Happy First Day of Spring! ♣

My favorite day of the year. Bar none.

Thanksgiving? Lovely. Christmas? Holy. 

Spring? Longed for, dreamed about, celebrated... I can't help myself.  More sunshine, thunderstorms, green grass, tiny shoots of pretty plants, and the garden, picnics outside, flowering trees, waking up to bird song, flowers, blue skies, laundry hung on the line and getting into a bed that smells like breezes, longer days, and nights where the cool air and sound of spring peepers lulls me to sleep through open windows.  Spring is my season.

What is your favorite thing about Spring? What do you look forward to the most?

A little more Kitchenaid Bling

One thing I can say for this winter, the bitter cold and piles of snow have conspired to keep me huddled inside looking for something, anything, to do, and I have gotten a lot done. Some sewing, and lots of playing with the vinyl decals I am selling in the shop. My sis in love loaned me her pink Kitchenaid to pretty up.

 And I must say I love how fun these make the mixer. Her whole kitchen is pink, I think this will go nicely and she agrees. And just in case it would go nicely in someone elses kitchen it's in the shop.

 I was also inspired by a piece of my grandmother's feed sack fabric and came up with these Feed Sack Decals with rick rac trim.  I took an example from the colors on the fabric and I think these are so cheerful and old fashioned. Perfect for a vintage Farmhouse kitchen!

They sure make this scratched up, 20 year old mixer look good! 

Playing with these designs makes me feel like Spring is on the way.  We had temps in the high 50's Monday and Tuesday and got 8" of snow yesterday, but the sunshine and warmer temperatures (finally!) make me feel like winter is over. This time of year every time it snows I tell myself, "This is the last snowfall this winter." And eventually I'm right ;>)
What makes you feel like Spring?

Sweet Chili Green Beans

 

I haven't blown my horn about it a lot but sweet hubby and I have been low carbing it for a few weeks.  Time to drop some chub and low carb has been the most successful way for us to do that so far.  It isn't dramatic this time, but we have been wicked as all get out on weekends and still see a downward trend. That's all I ask for, a wicked leeway and results :>)

At any rate, we soon tire of plain vegetables and so I headed to Pinterest for some inspiration.

This recipe for Sweet Chili Green Beans with Bacon caught my eye and we made it last night.

It was really good! It called for two poblano peppers and not knowing how hot they were I only added one. Next time I would go ahead and use both, they aren't hot at all.  It also calls for Siracha sauce in a fairly small amount, but I think I would cut that down by about 1/2.  Not that they were bad,  I just feel you would be able to taste the other ingredients better without all the heat.  If you want to try this yourself, the recipe can be found at Healthy Indulgences.  I love veggies but I admit I haven't been as adventurous in experimenting with vegetable side dish recipes as I should be which means I end up not eating as many as I should!  Now is a good time to start building my Pinterest veggie board.
What's your favorite veggie side dish? I would love to know!

Linking with The Comforts of Home Tasty Tuesday

And Speaking of Gardens....

Goodness, it's been a while. I've been busy with orders, praying for warm weather, cleaning, praying for warm weather, errands, praying....well you get the idea. It's supposed to be 40 degrees tomorrow and I can barely contain myself. I see us all craving the sunshine and green grass. My cravings are fueled by my primrose binge. They are on sale for 79 cents now at Home Depot, I don't even care if they live long enough to plant outside for that price. Don't judge me because they are sitting in the windowsill without real pots. You can't even see that past the sofa back and I do have plans to repot but I've been busy praying for warm weather.

 You have to have priorities.

 

I also indulged in a few potted green plants, plopped into my pedestal milk glass collection they make me happy. I had these distributed throughout the house but decided they all needed to be in the big bay window where I can enjoy the illusion of a garden.

 This amaryllis is there too.  You first saw this w-a-a-a-a-y back in December. Victoria brought it home for me and I believe she will now have the duty of always choosing my amaryllis bulb.  This little darling bloomed non-stop, with multiple blooms over Christmas and January. I believe I enjoyed 5 flowers the first time it bloomed.  When they had all died, I cut the stem back and was rewarded when another stalk appeared.  This time there are seven buds that I can see.  I have never had an amaryllis bloom like this before.

 But I'll take it:>) It's so beautiful and with the sun shining through it this morning it actually sparkles. I wish you could see the way it glistens in the photos.

Oooh look, you can!  Right now it's not a Christmas flower, it's a spring flower :>) 
In other news, I have been without a kitchen sink for nearly a week now as the counter tops get installed. Do you have any idea how often you use the kitchen sink? *sigh*  But it's almost finished and I should be washing dishes and enjoying the new counters by the weekend.  Paper plates and microwave to the rescue. It's looking so pretty and I can't wait to finish things up and show you.  Lights have been ordered and I am already contemplating repainting the walls.  Spring is on the way, I can feel it. Hope you are all enjoying the first signs of spring too.