The above layout for a Cottage garden is the style that I like for a kitchen garden.

I would have a picket fence and all kinds of old fashion flowers like Foxgloves.

Climbing roses are a must have and they just are the ultimate.

Peonies are just beautiful and once planted, they come up every year. A must have.

Delphiniums are such a nice color and an all time favorite.

Herbs like Rosemary and salad greens along with veggies are also a must have.

Then the Spring bulbs that are planted in the Fall and come up early in Spring are just so beautiful.

Colorful Tulips can be planted in all kinds color patterns.

Then a secret garden that has a place for a table. So romantic and just so fun. That tablecloth is from April Cornell. She has a website and also you can get catalogs with all her products. Her latest catalog is called “Spring in Bloom”.

Another idea is a little Coy pond for goldfish complete with a little waterfall.

Lots of fun can be had with gardens. So many ideas out there.

Little critters do like to sample whatever you have in a garden. I have heard that they don’t like Marigolds and if you plant Marigolds on the outside rows of a garden, most critters will not attack your garden too bad.

I love blue Hydrangas. I can just imagine picking the Hydrangas for a French style cottage kitchen. The ultimate dream.

I found an idea for a double potholder that you can make and customize it to any material pattern that you like. I posted the link to it on my Sewing and Craft ideas on my Pinterest. I like it because it is sort of like the pot holder that Rachel Ray sells on QVC. They are always sold out on QVC.

I have been trying to figure out how wordpress works and I could not get to my dashboard to customize my webpage or blog. So I added menues to the top of my page using Yankee Ingenuity and it is a work in progress. I spent some time on it today and will just leave it for now as I messed it up several times and it is somehow OK for now.

I want to redesign the page a little and make it interesting. Fun to work on.

I saw a really cute Spring planter on the Plow and Hearth website. Such a cute idea to add the Johnny Jump-ups that look like little Pansys.

With St Patrick’s Day coming up, I saw the above ring on JTV channel and they also have a website. The stones look like Emeralds but they are Chrome diopside. It started out at $129.00 which was a really good price. Right now it’s down to $79.00 and you can do 5 easy pays on it. So cute.

I love the earrings that match and I think they are like $99.00.

Sometimes it’s fun to make your own “happy hour”. The cook shows are always making cheese trays, so I made up a little, personal cheese tray. I found some sliced, organic and uncured salami/pepperoni combo, some Vermont Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese, some regular Cheddar Cheese, some Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives, some Cashews, some Shaved Parmesan and some Dijon Mustard. Plus a glass of my favorite Red Wine. Kind of fancy and also a fun idea. Anything in moderation.

And another little fun treat to cheer up dull days if you like Chocolate is the Dove Dark Chocolate little Easter Eggs. They only cost $3.00 for a package of them and they are so cute to put in the little Easter Egg candy dish or any little candy dish that you have.

I am no web designer, but I learn new things each day. It’s like the Cell phone, as there are so many features that I don’t use and I try to figure out how they work.

So, I just have fun with it and just like everything, we all try to make the best of each day.

I love magazines and there were 3 magazines that I wanted in the worst way. But when they cost $9.99, $12.99 etc., I draw the line. Nope, I don’t even buy my $1.79 magazine anymore. But I did subscribe to Good Housekeeping magazine and Yankee Magazine. I think the Good Housekeeping magazine came free for a year with something I bought on QVC, which was fun. And Yankee Magazine was a really good deal that I couldn’t resist.

So, hope that the ideas that I pick up here and there can be something of interest to you.

CABBAGE SOUP

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 cup carrots

1 cup celery

1/2 cup yellow onion

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon Italian herb seasoning

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups cabbage, shredded

1 cup zucchini

4 cups vegetable broth

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add oil to the instant pot and turn it on the saute function. Add carrots, celery, and onion and saute 5 minutes until softened.
2. Add garlic and saute 3 more minutes.
3. Add cabbage, zucchini, and broth, then stir to combine. Set the instant pot to soup function for 20 minutes, turn the valve to instant release. After pressure has released, open and stir. Serve and enjoy!

Primroses come in a variety of colors. I like the above combinations. They just brighten dull days. There is a snow storm coming in tonight. It seems like every Sunday and Wednesday night we get snow storms.

I like the above saying. Sometimes I print stuff out like that, encase it in plastic and use my punch to put punch holes in it and I put it in my planner for inspiration.

I like to make soup this time of year and most soups start out with celery, carrots and onions. I like how French Farmers Markets have the veggies all chopped and prepped and you can buy bags of them to have on hand when you want to make a soup fast without all the prep work. So I have been trying to prep my own little packages when I first bring groceries home. I have one of those machines that takes the air out of the bag and seals it. You can freeze it and just take it out when you want to make soup. It doesn’t get freezer burn and keeps the veggies fresh.

I love making soups in my Instant Pot Pressure Cooker. I have tried several recipes and I make notes on the recipes for little touches that I add to make it my own.

I have collected different dish patterns here and there. I love my Phalzgraff Pistoulet. One of my favorite pieces is the soup mug. The little plate under the mug is from Phalzgraff but it’s from an Italian pattern and I love how it goes with the soup mug.

I was keeping little containers of seasoning that I put together from recipes that I found for seasonings. Paula Deen’s house seasoning goes on everything. They empty out fast and I have got to fill them again. I got that little Pistoulet recipe box to put French recipes in that were tried and true and favorites.

I like white Tulips with pussywillows. They look really good in the glass container type shown above.

And that is my thoughts for this 3rd day of March.

I love tablescapes and the above Spring tablescape is just so fun for an inspiration. I love the pink tulips in the green glass bottles. Then the white Hyacinth with white candles.

I have the above dish set that is from Lenox. It is perfect for Spring. It just looks like a French style to me.

I love Deviled Eggs and the above idea is just so cute.

I love white Hyacinths. I saw the above white Hyacinth at a candle shop years ago and it always stuck in my mind.

There is a Sugar House near here where they boil down sap to make Maple Syrup and my son and I have a tradition of visiting there in March and having pancakes with real Maple Syrup. Love it. ❤

The pancakes are huge and they have a huge pitcher of warm maple syrup that is directly from their sugar house. We always buy some maple syrup to take home, also. From the tables that they have in the Sugar House, you can watch them through a huge glass window boiling down the sap from the Maple Trees to make the Maple Syrup.

I enjoy finding all kinds of healthy recipes for my Instant Pot. I pinned a ton of recipes on my Instant Pot board on my Pinterest.

Woodstock, Vermont is a beautiful town. They make pottery at Farmhouse Pottery there and they even let you make your own pottery there. I love their gift shop.

And that’s a few ideas for Spring.

In March, they start having Daffadils in the grocery stores. It’s just such a touch of Spring, even though there is still snow on the ground and snow storms predicted this weekend.

They start tapping the trees this time of year because there are cold nights and warmer days. That is when the sap runs in the Maple trees and they can boil it down and make Maple Syrup.

I’ll never forget the above cute little Holstein calf that we saw a few years ago. So cute with the little pink nose and they had a little shelter hatcherie for it and a little jacket to keep it cosy. It poked it’s little nose out to say “hello”.

My son loves Carrot Cake. I like how the above Carrot Cake is decorated. Such a neat idea.

I love the above Cameo pin. It’s just so classic and never goes out of style.

My mother used to call snow that fell this time of year “sugar snow”. I think that it looks like powder sugar on the trees.

I like the farmhouse look in a house. I love the front porch and a porch swing. It reminds me of my grandpartents. The above is a Yankee Barn home and it’s a modular that goes up in a few weeks. It has all open beams inside and is just gorgeous.

St Patrick’s Day is this month. I have a lot of Irish in me, so will definitely be wearing green on St Patrick’s Day.

I love the above little Leprechan. So cute the way they have it captured in that little jar.

I saw a recipe for Coq au vin using white wine instead of red wine. It just looks perfect to have for this time of year. I pinned the recipe on my French recipes board on my Pinterest.

I love home made soap. They always have it at Farmers Markets and I saw some at a local Food Co-op. They always put healthy ingredients in the soap and moisturizers. Plus they use Essential Oil for fragrance.

I bought some Lentils today at the Food Co-op. I love to make Lentil Soup in the Instant Pot Pressure Cooker. So much flavor and it is inexpensive yet very healthy and delicious this time of year.

I like the above hairstyle. It’s beach waves and it’s just the right length. You can wear an updo with it or wear it down.

I like the above “thermal hoodie” It’s so perfect for this time of year.

And that’s my thoughts for this first day of March. This day was sunny and in the 30’s. So March came in like a lamb and that means that it will go out like a Lion. We will probably get a horrible snow storm the last day of March.