Maple Springs Ranch 2013

I've decided after the sad crops from last year I need to work on my soil content.  I have 3 of the beds sitting as lasagna gardens since the fall and I will continue to add to those.  I need to do a bit more research into the good things to add to my soil so my vegetable will grow and yield a lot more than the measly handfuls I received last year.

But all my flowers are making an appearance to make me smile

The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth
                                                Dorothy Frances Gurney

My favorite in the garden right now is this peony

A few years ago I discovered figs and how amazing they taste!  I also discovered how expensive they are from the local Farmers Market :o  I decided to plant a fig tree last year but research told me I would be waiting a few years to enjoy any of the delicious, juicy, fantastic fruit.  Look what I found on my little 2' tall tree this afternoon

yes...that is a tiny fig starting to grow!!  

Gardening is so rewarding sometimes :) 

Still downsizing!

I need to post my pictures this weekend!  I've been working on my storage room outside, my laundry room, my pantry and my kitchen cupboards.  What a fantastic feeling to get all these spots finally organized and down to only what I actually use :)

In the meantime check out my cute new niece Alexandra Violet, born February 12, 2013

Audrey wanted to share her baby with Alex while she laid next to her xox

I gotta say, my sister makes some damn cute babies!

Happy New Year! (a month late)

I found a fantastic page on facebook...

now, I realize I'm not the only one who has clutter but somehow it's a lot easier to tackle with this page to follow.  Normally when you go to someone's home they don't open their closets and hidden cluttered cupboards to show them off to you but on this site people do show you!

Here's what I'm cleaning out for my first day

this is under my bathroom sink upstairs.  I'll post my 'after' picture tonight.

Happy de-cluttering!!

**update

It's funny how one small cupboard cleaned out makes me feel better about tackling more.  Can you believe how full my recycling bin is!? Wow, with the door always shut I never realized what was in there until I started digging. 

 

I've signed up for a community garage sale happening in a couple of months and this lets me start my pile of goodies to sell there now. 

 

Tomorrow's challenge...under my other bathroom sink, it looks almost the same as this one did! 





September?!

Wow, where did August go to?  That month went by so quickly.  I've had a health issue I've been dealing with and have become lazy with my posts :o

I'm still up on the Clean Eating and loving the fresh veggies this time of the year :) Fall has long been my favorite season but I'm feeling pretty good with summer right now.  It almost seems easier to eat healthy with the nice weather, cold weather might bring back my craving for unhealthy comfort food.  I need to research healthy alternatives to my favorites like Mac & Cheese, meatball subs, tatertot casserole.  Oh all those yummy choices!

This was dinner last night, Spaghetti squash with turkey sausage, scallions and sesame seeds with an olive oil, balsamic vinegar and soy sauce dressing.  Spaghetti squash is still new to me, I haven't used it much but it's delicious.  Oh, I may have to cook this again tonite, my mouth is watering looking at this picture again.

Lazy weekends are the best :)

I'm loving the Clean Eating!  It's taken a bit to get used to 6 small meals a day but that combined with all the water I'm drinking has me down 6lbs :D  I feel so good too.  I know it's because I'm finally getting properly hydrated, I never drank water before except maybe a sip or 2 to take something for a headache but nothing close to what I'm drinking now.

How's this for lazy...

poor Lucy, she fell asleep watching the driveway for boyfriend to show up, he's away for work for a month. 

I don't have a picture because they didn't last but we ate tomatoes from the garden last night!  yum yum! Little yellow cherry tomatoes.  I pruned the out of control tomato plants as well as a friend assured me it's the best thing for them.  Holy moly was it hard to cut off those lovely green stems. 

Clean Eating Day 1

Today went really well!  The biggest hurdle was eating breakfast, not something I do often plus adding a snack in before lunch :o I'm used to lunch being my first meal of the day. 

A little planning goes a long way.  I make a little time in the evening to write a menu for the next day and I picked up Clean Eating magazine tonight, wow! what a find :)

Oatmeal for breakfast with 2 egg whites then apple slices with almond butter for a mid morning snack, yummy almond butter has quickly replaced peanut butter as a favorite for me.

Spinach salad with tuna, carrots and balsamic vinegar for lunch.  This was a little bland with just balsamic so I added some sesame ginger vinagrette, much better :)  My poor browning banana and plum for a snack.  I miss my grandma's plum tree it just doesn't seem right buying them from the grocery store.

Dinner was tasty!  Grilled sweet potato with ground bison fried with garlic and onion.  I used a little garlic powder for seasoning and added dried cranberries for a some extra flavor. 

The one thing I did today which I also never do is drink water!  I drank 2L plus a nice big mug of green tea.

Eat Clean

So, this is starting Monday for me...

I have 28 weeks until my 40th birthday and have become so ashamed at how out of shape I've become I'm embarassed to say how much weight I want to lose.  My goal is to fit into this dress for my birthday, and I don't care if my birthday is February 1st and this is obviously a summer dress!

Cute right?  I found it here.  I love Etsy!

I saw a picture on Pintrest that said "I wish I was as skinny as I was when I thought I was fat" and then I found this picture of me 3 years ago

Holy schmoly, look how small my boobies are! and is that a waist I see?!  Oh, don't worry that me is on her way back! 

I'd love to try to post pictures and recipes here of good, clean food I make.  This weekend will be spent planning meals and grocery shopping!  (and harvesting my garlic I planted last fall, yay!)