Take Me Out

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Mi Jardin

I'm so pleased with my garden this year. Stephen helped me one day plant these flowers out front, hang my fern and plant a Hydrangea (not pictured). My mom helped me with the Jalapeno plants, and I planted the Basil. Do you want any? I plant it just because, but I don't ever use it. Any ideas what to do with it? We have an abundance of misused herbs; that should be a crime.   My parents also planted my back flower garden with three blueberry bushes and a Dogwood tree! They have blueberries on them; they aren't blue yet. It has been such a joy to see them grow. I can't wait to have blueberry smoothies and muffins all summer long!

We also celebrated seis de Mayo! (Get it, because we celebrated the sixth instead of the fifth?)

Check out how my window garden is coming along!

You Asked For It

Okay, so you didn't ask me directly for it, but I'm sure you thought about it!

Here's an update on my parent's "little" project. It has come such a long, long way.  Right now, the main focus is on the outdoor kitchen area.  An outdoor kitchen is what inspired this idea.  My dad wanted a place to grill and eat outside, but he needed some sort of structure.  < Insert genius (?) idea from my mom on moving this house over. >

He originally thought about building a small barn type facility that would allow for one bedroom, small gathering space and a small kitchen.  This fits that description perfectly, and it already has the exterior complete. The interior is a whole different ballgame!

Back to the point- the outdoor dining area is main priority.  The area has been built up, and the concrete has been poured.  Next, it will be covered in rock.  It's finally starting to look like something.  Dad says we will be able to grill out for the 4th of July...we shall see! Stay tuned!

First, I want to remind you what it used to look like.

It's looking great! I can't wait to use it! GREAT JOB, DAD and MOM!

Fun Fact Friday: Coffee Grinds

Today I will tell you about what I learned this past week. I've learned that not only do coffee grinds keep slugs at bay, but they are also good for your soil.

This is very green. Maybe I'm becoming green? I think I'm more of an army green.

Whatever your reason, it helps the environment out and it helps your plants out. I hear that coffee grinds especially help out with blueberries, hydrangeas and azaleas, but that "may just be a myth".  You can read all about it here.

Also crush up your egg shells and throw them into your soil.  Great for the environment, great for soil and slugs can't crawl over the sharp edges.  If you wonder why I'm hating on the slugs right now, it's because they can kill your plants! You can also set out a small container with beer in it at the base of your plant. Slugs (like me) like beer. They will crawl in, drink until their hearts are content and die. 

I think I'd rather not waste beer on the slugs, so I'm testing the coffee grinds.

Not sure if this is what they're suppose to look like. Here's hoping they'll turn blue soon!

And for your viewing pleasure:

My Potholder =)

Not All It's Cracked Up To Be??

No. 3 on my "30 Before 30" List is going to the Kentucky Derby wearing a big ole hat and drinking a cold mint julep from my silver mug.  Seeing as how no one thought I was serious when I said I wanted to go to the Derby, I decided to have a practice round this year.  Luckily, besides the humonganguous rosemary bush Stephen also has mint in his yard, spearmint and regular.  He has been telling me for months he had it,  I didn't believe him, so I thought this would be the best time to try it out! Now we have all the perfect makins' for a true Kentucky mint julep.

Derby day I woke up, took a shower (shocker, if you know anything about me, you know I hate taking a shower), put on my pearls, lace top and my big two dollar Target find floppy garden hat. I was ready! I had taken some mint from Stephen's garden and began to make my mint simple syrup. I used 1 1/2 cup sugar, 1 1/2 cup water and a bunch of mint. You know I eyeball that kind of stuff. Brought to a boil then let it cool in the frig.

Stephen and I went to the ABC store (he wouldn't let me wear my hat in) and picked up a bottle of Early Times Kentucky Whisky. We wanted this to be authentic, so we used the recipe from KentuckyDerby.com.  We placed our bets, or so we thought, and went to make our drinks.

So, the recipe calls for 1 Tablespoon of your simple syrup mixture and 2 ounces of bourbon. That's not a very big drink, so we tried to use the same proportions.  We also added more crushed mint and crushed ice. Topped it off with a fresh sprint of mint, and it was ready to go down. Man, it was pretty! Probably the prettiest of all the libations I have ever re-created. I even set up a little photo shoot for it. I was in love. That is until I took my first sip....YEEE-UCCK! It was like an explosion of sugar at first, then you realize it's a shot of whisky. Every sip was like that. I managed to force down maybe a 1/4th of my glass, but sadly I couldn't handle it. Our relationship came to an end after the race was over; you know about two minutes later.

Now, let's rewind about five minutes. We made our drinks, watched the National Anthem and got ready for the race. We get a call, the website is down and our bets didn't go in. We didn't place big bets, but we wanted to have something in it, so it came down to the wire. About one minute before the race began, our bet goes through. We have a few dollars on the favorite 8. Dailed In and few on 15. Midnight Interlude. The race begins, we are so excited. Imagine us: Me- jumping up and down screaming, with my hat on and a full glass of mint julep; Stephen- sitting in his chair calmly saying something like let's go.  Two minutes later, it ends. It's over. That's what all the hype and preparation was for. We win nothing. 8. Dailed In gets 8th place and 15. Midnight Interlude gets 18th (I think). 18th out of 19 horses. Do we know how to pick em or what.

notice the rosemary behind me

Regardless of the let down of the drink and the let down of the race, I enjoyed it! I think it was so much fun. I can only imagine what it would be like to be there surrounded by all the celebrities and beautiful fashion. Oh, be still my heart. Animals and big hats. I love em. I do love them both. Maybe next year.

so not even a 1/4th

Chalk It Up

Remember yesterday when I said I was a kid at heart? Remember last week when I said I was a sixty-five year old woman? Apparently there's a battle over who I really am!

Let's chalk another one up to the sixty-five year old lady!

I decided I needed a new hobby, so where better to go than Hobby Lobby?! While there I picked up a kit entitled "I Taught Myself to Crochet", and I spent all of last night teaching myself to crochet. (Appropriate title, right?)

I'm so excited! I have a long ways to go, but one day I'm going to be making afghans and mittens and coasters and booties! ha! No, seriously, I am excited. If anyone has any pointers, please send 'em on over!

Last night, I made a bookmark. Not really, it's just about the size of a bookmark, but it's a great start! So, I hope everyone is ready to start receiving crocheted presents!! =)

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 I'm pretty sure I'll have to learn to make this.



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And this.



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And who couldn't use one of these?



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And a pair of these.

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And what the heck? One of these, too!

Just wanted to say...

Thank you!

Thank you for stopping by.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to read what I have to say.

Even though most of the time it's random nonsense.

Whether it's none, one or all 25 of my faithful followers (or more that I secretly don't know about; you sneaky thing!???) I appreciate each and every one of you!

Just for stopping by, I'm going to show you a picture of Pixie, and I won't tell you about the dream I had last night where a huge tiger that turned into a polar bear got her. We had to take a moment this morning and hug it out.

Thanks for stopping by! Lots of love, Kirby

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo

Today I have nothing to say, so I will share some photos of our recent (like a month or so ago) trip to the zoo.

This guy tried to eat my hair.



This guy wanted nothing to do with me.

Rawh!

Perfection

Go Valley!

Favorite.

When I was a young warthog...

It was such a fun day! I am a kid at heart, and Stephen is a good sport.   

P.S.

Say a prayer for all the lost pets. I know how upset I would be...

I am thankful. I am lucky. I count my blessings. I wish I did this or said this more often. Most of the time, there is a complaint coming out about .  Yesterday, Alabama went through some terrible, terrible storms. Today, I am thankful that I am able to write this post.

As a child, I wanted to be a meteorologist. I thought that would be the coolest job on the planet. I remember learning where all the states were because I knew that they weren't really behind them on the weather channel. I knew that if I wanted to be a real weather girl, I wouldn't be able to look at them because of the blue/green screen effect. I knew that I would have to call on states by name without asking. So I learned them. I would stand in front of our double French doors and point to places all while looking ahead and talking to the world no one.

After I got off from my day job, I would then assume the position as a tornado chaser. I just thought that would be so fun. Was I crazy?? No, I just had a different perspective on life. I had nothing to lose at the age of ten.

When the storms came through last night, I was terrified and brought to tears. Today I have things to lose: great relationships with people that I would miss terribly if I lost them and a little white pup who depends on me for her safety. A house with many long hours put in it personally, plants that I just planted last weekend, blue birds in my blue bird house and blueberries growing on my bushes. Again, all of those things are silly, because they are all replaceable (minus the people and Pixie). However, I am extremely thankful that they all were standing this morning.

It's interesting to me to think about the way I thought back then and the way I think now. Glued to the TV last night, I remembered my days of wanting to be the next great meteorologist/storm chaser. I couldn't believe I ever thought that way.

Please remember all those lost in the terrible storms yesterday. Pray that all people are accounted for. Pray those that have lost can get back on their feet. Pray for their strength.

Sew Happy

One of the things on my list to do before I'm 30 is to learn to sew. I started looking up sewing classes yesterday, but unfortunately already missed two classes. Now I shall wait ever so patiently for the next round to start...that is unless someone wants to personally take me on as a student!?!?

There are some basics a seamstress needs. For starters, a sewing machine. Luckily my mom has a brand new one that she says I can use! Woo! Hoo! Check off number 1! Number 2 is a great pair of scissors.  A pair that will only be used on fabric. A pair that will transform my 25 year old hands into the hands of a wonderful seamstress.  Lucky for me a friend with a sewing blog is giving away a pair! (This is my plea for me to win!) She is such an awesome seamstress. She's self taught (I think), and she can create all different sorts such as curtains, baby bedding, clothes, pillows and even purses! Oh, one day that'll be me!! Go check her blog out. You could learn some really great things!!

Cool People Sew



We Love the Coach (es)

Coach Stephen has his first baseball game tonight! He's coaching 13-14 year old boys summer league.  Last week they had practice games, and they went well, but tonight is the first "real" game. I'm super excited! His friend, Ronnie, is helping him coach.  It works out great, because his girlfriend, Laura, and I are great friends! We were guilty of chatting last week, but from now on I promise that we will try to watch! =)

Yes, I realize there should be a comma in there...my bad!

Laura has also gotten me into the art of coupon-ing. I haven't made any trips yet; I'm working on all my prep work! Wish me luck! Any pointers would be greatly appreciated!

Look at what I was able to clip yesterday! It isn't much, but it's a starting point. I need some good basil recipes, because as I learned in my past I'll soon have so much I won't know what to do with it all! (Let me know if you'd like to get on the waiting list.)

One Day

This past weekend was Easter. It was a great celebration. Things were done a little differently...I went to church with Stephen and his family instead of my own. However, we did get to have lunch with my family...it's all about compromise I hear.  Service was great, the music was great. We didn't sing "Up from the Grave" which was a disappointment.
I thought every church had to sing that on Easter Sunday.
I thought it was mandatory.
Maybe I'm old school, but I like to sing songs out of a hymnal at church.
Maybe I really am a 65 year old woman.

Lunch was great. We had our typical baked ham sandwiches with pineapple and boiled eggs. Which by the way is another mandatory Easter Sunday thing.

Friday night, Stephen and I decorated Easter eggs.  Last year we tried to tie-dye our eggs, but they didn't turn out so tie-dyed. They were more like when a child colors every color on one spot and it ends up being brown, yeah, that's what they looked like. This year we went more traditional and just dyed them. Unfortunately they didn't turn out, again. Maybe that's our new tradition? Having extremely unfortunate Easter eggs? I'm pretty sure I know why they didn't turn out. I signed a petition saying that I would only buy cage-free eggs; however, cage-free eggs are brown, and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't take to dye. So, as it was, the petition gods frowned upon my beautiful, white eggs and cracked four of them as they were going into the pot of boiling water. We inadvertently made egg drop soup while boiling.

Then, perhaps we got a bad kit, but our eggs were very splotchy. Whatever, we enjoyed making them together. That's all that counts right? I'd like to say that I didn't get upset, because getting upset over dyeing Easter eggs is silly. 


All of this babbling is just to say that one day I will live out of the city limits, and I will have chickens (and a miniature pony). I think it would be so fun to go check for eggs in the afternoon instead of purchasing them in little cartons. A co-worker of mine brings me eggs from his chickens often, and they're a mixture of brown and blue. Therefore, when I have my own chickens, I won't have to dye them. They'll be ready for Easter year round. One day...

Please enjoy my sweet baby's Easter pics.

She loves clothes, really.

Really, she does.

I swear.

Thanks, Mom.

P.S. We saw Water for Elephants Saturday. It was fantastic! =) Definitely would recommend it, but read the book first!



2 dollars, 2 minutes

I know I haven't been around lately; I've had a lot going on. However, I have a lot to catch up on, so stay tuned!

This is a little craft I picked up today at Target.  It was a total of two dollars, and it took all of maybe five minutes total. So my title is a little misleading....but it was about two minutes per pot.

I found these in the bins in Target when you first walk in.

They were extremely easy to put together, and I am extremely anxious to see if they work! If not, not a big loss!  If I enjoyed it, I'm sure some kids would, too.

All you need is a bowl, some water, and a fork. The kit came with the pellet of soil, that expanded in about 3 Tbsp. of water. That was kind of fun to watch.

Here's hoping I'll have tiny tomatoes and parsley soon!