I know, I know....I've gotten pretty slack lately..... I've been busy! Planning, planning, planning!

I did finally harvest some "deck-lettuce" that I planted last month. 

Just took the scissors and chopped a bunch of it off.  It's different lettuce varieties - arugula, romaine, bibb, etc.

Duane is not really keen on the "harsh" lettuce varieties, so I sorted some out just for him...

I, on the other hand, tend to like the "flavor-full" greens.   Unfortunately, these tended to be a little too harsh to eat as a fresh salad.  So, into the skillet they went!

"Stir-fried" them - added a shake or two of salt, pepper and garlic powder....quite yummy!

Sewing!

Lindy offered an unused pattern that she had....and I said "sure, why not, I haven't sewn a garment since some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costumes for the boys in about 1995!!"

Here's the pattern - and by the way - my Sis is correct - the sizes are NUTS! Waayy too small! but, I digress.....

What a whimsical little dress - and just in time for our Bahamas trip!

I chose some zany fabric -

And proceeded with the planning and cutting.  Lot's of options on this little dress - had to decide which colors would go where.....

All cut out now -

Almost forgot to do the interfacing.  I had to climb into the attic and rescue some 20 year old press-on interfacing material from a plastic bin.  Worked good as new!  That's all for now.....dress is not finished yet!!

More flowers

Hope you're not getting tired of flower photos. All the warm weather has really brought out the beauty!

A little garden this year

You know I'm not a good gardener....

I'm just not that "into" taking care of the weeds. I love the planting and the harvesting.....but that in-between stuff called weeding is not my idea of a good time.

So this year, we decided to try to minimize the weeds. It will be interesting to see how it works out.

First, tilling up the soil. Love that fresh earth smell.

We're going to try using a soaker hose. Since we're keeping the garden pretty small, that seems like a workable solution. Just one hose laid out in a U shape - you can barely see the black hose in the photo.

All done! Rolled out a bunch of porous landscape material to (hopefully) prevent weeds! Just some tomatoes, green/red peppers, and squash and cucumbers that I had been tending in potting soil up on the deck for the past few weeks. The soaker hose is all attached to an electronic timer. Hmmmmm, I think I'll come back in 6 weeks and start the harvest!

Plane maintenance

The plane has been in for it's yearly "physical" exam....

But the Doctor A.K.A. Tom, has deemed it airworthy for another year! Got it done a few weeks early to make sure there would be no hiccups for our Bahamas departure soon!!

Flowers

Just a pretty group of irises in the yard....it's been chilly and windy here lately. We were a bit spoiled by the warm winter!

Just back from a nice Easter weekend get-away.

Jump over to the Boat Blog for details!

Grout!!!

Warning, warning!!!

Slightly gross bathroom photo follows!

Not that!

Just the shower floor. Years and years of our well-water have left it stained.

I've applied every chemical sold at Lowe's to get the scaly rust-colored deposits off the tile and grout.

Nothing touches it.

Duane had an idea - "why don't you use the Muriatic Acid like we etch concrete with"?   Excellent idea.

If you try this at home, you MUST have a respirator.  Luckily, Duane has one he uses when he paints.  You literally would not be able to breath without it.

After much acidic smokey bubbling - and just a minor scuffing with a bristle brush - the tile was miraculously clean!!  Just like new!  The acid actually softens the grout a bit and I scraped some of it away.  

After it was all washed up - I re-grouted the entire shower.

And now for the "after" shot.  I am just tickled!  Shiny and really good-as-new!!