Pink Yarrow

We're busy getting ready for school and enjoying the last of the summer (although the weather has been rather September-ish for the last couple of weeks). We pause for a moment to appreciate ribbon headbands and child-made paper dolls.

Big, beautiful blooms, but the plant is quite small. I saw one on the way to work yesterday and it was a large bush with the same color flowers. Maybe in a few years the plant will catch up to the blooms.

Although we are in the throes of a drought around here, there are a few flowers braving the dryness to give us some late summer beauty. Above you see the crowd-pleasing sunflowers. Every year this giant comes back and we've never planted a single seed! This year I even laid down a raised bed over it's usual spot but that didn't deter it. Thank goodness!

Next up: Flowers on the dill. I know you're not supposed to let herbs flower and go to seed, but they're so pretty!

Hibiscus - not blooming quite yet, but blooms are on the way. This hibiscus was advertised as cold hardy to zone 5 and it hasn't disappointed yet. This is the second year it has come back. I did plant it with southern exposure next to the house, so I'm sure that helps.


Butterfly Bush with Feverfew in the background. Try as I might, I cannot get a decent picture of the Feverfew but it is a very hardy and proficient performer. I love plants like this that quietly do their job without stealing the show. And, the Butterfly Bush is lovely, too.


PUMPKIN! A pumpkin is coming! Finally! (I know it's not a bloom, but I discovered it today while I was taking pictures in the garden)

I decided to make a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting for Papa's birthday. I went to the cupboard to look at my cake mix stash and - lo and behold - I have four boxes of yellow cake mix. Not surprising, because yellow cake is probably my least favorite cake flavor. So, plan B, make a chocolate cake from scratch. I find that chocolate cake is the easiest cake to make from scratch because the chocolate flavor can hide a lot of flaws. I used a cheat-sheet recipe from the angry chicken, or, I should say, I planned to use her recipe. I soon found out I was out of a lot of important ingredients. But, I had flour and eggs, so armed with "ingredient substitutions" this is what I made:

2 cups brown sugar (should be granulated sugar)
1-3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup mocha cocoa (should be cocoa)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup canola oil (should be vegetable)
2 teaspoons real maple syrup (should be vanilla)
1 cup boiling water
350 degrees, 30 minutes

#1 - I've never made a cake mix with boiling water before. The mix was really, really runny. The cake was really, really moist. I'm impressed!
#2 - Maple syrup can be used as a substitute for vanilla, but you can taste a hint of maple. In this case, it was d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s!
#3 - Brown sugar also changes the taste of a cake. It makes it taste, hmmm, strong... molasses-y.
#4 - This cake turned out great, all the substitutions worked really well together. It was moist, almost brownie-like (but not too dense) and that's how we like our chocolate cakes. The mocha, brown sugar and maple all worked together to make this a big, strong-flavored cake that's not to be messed with. One piece and you're satisfied for the night.

I also made chocolate frosting from the same cheat sheet, substituting mocha cocoa for regular cocoa, maple syrup for vanilla and omitting the espresso powder. YUM!

Above photo is sleepy-land for two children - the bed has a trundle underneath where the littlest of the three sleeps. The dear middle child sleeps above. The above photo also contains four of the patterns from the previous post - hand-me-down quilt from Great-Grandma's old "purple room", pink hand-quilted flower quilt on wall, pink thrifted dot throw and the Target dorm room rug on floor.

Below is the 7-year-old's world (she still needs a bed frame - that's why we're almost done). Here you see the purple floral quilt fabric used on bulletin boards.

Note: See how I made the bulletin boards here!


Below is the freshly painted baby dresser. I had painted it green for a former color scheme. Now it fits in with the "princess colors" of the updated room. Here you see the pink drawer pulls which were the final picture from the previous post.


Below is a close-up of the embroidered baby hangers my grandmother has made for all her great-grandchildren. We lost the hanger part on some of them, but we love them so, so much!

I'm in the process of re-decorating my girls' bedroom in order to fit girl #3 into the room! I'll post photos of the finished project in a few days. Here are a few of the elements being incorporated into the look.

Tomatillos, before they ripen, resemble little Chinese lanterns.