First Harvest of the Spring

This year I haven't posted much about my garden. This is mainly because I had a baby right in the midst of prime planting time, but I was able to get some plants in the ground, install soaker hoses, and add pine mulch to the garden beds. Hopefully all this will cut down on bugs and make watering so much easier. Last year I let my garden go around the end of July. It was just too difficult and time consuming to water for two hours everyday, but now I have my soaker hoses in each garden bed, so watering is a snap. Lets hope it continues to be easy through the hot central Texas summer.

Anyway, the weather has also been much cooler than normal for central Texas, so things are growing at a slower pace compared to last year. But I was finally able to harvest a small amount of chard, zucchini, yellow squash, jalapeños, string beans, strawberries, and cherry and sunburst tomatoes. Yay for a fruitful garden! Now let's hope it continues and I don't loose my tomatoes to the bugs and disease that are already setting in.

Coconut Almond Nutella Pancakes

Today for breakfast I made pancakes. While I love pancakes, I wanted to try to spruce up the basic pancake mix I used. I added half a cup of ground almond meal and half a cup of finely shredded dried coconut and a teaspoon of almond extract to the mix. This made for a much more dense pancake with a hint of yummy coconut and almond. Instead of syrup I I put a thin layer of Nutella over the pancake and then topped it with cut up strawberries, sliced almonds, and a little coconut. It was just slightly sweet from the Nutella and strawberries, and very delicious!

Along side my pancake I made a yummy Watermelon, Beet, and Carrot juice. My husband gave my a Breville juicer for my birthday last year, and I have started to experiment with it to find out what juice combos I like. I wasn't sure this particular one would be good, but it really is! Very sweet!

What did you have for breakfast? Any juice recipes that you are particularly fond of?

Fresh Flowers

Spring is in the air and I couldn't help but purchase these lovely flowers at the grocery store today. I am not usually good at flower arrangements, but I saw a decomposed arrangement the other day and thought "hey! I can do that!". So I arranged some stemless champaign flutes on a serving tray and filled the cases with these unique flowers. What do you think? Fresh flowers are definitely a splurge, but I just feel happy every time I see them.

Oh yeah, I also had a baby!

My baby boy, Parker Christian, was born on the 21st! I had a wonderful birth experience and only a 4.5 hour labor. Now I am taking a few weeks off from sewing to enjoy the little bundle of joy and my new family of four. Here is a picture of the little guy and his big sister that my sister in law Melanie Wright of Melanie Wright Photography took. Aren't my babies adorable? Sorry just had to momma brag :)

The Samples Are In

I got the samples in using my new fabrics. Not all of these will be made for sale. What are your thoughts? Which one do you love?

Fabric sneak peak

I am so excited about the new fabrics for my laptop bags that I have in the works. I just got a small teaser from the fabric printer, but I like what I see! Thoughts?

Nursery in Progress

Well, we have painted and installed the chair molding in the nursery. The colors are going to be seafoam, coral, orange, gray, and white. Now I just have to put together the dresser and changing table and finish all the little decorative accents like picture frames, art, etc.....

What do you think?