Summah Time! And the Livin's Easy!

Well, I know it's been almost a year since my last blog.  A lot has changed at the Red House.  And really, very little.  This will be a photo heavy blog.  Let's start our with our last vintage shopping trip.  We went to the store:  Olives and Grapes in Prairie Grove, and we found these fun letters:

And later, we had a shower for Lauren.  My mom found some excellent bundles of tulips at Sam's Club:  

Here was the table scape for Lauren's first wedding shower.  According to my mother, everything looks better fanned out, and I believe her.  See how elegant the fanned out silverware looks?  We have a veggie platter, meatballs provided by Farm Rich, pinwheels, gluten free crackers and dip, and then our amazing Fro Yo Bar.  My favorite purchase for this shower?  The two beverage dispenser from BB&B, as seen on the left.

A side view of the tablescape, with the drink dispenser.

And the famous Fro Yo Bar :) Lauren and Cory's favorite date night includes a local frozen yogurt bar, so we gathered 15 different fro yo toppings, and three fro yo flavors, to simulate their favorite place!  It was a big hit!

Justin and I found a root bound Japanese Maple for $70 at Home Depot.  Amazing find, and it fills this corner of the house perfectly!

For Valentine's Day, I made some awesome food, via Pinterest.  I made a shrimp dish, with salad, and then finished it with a Mississippi Mud Pie, pictured below!

Mud Pie by the slice :) It was rich and flavorful.  It had a little coffee in it, so it had a hint of coffee flavor.

And dinner was a Tuscan shrimp dish, with tomatoes and spinach.  So delicious!  I should have served it with rice or pasta.  It was saucy and delicious.  I served it with a thick bread to sop up all the deliciousness.

Come April I had decided to plant a raised bed garden.  We had some extra wood, so we made the sides, and added a top to keep the sides straight.  I purchased some weed liner, and lined the whole thing, about 8'x5'.

I added about 15 bags of dirt from Lowe's.  Then I planted (on the front end) 3 tomato plants, 4 squash plants, and 4 cucumber plants.  On the back half, I planted 3 bell pepper plants (red and green), 3 watermelon plants, 4 different spices (thyme, 2 sages, and parsley), and then two rows of beans and lettuce.  

One month later, and the squash is over taking the tomato plants :)

You'll see the four spices on the bottom row.  Then the peppers on the next two.  The bald spot was the lettuces.  The cats had a field day pottying in their 'new potty' the first day I planted, and they essentially raked up the nice rows I had planted.  So there are beans/lettuces in a weaving pattern in there.  At the back are watermelon plants, but I'm not holding out hope for them.

Our friends finally got married!!!  Lauren and Cory look awesome!

And while the rest of you were having a debaucherous Cinco de Mayo, I awoke to a cock in my yard...

Ok ok, my inlaws brought this with them, as a gift to me.  They know I like cocks.