It just keeps growing!

Do you remember what my garden looked like two weeks ago? Here it is then:

And here it is today!!

The huge tomato plants are just loaded with tomatoes... but when do they start ripening??? I think they've looked like this for at least a week!

Do I see a hint of orange there, or is it just wistful thinking? I can't wait for a fresh garden tomato!!

I also grabbed a few plants at the hardware store yesterday. (I had to make a stop for slug bait... those critters are having a hay day - the last straw for me was when they started munching on my bonsai!! War is declared!!)

Marigolds are supposed to help keep pests away. Hope they work!

And this one?? Just to cute to pass up! :)

Oh, and does anyone have a tip for my poor rose bush? It's more of a tree!

I'm thinking a sever pruning is in order soon!
...but when?

Enjoy your Saturday!!

Show and Tell: The Nest

For Show and Tell, I wanted to share something that is sitting on my coffee table. The bunnies are probably familiar, but the new thing is the jar. :) I had been wanting a (real) bird's nest. A few weeks ago, my sister-in-law brought me one that a bird had build on Mark's grandmother's wreath a year or two ago - don't worry, it was vacant. :) Later I found this jar at a Salvation Army sale, and put them all together. (I found the eggs before Easter... aren't they cute?)

I love the artful way the birds arranged their little home - the softest layer for the little birds.

"To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter... to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring - these are some of the rewards of the simple life. "
—John Burroughs

Happy Friday!

~Charity

Blog style for people who aren't that great with code...

... like me!
I am absolutely no expert on blog design. I wanted to start with that statement. I do a little tweaking of my HTML - but usually only with step-by-step instructions. I have been doing my headers recently at Scrapblog.com. I love their cute designs, and I can usually find something to work with. However... I have a problem matching my headers to all the cute backgrounds that I have found on various sites. I rarely find a good match.

Soo... I did a little research and found a way to put in my own background. I made this picture on Scrapblog:(click to enlarge)

I made it pretty subdued, and repeatable. I don't know how to get the column down the middle, so my pattern needs to be able to repeat. (I told you, I'm no expert!!)

I hosted this image on Photobucket.com, and inserted the direct link in my code under the "body section."

Here is what the code looks like:

body {

background:url (The Link to your picture goes here!!);

I got the three column layout by *very carefully* following the instructions here. (There is also a premade template to download at the bottom... WHY didn't I see this when I was getting so frustrated??) :)

Minima has a little black border around the header. I removed this a while back by following Tori's instructions.

Also I resized my header to 880 px wide to match the width of the three column template. For a two column, the size is 660 px. I just use Microsoft Picture Manager.

This isn't a great "tutorial" but hopefully it gives some helpful tips, and basically leads you to where you can find help. :) If you have some more tips, please leave them in the comment section. I don't know about other folks, but I'll take all the help I can get.

Happy (Sort of) coding!
Charity

A little of this and that...

First a little game:

What do these fabrics have in common?

(Answer at the end of the post. If you can't wait that long, click here.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! I'm sure you all had a busy weekend like we did! Mine started Thursday evening with this:

(Discovered: the batter - without eggs - is almost as good as the finished cheesecake! Yum!)

I made the cake for my mom for Mother's Day. We celebrated with her Friday evening.

After a yummy dinner at a Mexican restaurant, we came to our house for cheesecake and presents.

On Saturday, Mom, Angie and I went on a walking history tour of our downtown area.

Saturday evening, Mark and I left to go spend time with his family for Mother's Day. Lauren, Mary and I arranged flowers for the Mark's grandmothers. We had fun with the arranging and deliveries.

Here is the table set for Sunday dinner with Mark's Mother's gift and her pretty dishes.

Today, I've been puttering around the house. I don't feel the greatest, a result of a cold (or allergies). Oh, well. I've done some laundry and unpacked, as well as getting a start on supper. Brittany's Chicken and Dumplins. Yum!

So have you guessed the answer to the question? You probably went ahead and clicked the link, huh? That's right! I'm gearing up to opening an Etsy shop! It is off to a slow start, but I'm hoping to have some things listed in a few weeks. After May, I won't be working my regular part time job anymore... a big decision for me as I've worked there for about seven years! Nothing wrong, just time to move on. I will probably be babysitting more as well as some volunteering here and there. I am really excited about the shop, though! I will have several aprons listed and some other things. I'll keep you updated! :)

Happy Monday!!

PS~ Yep, I missed Sunday Blessing this week. I didn't get it up before we left. It will be back next Sunday. :)

Finished Object Friday

It's Friday again!! I haven't finished my bag yet, although it is coming along fairly quickly. I do have a new project to share.

This was a gift for our pastor's wife. We celebrated her birthday at a local restaurant earlier this week.

I really like how the detail turned out at the top. It really pulled the apron together.


As you may have guessed, she loves teapots/cups. She was so excited about the apron, and proclaimed it "too pretty to wear." :) I promised her that it is washable. (I didn't get a picture of anyone modeling it, but it looks like this one, this one, and these.) It was fun to design it and pick the fabrics.

I am excited to see your FOFs! If this is your first time joining in (or you need a refresher) you can find the guidelines here.

Happy Friday!