salad anyone?

i was inspired by the recent southern living magazine to plant some lettuces, so when i was trying to figure out what i wanted to do in the front bed outside the dining room window, i added them to my list of plants to get from pikes.  my gardening mojo left me last fall, and i have avoided this patch for a while.  weekend plans included pulling weeds and triming back bushes to get it fall ready.  it turned out to be a very quick and easy task, so i set off to get my plants saturday afternoon, and spent sunday putting everything into the ground.  here are the romaine plants, and the sage-y green plants are brussels sprouts (i do love them so), so hopefully we'll have some lovely lettuce and sprouts this fall. 

also i planted some herbs for vinegarettes and cooking-added english thyme, oregano, parsley, and a new batch of rosemary.  i do love fresh herbs, and hope to include a tarragon once i find one.

other plantings included iris and hyacinth bulbs, and a flat of pansies near the drive way.  2 rose bushes and new plants in the urn (also located in this same patch). next on my list is to figure out an adequate watering set-up so i don't have to stand outside with the waterhose keeping things hydrated, and add some pinestraw.

monday moment. "labor" day

yes, it was grueling

trying to complete the back of gilligan, had a snag with the front, so will be begging asking for help later this week, oatmeal cranberry cookies, and banana bread muffins. also, andrew's grilling skirt steak for fajitas, and we've got the sheffield "old" fashioned cheese dip for dinner. how was your labor day. am VERY grateful for the rain-

what i like right now. . . .

my newly acquired mr. bubbles beach towel to take on my trip with "the girls". isn't it cute!!!????

operation move-in

 after spending about an hour on the highway waiting to get to the RAC center to get keys, we finally made it to PJs dorm room to unload-we really didn't have much and am guessing that's a good thing?

 the kitchenette-not too bad-plenty of space-to the left of the counter is PJ's roommates bedroom-right across from the kitchenette is where the double sink/mirror is located and then the bathroom. PJ's room is next to the bathroom.

 PJ's dorm room-these rooms currently are 1 person per bedroom, but the beds are designed to convert to bunks if dorm space becomes scarce-clever-huh?

outside their room is a cute little welcome sign of sorts-right across from their room is a conference room-study area-nice that it's a room rather than an open space so that you could study without being disturbed-yes these are the only photos i got, and no-that was not my intention. however, PJ's loving GaSo so far-so that makes mom very happy indeed-so all's good.

birthday treats

 Andrew did a great job with the birthday cupcakes-even though he was just getting to them at 11:50 pm on friday. his deadline was noon on saturday-which he just barely made it. he used martha stewarts devil's food cupcakes and a frankenstein'd buttercream frosting with crushed strawberries flambee'd (with grand marnier)

isn't the strawberry cute-he was quite befuddled that we didn't have a fresh mint sping to use as garnish-and the cupcake would NOT be complete without something extra on top (aside from the candle!). they were yummy! thank you andrew!

getting ready.

feeling sad and glad at the same time-pj has almost everything he needs for his move down to statesboro next week. i'm so very proud of him.

"some" rain.

we have certainly had our share of rain this summer unlike summers past where we were praying for rain. this morning i awoke to thunder, lightening and lots of rain. in fact while driving down the interstate at o'dark thirty, i saw lightening that was sideways! i took this photo from my window, the "cloudiness" is actually rain being blown across the road. of course this means that the afternoon communte is going to be an absolute mess!