Felicity's Birthday

Our baby girl turned 3!

Due to a crazy amount of things going on at the same time as her birthday, I didn't have time to make the kind of party I wanted to. 

I used a lot of things that I had previously made for other parties and put together a quick get-together at the park.

It seems like our sweet girl was just born yesterday, and now, she's so grown up.  She's turning into such a sweet, independent and strong minded little girl - I'm so proud of her.

Even though it wasn't what I wanted it to be, Felicity loved it, so that's all that matters.

The wreath hanging in the background was a grapevine wreath I had lying around with greenery wrapped around it.  I just took a bunch of flower heads with rhinestones and attached them to it.

For Felicity's shirt I just got a plain tank top and tied a bunch of different colors of glittered tulle around the top of the sleeve to add some cute color and of course, the colorful wool hair clip is from my line.

It is impossible for me to believe that Felicity is big enough to be getting a bike  for her birthday!  It's still a little bit too tall for her, but she'll be riding it in no time.

In case you're new to the blog, here's links to her previous parties:

Felicity's 2nd Birthday Party

Felicity's Easter Tea Party

Felicity's Valentine Party

Felicity's little party with the Mad Hatter

I'm also having a "Share it to Win it" giveaway for a Petti Romper and Top Hat Fascinator on our Facebook page.

Fresh From the Garden.....

Well I told you that we are growing our first garden this summer, using the square foot gardening method.

I just wanted to update that we are still loving our garden and overall, everything is doing great!

I have learned that organic gardening is not easy.  I hand pick squash bugs every morning and stay on constant patrol for aphids.

  At one point, when the squash bugs were multiplying so quickly I could barely keep up with them, I considered using a pesticide from my local garden center, but at the last minute I changed my mind, and reminded myself how that went against all my beliefs.  I did end up losing two butternut squash plants, but I'm still glad I didn't resort to pesticide use so at least I can feel confident in the safety of the squash I do end up with.

We've started the process of pulling up some of the summer crops, like bush beans, to make way for the Fall plantings of greens, pumpkins, corn and carrots.

It's a baby watermelon!   I'm just hoping Felicity doesn't get excited and pick it off as she has done a few other things.

Having a garden has given me the chance to try things I never have before, like pickled green tomatoes.  

I had heard of pickled green tomatoes and was curious what they tasted like, so this week I decided to pull a few green tomatoes and make some.

You don't actually have to "can" these.  You just put the ingredients in the jar, put the lid on and throw them in the fridge and supposedly they will last for a couple months.

I followed this recipe.  They turned out pretty tasty.  

My next experiment will be with making some spicy pickled cucumbers and peppers.  Like the tomatoes, I'm not going to do the "real canning" thing, but just do the refrigerator canning.

There are a few new designs available in our shop.

Including, these pink petti rompers & top hats.....

and black petti rompers & feather beanie hats.....

and my new favorite..... black & pink elegant satin headbands!

  

Have a great week!

-Pamela

Come join the party!

Keep going, keep going!

There's no time to wait!

No time for rest!

We have to get to the tea party, and of course, we must look our best!

Press forward and onward, through the field we proceed,

then follow the winding path through the trees,

until finally, there it is, just like we dreamed......

It's a mad tea party,

 For me and for you,

Oh, and some of Felicity's friends will be joining us soon too!  

You see, the Mad Hatter is Felicity's distant friend,

Since he visited last year, he said he'd reappear, although we didn't know when.....

but there is no doubt, here he has been......

There's sweets and treats!

and games to be played, 

even the furs babies can join, if they'll behave.... 

We must make room, 

share the cake.....

Other guests are arriving,

It's time to begin!

Oh, I am so excited,

as the little girls lay eyes upon the table

they are simply delighted!

But then, just as everyone begins to sit down, 

they hear something in the distance, someone scurrying away,

the rustling of the leaves makes a faint sound....  

They jump up and they're off, going faster and faster
after all, there's always a possibility.......



It could be that Mad Hatter!

If you would like to continue the tea party fun, visit A Fanciful Twist and make the rounds through all the tea parties happening in blog-land today!

I'm also linking up at some great blog parties including, Between Naps on the Porch's Tablescape Thursday!

We have a Lace Petti Rompers on sale for $6.99 this week!


We like to party a lot around here......
Here are some of our previous parties if you would like to check them out!

   Mad Tea Party of 2012                                                           Felicity's Valentine Party                                           

Felicity's Easter Party                                                              Felicity's 2nd Birthday Party

                                                    

Our Square Foot Garden

Our backyard has become my getaway this summer.  When I'm stressed and feel overwhelmed I can go outside and admire my new garden and I'm instantly happy!

Our garden has become not only my favorite spot, but one f Felicity's favorite places to spend time this summer as well, it seems like we are constantly out here working and playing.

We built two beds and filled them with about 60% soil and 40% compost.  

We have used the square foot gardening method.  It allows you to grow a ton of food in a small space, and so far it seems to be working great for us.

We ended up with a couple extra tomato and watermelon plants than we had room for in the raised beds, so we put a few things in the ground as well.

Felicity LOVES the garden and helps work in it everyday.  I'm so happy for this and love all that she is learning every day by watching the seeds she planted grow up!

Right now we have planted: 

100 bush beans - 32 pole beans - 4 cucumbers - 3 butternut squash - 8 sweet potato slips - 5 tomatoes - 3 banana peppers - 3 cayenne peppers - 1 bell pepper - 3 eggplants - 2 basils - 1 dill - 2 mints - 4 canteloupes - 4 watermelons and a few flowers..... 

Taking care of it everyday has been a lot of work, but I actually enjoy it a great deal, it's wonderful being outside when the sun is coming up or going down, and exciting running outside first thing every morning with Felicity to see the latest developments....

baby Roma tomatoes that appear overnight....

Cucumbers that seem to double in size every night....

Adorable little arms that shoot out from bean, cucumber, & butternut squash vines and reach out and grip tightly onto anything they can find.

and creatures.... oh, all the creatures!  Some good and some bad, but we are managing to live in harmony with them all and let nature take care of things herself.

You can google "square foot gardening" and find lots of resources to start growing, there are also some great books.  It takes a lot of planning, but it's worth it!

I'll keep updating about our gardening project through the summer.  Can't wait to see what happens as things continue to grow and change!

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Felicity and I would like to wish all of our readers in the U.S. a very happy Independence Day!

There's also some new things in the shop, 

Above is Felicity modeling our new petti rompers and colorful headband style.

..... and here is another beautiful little girl modeling our top hat fascinators.

Have a great week!

-Pamela