lovin right now

I really enjoy putting together "lovin right now".  I know when I am lovin change quite often but doesn't it for everyone?  We don't like the same things all the time and I am thankful for change.  Each one of these items was inspired by someone else.  So I am going to try and share where the inspiration came from for each.  

Happy weekend!

1  my new favorite hat that I bought at Kmart last weekend.  I wear it all the time now when outside. It is light weight, comfortable and sort of has a wired brim that will stay when adjusted.My inspiration has come from several places but mainly from a blog I follow of a gal who wears hats.  I like the ones made of wool but know they would be too hot this time of year... plus they can be high priced.  Her blog is Roots and Feathers

2  My friend Jennifer shared a couple of food blogs with me that her daughter really likes. 

On one of them called  My Whole Food Life, I found the recipe for Almond Joy Bites.

Not really including a lot of sweet in my diet, but still craving mercifully, I decided to try these.

Oh my... I'm on my second batch and have only shared them with one person... my sister Tracy.

Love them!!!  The blog has amazing recipes!

3   My hair dresser and I were talking movies several months ago and I wrote down the name of the movie Lawless at that time.  I had forgotten about it until I was working on my taxes and found the piece of paper I had written the name of the movie on.  I got it from the library and we watched it... twice.  We really liked it.  So then I got back on the music part of the library and found the Lawless soundtrack which I now really like!  My two favorite songs are Fire and Brimstone and Cosmonaut.  Listen to a tad on amazon.

4   Someone mentioned to Shaun that comfrey oil helped their psoriasis.  Last Saturday I ventured in to the Orbit Health Food Store in Goodlettsville Plaza on my run to the library.  I am also going to start yoga lessens there that I am sooo excited about!  I bought the comfrey oil and have been mixing it with jojoba oil and applying it to my legs.  It really does seem to be helping so far although it's only been a few days.

5  My friend Barb had favorited these earrings in a shop on Etsy.  I saw them and wound up buying the turquoise ones.  I wore them every day for over a week, loved them and decided to buy the dark red pair too!  What a hog!  The shop is called LostBirdArt.  Really sweet gal!

In other inspiration around the web...

Teaching kids to sweep the floor.  Love this and plan on using it at the dc!

6 important health benefits of fresh air.

16 minute meals from Pioneer Woman.  Chicken Florentine Pasta is my favorite!

10 simple ways to spark creativity, by Her Library Adventures.

and... The Magic Whisk, by Sarah Lohman of Four Pounds Flour

Here's my hat and the turquoise earrings!  My mp3 player is in my pocket with Lawless playing too! And trust me... there were a couple Almond Joy Bites in the fridge that day that are way gone now!  Have a relaxing weekend!

spring gardening

Gardening has already begun here at the day care!  So excited to get out and dig in the dirt!  We have a row of lettuce planted, two rows of spinach seeds planted and our garlic from last fall is up.  We have also started lots of seeds.  Most of them will be for our garden at home but some will live in the wee day care garden and some will live in pots.  The seeds that are coming up are peppers, tomatoes, snapdragons, lavender, dichondra, stevia, rosemary, and dill.  We are growing three kinds of tomatoes this year.  Two of them are new to me.  Those being Bonnies and Early Girls.  The others are black cherry tomatoes that I adore!  We dig and putz around our garden every sunny chance we get.  Everyone helps in some way to clear out unwanted greenery and turnips from last year while loosening the ground for a healthy season!  Gardening is great exercise for the abs and arms too!

Hello garlic!

Two little rows of spinach marked by pretty fake flowers.

Proud of the peppers coming up this year!  I have thirteen so far.

Our little DC greenhouse.  Hey, it works great!  

The heater is regulated to keep it between 72&78 degrees.  

Although it sometimes gets much hotter in there when the sun is shining in.

This is my first year to buy a tray with the little growing pellets.  They work great so far.

I may have overdone it with the snapdragons seeds!  They're so teeny!

Tomatoes started last Wednesday.  Most were up by Sunday.  Growing like crazy by Monday!

A bit on planning a garden with kids.

This is when we planted the first garden at the day care along with some markers we made.

And a July look at our first little garden.

moving things around

I thought our porch could use a bit of a redo.  The last time I moved things around was early last summer.  The bridge cloth on the makeshift barrel table has faded on the front side which is alright because it has holes and all anyway.  Sometimes I buy things like that cheap at yard sales solely for these purposes.

This entire "moving of the things" was inspired by a light bulb.  Not the idea ones that appear over heads in cartoons, but an actual vintage looking light bulb.  See... I have this lamp that I paid a quarter for at a yard sale (imagine that) that I can't seem to find a shade to fit.  I saw one of these light bulbs in a lamp for sale on Etsy and set out to find myself one.  I wound up finding the "vintage" labelled bulbs at the Home Depot and was tickled to death.  Before... the table was on the left of our front door.  I had to move it to the right of the door because that's where the plug is.  See... moving things around.  This also inspired me to change the table top scenery, move a bench or two around and even add a coffee table.  The coffee table kinda threw Shaun off for a minute.  "That coffee table's gonna get a bit of weather up here" he said.  "Better than molding in the basement" I said.  Plus it's being used now.  I like it here.  It will especially come in handy when bean breaking season gets here and will be a good place to set lemonade during a library read on the church pew.

Before

Before

Before

What's going on out here?!?! 

(p.s. the Cotton is not normally in our house) 

After

That little chair is Shaun's Granny's high chair from when she was little.  I plan to have a trailing plant sitting there this summer. 

I feel this sign is appropriate form the entrance to our house.

Well... look at me being all professional and not taking pictures of the other side of the door!  I can't wait to bring my plants back out to garnish the decor with fresh green.  Flowers will be a nice touch too!

OH and BTW... HERE's the link to the light bulb inspiration Etsy shop.

See the church pew?  HERE's where my sister and I painted it.

HERE's when I found the Wildlife Refuge sign.

Another one of my favorite things about being outside and this weather.

And how to plant in a dump truck.

cinnamon popcorn

OK.  I know a lot of recipes found say "The Best" or Best Ever".  I am claiming this recipe to be "most addictive".  I seriously have a hard time leaving this alone.  This is a snack that we make at the day care and one that I promptly talked my sister into making to take on a road trip with friends!  When I made the first batch, while equally addictive, I didn't bake in the oven.  Which left the cinnamon kernels kind of soggy and some stuck in my teeth.  Not complaining... it was still wonderful.  But the second batch, not the same day, was baked in the oven which made each kernel crunchy again and delectably wonderful!  I strongly suggest the second method!  

Heating the popcorn in the oven reminded us of our neighbor Carol when we were kids.  She would heat up stale Cheetos in the oven and they would crunch up even more and made them last a lot longer!  I personally liked the more burnt ones but I am a little odd like that.   Funny memories!

Here is the fantastic recipe.  Please make this and try your very best to share it!  I will not be held responsible for any belly aches as a result of over gorging!  It reminds me of last year, coming home from Bellbuckle, TN, we ate and ate and ate the kettle corn that we bought on the way out.  So much that my tongue wasn't quite the same for a couple of days.  But somehow I couldn't stop.  There was just one more piece that was doused in sweet stuff.  Good Luck!

What?? What's Bellbuckle??? Only the best craft fair in the South!  See my posts about our trips 

HERE and HERE.  

And read a funny story about someone who stole some flower seeds.

And our favorite store, Phillips General Store.

P.S. Happy April Fool's Day!  Don't let anybody fool ya!