"There are times that walk from you like some passing afternoon..." -Iron&Wine

Today I felt like my Grandmother was with me because I spent the afternoon doing some things I think she would have enjoyed! I shopped for cute plant pots to put flowers in by the front door, and planted my trial vegetable garden in two 5 gallon buckets. I do have to say that I can't imagine my Grandmother would have EVER put out 5 gallon buckets in her garden on a long term basis...she would have thought it was tacky. Honestly, I think they look kind of tacky too, but my plan is to store them behind the shed where they will get full sunlight, and appreciate the food that they will provide...in 70-90 days according to the plastic deal that come stuck into the plant pot. I also created a floral decoration for the house...something my Grandmother did quite well. So well that she had an entire walk in closet (that smelled delightfully of dried eucalyptus) dedicated to the storage of her seasonal arrangements!

But back to my 5 gallon garden. I'm trying the whole grow your own food thing on a small scale and if I do well with it, I think I'll actually plant one in the ground next season. I've been inspired to grow a little garden from a book I recently read called In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, and I was also inspired by my Dad who has actually put a raised garden in at his house.

I'm just kind of notorious for biting off more than I can chew and I was having visions of a half acre vegetable garden (because of course I wanted to grow just about every vegetable God created) and selling my produce on the weekends at the farmer's market here in Belton that I've NEVER been to...all while wearing linen clothes that were produced without harming the earth or the workers who made them...and I realized that I needed to take a deep breath and scale back a bit. That being said, I do think I'm going to ask my father-in-law for a few more buckets to grow some cucumbers, and jalapenos, and I'd really like to grow some squash too....and maybe a little strawberry patch would be nice, but I need to be careful not to go overboard!

After I planted the two tiny bell pepper plants (and watered them thoroughly) I came inside to look at the wreath materials that I purchased today. When my mom and dad were in town last week we were sitting in the living room and my mentioned that some color would be good on the hearth. I agreed, I had been thinking about getting a wreath stand and a seasonal wreath for a a while (honestly, for over a year now, since I saw one out at my friend Megan's house, so I totally stole the idea). When I went to the store and started pricing wreaths and looking at the overall quality I was NOT impressed. At Michael's they thought $40.00 was a fair price for some plastic flowers and dried out grape vines that had been formed into wreaths! Seriously?! So, I started looking around and thought, "Hey, how hard can it really be to make a wreath?". After I combed the store, and looked at all my options, I felt like something very simple would be a good idea for my first "handmade" wreath. (The aforementioned tendency toward taking on more than is necessary reared it's enticing head...and again, I scaled back. No need to individually twist in strands of flora when you find pre-twisted strands on sale!) I also bought a bit of floral wire to secure it all. The grand total for my wreath: $12.48 I think it's pretty cute!



These items were on my list of things to do over Spring Break, and while I didn't get to the entire list (Sirena, I hope you appreciate that I made a list) I did take a good chunk out of it!

Things I accomplished over Spring Break:
1. Made a wreath
2. Decorated seasonally
3. Put all the screens on our house windows with the help of my kind parents
4. Cleaned out the garage with Brian and Mack
5. Set up Brian's man cave room/shed outside with items cleaned out from the garage
6. Spent time with my parents
7. Spent time with Erica :) Yay for Salado and laughing a bunch!
8. Spent time with Mack...we love Thai food!
9. Tried the ONLY Thai restaurant in the greater Temple/Belton area and liked it!
10. Got a massage and convinced Brian to get a professional massage as well. AWESOME.
11. Blogged
12. Got fabric for another quilting project :)
13. Really washed my car...until it shined
14. Went on a search for stationary so I could write Jen back. No store here has cute stationary. Paperdoodles has two sets of traditional stationary in oh so exciting white or the exhilarating cream color options. I've still got to find some!
15. Drank coffee outside and finished a good book
16. Cleaned out Brian's study/made it functional again/not an eyesore
17. Slept enough
18. Mailed a book to my cousin Jennifer's family on the periodic table...it was actually a cute and entertaining book on the periodic table...
19. cleaned off the back porch
20. Pulled a TON of clover out of the yard...I'm trying to avoid the use of pesticides on our lawn...I'm about to give up that battle though b/c there is STILL clover everywhere...we'll see. I'll give it two more days of work and then we will use some chemicals sparingly if necessary.
21. Brought Brian dinner multiple night b/c he had to work late. Story of his life right now.
22. Watched Terms of Endearment. Enjoyed it. Cried, but in a good way of course. I just can't believe I had never seen it.
23. Cleaned out my closet and had a heart to heart with myself about the benefits of a healthy vegetable rich, unprocessed diet. I had a lot of clothing to donate...
24. Played with Daisy and her new stuffing-free toy a flat squirrel that she is now obsessed with!
25. Sat on the couch and thought about life with Daisy
26. Discovered Crosby, Stills and Nash WOW- I LOVE THEM!
27. Made fajitas on the grill for the first time in my life. They were tasty...even if they were a bit charred around the edges.
28. Washed a lot of windows.
29. Celebrated Brandon's Birthday
30. Discovered that I DO NOT like the taste of Wedding Cake Martinis
31. Made cookies from scratch
32. Discovered Organic Red Apple Tea by Tazo It is made with Rooibus and is oh so tasty!

I did more, but I feel like I am rambling...and even though that is the point of a blog in a way, I'm going to leave my list at that. It was a good, productive, and relaxing break, and now I'm ready to head back to work and get back on my normal schedule!