Another crazy 10 days or so that have kept me away from the computer, blog, etc. Mom continues to recover from her surgery, has gotten her staples out and was cleared by the doctor to drive a couple of days ago. Thank goodness! Let's hope that she doesn't try to do too much too soon...

Work has been busy as we enter the "100 days of hell", a term we use for the spring planting season. The garden center at Lowe's rocks and rolls on a daily basis and we receive truckloads of plants every week. The big challenge is always keeping those plants alive until we can sell them, LOL. At least the weather has finally broken and I don't have to worry about cold temperatures killing plants! I am still mentoring 3 other stores and today I am headed down to Davenport to work.

This coming weekend brings 2 exciting events: 1) Farmer's Market starts, and 2) the big production of 'CATS' at ERMS. Neice Shelby and nephew Jacob both have major roles with lots of solos, so I'm sure they'll be many proud moments to scrap and brag about...

Stay tuned, dear readers!

Well, it's been a long and crazy week. My mom had hernia surgery on Monday and was in the hospital for three days. We brought her home on Wednesday and my sister and I have been alternating staying at her house to help her. She's been in a lot of pain and we were just afraid she'd try to do too much on her own. Fortunately, she's feeling a lot better and can now be left 'unsupervised'. She still has a lot of healing to do, but I think we've turned a corner...

On top of all that, Jeff's (my sister's husband) grandma passed away last weekend, so we had a wake and a funeral in the middle of the week. In and amongst that, I managed to work about 25 hours and took some vacation time to make up the difference.

The family finally had our Easter dinner last night; better late than never.. Today will definitely be a day for resting and regrouping before getting back to work tomorrow.

Thanks for checking in!

May the Easter Beagle be kind to you this year...

Dirty Broccoli

Got this recipe from my friend Adrian. (Her cousin is Food Network chef Ellie Krieger.) It is crazy-delicious!

1 bunch broccoli (about 1 1/4 pounds)
1 T. water
2 T. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. fresh bread crumbs made from day old whole wheat bread or 1/4 c. plain (store bought) bread crumbs
1/4 t. dried oregano
1/4 t. salt
pinch of pepper

Cut the broccoli into spears and place in a large microwave safe bowl with the water. Cover tightly and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Drain the broccoli well and set aside.

While the broccoli is cooking, heat the oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Add the remaining ingredients and cook, stirring, until the crumbs are toasted and golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add the broccoli, toss to coat with bread crumbs and serve.

Cold, cloudy and rainy, with snow in the forecast. What's a girl to do? Time to play with some of my new Tim Holtz stuff, of course!

Today's project was an inspiration journal. I am always clipping ideas and examples from magazines, but had no where to keep them, so I made this blank book. I used all kinds of Tim Holtz (my hero) products on this:

The cover is Grungeboard, inked with Distress Inks; heart/wings/crown are again Grungeboard painted with Distress Crackle paints and wired together; the clock stamp is from his new collection @ Michaels and the metal game spinner is his too! I think the flourish stamps are from HOTP and the ribbon is from my stash. The letters are 'Spare Parts' from The Paper Studio.