Garden Gone Wild!

I am trying to reign the gardens in after a year of neglect. Yes--a year. What happened? I am still trying to answer that question for myself. 2014 was big year for me in terms of completing school, graduating, getting a job and taking my certification exam. All which happened  during the growing season. I think I was too overwhelmed to care. Except now I do care!

And let me tell you...or rather show you... because they are a mess!

These are 2 of the 3 blackberries. Kind of difficult to see amongst all the weed and the other I forgot to remove the cage, now I have to cut it off.

Here are the blackberries after 6 weeks. I have been working on the gardens in small increments after work and on weekends--weather permitting.  These  finally look healthy. I cleaned up the beds and pruned back the dead growth. I need to cut the cage off the middle plant, add some compost and straw mulch these beds.

Rhubarb before and after 4 weeks. After clearing the bed of weeds, they were cut down to 2 inches above the soil and have bounced back beautifully.

 Strawberries...one of these it not like the others! They are loaded with berries. Time to get the netting out if I have any hope of harvesting before the wildlife strips the plants bare.

This had the added bonus of an ant nest...good times... I haven't quite made up my mind what I am going to plant in this bed.

2 of my 3 peach trees died. It took me calling 5 different Lowes, but I managed to track down 2 peach trees. The bummer? If I had pulled the trees before April 24, my 1 year warranty would have been in effect and I could have had the replaced for free.  DOH! We picked the trees up yesterday, gave them a nice long drink and they are going in the ground tonight. I am also wrapping the trunks and going to put perimeter cages around the trees to protect them from wildlife and the hubb's weedwhacker!

Oh the flower beds...so very very ugly!!  Here is an example of 1 bed, but they are all  in the same condition. Before--filled with poison ivy, buckeye, poke plant, oxalis, and who know what else.

In progress. It is gonna take while to clear the weeds and I need to move the hostas, day lilies, irises and sedum. And chop down that damn honeysuckle bush! Siiiggghhh... 

We are scaling the garden down this year, for a few of reasons.

1. The large garden plot needs to have the organic content built back up

2. I have other projects on which I need to focus

3. I need to slow down a bit and manage my work life balance.

Ummm, hello project...

So I gotta ask...Have your gardens gone wild? 

Revved Up Ravioli

When given the opportunity, I like to cook fresh, but sometimes the demands of life doesn't allow me this opportunity. What is a woman on a time crunch to do? Instead of drive thru, reach for some prepackaged items in the freezer and pantry.

Just because foods are prepackaged, doesn't mean you can't have creative and flavorful dishes. I wanted some cheesy, saucy pasta and Cinco De Mayo food stuffs have been rampant today. pasta...tacos...pacos? OMG--is there such a thing??!! 

20 minutes later as I googled Pasta Tacos, Taco pasta and Paco's ...Huh...there are recipes for pasta taco casserole, taco stuffed pasta, and a Mexican restaurant called Paco's Taco's...but I digress.

So here I am-- hungry and looking for inspiration. Out came a package of frozen cheese ravioli's, frozen grilling vegetable mix (Zucchini, yellow squash, peppers and onions), a jar of sauce and a can of chipotle diced tomatoes. And the chipotle diced tomatoes was total happenstance (double bonus points for use of that word!) because I didn't have enough sauce. 

I sprayed the pan with a little cooking spray, added a little sauce to cover the bottom, poured in the ravioli, the vegetables, sauce and tomatoes. I didn't even stir because I am a rebel like that. Cover with foil, bake at 400°F for 40 minutes. 

A quick stir and it is ready to serve--with cheesy garlic toast of course!

How I wish you could be here-- the aroma is divine! Oh and the taste!  The sweet tomatoes, chunky vegetables, with the heat of chili's, the bite of cumin and it all melds perfectly with the cheese pasta. The only additional seasoning I added was one quick grind of my pink himalayan salt.

Nutritious and delicious! Whatcha' think?

Update 5/6/15. Y'all this was  a 9x13 pan. The hubbs at 3/4 of this by himself between dinner and lunch today. I think it gets classified as a win!

From Crap-tastic to Craft-tastic (Closet makeover #1)

With the exception of Martha Stewart and professional organizers, I am willing to bet everybody has a junk drawer, an accumulated stuff pile, or if you are like me, a shameful-on-the verge- of hoarding closet. Or 2...Or 3...Don't judge me...

The first closet I am tackling is the closet in the spare aka "girly" room. This isn't the worst closet in the house but it was just enough messy to make me kind of crazy.

It began as this (eek!) waayyyy back in 2012. Then I proceeded to ignore it for a very, very long time. Out of sight, out of mind.

 Um ... it got a little better (kinda) in 2014, as I purged some of the stuff . 

 Then I tried to organize it a bit more  but it still wasn't working for me

Poor Billy the Snowman. I would leave him out in the room but he freaks out my dogs and
I am afraid I would come home to twigs and fluff!

I re-used various pieces from around the house. The closet organizer pieces were at one time used in  my kitchen for storage, now they are actually being used in a closet, ha!

 The white cubbies were once part of my creative corner makeover. Honestly- it was so cramped I gave up on using it. But now THIS is more along the lines of what I had envisioned. The worktop (the sewing machine is sitting on) came from Ikea for $0.75. It was a piece of something it has holes from screws/ pegs but I don't care. I attached it to the repurposed laminate shelf with L brackets. It is a super-snug fit. I don't think even if I had measured it, would the fit be as perfect, haha. The foot stool slides in when not in use, but there is room to sit as well.

And when the curtains are closed, my cat Sam-Sam curls up on the footstool.
He has claimed his perfect napping spot!

The worklight is from Ikea (which I purchased maybe  4 yrs ago?)  I ran out of cable cord tacks, was too lazy/ cold to run out buy any so I made my own use cable ties and nail brads. The trick is to take a lighter, heat the tip of the nail and press it into the cable tie. I snipped them into 1 1/2 inch pieces and they worked like a charm to secure the cord.  The power strip mounted on the inside corner of the closet. Plenty of outlets for the sewing machine or a glue gun.

There is plenty of room for fabrics, notions and what-nots. For larger sewing or  craft projects I have a folding table can be easily retrieved for use. It isn't over the top or magazine worthy, but this  demonstrates creative solutions when faced with limited space and budget constraints.