Basil

My basil seeds have already sprouted. I can almost smell the pesto!!

Herbs

Well, it’s that time again. Spring has sprung, and I’m ready to plant my herb garden. I planted some seeds in one of those “mini” greenhouse boxes. Actually, I planted a lot of them.  The seeds should sprout and be ready to plant outdoors or in pots in a couple of weeks. I am starting with rosemary, parsley, basil, and cilantro. These are all herbs that I use frequently. The only problem with the cilantro is that it spoils quickly after you cut it. If you do not cut it, it begins to flower & becomes coriander seed. If any one knows of a good way to preserve cilantro, please share. I definitely planted more herbs than I can possibly use, so I’ve decided too make all of my friends little herb gardens. I think it’s incredibly rewarding to cut some fresh herbs from your own garden while you are cooking. And who doesn’t love that?

Robbing the tulips…

We have these beautiful tulips that bloom next to our house every year. I think they are some type of hybrid tulip because of their colors, but I’m not sure. The previous homeowners planted them. I do enjoy them though. It was a beautiful day here today, but our forecast is calling for some freezing temperatures over the next few days. So, I robbed the tulips. I clipped them all. I felt bad about it, but I justified it by thinking that they may not survive the cold over the next few days anyway. At any rate, I will certainly enjoy them on my counter!

Party Favors!

So my girls only holiday party went off without a hitch. Well, except for the fact that I had ordered a new coffee table that was supposed to arrive between 2 & 6 the day of the party. You guessed it, it arrived at 5:30. Luckily, I warned the delivery men about the party & they were in and out in a flash. I had 17 ladies, and we had a grand time. As my guests left, I handed them a small party favor. I have a picture of these waiting on my stairwell below. I bought all of my supplies the day after Thanksgiving, so I got some great bargains. In these little bags were a tealight & holder and a Christmas scented mini-diffuser. I topped off each bag with a cute ornament. I sure hope my guests enjoyed. I had fun putting them together.  As the party was a gift exchange, I did end up with a really cute gift myself. It’s a pillow that says, “Dear Santa, I can explain.” I love it!

Halloween Fun

Oh dear – I feel so far behind on blogging. I can’t believe I am just now getting to my Halloween blog! I am very fortunate to work for a company that is in high growth mode. I work in Merger & Acquisitions, so that means I have been busy, busy, busy here lately. And, because of this, I feel like I have neglected my little blog. I did take time out to celebrate Halloween though. Last year, we had about 300 children come to the house to trick-or-treat. This year we were fully prepared for the same numbers. I’m not actually sure how many we ended having, but it was probably about the same as in the prior year. We so enjoy handing out candy to the neighborhood children. We move our buckets of candy out to the front porch and just sit out there welcoming the kids as well as the adults. It’s a great time for us to catch up with many of our neighbors that we just don’t see that often. This year was no exception. I also carved a pumpkin this year. Let me tell you, carving pumpkins just isn’t what it used to be. The stencils & carving tools available now are just amazing. I did a spider web, and I think it turned out great. Check out some of our pictures from Halloween night. 

 

 

 

 

Pansies

We planted pansies for the first time in our front beds. I don’t just love pansies, but for our region, it is one of very few flowering options for winter. My husband prepared the bed for me, and I planted them. I love how they turned out. I couldn’t believe all of the varieties of pansies they had at the store. It makes me want to go get a few more flats and plant some more. Maybe I will……

Fall Pumpkins & Mums

We finally got our pumpkins and mum’s out this weekend. We went to get the mums, and the selection wasn’t great. I didn’t feel like we were too late in the season to be buying them, but I guess we were. The selection was very picked over. Overall, I think we got some good plants though. We put these out on Saturday, and Saturday night we had some pranksters in the neighborhood, knocking on doors, and then running. Once I realized what had happened, I ran outside to check on my pumpkins & mums. I was more worried about them than anything else. They were safe. While we were outside, I looked in the window & I saw this. I couldn’t pass taking a picture of it.

Thursdays

Here’s how my normal days goes. I get to work by 8 a.m. By 8:15 a.m., I have already made a detailed checklist of everything I need to accomplish for the day. Occasionally, when I am really productive, I will stop mid-day and make a new list. Even when I take a day off work, I make a checklist of all the errands I need to run. Needless to say, I am a checklist kind of girl. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case when it comes to cleaning the house. I am a piecemeal house cleaner. I clean the floor tonight, laundry tomorrow night, bathrooms on Saturday, etc, etc. This incremental style of cleaning works out okay, but I never feel like I walk into a perfectly clean house. So I came up with a solution. Last Thursday night marked the first weekly “cleaning night” at the Ownby’s. Here are the rules. We make no plans for Thursday nights - they are completely off limits. We do a quick dinner – left overs or take out. We reserve the rest of the evening to completely clean the house. We mopped, scrubbed, vacuumed, did laundry – everything in one night. This was all just in time for the weekend. It really was nice coming home on Friday night to a “completely” clean house. We finished up by about 9:30 too, which I didn’t think was terrible. To assist the process, I had a checklist, of course. I altered it to fit our needs. We have chores that need to be done weekly, those that need to be done monthly, and then those that need to be done seasonally. I tried to attach my checklist below, but for some reason, this program won’t allow me to attach excel documents. If you would like a copy of my checklist, just let me know, and I will email it to you.

Gladiolas

I was strolling through the floral section of the supermarket the other day, and I spotted a huge row of these beautiful gladiolas in many different colors. I usually opt for the daisies, or the roses, but this time I decided to branch out & buy the glads. I got them home, trimmed them for my vase, and voila….a beautiful flower arrangement. They were pretty inexpensive too. I think the size of the flower makes a huge statement. These were just starting to bloom when I took this picture. Since then, they have already bloomed much more.  I’m going to do some more research & find other ways to arrange them. I’ll keep you posted.

Hibiscus

Another plant we tried this Spring was a Hibiscus. We planted a couple of these in pots on the back porch. They have stayed green & have flowered all summer long. This is a tropical plant. They won’t survive the winter with us, so I’m going to put them in the garage when it gets cold, so I can use them again next year. Also, this plant is so nice, it would make a great gift for someone. I took my Mom one for Mother’s Day.