Some Favorite Spring Bloomers

It does my heart good to see plants coming back to life after a long, cold winter.

Here are some of my favorite 

Spring Blooming plants in the garden:

Forget-Me-Not Bush

Sweet Woodruff (Galium odoratum)

Corydalis

Ornamental Poppy

Bearded Iris

Columbines

Summer Berry Dessert

We hosted a celebration dinner for a good friend who recently graduated from our local university.  The meal was very rich with many courses, and we knew a heavy dessert was out of the question.  So, I tried a layered berry dessert in wine glasses and it was just right.

First I put some beautiful strawberries (cut and lightly sugared) and raspberries in the bottom.

Then I mixed vanilla Greek yogurt and cream cheese with a splash of vanilla and coconut rum.  I added a generous dollop on top of the berries.

I made a sour cream pound cake and cut it into cubes, then layered the cake on top of the cream mixture.  Store bought sponge or angel food cake would be great also.

I repeated the layers - berries, cream, cake, and finished with berries on the top.  I added a dollop of whipped cream before I set these on the table.

Next time I want to add some mango or other fresh fruit in season.

Try this one for a special dinner this summer!

Spring Cleaning - Small Steps!

How do you eat an elephant??  One bite at a time!

Do you feel overwhelmed with all the work that you think you need to do??  Just get started with one small part and leave the rest until later.  Just like the image of "eating an elephant," bite off one part and don't fret about the whole!

I have 36 windows in my house and they're all dirty.  Last week I cleaned 6 of them.  I don't know when I will do more, but it won't be this week.  It's too nice outside and I want to get some landscaping done.

Examples of some "Small Steps"

-cleaning a few dirty windowsills
-clearing off the kitchen counter
-putting winter sweaters away
-wiping my porch chair off so that I can sit down outside:)
-weeding one small area of landscape
-wash clothes and hang them on the line

You get the idea - just do one thing, don't worry about the rest.  Bursts of energy will come, but they don't have to be now!

Here's a link for some cool ideas for Spring Cleaning:

30 Ways to Freshen Every Room for Spring

Pick a few of these ideas and enjoy Spring!

Common Gardening Mistakes

If we learn from our mistakes, then I'm well on my way to being a genius gardener!  True confession: I've done every wrong thing gardeners can do, and ignored some of these basics multiple times.  If I can learn, anyone can.

So here's my list of common gardening basics and mistakes that I hope you can avoid.  If you pay attention to these 5 important items, then maybe then all my blunders will not have been in vain!

1. Sunlight - Pay attention to your landscape beds and how much sunlight they get.  Remember that morning sun is different from afternoon sun.  Some plants thrive on morning sun and some need to bake in the hot afternoon summer sun. It's well worth the time to take notes on your landscape areas and their sunlit hours.  Match your plants with the kind of sunlight you get.

*I've dug up and moved many plants in my yard to make sure they get the right kind of light!

2. Blooming Time - Read, read, read plant labels!  Pay attention to the blooming  season.

If you want spring flowers, bulbs are a good choice.  These are done blooming early, usually by the end of April or beginning of May.

*I have tulips, daffodils, crocus, and hyacinth in my yard.

If you want multitudes of summer blooms, buy plants that are going to deliver flowers during those months.

*I prefer lots of summer flowers because that's when I spend most of my time outside.

3. Growing Habits - Read plant labels carefully to make sure you get the right kind of plant for your space.

If you need a ground cover to spread and fill in an area, then look for label words like "ground cover, vigorous spreader, sends out tuberous roots, fast growing."  

If you want a plant that stays in one spot and doesn't spread out too far, then look for label words like "clumping, compact."

If you want a vine or climbing rose, read the label carefully. It should say "climbing."  Vines need to attach themselves to some kind of trellis or fence.

4. Soil - If you've never gardened before, look at the condition of the ground where you want to plant.  If it's not rich and brown looking, you need to amend it with some kind of topsoil or compost.  It's easy to buy a couple of bags of good garden soil and add them to your dirt.  Just work in the new soil with a garden rake or shovel.

5. Mulch - All dirt has weed seeds in it, and weed seeds need sunlight to grow.  Your best defense against excessive weed growth is a thick layer of mulch on top of your dirt.  "Thick" means 2 to 3 inches, not a sprinkling.  As a bonus, mulch provides a nice backdrop for your plants.  If you mulch around all your plants you will have very few weeds to pull during the growing season.

It's Springtime!!

Here's what's going on in my neighborhood!

Crocus blooming in my front yard.

Mini-daffodils braving the cold.

Here's a Magnolia  Tree near our Junior High School.

Look at my tulips!

Healthy Smoothies

I've been drinking smoothies for years, mostly because I like the combination of healthy and milkshake.  I started out drinking fruit and milk mixed with my immersion blender.  It is still a treat for me to drink a real fruit smoothie, like the ones I remember from my teen years at "Orange Julius."

Then one day I watched an ad for Nutribullet and saw them mix vegetables with fruit into a smoothie that didn't look bad. The thing that sealed the deal was how easily the blade and cup can be cleaned up.  It takes less than 30 seconds to rinse them and leave them ready for the next morning!

I've been using my Nutribullet now for almost a year.  I like the idea of drinking vegetables and fruit for breakfast. I sip my smoothie throughout the morning and have found that it's very satisfying.  My "go-to" recipe includes blueberries, kale, apple, carrots, cucumber, and spinach.  Occasionally I add strawberries, mango, banana, zucchini, or sweet potato. In the summer I add herbs from my garden like mint and basil.  They recommend adding some healthy seeds, so I have a jar of flax, chia, and sunflower seeds that I add to the mix. Why not, right?

  Here's what my breakfast looks like:

Yes, it's dark green when I mix it up!  I was encouraged to carry it to work with me when I saw several other teachers with dark green smoothies in the hallway.  

Sometimes when my schedule gets hectic I prepare "baggies" with all the smoothie ingredients ready to go, then freeze them.  It streamlines my busy mornings and makes it easier to drink healthy fruit/vegetable smoothies for breakfast.  Here's  a sample bag:

My daughter-in-law uses her Ninja blender all the time and accomplishes the same thing, sneaking vegetables into her diet and my son's!  She makes sure he's getting good nutrition.  It makes me smile:)

If you've been thinking about trying this, I highly recommend healthy smoothies.  It's part of my routine now.  With garden season upon us, why not try to get more fresh veggies into your family this way?

Wonderful Good Market at Stoudt's Antique Mall

We travel to Lancaster County often for our antique business.  One of our favorite spots is the Wonderful Good Market at Stoudt's Antique Mall in Adamstown.  

Here's some of their cheese curing in a refrigerator.  When we eat at Stoudt's Black Angus Pub, we like to order the cheese board appetizer served in there and have tried to replicate it in our home.

There is a wonderful barista there who serves nice strong Americanos!

I love to get some fresh bread or a breakfast sandwich at the bakery!

I'm always struck by the juxtaposition of serious antiques with strange items, all for sale in this interesting market!