How awesome are these modern playhouses that I spied on Abbey’s Pinterest? So awesome!

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What a great way to teach little ones about design!

Whoowhee! What a weekend!

There was: Sun, Movie Night, SUN!, food, worship, babies, and oh did we mention sun? Thats right, over the last couple weeks, that glowing orb is trying to make its springtime appearance here in the Pacific Northwest.

We’ve been gearing up for another great garden season to go one step further on our overall plan from last year. Remember this wonderful archi-nerdy post with a plan sketch for the yard? Well, last year we took this plan about 60% to fruition. And while we acknowledge our yard is probably never going to be picture perfect, we’re excited to take it further this year.

Step 1: Prepping for veggies! Remember this rambling post where I chronicled every leaf of last year’s veggie garden*. Yeah. That was probably boring for all of you. But it helped get our thoughts organized for our 2011 direction.

We strive to keep an organic yard, but last year we had a real problem with pests. We also had problems with fertilization and ground nutrients. So this year I was determined to plan our garden based on companion planting strategies. The long and short of it is that some plants naturally benefit one another due to nutrient sharing and/or pest repellent. Last year we planted more based on aesthetics, so this year we will give nature the benefit of the doubt.

Photo via Calyx Flowers

In my research, I discovered that both nasturtiums and marigolds are great to plant amongst your veggies. Nasturtiums repel all the bugs that attack brassica plants (cabbage, broccoli, etc). Marigolds add essential nutrients to the soil. Plus, they’re bright and vibrant and will add a spunk of color to all the greenery. We’ll also try some fragrant herbs such as chamomile and dill to repel the buggies.

When you take companion planting and combine it with crop rotation, its quite a puzzle to figure out where everything is going to go. Its like a puzzle with only one solution, but guess what?! I found it!

And we have a plan! (nerd alert….)

And yes, you see that right, we’re planning to add two more raised beds to a sunny patch at the back of our lot so we will have a total of 6 (count em!) raised beds. Its going to be glorious.

We’ve already done some of our shopping and we’re excited to get these new little veggies in the ground and growing (if only sun meant nighttime warmth Soon. . .

In the meantime, our collard greens have been going gangbusters since they survived the frosts. If you have any new and different collard recipes, be sure to send them our way!

* For those who are curious, or 2011 crops will be: Bok Choy, Basil, Strawberries (overwintered from last year), Peas (2 kinds), Pole Beans, Cukes (including pickling cucumbers), misc greens, peppers, carrots, leeks, potatoes, onions, beets, cabbage, broccoli, squash, chamomile, dill, and of course, tomatoes. Gawd, we are overachievers, aren’t we?

Happy Easter, Everyone!

Thanks for sharing our Easter week. While its glorious to see all that spring brings us: baby animals, new flowers, bright colors, this morning we celebrate Easter’s true meaning. Our savior is Risen.

This print from Tank&Tink pretty much sums it up.

Hope you and yours are celebrating with family and friends this wonderful day and taking in all that we have to be thankful for.

Also, some Easter posts from some of our favorite bloggers:

Good Friday from Oh, Hello Friend

Do Not Forget the Cross from Livin’ in a Fishbowl

diy : easter bangle from a bit of sunshine

This month, we incorporated two new craft projects into our mantel.

Now, before I show you anything… I must write this disclaimer…. I love bunnies.  I had this adorable rabbit named Cottontail as a child.  I pretty much won’t even think about an Easter mantel that does not involve bunnies.   B, while she loves rabbits too, would like me to point out that this is the third month in a row our mantel has focused on animals.  No, we aren’t animal freaks, this simply happened by accident.  Really truly we do own other things!  Next month, I have already promised… no animals on our mantel. [insert picture of b dancing here]…

But without further ado… Our April mantel:

Two recent crafty projects are highlighted here….

One is the paint chip egg garland that B spotted over at shelterrific one day.  We are never in short supply of paint chips around here!  We cut some eggs, hole punched, and strung on some grey yarn.

The second is my new favorite things… bunny finger puppets that I spotted weeks ago at The Purl Bee.  I have become quite addicted to making them lately.  [and obsessed with putting them on my fingers and having impromptu puppet shows with them.]

I tried to tell myself that I was just playing with the twins and the puppets I made for them… but really, I play with mine too.   They are too cute not to grab from the mantel and hop around the room!

Speaking of twins….

I grabbed this shot of Dana and B giving K + E bunny ears during our last photoshoot!

The babies were more interested in eggs then bunnies, after all!

This is the other corner of the living room, on the sewing table.  The Easter tree lives here, as well as my Peter Rabbit book.   Oh, and more bunny figurines.  You cannot have too many bunnies!

Hoppy Easter says the bunny…..  Hope your weekend is filled with sun just like ours!

We have been sharing and enjoying two very different… but equally delicious cookies leading up to Easter. 

Both are courtesy of Martha [go figure!]

One is delightfully springy tasting …..  Grapefruit Sandwich Cookies

• Grated zest of 1 Ruby Red grapefruit plus 1/4 cup freshly squeezed juice
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for work surface
• 3/4 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter softened
• 2 large egg yolks
• Pink Grapefruit Cream Filling (recipe following)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a small bowl, combine zest with 1 tablespoon sugar; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together both flours, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and remaining sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add egg yolks, and beat until combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in reserved zest-sugar mixture. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the juice, and beat to combine.
3. Turn out dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, and shape into a 1-inch-thick disk. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
4. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out disk to 1/8 inch thick using a lightly floured rolling pin. Using a lightly floured 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out rounds and place about 1 inch apart on prepared sheet. Bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until edges are golden, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack to cool 5 minutes. Transfer parchment paper and cookies to rack to cool completely.
5. Using an offset spatula, spread 1 tablespoon filling onto flat sides of half the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, keeping flat sides down. Once filled, cookies can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

 Now, this filling is the most important part.  Apply to cookies liberally.

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed Ruby Red grapefruit juice

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in honey. Add juice, 1 tablespoon at a time, until filling holds together and is smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl, cover, and set aside until ready to use.

Eat!  [b especially loved these!]

Next, because I cannot bake too much without chocolate… are the Chocolate Bird’s Nest Cookies…   These ones are delightfully springy looking….

See if you can choose just one to make this week to share around your world!