this week. I didn’t get out yardsaling because it was raining and so windy you could barely walk. Didn’t get finished planting flowers or doing anything outside, the weather was terrible and only 50 degrees. At least it didn’t snow!

Added to Thrifty Finds @ Southern Hospitality.

Don’t forget about the jewelry party on Wednesday! Show off your favorite pieces and share how you keep your jewelry organized. Do you have a signature piece? What’s your best jewelry story? Where do you find pieces you love, Tiffany’s or flea markets? All gals love some bling bling! Come on by and link up.

 

 

 

Debbie (((xx)))