I can't believe my eyes

I'm shocked. I went to take a look at my little seedlings today, of course not expected to see anything but wet dirt, and to my surprise a little seed has burst to life in a little over 24 hours! I'm amazed. Isn't nature wonderful. Welcome to the world Ornamental Millet Purple Majesty Hybrid.

training

As I mentioned before, last year I planted a majority of my flowers from seed, and will do the same this year. I'm hoping to start this week if my plant light bulbs arrive in time. Most of the seeds I have require temperatures ranging from 70-80 degrees to germinate. Unfortunately the temperatures in central PA are not going to exceed 38 degrees of within the next 10 days...maybe even longer (The Weather Channel only gives me a 10-day forcast). I'm hoping that my plant lights, a heating pad and a mini heater will help. Lets hope.

Anyway, last summer I saw a picture of a geranium topiary in Cottage Living magazine. I was inspired, I had to have one! So at the end of summer I looked through all my geraniums to find one with a somewhat straight stems. Success! I found one. I transplanted it into a pot and cared for it all winter long.

I also did some research to find out which geraniums make the best topiary. I was told by several sources it was the Lemon Crispum Geranium. It's leaves have a wonderful lemon scent, supposedly it can be use for cooking and it has pink flowers. I purchased three of these in the fall, bad idea. Having to keep them alive all winter was tough, but I think I succeed. Just last week I trimmed them down to one main stem...there used to be many sprouts and branches.

I have four topiaries in total, one a standard geranium, which happens to be the tallest, and three Lemon Crispum Geraniums. I think they are as ready as I am for the spring and summer. Bring on the sunshine.

work continues...

Progress on the attic has been continuing over the past couple weeks. I'm learning that even the smallest details take so long to accomplish. Especially since we are working from 'nothing'. We have a general plan on what the finish project should look like but none on the small steps laid out in detail.

Anyway, here are some of the things that were accomplished last week.

See the large strip of floor missing? Well, we accidentally cut into a gas line we thought was empty. This was the old gas line that ran into all the bedrooms to provide gas to the old lights in the house. After we cut into this line we had to quickly tear down one of the wall we built to access the pipes to seal off the line. Crisis averted. The two small boxes on either side of the window are little built-in behind the main wall. They will hold my wine cooler and a mini-fridge. It's tough to see, but we all began the process of running electricity. See the wires?

On the right...the large opening... is the beginning of another built-in. This will be a space for me to tuck my TV and related equipment into the wall. This way I won't have to take up any floor space for that equipment! Good idea, huh?

Coconut Cake

Ina Garten is one of my favorite cooks. Her recipes take basic ingredients, highlights their best features and flavors and creates an amazing dish. She is so simple yet amazingly classy and elegant.

I decided to make her famous Coconut Cake last Thursday, sorry for the delayed post ... internet issues ... and it turned out wonderful! I highly recommend baking from scratch when time allows. What a difference. A delicious cake for both the eyes and the stomach.

Feels like -3 degrees

I was happy to look at the weather forecast today to see that we may finally be breaking this horrible cold streak... well it lasted for about two months so that may be more than a streak. Looking ahead at the 10-day forecast it seems that the temperates should stay above 30 degrees with this coming Saturday reaching to the low 40s! Finally. Hopefully this 'heat wave' will help to melt some of the snow and warm peoples hearts.My onion is also ready for warmer weather as evident by its fresh green sprouts.

Almost homemade k-cakes

I'm headed to my sister-in-laws today to visit her and my nephews while my brother is away on business. I offered to make dessert. As I searched through my binder of potential recipes I found some great ideas, but I wanted to make something that was 'kid friendly' and with the upcoming Valentine holiday, red velvet 'k-cakes' as my nephew would say, were the perfect option!

Since I had a box of red velvet cake mix I decided to make it easy on myself and opted to not make them from scratch. Maybe next time.

I love the color of this cake!

I had a recipe for a quick butter cream... I think it was from Country Living Magazine, so I decide I would make that and do some fun dots on the cupcakes. The butter cream was super easy to make and quite delicious!

Almost Homemade Butter Cream

~16 oz marshmallow cream

~1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, softened

~1 tsp vanilla extract

~1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Beat the marshmallow cream using an electric mixer set on low. Add the butter (in 1-inch pieces) and beat until smooth. Add vanilla and confectioners' sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally, and continue to beat on medium-high until smooth and fluffy.

One month away...

Last year, in the absence of a job and an increasing level of boredom. I decided I would grow my own annual (well...some turned out to be perennial) garden from seed. I went on Ebay and parkseed.com to find out what seeds I could purchase to create my garden. Boy was I surprised! I never realized how many seeds were out there!

I really had no idea what I was doing, I just picked out things that looked nice. I did learn a lot from the process and won't be growing certain flowers again. The geraniums did the best! They were HUGE. Much nicer than geraniums you can purchase.

Last year, again not knowing what I was doing, I started planting in the beginning of April. This was probably about a month too late. This year I'm planning on starting at the end of February or beginning of March. I already have 90% of my seeds. This is what I used to plant my seeds last year. I will use a couple of these again, but have also upgraded to this, which I can reuse year after year.

Once I get things going at the end of the month I will post some pictures of my little seedlings and perhaps what they will look like. Some of the things I planting this year are geraniums (love them), petunias, an assortment of mint (chocolate, pineapple, apple, orange, hazelnut - these are great for desserts and breakfast parfaits - YUM!), decorative grasses, Lantana ... and lots more ... I can't think of them all right now.)


If you are looking for a fun project to start this is great! By the end of February when you are sick of the cold weather it is nice to see something alive and growing. It also saves big bucks!! The cost of flowers is ridiculous! Especially when they are different or unique. Seed packets only cost $3-5 and you get anywhere from 10-20 plants from one packet! What a deal. Happy planting.

Slow and steady wins the race

Work continues on the attic. It's so amazing to see walls go up! The skeleton of my home is being formed. It may sound odd, but I love the color or new 2X4's and also the smell of them being cut. There is something about it is almost refreshing, the prospect of something new. It's so exciting!

To get plumbing up to the bathroom we (when I say we... I mean my Dad - I just assist) had to tear out part of the wall in the closet in order to run a pipe to connect to the previous sewage line. The hot and cold pipes are already pre-existing in the wall. Thank goodness.

See the pipe running across the bottom of the floor. Next we have to cut into this pipe and run a new pipe up to the attic. I have a feeling this should be the most pleasant part....cutting into the sewage line. Yuck.This is the framing for the bathroom. I will post some of my inspiration pictures soon so you can see what I want the final product to look like.This is the bedroom (left) and dining room (right).

More to come! Sooner than later I hope!!