Outdoor Decorating

Ahhhh.....Summer.

Warm weather.

Flowers.

Vibrant colors.

We wait for so many months

for our world to once again be alive with color.

Planting season....my favorite.

The vegetable garden is planted...

and soon will start to furnish us with

fresh, life-sustaining food that will last us

throughout the coming year.

After the vegetables are planted, I busy myself with flowers.

This year I have added many container gardens for

splashes of color around the outside of the house.....

On the clothesline....

On the upper back deck...

Around the pool....

The lower deck....

(the old Coke machine was an estate sale find)

Outside the barn...

Outside the garden shed...

Outside the vegetable garden...

I found this old cultivator at an estate sale...

This black-eyed Susan vine will climb onto the cultivator...

Weeks from now I will give you a peek at how all of this has grown.

By that time, my garden fence should be covered with flowering vines...

moonflowers, morning glories, cardinal flowers, and gourds.

Hope you are having a colorful day...wherever you are!

Just Desserts

I thought I would share a couple of yummy cake recipes with you.

We had a dinner party on Friday night.

These were the desserts that I made.

Coconut cake.

And....Lemon beehive cake.

I had found this wonderful beehive cake pan online.

The recipe for this cake came on the cake pan.

It is a yummy fresh lemon pound cake.

What better dessert for Bee Haven Acres than a beehive cake?

And to top it off....little sugar bees.

Coconut Cake

(a family favorite!)

1 1/2 C flour

2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup  butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2/3 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup coconut

Butter Cream/Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs.  Add dry ingredients and liquids alternating.  Beat.  Add coconut.  Pout into two greased and floured 8 inch round cake pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.  Cool.  Frost.  Top with more coconut.

For Frosting, I use 1 stick butter, 1 8 oz cream cheese and enough confectioners sugar to make it the consistency of frosting.  Also I add 1 tsp vanilla to the frosting.

Garden Art

I saw this idea somewhere on another blog and decided to try it.

Take an old watering can, your choice of graphic...

(I love old French graphics)

you can find lots of these and more at The Graphics Fairy.

Use Mod Podge to adhere the graphic to the front of the can,

and then cover the graphic with another layer of mod podge

to seal it.

Now, my old can is a little more interesting!

Rooster Apron

I love chickens.

I am always drawn to chicken fabric.

This fabric has a bit of whimsy to it.

I used two colors of the same fabric for a reversible apron...

trimmed with chicken wire companion fabric.

Homemade bias tape ties it all together.

Ok, so back to the sewing room.
I am trying to whittle away at my sewing stash.
Afterall, if I make a few aprons and sell a few aprons....
I can renew my stash!!

What chicken fabric will I find next?

Future Projects

For those of you who asked about rooster aprons....

How do you like these fabrics??

Let me know if they might work...

I just had to pick up these fabrics.

How cute will these be in a vintage style kitchen apron?

Cherries!!!