Bloomin'

My rhododendron (I used to think they were called Road of Dendron) are in full bloom now.

We planted these the year before Hoper was born-so they are 20 years old now.  I used to trim them but now I don't.  They are above the deck now-so I'm guessing they are about 12 feet tall.

I took this photo from the deck on the side by the basement door.  I love my rocks with holes in them.

I cut a few blooms to enjoy indoors, because it won't be long till they fade away..........

Dear Cheesecake,

I love you!

Sincerely, Holly

I have a really, really easy recipe for cheesecake.  It's 3 ingredients-well, 4 if you count the butter to grease the pie plate.  Yes, pie plate.  A clear glass Pyrex pie plate.  You see, I don't have a springform pan and I'd probably be too lazy to use it anyhow.  I mean, I'm too lazy to use the cupcake pan for individual little cheesecakes anymore, so why wouldn't I be too lazy for a springform pan???

Here's the recipe if you want to call it that:

Holly's Lazy Cheesecake (or should it be Lazy Holly's Cheesecake?)

2-8 oz. bricks of cream cheese (I use light cream cheese-you know, Neufchâtel Cheese.)
2 eggs
2/3 cups of sugar (You could use a whole cup, but I like mine less sweet.)

Throw everything in a mixing bowl and mix at whatever speed you want to, until mixture is creamy.  Pour in a greased glass pie plate.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.  (Until the edges are lightly browned and the center is set up-but you knew this already-cause you're smart!)

***This also works with 3 bricks of cream cheese, 3 eggs, 1 cup sugar-but you have to bake it a little longer.......yada, yada, yada.***

Eat cold-cause it's best that way.  Can't wait?-throw it in the freezer.  That's what I do.

Around the house

I've been painting frames and

messing around with my prints.

I changed out the quilt on my hanger for a more summery look.

I'm still playing with my salt shaker (and my food).

Do you see what I see? (Do you see what I see?)  A bloom, a bloom-hiding in the bush-with petals waiting to burst, wi-ith petals waiting...to burst.

My mater plants are getting tall-it's almost time to plant.  I'm not visiting the green house this year.

Making my printer less ugly with my thrifted, (we'll call it) vintage table runner (dresser scarf, whatever!).  Hides the dust that appears five seconds after it's dusted too.  Why didn't I think of this before???

Have a nice day!

Hope and Perry Winkle

Yay!  My child finally asked me for a rug and she requested orange and purple to match the cut and tie fleece blanket I made her for Christmas a little while back.  Not my first choice in colors-but I'm sure it will look cute in her bedroom.  Of course, I named this rug for the one I made it for.  'Hope' is made with thrifted shirts, one shirt right out of my closet, and a piece of sheet.

Look at the difference in the color of the floor in these two photos.  I must learn how to fix this some day.  Note to self-read camera manual!  (If only the manual was a paper manual and not a cd that I need to load onto my already slow computer!)

This is Perry.  Perry Winkle.  He's named for a color he contains-periwinkle.   Perry Winkle started out pretty hodge-podgey-I was just using some odd rag balls I had-but I think he ended up pretty cute.  Perry contains thrifted shirts, also a shirt I grabbed out of my own closet, some flannel from a care package from France, and part of a sheet.

Have a wonderful Wednesday, now-ya hear!

Painted frame

The prints that I ordered from Abby Try Again were getting lost in the frames I painted black-this windowsill one especially.  I guess black wasn't the best color for these prints, especially without a mat. 

Soooooo-I mixed some paint and as Abby does-I try again.

Yes-that's better.

Much better.

I hope you all have a great day!

Wildlife

As you might know, my daughter gave me a new camera for Mother's Day. (You might know, too, that I had been using hers.) So she went ahead and took hers home with her. As she was heading home-not five minutes down the road, she spotted this fawn near the edge of the road. I guess mama took off into the woods right away, but baby stayed for half a minute before following mama.  He/she has to be pretty new, wouldn't you say?  I think these photos are so great.  What a little beauty he/she is!

Hopey and I were having some fun this afternoon, trying to see who could

capture the hummers with our cameras. I took the first two with MY new

camera-and she took the last one with HER camera. Got it? Good!

Have a great Saturday!







Dogwood flowers are beautiful!

Yay!  My dogwood tree had quite a few flowers on it this year.  In 2002 the 17-year periodical cicadas reared their beady red eyes and nearly destroyed it.   It's taken nine years for it to recover.  Oh, crap-they'll be back in just eight years.

Oh, well-I'll enjoy these beautiful blooms in the meantime.

Don't these blooms along with my 'thrifted turquoise donut phone' remind you of this pendant I purchased from an Etsy shop a few years back???  They also remind me of the label on Arizona green tea.

Blogger was messed up today and it looks like the comments on the previous post are gone.  Sad.  ; (   Maybe they'll come back.  Happy.   : )

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Pinky

This is Pinky.  Named for one of the colors she contains.  Remember Pinky Tuscadero from Happy Days?

Pinky is made from all 29 cent t-shirts from Goodwill.

This morning I went outside to play with my camera.  I think I was able to
capture a few lovely images.  Now if I could just remember which settings
I used...

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Playing with my new camera (and my food)

I got a new camera for Mother's Day-oh yes I did!   I think my girlie wanted her camera back but felt bad taking it from me, so with help from her dad-she got me one!  I think I'm really going to like it.  I really need to read the manual and experiment with it, but I'm a little lazy.  Some day, some day.

Peace.

Cream of wheat hair.

Coleslaw hair-gosh, I love this spoon.  :  )

Gosh, I love this pup too!

I hope you have a wonderful day.  :)

Oh, happy Mother's Day!

Here are some fresh lilacs for you!

Yesterday I did some planting.  Well-if you want to call it that.  Basically I scratched up the dirt with my little rake, then sprinkled seed, then pat, pat, tamp, tamp.  Stick a fork in me, I was done!  We shall see if I end up with anything.

I made little markers so I could remember what seed went where.  The sharpie will fad with the sun and rain, so if you want to do this, you'd have to protect your rock with some kind of varnish or use paint.   (Has anyone ever planted onions from seed before?  We always used onion sets before.  I wonder if it will work.)  Wook at my wittle kindygarten drawing of a radish!  HA-I think I better stick to words only!

I was looking through some old photos this morning (you know, it's Mother's Day!) and I came across this one of my baby Hope with her cousin Kylynn holding her-circa 1992.  I thought maybe Kylynn would enjoy this, so I posted this on Facebook and tagged Kylynn.  I've said this before and I'll say it again-looking though old photos and looking at old video is so BITTERSWEET!  And I know I'm not the only one who feels this way, because I've talked about this before with friends and family.  I looked up "bittersweet" on dictionary.com and some of the definitions are:  both pleasant and painful or regretful: a bittersweet memory, and pleasant but tinged with sadness.  Isn't that the truth.  And I realize that Mother's Day is bittersweet for many too-those who have lost their mothers and those that want to be mothers and aren't.  My poor mother couldn't sit through church without crying on Mother's Day for several years after Grandma passed away.    So though it's a wonderful day, I realize it's tinged with sadness for many too.  And I want you to know I will be thinking of ALL of you! 

Love to you!!!

Holly

Ginger

Meet Ginger.  Ginger's colors were inspired by the bedspread over there to the right.  Ginger lemon (Better Homes and Gardens brand) is the paint color suggestion that came on the packaging of the bedspread.  That's where I got the name.

Ginger is made from all thrifted 29 cent shirts from Goodwill.  Well, except one-it was from my closet.

Okay-salting this egg with an egg salt shaker struck me as funny, so I had to grab the camera.  I know-it doesn't take much to amuse me!


Do you want to know why my house is always dirty?

BECAUSE OF HIM!

That's okay, I love that face anyway.

I hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day tomorrow!