A Few of My Favorite Things

As I'm getting settled and making friends, I'm finding even more things to be called some of my favorites.
First, my friend Carla is helping me make a quilt. Yes, it's quite an undertaking for a rookie but I'm making it as a surprise for someone so I can't give any more details. Carla is quite the homemaker. She sews, quilts, paints and crafts galore. Besides all that, she's an amazing cook and hostess, and she lives just a few houses down from me so we can spend lots of time together.
Last week, I spent the morning at Carla's so she could show me how to prepare my fabric for cutting and sewing. At one time during the morning we took a break and she made lemonade. She didn't squeeze lemons and dump sugar, she made it from a frozen concentrate... which is perfectly fine with me. But, when she brought my glass, it was so tasty and I couldn't for the life of me figure out what was different about this lemonade. In a little while she asked if I could tell what extra flavor was going on there.. I said I could not. She said it was this:

Sugar free vanilla syrup you buy for your coffee. Let me just tell you, it makes your lemonade taste like a hint of vanilla ice cream. It's like lemonade ice cream goodness. I think I'm addicted. I've gone through a bottle and a half of this syrup and a whole container of Crystal Light Lemonade. Even Nick loves this and pours himself a glass or two every evening after work.

Another of my favorite things right now is the beautiful weather we're having in the Pacific northwest. I really can't capture the weather, so here is a shot of how I'm enjoying that weather. I love to sit out back at my little patio table with my lemonade. As you can see, I'm equipped with a magazine straight from the mailbox and the ever handy dog leash and poop bag. You just never know when you'll need those when you have these:

No fence in this yard so they spend a little time tied to a stake in the ground. They seem to be OK with it.

Here is my ghetto plant arrangement. Notice the makeshift table...another planter pot turned upside down. The smaller pot with the etching on it was marked 75% off because it has a chip on the other side. You can't even tell can you? Finding things for 75% off is definitely one of my favorite things.

I found this painted rock when I was going through some stuff I haven't seen in a while. One of my girls painted it for me years ago and forgive me, I can't remember which one. I think it was Callie, but I can't be sure. When I found it, I thought to myself, "Carla would have this in her garden"  Carla is an amazing gardener too. I forgot to mention that. She has the cutest stuff in her garden. Tea cups, painted rocks, chipped pottery. It's absolutely beautiful back in her yard. I aspire to have a yard like hers one day.

Even as ridiculous as Cleo looks with her ear all wrong side out, I kinda like her. I would say she's one of my favorite things, but she's a little stinky right now and needs a bath.

This bird feeder is something Nick and I found at a local art show last weekend. It's made simply from old dishes, a jar, and a little chicken feeder. I absolutely love it. However, I got it home and realized I don't have a tree in my backyard to hang it in. I must ask my other neighbor, Nellie what to do with it. She has a beautiful garden too and can make something out of nothing. She's the go to gal on ideas.
So, there you have it. A few of my favorite things right now.