Handmade Mart Tomorrow!

The Pyramid Atlantic Art Center is hosting an outdoor indie market this Sunday! Handmade Mart looks like it's going to be a great show! See their blog for all vendor profiles! There is going to be live music, workshops and great shopping all day, see the schedule for more info.


I am excited to show there since this will be my first time venturing out to Silver Spring, MD! I didn't realize what a Baltimore-centered girl I have become...

Ada's Creation

Since we are redoing our kitchen right now, we are looking at this pile of rubble marveling at the waste. One thing we are going to keep from our demolition is a work of art my daughter created right on one of the cabinet fronts.

She taped one of her drawings onto one of the cabinets one evening. A few weeks later, she added to it with a brown crayon and made it a permanent part of the kitchen. I just can't get rid of this cabinet front. I am thinking about framing it...

City Garden, Flowers of the Week

These heirloom beauties just get better with age. The irises have been blooming almost a week now, the ones that have gone past curl up and hang in such a whimsical way, I just love these!

Wisteria, climbing up the ugly pluming vent in the backyard. It has a really nice light purple flower that has a little dot of green in it, so gorgeous. I was so glad to see this vine bloom this year, it has not bloomed in the backyard in previous years, so I am really happy to see it thriving. I couldn't get a good shot, the flowers are too high to see up close.

Gorgeous romantic hybrid tea in rust red. The image doesn't pick up the real brick red color of this rose, so rich and old fashioned looking. It has a light sweet fragrance, a lovely addition to our garden from a generous friend who left town. Thank you Marcea, this rose is so you!

Homemade Bubbles

Anyone who has young children knows that when the sun comes out for spring, it signals that it is officially bubble season. We go through tons of this slimey stuff. It's fun to blow bubbles, but it's almost more fun to dump it out on the sidewalk, deck, or in the pool, whatever.

This year I am determined to save money cutting corners where I don't always cut corners. Buying gallons of bubbles in tiny plastic bottles through the summer is a waste. Why bother with the tiny plastic bottles in the first place?

This was a very easy recipe, we had great results!

6 parts water
2 parts joy or dawn liquid dish soap
3/4 parts karo syrup
a few drops of food coloring

mix it up -TA DA! and super cheap!

Urban Blooms, last week's city garden

I have been MIA with the blog here, my apologies! I was able to snag a few pics of the backyard garden last week. Have a look:

Above, these heirloom brown and yellow irises are an old fashioned variety from my husband's grandmother's garden in Connecticut. They are very hardy plants that seem to grow and bloom no mater what kind of conditions they see. Our concrete backyard seems to make them happy, blooming more every year.

A handful of wildflowers from my daughter, fresh buttercups, always a springtime beauty!

Purple saliva, sage that is super drought tolerant, this one should bloom for a while.

I am so excited about the growing season. Check back for more urban gardening pics. I am determined to have a flower garden in the heart of a concrete neighborhood. This month, it has been 5 years and our garden gets better every year!