Gardens and Flowers

This was the first year I have ever tried to garden. I had watched my Dad put in a garden several times, and I even helped him plant seeds a few times, but overall I only had a very general knowledge of how to plant and care for a garden. I dove in head first and planted several different rows of vegetables after Matt helped me prepare a spot for them, and anxiously waited to see how my garden would grow.  I have to admit that the results of our labors were not as fruitful as I hoped, but not too bad for a first time gardener who has no clue what she is doing. :-) Our plants are just beginning to produce vegetables, and Matt and I are excited!
Keep in mind that where we planted our garden was all woods earlier this spring. Matt tilled it up for me, and we had a load of topsoil hauled in to put on it. Even though we have been using fertilizers I don't think the ground has much nutrients yet so we are glad that even one plant has survived this far.

Our first picking of peas

Our peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers are flourishing, but sadly the other parts of our garden did not fare as well. Only about seven pea plants came up out of the whole package that I planted. These seven plants did give us peas, but only enough to enjoy a couple of handfuls of raw peas along with our supper. Out of a whole package of lettuce seeds only two plants came up. I guess that means there will be a plant for each of us to enjoy! :-) Our green beans came up very well and were flourishing until we got a whole week of rain. Some of them got flooded, and the ones that did survive I was skeptical about. Matt helped me give them a dose of Miracle Grow and they have made a comeback and now have blooms on them. But because of the setback, there will not be a bumper crop. I was excited to see that most of our carrots came up. It took them awhile, but they are definitely growing. I weeded the whole garden this past Saturday, and when I got done I was quite proud of my little garden, even if some of the seeds didn't come up. Hopefully in the years following our garden will just keep getting better and better!

Matt LOVES my Mom's dill pickle recipe, so I made sure I got the recipe to take with me when I left. We didn't quite have enough of our own cucumbers to make a whole batch of pickles, so Matt bought enough to make a batch and I made him pickles Friday night. He is getting SO excited to try them!!!

My flower gardens have fared much better than my veggie garden. It has been hot and dry for the past three weeks or so, but I watered them almost every day, and gave them some Miracle Grow, and the plants that were looking thirsty now look quite healthy. I enjoy the color the flowers add to our front lawn. Huge thanks to my Dad for getting the flower bed ready for me when they came to visit in April. Below is a pic of one of my favorite flowers in the garden.(Please note that the weeds in this picture have been removed along with the rest of them that were in my garden!)

 

This garden was already here from the previous owner. I have been enjoying the lilies that bloom every day. I do need to relieve it of the brambles and fern that have grown back from the first purge I gave it!

Matt's Mom gave me this double impatien in June. I didn't get it planted right away, and it almost died inside because of the air conditioner. I finally got it planted in this pot and set it out on the porch. I didn't realize that rain drips of the porch roof right where I set this pot, so quickly my plant pot was flooded, and the impatien almost died again. I rescued it from that spot, and after the soil dried out, and a bit of Miracle Grow, the plant revived and is now in full bloom. It is more beautiful to me than normal, because it is still alive after all of my neglect for it! :-)

Decorations

I found a really neat section in the Family Dollar store when I was looking for a birthday present a little bit ago -- good quality, beautiful framed pictures, and different wall hangings and candle decorations VERY cheaply priced. I had some extra spending money last week, so I stopped in and bought a few wall decorations to fill up some empty spaces in our house. I hope you enjoy looking at the pictures as much as I am enjoying having them on my walls!

HOME is where our story begins

HOME Plaque: $3.00
We hung this over the fireplace in the living room. The dark frame around it complements the dark wood of the fireplace.

Family- All because two people fell in love.

 Wall Decal:$3.00
I was SOOO excited when I found this!! I've been looking for one since before we got married! It was very easy to apply to the wall and adds a touch of modern elegance to the empty wall space I had by the piano.

 

Laughter is like music for the soul.

 Music Wall Hanging:$3.00
This picture is neat because you can display it just the way it is, or you can add a picture of your own in the little frame! We hung it near the piano so that there is some connection with the music theme! I was pretty impressed that I was able to buy all three of these for under $10.
There are more framed pictures and little decorations that I would love to get, but they will have to wait for another time when I have a little extra spending money! :-)
Many thanks to my darling man for hanging these for me after a long, tiring day at work! I love you!!

Matt bought me this tart burner at WalMart and I LOVE it!!!!! Just turn a switch and the light comes on and melts the tart on the top. The tarts that I have right now make the whole house smell SOOO good!!! :-) ( Just thought I'd add this pic since I'm enjoying it so much on this rainy day)

Technical difficulties

I have some posts I am trying to work on, but I'm having trouble posting pictures to the blog. We just got a new Internet card, and I'm not sure what is causing the problem. Anyway, hopefully my man will be able to help me fix the problem, and I will be back to posting soon!
- Vicki

This and That

It's been over a week since I've been on here because most of my time was taken preparing and teaching lessons at Vacation Bible School last week. My husband was a COMPLETE sweetheart and helped me out with ideas and drawings for my lessons. Overall, the lessons were a success and everybody had a good week! :-)
Here are a few things that have been catching my attention lately!

I made this cake over the weekend and it is YUMMY!! The recipe was in one of the many emails I get from Betty Crocker, and it just looked so good that I had to try it! Here is the recipe if anyone is interested.

CHERRY LIMEADE POKE CAKE
1 box Betty Crocker Super Moist white cake mix
1 1/4 cups lemon- lime soda
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 egg whites
1 tablespoon grated lime peel
1 box (4 serving size)cherry-flavored gelatin
1 cup boiling water
FROSTING :
1 container Betty Crocker Whipped fluffy white frosting
1 teaspoon grated lime peel
Maraschino cherries (optional)
Lime peel twists (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
Heat oven to 350F. Spray bottom of 9x13inch pan with baking spray and flour it.
In large bowl, beat cake mix, soda, oil, egg whites, and grated lime peel with electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, then on medium speed for 2 minutes scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into pan.
Bake as directed on box for 9x13inch pan. Cool 20 minutes.
Meanwhile stir gelatin into boiling water, stirring for 2 minutes to completely dissolve gelatin. Poke cake every inch with tines of meat fork or table knife. Pour cherry mixture slowly over cake, allowing mixture to fill holes in cake. Cool completely, about 1 hour longer.
In small bowl, mix frosting and 1 teaspoon grated lime peel. Spread evenly over cake. Top each serving with a cherry and a lime twist. Store loosely covered.
I adapted the recipe because I think using cake mixes is cheating.I just mixed up the batter for a white cake, and then added the soda and grated lime peel to the batter. It turned out absolutely fine. I also made my own frosting, and added some lime juice to it as well as the grated lime peel!

The day lilies in my garden are starting to bloom. It's a surprise every morning to see what color of lily I have that day, since the garden was already planted when I got here. These flowers give me incentive to take a stab at round two of weeding out the fern and brambles from this garden. :-)

It has been really hot and dry here the last week or so, which means I need to keep watering my gardens. I went out yesterday to give some Miracle Grow and water to the vegetable and flower gardens, and found this growing under one of the cucumber leaves! I was SO excited!!! I had just been telling Matt that I could see tiny cucumbers starting on some of the plants, when I came across this one. "Honey, we have a really BIG cucumber, come see!!" was the first thing out of my mouth when I saw it! :-) (Since we only planted pickling cucumbers, this is about the size they will grow). Our tomatoes and peppers have blooms on them as well, so it will soon be time to start making pickles, salsa, etc. :-)

This is just because Matt and I both got a kick out of this! We found it on Facebook and thought it was so neat! I just wish I knew somebody having a baby so that I could host a baby shower and make this for it! Haha

It is such a beautiful day and the gardens need watering and weeding, and I need to finish mowing the lawn, so I best get to it!
Enjoy your Monday! :-)

Too Sweet!!!!!

I couldn't help but share these pics with everybody!
Look who came with his Daddy to the dealership where Matt works yesterday!!!

I am a Jack Russel Terrier and I am about 8 weeks old!! My name is Rambo!
Matt said he still was a little wobbly when he first started walking somewhere, but after a little bit he would be bouncing along behind his owner, trying to keep up. When they went out on the lot, the owner had to stop and come back and pick him up, because they were taking too big steps for puppy to keep up! SO, SO SWEET!!

I think pretty much everybody fell in love with this little fella! :)

4th of July

Our celebrating didn't go quite as planned because of the weather, but we still had a good time celebrating Independence Day. Matt's friend, Kenneth came down to help us celebrate and we all headed over to Dad and Mom McFarland's to meet up with them to go watch the parade. But, alas, before we even got to their house it started to rain and NONE of us wanted to get soaked watching a parade. So, Matt and Kenneth pitched in helping Dad pour cement to help support the shed that is attached to his house, and I did the heavy looking on/helping out where I could/visiting with Mom and girls. ;)
About 1:00 the guys wrapped up their project, and we all headed down to the cottage at the beach for a cookout, since the weather had mostly cleared. Matt and I walked the beach finding sea glass, and I even found a whole sea urchin shell! I LOVE the green and purplish colors of their shells, and this one was perfect! I added it to the rest of my decorations in my nautical-themed bathroom.
We stayed at the beach until it was time to come home and get ready for prayer meeting, all the while watching the weather to see how it would turn out for fireworks that evening. Sadly, by the time church was over, the fog had come inland quite far, and we were pretty sure there would be no fireworks that night. Not to worry, though!! Kenneth had come prepared with fireworks of his own, and we headed back to Dad and Mom's to touch them off! The POP and BANG of our fireworks was joined by other neighbors' fireworks, as we all celebrated! :) We ended the evening with ice cream,and all were ready to hit the hay after a day of celebrating!

This beautiful cream day lily bloomed just for the occasion! :)

Can you tell I was a little chilly?

Think on These Things

Godliness with Contentment is Great Gain
1 Timothy 6:6

All men live in one of two tents- content or discontent.
In which do you live?

The contented man looks beyond his circumstances and sees a better day;
The discontented man looks at his circumstances and sees no other way.

The contented man understands the purpose for which he was born;
The discontented man looks at others' success with a face that is filled with scorn.

The contented man has surrendered to a purpose that demands his best;
The discontented man has selfishly hoarded much and, grasping for more, he will not rest.

The contented man has placed his values on things that will forever last;
The discontented man places his values on things that will soon be past.

The contented man is anchored to clear goals and hardly ever swayed;
The discontented man has no goals that anchor him and is many times dismayed.

The contented man counts his blessings and names them one by one;
The discontented man counts others' blessings and thinks he has no fun.

All of us live in one of two tents- content or discontent.
In which tent do you live?

-from John Maxwell's "Think On These Things"