[quite quaint]

So I found this delightfully quaint comic strip the other day in the Indy Star.
The illustrations are quite adorable and I love the style that it is drawn in.
It definitely stands out from the rest of the comics.
And the humor is adorable as well.

[Delightfully Fragrant]

My senses were on overload yesterday!
First of all...
My wonderful Hubby bought me a lavender plant. We've been using this all-natural lavender soap to wash our faces lately and he has fallen in love with the fresh smell that it produces. So while he was at the grocery store yesterday, he happened to find a lovely lavender plant on sale. Oh how excited I was!

Back in the Spring, my Hubby also bought me a bucket of bulbs. It was actually a beginner's gardening kit for children and knowing how much of a child at heart I am, he knew it would tickle me pink...so he bought it for me. Once the bulbs were planted in their brightly colored yellow bucket, they immediately began to grow. It was such a wonderful process to watch them go from 1 inch sprouts to 2 foot leaves.


Well...as excited as I was to see the beautiful foliage of the elephant ear, glads, and other lovely plants, I was somewhat sad that they had not bloomed yet...

Well...

Just last week...

They began to bloom!

Look at how gorgeous and exotic these beautiful blooms are!


I was absolutely thrilled. My patience and waiting the summer out finally came to fruition and these lovely ladies graced me with their presence. Of course I'm not quite sure what type of flower they are because I had such a variety of bulbs, but I don't care. All I know is that they are lovely. And as I sit here and type this, looking out my studio window, I can see them dancing in the late summer breeze. [Sigh]

On another note...

I baked a yummy dinner last night that my Hubby said was going on his "Top 3 List of Best Dinners Ever." We were in the mood for quiche and I like spinach quiche, but he doesn't...So we compromised and I created my own recipe of Broccoli Quiche. I kind of combined my Spinach quiche recipe with my Broccoli casserole and this is what we got...



Oh the yummy-ness!

Here's the recipe for those of you who would like to create this delightful treat for yourself.

Broccoli Quiche
1 9-inch pie shell
1/2 a bag of frozen finely chopped brocolli
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 jar of Cheese Wiz or 1/2 a block of velveeta
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. salt
a pinch of pepper
1/4 tsp. sugar

• Blend melted butter, eggs, and milk.

• Add Cheese Wiz, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, sugar, and broccoli. Mix well.

• Pour into pie shell.

• Bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes or until filling is set and golden brown on top.

• Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting...and then...ENJOY!
  

[Clementine's Dry Goods]

Made a visit to Clementine's today.
Found some lovely fat quarters that I'm thinking about using for a table runner in my dining room.

My mother-in-law joined me on my little adventure and bought me this fun little bundle. It just might be used for a baby blanket when the time comes for me and Dustin to start having babies!


We also made our way over to A Certain Charm: Antiques & Curios. They had loads and loads of fun linens. The white one seen in the photos above was only 50 cents! And this fun towel was $3.00. It's bright and colorful, which fits the color scheme I have going on in my kitchen.


I'm still cracking away on my Brickpath quilt. Here it is in my project basket...


It's coming along nicely...I'm hoping to have it finished by October...but we'll see!

[this little piggy went to market...]

I love working downtown and being able to enjoy all of the fun city stuff that goes on. From May until October, Wednesday's are known as Farmer's Market Day. And every Wednesday, you better believe I'm there. Looking for fresh, home-grown veggies and fresh cut wildflowers. Today I found some yummy red potatoes, zuccinni, and fresh cut flowers that I got to arrange myself...all of this for $7. It doesn't get much better than that...So what did I do with all of my wonderful finds, you ask? Well...

First I found my Ball Mason Jar for my flowers...



They're just so lovely in my living room...


Then, I rinsed off the potatoes and zuccinni...


Next, I decided to make zuccinni muffins with one of the zuccinni.

The ingredients...



Almost finished...


Hot & Fresh from the oven...





Now my home smells like fresh baked zuccinni muffins. It reminds me of the summer mornings when I was growing up and waking up to the smell of loaves upon loaves of fresh zuccinni bread made my mom and zuccinni from our garden...**Sigh** Oh the beautiful little things of life...

Let me know if any of you would like the recipe...I would love to share this goodness with you!

[Sum-Sum-Summer Time]

We have had some beautiful summer days these past couple of days.
Sweet breezes that blow the scent of fresh flowers and fired up grills through out windows.

This weather has inspired me to take pictures of my "garden" out on my patio.

Being on the second floor of our apartment complex, I can't exactly have a "real" flower garden, so I've created a garden with fun pots, buckets, window boxes, and hanging baskets. I can see them through my office window and through the sliding glass doors in the living room. They just make me smile.







I love going outside to water and prune them. And every time I snip away the dead blooms, I'm reminded of how God says that He must prune the vine in order for good fruit to bloom in our lives. I have to prune the dead blooms in order for beautiful flowers to grow.



The other day, Dustin fixed me a wonderful dinner on the grill...A Barbecue chicken sandwich on a wheat bun with broccoli, baked potato, and home-grown cherry tomatoes from my friend Stacy's garden. Doesn't it just look like a perfect summer meal?


And here is a sneak peek of my quilt. I sewed all 18 rows together last night and am going to begin quilting it today. I'm so excited!


I hope these beautiful summer days last forever.

[P.S. I've updated the Revel Design blog with some new work]

[getting closer]

so i've been working on a quilt for the past month and it's been so exciting.
i've made one with my mom before, but never one completely on my own.
it's been so exciting sewing each piece together by hand and now moving on to sewing each row together with the sewing machine [thank goodness i'm not intimidated by it anymore].
i'm going to draw my own quilting pattern so that i can add my own personal design touch to it.
the pattern for the quilt is Amy Butler's Brickpath quilt.
y'all should check out her site.
she has several free patterns that can be downloaded.
it's my goal to make as many as possible in my lifetime!

i can't wait to show everyone the finished project.
i'm hoping to have it finished by September 20th...
we'll see how that goes!