Garden Update & What's Cookin'

I can't remember what started it last week, but Jordann decided she wanted meatloaf for dinner.  (Maybe something on the Food Network?)  I hadn't made meatloaf in a LONG time so I made some, along with my family's other favorite foods - mashed potatoes & green beans.  That's my plate above.  Here's Jordann's plate:

I've also had some questions about how my garden's doing.  My tomatoes are well on their way to becoming monster tomato plants again!  I think the one on the left is the yellow pear.  Mmmmmmmmm......

On the other side of the patio is my clematis.  Remember I didn't cut it back this year.  I wanted to see how different it would be.  I don't know if I like it.  Now I have lots of blooms on both ends & none in the middle.  :-(    
And one more photo to show how good Jordann is at multi-tasking.  I think the TV is also on in the background.  And often she's carrying on a conversation at the same time.  

My Garden Report

Look what I found in my "salad bowl"!  Little tiny lettuces.  This was taken a few days ago and I noticed some little spinach plants on the other side of the bowl yesterday.

The tomato plants are happy!
I'm trying something different with my clematis.  Actually, I kept putting off cutting it back in the fall, so long that it started budding on the old growth.  So, instead of trimming it all the way back like I did last year I just cut off the completely dead parts and it got a head start this year.  Wonder how much of a difference that will make?
Sorry for the really bad photo -- I did not Photoshop this one!  And here's my little bird bath corner.  Still need to tie up my jasmine vine.

Oh, those are special rocks in the center bowl.  We picked those up on the edge of the Mediterranean when we were in Turkey.  Every day when we went out with the kids we'd pick up a few rocks.  Can't believe we got back with so many!

Catching Up

Finally have an evening at home. We're sitting around waiting for American Idol to see who got voted off this week. Our current favorite is David Archuleta. I forgot to tell you what we did the last two Saturdays. Week before last Glenn had to take his bike down to Pleasanton to get the brakes worked on. Last summer when I went with him down there I walked around downtown while he was talking bike-talk with the guys in the shop. That's when I found the antique mall with a booth full of the neatest vintage aprons I've ever seen. Unfortunately, the mall didn't open 'til 11. So I kept walking around and found a shop called American Harvest. While I was walking around I thought some of the things looked familiar. When I checked out (bought some old photos) they gave me a card with a website on it and it was the same blog that I had looked at earlier in the week! I didn't realize the shop was in Pleasanton.

Then we went over to the farmer's market and bought fresh strawberries, bread, and broccolini. I'd never tried broccolini and it was delicious! The strawberries & bread didn't make it home. We ate broccolini & roasted rosemary potatoes for dinner.

This Saturday morning we were cleaning house when Jordann asked if we could go to an estate sale we'd seen advertised. Of course. It turned out not to be a very good sale but we kept following other garage sale signs. Lauren won the shopping award for the day. If you haven't already go read her blog for Saturday.

I also didn't show you my clematis vine last week. I added another pole for it to grow on. It has lots of buds on it now.

Here's a close up of Lauren's plant that I just repotted. I knocked it over when I was cleaning & broke the pot.


And a couple of things I made last week -- a thank you card and a bird with some paper flowers around it's neck!

What a life!

Maowie took a long nap today.

Here's this week's photo of my vine:

How Does My Garden Grow?

Grandma & Grandpa... do you remember how big this was when you were here last week? Look at it now! I cut it completely back this winter and it's grown this much in TWO WEEKS! This is a Jackman Clematis and will be covered with purple flowers soon. I'll post another picture when it is. The orange peels & nut shells seem to be working so far. No cats have used it as a litter box since we put them in.


Remember, the bamboo is 6 feet tall:

And here's Jo's "salad bowl". She wanted a gnome in our garden so we have one riding a snail through the lettuce.

Happy tomato:

And here's what I've been crocheting on. I was wanting to try this pattern for a while and I thought this would be nice for a cool spring night. Bought the yarn last week at the quilt sale. G'ma, your quilts were much prettier than the ones they were selling.

Lauren's not home from the softball game yet. We have our last choir practice before Easter tonight. We'll be doing it FIVE times again. This really should be the last time we'll do a musical five times. Hopefully we'll be in the new building in April. Lauren is off school tomorrow. Jordann has a half day and Glenn's off so he's going to pick her & friends up and take them to a movie. I have to work all day -- again to fill in for someone who took the day off.

Super Monday!

This first picture is for Grandpa, who wanted to see the clematis with more blooms. Every morning when I look out it seems like there are more blooms... and there are still lots more buds!

Look what I found at the thrift store this morning! The top 3 fabrics still had the original price tags on them from Woolworth's -- 3 yds at $1.17 a yard. 50/50 cotton/poly. The blue/green fabric is a queen sized sheet. Wonder if Glenn would notice if I put it on the bed tonight! :-)

The flash cards are going in my Etsy store. I'm thinking about making some book totes with the fabrics. Any other ideas?

And don't you just love it when you find exactly what you're looking for? I was needing a pair of pinking shears. Even had some marked on eBay to watch. Found a pair at the same thrift store for $8.00!

Question of the Day

Why do some of the flowers have four petals and some have five? See how big they are compared to my hand!

Saturday Morning

Saturday morning around here is pancake/waffle morning. The only morning of the week we're all at home (sometimes). Glenn & Lauren are in the kitchen right now... being very noisy. We were out of Bisquick so they're making waffles from scratch today. We were talking yesterday about all the things we wanted Lauren to know before she goes away to college. So right now I can here Glenn explaining how to measure, break eggs, etc step by step. Lauren keeps saying, "Dad, I KNOW how to cook." They're funny. Jordann played broomball last night and came in late. She didn't want us to wake her up until the waffles were done.

Want to see my patio? I think I bought this clematis last year when Momma and Daddy where here for a visit. Remember? It had a couple of blooms last year but look at it now!



Look at all the buds!


Anyone know what this one is? It came up last year between a couple of bricks. I haven't done anything to it and it's got some gorgeous flowers. Looks kind of like a foxglove.