A New Week

It's the beginning of a new week! We have had the hardest time getting used to the time change. I can hear the girls talking well past 9:30pm and we can barely drag ourselves out of bed in the morning. I am determined to do better this week!

I was looking around Martha Stewart's website and found this article on "Six Things to Do Everyday." Here they are....

1. Make the Bed
A crisply made bed makes the whole room seem more orderly, which makes it less likely that you'll let other things -- such as clothes and papers -- pile up around it.


2. Manage Clutter
Whenever you leave a room, take a quick look around for anything that isn't where it should be. Pick it up and put it where it belongs.

3. Sort the Mail
Take a few minutes to open, read, and sort mail as soon as you bring it inside. Keep a trash bin near your sorting area for junk mail.

4. Clean as You Cook
Instead of filling the sink with pots and dishes, wash them or put them in the dishwasher as you prepare a meal.


5. Wipe Up Spills While They're Fresh
Whether it's tomato sauce on the cooktop or makeup on the bathroom counter, almost anything is faster and easier to remove if you attend to it immediately.

6. Sweep the Kitchen Floor
Every evening once you've finished washing up after dinner, sweep the floor. This will keep tough-to-clean dirt and grime from building up, which will make the weekly mopping much quicker.


A few other things we do every morning are start a load of laundry, sweep the bathroom floor and feed the cat and bunny. Are there some things you do everyday, to keep you home running smoothly?

I would also like to teach Grace and Emily two new skills this week...
1. Take a shower by themselves. This won't be fun. They don't like water anywhere near their faces. Bath time has turned into a huge ordeal though, so I need to do something.
2. Do their own laundry. This may take longer than a week! Fortunately, they both want to learn, so I thought I'd take advantage of it. :0)

Lastly, there are some things on my to-do list that I've been putting off for awhile now. I *have* to get them done this week!

1. Mail packages.
2. Write letters.***In progress
3. Make a few baby gifts.***In progress
4. Make dentist appointments.
5. Exercise at least 3 times this week.***Not in progress. ;0)

Do you have some things on your to-do list you've been putting off, too? Maybe we can encourage each other to get them done?! I'm going to use these free printable To-Do Lists.

Whatever you have planned, I hope you have a great start to your week!

Five Senses Weekend

I hope it isn't too late for a Five Senses Weekend post! Thank you for sharing your St. Patrick's Day plans with me. Today, we had a quiet morning at home watching a Lassie movie. Then, we ran a few errands, but they were fun ones. I had a few gifts to buy and we wanted to stop at the Half Price bookstore. Our St. Patrick's Day dinner has been moved until tomorrow so that Phillip's family can join us, but we had our gold coin hunt this afternoon.

Hear: I am hearing the sounds of "I found one" and "I found another one!"







They each found 7 coins. Boy, those leprechauns were generous. ;0)

Speaking of leprechauns, here are my little three, having a St. Patrick's Day treat...

Taste: Lime Green Jello. I believe Emily and Benjamin ate it with their fingers.


My friend from Marine Corps Nomads mentioned that Krispie Kreme had shamrock donuts so guess where we ended up today?!


Smell: I am smelling a chamomile plant, that I planted in an extra large tea cup. I put it in my kitchen window.


Touch: I am touching St. Patrick's Day napkins that I found on the clearance rack. 4 for $2.00!


See: Fern was very sad to be left out of the gold coin hunt!


I am seeing a new Jan Brett book that I picked up for my nephew. Christine reminded me of Jan Brett's website. She has so many cute printables so be sure to take a look, especially if you have little ones.


And finally, I am seeing our new shabby chic mail holder. The girls and I each have a slot for the letters we recieve.


I hope you all had a great day and if you celebrated St. Patrick's Day, I hope you had fun. I'm off to tuck everyone into bed and start on the Irish Soda bread.

Thank you for reading my Five Senses weekend!

St Patrick's Day Plans

Thank you for all comments about my patio and water garden! My gardens have been a 5 year long project, and I'm finally at a point where I can add just a few new things each spring. Copper's wife asked how much time we spend out on the patio. Starting now, until June, it will be very nice, weather wise. It is too hot in July, August and September since there is not much air flow. But once Autumn arrives, we are back out there eating our meals and just relaxing.

St. Patrick's Day is coming up, so I got out Sarah Ban Breathnach's "Mrs. Sharp's Traditions" and read about the different ways to celebrate the holiday.



First of all, who was St. Patrick?

Saint Patrick was the patron saint and national apostle of Ireland who is credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland.

Far from being a saint, until he was 16, he considered himself a pagan. At that age, he was sold into slavery by a group of Irish marauders that raided his village. During his captivity, he became closer to God.

He escaped from slavery after six years and went to Gaul where he studied in the monastery under St. Germain, bishop of Auxerre for a period of twelve years. During his training he became aware that his calling was to convert the pagans to Christianity.

Patrick was quite successful at winning converts. And this fact upset the Celtic Druids. Patrick was arrested several times, but escaped each time. He traveled throughout Ireland, establishing monasteries across the country. He also set up schools and churches which would aid him in his conversion of the Irish country to Christianity.

His mission in Ireland lasted for thirty years. After that time, Patrick retired to County Down. He died on March 17 in AD 461. That day has been commemorated as St. Patrick's Day ever since.

On Saturday we will talk about St. Patrick's life, cook Corned Beef, Colcannon and Irish Soda Bread, and have a treasure hunt in the back yard.

First, I will share some recipes with you. I have been making this Irish Soda Bread for several years now.



Irish Soda Bread

4 cups white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cups sour milk

Preheat oven to 400F. Sift dry ingredients together. Make a well in the center. Add sour milk and stir together with a wooden spoon. The dough should be thick but not too wet. Turn dough onto a floured surface and form with hands into a round loaf. Place the loaf into a cast iron frying pan or heavy round casserole dish that has been greased with butter,. Score the top in the form of a cross with a wet knife. Bake for 40 minutes. Bread should cool for an hour before serving.

*Note: Soda bread is daily fare in Ireland, made fresh for breakfast and tea. If the loaf is made with whole-meal wheat flour, it is known as brown bread; if made with unbleached white flour, it's Irish soda bread. Authentic Irish soda bread is made with sour milk, not buttermilk, or milk soured by adding vinegar or lemon juice. To sour milk, simple leave it out overnight.



Next up is, Colcannon. It is the Ireland's National dish. It is *very* good and the cabbage makes it sweet.

Colcannon
1 pound new potatoes, peeled
4 leeks (or one bunch scallions), chopped
1 small cabbage, chopped
Milk (just enought to moisten potatoes)
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon ground thyme
Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook potatoes until tender. Slowly saute the chopped leeks and chopped cabbage separately until soft and limp (but not brown).
Mash the potatoes with a hand masher, then add the leeks and milk and mash together until smooth. Next mash in the cabbage, adding the heavy cream, butter, and thyme; blend well until smooth and fluffy. Season with salt and pepper. Put this mixture into an ovenproof dish and place under broiler to brown.
If the colcannon is prepared up to the point of browning ahead of time, reheat covered with foil in a 350 oven for a half hour. Uncover and brown under broiler.


Finally, I will share with you a fun St. Patrick's Day activity. We have a treasure hunt in the backyard and look for an Irish leprechaun and his pot of gold. Although not one leprechaun is spotted, small mesh bags of gold foil chocolate coins are found!




I would love to hear about your plans for Saturday! Oh, and don't forget to wear green...no one likes to be pinched!

Patio and Watergarden

Thank you for your comments on my rock garden! Next up on the tour are my patio and water garden.

I got this idea from a Mary Engelbriet gardening book. I found this box in the garden section at Hobby Lobby. I planted bigonias and ivy, which will hopefully grow and hang down over the sides.


When I sit on my patio love seat this is what I see. My water garden right in front and the herb/fairy garden (which I will show you next!) to the left.


Here is a view from the other side. Grace is sitting on a stool, watching the fish.


This fish is 2 1/2 years old. Not bad for a goldfish!


Two smaller ones. We have 4 total.


Nestled among the Creeping Jenny is a pot of Dusty Miller, Purple Johnny Jump-ups and a red Geranium.


I filled my strawberry planter with a variety of annuals.


I found this pretty shamrock plant which will be perfect for this coming Saturday. :0)


We got some rain this week and it woke up my little violet plant, one of my favorite flowers. It doesn't like the heat so I'm sure to enjoy it while it lasts.


Do you have any spring flowers popping up in your garden?

Rock Garden

Well, it's already Tuesday afternoon so I'm a little behind on my garden tour! The first spot I'm going to share with you is around our front tree.

After a dry winter and lots of birds hanging out under the tree (this is where I put my birdfeeders this winter), this area was in need of some help!


One of the biggest problems had to do with the rocks I had placed around the tree last year. They were supposed to keep the dirt and wood chips from sliding out onto the lawn but as you can see, they didn't!!

I don't have any "during" the project pictures but what I did was remove all the rocks and put up a black plastic guard all around the outside. Then I got some gardening books from the library and attempted to make a rock garden. My brother, Stephen helped out out a lot. I am a very symmetrical person and had all the rocks lined up like pizza slices! LOL I told him to mess them up for me!



Here is it all finished! If you click on the picture, they will show up bigger. I did buy a few larger rocks for the area along with several ferns and flowers. I'm hoping they do well and fill in the spaces this summer.


All is missing is some green grass! I may have to lay some fresh sod down around the edges.


An Asparagus fern and one of my new moss covered rocks. I LOVE moss!


Pansies tucked in among the rocks.


I can't remember the name of this plant but the flowers look like mini snapdragons.


One of my favorite annuals, Caladiums. I planted several of them around the tree.


Thank you for looking at my new rock garden!