Spring Gardening Recap

On Saturday we got a LOT of garden projects done! We went to the Jenks Herb Festival, Southwood Nursery and Lowes! I love shopping and all but this kind of shopping just equals more work later!

Here is what we accomplished:

Rosemary and Mint


Sage and Thyme


Sweet Potato Vine


Million Belles that are in a window basket that still needs to be hung


Million Belles in a hanging basket and the newly filled bird feeder


Transplanted yellow knockout rose on the left and new LOVE rose on the right


We got this LOVE rose at the Jenks Herb Festival and it smells SO sweet!


My little garden helper who hopefully doesn't destroy everything!


Our raised garden that Chad built so wonderfully last summer!


Cherry tomato and peppers


Onions


Tomatoes


The planter around a tree in the front yard. Some of the pansies have come back but I filled in with some other purple flowers.


Purple flowers close up


This is where the yellow rose used to be and we replanted with an azalea.


We also bought some solar landscape lights so we'll see how bright they are.


I love succulents so I replanted the ones I had in these cute white pots from IKEA.


Now this dog house should have a post all to its own but Chad LOVINGLY made this awesome doghouse for Daisy. It was a lot of hard work and grumbled words but its done!


This isn't a gardening project but we just bought this AMAZING new table and I am so glad to have something that matches in our dining area now! I love dark wood and this table is substantial! It is ridiculously heavy and I think its going to last for a good long time!

Quick morning recipe

Healthy Morning Muffins
These muffins are so good and I actually made a second batch for our breakfasts this week! If you know my cooking you know that I get bored easily and am always trying new recipes so the fact that I made the same thing twice says a lot!

Ingredients

Makes 12.

Nonstick cooking spray
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large egg
1/3 cup skim milk
4 medium carrots, shredded
1 medium ripe banana, mashed


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt until there are no lumps. Stir in oats and raisins. Add oil, egg, milk, carrots, and banana and stir until blended.
2. Fill each muffin cup with 1/4 cup batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, 23 to 25 minutes. Serve muffins warm or at room temperature. (To store, keep in an airtight container, up to 3 days.)

From: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/healthy-morning-muffins

**NOTE**
I made these in a HUGE muffin tin (like the same size as the muffins at a bakery) and cooked them at the same temp for the same length and they still came out great. With my tin it made 6 large muffins filled to the brim.

Always Coca Cola...

So during out trip to Ft. Benning, Georigia we made a side trip to Atlanta (since Columbus doesn't have THAT much to offer) to visit the Coca Cola museum.



Old advertisements






The torches below have been used in past Olympic torch lighting. It was pretty cool to see the differences between all the various games.


Pop art based on Coke and the coke brand.

They have a room in the Museum called the "Tasting Station". Around the room are fountain drink stations from around the world. It was really interesting to drink the sodas that other people drink around the world. There was a station like this for North America, South America, Africa, Europe and Asia.
Some were great, some were VERY sweet, some were less sweet like ginger ale other disgusting!

The family!

Georgia On My Mind

So things might get a little out of order since its been WAY too long since I have posted but a couple of weeks ago Chad and I headed down to Columbus, GA to visit my brother at Ft. Benning where he has been stationed during Army Infantry BOLC training. His graduation was the reason to visit and it was really interesting just to walk around and see everything there is to see on the base (or post as they call it).

We started out with his graduation on Thursday. There were about 150 men that will all be headed to other bases where they will be stationed or others will go on for more training. Matthew is hoping to stay at Ft. Benning for Ranger School.



And of course we have to have the pictures with the family in the official uniform.



The next day we walked around base and saw some of the cool Ranger memorials and main buildings. I think we even saw Eisenhower's old house (who I swear my grandma said we were related to one time).



Saturday we visited the Army Infantry Museum which was actually very cool and very cool to walk through. I really didn't know what to expect.



There was an exhibit called the family gallery which was dedicated to the supportive friends and family of our military and their role. I found out that I believe it was Eleanor Roosevelt that pushed to have a military personnel and the chaplain physically visit a family when they were being notified that their soldier had died in battle. Previous to this a telegram was delivered by a taxi driver.
Anyway, the museum was really interesting and educational to all of the battles/conflicts that America has been involved with. The museum is brand new so there were a couple of exhibits that weren't over yet but we were super tired by the time we were done for the day. I say those will be something new for us to see next time we make it down there.






Obviously I took about 150 pictures so I'm trying to only post a few. It was a fun time and I hope that we are able make it back when he graduates from Ranger school!