Daily She Shed ~ Garden Patch

At the back of my She Shed, I planted my tomato plants.  This is the same spot they were

in last year, but this year I added a few herb plants and two new perennials.  I added more

garden soil and a nice thick layer of mulch too.  I found a place where I could order some

wicker edging like they have in English gardens, and it is on its way now.   I am very

anxious for it to get here!  I will share it with you when it arrives.

The herbs I planted are, chives, lemon thyme, Italian parsley, oregano,

rosemary and sage.  Back in Idaho I had an herb garden right off the back

porch and I loved being able to snip off fresh herbs for cooking.  After a

chive plant is in the ground for a year, it will start producing lovely little

blue flower clusters in the spring.  So pretty to see.

Saturday I went to Lowe's to pick up more garden soil and mulch.  I

slid a bag of the soil onto my flat bed cart.  As I did this, a very nice

man (who was not an employee) came up to me and asked if I needed

any help.  I thanked him and said I got this one, and then he asked if I

needed anything else.  I admitted that I wanted some bark mulch and

he said fine, what color?  We had to walk to the back of the lot for the

mulch and he loaded up two bags for me.  This was not a pick-up either,

he was just being a great guy helping out a lady.  It made me so happy

to know that chivalry is not dead!  I'm not a girl who wants to do 

everything myself.  I know my limitations, and I am also a girly girl 

and know that men love to help out a girl in need.  Viva la difference!

Bit Texas Hugs,

Susan and Bentley

Daily She Shed ~ A New Rose Bush

I purchased a rose bush for a small garden plot next to the shed.  It's 

a Marchessa Boccella rose.  It will be a smaller bush with perpetually

blooming pink buds.  It was grown at the Antique Rose Emporium 

up in Brenham, but I purchased mine from my favorite nursery here

in town, Four Seasons.  I decided to put it in a large pot, and so far

the Marchessa seems content.

I have never been to the Antique Rose Emporium, but I have seen

photos and must head up there one day soon.  It's my kind of place,

that's for sure.  They do have a website and you can order from there

if you like.  I will say, they sell a lot of roses, and several are already

sold out.  Here is the link:

Antique Rose Emporium

This weekend I am headed back to Four Seasons.  I want to purchase

another Jasmine plant.  I love the fragrance so much!  I need mulch

and more garden soil too.  The weather outside is currently so lovely

that I hate to go indoors.  Have a wonderful Friday, and I will check

back in with you over the weekend.  

Big Texas Hugs,

Susan and Bentley

Daily She Shed ~ Tomatoes, Herb Garden, New Swing

I planted two tomato plants in the shed garden.  They are Better Boy's.  I only

planted two because while I love fresh tomatoes, David does not.  I have high hopes

for these plants, and we will be tracking their progress in the coming weeks.  I

will be planting some herbs in this plot too, thyme, chives, parsley and sage.

 I already replanted some rosemary that wintered over from last year.  

I want to add a dwarf Meyer lemon tree and a dwarf fig too, just across from this

garden patch.  I plan to head over to my favorite garden center to pick these up

this weekend.  

The exciting news is that I received a notice that the windows, shutters and

flower boxes for the shed have been shipped.  I can hardly wait for them to

arrive!  The other thing I ordered was a new porch swing for the veranda,

to replace the one we have which has been well used and well loved, but

has seen better days.  I am replacing it with an all weather wicker one in 

white.  It's really charming and I'm excited that it too is on it's way to

Victoria.  

Here is a pic of the old swing.  You can see a dark spot on the back of the

swing, left side.  This is where the rot developed and then continued to

spread.  So, bye dear swing.  You certainly gave us a great deal of

enjoyment.  

More tomorrow!

Big Texas Hugs,

Susan and Bentley

Daily She Shed ~ Volunteers Welcome

Petunias are supposed to be annuals, but this little petunia had other plans.

Last spring and summer, I had two hanging baskets filled with petunias

on either side of the doors to the She Shed.  They were stunning, but 

since they are annuals, they just have a short life span.  However, this

pink petunia has planted itself in a pot that was once empty.  It seems

determined to grow, and I am so happy it is here that I will give it all

the tender love and care it needs to make it through a few more

seasons.  I will keep you posted on it's progress!

 Big Texas Hugs,

Susan and Bentley

The Daily She Shed

Welcome to the first edition of the Daily She Shed.  This spring I have

decided to spend all my energy on my She Shed.  I have been gathering 

up ideas for quite a while and now is the time to put them into action.

Here is an early morning photo caught between the rain drops, of the

jasmine I planted last year.  It has come back very vigorously and the 

fragrance is heavenly.  I am so excited about this.

I ordered windows and shutters and windows boxes.  It will be so

wonderful to have light and fresh air streaming into the shed.  The

windows come with screens, so the bugs can stay outside, thank you

very much.  I am planting an herb garden too.  

You are welcome to follow me along each day as I share all of my

work with you.  It will be a labor of love, and I am hoping the 

garden fairies will provide assistance.  

Big Texas Hugs,

Susan and Bentley

Breathing Well Again and Blue and White Eggs

I want to thank everyone for all the kind words of encouragement and

get well wishes.  It's been a very rough couple of weeks, but within the 

past few days my breathing has become far less labored.  I was so afraid

to sleep at night because my breathing became even more difficult when

I would lay my head down on my pillow.  I spent so many nights pacing

the floor.  My breathing isn't 100% yet, but it has greatly improved and 

I am able to walk around and not feel winded.  I cannot begin to express

the relief I am feeling right now.  I plan to do all I can to sustain this 

lung capacity and to continue to improve.

Enough about my health issues, let's discuss something more light

hearted.  Here are the decoupaged eggs I have been working on.  I

took paper cocktail napkins by Caspari, carefully cut out the designs, 

and pasted them on the wooden eggs with Mod Podge.  It was time

consuming, but fun too!  While I have also decorated eggs in the

more traditional pastel colors, it was fun to branch out and find a 

new way to express my love of blue and white.

This project seemed daunting at first, but as usual, practice makes

everything easier.  The tough part was the flimsiness of the paper and

I had to be careful to work with a light hand because the Mod Podge

made it easy to tear.  

I am happy with the way they turned out and I think these eggs will

remain in this little dish all year round now.  I am joining Susan over

at Between Naps on the Porch for the last Tablescape Thursday.

Big Texas Hugs,

Susan and Bentley

Recovering From a Serious Illness

It's been a while since I logged in.  Unfortunately, I have been quite

ill and just had enough strength to get through a minimum of 

social media.  While I won't go into any of the details now, I will

tell you that my breathing became more difficult and I started to have

some heart involvement.  To be honest, I was scared.  There are things

I still want to accomplish in this lifetime and I am not ready to give

them up.  We are getting this situation under control, but I will be

taking things easy for a while.   Consequently, I will be taking a few

more days off to heal and restore.  Frankly, my whole life will be 

changing.  I will be back and I will be checking in with Facebook

and Instagram.  Sometimes life can throw you a curve and you can 

either give into it, or you can fight back.  I choose to fight back.

Big Texas Hugs,

Susan and Bentley

I Love Vintage Cookbooks

A few weeks ago I was researching on the internet about a restaurant

in Winnetka, Illinois, where my parents and I used to enjoy dinner out.

It was a well loved restaurant called the Indian Trail.  If you ever saw the

movie Ferris Bueller's Day off, you saw the principal standing in front

of this restaurant, looking for Ferris. 

Here is the scene from that film:

Sadly, the restaurant is now gone, but the memories live on for

me and for others.  I did manage to find a recipe for their delicious 

salad dressing.

While hunting for this particular restaurant, I also started to look

for others.  That is when I discovered The Ford Treasury of Famous

Eating Places.  There are two volumes printed back in the early 1950's.

The Ford Motor Company produced these books and naturally also 

showed off their vehicles in the process.  The books are divided into

regions of the US, and are beautifully illustrated.

Of course, all the old inns of the northeast are prominently displayed.

So fun to see and to read the recipes too.

I was thrilled to see Pocono Manor listed.  This is where my beloved

parents spent their honeymoon.  I have the brochures they saved too.

The Pocono Manor is still in business today.

I always loved the Pump Room in Chicago.  It has always been in the

Ambassador East Hotel, just a couple of blocks away from my Aunt's

house.  So many famous people have dined here.  David and I flew to

Chicago for a visit back in 1995 and celebrated our anniversary here.

This is another of my favorite Chicago area restaurants, Fanny's in

Evanston.  I was born in Evanston hospital, so it's a town dear to my

heart, and is also the home of Northwestern University.  

Fanny's was a beloved restaurant too.  Like the Pump Room, it was

visited by many, many famous people.  Unlike the Pump Room, it had

a more homey atmosphere.  The spaghetti and meat sauce was very

memorable.  Kraft foods tried to buy Fanny's recipe for her sauce, but she 

would never sell it.  Here is a link about Fanny's I hope you will enjoy.

It tells the story of Fanny's humble beginnings and her great success.

Fanny's Restaurant

Some of the recipes in old cookbooks may seem boring by today's 

standards, but we can make new discoveries of recipes long

forgotten.  I have only been able to find two of these treasuries and

I am not certain if there are more, but these two have been fun to

read and to enjoy the colorful vintage graphics.

Big Texas Hugs,

Susan and Bentley

Celebrate April!

I love April!  It's always been one of my favorite months.

I am so happy to see the sun shining today, knowing there are some

flowers waiting for me to plant.  I stopped at my favorite garden

center on Saturday and picked up some Vinca for pots on the patio,

a new rose bush, and a large rosemary bush too.  Don't you just

love the aroma of fresh rosemary?  I sure do.

Although some of the venues up at Round Top, and Warrenton, and in

between have been up for over a week now, this is the opening week of

Marburger Farm and the Big Red Barn.  I will be there with camera in

hand so you can follow along and see what I find.

I am hoping that we are now all out from under the clouds and the cold

weather, and that the sunshine treats us to many happy days ahead.  It's

a whole new month, a blank canvas, so let's make it a great one!

Big Texas Hugs,

Susan and Bentley