Friday, June 10, 2011

Friday Fun: Little Things that Get You Through

I think fresh flowers are one of the easiest things you can do to make your house look a little better and elevate your mood.  These days you can buy pretty nice bouquets at the grocery store, but more often than not, I just pick a little of some landscape plant-- wild or domestic-- that's blooming outside in profusion.  A little careful pruning gets you enough to fill a vase, while hardly making a noticeable difference on the plant outside.  This week I had flowers from the grocery store, and from a friend's yard making my house look good, and me feel happy.

Gorgeous peonies from Trader Joe's which faded from bright pink to pale peach as they aged.  Made the whole bedroom look better and smelled great each night as I got into bed.

These kangaroo paws were snipped from Tawny's yard two weeks ago.  They are holding up beautifully.

And finally, this little spray of roses growing right outside my living room window look great in my bathroom.  

Do you bring blooms in from the garden?  Or do you leave them outside?   

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Weekend Edition: Recent Acquisitions and Conquering the Tiny Oven

This weekend I bought new side tables.  I was unsure of the purchase at the store because the borrowed end tables that I have been using each have a small drawer, which is very useful for hiding those necessary, but ugly, things like matches, scissors, masking tape, and all that standard junk drawer type of stuff.  These tables are leggy, with a shelf, but no drawer.   Since they were a good price, and in excellent shape, I just didn't believe that they'd still be there by next weekend, and so I brought them home.

And I really love them.  I'll solve the "junk drawer" problem by getting a lidded basket or something to sit on the lower shelf.  Meanwhile, I think my library books look pretty good there.
And since fresh berry season is now in full swing, and peaches are starting to arrive in the stores, I really wanted some granola to go with all that yummy fruit.  I make a version of this recipe, leaving out the coconut and dried fruit and using maple syrup instead of honey, and pecans instead of almonds.

Did you make or buy anything great this weekend?