exterior changes

Yesterday we spent the day working in the flower beds & spreading mulch. I absolutely love mulch. I can remember dad & my brother, Grant, pulling up the long driveway of our house in Alabama with the truck bed loaded down with fresh mulch. We would spend the rest of the day spreading it out in the flower beds around our two acre home. While I'm sure I complained during the process, I've always loved it. I even like the smell of mulch, which most people can't stand.

So when I got home from work & saw that my sweet husband had surprised me & brought home a bunch of mulch for our yard, I was thrilled!

It really makes a big difference for your yard. It wasn't until I took some photos of our flower beds that I realized just how much the exterior of our house has changed in the time we have been here.

This is the first photo we have of the exterior of our home here:

& here are some photos I snapped with my phone yesterday

We still plan on adding shutters & rebuilding the front porch, which we tore down when we first moved in. We took out the two large bushes on either side of the front door a couple of months ago, & it made a big difference! Painting the front doors helped as well. We have planted hostas in front of the original bushes, & two azaleas on either side of the porch.

But even with the things we still plan on doing, it is looking a lot better!

{alli}

chocolate chip scones

Since I've had several requests for this recipe, I decided to write up a short post for chocolate chip scones.

I got the recipe after looking through photos on Google, & adjusted it somewhat.

ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, chilled

1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup milk

directions:

1. in a mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda & salt, sifting with a whisk
2. Cut stick of butter into small pieces & slowly add to the dry mixture, stirring the entire time
   (I just use my standing mixer & leave it on a low setting)
3. stir in chocolate chips, beaten egg & milk
4. stir just until moistened, forming into a ball
5. place dough onto a floured surface. add about a tablespoon of flour to the top of the dough in order to knead it 12-15 times.
6. Pat the dough out into a large circle about 3/4 of an inch deep
7. Use a pizza cutter or a knife to cut the dough into triangles
8. place dough onto a greased baking sheet, about 1 inch apart
9. bake at 375 for about 13-15 minutes
10. remove & let cool on a wire rack

3/4 inch dough in circle

cut triangles ready to go into the oven

 Once the scones are out of the oven, & have cooled about 5 minutes, mix up the glaze to go on top.

glaze:

•  in a mixing bowl, whisk 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla & 1 Tablespoon of milk
• add more milk, 1 teaspoon at a time until it reaches desired consistency
• place baking sheet under the cooling rack to catch the excess glaze
• using a spoon, drizzle the glaze on top of the scones

Enjoy!

{alli}

gardening

This is our first summer to not be moving since we got married. Knowing that we would be living in Louisville for a few years, we decided to plant a garden this summer. 

Today we visited a local plant nursery owned by a woman who has been in the business for 52 years. She had all kinds of wonderful vegetable transplants, & they were much cheaper than other nurseries around here. We purchased onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, four types of tomatoes, three types of peppers, two kinds of eggplants, zucchini squash, yellow squash, spaghetti squash, cucumbers & spinach. 

transplants

peppers

spinach

onions

Our next stop was a local hardware store where we purchased seeds. We left with carrots, sweet corn, black-eyed peas & okra. All we have left to purchase are the seeds for my herb garden.

seeds

Before planting our garden, I snapped a few photos of our roses & irises.

roses

iris

Our garden is 12x44 feet, & we actually ran out of room for our onions, so those will be planted elsewhere. Gentry purchased landscaping timbers to mark out the space. The next step was to kill off the grass in that area, then till it all up.

Then the planting began.

sweet corn

spinach

squash

Italian eggplant

sweet potatoes

& now we wait :)

{alli}

happy 1st birthday

It is so hard to believe that a little over a year ago I snapped a few newborn photos of my niece just days after she was born. Last weekend we celebrated her 1st birthday. She has brought so much joy into our family, & I thank the Lord for this sweet addition.

A look back on a year ago:

& now:

{alli}