The Hunt

When my kids were little we always did the Parks and Recreation Easter Egg Hunt. The eggs were filled with numbers and when they turned in their numbers they received prizes and candy. Once we had grandchildren we bought plastic eggs and hid them in the yard, either ours or my daughters. The older ones never have any trouble finding them the younger ones sometimes needed help. It was such a joy seeing how excited they were searching for those hidden eggs, then opening them to reveal what was inside. This year they went to the egg hunt at their Church and then came home to find over three hundred eggs hidden in their yard. I am sure they had a blast.

Dying Eggs

For years I bought the typical Easter Egg dying kit for my kids to color eggs.You know the ones with little tablets that you added to water and a little vinegar. The ones that cost over 5 dollars One year I even tried using vegetables and other natural products to dye them, like beets, coffee and turmeric. Then I heard about using Kool-Aid which comes in so many colors and costs about 10 cents a small packet, at least it used to. The eggs turn out so pretty, the color is so vibrant and you can mix colors to make new ones.

Popcorn Tin Remake

I'm all for repurposing things. I saw this cute idea where else on Pinterest. We all at one time or another have received a tin of popcorn.They come in many sizes. Once the popcorn is done what do we do with the empty tin? There are many ideas out there but this one in particular caught my eye.
I have quite a lot of cookie cutters,Christmas ones,Easter,Thanksgiving ,Halloween,Fall I even have some for making dog treats. Where do I keep all of them in several large zip-lic bags that take up a lot of space. Very impractical. While searching Pinterest I saw this cute idea,  and since my husband gets a tin of popcorn every year (a tradition from my kids when they were little that has carried on into adulthood) I thought I need to give this a try.

Supplies
1 popcorn tin any size
Paint colors of your choice
Peel and stick letters

Paint the bottom of the can one color and the lid another. If your very talented you can free hand paint or as I am going to do use peel and stick vinyl letters.

The Old Chair

I am a crafter by nature. I just love creating things. I might be somewhere see something and think I can make that. For example a few years ago while at a craft antique event,I saw this old antique chair. The seat had been cut out and a planter was placed in the center of the chair and planted with flowers. They wanted over $80.00 for it. I couldn't see paying that much and figured I could make the same thing for quite a bit less. So began the hunt for an old chair. I was able to find one for $18.00 at the antique market in Davisburg, and talked the guy selling it down to  $10.00. I then had my husband remove the seat. I then bought 3 hanging baskets at the Farmers market for $25.00,thats a little over $8.00 each. Two of the baskets hung on my porch and the other one I used in the chair. So for about $18.00 I recreated what I had seen for $80.00. A pretty big savings I think.

Taco Tuesday

Taco's who would have thought there would be a day named after this hand held Mexican dish. Certainly not me.  I can't ever remember as a kid having taco's. I think my first taco was when I was a teenager and went to Taco Bell with friends. Soft shell, hard shell. There are even shells that stand up on their own which makes for easy filling. I make beef taco's, fish taco's I love them both. I have even substituted turkey for beef. I love setting up a taco bar, shredded lettuce, cheese,diced tomatoes, black olives, salsa, sour cream and of course the meat. Now you may wonder do I eat Taco's every Tuesday? No I don't, but I know some who do.

Wash,Dry,Fold

Oh joy, it's Monday,and that means it's laundry day . I used to enjoy doing laundry at my old house, no stairs. My laundry room was on the main floor. Although I love my Lake House I don't like having to go down in the basement to do laundry. On any given Monday I will probably make at least 8 trips up and down the basement stairs just to do 4 loads of dirty laundry. I wonder if this counts as my exercise for the day.

Best Chicken Marinade Ever

Look no further for the best Chicken Marinade recipe ever! This easy recipe is going to quickly become your favorite go-to marinade.It produces so much flavor and keeps the chicken incredibly moist and delicious. The first time I made this was during the winter. Instead of grilling the chicken as the recipe calls for I baked it and it turned out incredible. Give it a try you'll love it.

Ingredients
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
1/8 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup brown sugar
2teaspoons dried rosemary
2Tablespoons dijon mustard
2teaspoons salt
1teaspoon pepper
2teaspoons garlic powder
4 to 6 chicken breasts

Combine all the ingredients except the chicken in a large bowl and whisk together
save 1/2 cup of the marinade and set aside. Place the chicken in a large zip loc bag and pour the rest of the marinade over it. Seal the bag and refrigerate overnight.

To Grill preheat the grill to medium high heat, remove the chicken from the marinade shaking off the excess. Grill chicken 5 to 6 minutes on each side or until done, basting occasionally. Remove from grill and tent let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

To Bake preheat oven to 350 remove chicken from marinade shaking off the excess. Place chicken on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 30 minutes or until done. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Reminder grilling is the preferred method for cooking this recipe.

A Birthday Gift

I have never owned an Orchid Plant until today when I was given one for my Birthday. I have always loved their beauty but had always heard they are temperamental and hard to grow. I always thought they needed humidity and warmth.Thats not so, they require indirect sunlight and very little water, about 2 to 4 ounces a week. This beauty was given to me by my nephew and his wife and hopefully I will be able to keep it alive and enjoy it for many years to come.

Open Water

Its always a glorious day when the ice begins to melt on the lake. Open water makes it feel like Spring is right around the corner, and thats a good sign. Its been a long cold Winter and I'm ready for warmer weather.

National Puppy Day

Today is not only my birthday but it's also National Puppy day. I couldn't be happier to share my special day with these amazing pups.

Birthday's

Wow I can't believe I turn 70 tomorrow. For some reason and I can't explain it I am not looking forward to it. There has only been one other time in my life I didn't look forward to a birthday and that was when I turned 30. Sounds odd doesn't it. Turning 30 to me was gee I'm not in my 20s anymore and it just sounded so old. That's how I'm feeling about 70.It just sounds so old.
I'm trying to not let my feelings show,John wants to take me shopping and out to Lunch and at times  I feel like I just want to pull the covers over my head,stay in bed and not get up until Saturday when it's all over. I won't do that though, who knows maybe by morning I'll feel different. We will go shopping and eat out,and I know we will have a wonderful day.I am blessed and happy to be in good health so as I write this I guess being 70 won't be so bad.

March,what a surprise. We got a taste of some nice weather and then the Snow came back in full force. I think the only one who is enjoying it is the pup. Yes my designer fufu dog loves the Snow and thinks he's a blood hound.