merrifield

One of the places we almost always go when we visit Steve's family is the Merrifield Garden Center.  No matter what season it is, there is always something great to see there. 

 This time, we saw the largest turkey I have ever seen in person.  It was amazing. 

The turkey was hanging out with some chickens, two goats, and a guinea fowl.  The other animals were cool and all, but the turkey was the real deal.  Those feathers!  Those blue eye sockets!  That neck that looks like intestines! 

 

I'll be honest- the plants just paled in comparison after seeing this turkey. 

But there were lots of great plants and I did enjoy seeing them, it's just that I've seen plants before. 

Merrifield is so big that in addition to the outdoor spaces and greenhouse, there is also a lovely indoor shop and a café.  I wandered around taking pictures of beautiful spots indoors while Steve and his mom split a sandwich in the café. 

I love to explore shops like this, even though I almost never buy anything.  The fun part, for me, is to be inspired by new ways to group items, new color schemes, new project ideas. 

 

I came home with tons of ideas that I need to record immediately or I'll never remember them by next week.  And I sure don't have time to start any of them this week. 

Steve claims it's warming up this weekend, but I'll believe it when I see it.  We've got an ambitious task list to work through, but also plan to squeeze in some fun with friends.  Hope your weekend is sunny!

our Easter

We had a great visit with Steve's family over Easter weekend.  We also got to see some of my family, some old friends, and a very full chipmunk. 

 

The chipmunk was cracking everyone up.  It's how serious he manages to look that really gets me. 

 

 

Steve's mom cooked a big Easter dinner, complete with asparagus.  Easter always signals the beginning of asparagus season to me and I was so excited that she'd gotten some. 

This was one of the coldest Easters in my recent memory.  Remember how we used to play croquet on Easter?   This year found me wearing two long sleeve shirts, double socks, and a down vest.  Now I understand why Steve giggled at me when I asked if I should pack short sleeves. 

We took the scenic route again and, after a missed connection, it ended up being a bit more scenic than we'd bargained for.  By the time we got home, I was ready to give up on car trips for good and just fly everywhere.  And I don't even really like flying. 

Needless to say, I'm thrilled to be at home all day today.  I've got the crock pot and the oven going and am about to divide the laundry into manageable piles.  Here's to a productive day of housework!

how to get more life out of your linens

I am the kind of person who likes to get the most out of things.  If Steve and I go out for coffee, I like to sit for a long time at a cozy table while we sip our drink and have a great conversation.  If we go on a trip, I like to use the time to do the things that we can only do in that specific place.  And when I buy something, I plan to keep it for a long time. 

 

But I also like to have nice things.  Which is why, when the edges of our pillowcases started looking ragged and kind of shredded, I almost got rid of them.  Who wants to lay down every night on a ragged pillowcase if they don't have to? 

 

After giving it some thought though, I realized that I could just make a new edge for the case.  I cut some strips of fabric and sewed them together until they were long enough.  Then I folded the long edges in towards the middle until they met and ironed them in place.  Then I folded the whole thing in half (I was basically making bias tape, for those of you who are a bit more sewing-savvy) and ironed again.  I pinned the binding onto the edge of the pillowcase and sewed it into place.  Voila!  Even fancier than before! 

 Now that my eyes have been opened to how easy it is to repurpose bedding, I feel like I can give new life to all of our sheets!  These pink polka dot sheets no longer match the room they go in, so I made a new edge for them.  I basically used the same method as for the pillow cases, but I cut the fabric wide enough to fold around the old edge. 

I didn't even cut the old edge off- just left it underneath- but you certainly could if you wanted to change the width.  I think that adding or updating the edge of your sheets or pillowcases is such an easy and inexpensive way to update your bedding.  And all you have to do is know how to sew a straight line! 

ps- Happy April!  I don't know about you, but I think this month is going to be amazing!

a lunch so exciting, you eat it early

On a visit to Natalie's house last summer, she made this quinoa salad.  It's not really a winter dish, since it's cold and uses fresh veggies, but somehow I've managed to make it like ten times since then.  It is so, so good. 

Also, I've finally learned how to pronounce "quinoa".  It sounds like "ki- nwa" and it took me forever to remember that. 

Here is the recipe- I don't know where it came from originally, but maybe Nats will pop in with a comment and tell us-

Quinoa Salad

Cook 1 cup quinoa according to package directions, but in vegetable broth instead of water.  Put cooked quinoa in a large bowl.

Dice 2 mangoes, 1 cucumber, 1 tomato, and 1 green pepper.  Add to quinoa.  Add 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained.  Add some chopped basil (or other herbs) and 4 oz. crumbled feta cheese. 

For the dressing, combine 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 Tbsp. rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp. lime juice, and 3 tsp. honey. Add garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste.  Whisk the dressing until everything is combined and then stir into the salad.

 

This recipe makes a big bowlful- probably 10-12 servings.  I like to make it over the weekend and have it for lunches all week.  I will leave out the herbs and feta and just add them in each time I serve it because I don't think they keep very well in the salad. 

Quinoa is a great source of protein and calcium and is gluten free!  I love having something special planned for lunch during the week.  Normally, I don't plan out my lunches and just wander into the kitchen around noon to see what I can find.  But on days that I have a big bowl of quinoa salad in the fridge?  I find myself eating at 11:30am because I get hungry thinking about how good it will be!

Do you have big plans for Easter weekend?  We'll be visiting with lots of family and hoping for warmer weather! 

 

*Quinoa can be kind of pricey and/or difficult to find, depending on where you shop.  I like to buy a big bag of it at Target and think they have the best price.*

on monogramming

My big sewing project for the week is a set of four monogrammed pillows. 

 

I have a love-hate relationship with monogramming. 

 

Sort of like my relationship with pear trees. 

I always forget how long it takes to get the design right on the computer before I can transmit it to my machine.  Do you picture me typing in a few letters and pressing "Go"?  Yeah, that's what I pictured too, before I owned an embroidery machine. 

 

Really, I do lots of adjusting size and spacing and stitch type.  Who knew there were so many stitch types?  The key is to make the letters look smooth and nice, while keeping each stitch at the optimal length for not getting easily snagged.  I wish there was a button for that. 

This particular design has over 18,000 individual stitches.  It takes about an hour to stitch out the whole design.  And, unlike the dishwasher, my sewing machine needs frequent babysitting while it's working, so I can't just get it going and move on to the next thing.  I can leave it for small intervals, but basically find myself chained to my office for about four hours today.  Good thing it's pretty in here. 

I think I'll sneak into the kitchen soon to grab some lunch, which is quinoa salad, which I am super excited about.  In fact, why don't I share the recipe on Friday, because I bet you'd be excited about it too!

the secret of a short list

As we dashed around town getting things done, the birds all crammed underneath the tiny ledge of our bird feeder to stay dry.  It was so wet and cold this weekend. 

 

I would have loved to tuck myself up under the large roof of my own house and stay dry as well, but instead my navy rain boots got quite a workout.  I don't know if I've ever actually been so thankful for my rain boots as I was this weekend. 

Steve and I try to cook dinner together one night each week.  Saturday night we made chicken with sun dried tomato sauce.  I highly recommend it.  We served it with mashed red potatoes and a spinach salad and it was the perfect spring-that-feels-like-winter meal. 

Today, it feels like I have a million things to get done.  I like to try to increase my productivity by making a fairly short to-do list.  Have you ever tried that?  I find that if my list is too long, I get overwhelmed and don't complete as many items and then I feel defeated.  But if my list is short- I know I can get it all done!  And then I feel so great when I do that I just may tackle a few other things as well!  It's a productivity trick that works quite well for me. 

 

Hope your Monday is productive too!

dashing

Do these bow ties remind anyone else of Easter candy?  I've been shipping out ties all week and am excited to start on some new color options, but I just can't get enough of this classic oxford cloth. 

I'm still perfecting the bow tie pattern, actually, but I think it is almost done.  I really enjoy making patterns.  It reminds me of drafting class in college, which I also really liked. 

I have a large stack of pocket squares, all cut out and waiting to be finished.  I'm in one of those phases where there are so many projects I want to be working on that I just dash from one to the other because what I really want is to be doing them all at the same time. 

This weekend, I'll be taking a break from sewing projects, but still probably dashing from one thing to the other a lot.  It's just been that kind of week.  We do plan to do a little bit of relaxing though and I've got my eye on these beautiful naturally dyed Easter eggs to try out.  Do you plan to dye Easter eggs this spring?  I'd love to hear if you have any favorite techniques!