Snap Spring!

I created the first four of these layouts with Shabby Miss Jenn's new kit called "Snap Spring". Its available in her shop Shabby Miss Jenn Designs.
Eli James enjoys learning how things go together. I took this photo of him on Easter Sunday in Granny's living room playing with little Easter Eggs. He was concentrating and trying to put these together. He's such a sweet little boy!
Alex Scott loves going outside. I shot this photo of him at Granny's house on Easter Sunday. He could see some of the big guys playing outside and wanted to join them. He's getting to be such a big boy!

Kali just had to spend some time holding Anna Claire on Easter Sunday. She loves her little cousin and is such a big girl helping with her.
Little Anna Claire is already two months old. I took some precious photos of her on Easter Sunday and made this layout for her album. She's such a good baby!

Our awesome little guys Alex and Elijah came over to sleep on Saturday night. We had a fun time with them and while they were here they spent a good bit of time trying to ride their trikes. They mastered getting onto them by themselves and they are figuring out how to get them to go by pushing the pedals! It won't be long before they're speeding along outside I'm sure!

Where Pigs Fly Flea Market

The other day I had a trip to Lafayette planned to go to my favorite places to flea market and shop. I went by Melanie LeFleur's, didn't find anything that struck my fancy, but when I arrived at Where Pigs Fly Flea Market I hit paydirt. A few of the items I had eyed while there on a previous trips were still there waiting for me, I don't know about you, but when I've been some place three times, admired something but hadn't bought it... and its still there, this just means that it was meant to be mine! Sitting on the shelves waiting for me were a pretty Fire King Jadite batter bowl with pouring spout and four dessert plates that match a platter and serving bowl that I used in my St. Patrick's Day tablescape. I had to have them! Along with four pretty plates with a delicate rose and greenery pattern. The stamp on the back is old and faded, but they were just lovely! I also got two pretty aqua canisters which were made in Belgium, those will go so nicely with my aqua dish and stem ware! I can't wait to use them! The decanter and shot glasses were just pretty, they aren't old, what they are ... is lovely! In great shape and I can so see myself using these for a yummy iced vodka shot! Dave thought they were cool too! Now if I could just find a pretty Jadite pitcher, I'd be in heaven! Happy shopping!

Old Schoolhouse Antique Mall Spring Antique Fair

My sisters Robin and Deborah, Mom June, daughter Erica, God Mother Diana, my sister Deb's kiddos, Jeanne, Aimee, Jacob and Joanna and I went up to Washington, Louisiana for a fun morning of shopping at the Old Schoolhouse Antique Mall during their Spring Antique Fair on the grounds April 17th. I found loads of wonderful items and you know I'm all about sharing my finds here online!

One of the items isn't actually here at our house yet, its a beautiful old dresser with a huge dressing mirror. My sis Deb agreed to carry it to her house since I wasn't in a vehicle that I could transport it in, that and the other items Erica found for her bedroom will be on a seperate post soon.

These goodies are what I brought back with me!

This apron was designed by Ava Bertrand with Ava's Aprons. I fell in love with this black and white apron and just knew I had to have it!
The blue mixing bowls were just lovely. My mother in law has a set of these in a pretty green and I have always admired them. Maybe I'll be able to find the other two that go with these two some day in my flea marketing adventures. The pretty little bonnets were created by Margie at Acadiana Crafts, she's got a website Acadianacrafts.etsy.com. Check em out! The all white one is for my next grandbaby girl and the pink check is for Anna Claire, our niece Natalie's pretty baby girl. I adored the three jadite mixing bowls I found inside one of the booths at the school house. Got em for a really good price, they're the beginning of my collection of the beautiful colored dishware! The next item was found at Vintage Girl's booth outside at the Spring Fair, everything in their boutique area was shabby, feminine and adorable. They have a permanent booth in the Old Schoolhouse Mall and one in the French Quarter Antique mall in Lake Charles, Louisiana. I've got to make a trip over there sometime soon to check it out! The crystal candy dish I found in their booth has the yummiest creme brulee scented candle in it, its so lovely and after the candle is gone it will make a lovely piece to add to my tablescapes! Camp Dog Seasoning is scrumptious. I used to use Cajun Zing, til I couldn't find it in local stores any longer, this is a wonderful replacement, MSG free and low on sodium... it adds a wonderful flavor to everything you put it on! The next item wasn't something I would typically pick up, but I thought it was such a cool use of an old collander that I couldn't pass it up! The birdhouse just adds some whimsy to the setting with the lacy potted plant! The last item is a lovely little Bailey's cup was designed and signed by Helen Hunt for the Los Angeles Youth Network. I already had two cups, now I have three! Love em!

Earth Day Supper

Last night's supper was so yummy, I just had to take a few pics! We celebrated Earth Day together with a delicious meal. I made a pretty platter of fruit to go with my salad and roasted veggies and boneless pork ribs. We finished off the evening with a yummy ice cream treat in new ice cream bowls I found at TJ Maxx earlier this week.

The salad is a simple mix of sweet butter lettuce, chopped roma tomatoes and cucumbers that I topped with crumbled bacon, craisins and a heap of Texas Toast croutons. Those are the best bagged croutons ever, crisp, fresh and seasoned perfectly!

I oven roasted fresh baby potatoes and baby carrots with some boneless pork fingers. I made a marinade of Kraft Tuscan House Dressing, Worchesteshire sauce, Tabasco Garlic Basting and Marinade sauce, apricot preserves and a new seasoning mix called "Camp Dog". (I found the seasoning mix at the Old Antique Schoolhouse Mall in Washington, Louisiana when they were having a spring flea market fair on the lawn last weekend. Its simply delicous, you can find it online here: Camp Dog Seasoning. Its got NO MSG and less salt than other cajun seasoning blends and its packed with flavor!) I placed the potatoes, carrots and pork fingers in a baking dish, then I topped it with slices of onion rings, layered about eight slices of bacon on top of the meat and veggies (the pork fingers were very lean and the bacon was there to baste the fingers and roasting veggies), then I topped it all off with my marinade mixture and baked it for 1 hour and 45 minutes at 325, then I uncovered the dish and turned the oven down to 225 and baked it another hour. It came out scrumptious! Everyone loved the sweet and spicy taste of the pork and the potatoes and carrots were delicious after roasting in the marinade as well. I sauteed a little yellow squash and zucchini with onion for a side that Dave just adores.
Inspired by Ina Garten's show "Barefoot Contessa" I decided to make a yummy fruit plate. I simply chopped up cantaloupe, mango, strawberries, kiwi and fresh pear and added blackberries and grapes to balance out the colors of the fruit and placed it in a pretty platter! Alexa especially loves a pretty plate of fruit and after she got home from late classes at college, she really enjoyed it.

After a walk to the pasture to feed our baby calf and to the barn to feed River and Cooper, our dogs and to watch them run for their daily exercise, we watched a little television and had a yummy ice cream dessert. The ice cream was all natural and half the fat of regular ice cream, the strawberry topping was sugar free and I only added a teaspoon each of caramel and fudge topping to the dish. I topped that off with a little fat free whipped cream and served up what the Mr. and the girls thought tasted totally full fat! What they don't know, surely won't hurt em!

I hope you all have a simply fantastic day!! ~Plucky Hugs!

Tablescape Thursday and Plucky Blog Give Away

Tablescape Thursday is here again and I'm participating with all the other ladies and our hostess Susan on BetweenNapsOnThePorch. I love blue, white and yellow, so this week I mixed a few different patterns to pull together a sweet little table. I got the pretty Blueberry dishes from a little flea market shop in Breaux Bridge and the Harvest Hay Blue and White dishes were from T.J. Maxx. I recently found the little salt and pepper dishes at Where Pigs Fly ...another flea market shop in Lafayette. Found the glasses at an Estate Sale in Lafayette while shopping with my baby sis Deborah. Click on the Thursday Tablescapes Image on the right side bar of my blog to see all the other participants this week.

I'm also having my first ever Blog Give Away... The pretty little Tea Pot, Sugar Canister and Tea Cups pictured above, along with the aqua tea towels and an assortment of delicous teas will be sent to the winner which will be chosen randomly on May 5th. Please post your comment to this Thursday Tablescape and Plucky Blog Give Away post. Please make sure your email address is attached to your comment. The winner must have a valid U.S. or Canadian address. I will contact the winner for mailing information after May 5th when the announcement will be made. Please feel free to blog and share about my give away! Drop a note to me if you do, I'd love to see your blogs!

I used digital scrapbooking supplies by Shabby Miss Jenn to feature the pretty Tea Set! You can see her shoppe HERE!

Tea for One

This afternoon after putting together a new tablescape I decided to have a cup of tea and biscotti I made last Tuesday. The flavor of tea that I adore is Wild Raspberry by Stash Tea Company. My sister Deb introduced me to it a few months back and its sooooooo delicious. The wild raspberry flavor of the tea with chocolate flavored biscotti was perfect!

Egg Hunting Layouts

Easter Egg Hunting layouts created using Shabby Miss Jenn Designs. The layout featuring Alex and Eli were created with her Wild Animals kit and the layout featuring Kali was created using Paris Flea Market. Click on my gallery link at SMJD to see full credits.

Kali's Egg Hunt

Layout with Shabby Miss Jenn Designs "Zenflowers" Kit. Click on my SMJD Gallery Link on the right side bar to see a larger sized version of this layout in my gallery.

Easter Sunday 2009

I've created a little online album of images for your viewing enjoyment. Our family had breakfast and an egg hunt for Kali, Alex and Eli at our home before going over to Dave's mom's house for lunch. There are tons of images of the little ones! Easter was totally relaxing and fun for everyone! Click on the dyed egg image and it will open the album. Enjoy!

Farm Fresh Eggs... Yummy!

My Daddy is so sweet, just look at this basket of lovely eggs his lil chicks laid for me and my sweeties. Aren't they just beautiful here in this pretty basket in my kitchen!? They're just the yummiest ever! I can't wait to cook some for our breakfast! Free roaming, cage free chickens eating cracked corn grown pesticide and herbicide free by my very own Daddy. They're absolutely the best eggs ever! I'm so, so, very lucky! These are just priceless!

Easter Egg Hunt (Saturday)

Kali went over to Allison and Matthew's house this afternoon for an Easter Egg Hunt. She played games with her cousins and friends and ate a few yummy snacks. She's quickly becoming an egg hunting pro and today she found fifteen eggs! Enjoy these photos!