With Love on Father's Day

Dad,

Love, Strength, Example… these are words that come to mind when I think of you.

As a little girl, you swung me from your arms. We’d play catch in the field and shoot hoops in the driveway. You took me to baseball games. You taught me to sing and passed down a love for music. You brought me to church and taught me to pray and read my Bible. You taught me to live out my faith and be a witness to the lost. 

As you worked hard through jobs to make ends meet and through college to create a better future for us, you taught me perseverance and a good work ethic. You provided and took good care of Mom and me. You stayed strong and true through good and difficult times. You taught me to be wise and to care for family.

These are all the ways that you have shown me love, strength, and your example. 

Now that I am married and have a home of my own, I think of my roots and what you and Mom taught me. I will always do my best to live life in a way that honors your hard work in raising me and in a way that honors you, and I will always be thankful…

…thankful to my Heavenly Father that He provided me with an earthly father who has always been loving, present, hard-working, and a Godly example.

Thank you Dad. I love you always. 

Happy Father's Day!!

A Pink Mess

I have been inspired lately by a good friend of mine, Kat Hertzler. She has a talent for finding inexpensive, old or vintage things and giving them a new life in her home. For example...

Turning this old side table...

 Into this...

Turning this large pile of unwanted pallets....

Into this rustic ceiling full of charm and character...

And repurposing these vintage silver trays and pitchers into pretty storage for kitchen utensils.

With her inspiration, I have been keeping an eye out for inexpensive, old, shabby, unwanted finds in thrift stores, second hand and discount stores, and online sales.

This winter, I found this pink mess of a chair for sale on an online yard sale for $5.

Yes... it's pink... very pink... and has some scratches and dings, but I had to have it! Look at those curved legs and paw feet! Plus the price was right. All it needs is a little time and TLC. With a fresh coat of paint and reupholstered seat it will look fabulous! Of course, I plan to find some sort of Frenchy fabric for the seat. Stay tuned for an update on my pink mess!

If you'd like to see some more of Kat Hertzler's work, check out her blog at Maple Leaves and Sycamore Trees ! Her talent has been featured all over the blogging world, and will inspire you!

Lessons from a Potager

In May, we looked at information about the practical and beautiful French potager garden. Potagers are simply gardens with both edible and ornamental plants placed together. They provide both delicious veggies and herbs to be used in your kitchen as well as beautiful flowers to cut and display in your home. I planted my first potager this year, and I am happy overall with its outcome. This summer has been extremely hot and humid for days at a time, and this along with some heavy rain has caused some troubles. This has not discouraged me or kept my garden from being pretty and fruitful.

I made a small four by eight foot garden bed, and I planted two types of heirloom tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, along with herbs and zinnias. Here are some photos of my bounty and some photos of my losses.

 My tomatoes have done both well and not so well. We've had some delish, juicy Mr. Stripey's and Orange tomatoes, but they've struggled through the growing season. Several weeks have brought a couple days of heavy rain, and this has caused the tomatoes to grow quickly and split their skins. Let me show you what I mean.

Mr. Stripey's

You can see the skin splitting here...

...and here

Orange

 Here's some tomatoes I've harvested. The big one in the middle is an Orange tomato, and the rest are Mr. Stripey's.

Even though the skin has split on all of the tomatoes I've grown and harvested, they are still edible. Just cut off the split part, slice them up, and they are good to eat!

My bell peppers and jalapenos have done nicely this year. For some reason, the bell pepper plants have not produced a lot, but the peppers that have grown have been healthy.

These are the type of peppers that turn red as they ripen. I love how colorful they are!

We love fresh, spicy jalapenos in such things as salsa and cornbread. I'm happy that our jalapeno plant has been growing lots of these spicy little jewels.

 I had a vision of beautiful morning glory vines growing on a tall trellis at the end of my garden, but a rabbit destroyed that vision. Rabbits may be cute and fuzzy, but they love to go after and eat anything edible. That is why I keep a fence around the garden. I did not realize that morning glories were attractive to them and left them outside the fence to grow. After about two or three weeks, the rabbit ate the tops off them. See the evidence below.

 This was not a good year for herbs. My herbs all started out well, but in the end they were defeated by the summer heat and humidity. The only herb that I do not have photos of is the dill. I planted several dill plants, and they started out growing tall and full. However, they eventually turned brown, and I had to pull them out. The dill harvest was so yummy while it lasted though! I love dill in dip and on fish! Here are some photos of the herbs I've planted this summer.

As you can see, basil didn't do well at all. They grew to about a quarter of an inch high and then just stopped growing altogether. I'm very disappointed because there is nothing like fresh basil!

 The Greek oregano was healthy for the first half of the summer, but the last half it has looked yellow, twiggy, and sickly. Again, the summer heat and humidity was a factor here.

I was hoping my chives would come back this year bigger and fuller, but it has stayed pretty small also.

On a happy and postive note, I planted pink and yellow zinnias on both ends of the garden to bring in some beauty and color that the French potager should have. They have been great for cutting and putting in vases around my house. I'm all about bringing some outdoor beauty inside!

It has been a good learning experience for me to plant and maintain my first potager garden, and I have ideas of what I want to do and change for next year.

1. I definitely plan on doing some more research into what ornamental plants will be rabbit resistant so I don't have another morning glory catastrophe.

2. I also want to make the garden look more geometric next year. I'd like to add more square or circle shapes in the way the plants are placed.

3. Hopefully, I'll be able to add some sort of structural element to add some visual interest. This was my goal in planting the morning glories this year and wanting to put them on a tall trellis. Next year, I'll try again.

What did you learn from gardening this year? What were your experiences with veggie, herb, or flower planting? I'd love to hear from you!

French Potager Garden

This weekend, I plan on FINALLY getting started with planting my veggie garden after a long, rainy few weeks. Last year, I planted my first small veggie garden, and I loved harvesting fresh tomatoes, green peppers, yellow squash, jalapeno peppers, and herbs through the summer season. This year, I want to design and plant a French potager (poh – ta - zhay) garden. Nothing huge and fancy, but just a small one since this is my first time trying this method.

Basically, a French potager garden is a decorative veggie/kitchen garden. Traditionally, it’s an informal, garden filled with veggies, edible and non-edible flowers, and herbs. Everything is arranged in rows or geometric shapes, and plants are chosen for their ornamental aspects as well as their use in the kitchen. Plants are planted closer together than the traditional garden, and usually, the garden has a focal point, such as a trellis or cone-shaped stand with a vine, a bird bath, or an arch.

The French potager garden is also planted by season. When one season of veggies has completed, another season of veggies is planted in their place. I’m not sure if I am going to get into this aspect or not this year, but edible pumpkins and decorative gourds sound good to me for the fall season. We’ll see.

Here are some pictures of various styles and sizes of the French potager garden. Some are the traditional, informal, cottage style garden, and others are more formal. 

I love the cone-shaped stands in this garden.

 www.518design.com

The simplicity of Michael Devine's garden is so cute! 

Michael Devine's Potager Garden in Country Living

I can imagine myself here in this larger version but still somewhat simple potager.

Found on Google Search- Lisa Hubbard

 

The piece de resistance...

The Potager Garden at Chateau de Villandry - Villandry, France

What I plant really depends on what I find at my local garden store, but ideally this is what I would like to have in my potager:

Heirloom Tomatoes- I’ve read that these taste wonderful and look beautiful. 

Green Bell Peppers and Jalapeno Peppers – They don’t look fancy, but fresh peppers taste so much better than store bought! 

Squash – Yellow squash or zucchini

Flowers – I’d like to plant flowers around the outside of the garden as well as a couple alternating rows in between the veggie plants. These will include flowers for cutting as well as ground cover.

Herbs – Dill, Basil, Oregano, Chives

Focal Point - A Vine on a Trellis - some sort of pretty flowering vine, such as clematis or morning glory.

Later, I will show you some before and after pictures of my newly planted, French potager garden. Hopefully, it will turn out like I envision, and I’ll be reaping a beautiful bounty of fresh veggies and herbs and cutting some beautiful flowers through the year. 

Until then.... Au Revoir! 

Happy Birthday to my Super Man! - May 12, 2011

Since he was a little boy, my hubby has always loved Superman. His Dad told me that he took Mike to the theater to watch the Superman movie, and Mike was on the edge of his seat the whole time, wide-eyed, and glued to the screen. Can you imagine his cute little face? 

From that time until now, Superman has always been his favorite superhero, and he has loved everything about him. He loves all of the movies, tv shows, t-shirts, memorabilia, and trivia, and everyone knows about it. Friends of ours even bought him a Superman Snuggie. I know… scary.

Mike may not have X-ray vision, be more powerful than a locomotive, or have the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but he has some superhero qualities of his own. He deeply loves me, his family, and friends unconditionally and will do anything in his power for us. He is always available when someone is in need. He runs faster than the speed of light every morning to keep his well chiseled physique. Okay, maybe that last one is a bit of an exaggeration, but he is a superhero in my book!

 Me and My Super Man

Happy Birthday to my Sweetie, my Babycakes, my Super Man!!!! 

I Love You!!! 

Dear Mom,

I have many fond memories of watching and spending time with you. As a little girl, I remember you cooking kielbasa for supper (still one of my favorites!), and I remember you letting me sit on the crazy, vibrating washer as you did laundry. I remember watching you put makeup on and allowing me to put on a little lipstick, and I remember our expeditions to the thrift stores to find some “new” clothes.

 Mom and Me

You have always been my inspiration and example. You have strived to be a Godly woman. You took me to church, and you showed me through your everyday example how to read the Bible, pray, and live. Growing up, I remember seeing you sit in your chair and read your Bible early in the morning.  I didn’t know it then, but you were sparking my curiosity about spiritual things. As you fought and lived through breast cancer, I learned about keeping faith in God and never giving up. Through your perseverance and faith, and of course God's faithfulness, you, Dad, and I grew closer as a family.

 Me and Mom - College Years

Now you are still teaching me how to live, and you are always there for me even though we are in two different states. We still e-mail and talk on the phone about our daily lives, and you give me advice about life, faith, cooking, gardening, and whatever life throws at us.

Me, Mom, and Dad on their recent visit to PA

Thank you for always being there for me and for all you have done and will do. I love you and hope you have a wonderful Mothers Day!

 Mom's beautiful smile

 

Grandma's Motto

Hello Everyone and Welcome!

I don’t know about you, but it took me months to come up with the right title for my blog. I had so many ideas flooding through my mind that it was hard to pin down one that I was happy with. I knew that I did not want a mundane title like “My Blog,” or a long title like “Ponderings of a 30 year old Married Woman.” I wanted something simple and meaningful. As you will come to find out, I love all things French. So a French title was definitely on my list of ideas. Finally, I came up with C’est La Vie. For me, this phrase carries a lot of substance, and it is a perfect title that encompasses all the things I want to blog about.

C’est La Vie is a French phrase meaning “That is Life” or “Such is Life.” Usually, it is used when a difficulty arises, or when something happens that is out of our control. We might say, “That is Life,” that’s what happens in life, and we move on. As I was growing up, I remember hearing my French Canadian grandmother use this phrase every so often when she was talking about a difficult situation that she or someone else was going through. She’d smile and say, “C’est La Vie!” I didn’t know until I grew older exactly what this phrase meant or what Grandma meant by it. The phrase stuck with me, and I began to realize that it is an admirable viewpoint.

 Grandma and Me

I have gone through lots of difficulties and stressful situations in my life, and I have to say it’s hard to just smile and say, “C’est La Vie!” I’m a person who tends to worry and get emotionally charged about a difficult situation. However, sometimes just letting things go to work out on their own is the best thing to do. Why make things worse by constantly worrying, not getting sleep at night, and not eating, when there is Someone I know who is the Blessed Controller of all things, the Giver of Life, my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?

He is “the Life.” He is the One who gives me love and strength to make it through the difficulties I face, and He is the one who cares about and works out every detail of my life with my best interests in mind.  So whenever I am going through a hard time, I can not only think of Grandma saying “C’est La Vie,”  but I can also think of my Savior who went through the greatest difficulty of all by giving His life for me so that I can have abundant, spiritual life. Maybe instead of saying, “C’est La Vie,” I can instead say, “Jesus est la Vie,” meaning “Jesus is Life.” 

My hope is that you can come to a place in your life where you can smile and say “C’est La Vie,” and my prayer is that you can also come to a place where you can say “Jesus est la Vie,” “Jesus Is Life.”