Inspiration... Fleur T -designer silk and lace luxury lingerie

FleursT lingerie is absolutely gorgeous and every click lead me to more beautiful details that I am dying to try to mimic because I probably cannot afford to actually purchase any of these. I love the beautiful lace they use in this kimono.... maybe some thrifted lacy window sheers might find new life as a pretty imitation. Lalalalove the suspender skirted brief.


I am really into the suspendered brief . I am gonna try and purchase some of these little suspender notions and give it a whirl.(love nude hosiery ...I only have one pair of nudes, they are vintage , and real silk and stashed away somewhere (remember...must find those )
"Powder Pink Ballerina Suspender Brief - This beautiful garment is the epitome of romance with its handcrafted detailing. The back of the garment features a playful gather in silk georgette. Whilst the front has a hand finished georgette frill attached with a satin ribbon. The seductive suspenders are detachable so the garment can be worn as a brief."


~also I love the retro style 'Granny panty'
"Baby Blue High Waisted Shortie - This retro shortie combines a sexy look with ultimate comfort and flattery. The beautiful lace panels teasingly offer a glimpse of skin and the playful pockets can be left to your imagination!"

Inspiration...The Natural Gardener

~Today Burger and I took a trip to one of local favorites the Natural Gardener. I felt a little like driving far away from there when I saw how many people had the same idea as us, but I had to pee something fierce so we found a spot to park and headed inside. Luckily all the other folks had come to buy stuff instead of looking at goats and chasing butterflies(?!).... It was lovely as ever and with all the rain last week the place was exploding with color .

~Burger investigates the rain water distributing system.
~We came home loaded with old fashioned petunias and inspired to do a little cleaning, planting and of course bug hunting! ~I have been taking baby steps around our yard but we have big plans for a family yard cleanup this Saturday.( not pictured daddy)

Tsunami Cycles custom apron

I made this apron for a local bike shop owner/mechanic. It was very fun. It is has a double layered bottom both heavy canvas weight material.The oil can and wrench were adapted from free online clipart. The bib material is light weight shirting with canvas on the bottom layer. I made the spokes on the wheel with serger scraps. He has a great shop on south congress and is planning on having a booth at the Farmers Market, starting this spring for quick tune ups and such (brilliant).

Yes I know it is spring...My pumpkin bread adaptation

~Muffins and breads are burger's favorite and pumpkin tops the list . So I make them year round. I like the zucchini added because that is the only way he eats it so far. I started using this pumpkin zucchini bread recipe almost 3 years ago. While making some bread early this week I realized, I had done gone and changed the recipe... quite a bit; So I am gonna share my version.
~I think my adaptation makes an extra moist(from extra pumpkin) bread that is a little lighter in texture and color thanks to the white lily. I actually stumbled on the white lily thing by accident . I was 1/2 a cup shy of regular flour while making some pumpkin bread and subbed in 1/2 a cup of white lily. I liked the result so I used it in all my muffin/ bread recipes. This time I decided to sub a full cup and liked the result even more. Of course this is optional if you do not have white lily just use regular flour and don't worry about adjusting the baking powder/soda . You will just have a denser bread which maybe what you like anyway! I always use fresh pumpkin if it is available but plain can pumpkin works in a pinch(and last week target had bunch of can pumpkin on clearance). I know some of my fellow bloggy ladies freeze large amounts of pumpkin so they probably have frozen pumpkin on hand.

~Ingredients

* 3 eggs, lightly beaten
* 1 white cup sugar
* 1 cup brown sugar packed
* 1 can of pumpkin or 1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen pumpkin
* 1 cup butter or margarine, melted
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
* 2cups all-purpose flour
* 1 cup white lily
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
* 1 cup shredded zucchini
* 1 cup chopped pecans(optional)

~DIRECTIONS

1. In a mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar. Add pumpkin, butter and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients; gradually add to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Stir in zucchini and nuts. The original recipes says to Pour into two greased and floured 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-50 minutes or until breads test done. Cool in pans 10 minutes. Remove to a wire rack.
2. I make six muffins minus the nuts (burger and daddy love muffins and not nuts in bread so much). I then mix and match the rest according to what pans I haveon hand... maybe some mini loaves if I am planning on giving them away. I always make one big one and freeze it for later. The boys just work around those nuts. I use a tooth pick to check the done-ness since the different pans have different cooking times. A clean tooth pick is always my best done-ness indicator.

...you are my sunshine

It's Rodeo time

~I am so excited because it is Rodeo time in Austin.

The Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo, a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization, contributes over $1.5 million annually to the youth of Texas with the help of over 2,500 volunteers, donors and sponsors. Through its acclaimed Livestock Show, Fair, and Rodeo, the Star of Texas continues to work towards the advancement of its mission, “Promoting Youth Education - Preserving Western Heritage.” The Star of Texas delivers superior entertainment to the community while boasting an economic impact that exceeds $54 million annually. Staying true to the official sport of Texas, the Star of Texas is proud to host the world’s 6th largest indoor, regular season ProRodeo known as Rodeo Austin.

~My mama is coming to town and it will be her and Burger's first Rodeo. We are planning on heading over Friday for the carnival sneak peek and dollar rides night. It is free parking and admission on Friday the 13th.
~Then Saturday we are gonna head over for extreme bull riding .....and The Randy Rogers band!(you may remember an earlier Post about randy here )I am thrilled to be going to this show it will be the first time I have seen them and I am sure it will be a good-un'

~Another one of my favorite rodeo events is mutton bustin' hopefully we will see some young cowboys and cowgirls strutting their stuff!

~We will probably head over during the day Saturday or Sunday for the petting zoo and the pig races. I am leaning towards Saturday because they are having a foot tapping fiddle contest from 2-7. Anyway we may be a little MIA while nanny is here, but I will be bringing lots of photos of our good times(as per usual)
here is the complete schedule

~ One last thing we may squeeze into mama's long Austin weekend is Sunny Sweeny on monday March 16th . She will be outside at the rodeo from 4:30 to 6. If you are local this is one to catch. Sunny is the real deal, a true texas songbird....LOVE HER
...bye bye now! and yee haw

roly poly

Armadillidiidae is a family of woodlice, a terrestrial crustacean group in the order Isopoda. Unlike members of the family Porcellionidae, members of this family can roll into a ball, giving them their common name of "pill bug", or the more recent and increasingly popular term, "roly-poly", which has been used regionally as early as 1968. Uncited references also date use of the term in Texas as early as 1925.^[1]

The best known species in the family is Armadillidium vulgare, the common pill bug. These arthropods commonly feed on decaying vegetation and are found under logs, garbage pails or any other place where moisture can be found. Moisture is essential to pill bugs due to their breathing organs, which are like gills. Pill bugs, although often thriving in damp areas, have often been known to live in dry beds. Pill bugs' defensive posture is curling up into a ball. Pill bugs have no specialized predators, though they play host to specialized parasitoids in the fly family Rhinophoridae. ...from Wikipedia

~We have been having alot of fun around here with rolly pollies. ...This is actually all in response to a bug freak out that Mama and burger had last Friday in the absence of our fierce leader(daddy was working late). the story goes...I was on the phone and burger says" here mama" and hands me a tiny something, I figured it was a StarWars mini we have a gazillion lying around. .

...but, low and behold it was small stink bug. ewww, yucky yuk yuk( they ruin tomato plants!!) ~ As you might suspect, I FREAKED OUT!!! I screamed and swatted it to the floor (or so I thought). We discovered that it was not on the floor but on Burger's lap , He got so scared and started crying and freaking out as well (just like mama ) . Well needless to say I felt just awful about scaring my little munchkin. So after I carefully caught the lil' monster and put him outside( tip..if you ever run in to one of these critters don't kill it in your house cause they will stink! try not to scare them either ) I made a mental vow that I would have to get over my little (hehehe) fear in order to make sure burger did not inherit this debilitating disorder.

~Well of course daddy was the first to take charge of this situation. As soon as there was warm sunshine , they went out bug hunting...rolly pollies!... On a side note I am not scared of rolly pollies , worms, or lady bugs. TodayI found this cute little bug catcher holder thing with a little magnifier attached to the top and Burger just loved it!

....We had a fun time together conquering our fears

PS....I couldn't find the bob will's version, so here is Marty Robbins singing You guessed it!