IT'S PINK FRIDAY EVERYONE!!!!!

Midnight tonight--and it's Pink Friday at Make Mine Pink. Follow the link here and visit all the boutiques at Make Mine Pink participating in the brand new Pink Friday marketing extravaganza. This week's theme is Springtime in Paris---ooo la la! Come see every shops take on this fun theme. You don't want to miss this, these items will be in the boutiques for a limited time. Your one-stop shopping trip! From furniture, to knickknacks, to beauty products, to clothes--it is all at the Make Mine Pink Boutiques. Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, you can even stay in your jammies! No lines, no huge gasoline bill--it just doesn't get any better than this!

Oops!

I forgot to announce our winner for the pink apron---

Inka of Inkling Designs, be sure to visit her shop as well.

Congratulations, Inka, your apron will be on its way as soon as I get your information!

Show and Tell-5/27/08

Hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday weekend. The weather was perfect to kick off the summer season of barbecues. The morning was so lovely for the local parade and we all offered thanks to those who have kept us safe through the years.

Being yesterday was a holiday and we were also involved in getting the barbecue season started, I did not get my Show and Tell posted. As most of you know, Show and Tell Monday is a fun event at Make Mine Pink to show everyone what we have been working on and it is definitely an excellent motivator for me. So without furter ado, my show and tell is a set of handpainted coffee mugs. These will be available on my website and in my Little Pink Boutique at Make Mine Pink. They can be ordered all matching with one flower or berry or as a mixed set. Nice heavy mugs, the bottoms are larger than the top diameter so they are not easily tipped.

My flowers are starting to respond to the warmer temperatures and these are the ones that have bloomed this week--

Have a wonderful week. Don't forget to stop back on Friday for the kick-off of Make Mine Pink's new sale event. This week's theme is Springtime in Paris!

Show and Tell Monday 5/19/08

Show and Tell Monday again! I don't know where the weeks fly away to! I am working on a few patterns for aprons and made this one of the prettiest pink cotton rosebud fabric. This fabric brings back memories of when I was a very little girl and my bedroom was wallpapered in a pattern very similar to this. Just had to do it up! Love the fabric, but the pattern isn't where I want it. Sooooooo, are you ready for a give-away? Leave a comment here and you will be entered in the drawing for this sweet little apron. Yes, of course, it comes with a sachet--what doesn't come with a sachet at Patricia Rose?? The drawing will be held next Monday. The winner will be notified by email. Good luck to all.

Coming this week, at Patricia Rose will be some really effective bug repellent potpourri. It's a very versatile mix. You can set out bowls of it at your table to deter those pesky flying critters, You can order it in muslin bags, you can use it as a simmer on the barbecue, or just scatter it around the area you'll be sitting in. Plus, it smells wonderful. Check in at the my Little Pink Boutique at Make Mine Pink or my website.

Hopefully, the weather will warm up just a little and the seedlings I have been babying can go outside for good. This is such a strange year, here we are, the end of May and I've been waking up to 40degree temperatures. For me, this is wonderful, for the plants, not so good.

The weather has not affected the chives. All the lovely chive blossoms, it's time to make some chive vinegar. Pick the blossoms and wash them well. Set them on a paper towel to dry for several hours, they must be completely dry. Take a sterilized quart mason jar, and place your blossoms inside--a good amount, this is a "to your own taste recipe", . Then you can take any white, white wine vinegar that is at least 5% acidity. Heat it on the stove, remove just before boiling. Pour the warmed vinegar over the chive blossoms and lid. I suggest not less than 1/2 cup. If you have only metal lids, put a double layer of a transparent film wrap over the top of the jar (the acid in the vinegar will corrode the jar lid). Put the jar in a dark, fairly cool place for at least 2 weeks. It will keep at least a year, vinegar is a preservative. You end up with a beautiful pinkish, lavender vinegar. After it has aged/steeped, use a funnel and strainer to decant into the bottles (sterilized, please) you will store it in or use as gifts. This is a good place to try champagne vinegar. Use it on salads, on fish, any place a mild onion flavor will work in your recipes. Don't forget to label your jar with type of vinegar and the date!!

Everybody have a wonderful week, may you accomplish all you hope to.

Too Good To Keep!

Well, I am so excited. I have been looking for copies of several books and have been trying to do my searches by author. I took a chance and emailed Betsy Williams who came up in the right area. It was THE Betsy Williams!! She is the owner of an herb business, "The Proper Season" and an author. She emailed me back, so sweet, this is such a busy season for anyone who deals with planting and plants. I am going to get a copy of the 2 books I was searching for----AUTOGRAPHED!!! The books are "Potpourri and Fragrant Crafts" and "Are There Faeries at the Bottom of Your Garden?". I going to be haunting my poor mail person. Feel so very lucky to have had even such little contact with this herb guru!

Show and Tell Monday

Here it is, Monday again! Well, it has been fun this week. Ordered some bags so I could bag up some potpourri, put my new labels from Business in The Bag on them and I think they look quite pretty. Took some pictures with my new Pink Camera, they are lots better than what I was able to get with my old one!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Mothers Day. It was fun for me. Had some help and got a few of my gardens straightened out and mulched, they look so pretty! Can't wait to get the rest of the plants in. Thank you to my 2 sons who helped me. Today it is so windy, the mulch would not be able to be put down.

Today is going to have to be cleaning day around the ol' homestead--it's getting deep! I live in a very old house, the most recent addition was put on in 1842. I'm telling you, the walls must just keep sifting out the dust! Between that and living in a rural area--dust is my main crop!

Everyone have a terrific week, talk to you all soon.

Pat

Last Day for Mother's Day Shop Hop at Make Mine Pink

Don't forget, today is the last day to enter the Mother's Day Shop Hop at Make Mine Pink. Go to Make Mine Pink and check out all the participating shops. You go to their websites (mine too) and find the shopping bag. Click on it, it will take you to Make Mine Pink to register that you found that bag. Lots of wonderful prizes being given away! Good luck to all!

Missed Show and Tell---ARGHH

Well, this has definitely been an all star week. Missed Show and Tell Monday, here it is Wednesday night to boot! Found a fun treasure this week, found it in a new shop close by--This is a silk throw/shawl with really sumptious fringe. Love the embroidery, it's just so spring like.

I have no idea of its age but the look is vintage. There are a few tiny discolorations, but they blend in with the flowers and one tiny hole , about 1/4". And the plus for stopping in at this shop is that she would like to carry my potpourri. So, I'll be bagging and labeling for the next few days. Hope this works out for the two of us. Going to start selling the potpourri loose in the hopes that it may stir up some interest.

My seedlings are outgrowing their little incubators. The sign in front of one of the farms close by read "The Peepers Say There Is One More Week Before Last Frost". So who am I to argue with the peepers???

Had a few people mention this past week that they were starting to see ants in their houses. A really safe way to keep them away is to put down cornmeal --completely safe for children and pets. The ants eat it but can't digest it, so a couple days later --all gone!

Read something really interesting, too. If you put a splash of vinegar on your broccoli, it makes 1/3 more calcium available to our bodies. Isn't that something? I tried it, I really liked the vinegar on it--okay, so I sprinkled some parmesean on it too! We women have to worry about these things, so you pick out a vinegar you like and start sprinkling your broccoli!

Have a wonderful rest of the week!