Links to Love

I've stumbled across some great links lately that I thought you might enjoy, too.

A cooperative blog with valuable gardening tips, recipes, and ideas for living a sustainable life:

Simple, Green, Frugal Coop

AMAZING food blog which includes a section for budget meals (I'm planning to make the soft pretzels soon):

Smitten Kitchen

Tutorial on making a toddler's dress out of a men's button down shirt:

button shirt to toddler dress recon *NEW MINTY FRESH TUTORIAL*

A very detailed tutorial with LOTS of pictures on how to machine quilt:

Anyone Can Quilt: Machine Quilting 101

A fabric outlet on etsy (Anna Maria Horner, Amy Butler, Heather Ross, Alexander Henry - I'm loving the roosters):

A Fabric Outlet

I hope you enjoy these links as much as I did!

We'll be going on vacation tomorrow, so please excuse my absence over the next week. I'll do my best to post some beach pics next week... sorry to make you jealous. :) I'm so excited! It's been over 2 years since I've last seen the ocean. Too long indeed...

Uh-oh, Cocoa

Our dear, sweet Cocoa had to have eye surgery this week. He was born with a condition that often affects Labrador and Golden Retrievers, where the eye lashes on the bottom eye lids fold into the eye. Painful, I'm sure. We had to wait until he was a little older to have the surgery, and since he's now 3-months-old, our vet said that we should go ahead with the procedure.

Poor, Cocoa! He's miserable with that lampshade on his cute little head. Every time he comes near one of us, he almost knocks us down trying to rub his eyes on our legs. We really have to watch Sara Lynn around him. He doesn't mean to do it, he just can't help himself!

We are scheduled to take him for a check-up next Tuesday. I hope they give us the okay to take that thing off of him. I'm unclear on how long he needs to wear it (my husband was the one who took him for the procedure.)

Mystery Garden Thief

I am pleased to announce that my garden is off to a great start. It won't be long before we're enjoying an abundance of fresh produce just steps from my back door.

We have our garden area seperated from the rest of the backyard so that our puppy dogs don't wreck our hard work. However, Cocoa manages to sneak out of the gate once in a while and he heads straight for the garden - little tyrant! That would be his puppy paws trailing by my strawberries in the photo above.

I can blame Cocoa for alot of things... like chewing up my favorite pair of Crocs and the handle to my grill brush, and for gnawing on my firewood and picnic table, and for utterly destroying his cozy pet bed we bought for him. (Good grief! This dog is really bad about chewing things up.)

But, I can't blame him for this. Some little garden thief has been nibbling on my strawberries. Evidence above.

I noticed it this morning. I picked the violated strawberries and disposed of them, hoping that would be the end of it. But, whoever/whatever it was came back for more this afternoon. This means war! I promptly dug up my strawberry plants and placed them in hanging baskets.

They are now hanging happily on my fence, and I do hope that whatever it was can't climb fences!

I'll be keeping an eye out for it... Wish me luck.

We love strawberries around here.

And the winner is...

Drum roll, please...



Congratulations, Rhetta!

I will pop your prize in the mail on Monday...

Please send your mailing address to melissasews@gmail.com

A big heart-felt thank you goes out to everyone who entered. God's peace to you all.

My first harvest: radishes!

I enjoyed my first garden harvest this week. The radishes were ruby red, perfectly rounded, and absolutely gorgeous. No, I'm not biased at all. :) It took me all of 5 minutes to get them washed, sliced, and tossed in a salad.

These radishes were extremely tender and mildly spicy. Just the kick my salad needed. If you haven't tried Marie's Balsamic Vinaigrette salad dressing yet, you're missing out. I must say it was an excellent meal.

I have another muffin recipe to share with you... These Morning Glory Muffins from my latest issue of Southern Living Magazine are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. They are a cross between carrot cake and spice cake - two of my favorites. When I saw this recipe, I knew they would be wonderful.


I substituted regular raisins for the golden ones, and used half whole wheat flour and half plain white flour. The next time I make these, I'll use only whole wheat flour. Be sure to either add more liquid or use a bit less whole wheat flour than the recipe calls for to keep the muffins light. Generally, if a recipe calls for 1 cup of plain white flour, I'll substitute 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour.

Vintage Goodness

I'm crazy about this vintage, hand-tied quilt!

And I'm not too sure about this one.

One of the drawbacks of purchasing goods online, is the inability to view, inspect, touch, and feel the item in person. I'm not terribly disappointed with my purchase, because I got a really good deal on both of these. The one I looove, was only $16 and some change. Not too shabby... Thank you, Ebay! The other, only $20.

The bottom quilt is made from old Saris, and is intended for use as a rug. It's heavy, but not terribly durable. I will not be able to use it as a rug. The quilt top is fragile, and even frayed in a few places when I washed it. I'll probably make the necessary repairs and hang it on a wall. I'm undecided at the moment.

The quilt that won my adoration is in pristine condition. It's been washed, hung out to dry in the sunshine, and is now snuggling my precious little ones.

They seem to like it, too.

Spring took over...

... my sewing studio... which is also the sunroom... which makes it the perfect place to house our transplants and chicks...

Our chicks are almost ready to move into their coop. Only one problem - we have to build one first! We're hoping to have a more productive weekend ahead...

My newly budded fig tree needs to find a new home...

And my grapes, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries are in search of a trellis...

Can you see them stretching?

I intended to snap a better shot of my tomato seedlings. They have all sprouted (except for one or two) and seem to love their temporary home in my sun-filled sewing studio.

One day soon, these inhabitants will find their way out to my garden and I will find my way back to my sewing machine.

Chickie Growth Spurt

These little ladies know how to put down some food! They're a little over two weeks old, and we are just about to finish off the last of a 20-pound bag of feed. Unbelievable.

Our weather was warm enough last week to take them outside to play for a few minutes...

The kids love them so much already. The first thing they do when they wake up in the mornings is check on them. They even say goodnight to the chicks when they're heading to bed at night.

For some reason my husband thought it would be funny to put one on Sara Lynn's head... All I could think was, "Please don't poop!"

One did poop on Daniel - poor guy! He wasn't too thrilled about that. I made sure everybody washed up really well after our little outing.

We had plans to build the coop this weekend, but it rained. And rained. And rained some more. Literally, it began raining on Friday night and didn't stop until Sunday afternoon (and then started again Sunday night and rained all day long Monday). My garden should be very happy. My lettuce, arugula, and radishes are almost ready. I am itching to make my first salad!

It's a giveaway!

This is my very first blog giveaway! I've been thinking about having one for a while now. There have been so many great giveaways out there in blogland lately, and it's so much fun to play along. Besides, I need to de-stash a bit... my fabric cabinet will barely close!

Up for grabs is this cotton quilting fabric in 1-yard pieces, 9 tea light candles (in one of my favorite scents - Fresh Linen), and a copy of my church cookbook which features several recipes from yours truly. This cookbook is full of mouth watering southern-style recipes which have been passed down from generation to generation.

All you have to do to be entered is leave a comment on this post. I'll accept comments through Friday, March 20, 2009. The winner will be announced on Saturday, and I'll put the prize in the mail the following Monday.

If you do not link your comment to your own blog, be sure to leave an email address where I can notify you of your win and get your mailing address. :)

Whole Wheat Banana Nut Muffins (Easy!)

So, I told you we were a muffin-loving family...

I meant it! I'm always on the lookout for new recipes to try. I wanted to make some healthy muffins for us to have for breakfast, but I didn't want to make the same muffins I always make. And, I had some very ripe bananas that needed to be used. (Did you know that you can freeze bananas whole - in the peel - for use later if you don't get a chance to use them? Thaw, and they're ready to go when you need them. As a matter of fact, I have a few in my freezer right now.)

I came across a great blog called Made Healthier which I have now bookmarked. These banana muffins were very good, and they do not have any oil in them at all. You can make them with skim or soy milk (I used 2%), and they have very little sugar in them. I love cooking with whole wheat flour, but if you've never used it before, you may want to use half whole wheat and half regular plain white flour. It's a different texture, and a bit heavier than white flour. But very good nonetheless, and much better for you.

My kids have been raiding the muffin dish like mad since I made these. One or two for breakfast, one for an afternoon snack, and one before bedtime. They are good, but a little on the bland side for my taste. (It may have something to do with the fact that I tripled the recipe. I told you we liked muffins! And I had 6 bananas I wanted to use.) The next time I make these muffins, I'll probably throw in an extra banana and add a bit more vanilla. I like my flavor kicked up a notch or two. It's a southern thing.