Finally got some hanging baskets!!

My neighbour has some beautiful hanging baskets and I can't be the ugly ducking on the block, can I? So Will and I trudged off the garden centre and picked up two beautiful hanging baskets of pansies.

No idea what these bushes are in front of my house but they are the prettiest colour right now!

Daphne's mimi gave us this colourful little windmill to brighten up the front. Very sweet of her.

I may have also come home with a couple of herbs...like 3. Fine four. FINE IT WAS LIKE 5 OR 6 HERBS, YOU GUYS! STOP JUDGING ME!

The Finished Garden!

It was another hot one but there was less work to do today. Hubz and my dad went out in the morning to get soil and manure. Once the soil was all evened out and the new stuff mixed in I was able to start planting...but not before I decided suddenly I wanted a path. 

I managed to get everything planted and a good solid water by 3:00pm. My parents headed home to do...parent stuff? hahahah 

So Daphne had a snack and we decided it was time to go inside for a relax and a cool down before dinner. Had an excellent day. Managed to plant sunflowers, nasturtiums, squash, zucchini, carrots, beans, pumpkin, basil and lots of tomatoes! My mother-in-law gave me some flower seeds as well so they are mixed around with the veggies and herbs. I can't wait for all those to start blooming!

Artichoke/Mushroom/Chicken Alfredo

I finally found artichoke hearts at my grocery store! That probably isn't as exciting for you as it is me, but if you'd ever been in the local grocery store here you would be pumped.

So I grabbed a couple cans with no real idea what I was going to do with them. Until last night when created the most delicious, most filling, most artichokey dish I have ever made. Yum.

So I sauteed mushrooms, onion, chicken and the artichoke hearts together with salt and pepper. I decided not to add any other flavours because I am a HUGE fan of the taste of artichoke and the pasta it was going on top of had lots of flavour.

I made a basic Alfredo sauce with a butt load of pepper and garlic.

The combination of flavours really worked together. I did plan to mix it all together but lets be honest....I made too much food and I literally didn't have a pot that would fit it all. But it worked out just serving the Alfredo on the side. 

T'was yummy. Will make again.

FIXING MY GARDEN!!! YAY!!!

So instead of getting the tiller we decided to strong arm this bastard ourselves. My parents brought over shovels and food and we got started. Lovely weekend to be outside all day!

Took about 5 hours of digging! Maybe 6....7 if you ask my dad, hahahaha. Still need to get some more soil to top off the garden before I can plant anything.

I will post a picture of the finished garden later but all in all we had an amazing day outside....and only one sunburn. Me. Of course. Even though I put on three layers of sunscreen. UGH.

Let me complain for a second

I just want to complain really quickly about the horrible condition my "garden" is in. We bought this house last September and I'm convinced the previous owners never actually did any gardening. It's basically grass surrounded by ugly UGLY pieces of wood. I hate it!

Thankfully I believe we are going to be able to borrow a tiller from my mom's friend and we can get this under control. It's awful though, eh? At least if I get it done this year it wont be such a pain next year but man oh man I am not looking forward to doing this. Ugh.

Mediterranean Quinoa Burgers

Well, kinda Mediterranean....I didn't have some of the ingredients the author deemed "Mediterranean" but they were still awesome.

I actually found this recipe through a cooking show I watch on Twitch called Cooking for Noobs. Twitch is basically a way to live stream yourself playing video games, cooking, crafting or whatever your little heart desires.

These burgers seemed very simple when the host, Christine, made them so I had to give them a try as well. I was a vegetarian for 15 years before the great babying of 2014 so I always have a place in my heart for a good veggie burger.

The burger consists of quinoa, oats, chickpeas, garlic, 1 egg, oregano and basil blended together in a food processor until its the texture of a really thick hummus. I folded in some sundried tomatoes and small pieces of feta.

They were very easy to form into burgers and once they were it only took 2-3 minutes on each side with a small amount of canola oil to get them crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

I whipped up a tomato, cucumber and feta salad to go on the side with a light lemon and oil dressing.

I probably wouldn't serve them in a bun as the texture of the bread would probably ruin the texture of the burger.

They would also work as a lunch. It's quite a light dish...but very yummy and easy.

Just a quick video...

She actually really loves it but you can never tell. Straight faced the whole time!

Friday the 13th

My favourite day and movie series! Happy Friday the 13th!

Plant Survivors of the Shelley Attack 2K16

My girl Shelley, she loves to eat plants. Any and all. Even rosemary. So I knew I was taking a risk when I started my seeds in the house. I did a half decent job protecting them, for the most part.

We left for a day and when we got home Shelley has finally eaten her weight in seedlings....dammit. I did manage to salvage some, and some were lost. I had about 14 zucchini plants that I had to throw out and I had at least double the seedling pictured here. Pumpkin and spaghetti squash. I have no idea which is which...I'm just happy they aren't all dead and leafless. I did have to replant all my zucchini, thankfully I had an extra package of seeds.

Wish me luck getting these transplanted into my actual garden.

Finally a BEAUTIFUL day!!!

Happy Mothers Day!

Too all the mothers, mothers in law, fur mommy's and otherwise. Have a great day!

My sister Holly, Mandi, Heather and myself.

My mom.

I unfortunately don't have any pictures of my grandma, Iris, but I think of her frequently.

I hope you are all have exactly the day you wish for.

Banana Loaf and Tea

Thankfully D has been napping very consistently lately so I've been able to get lots of cleaning, baking and *GASP* showering done.

Today after she went for her snooze I made a banana chocolate chip loaf. Grabbed a slice and a big mug of tea and watched the world go by.

Sometimes it's the simple things that are the most enjoyable.

Fence Planning and Pizza

We're planning to put a fence up this spring for a couple of reason. First and foremost to keep D contained in the yard. Also...I don't like our neighbors (and they don't like us) and I hate having our yards just one big area.

To save on labour my dad and husband are going to build the fence. So we had my parents over for fence planing and pizza. Will and my dad golfed on Saturday and then we had lots of pizza and a game of monopoly.

Sunday morning we all went outside and measured where we want the fence and then my dad did the calculations so we would know how much lumber to buy.

And there they all. Our glorious plans! We did a little price checking online before my parents went home and I'm very excited to get this project going!

Hopefully in the next few weeks!