I Am Ready To...Garden

It has been a really wet and somewhat chilly Spring here in the Northeast.  I have a couple of cute little flower gardens that I am trying to maintain and I am surprised that I am anxious to get at them.  My older sister has the green thumb in the family.  She has a greenhouse and even has started a business from it.  I usually can't keep green things alive but, with the help of my mother in law and a friend, I am trying to maintain two little patches of flowers around my house.  I bought this Dianthus(I think that is the name of it) about a week ago and I am looking forward to planting it in one of the gardens.  I like the wildflower quality of it.  We also have to freshen the bark chips and put out the fountain and all the little accessories.  Everything looks so nice when it is done.  Hubs is in the process of making new shutters for our house.  He changed the deck to our pool so everything needs a fresh coat of paint.  Also, I have to wash all the pillow covers and dust my screened in back porch so we can start having dinner out there.  It makes me tired just thinking about it!

I managed to make a little pouch to put inside the knitting needle pouch I made last week.  It holds my needle tips, cable holders, stitch holders, stitch counter and other knitting gadgets.  I hate fishing in the bottom of a big bag for little items so this will prevent that.  I put three buttons on it for a closure.  I love me some organizational helpers!   

I also made a good and easy dinner in the crock pot this weekend.  It is chicken stroganoff.  It sounded more suited to cold weather but it was tasty just the same.  Just cut up a couple of packages of chicken tenders-I cut each tender in three pieces after I cut out that annoying tendon or whatever it is.  Chop one onion and drain a small can of mushrooms.  Stir these together in a crock pot.  In a bowl, stir together 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup with garlic(I couldn't find it so I added minced garlic to plain cream of mushroom), 1/3 cup of water and freshly cracked pepper.  Pour over chicken mixture in pot.  Cook on high 4-5 hours. Stir in 8 oz. sour cream right before serving.  I served it over mashed potatoes but if you are a stroganoff purist, go with the noodles.  It was very good-comfort food at its best.  

I hope everyone is able to get outside and blow the stink of winter off you!(I love that saying)  Have a great week and take care.   Nancy