Coconut Macroons & Polka Dot Watch

The craving for coconut macaroons must hit me each spring. I searched my recipe label on my sidebar to find the easy recipe I made last year. I noticed that I made them the first part of April.




Look at the light brown, semi-crispy bottom.........YUM! Moist on the inside and a tad crunchy on the outside.





DH hates coconut, so he does not eat these. The recipe only made six this time, so that is just perfect for one person. No, I did not eat them all the same day (it took two days). :)

Earlier in the week, I ordered this cute watch.

I have never had a cuff polka dot watch. I don't even own a watch.


Doesn't it look like a fun watch for summer?

Today I ordered this bright green polka dot shirt. I think it will go nicely with the blue watch.
I could have ordered a blue/white polka dot, but I decided this green would be more fun. Besides it is nearly impossible to match navy blues, so the watch would probably not have been the right shade for that classic combo. About three weeks ago I got a cute navy/white sweater set that I think will work with the watch. So right now I have two outfits that should go nicely with this bracelet watch. I got an email that it shipped out yesterday, so I should have it by the weekend. Maybe I will wear it for Easter,

Today one of my clients gave me this centerpiece (they had 2 extras because their lunch count went down so there were less tables in their banquet room)
The neat thing about this is the big package of wildflower seeds. I will plant some in one of my gardens this year. It will be exciting to see what I get from this big box.

I hope you are all having a great week. I have had a terrible chest/head cold since last Saturday. Today it seems a bit better, so I hope I will feel more normal tomorrow!

I Made Two Hair Flower Pins Tonight

They were so easy to make! I just cut out a flower shape in different sizes from a few different fabrics--two denim and one felt and layered them on top of each other. The only sewing was a few hand stitches to hold all the layers together and to sew the fabric-covered button on. In less than 30 minutes, I had this done:
It was so much fun, I made another in black vinyl and red. It goes with the red/black handbag.
Either of these can be used in the hair or as a lapel pin like I am showing you tonight. My hair is not in an updo, so I can't try them out in the hair.
I think I will wear the red/black tomorrow.

Here's the green/denim as a lapel pin on a denim jacket atop a green shirt.
I should probably make a matching bag for this little ensemble. Right now my mind is full of ideas for hair flowers. I can' wait to make the next one!

Bonus Free Night

Just before I left work, DH called and said he would not be home until after 7:00 p.m. He said he would stop and pick up a burger for dinner. I passed on the burger--I am not too fond of burgers.

Whoo hooo---no cooking tonight! I hate making dinner on weeknights.
So I got home about 3:30 p.m. It was a balmy 61 degrees, so I thought I would walk around the Ponderosa (DH's name for my large gardens) and squirt some deer repellent on the emerging tulip foliage.

I mixed up a batch of the repellent and headed out. I got to the first bit of tulip foliage and began to squirt.........nothing happened............I tried again and again.........nothing. I took the nozzle off and went inside and washed it out. I could get water to come through from the kitchen sink, but when I went outside.............nothing...........darn! I decided to use that red Folgers coffee can and just dump a bit of the repellent on the tulip foliage........tomorrow I will have to have DH check it out.

I came inside and decided to have a beverage. V8 Fusion sounded good--Goji Raspberry --Yum....veggies and fruit never tasted so good. I drank it in a Z-stemmed martini glass, which made it taste even better. In my opinion a stemmed glass makes every beverage taste better!

Since the weather has been so nice, I decided to paint my toe nails. I may be wearing sandals before I had expected this year. While they dried, I decided to make my dinner...............
Tortilla chips and Ragu cheese sauce....YUM! Since the chips are multi-grain, they must be healthy, right?


Yesterday I wore my hair up again. This time I used three spring flower barrettes as my hairdo garnish.........
I am having fun with my longer hair. It usually only lasts a few months and then I can't stand it any longer and I get it all cut off. It's fun while it lasts though....

It's almost 6:30 p.m. and DH will be home soon. I guess I will go and make him a nice salad to go with his burger...it would be the good "wifey" thing to do, don't you think? He loves salads.

update 6:52pm:
I made him this big salad:

He should be home any minute. I hope he likes it!

Spring is Here, so I Thought I Could Wear My Big Bold Hair Flower

What do you think?

Is it too bold?

I must say I like it, but sometimes I wonder if I am the only person in the world who does! :)

I am at that stage of life, where I no longer worry (much) about what everyone else thinks. Although, I must admit, it would please me to no end to know that the rest of the world is not laughing hysterically at my latest hairdo.

This is what we had for dessert last night:

It was delicious!

I have not baked in quite some time. But really why should I bother when what I buy tastes better?

I think the last thing I baked was blueberry muffins, which I thought were terrible. I tried some Internet recipe which had a lot of brown sugar in it. I remember thinking that the brown sugar would make the muffins heavy............it did and I didn't like them at all.

This little cake is tasty and just the right size for two people. I may give up baking.

It's Been a Hallmark Day

I just finished watching Jack Lemmon in The Long Way Home.
on the Hallmark channel.

I enjoy senior citizen movies.



Now I am watching, Annie's Point with Betty White, Amy Davidson and Richard Thomas.



Her work-a-h0lic son is trying to put her in a retirement home, but she has other ideas. She and her granddaughter take off across country to California to spread her recently-deceased husband's ashes according to his last wishes.



I am just 23 minutes into the movie, but it looks like another enjoyable there-is-still-life-after-age-70 movie.

Earlier this morning I set the dining room table for Easter.

Remember those bunnies I painted a few weeks ago?

Here they are in their new bold colors. I like them. It's a change from the previous pastel colors.

I posted the full table on my tablescaping blog here.

Are You Ready?

After work today I started to do a little decorating.

I removed everything from the dining room and brought up one tote full of Easter items. I puttered with the dining table,
but I ran out of enthusiasm early and did not get it fished.

Both the curio cabinet & the china cabinet are sitting empty.
I will probably finish it all tomorrow morning. I will have a lot more energy early in the morning.

Today I spent 5 hours at a social marketing class. I can't believe how big Facebook and Twitter are with business marketing gurus. A few weeks ago I took an online class on the exact same subject. The times are certainly changing!

All Right Bambi - It's War!

I am bringing out the big guns - well, O.K. it's just a big spray bottle of diluted Hinder, a deer repellent. But it usually works as long as I keep spraying every time it rains.

Just look at this yew bush!


I have three of them just like this one--hardly any needles left. The smaller green one next to it was covered with snow all winter, so they did not get that one.

Last year I had no deer problem, but now that they have found my diner again, I am in big trouble. They will eat every hosta, lily and tulip as it comes up. I planted a bunch of new tulips and lilies last fall and will be heartbroken if they consume them before I even get to see them bloom.

We've been having nice spring weather (high 50's). I spent an moment or two after work yesterday considering whether I felt like raking a flower bed or two... Naahhhhh, maybe later this week.

I think I have enough handbags/totebags for a while, don't' you?

I made or bought all of these since December! There are three others that did not make it into the picture.

I still felt the need to sew a bit, so last night I worked on a few hot pads for my mother-in-law.

I have a few loose ends to finish up on some projects, then I will be ready to start gardening!

I Planned a Container Combo for this Season

I was sorting through some papers I need to file away and I came across this picture I cut out of a gardening magazine. I may have shown you this one before. I think it is a gorgeous combination.

As I admired it all over again, I realized that I had just ordered one of those big black elephant ears! Whoo hooo....I am going to create a look alike of this planter. I even have a container in a similar blue color.

This one....

I think it will work, though it's a bit smaller than I would like.

Now I just need to find some Hakone grass (Hakonechloa macra 'All Gold'). I think I saw it for sale around here last year. Of course that does not mean I will find it now that I want it. I often buy a plant and the next year it's no where to be found. I guess I could use any plant with grass-like foliage in a chartreuse color...of course, I can't think of any other..........can you?

I am really beginning to get excited for planting time!

These Spring-like Temps Have me Ordering for the Garden

For the past two years I have been wanting a black (really it's dark purple) elephant ear plant. I could not find one any place in my town. So when I got Breck's offer today, I immediately ordered this collection:

I will get one each of the following varieties:

Hilo Beauty - heart-shaped leaves in a unique camouflaged pattern

Black Magic - mysterious dark purple foliage up to 2 feet in length

Persian Palm - serrated leaves up to 42 inches long pointing outward

As an added bonus, they include a free Polly Elephant Ears. They are small; just 18inches or so high. I already have one of these in a combination planter I bought last year and keep inside. I did not know what it was until today.

Elephant ears go quite nicely with my other tropicals -- cannas and calla lilies.

If I spent $50, I got $25 off, so I also ordered another Rembrandt Dahlia collection.
It was basically free - just tax and shipping.
I really enjoyed the splotchy paint-like splatters on the ones I got two years ago.

So now I am gung-ho on planting the deck containters. It's still two months away for me, but it will go by fast. I probably won't be buying any annuals again this year because I won't have room for any.

Anybody else ordering flower bulbs, corms, etc?

Now What Will I do with This Bold Flower?

I have had my eye on this vivid flower pin for some time. I think it's cute as a bug's ear, as they say down south. It's 3.5 x 4 inches across. It's made to pin to a jacket or sweater and wear like a brooch. But that is not what I plan to do with it.

My thought is to affix it to a big hair barrette and wear it with some of my bright spring jackets when I pull my hair into a short, stubby ponytail. I think it will go with that bright star handbag I made a few weeks ago. This one...
Whoa......they will see me coming for a mile in all directions!

If I like it, I will make a bunch more of them. It looks like it's pretty easy to make. My plan is to use denim and matching fabrics for the bags I've made.

And if I don't like it.....well, it was on clearance for only $4.99, so I won't be out much.

What Fun I am Having with These Bags

Thank you all for the kind comments on my last post! I am finding it very rewarding to make bags to match individual outfits. I have not actually used any yet, but they are fun to design and sew. They are not the kind of bags I would take to work, but I think I will have a ball using them for my leisure activities this spring/summer.

I was surprised to see a comment from my Mom asking for a bag. Yes, Mother, I would be happy to make you a handbag. Just let me know which color tulip you would like. I can be your personal handbag designer---Look out Louis Vuitton--Zoey bags may soon be all the rage!

Since I am answering questions in this post, I shall answer one more:

Yes, Dianne, that umbrella seems to be full size. If anyone makes one of these, please let me know. I would love to see what yours looks like! Of course, if I do make one, I will let you know how it turned out.

I ordered a safari print jacket this week. It has not arrived yet, but I printed its picture and began searching my stash to see what I could find to make a coordinating handbag.

I found all of this stuff that I think will work--animal print fabric, leather, black bead trim
and even a black boa! I just might run that around the top of the bag. I even have handles that are perfect - black and bronze beads.

So far I have only been looking for items to use -- I have not even begun to make the bag. I'm still in the mental designing mode. I probably should wait until the jacket arrives before going further. Sometimes the colors are quite different when I get the jacket than they looked on my monitor.

So far this week I have made two bags and have all the materials to make #3 and I have not had to go out and buy a single thing! I love using up my stashed items--especially all those handles I bought last fall when Joanne's had a 50% off sale. I have almost used them all up. I hope they have another sale soon!

Umbrella Vase & Some Denim Delights

Is this not the cutest, most creative use of an umbrella you've ever seen?
It was in this month's issue of Midwest Living along with this watering can creation.

I think they are both simply adorable and I will probably be making them soon.

In the meantime I am still recycling slightly used jeans into handbags.
I made this one with leather accents first:

Last night I finished this tulip/denim handbag.
Can't you just see this one with denim capris, navy shell and pink jacket? Maybe some denim flip flops with 10 pink-topped toes....Ah, what fun I am having making these to coordinate with the clothes I already own. I hardly ever wear those jean jackets in the first picture...I rarely wear jeans, but I think that may change this year.

I am so happy to report that I received my 1 Cent USB cable from Amazon and it works! So now I can get back to blogging on a more regular basis. The cable postage was only $1.56, so I guess you guys were correct in saying they made their profit from the shipping ($7.49). But still it was a reasonable price and I am a happy customer!