In My Kitchen

Have a wonderful day~

Wishing for Spring~*~

It's been so cold and dreary. I'm SO ready for Spring!

I thought I'd post some pictures from my last 2 springs. Maybe it will make me feel better (or worse.)

This picture was taken around May of '09. Everything is so GREEN. This is my front porch. When I walk out there now, it looks pretty pitiful and dreary.

Back yard . . .

I'm hoping to do a lot of work to the back yard this spring. I'd like to put in some raised flower beds and plant flowers for cutting and some veggies and I want to try to grow some strawberries...yum.

Bathing suit time is always a little scary, ok, a lot scary!

Fruit salad.... yum~

~painted toenails with cutesy flowers

{notice my flip flop tan line :O) }

~baby kittens... maybe we'll have some more this spring...

i hope so!!

~another cutie

wild flowers I picked while taking a walk on our land

... can't wait to take my shoes off and enjoy the green grass

of

spring!

Praline-Apple Bread

I made this today. YUM. It's from a Southern Living Magazine.

Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans, divided

1 8 oz. container sour cream

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups finely chopped, peeled Granny Smith apples

Sauce:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 1/2 cup pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 6 to 8 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stirring after 4 minutes.

2. Beat sour cream and next 3 ingred. at low speed with an electric mixer 2 min or until blended.

3. Stir together flour and next 3 ingred. Add to sour cream mixture, beating just until blended. Stir in apples and 1/2 cup roasted pecans. Spoon batter into greased and floured 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup chopped pecans; lightly press pecans into batter.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour to 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick comes out clean. After 50 minutes cover with foil to prevent excessive browning. Cool in pan or a wire rack 10 min; remove from pan to wire rack.

5. Bring butter and brown sugar to a boil in a heavy sauce pan over med heat, stirring constantly; boil 1 minute. Remove from heat, and spoon over top of bread; let cool about 1 hour.

~hope you like!

Craft supplies...yay!

I bought these a few weeks ago and then the weather got really crappy. So.... they're sitting in my kitchen waiting patiently for me to use them. I actually have used the glue on a frame, but that's about as far as I've gotten. My son saw the chalk board paint tonight and asked what it was. When I told him I could make a chalk board out of any smooth surface he got excited. I'll be fixing some kind of chalk board for his room. I can't wait to use my new, cool supplies!

Thank you!!

Thank you

Shay...Designer Junk Finder

Here she is!

I got my Starbucks Gift Card that I won!!!

I'm so excited! I've just started learning how to order so maybe I can use my gift card without sounding like a total dork.

(I'm pretty much of a dork though... see photo below)

:O)

(I have no make up on so I'm trying to hide behind the card...)

Works In Progress

It's a new year.

Time to get busy!

I have many works in progress. I have finished a lot of projects, but there are many more waiting patiently on me.

Jewelry

Purses

Windchimes

Old doors

Old windows

Old bottles

Lots and lots of things....

Time to get busy Lora!!

Antique Shelf

My dining room shelf . . .

This shelf is, I guess, sort of a homage to my mother, Willeta. She loved antiques, even when they weren't the "in" thing. She was always coming home with something from the antique store. When I was young I thought she was so uncool or just plain old. I wanted a house decorated with cool clay sculptures, glass coffee tables and smelling of eucalyptus like my friend Kathryn's house. Little did I know that 30+ years later all the stuff she loved and put in our home is all the beautiful "in" things that I see on my favorite blogs. Luckily, I still have some of her things so as I get older those pieces are making their way into my home.

The framed pictures are of my parents.

The small bottles on the left side of the shelf were hers.

The framed heart is a beautiful antique card that she put in a frame.

The frame isn't very pretty so I plan to re-frame it in something more ornate.

. . . . more of my dining room shelf

....and this frame and flower are sitting on the floor and propped up against the wall in my dining room. I bought the frame at a flea market for $5. .... it's worn and beautiful! The flower is from Wal-Mart... yes, I said Wal-Mart. I saw it one day when I was hanging out in the flower section. Most of the flowers were not very pretty, but this one caught my eye. I put it in my basket, then put it back. I really needed all my money that day to buy groceries. It wasn't very much, I think maybe $5., but that would buy a couple of gallons of milk and my budget was pretty low that day. A week or two later the flower was still there, so I bought it. I just love it for some reason. I plan to attach it to the frame and hang the frame empty on the wall. I'll be sure and post a picture when that project is done.

... the more I think I want a more modern look for my home .... the more antiques seem to creep into my house. . .

Hmmmmm...... maybe a little angel named Willeta is whispering in my ear