:}

Laura gave us each a roller of Peaceful Child last Christmas–it’s incredible…and better than that–it works! Just a tad on the bottoms of a couple of little feet, and it’s calm, smooth sailing from there on. I love these oils!

Message me if you want more info.

:}

One day the Bald Kid was particularly bored and started digging up the front flower bed. No particular reason…he just wanted to.

Which turned out to be a pretty handy-dandy thing because Jillian and Josh brought me a zillion impatiens and one giant hydrangea for Mother’s Day.

What, I ask you, would I have done if all that dirt was still hard and weedy and dreadful? Heaven only knows.

But since it was all soft and mushy, we added some soaked peat moss and a busload of compost and stuck those pretty little things right in the ground. Again, I say “we” like I have a mouse in my pocket or something. It was the guy who did it all again. But I took all the flowers out of the packs and lined them all up and handed them to him in just the right order. That’s an important job too.

He is an awfully nice guy though.

It was a good, kind, flowery day.

And it made me very, very happy.

:}

Oooh-oooh. Boston Cream Cake in all it’s scrumptious glory. In a hurry? Need a dessert like…NOW?  Well, my friends, you’re in luck.

Easy. Quick. Yummy beyond belief.

And I mean it.

Oh, and don’t be confused–or alarmed by the pictures. We tripled the recipe–hence, three of everything. Your eyes work just fine.

Luckily, 3 fit in a 9 x 13 Pyrex pan just perfectly. About the right amount for this crazy crowd.

:}

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups cold half-and-half cream

1 small package instant French vanilla pudding mix

1 loaf frozen pound cake, thawed

3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

2 tablespoons baking cocoa

4 to 5 teaspoons hot water

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk together cream and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set.

Cut cake into three horizontal layers.

Place bottom layer on a serving plate.

Top with half of the pudding.

Repeat layers.

Top with third cake layer.

In a small bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar, cocoa and enough water to reach desired spreading consistency.

Spread over top of cake, letting glaze drizzle down sides.

We served ours with fresh strawberries…

and it was gone in exactly 12 minutes of a hurricane-type eating frenzy.

It wasn’t my fault…but it was an incredible 12 minutes.

See for yourself.

Tons and tons of work going on just outside my window in the back.

Oh, mostly by the Bald Kid, of course.

He did most of the digging and mixing…

and I did most of the pointing and clapping.

But I did manage to plant most of the flowers on the left side–namely, the phlox, veronica, peonies, columbine, celosia and bleeding heart.

All while the big guy was busy planting a zillion strawberry starts. Yes, yes, I know they are very close–too close perhaps. But if we have to thin them later, well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.  Besides…Nessie’s a big fan.

Miss Chicken Fingers loves her new resting place too.

The best part of all—look at my new brick planter! Isn’t it gorgeous? Why that clever boy of mine, put that cool thing together in a couple of hours. And me? Well, I couldn’t even lift the bricks. He’s amazing I tell you and I’m sooooo glad to have him back.

So is Buddah.

Heh, heh.

:]

This non-denominational video message for Mother’s Day has been produced in association with several faith groups to remind people everywhere of the importance of families.

Happy Mother’s Day my friends.

Happy Mother’s Day tomorrow. Have a lovely weekend!

:}

We are sooo ready for this spring stuff to really truly get here and stay.

The trees are flowering…

and snowing petals everywhere.

The periwinkle is blooming all over the place…

and the crazy old blueberry bush has kicked back in.

So much of the yard is cooperating  just as it should…

and the back grass is finally, FINALLY green.

Yesterday the Bald Kid tilled up the garden patch and dug in all the old weed control newspapers that were still hanging around from last year.

And I’m learning how to use my dad’s very cool composter to make our hard old Utah clay just a bit more wonderful.

Pretty proud of our compose in progress–oh, do be proud of me.

But the best part is that my little patch, the one that’s kinda mine, well, it’s getting an overhaul this week.

We’re pulling out all the weeds and any other odd things we find, thinning the strawberries and trimming back the roses and planting a few perennial flowers here and there just because we want to.

We’re pulling out the old broken wood border and replacing it with something…better (imagine me giggling my head off!).

Oh, we’re ready all right to go out there and get to work making it all beautiful and orderly and crisp and tidy and flowery…

tomorrow.

~sigh~

If you’re ever in the mood for a scrumptious dessert but don’t have much time to fuss around–you, my dears, are going to LOVE this one.

Open 1 can of crushed pineapple and pour it into a bowl.

Pour the contents of one dry Angel Food cake mix on top of the pineapple and stir.  Brace yourself, because something amazing is about to happen.

Be brave.

When the pineapple juice mixes with the cake mix it starts to foam up and get all fluffy–like you whipped it for twenty minutes. But of course, you didn’t. Pour it into a 9 x 13 Pyrex baking dish.

Now pop it into the oven and bake for 35 minutes at 400 degrees. When it comes out the top will be a lovely golden brown.

But on the inside–well, just look at all those magical little pineapple pieces all mixed in there making it all so moist and heavenly.

Oooh, it’s enough to make some people behave very, very badly.

Indeed.

:}